There is no more riveting radio presentation in this city than John Wiley Price’s Liberation Nation, Thursday mornings on KNON (89.3 FM). I really can’t begin to describe it. But, okay, I’ll try. This morning, Price had Jim Schutze as a guest. The show is an extended free-form rap-slash-jeremiad by Price, peppered liberally with “damn”s and “hell”s, periodically interrupted by off-topic callers, dial tones when the phones don’t operate properly, and oddly personal, stream-of-consciousness sports reports. A partial transcription from memory:
PRICE: Oh, hell. Don’t play. You got Jabari, Lisa, and JP up in here. And Jim Schutze from the Dallas Observer. Colonel Sanders? Swing low? Oh, man.
JABARI: In the off-season, the Chargers get the award for the worst loss of the off-season. Drew Brees was lost to New Orleans. The Chargers will now be one-dimensional, and teams will drop nine men in the box against them. Now, a message to ballers, whether they play on the court or the football field or the streets. It’s not how you stand after you make the play; it’s how you stand when the pressure is on. Heed that. I didn’t show up last Friday at “Shoot Hoops, Not Guns.” I have no excuse. But I wanted to say that.
PRICE: George Bush is a damn lie, and I’d say that with his momma in the room. Jim Schutze thinks the mayor doesn’t have any power. That ain’t true. She can build coalitions. No permanent friends, no permanent enemies; just permanent issues.
SCHUTZE: But let me just say that–
PRICE: Okay, let’s go to the phones. George?
GEORGE: Brother Price, you tell it like it T-I is.
PRICE: Oh, hell.
And so on. I listened for about 15 minutes this morning. Price must have referred to Jim Schutze’s being in the studio 10 times. And I swear to you, Schutze never said more than 25 words. He asked Price one question about the jail, and Price’s answer went on for three minutes. When he finished, Schutze seemed stunned. He just said, “Um, okay.”
I’m telling you. I can’t do it justice. You must listen. It is true greatness.
