We just have this friendship that's - it's just pure, bro. I only feel bad about missing two people's calls on this earth - Mac and my grandma. About time he and Dee met, Mac had already served almost a decade on a 30-year sentence.ĭEE-1: Literally seven days a week - always calling, always. Literally, I got goosebumps on my arms.ĬARMICHAEL: In 2001 Mac was convicted in a nightclub shooting that left one man dead. M PHIPPS: (Rapping) Shoot the sheriff to ensure my family's convict releases.ĭEE-1: I got goosebumps listening to it right now, bro. But I could relate to what he was saying so much more, you know? And I just - I get it.

We be the niggas leaving slugs in your crime cipher.ĭEE-1: For real, this dude reminded me of a New Orleans version of Nas. M PHIPPS: (Rapping) We hit them, rugged even if it's unplugged for thug lifers. MAC PHIPPS: (Rapping) Feel the wrath of a solider, the Crescent City Jesus.ĭEE-1 AND MAC PHIPPS: (Rapping) I pack a tre deuce.

He was probably Mac's biggest fan growing up.ĭEE-1: You know, so I remember listening to this. And Dee was about a decade younger than Mac Phipps. They had that aggressive, brash, Southern gangsta rap on lock. Back then, No Limit was one of the most successful independent record labels in the game. MADDEN: And his friend who's behind bars - that's the rapper Mac Phipps, the one-time child-prodigy-turned-rising-star on No Limit Records in the 1990s. That's 'cause he's playing the long game.ĭEE-1: All right. And a pardon from the governor could be one of his last chances to clear his name, a name Dee never mentions during their half-hour interview. It was a pretty big deal.ĭEE-1: When we talk about criminal justice, what have you been able to accomplish that you're proud of? And moving forward, what would continue to give those inmates hope that, you know, they still have a shot at living a great life?ĮDWARDS: Well, first of all, for decades, Louisiana had the nation's highest incarceration rate.ĬARMICHAEL: And Dee's doing this because he cares about the issues but also because he's got a good friend who's already spent two decades in prison. I mean, as far as I know, it might have been the first time a governor anywhere sat down with a rapper. They just - this whole idea of being a soldier - you know what I mean? - and life being like a war - it just held an abnormal amount of weight, you know, if you were a young Black kid growing up in New Orleans.ĬARMICHAEL: This is the first time that the state's governor has sat down with somebody from the hip-hop community for an interview. Why? Because growing up, all of the New Orleans rappers, even No Limit records - they stress camouflage so much. He broke the symbolism behind his outfit down to me right before he interviewed the governor.ĭEE-1: I have a camouflage rag tied around my head right now. Dee-1, on the other hand - he's repping young Black New Orleans to the fullest from the red Bally Animals on his feet to the bandana wrapped around his locks. There's even hand-printed French wallpaper. I'm talking velvet drapes, crystal chandeliers. Despite that, they still deserve a second chance, you know, in this world oftentimes.ĬARMICHAEL: And the room that was sitting in inside this governor's mansion is straight out the antebellum South. Despite any mistake they have made - or a lot of people have been wrongfully convicted, as we know.

And we still love them because we know that.ĭEE-1. It's days before a runoff election between the Democratic incumbent John Bel Edwards and his Republican challenger, which Edwards will go on to win with 95% support from Black voters.ĭEE-1: When you speak about criminal justice reform, that's something where - unfortunately, everyone in this room right now probably has a personal loved one who's locked up or who has been locked up. John Bel Edwards and New Orleans rapper Dee-1. I'm sitting in the governor's mansion in Baton Rouge, La., listening in on an interview between Louisiana Gov. JOHN BEL EDWARDS: Thank you very much, by the way.ĭEE-1: For sure. UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: We rolling in three, two, one. Heads up before we begin - this podcast is explicit in every way.

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