May 22, 2025 • 44 mins
GRAMMY-nominated singer-songwriter MAJOR. fresh off his Billboard #1 single "I Prayed For You" joins Culture Raises US to share his powerful journey-from the story behind his viral hit "Why I Love You" to using his platform for social justice and cultural change. MAJOR. opens up about the importance of unwavering authenticity,
explaining how faith and genuine self-expression are his true superpowers
for shaping culture and inspiring others.
He discusses how "Why I Love You" began as a spontaneous moment but
evolved into a soulful anthem about love, reciprocity, and embracing your
honest truth13. The song, which has become a wedding classic and was even
dubbed "wedding song of the year" by Stevie Wonder, was written as a love
letter to and from God, reflecting MAJOR.'s deep spiritual roots and belief in
the transformative power of love.
The conversation explores MAJOR.'s advocacy for diversity and inclusion, his
commitment to challenging industry norms, and his passion for amplifying
diverse voices in creative spaces. Drawing on his own experiences at
Houston’s Kinder High School for the Performing and Visual Arts, MAJOR.
highlights the lasting impact of arts education on his life and career.
He leaves listeners with three essential "seeds" for cultivating cultural growth:
stay consistent, stay excellent, and stay ready. This episode is packed with
heart, wisdom, and insights for anyone seeking to find their voice and make a
difference.
Key Takeaways:
- Authenticity and faith are foundational to MAJOR.'s artistry and
activism. - "Why I Love You" is a soulful anthem about reciprocity, honesty, and
embracing your truth. - Arts education, like MAJOR.'s experience at HSPVA, can be
transformative for young creatives. - Diversity and inclusion are vital for cultural progress-MAJOR. champions the power of all voices.
- Social justice and self-expression go hand in hand in shaping culture.
- Consistency, excellence, and readiness are keys to personal and cultural growth.
- MAJOR. uses his platform to pour into others, especially those who are often overlooked.
- Love, both given and received, is a powerful force for change.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
To who much is given, much is required. Part of
that requirement is sharing. Culture is the heartbeat within our
lives and it's at the core of so many things.
While we live in a time when we are starving
for wisdom, I welcome you to your wisdom retreat. That
culture raises us.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
Sadness can coexist with joy, that hope and healing, joy
and justice, pain and purpose can both exist. Now that's
actually true.
Speaker 1 (00:27):
Humanity Major is a Grammy nominated Platinum Soul singer, actor,
and humanitarian.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
It's baffling to think that when a person has the
opportunity to access the all powerful, why wouldn't you take
advantage of that. We have enough track record and credit
report to see that it's more of a benefit and
more of a reward to move by faith.
Speaker 1 (00:53):
What are you doing to specifically ensure that the coaches
and the spaces that you frequent are being nurtured, sure
and handled properly.
Speaker 2 (01:02):
We all have a responsibility to contribute to the betterment.
You do that through unwavering authenticity. That is the superpower
that is greatly underestimated.
Speaker 1 (01:16):
I want to start with our key question. When you
hear culture, what does that mean to you?
Speaker 2 (01:22):
When I see the word culture. It's the unapologetic contribution
to the way the world moves, way the world grows,
the way the world evolves.
Speaker 1 (01:37):
Contribution, contribution. You know, you've experienced a great deal in
your music journey to date, with all that you've done
over the years, was there a particular moment that you
go back to that you can say, this is when
I realize just how much music culture plays a role
in shaping overall culture. When you talk about and I'm
(01:57):
so glad you use the word contribution. Was there that
moment that you remember personally?
Speaker 2 (02:04):
It was at the release of my biggest song, the
reason they called me platinum soul singer, Why I Love You.
That song was written as a love letter to God
and Love wrote me back. And it has impacted people
(02:24):
in ways of my intention, which was to give them
an understanding of how to really do this love thing
on earth as it is in heaven, where it is
not just self seeking or self fulfilling, but we understanding
that its reciprocity. And to see the impact that that
(02:45):
song has made in people's lives from a personal to
you know, partnerships like it is really reframed and helped
give a healthy definition to what love truly is. And
I see it in real time. It's almost ten years,
you know old of a song. It goes viral every
(03:06):
other month, and I read some of the messages of
how people decided not to commit suicide because a song
penetrated a thought, you know, or they started to love
themselves more, or they realized that they were worthy of
the love that they seek and it helped to reshape
(03:27):
how they approached their relationship. And so, yeah, that was
one of those moments where I was like, oh, the contribution.
Speaker 1 (03:37):
So you talked about you know, you wrote a love
letter to God and Love wrote you back. Yeah, God
didn't write you back. Love wrote you back.
Speaker 2 (03:45):
Huh No, I understand it. My belief system understands that
God is love. Love is God, and it is never
one or the other. It is always the both. And
I think but that also informs how I live as
a witness to this conversation of love, the hope and love.
(04:09):
It's understanding that if you don't see love, you won't
see God. If you don't see God, you won't see love.
And that's I try to help, you know, I try
to help inform people on that because I think many
of us have perpetuated a god or love. And so
(04:33):
when you have people that are professing they represent God
and it's absinence of love, it's like, no, you've actually
missed that. You are perpetuating something that is totally contrary
to who God is. And so I sing about that,
I sing in that and sing from that.
Speaker 1 (04:54):
It's evident that God plays a significant role in your lifestyle,
which is one of the I will say a few
right now, but I'm sure we're going to find out
many things that we have in common and people we
have in common. And it's so I'm so glad to
hear it be so at the forefront of your dialogue
and your life, you know, because I look at people
(05:17):
who don't have that relationship and we're not talking about religion.
We're talking about a relationship. Come on, God, and come
on love that comes from it. And I wonder, man,
how do you make it through this life with this?
Like that's a heavy burden to think you're really doing
this on your own. And so now as you are
(05:37):
an extension of God's gifts and of God's greatness, tell
me how challenging that's also is in this world where
you do have so many who probably are not in
that same frame of mind, but you obviously live and
come with it in everything that you do.
Speaker 2 (05:57):
You know, it's interesting because as you were you were
speaking and saying, how could you not lock in with
the Almighty, the greatest of all time in real time?
How could you not? And and you're you're it's it's
baffling to think that when a person has the opportunity
(06:20):
to access the all powerful, why wouldn't you take advantage
of that? But it also and you know in the
flip knowing that society operates a great deal without that
that reverence or reference. Sometimes it can be a lonely
journey and a frustrating one because you know, we we
(06:47):
have enough track record and credit report to see that
it's more of a benefit and more of a reward
to move by faith and to operate by hope. But
when you live in a society that doesn't amplify that,
and you're still seeing gains or what look like gains,
(07:09):
it starts to make you question, like worth me caring
that much about my integrity? But at the end of
the day, we can go to sleep at night because
I read a little bit of your bio, and you
too have been around a lot of some of the wealthiest,
(07:31):
the most influential, and I'm ninety nine point nine percent
sure that you, like myself, have witnessed that there's no
amount of money that can out buy your need for
hope or peace of mind. I've seen the wealthiest miserable
(07:51):
when we think that money and access is the answer.
Speaker 1 (07:55):
Ain't it. It ain't it, It ain't it. It's the
true joy. Yeah, like your head joy and the comfort
that comes in the relationship that you do know is
bring you through all this. Who is the master architect?
Speaker 2 (08:07):
You know?
Speaker 1 (08:07):
I look back and everybody you know looks at my
history and all the brands and the people I worked with,
and I tell them, right, I said, look, I'm not
that smart to put all this together. Yeah, I'm not
that smart. That wasn't me. That's all God's plan and
architecture because he needs that so that I can then
be credible to speak into other people because they're caught
(08:30):
by the oh way you worked with them, you did that.
Speaker 2 (08:33):
But I will say this, you were smart enough to
be available and a vessel surrendered to the greater power
that works through you to get to facts, and I
want to make certain that I laud that and acknowledge
it because I think one of the things that happens
(08:55):
with believers and why a lot of people aren't always
super excited to champion the christiandom is because they think
that they can't be celebrated in the process or in
the evolution of achievement and an accomplishment. But the reality is,
(09:20):
humility is not denying of a truth. If you're great,
if you're dope. If you're dope at what you do,
be dope at what you do. The humility is when
you make room for more than just your dopeness, and
you understand that, as I say, it far too big
as a sky for only one bird to fly, and
(09:42):
oh how beautiful is the night when more than one
star shines. There's enough room for all of us to win.
Speaker 1 (09:48):
Listen. Humility is not thinking less of yourself. It's about
thinking of yourself less.
Speaker 2 (09:55):
That's it. That's it.
Speaker 1 (09:58):
You know something else I've down that we also have
in common. You actually attended a performing arts high school.
I did, Texas. I attended one in New York. Were
you Guardia, the one and only? I'm sorry, the illustrious one?
And only La Guardians. So for those of the youngest,
(10:19):
let me finish my breakdown of the illustrious LaGuardia High
School Performing Arts in New York City, which was based
off of the TV show Fame, which a lot of us.
Speaker 2 (10:30):
Which also, if to take clear a trivia a fun fact, yes,
HSPVA also was a school that they looked at to
inform some of the crafting of Fame as well. You know,
Debbie Allen coming from Houston, Texas. Okay, you know, I
(10:52):
just want to make it clear that while La Guardia
happens to be one of the front runners, if not
the front runner, HSPVA is is I will say adjacent, but.
Speaker 1 (11:07):
Because as you said, it was a contribution to so
we'll stay there. So I know the impact that that
experience had on my life, right, and we could talk
about that. I would love to hear how that experience
impacted and prepared you for your journey. And I know
no because listen, listen, going to these type of specialized
high schools is so different, and I don't know if
(11:29):
many people get the magnitude. So I'd love to for
you to share how did it really prepare you?
Speaker 2 (11:34):
Bro? I'm getting chills because I wasn't I wasn't expecting
I didn't read that in your bio. It makes it
makes a whole lot of sense, though, but it informed
you in the most holistic sense, unlike any other preparatory program,
like because it prepares you for real world competition. The
(11:59):
academia is a mandate just as much. I know that,
at least for HSVVA, the High School for the Performing
and Visual Arts. So we're clear, uh and esteemed a
lum you know, uh, Cassandra Wilson, Gray's Anatomy, Patrick Swayzey,
I'm not competing Robert Glasser, but I'll say this album
(12:24):
of the year Beyonce. You know.
Speaker 1 (12:26):
Wow, We're gonna get to that.
Speaker 2 (12:29):
But anyway, it does prepare you for real world engagement,
like I believe, Like honestly, even if I didn't go
to college, what that high school format and style did?
It gave you that?
Speaker 1 (12:47):
Right there? You hit it right there, you know what.
Speaker 2 (12:50):
I'm talking about, Like we we we learned the power
of negotiation, Like it was so many layers, like this
is what should model every school should model after. Actually,
you know, so it wasn't just about how talented talented
you were it was like, can you communicate it? Can
(13:11):
do you understand the why behind it? Like the academia
and the creative were just as essential. And so yeah, yeah,
shout out to my fellow.
Speaker 1 (13:22):
Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, I love it. You know
and when you when you talked about that, I love
the correlation you made to very similar to that of
like a college experience that would bring all these other
people together that you'd meet. Where we got that in
high school.
Speaker 2 (13:35):
We got it in high school.
Speaker 1 (13:36):
Diversity was it's a norm you make.
Speaker 2 (13:41):
Room for more than yourself because it makes the tapestry,
the story that much more beautiful. And so it's it's
it's a no brainer for us. So when we operate
in this very unfortunate reality that we're in now, it's
just like, yo, why would you not that You do
(14:02):
know that you can try to wipe history, but we
are literally here because of a collective of contribution. You know,
this is just what it is. And so yeah, I
love that. So did you know Hines and one thousand
that's my big sister, Like, yeah, she was a year
(14:25):
behind me. Yeah, so you know Sarah Paulson, Uh, yeah,
Sarah Polson, the famous actress I.
Speaker 1 (14:33):
Don't know, Sarah. So so my time was as younger
you had yeah, yeah, yeah, like the list okay, greatness,
but ahead played very well played. You can't really trump
(14:55):
that one. But you know, I talked to people about it,
and and they don't I don't know if they get
the gist of it, because so I don't know about
for you but ours, and I'm sure it was the same. Normally,
when you go to high school, you go to a
local school that brings in those from a local community.
Which not to say everybody's gonna be the same, but
you're coming from the same area, so it's a lot
(15:17):
of similar sensibilities. This brought the greatness from all over
New York City, so.
Speaker 2 (15:24):
The from wealth to boom to pole folk to middle
class to the working it was, it was it. It
was a gumbo, yes of excellence, a gumbo of excellence
from every aim, from the kids that were able to
afford the top teachers all their lives to the kids
(15:47):
they just had a natural gift, you know, And and
it it's it's literally an experience like no other. That's
why I hope that our government realize is the impact
of arts in school because what it informs and what
it prepares the mind of developing students the way that
(16:11):
like it does it like no other, and we've got
to invest in it. I you know, I know, I'm
a part of the Recording Academy and I've been on
the board in one of the The education is one
of the pieces and advocacy we speak on that and
the importance of bringing that in because it does make
(16:31):
a difference and not everybody has to be a performer
like it. That's how dope the program is. It prepares
you to be the next president, the next doctor, the
next lawyer, the next engineer, the next producer, like it's
so many things.
Speaker 1 (16:49):
So yeah, well, you know you mentioned the name a
couple of times as you're such a proud supporter. Yeah, Beyonce,
who I had the pleasure of working with for some time. Yeah,
and I noticed that you were present at the most
recent Grammys some time ago to witness when Best Country Listen,
Best Country Album, Best Album of the Year. I was
(17:12):
one of the many who was programmed to think that,
you know, country music wasn't a music genre for those
who looked like us and wasn't welcoming to us. However,
I later learned that we were part of creating it,
part of creating it. And do you feel any sort
of responsibility to kind of help with making sure that
(17:34):
false narratives are given proper context of their enlightenment.
Speaker 2 (17:38):
Yeah, I'm mister. I'm a drum major for justice, like
I'm that guy. If you know, I remember Amber Riley.
We had a song together. Amber Riley's an actress from
the former TV show Glee, and we had a song
together called Change Right Now, and she tweeted on our
(17:59):
press run and she was just like doctor King came
back in the form of a singer, he'd come back
as major. I'm that guy, like I advocate for justice
for all, like everybody deserves to win and to have
an opportunity to be fully seen and to you know,
to be fully embraced, because that's what love is. Love.
(18:23):
It's no qualifier for love. You choose it anyway, just
like with joy, you choose it anyway. You don't need
the permission of your storm or circumstance to choose joy.
You choose it anyway. But much to what you were saying, yes,
I'm forever helping people understand proper narrative and leaving room
(18:46):
for the evolution of narrative, because music, more than anything,
is an ever evolving expression. And you know, there was
a time where jazz was a one thought expression until
you started getting bebop and ragtime and all of these
different styles of jazz that are within the genre of jazz.
(19:09):
And you know, R and B is no longer just
a certain type of R and B. They call me
an R and B singer by default. I don't have
the full language for R and B. But why I
love you got so big? They were like, he's bringing
back classic army and I'm like, oh, okay, but I'm
just a soul singer from the church. Gospel informs my
(19:32):
sound more than anything, but roots Americana, I understand. And
I have enough experiences to know that it wasn't his wife.
Folks in those spaces, I met Charlie Pride before he passed,
one of the biggest heroes in country music, and I remember,
(19:53):
and now I look back in retrospect, like, God, you
set that up. Because we just met in our hotel
in Nashville just right. It was remaining letting me and
and one of the things he said is you belong,
you belong, And I wasn't even really stretching in the
(20:14):
whole Americana space because I didn't know that that's what
it was until I found language for it. I was
just doing what I did. And so Beyonce has shown
up in full in all of her colors, in all
of her evolution. We from the same area where we're
both from Houston, we went to the same schools, We've
(20:39):
been country, We've been all of this stuff, and I
think the world is either going to willingly accept this
or they're just going to it's going to be inevitably.
You know.
Speaker 1 (20:56):
I'm so glad you put it like that. And when
you look at the state of things, you know, given
the state of things that you kind of alluded to earlier,
what are you doing to specifically ensure that the culches
and the spaces that you frequent are being nurtured and
handled properly? And also what would you recommend for other
(21:18):
creatives to do and consumers, Because I think there is
a responsibility for all It's just not for creators, it's
all of us have a responsibility, especially given the state
of things are where things are. Love to hear your
pov on.
Speaker 2 (21:32):
That, I think we all have a responsibility. No matter
how big or small your platform is, you have a
responsibility to contribute to the betterment, and you do that
through authenticity, unwavering authenticity. I think that is the superpower
(21:54):
that is greatly underestimated. People see things working for other people,
so they think the mimic is the key, but it's
never that. The ones that we admire most of the
ones that leaned into. I shared this on another podcast,
(22:16):
and I shared it often. I remember when people in
Houston was like, you know, she's sings so different, that's
not technically right, and I'm like, and I remember responding, like,
do you think that that could very well be? They
think that ends up differentiating her and causing her to
be the one that everybody admires. And then you start
(22:39):
seeing how a whole lot of folks try to sing
like it. But the mimic is not the answer. It's
the it's the leaning into the authentic self that is
a superpower. And I also think is the divine intention
of our creator. Yes, that we lean into what he
(22:59):
customed made in us, and we will then be an
answer to the need in the earth.
Speaker 1 (23:07):
You know how it sounds so easy coming out, but
it's so.
Speaker 2 (23:15):
Learn.
Speaker 1 (23:15):
Yeah, and you have to build that muscle, yes, sir,
just like working out, You're not just gonna be able
to lift forty pound weights like You've got to work
your way up. Yeah, And that's a muscle that you
have to build to be unapologetic about stepping into your gift,
into your your authentic self. Because the other thing that
people don't realize when you try to assimilate to that
(23:36):
of the mass, you're not doing anybody any assistance. You're
doing everybody a disservice because nobody needs more of what's
already been.
Speaker 2 (23:46):
Done, because what's already been done has fulfilled a need,
and that's answered a need. If we were all designed
as an answer, each of us were all designed as
a specific answer or to a specific need. When you
chase down what has already been done, you chase down
(24:08):
what has already been fulfilled, leaving the thing that your
existence is assigned to unfulfilled. So we live an unfulfilled
life and wonder why. Right, that's because you're not getting
to why you are created. And so I think the
authenticity is the conversation that we need to push. It's
(24:31):
not easy, but it, like you said, is a muscle
that is developed, and you start realizing that life is
easier that way and you don't have to chase down
trying to accommodate what is not true. The hardest thing
to keep up with it is a lot is a lie,
and to live a life of mimicking something that's not
authentic to you is a lie. And it's going to
(24:54):
be exhausting.
Speaker 1 (24:54):
And you know, people live in that life. Bruh, A lot,
a lot of people. People are living that life. And
you know, I think it's a good segue when looking
at how you know D and I now and when
you really look at what D and I did and
helping you know, the majority of it was really helping
(25:17):
white women right more than any other group, which is
mind blows and that's it, and that's it. Listen, and
that these are actual stats, yes, fact facts, facts, And
so as I look at that and that being the
group that helped out of any other group more than
any other group, what are the things you think we
(25:38):
need to now do to ensure that true diversity is
reflected in the spaces where we've made so much of
an impact culturally over decades, not years, not months.
Speaker 2 (25:50):
Decades, we saw the power of diversity's contribution, the collective
contribution of diversity. We saw the residual impact and it
has always been incredible. It's always been remarkable as an
(26:11):
end result. If you've seen it work before, regardless of
how systems are trying to push it out, lock into
what works. It is proven that, beyond beyond the isms,
the partisan rhetoric, beyond all of that, this life would
(26:35):
not be what it is today without a collective of
diverse contribution. So I would say, in all of our spaces,
lock in and commit to it, because if you lock
in and commit to it, we don't realize our power
as a people. And we literally have enough historic to
(27:00):
tracking to show that when we as a collective lock
into moving a certain way, it changes things. It literally
causes people to have to readdirect d EI as an initiative,
actually came as a result of a collective outcry and
(27:22):
a clear indicator that there's profit, greater profitability in us
doing this thing together when people started feeling threatened about
their own position, not realizing no, what you do is
now you actually make more use of the sky. There's
(27:45):
way more room. We've just confined ourselves to one room
and We've got a mansion of a reality, but we're
trying to do it all in this one room. It's
like no, no, no, no. If you start inviting other
people in, now you can be in this room, they
could be in that room. They could be in that room,
that room, and we can all win. And so I
just I just encourage people to lock into what you
(28:07):
have already seen works continue to build. There's diversity. As
a d E and I representative when I was working
with the Recording Academy when they had the actual committee,
I was one of the leads for LA. There's diversity
(28:31):
in the subgroups that we don't realize. Like I started
realizing the the vastness of diversity stretches well beyond skin color, y'all.
You know, from abilities mind like mine, it's all of
those things. And so you know, listen, don't be scared
(28:53):
to lock into the diversity. Don't be the guy that
responds selfishly to the selfishness, you know, and try to
hoard the opportunity because you think it's going to be
taken away from you because you think that the resources
are few. So let me just keep what I got.
I'll need no help from anybody else. Don't do that.
Don't do that. Don't do that. The enemy would want
(29:15):
us to believe that it will only harm us.
Speaker 1 (29:17):
Only harmless. You know you're very familiar with fasting, I'm
sure I am, and in seasons of fasting, which obviously
could be way more than just food, you know, alcohol,
social media. Is there a communal fast that you would
advocate we move on to further get clarity, alignment or
(29:39):
focus moving forward.
Speaker 2 (29:42):
Okay, So the definition of fasting is and the etymology
of it is from food. We have you know, evolved
it to be the consumption of anything, correct, you know,
the stop of consumption of anything. So I understand you
(30:04):
were calling it fasting, but I also want to respect
the sacredness of fasting, for it really meaning the discipline
of turning your plate down. But it's deeper for me
that it is consecration. That if we can consecrate the
(30:27):
way in which we move in life, it changes from
just being a fast for a seasonal moment to this
is my new character. Yeah, this is the condition of
who I am. So the consecration that I would call
all of us too, is to be mobilizers of togetherness,
(30:52):
of shared ideas and support of the ones doing it right,
only to by faith, trust that it will affect the
things that are not that are corrupt to have to
(31:12):
surrender to the right way in due time. People. There
was a lot of people that were like, well, I
gotta get to work during the bus boycott, but it
was a majority of the collective that said, if we
don't all do this, it's not going to be effected.
But I still got to get to work. I can't
be late. I trust me. You want to get in
(31:35):
on this bus boycott. And now we're able to walk
up and down of the school bus. And I think
it's hilarious because you know, growing to school, we still
chust the back of the bus for us. But I
have to tell I remember, like like my parents or
grandparents saying we fought too hard foraica be sitting in
(31:57):
the back of the bus, And I said, no, you
fought hard for us to have the choice choice.
Speaker 1 (32:01):
And now we're choosing to bring that energy to the
back of the bus. We're not being told that we
have to.
Speaker 2 (32:08):
But I just want us to trust, to consecrate, to
get ourselves conditioned to do the right thing. Bro. As
I get older, I started looking at the Spike Lee
movies and all these things, and the messaging that has
been said, it's been said, and I just I just
heard it as a cliche. That right, And but I
(32:29):
believe the intention behind cliches is more divine than anything
that it be repeated often until it's understood and digested. So,
you know, big ups to God for cliches being a thing,
because yeah, we hear them, but in time, it's kind
(32:50):
of like what Grandma used to say, you'll understand it.
Speaker 1 (32:53):
And I just want to say, doesn't this sound so familiar?
As children and our parents gave us all the gems
and the insight that we just wanq but it sat
with us and when we got to a place in
our life it then made way more sense. And it's
the pouring into things even if it's not time or
you don't or you're not going to be able to
(33:15):
really digest it and address it or respond to it
in the way that you should, but at some point
it's gonna hit you. And when it hits you're gonna
be like it is. And so if we can shorten
that time of people like getting it like because we
know as children we learned and heard so many things.
We didn't apply it until later. Probably if we can
(33:35):
teach this new generation, you know, minimize that window.
Speaker 2 (33:39):
It's through education because Wallow and I don't follow Wallow,
you know, like you know, a part of the culture
like really follows them. But I admire him from afar
and whenever I see clips, I see it energy. And
that's a good dude.
Speaker 1 (33:59):
And it's using his life as a testimony that part.
Speaker 2 (34:02):
So he's arrived to the understanding that it's not always
as simple to just tell people do better when their
environments have conditioned them to only know a certain thing
new information. Yes, we want to have to educate people,
but have the patience for people to recondition or decondition
(34:27):
that they may recondition all of the years of what
they've only programmed. Because I mean, you can't expect me
to all of a sudden think that eggs are great
if I don't like eggs all my life, and I
can't stand X by the way, all right, I just
want to make that clear. We'll put eggs on my plate.
Speaker 1 (34:47):
Well, it's a good time not to like eggs. If
they charge in eighteen dollars.
Speaker 2 (34:51):
I'm almost saving money. I've been saving money.
Speaker 1 (34:53):
Smart.
Speaker 2 (34:53):
But listen, let me tell you. Up until that's how
you keep it up until twenty five. This is it's
just a funny moment of comedic relief. Up until the
age twenty five. I picked out the eggs of my
shrimp fried rice up until age twenty five. Until I
(35:14):
was at lunch with an old boss and she said,
why are you picking that out? Picking that out? And
I'm like, I don't like eggs. You don't have to
pick it out, get it without it. I said, this
is how it comes. She says, you can order it
with that eggs.
Speaker 1 (35:31):
You were today years old for that?
Speaker 2 (35:33):
Bro?
Speaker 1 (35:34):
Are you serious? I just I think bro, bro, Well,
first of all, the fake that you I was twenty
five years old.
Speaker 2 (35:40):
You're not gonna say today years old.
Speaker 1 (35:43):
First, So you're taking out the eggs of a fried
rice is a mind blow from me. If it was,
I was so small.
Speaker 2 (35:49):
That's how o c D. I am like it is
it is literally I have that I'm that guy. And
that's also that's actually the side effect of also being
a performing art You know how they say, don't you
try to get out of it? Because I know I
know that there's something there's a.
Speaker 1 (36:07):
I would not use a public bathroom for number two
for years, no real talk.
Speaker 2 (36:14):
I put tissue even at my home on every.
Speaker 1 (36:17):
Listen and I would and I still do. Okay, so
that's my ism, but please go.
Speaker 2 (36:22):
Listen. I just I've been that person. But it hit
me at twenty five. I am. I am wiser now
and I order all my shrimp fried rice without it.
Speaker 1 (36:31):
I love that. I can't wait to have fried rise
with you. This is gonna be awesome. Listen, and I
love that wisdom and I'd love for you to share.
So what do you think separates creatives who make it
against those who don't.
Speaker 2 (36:43):
Consistency. You gotta stay at this thing. You gotta stay
at it whether you get because because that social media
also is a a mind fluck. It's so dystres. The
psychological warring that you do when you see something go viral,
(37:07):
or you see something do well for you one minute,
and then the next thing you post it only gets
one or two likes or a fraction of the engagement
that you had before. That can do a number on you.
But what wins is consistency.
Speaker 1 (37:23):
Consistency we always end these talks with if there were
three seeds that you could leave with the stewarts of
culture moving forward, to put them in position to continue
to take this thing in a responsible way, moving forward
collectively for our betterment. What would those three things be?
Speaker 2 (37:42):
I have it. But I want to say this before
because I think they called me the hope dealer, right,
ideal hope. That's like literally the theme of everything that
I do is hope. You know, even had it tat
it on my arm. Hope major hope is my foundation.
(38:03):
But it's hope and love, life and future. But the
reality of it all is a lot of people see
us on the other side, you know, on these microphones,
and they assume that they just got it. They got it.
They're not dealing with the struggle of life or the
difficulty of life. But I'm tired. Yeah, I'm tired. I'm frustrated.
(38:28):
I'm actually in almost a sadness and and I want
to let people know that sadness actually can coexist with joy.
Facts people don't understand that that hope and healing, joy
and justice, pain and purpose can both exist at the
(38:49):
same time. That's actually true humanity. And so I want
to let people know that make room for that. I
just found out that I didn't win an Image Award.
This is my ninth nomination and I'm like, I have
been nominated so many times. Susan Lucci will not be
my story Like this can't be shout out to the
(39:11):
brilliant Susan Lucci. But still I'm just like, yo, I'm frustrated.
I'm an independent artist's mama named a major, and I'm
trucking through life trying to meet this next level and
it feels like a glass ceiling sometimes. So I want
to just say that so that the exhaust of people thinking,
here's another podcast moment where someone has figured it out
(39:35):
and they just got it all right. They just get
it all right. That's not me, that's not me. I
have to live the hope I give and I'm tested
on that daily. But the three things that I would
give to anyone to help advance culture and enrich it,
(39:57):
stay consistent, stay excellent, and stay ready. Stay consistent, stay excellent,
and stay ready because when opportunity knocks. I've said this
often and I will say it as much as necessary.
(40:20):
When opportunity knocks, opportunity doesn't just sit around and wait
for you to get your stuff together. A lot of
times we say we want something, but we're not preparing
for the very thing that we ask that we ask for.
So that's the prepare for what you pray for. Stay consistent,
(40:41):
stay excellent, and stay ready because opportunity is going to
embrace the person ready to go. And that's how we
impact culture for the better.
Speaker 1 (40:51):
Thank you for that, and you know, even for how
you prefaced it with the reality of you know, in
our walks with God, many would have so oh their
life is perfect. It's actually the complete opposite. I feel
like we get more put on us because He needs
to show we are the examples of his excellence and
he needs to show look at my children coming through
(41:14):
all these things, our owness. So I now say I
welcome adversity, because when I get more adverse, I'm like, oh,
God throwing something else at me, because he knows he's
preparing me and I will get through this with him.
So I'm grateful that you started your answer grounded on
that of the reality. I'm gonna give you these three nuggets.
But don't think I'm not exhausted and going through my
(41:36):
own trials and tribulations, which I will get through and
we always.
Speaker 2 (41:39):
Do that part.
Speaker 1 (41:40):
But a sincere thank you for that, because we also
live in an era where everybody sees the end product
and the glamour and the glitz and on the mic
and doing this and don't see the journey and all
the things that come with it. So the more we
can share that is the more that people know the
reality of what it truly takes and is not misled
by some facade that they think think it is. And
(42:01):
for that, you're major and I thank you.
Speaker 2 (42:05):
Knew, yeah, can I thank you? I have a new
song called I Prayed for you, and in this season
I have been very intentional about it not just being
a phrase, but it being the action in real time.
(42:27):
Do you mind if I pray for you? I wouldn't.
Speaker 1 (42:29):
That's the best gift you can give anyone, and I
receive it every time. So please and thank you.
Speaker 2 (42:36):
Dear God. We love you, we appreciate you, we honor you.
Thank you so much for the gift of life, a
gift that we don't necessarily earn, but by grace you
deem us worthy of Father. I want to ask for
(42:57):
your covering and keeping of my brother as I pray
that you continue to grow him in his faith, and
also in his prospering. I pray that he be encouraged
in spirit to continue to build this brilliant idea. The
(43:17):
culture raises us. I thank you for his commitment to
sharing the jewels of his experience, inviting the jewels of others'
experiences to be shared, that they may impact an enrich
culture for the better. Bless his finances, Bless the resources,
(43:43):
May they come in abundance. Bless his family continue to
give him a joy like no other. May the gratitude
the recall of all the things that you have done
for him be his minder and his encouragement, his motivator
(44:03):
to keep moving, because he will never want or need
for anything. This is blessed. I'm grateful to be a
part of it. Bless everyone in this room, and thank
you in advance for doing so. In Jesus' name, Amen.
Speaker 1 (44:21):
We truly appreciate your support because it helps us fulfill
our mission of promoting cultural awareness and personal development. Please
click the subscribe button below to help ensure and solidify
our mission.
To who much is given, much is required. Part of
that requirement is sharing. Culture is the heartbeat within our
lives and it's at the core of so many things.
While we live in a time when we are starving
for wisdom, I welcome you to your wisdom retreat. That
culture raises us.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
Sadness can coexist with joy, that hope and healing, joy
and justice, pain and purpose can both exist. Now that's
actually true.
Speaker 1 (00:27):
Humanity Major is a Grammy nominated Platinum Soul singer, actor,
and humanitarian.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
It's baffling to think that when a person has the
opportunity to access the all powerful, why wouldn't you take
advantage of that. We have enough track record and credit
report to see that it's more of a benefit and
more of a reward to move by faith.
Speaker 1 (00:53):
What are you doing to specifically ensure that the coaches
and the spaces that you frequent are being nurtured, sure
and handled properly.
Speaker 2 (01:02):
We all have a responsibility to contribute to the betterment.
You do that through unwavering authenticity. That is the superpower
that is greatly underestimated.
Speaker 1 (01:16):
I want to start with our key question. When you
hear culture, what does that mean to you?
Speaker 2 (01:22):
When I see the word culture. It's the unapologetic contribution
to the way the world moves, way the world grows,
the way the world evolves.
Speaker 1 (01:37):
Contribution, contribution. You know, you've experienced a great deal in
your music journey to date, with all that you've done
over the years, was there a particular moment that you
go back to that you can say, this is when
I realize just how much music culture plays a role
in shaping overall culture. When you talk about and I'm
(01:57):
so glad you use the word contribution. Was there that
moment that you remember personally?
Speaker 2 (02:04):
It was at the release of my biggest song, the
reason they called me platinum soul singer, Why I Love You.
That song was written as a love letter to God
and Love wrote me back. And it has impacted people
(02:24):
in ways of my intention, which was to give them
an understanding of how to really do this love thing
on earth as it is in heaven, where it is
not just self seeking or self fulfilling, but we understanding
that its reciprocity. And to see the impact that that
(02:45):
song has made in people's lives from a personal to
you know, partnerships like it is really reframed and helped
give a healthy definition to what love truly is. And
I see it in real time. It's almost ten years,
you know old of a song. It goes viral every
(03:06):
other month, and I read some of the messages of
how people decided not to commit suicide because a song
penetrated a thought, you know, or they started to love
themselves more, or they realized that they were worthy of
the love that they seek and it helped to reshape
(03:27):
how they approached their relationship. And so, yeah, that was
one of those moments where I was like, oh, the contribution.
Speaker 1 (03:37):
So you talked about you know, you wrote a love
letter to God and Love wrote you back. Yeah, God
didn't write you back. Love wrote you back.
Speaker 2 (03:45):
Huh No, I understand it. My belief system understands that
God is love. Love is God, and it is never
one or the other. It is always the both. And
I think but that also informs how I live as
a witness to this conversation of love, the hope and love.
(04:09):
It's understanding that if you don't see love, you won't
see God. If you don't see God, you won't see love.
And that's I try to help, you know, I try
to help inform people on that because I think many
of us have perpetuated a god or love. And so
(04:33):
when you have people that are professing they represent God
and it's absinence of love, it's like, no, you've actually
missed that. You are perpetuating something that is totally contrary
to who God is. And so I sing about that,
I sing in that and sing from that.
Speaker 1 (04:54):
It's evident that God plays a significant role in your lifestyle,
which is one of the I will say a few
right now, but I'm sure we're going to find out
many things that we have in common and people we
have in common. And it's so I'm so glad to
hear it be so at the forefront of your dialogue
and your life, you know, because I look at people
(05:17):
who don't have that relationship and we're not talking about religion.
We're talking about a relationship. Come on, God, and come
on love that comes from it. And I wonder, man,
how do you make it through this life with this?
Like that's a heavy burden to think you're really doing
this on your own. And so now as you are
(05:37):
an extension of God's gifts and of God's greatness, tell
me how challenging that's also is in this world where
you do have so many who probably are not in
that same frame of mind, but you obviously live and
come with it in everything that you do.
Speaker 2 (05:57):
You know, it's interesting because as you were you were
speaking and saying, how could you not lock in with
the Almighty, the greatest of all time in real time?
How could you not? And and you're you're it's it's
baffling to think that when a person has the opportunity
(06:20):
to access the all powerful, why wouldn't you take advantage
of that? But it also and you know in the
flip knowing that society operates a great deal without that
that reverence or reference. Sometimes it can be a lonely
journey and a frustrating one because you know, we we
(06:47):
have enough track record and credit report to see that
it's more of a benefit and more of a reward
to move by faith and to operate by hope. But
when you live in a society that doesn't amplify that,
and you're still seeing gains or what look like gains,
(07:09):
it starts to make you question, like worth me caring
that much about my integrity? But at the end of
the day, we can go to sleep at night because
I read a little bit of your bio, and you
too have been around a lot of some of the wealthiest,
(07:31):
the most influential, and I'm ninety nine point nine percent
sure that you, like myself, have witnessed that there's no
amount of money that can out buy your need for
hope or peace of mind. I've seen the wealthiest miserable
(07:51):
when we think that money and access is the answer.
Speaker 1 (07:55):
Ain't it. It ain't it, It ain't it. It's the
true joy. Yeah, like your head joy and the comfort
that comes in the relationship that you do know is
bring you through all this. Who is the master architect?
Speaker 2 (08:07):
You know?
Speaker 1 (08:07):
I look back and everybody you know looks at my
history and all the brands and the people I worked with,
and I tell them, right, I said, look, I'm not
that smart to put all this together. Yeah, I'm not
that smart. That wasn't me. That's all God's plan and
architecture because he needs that so that I can then
be credible to speak into other people because they're caught
(08:30):
by the oh way you worked with them, you did that.
Speaker 2 (08:33):
But I will say this, you were smart enough to
be available and a vessel surrendered to the greater power
that works through you to get to facts, and I
want to make certain that I laud that and acknowledge
it because I think one of the things that happens
(08:55):
with believers and why a lot of people aren't always
super excited to champion the christiandom is because they think
that they can't be celebrated in the process or in
the evolution of achievement and an accomplishment. But the reality is,
(09:20):
humility is not denying of a truth. If you're great,
if you're dope. If you're dope at what you do,
be dope at what you do. The humility is when
you make room for more than just your dopeness, and
you understand that, as I say, it far too big
as a sky for only one bird to fly, and
(09:42):
oh how beautiful is the night when more than one
star shines. There's enough room for all of us to win.
Speaker 1 (09:48):
Listen. Humility is not thinking less of yourself. It's about
thinking of yourself less.
Speaker 2 (09:55):
That's it. That's it.
Speaker 1 (09:58):
You know something else I've down that we also have
in common. You actually attended a performing arts high school.
I did, Texas. I attended one in New York. Were
you Guardia, the one and only? I'm sorry, the illustrious one?
And only La Guardians. So for those of the youngest,
(10:19):
let me finish my breakdown of the illustrious LaGuardia High
School Performing Arts in New York City, which was based
off of the TV show Fame, which a lot of us.
Speaker 2 (10:30):
Which also, if to take clear a trivia a fun fact, yes,
HSPVA also was a school that they looked at to
inform some of the crafting of Fame as well. You know,
Debbie Allen coming from Houston, Texas. Okay, you know, I
(10:52):
just want to make it clear that while La Guardia
happens to be one of the front runners, if not
the front runner, HSPVA is is I will say adjacent, but.
Speaker 1 (11:07):
Because as you said, it was a contribution to so
we'll stay there. So I know the impact that that
experience had on my life, right, and we could talk
about that. I would love to hear how that experience
impacted and prepared you for your journey. And I know
no because listen, listen, going to these type of specialized
high schools is so different, and I don't know if
(11:29):
many people get the magnitude. So I'd love to for
you to share how did it really prepare you?
Speaker 2 (11:34):
Bro? I'm getting chills because I wasn't I wasn't expecting
I didn't read that in your bio. It makes it
makes a whole lot of sense, though, but it informed
you in the most holistic sense, unlike any other preparatory program,
like because it prepares you for real world competition. The
(11:59):
academia is a mandate just as much. I know that,
at least for HSVVA, the High School for the Performing
and Visual Arts. So we're clear, uh and esteemed a
lum you know, uh, Cassandra Wilson, Gray's Anatomy, Patrick Swayzey,
I'm not competing Robert Glasser, but I'll say this album
(12:24):
of the year Beyonce. You know.
Speaker 1 (12:26):
Wow, We're gonna get to that.
Speaker 2 (12:29):
But anyway, it does prepare you for real world engagement,
like I believe, Like honestly, even if I didn't go
to college, what that high school format and style did?
It gave you that?
Speaker 1 (12:47):
Right there? You hit it right there, you know what.
Speaker 2 (12:50):
I'm talking about, Like we we we learned the power
of negotiation, Like it was so many layers, like this
is what should model every school should model after. Actually,
you know, so it wasn't just about how talented talented
you were it was like, can you communicate it? Can
(13:11):
do you understand the why behind it? Like the academia
and the creative were just as essential. And so yeah, yeah,
shout out to my fellow.
Speaker 1 (13:22):
Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, I love it. You know
and when you when you talked about that, I love
the correlation you made to very similar to that of
like a college experience that would bring all these other
people together that you'd meet. Where we got that in
high school.
Speaker 2 (13:35):
We got it in high school.
Speaker 1 (13:36):
Diversity was it's a norm you make.
Speaker 2 (13:41):
Room for more than yourself because it makes the tapestry,
the story that much more beautiful. And so it's it's
it's a no brainer for us. So when we operate
in this very unfortunate reality that we're in now, it's
just like, yo, why would you not that You do
(14:02):
know that you can try to wipe history, but we
are literally here because of a collective of contribution. You know,
this is just what it is. And so yeah, I
love that. So did you know Hines and one thousand
that's my big sister, Like, yeah, she was a year
(14:25):
behind me. Yeah, so you know Sarah Paulson, Uh, yeah,
Sarah Polson, the famous actress I.
Speaker 1 (14:33):
Don't know, Sarah. So so my time was as younger
you had yeah, yeah, yeah, like the list okay, greatness,
but ahead played very well played. You can't really trump
(14:55):
that one. But you know, I talked to people about it,
and and they don't I don't know if they get
the gist of it, because so I don't know about
for you but ours, and I'm sure it was the same. Normally,
when you go to high school, you go to a
local school that brings in those from a local community.
Which not to say everybody's gonna be the same, but
you're coming from the same area, so it's a lot
(15:17):
of similar sensibilities. This brought the greatness from all over
New York City, so.
Speaker 2 (15:24):
The from wealth to boom to pole folk to middle
class to the working it was, it was it. It
was a gumbo, yes of excellence, a gumbo of excellence
from every aim, from the kids that were able to
afford the top teachers all their lives to the kids
(15:47):
they just had a natural gift, you know, And and
it it's it's literally an experience like no other. That's
why I hope that our government realize is the impact
of arts in school because what it informs and what
it prepares the mind of developing students the way that
(16:11):
like it does it like no other, and we've got
to invest in it. I you know, I know, I'm
a part of the Recording Academy and I've been on
the board in one of the The education is one
of the pieces and advocacy we speak on that and
the importance of bringing that in because it does make
(16:31):
a difference and not everybody has to be a performer
like it. That's how dope the program is. It prepares
you to be the next president, the next doctor, the
next lawyer, the next engineer, the next producer, like it's
so many things.
Speaker 1 (16:49):
So yeah, well, you know you mentioned the name a
couple of times as you're such a proud supporter. Yeah, Beyonce,
who I had the pleasure of working with for some time. Yeah,
and I noticed that you were present at the most
recent Grammys some time ago to witness when Best Country Listen,
Best Country Album, Best Album of the Year. I was
(17:12):
one of the many who was programmed to think that,
you know, country music wasn't a music genre for those
who looked like us and wasn't welcoming to us. However,
I later learned that we were part of creating it,
part of creating it. And do you feel any sort
of responsibility to kind of help with making sure that
(17:34):
false narratives are given proper context of their enlightenment.
Speaker 2 (17:38):
Yeah, I'm mister. I'm a drum major for justice, like
I'm that guy. If you know, I remember Amber Riley.
We had a song together. Amber Riley's an actress from
the former TV show Glee, and we had a song
together called Change Right Now, and she tweeted on our
(17:59):
press run and she was just like doctor King came
back in the form of a singer, he'd come back
as major. I'm that guy, like I advocate for justice
for all, like everybody deserves to win and to have
an opportunity to be fully seen and to you know,
to be fully embraced, because that's what love is. Love.
(18:23):
It's no qualifier for love. You choose it anyway, just
like with joy, you choose it anyway. You don't need
the permission of your storm or circumstance to choose joy.
You choose it anyway. But much to what you were saying, yes,
I'm forever helping people understand proper narrative and leaving room
(18:46):
for the evolution of narrative, because music, more than anything,
is an ever evolving expression. And you know, there was
a time where jazz was a one thought expression until
you started getting bebop and ragtime and all of these
different styles of jazz that are within the genre of jazz.
(19:09):
And you know, R and B is no longer just
a certain type of R and B. They call me
an R and B singer by default. I don't have
the full language for R and B. But why I
love you got so big? They were like, he's bringing
back classic army and I'm like, oh, okay, but I'm
just a soul singer from the church. Gospel informs my
(19:32):
sound more than anything, but roots Americana, I understand. And
I have enough experiences to know that it wasn't his wife.
Folks in those spaces, I met Charlie Pride before he passed,
one of the biggest heroes in country music, and I remember,
(19:53):
and now I look back in retrospect, like, God, you
set that up. Because we just met in our hotel
in Nashville just right. It was remaining letting me and
and one of the things he said is you belong,
you belong, And I wasn't even really stretching in the
(20:14):
whole Americana space because I didn't know that that's what
it was until I found language for it. I was
just doing what I did. And so Beyonce has shown
up in full in all of her colors, in all
of her evolution. We from the same area where we're
both from Houston, we went to the same schools, We've
(20:39):
been country, We've been all of this stuff, and I
think the world is either going to willingly accept this
or they're just going to it's going to be inevitably.
You know.
Speaker 1 (20:56):
I'm so glad you put it like that. And when
you look at the state of things, you know, given
the state of things that you kind of alluded to earlier,
what are you doing to specifically ensure that the culches
and the spaces that you frequent are being nurtured and
handled properly? And also what would you recommend for other
(21:18):
creatives to do and consumers, Because I think there is
a responsibility for all It's just not for creators, it's
all of us have a responsibility, especially given the state
of things are where things are. Love to hear your
pov on.
Speaker 2 (21:32):
That, I think we all have a responsibility. No matter
how big or small your platform is, you have a
responsibility to contribute to the betterment, and you do that
through authenticity, unwavering authenticity. I think that is the superpower
(21:54):
that is greatly underestimated. People see things working for other people,
so they think the mimic is the key, but it's
never that. The ones that we admire most of the
ones that leaned into. I shared this on another podcast,
(22:16):
and I shared it often. I remember when people in
Houston was like, you know, she's sings so different, that's
not technically right, and I'm like, and I remember responding, like,
do you think that that could very well be? They
think that ends up differentiating her and causing her to
be the one that everybody admires. And then you start
(22:39):
seeing how a whole lot of folks try to sing
like it. But the mimic is not the answer. It's
the it's the leaning into the authentic self that is
a superpower. And I also think is the divine intention
of our creator. Yes, that we lean into what he
(22:59):
customed made in us, and we will then be an
answer to the need in the earth.
Speaker 1 (23:07):
You know how it sounds so easy coming out, but
it's so.
Speaker 2 (23:15):
Learn.
Speaker 1 (23:15):
Yeah, and you have to build that muscle, yes, sir,
just like working out, You're not just gonna be able
to lift forty pound weights like You've got to work
your way up. Yeah, And that's a muscle that you
have to build to be unapologetic about stepping into your gift,
into your your authentic self. Because the other thing that
people don't realize when you try to assimilate to that
(23:36):
of the mass, you're not doing anybody any assistance. You're
doing everybody a disservice because nobody needs more of what's
already been.
Speaker 2 (23:46):
Done, because what's already been done has fulfilled a need,
and that's answered a need. If we were all designed
as an answer, each of us were all designed as
a specific answer or to a specific need. When you
chase down what has already been done, you chase down
(24:08):
what has already been fulfilled, leaving the thing that your
existence is assigned to unfulfilled. So we live an unfulfilled
life and wonder why. Right, that's because you're not getting
to why you are created. And so I think the
authenticity is the conversation that we need to push. It's
(24:31):
not easy, but it, like you said, is a muscle
that is developed, and you start realizing that life is
easier that way and you don't have to chase down
trying to accommodate what is not true. The hardest thing
to keep up with it is a lot is a lie,
and to live a life of mimicking something that's not
authentic to you is a lie. And it's going to
(24:54):
be exhausting.
Speaker 1 (24:54):
And you know, people live in that life. Bruh, A lot,
a lot of people. People are living that life. And
you know, I think it's a good segue when looking
at how you know D and I now and when
you really look at what D and I did and
helping you know, the majority of it was really helping
(25:17):
white women right more than any other group, which is
mind blows and that's it, and that's it. Listen, and
that these are actual stats, yes, fact facts, facts, And
so as I look at that and that being the
group that helped out of any other group more than
any other group, what are the things you think we
(25:38):
need to now do to ensure that true diversity is
reflected in the spaces where we've made so much of
an impact culturally over decades, not years, not months.
Speaker 2 (25:50):
Decades, we saw the power of diversity's contribution, the collective
contribution of diversity. We saw the residual impact and it
has always been incredible. It's always been remarkable as an
(26:11):
end result. If you've seen it work before, regardless of
how systems are trying to push it out, lock into
what works. It is proven that, beyond beyond the isms,
the partisan rhetoric, beyond all of that, this life would
(26:35):
not be what it is today without a collective of
diverse contribution. So I would say, in all of our spaces,
lock in and commit to it, because if you lock
in and commit to it, we don't realize our power
as a people. And we literally have enough historic to
(27:00):
tracking to show that when we as a collective lock
into moving a certain way, it changes things. It literally
causes people to have to readdirect d EI as an initiative,
actually came as a result of a collective outcry and
(27:22):
a clear indicator that there's profit, greater profitability in us
doing this thing together when people started feeling threatened about
their own position, not realizing no, what you do is
now you actually make more use of the sky. There's
(27:45):
way more room. We've just confined ourselves to one room
and We've got a mansion of a reality, but we're
trying to do it all in this one room. It's
like no, no, no, no. If you start inviting other
people in, now you can be in this room, they
could be in that room. They could be in that room,
that room, and we can all win. And so I
just I just encourage people to lock into what you
(28:07):
have already seen works continue to build. There's diversity. As
a d E and I representative when I was working
with the Recording Academy when they had the actual committee,
I was one of the leads for LA. There's diversity
(28:31):
in the subgroups that we don't realize. Like I started
realizing the the vastness of diversity stretches well beyond skin color, y'all.
You know, from abilities mind like mine, it's all of
those things. And so you know, listen, don't be scared
(28:53):
to lock into the diversity. Don't be the guy that
responds selfishly to the selfishness, you know, and try to
hoard the opportunity because you think it's going to be
taken away from you because you think that the resources
are few. So let me just keep what I got.
I'll need no help from anybody else. Don't do that.
Don't do that. Don't do that. The enemy would want
(29:15):
us to believe that it will only harm us.
Speaker 1 (29:17):
Only harmless. You know you're very familiar with fasting, I'm
sure I am, and in seasons of fasting, which obviously
could be way more than just food, you know, alcohol,
social media. Is there a communal fast that you would
advocate we move on to further get clarity, alignment or
(29:39):
focus moving forward.
Speaker 2 (29:42):
Okay, So the definition of fasting is and the etymology
of it is from food. We have you know, evolved
it to be the consumption of anything, correct, you know,
the stop of consumption of anything. So I understand you
(30:04):
were calling it fasting, but I also want to respect
the sacredness of fasting, for it really meaning the discipline
of turning your plate down. But it's deeper for me
that it is consecration. That if we can consecrate the
(30:27):
way in which we move in life, it changes from
just being a fast for a seasonal moment to this
is my new character. Yeah, this is the condition of
who I am. So the consecration that I would call
all of us too, is to be mobilizers of togetherness,
(30:52):
of shared ideas and support of the ones doing it right,
only to by faith, trust that it will affect the
things that are not that are corrupt to have to
(31:12):
surrender to the right way in due time. People. There
was a lot of people that were like, well, I
gotta get to work during the bus boycott, but it
was a majority of the collective that said, if we
don't all do this, it's not going to be effected.
But I still got to get to work. I can't
be late. I trust me. You want to get in
(31:35):
on this bus boycott. And now we're able to walk
up and down of the school bus. And I think
it's hilarious because you know, growing to school, we still
chust the back of the bus for us. But I
have to tell I remember, like like my parents or
grandparents saying we fought too hard foraica be sitting in
(31:57):
the back of the bus, And I said, no, you
fought hard for us to have the choice choice.
Speaker 1 (32:01):
And now we're choosing to bring that energy to the
back of the bus. We're not being told that we
have to.
Speaker 2 (32:08):
But I just want us to trust, to consecrate, to
get ourselves conditioned to do the right thing. Bro. As
I get older, I started looking at the Spike Lee
movies and all these things, and the messaging that has
been said, it's been said, and I just I just
heard it as a cliche. That right, And but I
(32:29):
believe the intention behind cliches is more divine than anything
that it be repeated often until it's understood and digested. So,
you know, big ups to God for cliches being a thing,
because yeah, we hear them, but in time, it's kind
(32:50):
of like what Grandma used to say, you'll understand it.
Speaker 1 (32:53):
And I just want to say, doesn't this sound so familiar?
As children and our parents gave us all the gems
and the insight that we just wanq but it sat
with us and when we got to a place in
our life it then made way more sense. And it's
the pouring into things even if it's not time or
you don't or you're not going to be able to
(33:15):
really digest it and address it or respond to it
in the way that you should, but at some point
it's gonna hit you. And when it hits you're gonna
be like it is. And so if we can shorten
that time of people like getting it like because we
know as children we learned and heard so many things.
We didn't apply it until later. Probably if we can
(33:35):
teach this new generation, you know, minimize that window.
Speaker 2 (33:39):
It's through education because Wallow and I don't follow Wallow,
you know, like you know, a part of the culture
like really follows them. But I admire him from afar
and whenever I see clips, I see it energy. And
that's a good dude.
Speaker 1 (33:59):
And it's using his life as a testimony that part.
Speaker 2 (34:02):
So he's arrived to the understanding that it's not always
as simple to just tell people do better when their
environments have conditioned them to only know a certain thing
new information. Yes, we want to have to educate people,
but have the patience for people to recondition or decondition
(34:27):
that they may recondition all of the years of what
they've only programmed. Because I mean, you can't expect me
to all of a sudden think that eggs are great
if I don't like eggs all my life, and I
can't stand X by the way, all right, I just
want to make that clear. We'll put eggs on my plate.
Speaker 1 (34:47):
Well, it's a good time not to like eggs. If
they charge in eighteen dollars.
Speaker 2 (34:51):
I'm almost saving money. I've been saving money.
Speaker 1 (34:53):
Smart.
Speaker 2 (34:53):
But listen, let me tell you. Up until that's how
you keep it up until twenty five. This is it's
just a funny moment of comedic relief. Up until the
age twenty five. I picked out the eggs of my
shrimp fried rice up until age twenty five. Until I
(35:14):
was at lunch with an old boss and she said,
why are you picking that out? Picking that out? And
I'm like, I don't like eggs. You don't have to
pick it out, get it without it. I said, this
is how it comes. She says, you can order it
with that eggs.
Speaker 1 (35:31):
You were today years old for that?
Speaker 2 (35:33):
Bro?
Speaker 1 (35:34):
Are you serious? I just I think bro, bro, Well,
first of all, the fake that you I was twenty
five years old.
Speaker 2 (35:40):
You're not gonna say today years old.
Speaker 1 (35:43):
First, So you're taking out the eggs of a fried
rice is a mind blow from me. If it was,
I was so small.
Speaker 2 (35:49):
That's how o c D. I am like it is
it is literally I have that I'm that guy. And
that's also that's actually the side effect of also being
a performing art You know how they say, don't you
try to get out of it? Because I know I
know that there's something there's a.
Speaker 1 (36:07):
I would not use a public bathroom for number two
for years, no real talk.
Speaker 2 (36:14):
I put tissue even at my home on every.
Speaker 1 (36:17):
Listen and I would and I still do. Okay, so
that's my ism, but please go.
Speaker 2 (36:22):
Listen. I just I've been that person. But it hit
me at twenty five. I am. I am wiser now
and I order all my shrimp fried rice without it.
Speaker 1 (36:31):
I love that. I can't wait to have fried rise
with you. This is gonna be awesome. Listen, and I
love that wisdom and I'd love for you to share.
So what do you think separates creatives who make it
against those who don't.
Speaker 2 (36:43):
Consistency. You gotta stay at this thing. You gotta stay
at it whether you get because because that social media
also is a a mind fluck. It's so dystres. The
psychological warring that you do when you see something go viral,
(37:07):
or you see something do well for you one minute,
and then the next thing you post it only gets
one or two likes or a fraction of the engagement
that you had before. That can do a number on you.
But what wins is consistency.
Speaker 1 (37:23):
Consistency we always end these talks with if there were
three seeds that you could leave with the stewarts of
culture moving forward, to put them in position to continue
to take this thing in a responsible way, moving forward
collectively for our betterment. What would those three things be?
Speaker 2 (37:42):
I have it. But I want to say this before
because I think they called me the hope dealer, right,
ideal hope. That's like literally the theme of everything that
I do is hope. You know, even had it tat
it on my arm. Hope major hope is my foundation.
(38:03):
But it's hope and love, life and future. But the
reality of it all is a lot of people see
us on the other side, you know, on these microphones,
and they assume that they just got it. They got it.
They're not dealing with the struggle of life or the
difficulty of life. But I'm tired. Yeah, I'm tired. I'm frustrated.
(38:28):
I'm actually in almost a sadness and and I want
to let people know that sadness actually can coexist with joy.
Facts people don't understand that that hope and healing, joy
and justice, pain and purpose can both exist at the
(38:49):
same time. That's actually true humanity. And so I want
to let people know that make room for that. I
just found out that I didn't win an Image Award.
This is my ninth nomination and I'm like, I have
been nominated so many times. Susan Lucci will not be
my story Like this can't be shout out to the
(39:11):
brilliant Susan Lucci. But still I'm just like, yo, I'm frustrated.
I'm an independent artist's mama named a major, and I'm
trucking through life trying to meet this next level and
it feels like a glass ceiling sometimes. So I want
to just say that so that the exhaust of people thinking,
here's another podcast moment where someone has figured it out
(39:35):
and they just got it all right. They just get
it all right. That's not me, that's not me. I
have to live the hope I give and I'm tested
on that daily. But the three things that I would
give to anyone to help advance culture and enrich it,
(39:57):
stay consistent, stay excellent, and stay ready. Stay consistent, stay excellent,
and stay ready because when opportunity knocks. I've said this
often and I will say it as much as necessary.
(40:20):
When opportunity knocks, opportunity doesn't just sit around and wait
for you to get your stuff together. A lot of
times we say we want something, but we're not preparing
for the very thing that we ask that we ask for.
So that's the prepare for what you pray for. Stay consistent,
(40:41):
stay excellent, and stay ready because opportunity is going to
embrace the person ready to go. And that's how we
impact culture for the better.
Speaker 1 (40:51):
Thank you for that, and you know, even for how
you prefaced it with the reality of you know, in
our walks with God, many would have so oh their
life is perfect. It's actually the complete opposite. I feel
like we get more put on us because He needs
to show we are the examples of his excellence and
he needs to show look at my children coming through
(41:14):
all these things, our owness. So I now say I
welcome adversity, because when I get more adverse, I'm like, oh,
God throwing something else at me, because he knows he's
preparing me and I will get through this with him.
So I'm grateful that you started your answer grounded on
that of the reality. I'm gonna give you these three nuggets.
But don't think I'm not exhausted and going through my
(41:36):
own trials and tribulations, which I will get through and
we always.
Speaker 2 (41:39):
Do that part.
Speaker 1 (41:40):
But a sincere thank you for that, because we also
live in an era where everybody sees the end product
and the glamour and the glitz and on the mic
and doing this and don't see the journey and all
the things that come with it. So the more we
can share that is the more that people know the
reality of what it truly takes and is not misled
by some facade that they think think it is. And
(42:01):
for that, you're major and I thank you.
Speaker 2 (42:05):
Knew, yeah, can I thank you? I have a new
song called I Prayed for you, and in this season
I have been very intentional about it not just being
a phrase, but it being the action in real time.
(42:27):
Do you mind if I pray for you? I wouldn't.
Speaker 1 (42:29):
That's the best gift you can give anyone, and I
receive it every time. So please and thank you.
Speaker 2 (42:36):
Dear God. We love you, we appreciate you, we honor you.
Thank you so much for the gift of life, a
gift that we don't necessarily earn, but by grace you
deem us worthy of Father. I want to ask for
(42:57):
your covering and keeping of my brother as I pray
that you continue to grow him in his faith, and
also in his prospering. I pray that he be encouraged
in spirit to continue to build this brilliant idea. The
(43:17):
culture raises us. I thank you for his commitment to
sharing the jewels of his experience, inviting the jewels of others'
experiences to be shared, that they may impact an enrich
culture for the better. Bless his finances, Bless the resources,
(43:43):
May they come in abundance. Bless his family continue to
give him a joy like no other. May the gratitude
the recall of all the things that you have done
for him be his minder and his encouragement, his motivator
(44:03):
to keep moving, because he will never want or need
for anything. This is blessed. I'm grateful to be a
part of it. Bless everyone in this room, and thank
you in advance for doing so. In Jesus' name, Amen.
Speaker 1 (44:21):
We truly appreciate your support because it helps us fulfill
our mission of promoting cultural awareness and personal development. Please
click the subscribe button below to help ensure and solidify
our mission.
Host
Astor Chamber
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