You Can't Say That In Church (Say Dat Pod)

Ace Harris grew up in a Liberian household in Atlanta, the son of a pastor who planted the church that raised ICF Ministries. Now he's head of A&R at Reach Records, a Grammy winner, and the man behind Hulvey's run; he also produced two singles on Derek's first Reach album. He tells us why Limoblaze, platinum selling and a Nigerian citizen, can't get into the US for his own shows, and how his pastor dad caught a case trying to get a church member his green card. Then the hits: Jermaine Dupri's who wants to come to a concert to hear no hits, why young artists won't take a note, and the A3C freestyle that sold him on Hulvey. Plus Lecrae's two-hand set shot, palm oil vs raccoons, Rush Hour in 2026, the Will Smith slap, and his clothing line ALTAR.

A.I. went into the foster care system at 14 months old and was diagnosed "emotionally handicapped" on paper. Now she's Buffalo's poet laureate, a rapper and a mom, and she doesn't want to be defined by her trauma. She tells the story of meeting her biological dad at 16 when he pulled up in his cab, why she loved fighting boys, and how a counselor handing her a pencil started everything. Derek talks about apologizing to his 12 and 14 year old and the stepdad who sold the family van for dope, and the guys get into why church never talked about sex. Plus Derek calls Parris "pee pee" in front of the guest, Dr. Pepper as an aphrodisiac, and whether we'd take a McDonald's sponsorship.

Street Hymns of the Four Horsemen said the quiet part: a lot of churches plant in the hood because the real estate is cheap, and nobody in the building looks like the block. Derek used to push his own pastor on diversity and got told "we're diverse, we got parents that adopted kids." Plus the Jesus on the wall, a church break-in with blood in the baptismal pool, why a Christian winning battle rap's Champion of the Year got zero coverage from CHH media, and why Black history isn't ancient history.

Tim Thompson found Derek Minor's music on the one channel his prison had. Twenty years of incarceration from age 8 to 36, a plan written in his cell two years before the gate opened, and almost ten years of working for nobody since: two Nashville businesses built off grass and paint, and the yards you slow down to look at. Ten years after that prison TV, he was doing the yard next door when Derek walked out the crib. Episode 33 is the whole ride: the stolen car at 8, the 60 lawns he gave away to bet on himself, the no-doors sales playbook, and the conversation about God nobody saw coming, closed out in prayer. Plus: a baby wave is on the way. Episode 33 of You Can't Say That In Church.

Joseph Joshua rolled up a joint on Super Bowl Sunday, turned down the party, and went to church high as a kite to chase the Holy Ghost. God showed up anyway. Episode 32 is the whole redemption road: ten years in the Cincinnati streets, jail or hell, the hood calling him weak when he changed, the right way to fast, and the airport shoeshine stand that became Millions of Dollars Worth of Wisdom. Plus: the quart of soap, better to marry than to burn unpacked, and the five keys (God first, vision, intense desire, discipline, persistence).