Transcript

Miguel - Honoring Mexican Identity in “CAOS” & Speaking Chaos to Power Through Art | The Daily Show

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· 19 min · 3,207 words · 46 timestamped sections

This is the full, timestamped transcript of "Miguel - Honoring Mexican Identity in “CAOS” & Speaking Chaos to Power Through Art | The Daily Show", an episode of The Daily Show published November 14, 2025 (19 min, about 3,207 words). It mentions 27 people, works and ideas, including Mad Miguel, Speaking Chaos to Power, Mexico, Fascism, Authoritarianism.

Who speaks in this episode?

What is discussed, and when

  1. – 3:00: Authoritarianism, Fascism, Mad Miguel, Mexico
  2. – 6:00: David Bowie, Minutemen, San Pedro, The Rolling Stones
  3. – 9:00: Market system, Piracy, Streaming
  4. – 12:00: Speaking Chaos to Power, Civil Rights Movement, United States (states)
  5. – 15:00: Billboard, New York, New York
  6. – 18:00: Mad Miguel
  7. – 18:38: Global Tour, Mad Miguel

Notable quotes from "Miguel - Honoring Mexican Identity in “CAOS” & Speaking Chaos to Power Through Art | The Daily Show"

  • My guest tonight is a Grammy award-winning artist whose new album is called Couse. Please welcome Miguel.
    about Mad Miguel · at
  • A lot of the visuals which is homage to dansa deos diablo which is a celebration an afroxican celebration in Mexico that com commemorates African slaves freeing themselves is…
    about Mexico · at
  • I think really listening to all of my favorites, you go back to Marvin Gay and you go back to David Bowie and you go back to Queen and you go back to the Rolling Stones or you go back to, one of my favorites, the Minutemen.
    about David Bowie · at
  • Well,, we, have, to, remember, that, all, of these accolades and whatnot are a function of a market system, right?
    about Market system · at
  • The album, physical copy, you own it as well. And then it became this like this whole like piracy scandal where piracy seemed like the way for a little while because people…
    about Piracy · at
  • So,, so, the, course, that, that, we've designed is titled speaking chaos to power. I can't tell you how tremendously like honored I am to kind of be welcomed as a scholar and residence at NYU, one of the most.
    about Speaking Chaos to Power · at
  • Draw a parallel whether it's in the 50s and 60s here in the United States with the civil rights movement across time. It took people not just being on the front lines, but more importantly organizing in the back rooms, coming together.
    about Civil Rights Movement · at
  • See some political change. That's why I love seeing what happened here in this in, in, New, York., Shout, out, to, Marami.
    about New York, New York · at

Who and what is mentioned in this episode?

People

Books & papers

Companies & orgs

  • The Rolling Stones — Company · 1 mention · first at
    Marvin Gay and you go back to David Bowie and you go back to Queen and you go back to the Rolling Stones or you go back to, one of my favorites, the Minutemen Men from San Pedro, which is where I'm from, punk band. it's like you.
  • Minutemen — Company · 1 mention · first at
    Go back to the Rolling Stones or you go back to, one of my favorites, the Minutemen Men from San Pedro, which is where I'm from, punk band. it's like you listen to the expression and it's it's so pure and there's there's integrity in.
  • Billboard — Company · 1 mention · first at
    What you take away from it. kind of like those like bangers that you hear or like the Billboard, you're like you cuz you will pull something away from music that is like so…
  • Attorney General — Company · 1 mention
  • New York University (NYU) — Company · 1 mention
  • RCA Records — Company · 1 mention

Products & tech

  • Global Tour — Product · 1 mention · first at
    This, is, incredible., Yo,, Miguel, Chaos, is available now and tickets are on sale for his global tour which kicks off in February. Miguel.

Concepts & topics

  • Fascism — Concept · 1 mention · first at
    Significance that made a big impact on this album. So, when you look at the way that fascism, the way that authoritarianism has really been playing out in front of us and we're…
  • Authoritarianism — Concept · 1 mention · first at
    On this album. So, when you look at the way that fascism, the way that authoritarianism has really been playing out in front of us and we're seeing hints of it, I'm I'm really…
  • Market system — Concept · 1 mention · first at
  • Piracy — Concept · 1 mention · first at
  • Streaming — Concept · 1 mention · first at
    But, now, through, through, that, we, got, to this place of streaming and now streaming is all the way down to the song. So now people are trying to be as marketable as possible in 5 seconds rather than making an album that.
  • Civil Rights Movement — Concept · 1 mention · first at
  • Afro-Mexican — Concept · 1 mention
  • Capitalism — Concept · 1 mention
  • Danza de los Diablos — Concept · 1 mention
  • Grammy Awards — Concept · 1 mention

Places & events

  • Mexico — Place · 1 mention · first at
  • San Pedro — Place · 1 mention · first at
    Stones or you go back to, one of my favorites, the Minutemen Men from San Pedro, which is where I'm from, punk band. it's like you listen to the expression and it's it's so…
  • United States (states) — Place · 1 mention · first at
    Themselves in the chaos and we can draw a parallel whether it's in the 50s and 60s here in the United States with the civil rights movement across time. It took people not just being on the front lines, but more importantly organizing.
  • New York, New York — Place · 1 mention · first at

Full transcript with timestamps

My guest tonight is a Grammy award-winning artist whose new album is called Couse. Please welcome Miguel. Thank you so much for coming

man., What?, I, am, so, excited, to, be, here and talk. Congratulations. Oh,, thank, you., Congratulations, to, you.

Thanks, so, much,, man. The, album, is, phenomenal. Thank, you, very, much,, man., It's, took, a lot of love and and time.

Yeah., Yeah., It's, been, eight, years, since your last like studio album. So you're like the Daniel D Lewis of sexy music. Like you've been gone for a while and now it's like you never left. This is wild.

Listen,, that's, the, that's, the, hope, and and prayer every time you kind of go away for a second. And it and it was with a lot of intention. So a lot has changed. you know, we've been through an entire global catastrophe of of trying to figure out what we're going to do when, you know, everyone's lives are at stake, you know, and uh I think that alone would would be enough. But, you know, just growth, man, and you know just seeing the world go through a lot of changes. I think it it was the right amount of of time to go away and figure myself out.

Yeah., Because, you, went, through, uh, your own like personal changes. How did you put that into the music? That was uh that was a lot of reflection. You know being being away kind of gives you time to kind of rep prioritize in a way that I needed in in a big way. And uh I think what what that did was it naturally lent to digging into my heritage and um finding a a deeper sense of pride of where I come from, which is probably why the album is titled Chaos and Not Chaos. um as the title would would suggest it's all about you know what's happening and as within so without kind of approach to to the conversation but exploring my Mexican heritage which is uh evident in a lot of the visuals which is homage to dansa deos diablo which is a celebration an afroxican celebration in Mexico that com commemorates African slaves freeing themselves is this kind of like cultural um significance that made a big impact

on this album. So, you know, when you look at the way that fascism, the way that authoritarianism has really been playing out in front of us and we're seeing hints of it, you know, I'm I'm really proud that I was able to kind of infuse this pride in my heritage and cultural identity to kind of take a stand for what matters. I think it's important to celebrate those things now.

So your first studio album was 15 years ago. How do you like No, no. Like I, just, mean, you've, been, doing, something so well for so long. Like how how does that change for you now? The from the first album to now like whether the process has changed or whether your approach to music has changed.

Yeah., Yeah., I, mean, you, certainly, come out like I got to get the bag. I need the culture. I need the hits. I need the big song. I need the big everything. Uh

it's, it's, absolutely um been something that at that time felt so important that now is is kind of such a in the back of the kind of it's taken a backseat to how important it is for art to continue to bring people together. And I think um emotional res resonance has everything to do with that. I think that's why we listen to music in other languages, why we can gather around fine art and not understand where the artist is coming from but completely lock in on a detail that we find oursel in. So, um, so I think that's been the big difference.

It's been the big difference really locking in on the emotional emotional nature and and the and the importance of emotionality in the work.

Yeah., because, you, I'm, not, I'm, not, even um necessarily pulling this away from what what you just said, but this is what you made me think of. It seems like when you were a new artist and you're starting out that so much of your intention and so many of your goals seem not even in a bad way, but just in an honest way like ego driven of like you want to like you say get the bag or you want to have a hit or you just want to show how great you are and everything. And then I think there's just like this way that music evolves over a long career where then even though the beginning seems to be a bit of ego, the the next part of it is self, but it's like self and a way of discovery. I think that's what I'm hearing when I listen to this, you know

thank, you, for, saying, so., Yeah,, I, mean, we all want to get to the bag, you know, we want to make sure we get to the money. We live in a very c it's a capitalist paradigm, you know, so it's it's always going to be in the back of the mind. And I think really listening to all of my favorites, you know, you go back to Marvin Gay and you go back to David Bowie and you go back to Queen and you go back to uh, you know, the Rolling Stones or you go back to, you know, one of one of my favorites, the Minutemen Men from San Pedro, which is where I'm from, punk band. You know, it's like you listen to the expression and it's it's so pure and there's there's integrity in the music that you can feel and um that's absolutely been the driving force coming back. So, yeah. Yeah, that that makes a lot of sense cuz when it comes to how like how artists evolve like I'm everyone I think wants to like you say

get the bag but they also want to be around to make more stuff for a very long time and you have to be making changes to make that happen. And so I wonder if you have any advice for like a younger artist who is

working, on, things, but, there's, only, so much room at like the Grammys. There's only so much room to win a Grammy. There's always So if these are sort of your your goals, they're they're so much hard to achieve, but I think so much of art is about like what you put out there, not necessarily what comes back. And so do you have any advice for like a young person who's like maybe I'll never get the Grammy or maybe I'll never get the bag, but like what their music means to people?

Well,, we, have, to, remember, that, all, of these accolades and whatnot are a function of a market system, right? which is if you work backwards, you're going to think about how valuable or how valid or viable the product is in order to go to market to make the money. So the real key is how do you make the money? You have to find the audience for the product. And if you work backwards from there, my advice would be find your audience. And how do you do that? I think it's about locking into the details about your life and your point of view that are so uniquely yours and doubling down on that so hard and consistently that you you you separate yourself from the madness that we are constantly being sold at at every point in our lives. So, um yeah, just just digging in on our details, you know. I think my favorite art and I think the best art is the feeling you feel seeing yourself in other artists details and I

think that's the best advice I could give is put as many of your own details in your work and it will emerge on its own. So

in, general,, do, you, have, any, feelings about the the direction of music of how music's going? We've seen we've seen the shifts like already in our own lifetime we've seen what it means for like an album to sell. Like you used to just buy the album, physical copy, you own it as well. And then it became this this like this whole like piracy scandal where piracy seemed like the way for a little while because people didn't have enough money. Yeah

I, miss, it., I, really, bring, it, back. Let's, go. Yeah,, that's, where, bring, it, back.

But, now, through, through, that, we, got, to this place of of streaming and now streaming is all the way down to the song. So now people are trying to be as marketable as possible in 5 seconds rather than making an album that somebody would want most of, you know. Yeah.

What, do, you, think and, how, do, you, how, do, you, feel, about, the future of music right now?

I, think, the, music, business, has, always taken advantage of the art or the artists rather right from the from its inception music has exploited or the music business has exploited the artists of of the creators. So, um, it's not that we're seeing anything new now, per se. It's just a different version. It's an optimized, it's a upgrade to the the general function of the music business. I think the the most important thing now that we're seeing happen is we're seeing artists strike out on their own and come up with new solutions. And I think being at um being able to kind of build this this discourse and this uh conversation around taking ownership of the audience um whoever they are for each individual artist whatever their application whatever their principal focus is um I think that's why it's so important that artists really take take the time to identify their audience and really lock in with them and

leverage their audience in a way that empowers them obviously financially but creatively in parallel. That way we don't have to go to the larger corporations that exist and instead I think what it'll do is it it'll push artists to kind of find new solutions build them for themselves, offer them to other artists that that way we build a more equitable system by which we can kind of share our art in in a you know in a capitalist society.

Yeah. Yeah. Hope that makes sense. No, it makes perfect sense. Do you are currently u this this artist and residence at NYU? You're a scholar in residence and can you tell me about the program?

Yeah., Tremendous, honor., Tremendous honor. Yeah. Can, you, tell, me, more, about, it?

So,, so, the, course, that, that, we've designed is is titled um speaking chaos to power. Um, I I I can't tell you how tremendously like honored I am to kind of be welcomed as a as a scholar and residence at NYU, one of the most prestigious, you know, um, fiduciaries. But I, uh, I wanted to figure out how we could empower the artists, the students, um, in a way that the courses that they're they're you know, taking now don't. And I think the biggest takeaway from the from from the curriculum is that in every moment of uncertainty in our human history inflection points have presented themselves um in the chaos and we can draw a parallel whether it's in the 50s and 60s here in the United States with the civil rights movement um across time. It took people not just being on the front lines, but more importantly organizing in the back rooms, coming together having conversation, talking about

what's wrong, what's not working, and figuring out what what they would like to happen and how it should look um and the point in the in the distance that they want to arrive. And so the course is really about speaking chaos to power through art and figuring out what unique thing we can we can say about what we're seeing in the world in our art in a way that at least brings people to the table to have those conversations organized and mobilized. I think there's nothing more important than that today. Um not just for art but uh but across the board you know whether it's we want to we want to draw some social change we want to see some political change. That's why I love seeing what happened here in this in in, in, New, York., Shout, out, to, Marami.

You know what I'm saying? You love that. We love that. We, love, that., Yeah., Because, it, it, seems like so much of why you do what you do so much of what you're creating and and your approach to fixing things feels like community. It feels like that is the sort of like antidote to

this, general, capitalist, chaos, is, that, if you all come together cuz coming together is free you know.

That's, right for, now. Yeah., Yeah. Right. Right. All, of, us, are, like Yeah.

It's, not, even, Yeah., I, feel, that, scared everybody. That's Oh, man. Yeah., I, I, just, when, I, when, I, listen, to your music and when I talk to you, it seems like you are someone who is so

who, is say, something, good. Yeah., Yeah. It, just, it, just, feels, like, you, are, so passionate about bringing life forward and bringing people forward and taking us to a better place and everything. And you know, I I'm very grateful for the work that you do. And I and I think that your intentions with what you make, it's like it's it's so easy sometimes whenever

you, listen, to, an, album, to, take, away, only what you take away from it. kind of like those like like bangers that you hear or like the Billboard, you're like you cuz you will pull something away from music that is like so personal and even if it has like some universal message to it like you might talk to the artist and the artist would be like, "Oh, the song is, about, heroin,, right?", You, know what, I mean?

You're, like,, "Oh,, I, love, to, dance, to this, one.", You, know what, I, mean?

But, I, play, for, my, kids. Yeah. And I think that but, I, think, that, your, your, real, talent is that whenever I listen to your music and then I actually listen to you talk about your music without being able to pinpoint it from the time that I heard it, I still hear what you're talking about when I when I'm thinking about what I felt when I first listened to it you know, which is like such a special thing. I think that that's really cuz you can have so much intention with what you're trying to say, but I think that on on top of the sort of loss of community, there's a loss of communication.

And, I, think, that, what, you're, doing, at NYU and what you're doing in your music is like helping to bridge some of that you know? Do you feel that when you when you talk to people about it or do you feel that when people talk to you about the project?

Man,, I, mean,, I, feel, it, the, most, when it's a Thank you very much for saying so. I I um you know I I I can't stress how important music has been to me and in my life. And I think so many artists would agree that you know that emotional quality of music is something you can't really put words on. It really does something in in terms of belief and faith that I'm sorry. I just feel like it'll always be so important and extremely um it should be priority. It should be prioritized. Um and I think we need it even more now when we feel a lot of like I said cultural identity being devalued or minimized. I think um in a world that is technically or technologically connected but yet lacking connection. I think it is art that remains the place that we go to feel connected to one another. And I hope that the work that I get to do is a reflection of that. So I I I really don't take it, you know, lightly that I

get to do this thing and um and I'll continue to do that. So yeah, I love Yeah., Because, it, just, seems, like like I don't know. I like I said, I think that you bring life. You bring so much to your music. Are are you are you aware of how many babies have probably been made to your music? There are so many people here now that are probably here because of you.

I've, been, told I've, been, told, once, or, twice. I'm, not, paying, any, child, support, on, any basis.

That, is, your, job,, man., Um,, so, I, like, to always like wrap up in a way that feels special to me and and the guests. And you're, you know, you're Miguel, you're you're like a very sexy person.

Oh,, don't, don't, try, to, deny, being, sexy. It makes you more sexy. You, got, to, take, me, off.

You, got, It's, dinner, in, a, movie, first. Slow, down., Now,, I, I, hate, to, put, you, on the spot in front of all these wonderful people, but I need your help. I have not set up my voicemail and I'm wondering if you would like be my voicemail like you you would just you know like say like leave a message this is Josh phone whatever but just do it in your own very sexy like you mean like you like you could hum you could what whatever it is but just Okay. All right. You ready?

Okay., I, didn't, even, Okay. All, right. Did I agree to this? All, right. Did, I, agree, to

Okay. Hello. You reach Josh's phone leave a message and he'll get right back to you. Goodbye. See you again. He'll be right back as soon as he can.

Yeah. Oh, man, this is I, got, you. So, many, people, are, going, to, call, me, now.

Version, one,, right? This, is, incredible., Yo,, Miguel, Chaos, is available now and tickets are on sale for his global tour which kicks off in February. Miguel

Questions about this episode

Who speaks in "Miguel - Honoring Mexican Identity in “CAOS” & Speaking Chaos to Power Through Art | The Daily Show"?

Josh Johnson (Host), Miguel (Guest).

What is discussed in "Miguel - Honoring Mexican Identity in “CAOS” & Speaking Chaos to Power Through Art | The Daily Show"?

In order: 0:00 Authoritarianism, Fascism, Mad Miguel, Mexico; 3:00 David Bowie, Minutemen, San Pedro, The Rolling Stones; 6:00 Market system, Piracy, Streaming; 9:00 Speaking Chaos to Power, Civil Rights Movement, United States (states); 12:00 Billboard, New York, New York; 15:00 Mad Miguel; 18:00 Global Tour, Mad Miguel.

What is mentioned in this The Daily Show episode?

27 people, works and ideas are mentioned, including Mad Miguel, Speaking Chaos to Power, Mexico, Fascism, Authoritarianism, David Bowie. Each one on this page links to its own page with every episode that mentions it.

How long is "Miguel - Honoring Mexican Identity in “CAOS” & Speaking Chaos to Power Through Art | The Daily Show"?

The episode runs 19 min; the transcript is about 3,207 words in 46 timestamped sections.

More from The Daily Show

About this transcript: the episode's spoken words as captioned on YouTube, split into timestamped sections. Reclip.Me locates every person, work and idea in the text, keeps the time it is first named, and quotes the words around it verbatim. Last updated November 17, 2025.