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https://nerdist.com/article/fargo-theory-satchel-cannon-rabbi-milligan/
The following contains spoilers for Fargo season four.
Fargo‘s fourth season has roughly 700 characters. Not an easy group to keep track of. So you might be unaware of a potentially huge and telling connection with the show’s second season that some fans are speculating about. The Irishman, the one taking care of Loy Cannon’s youngest son Satchel, is Rabbi Milligan. That’s the same surname as Bokeem Woodbine’s Mike Milligan from season two. He was also an unlikely outsider who served in Kansas City’s Italian mafia. Since there are no coincidences on Fargo, the possible connection is obvious.
And if the future Mike Milligan is really Loy’s child, the Cannon crime family seems destined for a bleak end at the hands of the son it traded to another team. A team that will never truly accept him.
The show’s second season took place in 1979. It featured Kansas City’s Italian mafia executing a hostile takeover of the Gerhardt crime family in North Dakota. Regardless of what happens this season, set in 1950, an Italian crime syndicate will still be a powerful force in Kansas City 29 years later. And they will have a Black associate named Mike Milligan.
We don’t know how Mike Milligan came to serve the Italian mafia. But he played an important role for them in their violent power grab. They sent him north to take care of some very bloody business. He was no stranger to force, and not above murdering to survive and thrive. For a Black man to have that position in 1979, he clearly did something major to earn the trust of the Italian mob.
FX
Ben Whishaw’s Rabbi Milligan earned that type of trust by betraying his own family. He secured his standing with the Faddas by shooting his own father.
We don’t know exactly why Rabbi Milligan murdered his dad. He told Loy Cannon it’s a “dog-eat-dog world.” He might have decided to join the winning team when he realized how the game would end for the Irish. Or he might have hated his father for trading him twice, even though he knew his son could be killed in the exchange. It’s also possible Rabbi Milligan resented his father who forced him to shoot the innocent Jewish boy who traded places with him. Likely it’s a combination of all those things and more.
No matter, we know an Irishman earned a spot alongside the head of an Italian family through blood. Now, all these years later, he is the one responsible for Satchel. And Rabbi Milligan knows better than anyone how it feels to be used as a pawn in a deadly game by power hungry fathers.
FX
It’s not hard to see how Satchel could follow his protector’s path. The young boy is mad at his father for sending him away. It’s the kind of act that builds resentment. And keep in mind that it’s also 1950 in America. If you had to bet on a “winning team” in a war between white and Black Americans, you know who will come out on top. And if Loy Cannon asks his son to do something awful like murder another innocent youngster, the way Rabbi Milligan had to, Satchel might decide he’d rather point a gun at a guilty man instead. Even if that guilty man his own dad.
And once he’s no longer a part of the Cannon family, Satchel might take up the name of the person who guided him. He might honor the man who taught him the way the world works, Rabbi Milligan, as he takes his spot in the Italian mafia.
It would be a bleak ending for Loy Cannon. But it’s an ending he’s already worried about.
FX
Loy knows Rabbi Milligan murdered his father when he was in the same situation as Satchel. And Loy also knows both his sons resent him. (He’s trying to stop his oldest from being a musician.) Getting his child home and away from a person who betrayed his family is as much about keeping Loy safe as it is his son. That might sound harsh. But that’s why Loy patted Satchel down when they met outside the funeral home. He didn’t hug his son when he first saw him. He checked to make sure his boy didn’t have a weapon he could use against his own father. But such an ending might be unavoidable for Loy.
The Cannons are fighting a group we know will be in power 29 years later. And losing contenders for Kansas City’s crime throne go away for good. Save for one Irishman who did the seemingly unthinkable to survive. That could be how Satchel survives his own family’s extinction too before he becomes Mike Milligan.
FX
But that doesn’t mean Satchel will have a happy ending either. What did either man get from being members of another team? As Loy told him, Rabbi Milligan is as an outsider in a family that doesn’t respect him. And Fargo‘s second season ends with Mike Milligan having proven himself reliable and ready for a new position of power. His reward was a banal desk job.
Rabbi Milligan is teaching Satchel Cannon it’s a dog-eat-dog world. But just because you run with a different pack doesn’t mean you’re a part of it.
Featured Image: FX
Mikey Walsh is a staff writer at Nerdist. You can follow him on Twitter at @burgermike, and also anywhere someone is ranking the Targaryen kings.
The post This FARGO Theory Spells Doom for Loy appeared first on Nerdist.
The following contains spoilers for Fargo season four.
Fargo‘s fourth season has roughly 700 characters. Not an easy group to keep track of. So you might be unaware of a potentially huge and telling connection with the show’s second season that some fans are speculating about. The Irishman, the one taking care of Loy Cannon’s youngest son Satchel, is Rabbi Milligan. That’s the same surname as Bokeem Woodbine’s Mike Milligan from season two. He was also an unlikely outsider who served in Kansas City’s Italian mafia. Since there are no coincidences on Fargo, the possible connection is obvious.
And if the future Mike Milligan is really Loy’s child, the Cannon crime family seems destined for a bleak end at the hands of the son it traded to another team. A team that will never truly accept him.
The show’s second season took place in 1979. It featured Kansas City’s Italian mafia executing a hostile takeover of the Gerhardt crime family in North Dakota. Regardless of what happens this season, set in 1950, an Italian crime syndicate will still be a powerful force in Kansas City 29 years later. And they will have a Black associate named Mike Milligan.
We don’t know how Mike Milligan came to serve the Italian mafia. But he played an important role for them in their violent power grab. They sent him north to take care of some very bloody business. He was no stranger to force, and not above murdering to survive and thrive. For a Black man to have that position in 1979, he clearly did something major to earn the trust of the Italian mob.
FX
Ben Whishaw’s Rabbi Milligan earned that type of trust by betraying his own family. He secured his standing with the Faddas by shooting his own father.
We don’t know exactly why Rabbi Milligan murdered his dad. He told Loy Cannon it’s a “dog-eat-dog world.” He might have decided to join the winning team when he realized how the game would end for the Irish. Or he might have hated his father for trading him twice, even though he knew his son could be killed in the exchange. It’s also possible Rabbi Milligan resented his father who forced him to shoot the innocent Jewish boy who traded places with him. Likely it’s a combination of all those things and more.
No matter, we know an Irishman earned a spot alongside the head of an Italian family through blood. Now, all these years later, he is the one responsible for Satchel. And Rabbi Milligan knows better than anyone how it feels to be used as a pawn in a deadly game by power hungry fathers.
FX
It’s not hard to see how Satchel could follow his protector’s path. The young boy is mad at his father for sending him away. It’s the kind of act that builds resentment. And keep in mind that it’s also 1950 in America. If you had to bet on a “winning team” in a war between white and Black Americans, you know who will come out on top. And if Loy Cannon asks his son to do something awful like murder another innocent youngster, the way Rabbi Milligan had to, Satchel might decide he’d rather point a gun at a guilty man instead. Even if that guilty man his own dad.
And once he’s no longer a part of the Cannon family, Satchel might take up the name of the person who guided him. He might honor the man who taught him the way the world works, Rabbi Milligan, as he takes his spot in the Italian mafia.
It would be a bleak ending for Loy Cannon. But it’s an ending he’s already worried about.
FX
Loy knows Rabbi Milligan murdered his father when he was in the same situation as Satchel. And Loy also knows both his sons resent him. (He’s trying to stop his oldest from being a musician.) Getting his child home and away from a person who betrayed his family is as much about keeping Loy safe as it is his son. That might sound harsh. But that’s why Loy patted Satchel down when they met outside the funeral home. He didn’t hug his son when he first saw him. He checked to make sure his boy didn’t have a weapon he could use against his own father. But such an ending might be unavoidable for Loy.
The Cannons are fighting a group we know will be in power 29 years later. And losing contenders for Kansas City’s crime throne go away for good. Save for one Irishman who did the seemingly unthinkable to survive. That could be how Satchel survives his own family’s extinction too before he becomes Mike Milligan.
FX
But that doesn’t mean Satchel will have a happy ending either. What did either man get from being members of another team? As Loy told him, Rabbi Milligan is as an outsider in a family that doesn’t respect him. And Fargo‘s second season ends with Mike Milligan having proven himself reliable and ready for a new position of power. His reward was a banal desk job.
Rabbi Milligan is teaching Satchel Cannon it’s a dog-eat-dog world. But just because you run with a different pack doesn’t mean you’re a part of it.
Featured Image: FX
Mikey Walsh is a staff writer at Nerdist. You can follow him on Twitter at @burgermike, and also anywhere someone is ranking the Targaryen kings.
The post This FARGO Theory Spells Doom for Loy appeared first on Nerdist.
I never been a Gundam guy. I know there’s a bunch of Gundam series. The way I remember Gundam is from the late 90s to mid-2000s commercials for Gundam model kits that people would build up by hand. They had these super intricate big mech models in front of the camera with someone behind them, arms folded, saying, “Level 14 Gundam. 12 hours.” When I tell you that shit made me laugh every time I saw it. Like, okay, calm down. It ain’t that serious man. Little did I know, years later in 2020, I’d get told by my friend, Will, that I might rock with this show called Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans. We in the middle of a global pandemic, I got the time to start some new shit today. Never tried a Gundam before but sure, Let’s rock it out.
I was not ready. I was not fucking ready for Mikazuki “I’m only 16 but my body count is old” Augus. Soon as I saw young boy Mika holding the burner, blood on his face, gun smoke wafting away beside him as he was looking at his mans and dem Orga Itsuka asking, “Who you need me to dead next, Orga?” I said, Tekkedan, you son of a bish. I’m in. Oh, I was fucking hooked. I was fucking hooked man. This is the hard shit I be talking about. These fucking teens being treated like human debris to fight wars for corporations, private militaries, and so on as child soldiers. They then say fuck that noise, cause a mutiny, then create their own private military called Tekkadan. Which gets them pulled into the politics of trying to Mars independence, they get caught up in this crime syndicate to operate under to get the government off their backs.
Best Boy Sociopath
Listen, Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans is 2 seasons of gun smoke and bodies piling up. I ain’t here to discuss all of that as a review. I’m here to talk about the best boy sociopath Mikazuki Augus, pilot of Gundamn Barbatos Lupus Rex.
Man, Mikazuki is about the action, the whole action and nothing but that fucking action. I knew dude was real when Orga handed him the burner and they pulled the mutiny. Mika popped three shots in their former (abusive) boss’ head like it was nothing. Gave that man a fucking flu shot far as he was concerned, then shot a dude trying to rush’em after that like it was just another typical taco Tuesday. I said, “oh this boy real right here”. Didn’t matter who was stepping to the young lion. Mikazuki already built different as fuck then they fucked around and let’em pilot a Gundam?! They gave this boy the Bompton Barbatos Gundam to turn all of Tekkadan’s enemies to memories?! I knew Mikazuki was with the Metamucil when that Gjallarhorn soldier challenged him, got fucking got, and was asking Mikazuki for an honorable death or some shit? I don’t know what he was sayin’ cause Mikazuki got out the cockpit with Royce Da 5’9 playing in the background and popped dude before he could even finish his sentence. What?! What the fuck?! Let’s fucking go. That’s what I’m talking about.
Ain’t no shonen long-winded monologue about friendship or life being precious. Mikazuki out here treating the opps like Rice Krispies cereal You either get your neck snapped or bones crackled from fighting Barbatos or popped from Mikazuki’s burner’s burner account. That’s it. One enemy told Mikazuki that he probably enjoyed killing. You know what Mika said… after he killed’em? “Oh shit, do I? Man, I’ll figure that shit out later.” You know damn well that shit ain’t get figured out later cause fuck that. Mikazuki a fucking mud-made monster of Tekkadan man. Let’s get into ya boy’s partner on the field too. Mr. Muscle Milk The Muscles Man himself, Akihiro Altland.
Mr. Milk The Muscles Man
Akihiro Altland is here to do three things. Get his weight up in the gym, put the weight of his friend’s lives on his shoulders, and take the weight of life off his enemies. That’s it. That’s all this man does. Akihiro is second to fighting only to Mikazuki. We saw him get his weight up in and out of the Gundam. When Tekkadan ran into the Turbines then got cool with them, the women fighters trained him to become even more refined. Akihiro stayed in the simulator. That’s the danger room man. He fought everyone and anyone available in order to get better. Meek Mill “Dreams and Nightmares” on the entire time he was in that simulator. Saying, to himself ” So I had to grind like that to shine like this // In a matter of time I spent on some locked up shit” repeatedly.
I knew the exact dynamic that Mikazuki and Akihiro had when i saw them both in the hallway doing pull ups on the pipes. That’s all I needed to see to know that these two are the realist. These two? Ain’t here for no play play shit. These two? Ain’t tryina kumbaya with you n****, they trying to murder anything and anyone standing in the way of their people’s living the good life Kanye and T-Payne sang about on Graduation. This is Iron-Blooded Orphan Human Debris mentality right here. Muthafuckas gotta respect the work out regimen for this life. Come the fuck on, yo. When I be saying I want that real rap raw, this is the exact shit I’m talking bout.
Nobody was safe in this series. No plot armor protecting anybody from the fade. God’s armor couldn’t be equipped for this gutta gutta shit man. Tekkadan teammates getting dropped in battle left and right. Loved ones making sacrifice play so they teammates and peoples could make it out of lose/lose situations alive. Yall don’t fucking hear me tho, man. Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans is the shit Pusha T be rapping about man. If you know you fucking know. You think you know the direction the show going and then they fucking shift gears like Jason Statham and make a hard left while driving in reverse (diddy and biggie style). There are deaths that still don’t sit right with me in my fucking spirit, man. You get got on the battlefield fine, but come on, man. My girl Lafter Frankland? Not like that, yo. Not like fucking that.
The Turbines
Lafter done did it all man. Went bar for bar with Mikazuki on their first meeting with nothing but beef between them before Tekkadan joined up with The Turbines / Teiwaz. She and her girls trained Akihiro and the other Tekkadan members into the fucking gutter mobile suit monsters that NOBODY wanted a piece off. Ya girl made it out of the Gjallarhorn raid on the Turbines, saw the folks that took her in, Naze and Amida, get fucking got, got the blessing to go and be with Akihiro who she didn’t realize she fell in love with, then decided to not tell him she loved him after their small date (Akihiro mad oblivious) and instead stay with her girls in the Turbines. Lafter went through all that shit just to end up in a Build-A-Bear store looking at a bear that reminded her of Akihiro just to catch four rounds in a fucking walk by, yo.
Jasley Donomikols killed her just to push Tekkadan, Who were under Naze’s protection, into a fight on some petty shit. Jasley Donomikols dropped a dime on Naze which lead to’em getting killed and now he done got Lafter? The sweet-faced monster Gundam pilot, Lafter?! Just to get control of Teiwaz you did this?
Nah. Nah, Tekkadan coudn’t accept that shit. Tekkadan had to send that order back to the fucking kitchen. Tekkadan dropped outta Teiwaz just to fucking run that man’s fade. They ain’t even talk to one another during the fight, everybody knew what it was. Jasley Donomikols got his shit rock’em sock’em robot’ed. The fuck he think he was stepping to man? These kids Iron-Blooded monsters, man. Mika asked Orga, how far am I taking this? Am I ending this man’s career or eliminating his whole bloodline? Orga said, “Total annihilation.” and it was game fucking over. Tekkadan in 5… fucking minutes.
No Games, No Peace Talks
Mikazuki ain’t here to play any games with these mutha fuckas, man. Akihiro didn’t come here to discuss peace talks. Orga ain’t send them and the rest of the gang out for a fucking walk in the park. This is gutta shit. You wanted beef? Well, this is top sirloin with garlic butter. Enjoy, cause it’s your last fucking meal coming out the end of a god damn Gundam rifle with air holes in the muzzle.
These Tekkadan kids built fucking different, man. I done seen these boys off grown ass adults that fucked them up. Nice ass sweet boy Takaki Uno pulled the burner on a man that fucked over his whole battalion through lies and leading them on. Takaki Uno pulling the burner outside the battlefield is like Mr. Rogers running somebody’s chain. You done pushed this sweet boy too fucking far, got his friends knocked, and blood needs to be a down payment for that shit. Speaking of blood as a down payment, Mikazuki Augus literally gave everything he had to Tekkadan.
Literally. My man had to fight a Gundam that stepped to Tekkadan on Earth. That boy said, fuck it. Fine. He let Barbatos take more control of his body and it cost him his right arm and right eye. Mikazuki ain’t give a fuck about it. Fuck that arm. He shoot with his left anyway. Mika could only use his arm when he was piloting Barbatos due to the Alaya-Vijnana System. Shit ain’t stop there tho. Mikazuki, later on, had to step to an unmanned Armor Gundam called the Hashmal. The Hasmal was fucking everybody the fuck up. Whoever beat it tho would get the glory and recognized for their strength. Mikazuki KNEW he had to do this shit to put Tekkadan on the map. Gjallarhorn members couldn’t do shit facing off against this fucking monster. Mikazuki took it the fuck down on some fucking big bad wolf shit.
For the Squad
He let Barbatos take all the way over and it cost him his whole left side. This boy gave his whole left side to deliver the fade for the baddest mutha fucker in the galaxy title for Tekkadan to hold. Mika literally had to be carried around by his subordinate hush after this point (and wanted to stay hooked up to Barbatos so he could remain functional). Mika wasn’t even mad about it either, mans didn’t even care. This is what he did to protect Tekkadan and put them where they needed to be. Mikazuki did this for his squad and he did this shit for his fucking gang, come the fuck on.
This shit was never more apparent than when Tekkadan had to go underground after betting on the wrong side fo the Gjallarhorn revolution with McGillis’ side. Man, mainstream Gjallarhorn was smearing Tekkadan’s name in the papers, and everywhere. Tekkadan had to escape to Earth from their base on Mars. In order to do that someone had to hold off the Gjallarhorn forces that outnumbered them. Maaaaaaan, Tekkadan mobile suit squad was holding it down. They lost some people, but once folks were ready to dip. Mikazuki told everyone to fall the fuck back. He’d join up with them later. Mika tried to tell that shit to Akihiro as well.
Akihiro said, who the fuck you talking to. You know damn well I’m staying to fuck these folks up. When I tell you that these mutha fuckas did the coldest last stand I done ever seen. I knew from the beginning of the series that these two would probably die in battle but oh my god, I had no idea how many they would take with them. Once Akihiro took a deep breath and shouted “Akihiro Altland, pilot of Gundamn Gusion Rebake Full City” and Mikazuki did the same yelling, “Mikazuki Augus, Gundam Barbatos Lupus Rex” It was fucking over for me.
What Does It Take To Die
When you state your government name then the name of the whip you bout to whip these mother fuckers with? It’s over. You got no choice but to go out on your sword and take as many of these mutha fuckas with you as you can. Mikazuki and Akihiro did fucking wooooooork. Two fucking 16-17-year-olds, beating up grown men with their mech suits. Grown ass men saying, “Yo, what the fuck are these guys’ problem?” Grown ass men shitting they pants against teens that should be hanging out at a fucking mall food court are out here beating the fucking just for men off their ass. Grown ass men shook. So shook that Gjallarhorn had to use an illegal fucking war weapon to bring these dudes down. They rained that shit down above these boys from overhead.
THEM BOYS AIN’T FUCKING DIE THO! Mika and Akihiro got right the fuck back up. Arms missing from they Gundams, their faces Stone Cold Steve Austin in the Sharpshooter bloody. Becky Lynch broken nose with arms spread eagle in the stands at WWE Raw bloody. Still ready for fucking war. Still ready to bring to the pain to these mutha fuckas. How you get shot down, get up, and cop even more bodies than when you were busting these folks shit in from before?! What the fuck?! Let’s fucking Go. Gjallarhorn captain Iok that was a fucking idiot and caused the death of so many folks on Tekkadan due to his idiocy and arrogance (including Naze) was there comin at them. Once Akihiro heard his voice and made sure to kill his ass before he got stabbed up. Akihiro got a third wind hearing his voice saying, “Wait, your dumbass is here?! Oh you GOTS to fucking go!” Meanwhile, Mikazuki in Barbatos with one fucking arm out here killing these soldiers on his wolf shit.
Give The Boys Their Due
Mika went off for a fucking kill streak. Gjallarhorn captain Julieta was like, “Bro, it’s over what are you doing? Why you still fighting?!” Mikazuki was not hearing that shit. Mika was hitting Marvel Vs Capcom 2 level combos on these mutha fuckas. Crossing them over with one arm and his fucking tail. Mika had these soldiers looking like they belonged back on the bench. Mika only went down due to his injuries. These mutha fuckas could not see this man on the battlefield. His body gave out and they wanted to give Julieta the praise of having killed the demon wolf of Tekkadan… man, we can watch that tape back. Julieta ain’t do a damn thing all-season or in this fucking fight. I ain’t ever seen a side with more numbers take a hit like that. Mika and Akihiro kept these mutha fuckas profits in the fucking red.
Man, Iron-Blooded Orphans got me respecting Gundam now. I’ll check out the other series but, if they do not go as hard as Mikazuki Augus and Akihiro Altland putting muhfuckas in the fucking space dirt, I don’t want it. If it ain’t to the level of Orga in the Ron Burgundy burgundy suit taking gunshots in the back to protect his mans ride then bucking off kill shots while bleeding out then I don’t want it. Next time you see me, I’ma be rocking a Tekkadan jacket with timberlands on outta fucking respect for the trilliest.
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The post Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans Gave Us Struggle Bars, Gunsmoke, and Blood on the Mobile Suit appeared first on Black Nerd Problems.
Source: Courtesy of Keaira LaShae / 5W Public Relations
If you’re an admirer of online workout videos, you probably have heard of Keaira Lashae. Before I interviewed her this week about her journey from singer and dancer to choreographer and successful hip-hop tabata instructor, I had done a few of her videos in the past. Most recently, I twerked and squatted through some offerings while in my third trimester during the pandemic, trying to stay active because I knew I needed to. Now, the dance and fitness instructor is pregnant, expecting her third child, but that hasn’t stopped her from churning out sweat-inducing videos on her site If You Can Move and making a killing over these chaotic months, bump in tow.
“It has grown tremendously and so has my business, period. My waist snatchers, my booty bands, everything has just grown so much because people are at home,” she told me over the phone. “My business blew up from there. I’ve always been doing this but I really got a chance to shine while people were at home. It’s grown tremendously and it’s still growing.”
She’s not kidding. Lashae’s latest offering for fans is a 30-day Trap N Tone Challenge ($59.99, still open and starting this Sunday!) where people can tone up their bodies to hip-hop and trap music. Those who have the most success getting fit doing the challenge can walk away with $10,000. Her last challenge, she gave away $7,500 to three top performers.
“I wanna give some people incentives!” she said.
We talked to Lashae about launching her own platform after years of instructing for other big sites, taking her time to snap back after her third baby is born as she did with her first two, and why her short workouts are burning crazy calories and gaining a boatload of fans, followers, and in turn, funds.
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MadameNoire: I’m sure you worked yourself hard to get back into shape. When you find out you’re pregnant a second and third time, were you ever like, “Oh lawd” [laughs] because you know the work it will take to get back to looking and feeling like yourself?
Keaira Lashae: Honestly it is a lot of work. But I will say what’s really dope is you have to think about as women, our bodies are going to change when we bring life into the world. That’s just it. To be able to do that is a blessing in itself so I think about it like that. Yes, it’s hard to get back in shape. I told my husband, “You’re setting me up.” [laughs] But at the same time, I took it one day at a time. I look at my beautiful little blessings that I’ve got running around and I’m like, “It’s good. It’s all good.” I can do the work. I know my discipline and I know that you’ve got to take your time. A lot of people thought my “snapback” was fast. To me it wasn’t fast because I literally took my time. I didn’t hurt myself trying to hurry to get back in shape. It took my body nine months to create life so when you think about it like that, you’ve got to put everything into perspective. You gotta understand, yeah you might have a little gut, but you worked for that gut. You had a whole human come out of it. You’re superhuman!
We see so much of people on social media with the “snapback,” but not everybody’s gonna get it that fast. Not everybody’s doing it safely. Some people are hemorrhaging trying to impress people they don’t even know. Take your time! Be with that baby. Heal yourself.
How did you get your start in the fitness realm as someone who was singing, doing music first? And how did your musical background play into you creating hip-hop tabata?
Fitness has always been a part of my life. Well, dance. Dance has always been a part of my life, especially as a performer, as a singer. I’ve danced since I was seven. People used to ask me, and they still do, “How do you stay in shape?” I’m dancing all of the time. I’m at rehearsals. I’ve got shows and stuff so I’m dancing constantly and that’s what keeps me in shape. So I decided to share that with people and it became really popular.
As far as creating hip-hop tabata, I just wanted to do something that was quick and effective. People don’t always have time to work out for an hour. I remember going to the gym with my husband and sometimes his workouts were like an hour and a half and I’m like, “Yo! I’m dying here. I’m bored and I can’t. Do we have to be in here for an hour and a half to get results?” No. So I decided to put together what I loved and make it quick and effective for people. I just wanted to make it seem like we were in the club with your homegirls. It’s like a night out on the dance floor. When I get off the dance floor I’m sweaty, so that’s how I want it to feel when you work out with me.
What prompted you to take your dance series MOVE from the platform Daily Burn, as well as your fitness videos for Popsugar, and eventually create your own platform, If You Can Move, to provide those services?
I’m the one that convinced Daily Burn to do a dance series. Again, I’ve always been a dancer. I was like, “Let me give y’all a series of what I think will do really well with people.” They didn’t want to at first. They were like, “Dance is stupid.” [laughs] I was like, are you serious? I said, “Give me a chance.” My series ended up being the number one series on Daily Burn. So I actually convinced them. What made me transition into my own thing is because I know my vision. I had a bigger vision for what I wanted to see in an online gym. I just have a bigger dream for it. I have a bigger goal for it. It’s more to me than just getting people in. It’s about creating a wonderful community and doing it on my own terms.
Source: Courtesy of Keaira LaShae / 5W Public Relations
As someone pregnant with your third child, how do you find the energy to keep doing your videos and exercising?
Honestly, sometimes I don’t have the energy because I’m making a baby. But I think there’s natural energy that I have because I know how many people I motivate every day. That’s what helps me to get up. I’m not even going to lie to you. Sometimes I’m like, “You know what? They’ve got plenty of workouts from me already [laughs].” I don’t always have the energy. Because of that I created an energy supplement, an all-natural energy supplement, because I know that people drag throughout the day and they really don’t want to. It’s not out yet, but it will drop on Black Friday. I wanted to create something to help people kind of mimic my same energy. I don’t always have it, but when I do, I try to go in for my people [laughs].
Until your energy supplement drops, what moves would you recommend for moms-to-be who want to be active but struggle with the videos and more complicated workouts?
I always suggest my Walk It Out DVD program or download. It’s just a 10-minute, 20-minute and a 30-minute walking video. It’s low-impact but high energy. You still get a good workout without harming yourself. I also created MILF Moves, which is another prenatal program. It has about seven workouts on it, including dance, kickboxing, walking, yoga, meditation and affirmation for the baby and mommy.
We can still have fun. Just because you’re pregnant doesn’t mean you have to be a bump on a log. Squats are really good for delivery. Squatting, twerking, any kind of squat moving is great as long as it doesn’t hurt your hips.
What is it about hip-hop tabata, which is a form of HIIT training, that you love so much and why would you recommend it for others?
What I love about it is the fact that, like I said before, it’s quick and effective. It’s maximum effort in a short amount of time for maximum results. And then the fact that I make it fun. It’s 20 minutes. It’s a small, tiny, tiny, minuscule percentage of your day. You don’t have to put aside too much time. You can sweat like crazy. In my dance tabata challenge, the first week of the videos were 12 minutes. Before they pressed play, I had people like, this is only 12 minutes. I said, “Okay. Do it and then come back and let me know what you think.” They were dripping sweat as if they were in the gym for an hour. It’s super effective. The way I set it up, you’re working parts of your body, muscles you didn’t even know you had. You get some strength training in there by doing some type of calisthenics, because dance is a form of calisthenics. You also get endurance work and stamina so there are so many benefits to the tabata way of training. I just make it even more fun.
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