Speaker 1: 0:00

So nothing off limits.

Speaker 2: 0:01

Nothing, nothing, no, we could talk about whatever you want, dude, seriously, okay, yeah, I think that's important, you know, to even go. You know, there's sometimes where even being uncomfortable can sometimes really bring out something that you never knew that you even had in you. You know, like with my mom I, she didn't want to do it like at all and she was like, please, mom I, she didn't want to do it like at all and she was like, please, andrew, I don't want to do it.

Speaker 1: 0:29

I was like say it again what's her sign?

Speaker 2: 0:33

um? Okay, so her birthday is um may 8th. What's that? I don't know. I'm not good with that. That's him. That's him. That's Matt.

Speaker 1: 0:41

Oh, okay, okay, okay.

Speaker 2: 0:42

Yeah, I think I hear him yelling.

Speaker 1: 0:46

It's Taurus.

Speaker 2: 0:48

Okay, oh, taurus, okay, okay, okay, and so with her.

Speaker 1: 0:56

Let your mom know that you don't know her son, so you're not into signs like that.

Speaker 2: 1:02

You know what? Not yet. I'd like to learn more and I'd like to dig into it, um, but I don't know as much as I guess the the more, uh you know. Most people seem very informed about, uh, astrology these days what's your sign? I am a, a Libra, I know that.

Speaker 1: 1:23

Oh, okay, yeah.

Speaker 2: 1:24

But I couldn't even give you anything more.

Speaker 1: 1:27

Like kind of air about justice balance. Oh, okay, Diplomatic.

Speaker 2: 1:33

Okay, all right, now you're telling me some stuff I don't know. All right, actually, when me and Matt sat down, he was able to. I don't think we really actually went over my sign. That's something that we do want to do in the future. Um, but we kind of just talked about like the history of it and, um, uh, you know, we got into a whole bunch of different things. Um, okay, so let's see here, uh, we're just gonna go right off the bat. Okay, how does how does this start?

Speaker 1: 1:59

yeah, it starts like this this.

Speaker 2: 2:15

Yo, we are on the respecting perspectives podcast and this is the official start to miss chin years episode, who let me tell you something. Uh, you know she is affluent in the baltimore community, uh, with things like the, the black mall, things like the baltimore crown awards, and she's got her own radio show. But listen, enough of me talking about her. I'm going to let her tell you a little bit about herself and where she comes from.

Speaker 1: 2:48

Hey, hey, hey hey.

Speaker 2: 2:50

How are you? I'm doing excellent, I'm doing excellent. How about you?

Speaker 1: 2:53

I'm great, I'm excited to be here. Yes, before I start, what made you start this podcast?

Speaker 2: 3:01

Let's see here. I always felt like I needed to say something and with music I feel limited, you know, because of whatever the instrumental is, or I feel like you know each song has a specific vibe, but with a podcast you can really talk about. Like we say, you could talk about anything and everything. Now, whether or not it fits to a specific, let's see here. You know reasoning.

Speaker 2: 3:40

I think that's the coolest part about it is it gives me more of a way to communicate with other people and to help them also get their ideas out.

Speaker 2: 3:52

So, yeah, I've always had this in the back of my head and then I had a few friends tell me like, hey, you should probably do a podcast. And I was like, yeah, it's a good idea, but there's a lot to it, a lot that goes behind the scenes here. But, uh, it felt like it was definitely worth it and, uh, it's. It feels like right now it's the perfect timing where podcasts are great for information. They're great for education, um, they're great for marketing, um, there's so many different, uh facets of a podcast that you can use in your in your daily life. So, uh, yeah, I feel like it's been a uh, an awesome experience so far and really just getting to sit down with people like yourself and uh, and even get like ask these questions, like it makes me think about things that I don't even really get to think about as much. You would think that I would think about that why I started this, but there's times where that kind of gets lost in translation. I love it.

Speaker 1: 4:54

Yeah, an extroverted introvert, a rebel, a shy rock star, a shock star. A shock star, I like that. A musician, creative and curator and a big dreamer and an alien and a her hermit I think that's about it, right?

Speaker 2: 5:28

I'm sure it depends on the situation, right? That brings out the uh, the type of person in you, right? Um, let's see here, why don't you tell me a little bit, uh, where you grew up and let's see? You know some of the things from you, maybe your early childhood that maybe helped you, you know, get to where you are now, whether it's like schooling or did you play any instruments or like, just give us a little bit of your background, if you don't mind that's where the alien part comes in.

Speaker 1: 6:03

So I'm jamaican, I was born in england and I was raised in jersey and then I've been in in baltimore for like 20 something years, so no matter where I've been. So I'm a british citizen, okay, as of now. But of course when I'm in england I have this accent and then i'm'm Jamaican. It's just like I'm always feel like I'm an alien everywhere, which has served me well like in terms of artistically.

Speaker 1: 6:30

My parents Jamaican Rastafarians and they're both artists, my mother visual artist. My father, he played several instruments and was a producer. So I grew up in a very free, uh happy, musical household what did he play?

Speaker 1: 6:49

he played the bass and the guitar and he also sang and he had a reggae band. Oh, that's so awesome. So he used to drag me to like I won't say drag me, but I was seven years old and six years old, like out, two in the morning, three in the morning, like watching them play, and I loved it, so that just has made me the person I am.

Speaker 2: 7:09

Yeah, that's so awesome. What about schooling? Give me a little bit about where. Where did you go to school?

Speaker 1: 7:15

I went to a Catholic school at first. Until later I went to a public school, which also played a huge part into my whole life, because we used to have like days off for like saints and things like that. So the very first thing I wanted to be when I was little was a saint. Oh, shoot.

Speaker 2: 7:36

Who was your favorite saint? What did you have like a favorite patron saint back in the day, then now probably mother theresa, but oh right, uh, not particularly.

Speaker 1: 7:46

I just remember wanting.

Speaker 2: 7:47

I wanted to be a nun too, until I really understood what that meant still, you understood what nunhood meant yeah, but yeah, that's what I really wanted to be wait, what was it about the nuns that that, um, you know that attracted you oh, I just, I just wanted to like heal.

Speaker 1: 8:09

I don't. I'm trying to think of a songs like we are the world and all these different songs. Yeah, I just wanted to make a difference, that's. That's the big thing. And because we were around that all day, every day in school, that was like my first frame of reference gotcha, I had that as well when I went to a catholic school.

Speaker 2: 8:26

I went to, uh, saint thomas aquinas, chow chow um, over there in handen, and we had nuns, uh, as well, and I do remember them having like this, like somber, like one with themselves, um, energy, and they really, you know they were, they were very quiet, though, you know they weren't loud, um, but they all they always seemed like they had had their, had their stuff together, you know, until somebody did something bad, dude. And then that's when they, that's when you kind of saw the, the, the, you know the, uh, the more wild side, and I can see where you would think that, though, because, like, they're very, like reserved and they, you know they, they know what they're doing and like, even though, like you know, uh, chaos erupts around them, they're still able to kind of keep that, uh, that composure.

Speaker 1: 9:22

So, yeah, and there was this one specific nun. Her name was sister joseph clear. She was my first grade teacher and she would play the guitar for us and sing and then, like in the middle of the school year, she just disappeared and we didn't know where she went. Then we found out she went to like um, help people in africa. Oh wow, that just stood in my head, like her guitar and helping people and feeding. You know what I mean Doing yeah, giving back she's probably the only teacher's name I remember from then.

Speaker 2: 9:51

Well, there's a reason, right Gosh. I never had none of the nuns at St Thomas played any music or anything like that. Although I feel like that, that or anything like that, although I feel like that, that would be something that would have, uh, stuck with me. Yes, for sure. What about, um? Did you play any instruments when you were younger? My voice, oh, there you go. Yeah, there you go. How old were you when you realized you know the power of your voice and and what was what you were capable of?

Speaker 1: 10:24

who. So when I was born, my parents had me relatively young and they I was left in england for the first four or five, six years of my life and then they were here. So I think because of the trauma of that me not understanding where they went, I literally didn't speak like I didn't. When I came here I should have had a british accent, but I didn't because I didn't speak, I was just so my first way to communicate was through singing. Like I didn't speak but I sang okay. So singing was just like a comforting, healing thing for me.

Speaker 2: 11:01

Oh, it always has been yeah, I can, uh, I can sympathize uh with that, especially recently, uh, taking vocal lessons with a vocal instructor and really just being able to harness that power and knowing how to take care of it right and to think that we all have this ability, or most of us uh have this ability to to communicate, um, but, yeah, that's so interesting. That's really cool to hear. Um, let's see here. What about, um, when you were younger, tell me more more about you said England, that's where you how, how long did you live there? And six, really, okay, okay, and let's see here. So you have wait, I'm sorry, you said till six. Okay, do you remember it?

Speaker 1: 11:52

Yeah, I do Foggy, rainy, right Chill, kind of like Sherlock Holmes vibe. Yeah, I remember it yeah, let's see here.

Speaker 2: 12:04

Do you remember the street that you grew up on?

Speaker 1: 12:08

Not in England. No, let's see here Jersey. Yeah, oh, Jersey.

Speaker 2: 12:14

Okay, all right, shout out to Jersey. I got family who, well, most of my family is from Philadelphia but we frequent jersey, uh, like the beach and whatnot. Seattle city, um, let's see here. Uh, okay, so after six, tell me, um, what happened day after that. Where did you go?

Speaker 1: 12:35

I stayed there for uh, lived in elizabeth, I don't know, people know new jersey like that, but I kind of hopped different parts of new jersey elizabeth, newark, okay, irvington, and then I saw morgan state university, which is in baltimore, and that's what made me fall in love with baltimore oh sweet, what was it about, uh?

Speaker 2: 12:56

morgan state itself that uh attracted you.

Speaker 1: 12:59

It was a, it was a vibe, it was like like a spiritual, like electric currency, to just it really hit me when my feet just landed on there.

Speaker 2: 13:09

Yeah.

Speaker 1: 13:10

So we went on like a tour to all the HBCUs and I don't know. I just had an electric connection.

Speaker 2: 13:19

Damn, that's awesome. Let's see here. Did you end up studying there? Yeah?

Speaker 1: 13:25

What was your?

Speaker 2: 13:25

uh, what was your focus?

Speaker 1: 13:27

my first major was social work, and then I changed it to creative writing. Okay, which is what?

Speaker 2: 13:32

I two totally different things there.

Speaker 1: 13:34

No, not really because creative writing is probably the best thing, in addition to all arts, to use to heal people that's a good point, actually.

Speaker 2: 13:46

Um, now let's see here with the social work itself. Um, did you have any particular dreams or goals at that time? Um, you know, when you started school that you wanted to achieve.

Speaker 1: 14:01

It went back to that whole saint. None thing. I wanted to be a social worker, just like change the world, heal the world type thing yeah but I realized I could do it even more through the arts.

Speaker 2: 14:13

Oh, I love the way you put that actually. So was there like a time in between where you let's see here, um, you found that creative writing, you know, was going to be something that you wanted to pursue. Was it like an overnight thing, or did did you kind of have to go through like a process? I asked that because when I was in school, um, I went for engineering and that's what I, you know, started out as, and then, as I, I didn't know what the heck I wanted to do.

Speaker 2: 14:44

You sound like you had more of a clear vision about what you wanted to do, but I had no idea what I wanted to do, and engineering just sounded cool at the time, you know, um, I wanted to build things, uh, but then I slowly started to realize, um, you know, what communication was and how to be able to use it properly to build a network. And it was like maybe like two or three months in between there that I went to my advisor and was like this is not what I'm meant to be doing, like communications is my clear path and that's what kind of helped me um you know, transcend into the arts for me, but for you, was there anything uh specific that changed like?

Speaker 2: 15:32

was there any like event maybe that you you went to that was like, oh, you know what this is, this is something, or was it any particular thing that that helped you realize this? I had always always loved writing.

Speaker 1: 15:43

I had won writing contests since I was a little girl. The first one was when I was six, but again that time, when I didn't speak and I was singing, the other thing I was doing was writing that was just the way I communicated through the world through musical notes and through writing.

Speaker 1: 16:04

So that was very healing for me. And then I closely associate music with writing as well because, my dad being a musician, our whole living room was filled, like ceiling to the floor, with vinyl records and then, of course, all the words was like printed on the back. So I had a really strong love of words, my whole life directly connected to music. So when I was going to school for social work, I would write papers for my social work classes and they would read them and be like this sounds like a film, this sounds like a script.

Speaker 2: 16:36

This sounds like a poem.

Speaker 1: 16:37

This sounds like so all my teachers my whole life always told me to go into that. So then, eventually I was like you know what, yeah, yeah, have always told me to go into that.

Speaker 2: 16:44

So then eventually I was like you know what, yeah, yeah, you know what. It's cool that you, you, you talk about that, because I love thinking about like back in the day, um, like, yeah, reading the back of records and the words. You know, like there's something about that connection to be able to really just you know, I feel like people don't do that as much these days, even though like lyrics are available If you, you know, if you're in like Apple music or Spotify, if you, if the artist is, you know, doing, I guess, or I think, what they you know, know to be doing and to help them connect with more people. And this is a word of advice to all artists out there if you know you have music out, make sure that you go through the proper distributors and outlets to get those lyrics you know, um, not just like put up, but also synced, so that that way people can follow you and I feel like they can make more of a connection with you if they have those words.

Speaker 1: 17:51

But I also remember having to rewind the tape, and we would literally sit there and write the words like line by line too Right.

Speaker 2: 17:59

Oh, that's so awesome. And then, even like, if it wasn't a vinyl, remember, when CDs, you know, they had the little, the little packets that you and I remember, like there was a time there was a shift when, like, I would open that packet up and the words wouldn't be in there and I'd be like, I'd remember being like so, like mad, like man, like this was one of the reasons, like why I would even like get the CD is so that I could follow along with them. But it's cool to think about that type of stuff.

Speaker 1: 18:33

When you think literature or English literature and creative writing, to me there's no better way to study it than through music. If you're talking poetic devices like hyper, it's like there's a song for every, every device, every skill yeah, yeah, I, I agree with that.

Speaker 2: 18:52

Um, let's hear, was there any particular favorite like album that you, you listened to?

Speaker 1: 18:58

you know over and over again from your dad's collection that you can remember, hmm yeah, think about that fella cootie, which, um, I didn't really understand that's uh, he's an artist from nigeria and he was a activist as well, so he would literally like get arrested for putting out his songs and stuff like that. So I remember it wasn't more so me playing it all the time, but they it was always playing in the house, and then bob marley, of course, and whitney houston that was my favorite for my first favorite singer and stephanie mills, and there's so many, yeah, yeah, I'm sure you could go through who was the first artist?

Speaker 2: 19:39

you said though oh, fella cootie yeah, I'm gonna, I'm gonna put a link and uh, we'll put a picture up so that that way other people can uh research and uh and watch and listen, and personally I'd like to uh to hear and see. Um, did you see the more the most recent the bob marley movie I haven't no no, I haven't either.

Speaker 2: 20:01

actually I've been been meaning to do that. Let's see here. Other than that, let's move on from that a little bit. Jersey Tell me a little bit about Jersey and what brought you from Jersey to Baltimore itself.

Speaker 1: 20:19

That was the Morgan. I went on a college tour, college tour.

Speaker 2: 20:24

Okay, let's see here. And then the creative writing. Um, now, when you were, when you speak about creative writing and like music, do you mean like actual, like music notes or like words themselves? Words? Yeah, yeah okay, um, you know, yeah, okay, you know what? Let me tell you, I have been a music writer for, I would say, at least 20 years now, and that is something that has guided me throughout my whole life.

Speaker 1: 20:58

So when you say that, do you mean notes or do you mean writing?

Speaker 2: 21:01

I mean writing the words yeah themselves as well.

Speaker 1: 21:05

Um, I have about a hundred notebooks at home who's your favorite songwriter or one of your favorite?

Speaker 2: 21:14

man, my favorite songwriter, um, I would say uh, mac miller yeah, yeah, I like Mac Miller.

Speaker 2: 21:22

Yeah, yeah, he really just helped me understand that you can just be totally different on each track. And I feel like now with artists they kind of get like they see this, like let's see here, they see success in a particular genre and then they end up like sticking with that genre, you know, and kind of like staying with that genre, and especially like nowadays with like playlisting and things like that, you know there's different feels that people have, or, as the kids say, it's vibes these days.

Speaker 1: 22:09

Okay, you know what I mean.

Speaker 2: 22:10

And so, you know, it makes me really think about most artists, I would say, really do kind of put themselves in a box or in a particular lane, you know, and more power to them to be able to know what they're good at. Um, although I think, uh, you know the the strength of an artist is their ability to be versatile, you know, and to be able to, to, to, to really just create something. I think that's the thing that we're missing is like creating something out of nothing you know, I don't think art and boxes even go together.

Speaker 1: 22:52

I mean it's debatable. Yeah, if an artist who is in a box is an artist yeah I'm not sure yeah, you're right.

Speaker 2: 22:59

Right, I feel like um it, it feels like sometimes, uh, of, yeah, maybe they see, see success in the outside world. But it felt really good to make that type of music and I would make it and then make it over again and I will give a word of advice, like, if you're feeling it, you know, you know, run with it as as far as much as you can, but guess what? There's always a finish line.

Speaker 2: 23:53

You know so you need to realize you know how many laps can you do before you know you. I think it really all comes down to like you know what you can get from the music personally, I mean, I know you know everyone else hearing it and what they get is amazing, but I feel like the best artists or sorry, the most creative artists are willing and able to learn from their own. You know movements in order to get them to other people and outside. Let's see here, let's talk about music and songwriting a little bit. When do you feel like you write either your best work or, let's see see, yeah, when do you feel like the best time to write is, for you, the best time to write is every single day.

Speaker 1: 24:53

Writers block does not exist. Yeah, yes I totally agree with that. It doesn't exist. Um, that's one great thing about going to school for writing. Because there's no, you can't tell your professors oh, the muse didn't come, or I wasn't inspired. Like if I had a screenplay due and it was a 90-page screenplay, I had to write it, Like period. Or I fail. You know what I mean? Yeah, so that whole process taught me like, no, like you can't wait on the music, you have to take the music and grab them. Love that, yeah.

Speaker 2: 25:29

Love that it forced you to be productive.

Speaker 1: 25:33

Yeah, it forced me to. Can you cross on here? Yeah, Okay. Say whatever the fuck you want it forced me to not bullshit like and not like. Procrastinate yeah, so yeah, that's a huge procrastination. Like, oh yeah, I'm not feeling it, there's no ideas flowing to me, there's no, no.

Speaker 2: 25:54

Yeah, no, I feel like, with the amount of words that are out there, that, yeah, you can explain and describe things in so many different ways and maybe we should both try and give a tidbit of advice for someone who is suffering from writer's block. Writer's block, I think there's a different emotion that can be connected with sorry, there's millions of emotions that can be connected with a particular feeling or a particular let's see here way that you're trying to get your voice heard. I think, even if you're not feeling like inspired to write, I've been personally able to write poetry when I'm not feeling inspired to write music, because I feel like when I'm writing poetry it's more of like when I'm feeling like somber and I'm feeling maybe like not I wouldn't say depressed, but like when I'm feeling a while to realize that and to figure that out. But different let's see here different mediums, you know for the different ways that you're feeling. Do you write any poetry itself or is it all music?

Speaker 1: 27:37

Yeah, I'm a published poet. I have a few books. But going back to what you said earlier, I'm going to say all the way off the record fully, no one suffers from writer's block. No one. No, what people suffer from is being too critical of what they put out. You always have something to say. You always, if your hand can move like this, you always have something to write.

Speaker 1: 28:05

But what stops is it is you telling yourself, oh, it's not good enough, this sucks, this is bullshit. This is that's what people suffer from, not writer's block, it's the scrutiny. But what I learned is is like muses are like birds, so you got to put crumbs on the paper. Crumbs is the bullshit. You just write whatever comes like bullshit or not, you just put it on the page and what that attracts is now the muses see the crumbs on the page and they fly and they come around and they swarm around and they land on you. But they reward you doing that step. It's just like if you play a sport, you're going to stretch first. You're not going to think the stretch is you slam dunking. You're not going to think the stretch is you jumping over hurdles. You know that that's the stretch.

Speaker 2: 28:54

So slam dunking.

Speaker 1: 28:55

You're not gonna think the stretch is you jumping over hurdles? You know that, that's the stretch. So you just gotta see the same thing as writing love that. Put the bullshit on the page and I promise you the muses will come. But you gotta do that first step.

Speaker 2: 29:05

Love that, that's. That's amazing. Yeah, that. I think that is something that took me a little bit, uh, to learn as well. Um, I feel like when I am writing music, yeah, you never write your best stuff, like I mean actually not sometimes.

Speaker 2: 29:22

Sometimes, yeah, you're right sometimes that hook will come right away. But, um, you know, yeah, if you I always do feel like strike, while the iron's hot too, and it's like even if, even if, like that little bit of creativity, everything that you need in the song itself, and you have like the hook, and then you have, you know, a few verses, like keep writing, like write, until you literally feel like you can't go anymore because you know, say, you know you have enough for your song, you know, halfway through that a proper musician can then take the words that they wrote for that and translate it into another song. You know, so having all of that material is just more fuel for the fire later on.

Speaker 1: 30:32

And don't discount dreams also.

Speaker 2: 30:35

Oh, yeah, yeah, Tell me a little bit about that Songs and melodies that can come in dreams.

Speaker 1: 30:38

Just don't write off anything. Any inspiration. Yeah, Sometimes I'll just go to like a thrift store and look at book titles and write down the titles and just force myself to write something based on that.

Speaker 2: 30:53

There's inspirations everywhere let me ask you this uh, do you have a dream diary?

Speaker 1: 30:59

oh, absolutely do you really so?

Speaker 2: 31:02

when do you do you feel like? I mean, you do you have to fill it out, like as soon as you wake up? Is that something that or like? Is there times when, like time when you later on kind of think of like a detail that's in the dream that you then can add later? How do you feel like the best way to fill out a dream diary? I've been finding it difficult personally, because I have other things that I try and do right when I wake up, and if I don't do those things then I feel like I'm veering off my path. So do you have any advice?

Speaker 1: 31:43

on that. For me it has to be as soon as I wake up. If I do it later, it's going to be some details that are missing, and then I title them based on subjects. So when the time comes like I was listening to your last guest, like I'm the same way, Like I have dreams and they happen. So when I need to find them, I'm able to easily find them by topic. Topic Gotcha.

Speaker 2: 32:07

And she's speaking about Cassandra Hurley, who we just had and an amazing person and interview, and glad to have her and you here as well. Let's see here. Back to the dreams, though. Do you feel like dreams have a significant meaning to our personal life?

Speaker 1: 32:30

I can't speak for everyone, but I know with me in particular, absolutely yes, they're like it's a whole nother realm, a whole nother parallel reality universe. And what happens there in my situation? It happens here.

Speaker 2: 32:47

And let's see here Do you feel like you know, you see these like books that have like I don't know, like a whale? If you have a whale in your dream, then it means you have like a big problem that you are scared to confront. Do you feel like those signs or symbols mean the same thing you know overall for all people, or they can mean different things right, not in my experience yeah that doesn't no, yeah me, me too as well.

Speaker 2: 33:21

Um, let's see here I, uh, you know I've always wanted to and I gosh, I have to add this to my um, to my bucket list but I've always wanted to teach a class on dreams you know, just kind of like teaching younger people or not even younger people like anyone how to interpret their dreams.

Speaker 2: 33:46

But, yeah, prophetic dreams, I feel like I, I feel like I do, I feel like the dreams that I have. Actually, I think that this is. I want to write a book on this one day, okay, and it will be called. I think it will be called like Dream On which is. I heard your version of it. I love it. It's really cool. And, yeah, check out some of her music. We'll put it in the caption here below. But let's see, here I feel like dreams are our way of living out the next day ahead of time. So, but, but you really have to be, like, extremely in control of your dreams and you basically have to be able to lucid dream, you know, to be able to achieve this, um, but I, I wholeheartedly feel that in that eight hours that we are asleep, you know we should, or we in our dreams should, be living the next day, so that that way we can like make mistakes. That way we can do things that we wouldn't normally do in our regular life, to kind of test ourselves.

Speaker 1: 35:16

I like that.

Speaker 2: 35:17

Yeah, right To see if and it really does give you like a clean slate for what your future is, say you have like a situation that you're scared to confront. Well, in your dream you can create that situation, and if it doesn't work out, then you know not to go that direction. You know. If it works out, you know, okay, you know what. Let me harness this power and you know, move forward with it. Now again, though, that would require us to have like lots of control on you. Know the way that we think and the way that we dream. Do you feel like there is a way to control your dreams? Um, more or less it probably is.

Speaker 1: 36:04

I haven't. That's not how it works for me okay okay, yeah, mine really come up like lessons or things to avoid or things to do like very direct, like you were talking about the dream. Like an elephant means an elephant. Usually it's very black or white most of the time.

Speaker 2: 36:23

Okay, well, that's a good thing then, because then you don't have there's no extra room for misinterpretation. I guess you could say let's see here extra room for misinterpretation. I guess you could say let's see here. Do you have any like recurring dreams that are either like something that is, you know, like something that is either like scary or something that's like I don't know fun, like you're like I don't know, like an adventure park or something like that or anything.

Speaker 2: 36:52

No, I don't have any recurring recurring dreams. I have one that is me in I used to be a server and a bartender and I have a reoccurring dream where I have I'm the only server in the whole restaurant and I'm taking people's orders, like back to back to back, but like I'm writing it down and I can never get everybody's order in and I'm like going from one table to the next and then like I can't get that table and I'm missing like drinks, and they're yelling at me, they're screaming at me and then, gosh, I love when I wake up from those because I'm like just like nervous as hell, like I find myself sweating and I wake up and I'm like, oh, thank god, I'm not a server anymore.

Speaker 1: 37:43

I have something, not that often, but I'll have a dream that I'm in high school again.

Speaker 2: 37:47

I'm like that's how I wake up, like no right, you like your jump, you're like, oh shoot oh shoot.

Speaker 1: 37:53

High school was fun, but I don't want to do that again yeah, right, right, I hear that.

Speaker 2: 37:57

Um, let's see here, let's get a little bit more. We, we talked a little bit about your past. Uh, let's talk about the present. Um, let's dive a little bit into the, uh, the baltimore crown awards. Tell me a little bit about what they are. For anyone who's not from Baltimore, who's listening, give me a little bit, give me the goods on the Baltimore Crown Awards.

Speaker 1: 38:25

For people especially not from here or listening about Baltimore not from here. They usually associate Baltimore with the wire violence. You know what I mean. So the Crown Awards was one of the reasons it was founded was to make Baltimore synonymous with what Baltimore really is about, which is creativity, genius, community love, talent.

Speaker 1: 38:57

So it really awards people just doing great things in the city. So we have things like community activist, entrepreneur of the year, poet, musician, everything that you can think of, sports, all the different art forms, fashion, makeup artists, tattoo artists. Oh, about shining light on on all the people doing great things and also to affirm people like sometimes, especially as artists like you, just need that, that push or you might have one of those days like why am I even doing this?

Speaker 1: 39:30

is anyone even paying attention? So it's like to let people know we see you, we hear you, keep doing it, we celebrate you, we honor you. And to do it now. So it's like we give people their flowers in the form of crowns now while they're living. So we had like legend awards. So there's been some people we've lost over the years and I'm so happy that we as a city got to celebrate them in such big ways while they were here to hear those words.

Speaker 2: 39:58

Yeah, love that. Now let me ask you this as far as the people who are nominated is this something that you self-nominate, or how can people be nominated, or how can people be nominated?

Speaker 1: 40:12

So they would go to the website thebaltimoresceneorg and you nominate people and you give a reason why they should be nominated, like a detailed reason and that's like a several months process and that's how the nominees are gathered, and then there's a second round where you vote again with reasons.

Speaker 2: 40:33

Okay, when are the actual awards themselves?

Speaker 1: 40:37

The December, like the first week of December, so we just had one December 8th, okay, at Iconic Live, all right. Yeah, it was beautiful.

Speaker 2: 40:47

Nice, nice, let's see here. So when will people start? I know you just had the last one, and congratulations to everybody who won an award this year for 2024. When do you start to see people getting nominated for the 2025?

Speaker 1: 41:08

January 1st. We start early, but just with the one question. It starts with one question like who do you think in Baltimore should receive their flowers? For doing so simple, and then we're going to extend it.

Speaker 2: 41:20

Love that, and where can people let's see here? You said thebaltimoresceneorg.

Speaker 1: 41:28

And Baltimore Crown Awards on Instagram and TikTok. Okay, all right.

Speaker 2: 41:31

And the Baltimore.

Speaker 1: 41:32

Scene on Instagram and TikTok. Okay, all right. And the Baltimore scene on Instagram and TikTok.

Speaker 2: 41:37

Okay, and let's see here how many years have the Baltimore Crown Awards been around?

Speaker 1: 41:44

We just had our 18th 18 years. Really 19th year now.

Speaker 2: 41:49

Wow, that's amazing. That's awesome. Anything special for the 20th anniversary?

Speaker 1: 41:56

I'm just recovering from the 18th. I'm really on my sabbatical right now. Where do the actual awards occur? At a beautiful venue called Iconic Lives on Goofrood. Oh I'm familiar.

Speaker 2: 42:09

Okay, alright, let's see here. Okay well, hey, shout out to uh. Everybody who has been nominated. Um, all of the winners from uh from this year. Is there any winner that you want to maybe shed a little bit of light on uh right now, while you have the opportunity?

Speaker 1: 42:28

man, there's too many to yeah that out to one. Okay, okay, okay, all okay, all right good thinking Everyone, yeah, good thinking.

Speaker 2: 42:36

Okay, let's see here. Tell me a little bit, let's pivot a little. Let's go to the Black Mall. Tell me a little bit about how that started and maybe some of the vendors that are a part of it where people can go to visit it. Give me the deets on that, okay.

Speaker 1: 42:57

So again, my parents were Rastafarian, so part of the Rastafarian religion or way of life is about Afrocentric learning history being an entrepreneur, so I grew up in that like making our own things and selling our own things, so it's basically one place where you can go and and buy things from. You have, uh, people who make sculptures, um, t-shirts, clothes, shea butter, and then you get the culture, too, to dance. We got Baltimore Club Dance, hip hop, live bands and open mics and it's open to everybody. Love that, yes.

Speaker 2: 43:39

I love that. How can someone become a vendor there? You could just text me Text her 443-248-2596. Oh, there you go. Say it one more time 443-248-2596.

Speaker 1: 43:53

Nice.

Speaker 2: 43:54

Love that Love8-2596. Nice, love that. Love that let's see here. Is there anything that you are there, any type vendors that you really either need, or a specific type of let's see here Medium that you feel like you could use either more of or?

Speaker 1: 44:13

We love visual arts. Okay, that's me being biased because I collect art. Okay, my whole heart, my whole house is like a museum. Oh, that's awesome. Yeah, love that. Clothes and clothes sneakers.

Speaker 2: 44:26

Nice now you're. You were talking about, uh, music itself. How um does, do you like, throw particular, particular events to where these artists can perform? Okay, gotcha.

Speaker 1: 44:39

Do you?

Speaker 2: 44:39

have any events coming up that you want to highlight?

Speaker 1: 44:44

Our next one will be March 16th, because I've been double working for months and months and months, so I'm taking a winter sabbatical. There you go January and February.

Speaker 2: 44:59

Nice Time for yourself, time for myself, time for myself outside of the radio show.

Speaker 1: 45:01

Yeah, and then you'll call, you'll come back even harder.

Speaker 2: 45:03

Um, exactly, let's actually. You mentioned the radio show. Was there anything else about, uh, the black mall that you wanted to either speak about or mention?

Speaker 1: 45:10

um, it's the third sunday the month. Okay, please come, we have a ball and, yeah, like support our vendors.

Speaker 2: 45:20

That's about it. Where is it located? 6.

Speaker 1: 45:22

East Lafayette. It's the third Sunday of the month, 1 to 5. And it's free. Free admission and you get a show. It's like music, an amazing dance show. We have um an event called the greatest dancer competition.

Speaker 2: 45:38

Oh nice, so you have like amazing dancers I wouldn't be a part of that, just so you know, although maybe I could learn something you never know and then we have a segment called the all-stars where um, we celebrate people by sign, so each month like we'll have a all pisces show oh nice, the djs, the pisces, the host of um performers love that.

Speaker 2: 46:02

Yeah, so we have a segment of the show called the all-stars nice, nice, um, okay, yeah, let's see here. Let's uh, let's pivot a little bit. Let's go to the um, to the radio show. Tell me a little bit about the station itself and uh how long you've been doing that and uh what people can look forward to when uh tuning in it's on um 88.9 fm, weaa, and it's basically a version of the baltimore crown awards, just on a weekly basis, putting energy on people.

Speaker 1: 46:35

So, on a side note, I don't have a TV in my house. I don't watch the news. I haven't watched news in decades. So it's basically about giving people good news, like, yeah, because that's what I want to hear. So basically producing something that I want to hear, so shedding light on people doing amazing things. And then we surprise everybody, every guest, with flowers. So we have somebody in their life give them a speech that they never told them before.

Speaker 2: 47:04

On the show, love that, oh, wow, so, okay. So give me a scenario like if someone were to be on the show. They would then write a speech to someone that I would be recording.

Speaker 1: 47:20

Okay, Say, if you were, I would research somebody close to you, okay, or someone that knew you in the city, okay, and I would ask them to send me a recording of, and I specifically say say something that you've. You would normally wait to a funeral to say and say it now and then we just play it.

Speaker 2: 47:40

There you go love that, love that, right. That's a good opportunity to uh take some time and uh, yeah, to appreciate, you know people and um energy for uh for for what they're known for, and uh, you know before people and um energy for uh for for what they're known for, and uh, you know before it's too late, right, it's so important, man, I love that. Um, let's see here, what else did we want to talk about? Um, you know you are also a curator of events other than kind of the things that we spoke about. You have any um, either past events that you want to shed some light on or uh future events that you feel like um are something that uh that that are important for for people to hear and that you want to be a part of.

Speaker 1: 48:25

I love uh, I love all the arts. So, like I said, we have a dance competition, we have have a beat battle, beat god.

Speaker 2: 48:34

Oh shoot.

Speaker 1: 48:34

Okay, I know some homies who we do MC battles. We've had Cypher, so very much into hip hop, every single art form that you can think of, we have an event for it. Nice. So if you do any kind of art, please connect with me Now, are these events connected together?

Speaker 2: 48:54

yeah, are they now. Are these events like, connected, like together, or like, are they like the, the mc ones, you know a separate night, and then like the uh, you know the dancers a separate night.

Speaker 1: 49:00

Or or do you kind of sometimes they're separate, but then, like at the crown awards, we have like little segments of a whole, like we had a beat battle, we had a dance battle. So we do a lot of things like gotcha, the one thing, nice. But yeah, there's separate events Gotcha, gotcha.

Speaker 2: 49:16

Let's see here. I feel like we went through some good things. Is there anything? I know we had some other things that we kind of spoke about that you want to kind of shed light on or anything like you know, like any like, uh, let's see here, um, anything in the maybe more recent uh you know future that you want to, uh you know other I said march 18th was, was something. Any other dates that people can kind of like put on the calendar now, that way they can look forward?

Speaker 1: 49:51

um, the improv y'all have coming up here because I'm definitely going rolling yeah, and sing something right. Rhythm royale shouts out to rhythm royale I'm definitely going to be in the building for that. That sounds so exciting yeah, it's, it's so cool improv yeah, like really I've done a lot of jam sessions and but I've never heard nothing like yeah well, he was explaining to me and it's cool because it's like it's a full band improv.

Speaker 2: 50:19

Usually you'll have like, just like, maybe like the singer or like you know. The band themselves maybe have a few bars that are improv, but most of it kind of follows like a, a specific um, let's see here, guideline. I guess you could say um, but yeah, so we picked the, the tempo, um, we pick the, uh, the, the theme of the song itself.

Speaker 2: 50:41

That's wow, yeah, that's, that's pretty cool um, let's see here, uh yeah, and then, like they have, like you know, you can even if you're not like a thousand percent like comfortable with like a specific, if you know how to play it and you can keep a rhythm, you can try percussion and stuff like that you can even step out of your comfort zone a little bit. So I highly recommend that We'll put the date for the next one down in the comments here. It'll be either the first or second Monday in January, so we'll put that down there. Let's see here. There's one last thing I wanted to talk about, and that was your shirt here. Oh yeah, love is God.

Speaker 1: 51:29

Love is God.

Speaker 2: 51:29

Yeah, tell me a little bit about that and, uh, what that means to you.

Speaker 1: 51:36

so my dad, I know I reference my parents a lot. You, know as you should um huge, you know?

Speaker 1: 51:43

I mean like everything that I am is from my parents shouts to dad, yeah, shout out to dads and moms, yeah, but rastafarian, so very much into love, love, love, love, love. So he said he became a rastafarian because that was the only religion that didn't try to convert him into something oh really. So he could have easily, just like forced us to be rastafarian, me and my brother, but he didn't. So he gave us the the chance to just explore however we want to explore in terms of spirituality. So, me being a little girl, he explained it to me. He said God is like Florida, and if you're going to Florida, you could take the plane to Florida, the train, the motorcycle, you could hitchhike. And if you do take the plane there, spirit, frontier, delta, us air, like basically there's so many different ways to get to florida. That's him just explaining it to my little girl, mine. So basically he was saying, however you want to get to god being meaning goodness in his eyes, being a spiritual, you mean good person you do that. So he allowed me to.

Speaker 1: 52:56

There was a church on the corner, so I went to the church and sang gospel in church. He sent me to a catholic school. I lived in a buddhist monastery. I lived in a hindu ashram. I studied yoruba. I've studied West African religion, I've been in the mosque, everything that you can think of and of decades of just that kind of searching. When I came up with was, if God is love, that means love is God, and it just made it real simple for me. So that's what I live by Love that Love is God.

Speaker 2: 53:32

Love is God. Love is God, love is God. It's so simple.

Speaker 1: 53:35

If you just love, then you're doing it right. But that's just my way. And again, my way is not. Somebody wants to take a plane and I take a train. That's what we do. We all get into the same place.

Speaker 2: 53:48

Right, right. I think the option of being able to have those different ways of getting to a particular destination Super grateful for you know, being able to have all of those different options, you know, and I feel like you know there's at different times to like, think about, like, even if you do take the plane, you know, think about like you have to take the plane and then you might have to take like a bus, like exactly exactly, like that's why some people might be this path from this age to this age and then that path from this, you know.

Speaker 1: 54:26

I mean it's all different and they're all. I don't, I don't, me personally, I think it's kind of silly to say that, like there's so many different types of flowers, there's so many different types of birds. There's so many different types of everything on this planet. So I think I know that there's different paths you know what I mean and one doesn't have to be better or worse than the other.

Speaker 2: 54:52

Yeah, I totally agree with that and I love the way that you put that. You know we're going to switch it up a little bit. I have a few cards here that I want to ask you Just some fun questions here. We usually do like a some fun questions here. We usually do like a, a rapid fire um questionnaire that I have. But uh, with these this kind of switches it up a little bit.

Speaker 2: 55:20

Um, uh, 10 seconds on the board, oh okay no, no, I'm just kidding, no, you, you, you have as much time as you want, although we want to try, and you know, think of it. Think of it as a little bit of a rapid fire type thing okay, all right, so will you ask me a question?

Speaker 1: 55:34

Can I ask a question?

Speaker 2: 55:36

Yeah, of course All right, yeah we can do that. Okay, all right, you ready. First one Would you rather be able to speak every language or play every instrument?

Speaker 1: 55:47

Absolutely fully play every instrument.

Speaker 2: 55:50

Yeah, definitely. Yeah, let's see here. You know what I feel like. Yeah, I feel like it would be every instrument as well. Yeah, I agree, I agree with that. One. Okay, second one If you could be good at something overnight, what would it be?

Speaker 1: 56:12

The piano. I know that's cheating. Oh, there you go, okay.

Speaker 2: 56:15

Yeah, I could dibble, I'd dabble, dabble a little bit Dibble dabble, a little bit. Mine would be cooking.

Speaker 1: 56:22

Oh, okay.

Speaker 2: 56:26

Yep bit um, mine would be uh cooking. Oh okay, yep, because I, I, what do you want to make? Well, I would make some like uh, some italian like dish that, like I could, like you know, serve to everybody oh, okay, yep yep, also. Okay, next one here, name a book you've read more than once um creative visual.

Speaker 1: 56:43

Creative visualization by shakti going oh, love that.

Speaker 2: 56:49

Um, let's see here mine would be. Uh, the four agreements. Oh, I love that. Yes, what was, what was yours again?

Speaker 1: 56:57

one more time.

Speaker 2: 56:57

Creative visualization, okay, all right, we'll put that up here so y'all can see the cover. Okay, what qualities do you admire most in your parents?

Speaker 1: 57:12

How rebellious and wild and free they are and how much of a hustler they're. Both hust they just like they don't follow rules, but, in a good way, love that they make their own rules.

Speaker 2: 57:30

yeah, uh, let's see here my uh, what is the quality I admire most about my parents? I would have to say, um, the love that they, that they show not just to me, but the care and kindness that they show to people around them. All right, would the world be better or worse if no one carried around phones?

Speaker 2: 57:59

It would be way better, way better, right, way better. Gosh, I I mean, let me think about that, yeah, yeah, I do definitely think that, uh, it has created a uh, distraction for us and, even though, like the good things about the phone, I don't feel, I feel like we're not harnessing them the way that we could and that we should.

Speaker 1: 58:26

I miss the inner peace, like when you leave the house and no one could get in touch with you and that was okay. Now it's just like you just got this constant thing. And everybody thinks that they have 24-7 access to you. So now you got to just control that boundary for yourself. Oh, I like that Controlling the boundary of the access itself.

Speaker 2: 58:42

Yeah, love that yeah, so now you got to just control that boundary for yourself. Oh, I like that. Controlling the boundary of the access itself. Yeah, love that. All right, all your clothes have to be one color forever. Which color would you choose?

Speaker 1: 58:54

that's a hard one. I mean, everybody's gonna think I say purple, which is probably one, but it's pink or purple. So there you go with lavender.

Speaker 2: 59:02

Oh, okay, all right, the half and half. Um, let's see here, mine would be green. Oh, why green?

Speaker 1: 59:10

just because I thought you were gonna say black, no I know right now.

Speaker 2: 59:13

Well, see, that's too easy. I feel like green just because, well, it's my favorite color for one and for two. Um, yeah, it's just like the color of grass and the color like earth, you know? All right, let's see here what's the first thing you notice when you meet a new person their eyes and their aura love that love that. Um, let's see here. Uh, mine would be. The first thing I notice when I meet a new person is how much they laugh and smile.

Speaker 1: 59:49

That's beautiful.

Speaker 2: 59:52

Okay, let's see here what's the best gift you've ever received, with Christmas right around the corner.

Speaker 1: 1:00:01

My dad had those vinyl records so he surprised me. It was like a lunchbox but it was like a record player. Oh, cool Like a kiddie record player.

Speaker 2: 1:00:10

Oh nice.

Speaker 1: 1:00:10

Yeah, that was my favorite gift. Do you still have it? I don't. I wish I did.

Speaker 2: 1:00:14

We need to get you one of the lunchbox record players. They exist. I know for sure the best gift that I've ever received, um, and I'm not gonna be cheesy about it either. Uh, let's do an actual gift. Um, I remember when I was a kid, uh, there was like this oh, actually, you know what? My my a puppy? It was a dog and it was the coolest. Her. Her name was Carly.

Speaker 1: 1:00:45

Uh, she was a.

Speaker 2: 1:00:46

Dalmatian and I remember like being so flabbergasted at like why my parents didn't like fully wrap this present and like then like walking in the energy they had, like as they were walking in with it and then just opening the you know just the, the paper was just kind of like laid on the top and just pulling off and seeing the puppy there and just being like this is the coolest thing ever, it was my first pet basically too, so yeah, so that was cool.

Speaker 2: 1:01:16

Oh, that's cool to think about. Uh, what do you not want to be when you grow up old?

Speaker 1: 1:01:27

right, I mean, you know, I mean like, yeah, psychologically, yeah, I like that, uh, mine would be a dick.

Speaker 2: 1:01:35

Don't be mean, I don't. Don't be that mean old.

Speaker 2: 1:01:40

You know that get off my lawn type yeah don't be a grumpy old man type, Be the type I fix people's heaters for a living. And I'm in, you know, many different houses a day and you know there's sometimes when you go into somebody's house and their energy is just like they're so like grumpy. Grumpy and mean. And I know it's cold. I understand that. But, like you know, I'm here to fix it. If you're cool with me, if you're nice to me, guess what it'll? It'll get fixed. And even if you're not nice, I'll probably be fixing it anyway, although I'll fix it quicker if you're nice that makes a lot of sense in the world uh, let's see here what other language do you wish you could speak?

Speaker 2: 1:02:24

french? Oh, any particular reason?

Speaker 1: 1:02:28

because I I went to. I want to go to every country in africa one day, but I've been to several and I learned a lot of spanish in school. I just wish I had learned french so it would be able to easier. Yeah, it would be easier for me to communicate when I was there gotcha.

Speaker 2: 1:02:45

Um, mine would be, uh, portuguese, yeah, because I have uh some family in brazil. And um, nice, yeah, I would like to be able to uh, yeah, we hear when they're talking about me behind my back, and then you know I have one more segment here.

Speaker 1: 1:03:02

Oh gosh, and then you know, I have one more segment here, oh gosh, who's this calling?

Speaker 2: 1:03:11

Oh, okay, this is you, but like many years in the past, how many? Years. Let's see here, let's say like 20 years ago, okay ago, okay, yeah, she wants to talk to you, she's very excited. Oh, she just, she can't wait, I know, okay, well, you better listen to her, all right here oh, my gosh, yep, what's up, girl, what's up?

Speaker 1: 1:03:39

hey, how you doing? Yes, it's so good to speak to you. Keep it up, keep writing Writer's Block. Let me tell you from now, so you don't waste time, writer's Block does not exist. Write, write, write, write, write. Oh, and if you ever get an inkling to call someone, if someone comes up on your mind, your spirit, drop everything and call them. If your father tells you to go visit him, please drop everything and go visit him while you can and while you have the opportunity to. I love you. We on this, we doing this big yes all right, you got this nice.

Speaker 2: 1:04:23

Oh, that was awesome, awesome. I know that you're a little. I know that that one could be challenging. Right, it is challenging because there's so many different things that you want to tell your old self. You know whether they're positive, whether they're negative, whether they're things that, um, you know are like an experience that you had, or like memories. You know that you want to really share with that you had, or like memories. You know that you want to really share with that person, but I, you really, uh, you touched me when you said you know, make sure that you take advantage of opportunities you know, because you might not might not have them, um, forever, or you, you definitely won't have them forever.

Speaker 2: 1:05:00

Well, you know what I want to. Thank you so much for joining us today and I was able to learn so many cool things. This was fun. Yeah, about the Crown Awards I'm going to make sure that I vote for people.

Speaker 1: 1:05:15

Yes, please Give people their flowers.

Speaker 2: 1:05:18

Yeah, definitely. I have some people in mind already that I think would be great for a few of the topics here. Go visit the Black Mall. When is the next? March 16th? Yeah, March 16th. Okay, save that in your calendar. Let's see here Any other anything else that you want to kind of mention, or any? Oh I?

Speaker 1: 1:05:43

have books. One is called the C Word. It's about my experience getting through cancer and black fairy tales, my experiences just growing up. Love that, both poetry books.

Speaker 2: 1:05:59

And where can people find those Amazon, amazon.

Speaker 1: 1:06:03

Okay.

Speaker 2: 1:06:06

All right, all right, and we'll put links uh down below here. Um, awesome. Well, hey, thank you so much for joining us. Uh, yes, I I'm so glad that you came through and uh, I'm excited to uh to see what you uh can bring to uh baltimore and the way that you you celebrated. I think you should be extremely proud of of who you are and what you've done with with your time here. So far.

Speaker 1: 1:06:30

Thank you Awesome.

Speaker 2: 1:06:32

Awesome, awesome. All right, well, we are out of here. Just wanted to thank everybody else for joining in on the respecting perspectives and we will see y'all next time. Peace out.