Bonus: Double Fisting HIStory with Le’Asha Julius

Black and Snerdy welcomes actor, playwright, director and music artist Le’Asha Julius for a bonus episode as Ode (@thatsod.e / @thatsod_e) and Mo “Kid” Licorish (@licorishislegit) trace a career that runs from the Duke Ellington School of the Arts and SUNY Purchase to NPR’s Tiny Desk with The LOX. Le’Asha explains how the hip-hop duo Quincy Vidal started with classmate Caleb Eberhardt when DJ equipment proved too expensive, and what opening for Kendrick Lamar and Talib Kweli taught her about respect.

The conversation moves to Black Thought’s School of Thought program at Carnegie Hall, where imposter syndrome met one very specific note about articulating a fast verse, and then to the Tiny Desk session with Jadakiss, Sheek Louch and Styles P. Le’Asha also names home as the truest place to recharge between plays, tours and an upcoming trip to Greece, and explains the difference between following the heart and following anxiety.

Then comes a punishing round of This or That built on Black music icons: Aaliyah vs. Mýa, Teddy Pendergrass vs.

Luther Vandross, Aretha Franklin vs. Patti LaBelle, Stevie Wonder vs.

Prince, and Michael Jackson vs. Beyoncé.

Along the way, Le’Asha reveals she went to elementary school with Mýa’s little brother, once ran into Aretha, and has performed at Paisley Park, while Ode picks Beyoncé despite a childhood spent double fisting Michael Jackson’s HIStory. In What’s Making Us Mad, Ode addresses the Cornell and LSU sexual assault cases and the victim blaming that followed, and Mo takes aim at unleashed dogs on Flatbush Avenue.

The episode closes with Goo Punch from My Brother and Me, JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure Fridays, and Le’Asha’s plans to finish a new play and album, with more on Instagram at @leeocious. Find Le'Asha on Instagram: Find her on Youtube here: Connect with the Snerdy Crew: Watch, Listen, or Sponsor the show: ⁠