Music & Message: Y?'s Blueprint for Activism Through Art, Music and Hip Hop Culture!

[00:00:00] I am Brother Cornel West and this is Hip-Hop Can Save You Manny Faces.

[00:00:11] Peace and love, everybody.

[00:00:12] It's your Manny Faces.

[00:00:13] Just wanted to let you know that Hip-Hop Can Save America is now available as a live

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[00:00:21] You can find it at hipopcansaveramerica.com slash watch.

[00:00:25] excerpts from that show will be played here on the audio feeds so you'll still get the

[00:00:29] good interviews that you've been used to, but check out the live stream and check out

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[00:00:52] aboard as a supporter at patreon dot com slash many faces now let's go.

[00:00:58] Alright there you go see many faces like it says on the screen.

[00:01:01] We are here to talk about art ofism what is that art and activism, you know, you know

[00:01:05] what it is?

[00:01:06] You know how to do words and education with my man let's get into it.

[00:01:09] Why should I keep your waiting?

[00:01:10] I don't have anything else to share with you and we got people that are tuned in and turned

[00:01:13] up so why don't we switch to this and I introduced my my friend why to the screen?

[00:01:19] What up brother?

[00:01:20] Peace, Manny thank you for having me appreciate you fam.

[00:01:23] I appreciate you I'm glad I'm glad we able to work it out.

[00:01:26] How are you feeling tonight?

[00:01:27] Yeah, I'm good.

[00:01:28] I'm good.

[00:01:29] I've watched show several times in different stages and faces so congratulations to you for

[00:01:34] just constantly evolving which is I think very part of the hip-hop pedagogy and you know

[00:01:40] the way of life.

[00:01:41] Yes indeed.

[00:01:42] Yes indeed man evolution right evolution revolution all that stuff big facts big facts.

[00:01:48] I appreciate it for the folks that are you know unfamiliar with who you are and your work

[00:01:53] I will I don't like reading the bio because if you're like me it changes from the day

[00:02:00] I wrote it and then there's something new to it yesterday and tomorrow and we'll be

[00:02:02] flippering.

[00:02:03] So how do you like to present yourself to the world in your words?

[00:02:06] Yeah, man.

[00:02:07] I use that word the art ofism because you know before I was just a slash I was like oh audio

[00:02:12] engineer producer this and this and that and I was like how do I sum it up and then when

[00:02:15] I got into like reading a lot of the things from like Paulo Ferreri and just seeing the

[00:02:21] connection between interdisciplinary multidisciplinary art form I was like wow.

[00:02:27] And you know for me activism in got nothing to do with politics ironically it just has

[00:02:31] to activating your organism to its highest and by doing that you end up doing something

[00:02:36] for other people you strive to you know you start out painting for the love but then eventually

[00:02:40] you want to show somebody that painting and you want to paint something for somebody thing

[00:02:44] is a natural process so for me it's always been intertwined I never really knew how to separate

[00:02:49] the two but it's just art ofism is the one word I got but you know to be literal for

[00:02:54] people who don't know my route started out with poetry my pops you know he was a published

[00:02:59] poem he was in I'm from Jamaica Queen Southside.

[00:03:01] That's right.

[00:03:02] Queens get the money, Queens get the money let's go.

[00:03:05] So I would do that.

[00:03:06] I wrote it.

[00:03:07] Yeah.

[00:03:08] I worked in the Coliseum when they were shooting the Wu Tang video so it was just life

[00:03:12] I didn't really know it as hip hop you know it's life because the sound systems the music

[00:03:17] and the culture was there and just growing up by Jamaica Ave and that it was it was omnipresent

[00:03:22] you know.

[00:03:23] I saw clues selling mixtape when I was a kid so I was just immersed in it but yeah the

[00:03:28] trajectory after that the first thing I did was just kind of I was writing rhymes it started

[00:03:33] out I got introduced to poetry so I always say the first four bars I learned was the alphabet

[00:03:38] A B C D F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y and Z people don't know that's four

[00:03:46] bars right there.

[00:03:48] Amen.

[00:03:49] That's right.

[00:03:50] So when you could put something to rhythm you know I did a lot of that as a kid and then

[00:03:55] eventually just being inspired around the neighborhood and hearing people play beat some

[00:04:00] from the every way to decipher so I see people deciphering on Jamaica Ave and it was like

[00:04:05] it was regular so one day I just kind of was in a cypher just nodding my head like crazy

[00:04:10] and then somebody was like like a beatboxer was like like go in and I was like like no words

[00:04:17] it was nonverbal and that was really special and then he just kept going like until

[00:04:23] I went and I ended up just saying something that they shut the joint down and I was like

[00:04:28] wow I didn't know that like I could get a reaction like that and then you know at the time

[00:04:33] rest in peace fat beats are on a street I started going to get records at fat beats seeing

[00:04:38] the ciphers and then that led me to like the independent hip hop scene yeah into the shows

[00:04:43] the dub and all of that shout out to E O dub and New York the New York City magazine of course

[00:04:49] yeah the New York scene that people don't know about obviously you know you know I covered

[00:04:53] when I ran birthplace magazine for a long period of time those institutions in New York

[00:04:58] City hip hop that even though the industry had moved to you know this attention to no for

[00:05:06] good reason Houston Atlanta and these other places that will pop in there was this underground

[00:05:11] independent not even underground to like the point where people think underground they say

[00:05:15] it's a bad word sometimes like underground like we don't know who you are no this was an

[00:05:19] independency with a thriving ecosystem movements that were happening you were right now E O dub

[00:05:25] freestyle Mondays the lesson all that stuff like yeah just tell folks about that real quick about

[00:05:31] that that scene real quick for your experience in that and that's seen rather yes it's a New York City

[00:05:36] culture thing so as a Queens cat I was by the ENJ sat out to stuff in Boulevard and then you know

[00:05:42] I started looking for the record so I remember I was looking for like where can I get these records

[00:05:46] listen to underground radio at the time the Bobito show and those things I was like man this is below

[00:05:52] you know before I thought like the locks was on the ground I started hearing all this other stuff

[00:05:56] I was like yo what what's up and then I looked where I could find the records and then that

[00:06:00] led me to fat beats and fat beats that pull the flyers sure by shout out to DJ clips of course yeah

[00:06:07] and then brown bag all stars brown bag football there is you know just would grab the line up

[00:06:11] yeah yeah I'm grab every flyer I would go home and get some butt at lifetime on the bottom

[00:06:17] we was $10 and then I would just go to whatever was there and then I just started rocking open

[00:06:23] mics strictly off the top first and then I noticed oh shit they got CDs they got this they got

[00:06:29] that this venue is connected this cat that I saw spitting the same song oh wow they got recordings how

[00:06:35] do I get recordings and it starts to follow the rabbit hole so for me yeah going to the venues

[00:06:40] particularly I'm lower east side at the time lower Manhattan was where the hub was right and then

[00:06:46] started going to the steps of union square and then when I got into what was called cypher culture

[00:06:50] if you all you want to come to this red line cafe boom boom boom relevant hall you know the venues

[00:06:55] the old knitting factory in downtown for across over the Brooklyn and yeah I just started going

[00:07:00] to everything because I'm from Jamaica I used to have to take that train ride like an hour I was

[00:07:05] like a long train ride I gotta do it when I ride right I would always read a book I'd always write

[00:07:09] a song and um yeah I developed like a real good memory I just had ability so I would just

[00:07:14] remember something and then I would go in and my whole point with the freestyle I don't I don't

[00:07:20] do so much a yo there's many faces he's got to have this bringing back back I would always try

[00:07:24] to make it like a song like hand on my head you heard what I said it disappeared before the moment

[00:07:29] I was dead I always wanted it to sound like a written right and um because I didn't know

[00:07:33] I used to just strive to make it uh look like a song and feeling the song and then I'm a DJ

[00:07:38] friend of mine shout out to Kwame he basically saw what I was doing and he was like dude you're on another

[00:07:44] level and he said I want to I want you to come to new lots in Brooklyn and he's like I want to

[00:07:48] record you and I was like all right now at the time CDs was out but he took me back on the cassette

[00:07:52] deck wow you ran it turn table style and it was like a moment that changed my life because I had

[00:07:58] to go and get a tape plate of what man was done by then but I had an old walk man right and I had

[00:08:02] this cassette and I heard myself recorded and he was just blending instrumentals switching it like

[00:08:09] on some real DJ and I was just going off and I didn't know that this was part of because you know

[00:08:14] I came in in the Nas Wu era right he took me back to like nah this was like how they did it in the

[00:08:19] jams and he's like bro you just made an album and I was like wow and then he's like nah he's

[00:08:25] like you think of choruses songs and then I was like wow okay the cypher was the first thing

[00:08:29] then recording and hearing myself back with step two and then I just ran through everything you know

[00:08:34] and then I'm going back to fat beats first record I'll shout out to eclipse he put it out in there

[00:08:39] and then he invited me to do the halftime show and then it was very like you know okay boom yeah

[00:08:45] ask me to do it and then I did it somebody heard me on the halftime right right it just it just

[00:08:50] starts to open the door and then for me I kept going around the scene and because I wanted to do

[00:08:56] something for the community you know my mom always did things community based I was like I want to

[00:09:00] do something to help so when I started doing my shows I would always tag it too and this is the

[00:09:05] origin of my artivism let's do a clothing drive it's winter let's do coats right okay let's do

[00:09:11] canned food it's you know feed people I would always say let's just not just do the music because

[00:09:17] it was a way to separate it and then of course teachers started coming to the shows and then they

[00:09:22] would ask me like could you come to my school and then I started volunteering and then long story short

[00:09:27] the volunteering led to people paying me as a kid who never went to college I went to audio

[00:09:32] school I did a nine month trade school nice nice audio school to learn to record so yeah

[00:09:37] yeah and then from then I got blessed where teachers just start saying I'll give you $50 an hour

[00:09:42] if you can come and like as a young cat I was I'm getting 50 and now you couldn't touch nothing

[00:09:47] right right right I got in and then it turned to 100 and then like after that I was just like

[00:09:54] and I worked with any and every organization I could because yeah they would just hear the music

[00:09:59] and then they would ask me to do it yeah I never intended on it really but I did care about serving

[00:10:04] community it's and it's a long story short but we're gonna get more into that part of the story

[00:10:08] because that's you know important but also it sounds like a lot of this was certainly like

[00:10:12] organic like you weren't necessarily saying I'm going to be this is the path it isn't really

[00:10:16] just taking it as it goes by the way shout out to the people people out here that hip hop helped

[00:10:21] succeed in life who don't have a college degree yeah yeah you know since I was some of us to get

[00:10:26] by but who education is a very big important part of our lives my dad was actually a distinguished

[00:10:33] professor of sociology 12 for over 40 years at an old West Sunil Westbury you know and you know

[00:10:40] so education is always important man I got a lot through osmosis but the fact that the creativity

[00:10:45] was able to be turned into something entrepreneurial that's that's the hip hop spirit I that's why I

[00:10:50] learned it from a spot you know it's man it's the same thing that I say like when I got brought

[00:10:54] into that world it was it was it was organic but then that's why I say hip hop was a pedagogy I didn't

[00:11:00] know the word pedagogy at the time right but I learned that I was navigating the same way I learned

[00:11:05] to navigate in the cipher the same thing yeah to navigate and talk to a venue and then go

[00:11:10] into the venue and host an event so like that right entrepreneurial spirit was with me because

[00:11:14] I didn't have it in me to like go work for somebody or anything so what you did though tell me about

[00:11:19] a little bit of the the the so now you're saying okay I'm an artist and that's cool but I'm also

[00:11:23] sort of an event producer or a host and I'm working and now I'm sort of a connector and a dot

[00:11:28] connector um and then and then you said like you said you wanted to start doing something

[00:11:32] purposeful along the way to say well how can I give back what with these with this skill with this

[00:11:38] visibility that I have yeah you did work with some organizations you did kind of

[00:11:44] dabble your your your toes into other organizations what were some of them that were you know

[00:11:50] that were good you want to talk about and what were some of the challenges you I know I've heard

[00:11:53] before you say that you were having some challenges with some of these organizations as well

[00:11:57] trying to put together some of the ideas you had give me some of both of that well thank you for

[00:12:02] asking many that's a great question oh yeah it started with the love of art right I just went

[00:12:06] and did it so same thing when the schools asked me to pop up I'd like they're like Tuesday for an

[00:12:10] hour or two I was like I'll come by and then I but what I saw Manny which would change my

[00:12:15] approach as an artist which I always give credit to the work is I saw these kids do it and I was

[00:12:19] a little late with it with the blooming but when I went to that school in a Bronx it was on

[00:12:23] third avenue 49th Street a large D clock middle school me you know they slice up schools now

[00:12:28] now a self-brunch trap and these other things sure but I went in there and those kids I was going

[00:12:33] to the the hip hop scene that we spoke about earlier and then I saw what these kids were doing

[00:12:38] and I was like oh they don't they're on another they're on some they're not even looking for any

[00:12:43] reason except to express like the deepest thing and I was like some things here that isn't here

[00:12:50] and in the other scene there was just people trying to make it right try to get on yeah

[00:12:54] but like these youth were just doing these songs to like deal with life and they also they wanted

[00:13:00] a sing they wanted to make beats they wanted to play instruments they were very as kids are you know

[00:13:04] you have your father you have children so you know um they just wanted to be so interdisciplinary

[00:13:10] one day they'd want to do this or that and I was in there and I'd be like yeah sure whatever you

[00:13:14] want to do then I'd be okay let's look up what this chord is or let's figure out how to make

[00:13:18] this and then you know when drum patterns changed and production changed they taught me

[00:13:23] and then uh what went down is I started volunteering shout out to Rosen Urban Artby that's

[00:13:28] what I think I first talked to you that was my first first very very introduction to it and then

[00:13:35] from there uh urban word is you know Macau shout out to Macau he watched me on Nile shout out to

[00:13:40] now Emerson you know he was doing his thing he did the Let The Beatville with NYU he brought me into

[00:13:45] Clive Davis then I started doing the things at NYU and then because I had the audio engineering

[00:13:50] background I worked at Electric Lady and then I had that but I was a deep behind the scenes cat

[00:13:55] you know and I was obsessed by knowing how do they do it you know how do they do it right and just

[00:14:00] want to know what won't snap this is quest loves drums on these the Angelo records oh I started

[00:14:06] getting into low key ethnomusicology looking at oh where did samples come from oh this is Curtis

[00:14:11] Mayfield this is Ahmad Jamal on Nile right right and I'd be oh that's a fender roads on that

[00:14:16] that's a century grant I'm just kind of a geek like that and I just started keep looking and

[00:14:22] I think you know one thing kept meeting me to the other bro right and I'm yeah it was real big

[00:14:27] and then long story short once again it goes deep I started working with a lot of nonprofit

[00:14:32] organizations some right no longer exists like bridging education art together and I got to an

[00:14:37] amazing level where I honestly was able to paint like New York City rent and get a car like I

[00:14:43] didn't even know how happened because I just did it and I just I cared about community and I got

[00:14:48] to think my mom for that because what was some of the thing what were some of the things that you

[00:14:53] were doing I guess in practice so what were some of the programs that you were involved in what did

[00:14:57] it look like just to be you know a little bit specific yes so first what happened with is I would

[00:15:02] go in there usually they would start out like with a stack of beats and then we'd go with beats and

[00:15:08] do hip-hop songwriter right so I teach kids how to count bars do that but quickly because of the

[00:15:13] nature of youth they wanted to make beats and because I had that audio engineering and production

[00:15:18] back and I was like okay let's do it so then they started asking me to make the records

[00:15:22] so low key high key I got put into a deep producer and who's crazy in high school kids they're like

[00:15:32] right and I was there oh and I was the only one who I stayed one hour became four hours I was

[00:15:37] there because I would just love what they were doing and they would push me and I would push them

[00:15:42] artistically and yeah I started producing the records and then making the songs

[00:15:47] and then I would go home on my computer and then mix them and then do that and it was just like

[00:15:51] a non stop thing for me then I would go do the workshop go out to the scene right I definitely have

[00:15:57] like an addiction personality so I just was like I just kept doing it and doing it and then like

[00:16:02] I didn't let any voice get in my head and then sooner or later the organizations I'm doing two

[00:16:07] organizations on Monday Wednesday another one on Tuesday Thursday and I'm forgetting the names

[00:16:13] I'm just remembering it by oh this is the box like I gotta get off I got to take the bus from

[00:16:17] white plays wrote it like it started to become a blur man you and in that blur I submerge myself

[00:16:23] into something and then yeah long story gets deeper I should say let me just keep saying it goes

[00:16:28] deeper right then ended up starting a company called creative expressions because I could not do

[00:16:32] enough work it was just too much I was one person yeah and I got so in demand and when I would try

[00:16:38] to alley my friends the organizations would be like well yo you're doing something special

[00:16:43] and then I had to say well what do I do that other people aren't there's other people I know they are

[00:16:48] are nice on a mic that are good with rhymes that can audio engineer but then I started to actually

[00:16:53] write the lesson plans in a curriculum because I had to teach other people how to get the sauce

[00:16:58] and I realized oh I do something innately that was what I call on the website cipher pedagogy

[00:17:04] it's based on like a non hierarchical formal learning but I had to note it to be able to show

[00:17:09] it to other people right because they might have the beat making chops but they didn't have

[00:17:13] the ability to go into like a auditorium of 500 kids and like spit two bars and shut it down yeah

[00:17:20] like if you don't got it like that these kids they will literally boo you they actually so well

[00:17:24] so I got ran through a different level of fire that I don't think a lot of artists get ran through

[00:17:30] let me yeah let me ask you let me ask you one question before we talk I want to get a little

[00:17:34] bit more into the cipher pedagogy what that means with that looks like we never know who's listening

[00:17:38] sometimes we're preaching to the choir we have folks that understand the power the cipher and

[00:17:42] you know it's just a 20 black man you know we've talked about on a show everyone's talked about

[00:17:45] you know that the importance of the understanding of these things but there are some people who are

[00:17:49] just dabbling their toe into the like hip hop based education or or dabbling their feet into

[00:17:54] these things and so they don't fully know but before we get to you kind of breaking it down

[00:17:58] breaking down with the breakdown as it were um what were some of the things that you were seeing

[00:18:04] and again we don't know who's listening and I often try to say you know what was the value

[00:18:10] that you were getting it's fun to make beats and it's fun to make songs and all that stuff and

[00:18:14] it's fun yeah but but obviously there was a deeper outcome to working with young people high school

[00:18:20] students you were saying at the time in these you know traditionally underserved or under funded

[00:18:26] and under resources that underloved you know school systems communities that you were noticing

[00:18:30] that your approach specifically but more generally working with them musically is drawing out of them

[00:18:37] what was the goodness that was happening there what what were you seeing well yo just to be dead ass as

[00:18:43] they say it's like I saw a younger version of myself and I was like wow I felt like I was going

[00:18:48] to like find a younger me and I saw that because I wasn't artistic that much as a kid I had

[00:18:53] something to unlock because I was was nice with the pen I was some like citywide essay writing things

[00:18:59] but I'm a product of the public schools and I was like wow somebody would have showed me that this

[00:19:04] is musical once again it was only till the cipher that I mentioned that beatboxer

[00:19:09] they looked me in it was like it was through that that I didn't I just was doing it like I had

[00:19:14] spinach in my teeth that somebody's like no this is like you're you're not regular at this and

[00:19:20] I was like I just needed someone to show me that and you had an ability that you didn't even

[00:19:25] like understand I didn't know I didn't know because what you you really do it's it'll always go over

[00:19:30] your own head and that's why I was interesting so like I just knew that I wanted to do something more

[00:19:36] but then like a couple years later when all my other homies were broke or they they went back

[00:19:41] to school and it did something and they were like how are you doing this and I said well I I was

[00:19:45] into helping these kids and when I made a why where I was like do I follow what everybody else is

[00:19:50] doing or do I do this whole thing and there was no term teaching artists back then they're I didn't

[00:19:55] know right right it was I learned it from y'all I learned what a teaching artist was from from

[00:20:00] y'all from urban art beat from you from the cow life from from Sam sellers and rabbi docs I

[00:20:04] feel folks doing that kind of work with their exit those guys because they're my OGs because they're

[00:20:09] from the the generation for but all those guys license teachers and that's what I'm saying right

[00:20:15] well I came from the university of the universe so yeah I just I hit it hard but because I was

[00:20:22] coming from the very practical of doing it it was really really powerful so what happened with

[00:20:28] the schools kind of go back to what you were saying is it led me to do the work and then it actually

[00:20:34] helped me artistically because I always say that I'm an artist first that's why I use the term

[00:20:38] artivist and my company versus teaching artist because I use the art you know and every day

[00:20:43] I'm cranking out songs and beats and like it taught me how to play the guitar the keys the same

[00:20:49] in a godgy yeah like I swear was the same thing that got me like y'all want to be nice at

[00:20:55] triple-ets or whatever triple-ets then I learned it wow I'm a musician because

[00:21:01] right in a jazz musician heard me rhyme he's like dude you can rhyme on any meter you're not to say

[00:21:06] it was this moment of someone recognizing me that you have an innate ability that not many people

[00:21:12] have and then I would have to try to like dig in my spirit and be like what am I doing

[00:21:17] that is drawing people to this so that I could like notice it and then I realize that I'm very

[00:21:21] studious yeah have a ability to like really work at something so deeply I'm a ambi vert so I

[00:21:27] could go into the cave introvert style and like work on something for hours and hours forget my name

[00:21:33] and put that 10 hours in a row and then like some people don't have that and then I could

[00:21:37] bring it down to a level where I could show it to someone else because when I show it to someone

[00:21:42] else they show me their kung fu style and then start right so it's drawing so it's drawing these

[00:21:48] innate skills or these under-appreciated skills from folks that are they do what they do but

[00:21:54] they don't know what they're doing and this draws it out of them and helps them kind of

[00:21:58] almost they perfect it but shape it mold it and bring it to life it brings something deeper like

[00:22:03] it's a spiritual aspect on what's his name black dot hip hop decoded I remember reading that book

[00:22:08] and he broke down the hip hop elements to like he paralleled uh he he put emcee to anything

[00:22:15] this vocal expression poetry singing this and this uh he took graffiti all the way back to

[00:22:20] hieroglyphics right then he took the b-boy and b-girl to movement sure and that really connected to

[00:22:28] very deep level uh the dj representing using an instrument or sound and I was like wow and he's

[00:22:33] like this is a ancient indigenous practice and um I love that book and that shot out the black dot

[00:22:38] that book really helped me kind of see hip hop in the that broader lens like oh snap jazz

[00:22:45] and then I started understanding literally black art forms that are insert and multidisciplinary

[00:22:51] create this style whether it was blues gospel jazz any of these things that are historically coming

[00:22:58] from oppression yes that's when I drew a line to everything and I was like wait a minute I could

[00:23:05] it was like the matrix I was like I could learn anything I was like I could teach myself the guitar

[00:23:10] right can do this I can learn how to sing it's insane that's brilliant yeah and I think it was

[00:23:15] because of I understood it was a pedagogy once again not a genre right limited to what it what

[00:23:22] what it sometimes gets presented at depending on like what era or generation or exposure you have so

[00:23:27] right back to the OG roots of it and I made this deeper connection to something that black

[00:23:34] dot articulate sorry black dot articulates really well and black dot articulates it really well and

[00:23:39] Carnegie and all the places too but yeah yeah I drew it kind of just started carving my own we

[00:23:44] have innovation you know I love it so now you had it again you had to do two things you have

[00:23:48] a number one form of company just to kind of do it right you know to have it you know structured

[00:23:52] but then you also have that structure the pedagogy you have structure like he said download

[00:23:56] the information from your brain you say okay we're making what am I doing right we have to be able

[00:24:02] to replicate you know you know they say you have to take it to scale you know you know you know

[00:24:05] you gotta make it be sustainable yeah so so I guess what you know what there's a lot of folks that

[00:24:11] are going through that that are probably on the cusp of I do a thing it's either my part time gig or

[00:24:18] you know it's my full time gig but just barely and I want to you know blossom out so what did that

[00:24:23] look like to you what did you have to do to to go through that process to that we'll get to the

[00:24:27] company and and and what it actually does um but what was that like for you what how did you do it

[00:24:34] yeah I would say it's in you or it isn't you know right because some people I meet them all the time

[00:24:39] because I do this training to help musicians artists and educators become artists or you know

[00:24:46] depending arts educators what I want to do right and what I do is I'm like why do you want to do it

[00:24:51] and honestly this is this is the two spectrum this is not a judgment it's an observation from

[00:24:56] teaching hundreds if not thousands of people this now you know I stopped teaching youth almost

[00:25:01] 10 years ago so now I focus on helping the the adults who need a lot more helping kids you know

[00:25:06] teaching the teachers how to teach yeah and then helping the musicians and artists so the first

[00:25:10] thing that I see is this and once again it's not a judgment it's artists that usually they

[00:25:14] they weren't able to do their goal they were like I want to be successful at beat making

[00:25:19] MC and producing and for whatever reason they fell short and they're like I want to get into this

[00:25:23] because and then they hear me oh this guy gets paid mad bread and da da da da da and I was like

[00:25:28] yo guys y'all don't know I only go in for two hours but I'm so obsessed I'm putting in like

[00:25:33] eight nine hours into this thing at least I love it I've done some I've do PDs now it's at least

[00:25:39] that my if at least the one ratio to make something and it's insane to go in and do this 30 minute

[00:25:45] or an hour right yeah Jazz mentor Tommy he's like yeah that won't know anyone could do it but when

[00:25:49] I do that second move that's my whole life's experience mmm two notes so that's what I say I'm

[00:25:54] like nah it's the sauce and then what I say is it's okay but are you willing to you have to fall in

[00:26:00] love with it the same way you fell in love with the craft because it's a it is a craft and on the

[00:26:05] second half is people who innately buy whatever human design they got they're just like I see this

[00:26:12] as bigger than entertainment right and that's kind where I was I just was like it healed me like

[00:26:17] I was a super pot head and things got me focused I was like no not before the studio though I got

[00:26:22] a way to land I gotta wait till I like I didn't have a discipline kind of background but this

[00:26:27] was like nah I got to do this or yo they got three songs I got to do my three and I'm gonna come

[00:26:32] up there and do this I got to get to this merch store cross town right up these five thousand

[00:26:36] dollar uh so five thousand box of flyers I gotta go to every open mic and hand these out hand

[00:26:42] a hand right yeah because I need to show the the omniverse the higher powers that I'm not

[00:26:50] fucking around that I am showing up because that's the only way that you could manifest something in

[00:26:55] my opinion so I had to kind of put that word and my dad is a blue collar MTA guy he thought I was

[00:27:01] wasting my life like you're doing the drugs so you watch this for the guy these things you know okay

[00:27:06] yeah he was just like he didn't really understand but when I got on an NBA live soundtrack through

[00:27:12] my check there was four digits and I was at your pops that's 32 bars that did this you know

[00:27:16] right one verse and then I got a big royalty check because for every copy the soul I gotta so

[00:27:22] I just learned that I just believed in myself and you hear that story across the board in any art

[00:27:26] form so I tell people once again look inside yourself and if you can get to a space where you want

[00:27:32] to use your art to go beyond yourself and make an impact in it that's all you need as a foundation

[00:27:38] on that foundation this is where it gets practical right and you go in there just like the MC's master

[00:27:43] of the crowd can you go into a classroom a town hall can you go into an amphitheater of a thousand

[00:27:49] people and in that 10 seconds say something or offer a perspective that is a new color in the

[00:27:55] crayon box and you develop that by what Bruce Lee said you I'm not he's not worried about the guy

[00:28:00] with 10,000 different kicks it's about that one person who keeps throwing that same punch or kick

[00:28:05] over because you get hit with that you don't you have to refine it and that's where to me it's like

[00:28:11] you have to look in it look at what is your approach and your style make sure it's bigger than

[00:28:15] yourself and you have to become a student right I keep the clay wet that's what that's what kept

[00:28:20] sharp when the drill beats came out I was like all right we gonna do this yeah when when these high

[00:28:25] hat patterns change I didn't become a purist I became a mold this to be like yo let's go and as

[00:28:31] long as I could connect to people on the art form they're like yo how do you do that on that crack

[00:28:34] up your free loops show me how you did that you know oh you're doing beats on a iPad oh you use

[00:28:40] it splice samples yeah I'm just like teach me teach me and then these kids will show you

[00:28:45] right and in turn I was like well I could show you this I could tell what key it's in

[00:28:48] I just want to teach one goes to each one each one teach one goes both ways

[00:28:52] so it's a symbiotic relationship brothers so that's really what I'd say right down everything

[00:28:56] take voice notes I'm big on the Google Docs I do it then I identify it then I break it down it's

[00:29:02] called our par participatory action based research pile of Ferrari created a technique where as

[00:29:07] you take an action you analyze the action sports players and athletes do this all the time

[00:29:12] you reflect on it and then you create a methodology oh I'm always crossing over to the left I

[00:29:18] got a bus to the right now so you start to analyze yourself and then you have to replicate it

[00:29:22] to show that if I'm nice on a giddy and I could show somebody it that means I'm really proficient

[00:29:28] at it that I could pass it on to someone else and that takes a higher level of mastery than just

[00:29:32] being able to do it for yourself yeah we're talking about just just shout out to

[00:29:37] of course you know Dr. Christopher Emden the science genius battles you know where the kids

[00:29:42] have to create songs based on the science curriculum that they're being taught you have to really

[00:29:48] know your shit to be able to do an entire song or entire verse is about something as complex as

[00:29:55] a scientific thing that you're studying it's it's just it's not just taking the you know what's

[00:30:01] written in the book and translating it into rhyme form it's a mastery of the content oh there's

[00:30:06] them that's what I love about it and thank you for giving me all the compliments many but

[00:30:10] it's the art I was like what's the illest way to get the illest right that's hip hop right yeah how do

[00:30:15] you be the dopest yeah and to me I was like these kids are writing songs from a deeper place than

[00:30:20] these people on the scene right because they're they don't have they're dealing with their mom

[00:30:25] on drugs so they can write into like cope with that they're not writing but you know I'm trying to

[00:30:30] get satin out of here you know yeah yeah yeah now they realize they can do it too right yeah but

[00:30:35] like now it's the the bar you know and some still aren't really kids just a lot absolutely 100%

[00:30:39] but you know I met those kids in the Bronx and they were coming from a space that deeply inspired

[00:30:44] I like I went home and my pen was on fire my right right all right I love it because you know

[00:30:49] have it man we have too many as you know we have a lot of folks that are you know older than you

[00:30:55] and some older than me you know who who are discouraged by you know the youth and the youth culture

[00:31:02] within hip hop and there's there's a lot to be discouraged about but as I like to say we can't

[00:31:06] throw away the youth culture with the mumblebat rap baby with the rumblebat breathable bathwater

[00:31:13] so it's good to say that to always keep in mind and this is the inspiring part of what you're

[00:31:17] saying is when I worked with the youth I learned from the youth right you learn we got it's a two

[00:31:24] like you said it's a two way it's a symbiotic relationship now though it's translated because now

[00:31:28] you're talking to folks who are in positions to also help youth you know so teacher to teachers

[00:31:32] teaching artists and also not just youth but the activism part so not that he said activism doesn't

[00:31:37] have to be political like you said but it is it does involve you know sometimes policy or

[00:31:43] or getting involved in in issues and and and and I want to know how you look at that and how you

[00:31:52] work with artists and I guess train artists to train other artists how the whole thing works

[00:31:57] specifically with the activism part of it we talked a little bit about education for the first

[00:32:02] part here let's talk a little bit about the art artivism part well let me tell y'all this man

[00:32:07] I live in a one bedroom apartment in a story in New York I don't have a degree my rent is over

[00:32:11] was almost two and a half grand right and that's activism the fact that I'm not homeless and I'm

[00:32:18] not saying that there's no cap you know it's real because this is what I know how to do and I just show

[00:32:24] up every day to my craft and then I'm just like honestly I'm like the universe is going to see

[00:32:31] what I'm doing I pretend and I know there's a record button watching all day whether I do something

[00:32:36] a little embarrassed about that they were all balanced but the man he this part to me that is why

[00:32:41] say it's activating your organism to his highest potential I was like yo I'm I'm being I'm a

[00:32:46] beyond man he's interview I know you even wrote on email you could come in a little I'm like nah

[00:32:49] I'm coming in early you know that's that meant I'm like nah I'm a comment I'm a blasta a post of

[00:32:55] it I'ma make sure I shout my guy out it's that etiquette that to me is activism it's just like

[00:33:01] thinking beyond yourself because abundance is a state of being right and it's to be like yo my

[00:33:06] man's just put him on he's giving me opportunity to say something I'm just blessed that people

[00:33:11] even care to hair even if it's one person that's how I feel that's how I feel that's someone

[00:33:16] invites me to talk I'm gonna greet this this is garbage bro this is the garden if you really

[00:33:21] put that in your mind yeah it's imagination and if you look at hip-hop meaning the original way

[00:33:27] it started it was young people these were 14 15-year-olds grabbing their grandmother's records

[00:33:32] they didn't know what they were doing they were building a bridge as they crossed it

[00:33:36] and they became a multi-million billion dollar thing but the foundation can never be removed which

[00:33:42] is based to me on a freedom of oppression which means they took away the music programs from the

[00:33:49] school right so then now it was like how am I gonna get access to this so I'm gonna I'm gonna listen

[00:33:53] to my I'm gonna take my grandma's records you know I mean the blackout happened 73 days starting

[00:33:57] snatching equipment equipment now now people are cracking software they learn how to hack and they

[00:34:03] learn how to get a download a copy of fruity loops like I mentioned or they can crack an app on an

[00:34:08] iPad or a tablet this in itself is activism culture bro like me and I feel like it gets the revolutionary

[00:34:17] part of the most revolutionary thing you could be is yourself and that's what I tell all my

[00:34:21] students and I always say just put your hand on your heart if you hear you feel a beat

[00:34:26] say something over that beat bong mani you just said something with a pitch and a tone over a beat

[00:34:33] by law that's a musician right there so like we take like we forget how deep this is in our speech

[00:34:41] when you see somebody walking down the street and say happy birthday oh you go oh

[00:34:45] we say oh like somebody just got smacked oh right you change your pitch and tone we are designed

[00:34:52] as humans but I think there's a lot of things that blur that line and break that and for me you've

[00:34:58] got to clear out those things that colonize our minds and get back to it because it was just me

[00:35:03] humming some words I'm a chill with mani that's what I do ah still I gotta get it like it's new

[00:35:07] the news when I break it down yeah I'll get the clothes question mark in the dark where the paintbrush

[00:35:10] got the art Noah's Ark two of a kind with the rhyme drop it no dimes no snitches wishes

[00:35:16] this is fictitious gifted like Christmas but Christ was in the Christian just the vision now

[00:35:20] that's supposed to wisdom uh see it's it's I can do that easier than I can talk I'm mutated myself

[00:35:26] to be that way right and that's you're you can do that and to me that's what I did I activated myself

[00:35:32] man yeah yeah activated myself and that's why I say that's activism that when you've got it more

[00:35:38] you're going to break that language in half and give somebody a piece because you know

[00:35:41] they're hungry right yeah you're gonna do this innately I think if you do your own work and

[00:35:48] I think you you're gonna want to do something so that you can share it right you know a little kid

[00:35:52] with the painting I'm sure your daughter's come up to you but look what I did right of course

[00:35:57] because they're proud of it and they want to show it to someone yeah and I think that's activism

[00:36:02] man so yeah I have a very different definition but no that's brilliant leads to the world change

[00:36:07] and all it at yeah I like it it's it's it's a very spiritual kind of way of thinking of it in a way

[00:36:14] um it's one of shout out a couple folks uh in the chat that are uh that are we getting a lot of

[00:36:18] comments you'll probably see it out big things yeah yeah you'll probably see it after ourselves to

[00:36:22] a prism chosen hip-hop angel Wang who's using your curriculum uh as a basis for his curriculum

[00:36:27] he's doing some hip-hop curriculum he's based up in yonkers he's a music ed teacher yeah super dope

[00:36:33] silent nights in a building we know silent night from the scene the aforementioned scene that

[00:36:36] we're talking about in New York uh and uh James Fernandez is on the check-in as well

[00:36:41] that I just wanted to give some love to folks who are checking in if you're listening on the pod

[00:36:45] all legends in here absolutely if you're listening on the podcast don't forget we do this live

[00:36:50] on video on youtube monday's nine p.m. Eastern just go to hip-hopcasafeamerica.com slash watch

[00:36:57] while I got you a few more minutes if you would if you be so kind uh let me know so

[00:37:02] with everything that you've said is very inspiring it's a great way to look at things uh looking

[00:37:06] at activism in a way that that isn't defined that way uh very often so what does the organization do

[00:37:13] who is it for what does creative expressions uh you know do and and and I said who is it for

[00:37:19] who reaches out to y'all and what are they trying to get that y'all can provide what services

[00:37:24] to y'all can provide yeah I got a funny story about the inception it's a real hip-hop story right

[00:37:28] yeah yeah started working as a w-9 independent contractor those of you guys who know it's a freelancer

[00:37:33] long story short so I was freelance on that too yeah organization you know how it is

[00:37:37] making a living as a freelancer could be crazy right so the first couple years I was doing

[00:37:42] I didn't know how the tax system works how the w-9s worked or any of that so the good old folks at the

[00:37:48] IRS they waited five years so when I started making tens of thousands of dollars they waited and then

[00:37:53] they smacked me with a bill this is you owe back taxes for five years and I was like I ain't got

[00:37:58] the bread I'm living in New York I'm I expect it all right oh yes I got nothing there I understand

[00:38:05] you know what it was I do I do I do I specifically know what it was I know been similar path good

[00:38:11] yeah so I was like oh man what am I gonna do they hit me with a crazy bill and I'm my cousin

[00:38:15] rest in peace she's no longer with us she was going to school for accounting I was like yo

[00:38:20] cuz Jess I was like help me out the government's trying to shut me down I got ready for the bread

[00:38:25] and I was like yo it's she was like now why calm down you gotta start a business she was like show

[00:38:30] me all the w-9 things 10-29s she's like bring it to my office I'm gonna take a look at it

[00:38:35] and then she's like pick a name and I was like all right it kind of felt like I was signing

[00:38:39] myself who's like me making a record label almost where I sat down with there I showed her everything

[00:38:44] she goes now we don't take care of this in one year she's like in one year you're gonna you're

[00:38:48] gonna get it she's like we're gonna write everything off she's like you gotta build a company

[00:38:52] you got to write off everything anytime you buy a guitar string a hard drive she was like

[00:38:56] build a company and she's like this is a long go away in one year and I was like yo all right

[00:39:00] you you don't want to know this I'm just you know get this I can't even own nobody a dollar that's

[00:39:05] the way I was afraid so I was like I don't know how to do this so I picked the name creative

[00:39:10] expressions cuz it's like this is me expressing creativity and our long story short once again

[00:39:16] I founded the company just as a way to kind of handle my taxes and work as a freelancer

[00:39:23] right and then sure enough when I could not do enough work I was like well let me try to ask

[00:39:28] two of my homies that make beats and write songs if they could do it because I can't do this

[00:39:33] gig in the Bronx I'm at this one oh yeah we can't be in two places at the same time right

[00:39:36] I get it yeah okay you get what happened man yeah started and then uh not a bad problem to have

[00:39:41] but it's a problem yeah it was it was growth and then I was like you know I wanted to do more

[00:39:45] my artistic work and I was like nah now I want to learn more about music composition theory arrangement

[00:39:50] I just wanted to get more deeper down the rabbit hole as a musician so I was like if I could give

[00:39:55] these cats these gigs and I remember I started at 50 I was like if I could get them to the level

[00:40:00] where I started at yeah and help them I can do it then I got I had two then I had three now I'm

[00:40:06] up to 35 man yeah you got a roster yeah I got a big roster right now we do our best to find work

[00:40:11] and then I come in doing a lot of the musical directing and then composition arrangement stuff so

[00:40:16] I come in as an artist Heidi so like I choose myself and anybody who's able to uh want to do it

[00:40:24] I look at them as just like the way the kids were the younger version of me now that I'm older I go

[00:40:30] and help the adults do what I did the earlier version of you yeah yeah and so whole life has always been

[00:40:37] looking for the people who like the younger me yeah always like finding it in the next generation

[00:40:43] planting the seeds and doing what it takes and then making sure that I keep my sword sharp because

[00:40:49] yeah if I can't show up with the beats or the lyrics or the flows none of this works man he like

[00:40:55] that's the problem I have with a lot of hip-hop academics you're too academic but I'm like yo

[00:41:00] there's there's too many artists that need the work 100% need to allow real artists to come into

[00:41:06] the classroom yeah you know the great the greatest coaches were the people who were on the field

[00:41:10] players I mean yeah we're talking about this we talk we I advocate for this all the time 100%

[00:41:15] on you on the no I'm disagreeing with the 100% practitioners are just as again I'm not

[00:41:20] you know I don't come from a a degree program but I could teach hip-hop like because obviously

[00:41:25] you know you can practice of course so what you know they have to understand that we need more of

[00:41:30] that just want to be specific um to anyone who might be first of all two things number one

[00:41:34] you work with musicians of all kinds so is this not just hip-hop this has been very hip-hop

[00:41:38] focused program yeah but you're a musician yourself right exactly so that that's the right that's

[00:41:44] the hip-hop part but music of all kinds and spoken word and other any kind of artistic painting

[00:41:50] visual artists artistic expression but again to be specific who's hiring you like what you know

[00:41:57] so that people who might be involved in you know who might be able to hire you what are they hiring

[00:42:02] you for and who are they so for example like Carnegie the similar sect that does the black thought

[00:42:08] initiative they've hired me to produce uh I've done like wow 40 records for Carnegie Hall music

[00:42:14] composition arrangement I just finished on New York edge they were like the beacon they're

[00:42:19] partnered in 133 schools they sent me to work with their teaching artists so I visited them I

[00:42:26] listened to the music I came in for like composition and arrangement things and then I helped

[00:42:31] mix in because the way I break a lot of artistic segregation because a lot of what they're doing now

[00:42:36] here's a piano class here's a hip-hop poetry class I'm like no you got to put it all together man

[00:42:42] okay let the kids who are putting this be more participant led I break a lot of walls manny that's

[00:42:47] what I do yep so it's arts organizations it is usually some higher institutions it's individuals

[00:42:53] sometimes they hit me up to learn about grant writing sometimes it's the people who just want to

[00:42:57] intern with me to figure out the pedagogy some people need me to tell them that story of how I

[00:43:02] built a company to dodge the taxes right right um it's it's very cipher based and I do

[00:43:07] consultation so they could go to the website creative expressions that CEO you could book 30

[00:43:11] minutes we have an inquiry form I look at inquiry from individuals organizations like right now I'm

[00:43:16] writing the rewriting the standards for the music education across the country with NAFME and

[00:43:21] Martha Diaz it's insane bro we're doing some stuff at Lincoln Center it's just wild bro and all

[00:43:28] I do is I sit right here by myself in this very room and I've been working on my craft every day

[00:43:34] for hours for 15 years yeah um that's what I make sure if I wake up brush my teeth wash my

[00:43:41] hands get out there and do this yeah I trust that the other things will work workout man and yeah man

[00:43:46] crazy approach but I dedicate myself and I always say 20% of my time I have to give back to people

[00:43:53] so say 80-20 rule right 20% I put into my craft 20% I put into eating healthy exercising meditation

[00:44:01] 20% goes into the unknown wild shit that just happens being a human living absolutely

[00:44:06] and then um 20% is just me dealing with whatever I have on the menu for today I'm like I got to go

[00:44:12] do mannies show I gotta get my laundry don't do groceries that's right right right so I break things

[00:44:17] really into a structured basin because I don't want to work traditional jobs I'm hyper structured

[00:44:24] so it's like I have a craze that's why I tell people like like I you should see this stuff I do

[00:44:30] I was like you know I'm gonna I'm gonna spit for like two minutes straight before I go into

[00:44:33] this thing with manny just cuz I gotta juice myself up this thing way I would do for a show love

[00:44:38] it cuz it's an energy thing my guy yeah yeah yeah that's it no I love it man that's

[00:44:42] I could and then we can learn from you like they're you know I'm in a similar boat I work for

[00:44:48] myself I run my own company I have to be and I try to stay you know motivated because you know

[00:44:54] it's tough sometimes hard bro hard man we do is real hard you know um listen uh I really

[00:45:00] appreciate it if there's anything else that um first of all is anyone listening I saw a question

[00:45:05] pop up in here uh anything man I'm here man this is this is an interesting question best

[00:45:10] bliss is on the check-in and ask the question I guess we're talking about academics I'm throwing

[00:45:14] on the screen see your opinion let's take a live question this is live TV why do hip hop educators

[00:45:19] or academics overlook or sleep on intergenerational relationships we touched on it what do you think

[00:45:25] this this is big brother as we said hip hop was youth culture meaning these were teenagers that

[00:45:32] started it you know it wasn't like it was young people from the dancing to that and why the

[00:45:38] importance of multi-generational relationships why have jazz mentors now right sure got the OGs

[00:45:44] that they teach me oh why here's this court when you have seen and lived through a different era

[00:45:50] you carry a code in you and you have to uh Keras had a great snippet that he said he said when

[00:45:58] young people stay around older people they're sharper around other young people right when older

[00:46:06] people get around young people they're sharper around other older people because I picked up the

[00:46:14] things from the youth and every teaching artist teaches me I I'm working on another gig to do a

[00:46:20] EP and then same thing I talked to the teaching artist I'm like hey what can you teach me about

[00:46:25] this love even though I've been there and she was like what you're asking me you're the

[00:46:29] right you're the expert nah yeah and I was like nah I'm gonna tell you that's why I have a question

[00:46:34] mark in my moniker the why on the question mark because I'm like look I do this this way but I need

[00:46:39] to know how you're a kung fu stylist so we can get this out so it's huge for me man and this is

[00:46:44] just a life thing so to answer best question every generation carries a code that comes from what

[00:46:50] you witnessed right I saw tapes turned into CDs turned into streaming and I kept updating I saw

[00:46:56] my my space going to Facebook going to Spotify's and whatever and I just keep adapting so adaptability

[00:47:02] is required and as long as you're alive that's what keeps you like many you're still young at heart

[00:47:07] because you keep on growing I've seen beautiful stories you talked about your college age children

[00:47:12] and of course how you now you're in the south you're down in ATL right you see life is a lifelong

[00:47:18] journey man so you're not evolving and to me the essence of hip hop pedagogy is to be ever

[00:47:24] evolving thing right as I often say it's very it's very tough to try to put in a box something

[00:47:30] that's not supposed to be in a box and it's very nature yes yeah that's how I feel like I could

[00:47:35] build you for days on this man yeah yeah no I get it I appreciate the question you know and

[00:47:40] and I think that the question is is also touching on like that that every tower you know approach

[00:47:46] that we have to break through you know sometimes sometimes they have to do it because they feel like

[00:47:51] they have to be structured in academic and their institutions aren't going to let them reach back

[00:47:55] into the culture like they may want to so and it's it's it's so it's always we talk with

[00:47:59] hip-hop academic academics all the time who have to fight that that need for validation versus

[00:48:05] F that validation you know I mean like we don't always want to y'all validation we don't care if

[00:48:09] you don't accept our culture and our participation that's from set right so but then we also be like

[00:48:14] I mean it it's not a bad place to be if we can get there on our terms an hour meeting the culture

[00:48:22] I've heard you say this man yeah I gotta give you your flowers for this this this way of thinking

[00:48:27] whether they use or know the word hip-hop but this is a pedagogical approach of a cipher

[00:48:32] is gonna change is changing the face of everything we do look at you and I streaming having

[00:48:38] this right yeah I'm like y'all I'ma make sure I get on the headphones with the SM7

[00:48:43] Jack Mike y'all here we don't do this right this is my guy right sure see it's that mentality right

[00:48:49] to say yo I'm gonna show up for this dude like like you are the president bro and like that makes

[00:48:57] me that's beneficial to me to treat you with that respect to be like yo this this dude is caring

[00:49:03] what I have to say right I'm gonna promote him I'm gonna promote I told people I even put a pose

[00:49:07] you know even if you don't watch go subscribe to my guy's channel so I appreciate I saw that

[00:49:11] course nothing right nothing but that mentality is everything I don't know how I paid a rent

[00:49:18] but I do it and I swear on everything is because I treat people with the same level of respect

[00:49:25] and to me that comes from something that is innate to us that we forget because come on man

[00:49:32] no views if you're a dick people gonna remember that right now I mean you're not gonna be you're

[00:49:39] not gonna be well liked in the cipher you're not going to be well liked bro you know for

[00:49:43] regulates in regulate itself or itself it's pure review regulated so what I do I just show up

[00:49:49] in body and be authentic right and be authentic and respectful that's right that's all I got bro

[00:49:54] and I tell people it's simple but not easy because when you live this way bro you you're doing it

[00:50:00] you're yourself employed I've watched your drink for over 10 years so like that's why I say not

[00:50:06] you're no different than me you got in the trenches you stuck to a vision and you went at it

[00:50:10] relentlessly that's the only way to succeed in life I think that's it you have to have this

[00:50:16] whether it's one view one thousand one million you treat it the same and that is innate to to hip-hop

[00:50:23] culture I believe you know that's why I say anybody who's really about this you're gonna express

[00:50:29] a vibration and a feeling that cannot be denied and that's what's gotten me everything I've

[00:50:34] ever achieved I never even thought I would get this far man yeah it's just like it happened man

[00:50:39] it happened yeah it's continuing to happen and taking to places I never ever dreamed of first

[00:50:44] time on an airplane we're done through this through this very essence of what I'm striving to

[00:50:51] communicate to your listeners man yeah no I appreciate it and I like I said it is very inspiring to

[00:50:55] know that the thing that we are is a thing is all we need big facts right now that's it it's

[00:51:03] in and I'm and forget me and you we we older we figured it out young people you know folks who are

[00:51:09] jaded who are part of the club have that DNA but don't think it's you know like it's this is

[00:51:14] who you are is all you need and you know and and you're helping articulate that I'm doing my part

[00:51:21] really glad that we finally had a chance to to really kind of kick it and get deep into where you

[00:51:25] come from how you've been doing it what you're doing once again creative expressions.co I believe

[00:51:30] is the is the website um you are on the internet webs uh socials as why not show love as I have

[00:51:37] on the screen why is it why yeah yeah yeah why not show show love dot com that's my artist site so

[00:51:43] keep me up on that anything y'all want y'all want to learn anything there's a link in my link tree

[00:51:49] click it 30 minutes I'll give anybody for free that's my tie to the community so like

[00:51:54] I allow everybody have an opening conversation with me just like you did manian I want to say thank

[00:51:58] you so much and anytime you need anything that I this within my capacity to support you with

[00:52:03] we have a community event page would love to keep putting your stuff on there let's put it on

[00:52:07] there i'll send you a follow up email look at admin so that you can you know people need to hear

[00:52:12] what you're doing because it's people like you are truly independent that are looking out for

[00:52:17] people like me man you know and and trust me it does not go on ungratitudeed man he felt like

[00:52:24] that's it I appreciate it highly highly it means a lot bro that you actually gave me this time

[00:52:29] on your because you've done this for a long time yeah it's long overdue i know you for a long time

[00:52:33] but i waited till we made it all pretty come on now you're right good man always moving divine

[00:52:37] time just like it all of course not not not always there when you call but we're always on time

[00:52:42] well uh what listen and anything you need as well you please let me know if you're doing anything

[00:52:45] i broadcast out of the newsletter i have the show i'll let people know when i'm back up in New York

[00:52:50] you know hang out if you're down in Atlanta let's holler and uh you know let's do it all the things

[00:52:55] my man yogi why thank you so much sir will be in touch

[00:52:59] peace peace and love and check and check out anyone who's in the comments wants to reach out reach out

[00:53:03] this this man is very approachable as you could tell that said yeah many faces in the places no

[00:53:08] disrespect to do this every day might just snap your neck with a new pedagogy google it i make

[00:53:13] up my own philosophy drop the stop it's off the top let it go before it was hip hop it was all

[00:53:18] jazz just to give it a gap got a little it all go with a little bit of gas slow it on now with the

[00:53:22] brakes i mistake my mistakes and i correct them it's all grease lightning i'm fighting the thoughts

[00:53:28] that are frightening the lightning piece to my man many faces we do this in all places for races yeah

[00:53:33] yeah thank you my friend will talk soon once again my man my mellow yogi guy why not show love

[00:53:47] why not many faces you sick for this one sick for this one sick for this

[00:53:55] once again thanks for listening to another episode of hip hop can save America aka the world's

[00:54:00] most important hip hop podcast my name is mani faces you can find out more about the show at hip hop

[00:54:05] can save america dot com you can watch the show now as a live stream on youtube hip hop could save

[00:54:10] america dot com slash watch check back for all the replays as well the interviews from the live

[00:54:15] stream will be brought here onto the audio feed so you always get the best of the live stream you can

[00:54:20] also check out our sub stack news letter it's free at mani faces dot sub stack dot com filled with

[00:54:25] stories of hip hop innovation inspiration and in general hip hop news that isn't about dumb

[00:54:32] eternal shout to our consulting producer summer mccoy be sure to check out her dope initiatives

[00:54:36] hip hop hacks and the mixtape museum we'll be back soon with another dope episode but check

[00:54:41] us out on the live stream as well monday's nine p.m eastern hip hop could save america dot com slash

[00:54:46] watch the next time it's mani faces wishing peace and love to you and yours