Yaya DaCosta On Visting 9 African Countries | One54 Africa Podcast

Added: 2026-05-10

[00:00:00]I've been to Accra a few times, been to Marrakech, Morocco.

[00:00:06]>> Marrakech, yeah. Yes.

[00:00:09]Um, been to Tanzania, Zanzibar, Botswana, hosted their first fashion week in 2010.

[00:00:16]>> Awesome.

[00:00:18]>> um South Africa, Cape Town, Durban.

[00:00:21]Um Uganda, Rwanda.

[00:00:27]Um >> And you got both of us beat. Oh, no doubt.

[00:00:31]I'm like, what am I forgetting? Oh, wow.

[00:00:35]Egypt?

[00:00:37]I haven't been to Egypt yet. I have to go to Kenya. I have It seems like you were starting here, you were going like this. You started in the northwest and then you go down to the west and then you came down. And then you came back over there. He's like, that's why I'm on 154. I've been to all 54.

[00:00:51]>> [laughter] >> YOU FOOL.

[00:00:55]HOW DO YOU CALL YOURSELF 154 and you've only been to four of them?

[00:00:58]>> [laughter] >> I THINK THAT I KNOW.

[00:01:03]NO, WE'RE 154 BECAUSE YOU'VE done five, you've done four, you've done four, I've done five, AND YOU'VE DONE NINE.

[00:01:11]>> [laughter] >> WE LIKE TWO OLD MEN.

[00:01:15]DID YOU GET THAT? 5 + 4 = 9.

[00:01:19]BOY, YOU SMART, BOY.

[00:01:21]THAT BOY CRAZY. SHOW'S OVER. GOOD NIGHT.

[00:01:25]>> [laughter] >> WE DONE FOUR, YOU DONE FIVE, equal nine. It's time we do the same thing.

[00:01:31]Ooh, I KNOW WHAT THAT MEAN.

[00:01:34]NO, MY DAD NO, BUT IT'S TRUE BECAUSE I'VE really been to all countries. We're like two old DUDES IN THE NO, but I've really been to five countries. You've got four and I think SHE LISTED OFF NINE. AND YOU DID NINE. MAN, THIS IS like universal numbers. It's amazing.

[00:01:47]Combination. [laughter] Yes. Oh my goodness, I got to collect myself. Oh my goodness.

[00:01:52]>> [laughter] >> Oh.

[00:01:54]Oh my goodness. I I don't even know where to pick up from. Wouldn't it all equal 20? It was like 5 * 4.

[00:02:01]>> [laughter] >> MAN, I CAN'T TAKE IT.

[00:02:03]THE numerical coefficient is Oh, now you're going to go into your Terrence Howard now. No, I did not.

[00:02:09]Terrence Howard. I'm playing.

[00:02:12]Oh.

[00:02:14]You Oh, my goodness. THAT FACE. [laughter] AND MY SNACKS. THAT FACE. Because 5 * 4 is not zero.

[00:02:25]What? Terrence [laughter] Howard.

[00:02:26]I'm telling you it's not what you think it is.

[00:02:30]Doesn't he sound like him? Uh-huh.

[00:02:32]Doesn't he sound like him?

[00:02:33]>> I sound light-skinned, but I'm not.

[00:02:36]Wow, he is so good You're so good.

[00:02:39]>> Yeah, he is. He really is. I don't know how he pulls that stuff off.

[00:02:42]>> time, I'm just like Every time. By the end of this interview, he's going to have me down here.

[00:02:47]>> He's going to be I got to be like this.

[00:02:49]Ooh. I'm going to be Yaya. I can't wait.

[00:02:52]>> [laughter] >> So, your mom's from the Bronx, but she she has heritage to to Brazil, right?

[00:02:56]Yeah, right. So, yes, the Caribbean and Brazil are branches.

[00:03:04]The people who are from there were Africans.

[00:03:08]>> Yeah.

[00:03:09]Relocated. Yeah.

[00:03:11]Um so, yeah, her mom's people were from Montserrat / St. Croix / Barbados. Her dad's people were from Brazil. Okay. Um but all [clears throat] Bronx. Nice.

[00:03:27]>> Yes. So, you know what's interesting because I think we've talked about this on the show when you think about Brazil, uh Brazil largest um you know African population outside of Africa. Mhm. And you think about what that transatlantic slave trade did.

[00:03:43]Five and A lot of people may not even be aware of this that five over five million um slaves were brought to Brazil, and that number like far surpasses that of America. And you think about how many people like are in Brazil that are that are of African descent.

[00:04:02]And yet when you see the portrayal of Brazilians, it's not what No.

[00:04:08]>> suggest. Mhm.

[00:04:10]It's Bundchen, Gisele Bundchen.

[00:04:13]Right. It's Gisele, the German version of Gisele.

[00:04:16]>> it is like I remember the first time I went to, you know, Copacabana Beach. And I was just like, oh wow, like I was taken by surprise because I didn't even know because I was, you know, everything I learned was here in the States, so I had a certain perspective.

[00:04:29]>> And that was Copacabana Beach. Yes.

[00:04:31]>> Not Salvador Beach in in Salvador, Bahia, which is where the most the the highest concentration of melanin exists in South in Bahia. Yeah, and that was this and so what did your parents like, you know, and your mom and like what did she you guys have that discussion, I'm sure, about, you know, the true mix and the true nature of of Brazil and the people of Brazil. What was that like growing up and how they educate you on that? I mentioned growing up in the Capoeira world. I mentioned my godfather, my father, who was one of the first Americans my older brother 10 years older than me was the first child to learn Capoeira in the United States, if not outside of Capoeira Brazil.

[00:05:18]>> at 5 years old.

[00:05:19]Wow. So, four or five.

[00:05:21]>> What's his name?

[00:05:23]Mamadoune. Mamadoune, all right. My brother. That's dope. Yes, Eba I he's now an ancestor.

[00:05:28]>> Yeah, yeah. And um so all of the Brazilian Capoeiristas that would come with this family, with this group, you know, which is now Capoeira Luanda, they were the rainbow.

[00:05:45]They were every shade of person, you know what I mean? And a lot of black Brazilians. And so, I didn't rely on movies to understand what it was. I You know, it's just um important that And I think that goes not just for Brazil, but there are a lot of places in South um and Central America that are blacker than you think.

[00:06:09]>> Yeah, for real.

[00:06:10]>> half the half the population of Brazil is black. When I went to Colombia, Oh. Carthagena? Carthagena?

[00:06:18]It's Buenaventura. Yeah. It's all black.

[00:06:22]Cuba? It is all Yeah, and not just black, but the music, the way that they sing and dance, the call and response, the group dancing. It's not I got a line dancing, but everything, the flavors It is so African. Garafuna? It Yes, exactly. And so, if you pay attention, Right. we are there.

[00:06:45]>> Yeah. Yeah.

[00:06:46]>> But if you just watch a movies, >> Well, they're not going to show you that. And my thing is, too, I was wondering cuz I know what the Brazilians, black Brazilians we're talking about, they're they're trying their best to like bleach it out, the black folks in Brazil. You know what I'm saying? They're trying to cuz they always represent Brazil with the whitest-looking people all the time.

[00:07:06]>> that's also because that's who makes it out. So, if you meet Brazilians who have traveled Yeah.

[00:07:15]>> or on vacation or who relocated, they're you're going to be lighter-skinned because Brazil has the closest thing to a caste system. It's You know, it's been that way for a long time.

[00:07:28]>> don't remember Lima?

[00:07:30]>> populations are also the poorest.

[00:07:32]>> Poorest. So, they're not buying the flights to New York for Christmas, you know what I mean? So, if you walk around and you hear, "Oh, Portuguese," you're You're to see the people who, you know, like most places in the world. You know, it's crazy because I I wore this shirt because because of you. You can see right here it says Olodum. Olodum.

[00:07:50]Olodum. And, you know, this is, you know, you know, a group that, you know, fought against racism in Brazil. But, Michael Jackson wore this shirt in his video "They Don't Care About Us", right?

[00:08:02]1996.

[00:08:04]And my phone And he had the band and Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes.

[00:08:07]Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes.

[00:08:07]Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes.

[00:08:09]Michael Yes. He had them behind him.

[00:08:11]That's what made That's what made them angry. But, that song That song right That song right there, not only was it talking about like what was going on in the States, but it was actually what was going on in Brazil, too. Because, you know, a lot of people don't know that the government the Brazilian government did not want him to film there. He did They didn't want him to show what the other side of Brazil looked like. And they were had There were fears that they had a bid for the 2004 Olympics. And if Michael Jackson did this massive video there, the people would see how poor and especially that the black, you know, the black population and how they were living. And I mean, Michael Jackson had to get all sorts of internal help like from the locals that they helped protect Michael Jack The gangsters. The gangsters. Just to be In the favelas. In the favelas. In the favelas. That's exactly Did you ever go? Yes, I did. I had a rock thrown at me >> [laughter] >> That's hilarious. It was like asked me for some money. I was like I I [laughter] got here and you're like this, "Wait a minute."

[00:09:12]I DIDN'T EXPECT THIS. AND THEN I was about to I was about to go in and I go, "Hold on." God damn it, Akbar. I said, "No, I'm about to number here." I was like, you you know, "Let me just chill."

[00:09:20]>> [laughter] >> I went to I got to the favelas because my friend who was in, um, you know, the the the, um, carnival is about the Escolas. It's the It's the It's the samba schools.

[00:09:31]It's a competition of samba schools, which I didn't know. My friend was in Grande Rio and Portela. And she was like, "Hey, do you want to take part?"

[00:09:39]You know, I was with some guys from Atlanta. You know, it was a bunch of Americans. "You want to take part in the in the rehearsal? And we were like, "Yeah."

[00:09:46]What? In the rehearsal?

[00:09:47]>> In in the in the whole in the in the parade. And we were like, we didn't know. We were like, "Yeah." And then she goes, "Okay, we want to buy costumes."

[00:09:55]So, we put on the costumes.

[00:09:57]And let me tell you something. We I didn't know it was like floats. So, we're just in the back.

[00:10:03]>> What kind of costume was it? It was just like you got the pants and the It's cool.

[00:10:07]>> Okay. Okay. Okay. I thought you were going to say it was like a samba costume. So, we were sitting there like, you know, you have to do the dances, right? The the the the thing moves.

[00:10:15]Right? It moves. The the float moves and you're like doing a little in Portuguese. You're like, "Whatever." And they were walking. I'm like, it's it's night time. I go, "Man, how long is this parade? We're still going and stuff." I said, "Man, what do we do What is I don't even understand this." And then you said, "Oh, it's a competition of the floats." But we were the last float. So, we get into the Sambadrome.

[00:10:37]Didn't know We get into this big stadium. There's people cheering. I was like, "Oh, this is what we we walked for so long. We were go heading to the Sambadrome." And so, it's like, it's 6:00 in the morning. We finally get to the Sambadrome. I'm mighty, you know.

[00:10:51]I'm black Buddhist. I'm like, I'm a little whatever the hell. I'm like, "Boy, I was like, what the hell?" So, then it ends. And so, we have to go through the favelas. And we sit at people's homes that we don't even know these wonderful Brazilian people.

[00:11:04]Wonderful. Cuz I had just finished watching the City of God the day before.

[00:11:09]City of God of Jesus. That's the day before.

[00:11:12]I saw the City of God before I went to Brazil. I was like, "Oh, man, that favela. I don't want to be there." I'm like, "Oh, I'm in the same place. I just watched the movie." Yeah. So, they were so wonderful. The people were wonderful.

[00:11:24]And then we And then the news people came up to us cuz they found out me and then some other Americans were joining the the parade. They were like, "Hey."

[00:11:32]it was Channel 4. It's a big Brazilian news state." And so they interviewed me and my friend. I was like, "Yeah, we're from New York City. We just And they were like, "Wow, how do you like Brazil?" And then we were on TV all over. I get back to my hotel area.

[00:11:47]Everybody's like, "We saw you!

[00:11:48]WE SAW YOU ON THE TV, MAN!"

[00:11:50]>> [screaming] >> I WAS LIKE, AND THEY WERE LIKE, "GOTTI, EVEN IN BRAZIL you got on TV." Damn.

[00:11:55]154, we all connected, baby. [music] You already know.

[00:12:00]I'm talking 154. We bringing that flavor around the whole globe.

[00:12:06]Ain't no place like [singing] Ain't no place like Ain't no place like [music] home.