November 7, 2024 • 39 mins
Innovative artist and creator of the iconic 'flyboy' masterpiece Hebru Brantley joins Mike Hill and Ephraim Salaam for an engaging interview about the essence of art, self-expression, and the journey of an artist. They explore the struggles and triumphs of pursuing a creative career, the importance of work ethic, and the balance between personal life and professional success. Hebru shares his experiences about growing up in Chicago and navigating doubts to pursue an art career, the impact of family, and the lessons he aims to pass on to future generations.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Y'all.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
This is the inflection collective father of us are connective, reflective,
real perspective, respected defense sh shat, no captain spec facts
of kicks back.
Speaker 1 (00:10):
It's here for Sunday fit Dad.
Speaker 3 (00:15):
It's that time again, another time for another episode of
the Done that have been that podcast, hanging out with you.
Thank you so much for subscribing. Thank you so much
for rocking with us. Make sure you tell a friend
and tell a friend because we are doing it each
and every week. By the way, my name is Mike Hill.
I am one of your hosts, and I'm always joined
by he.
Speaker 4 (00:32):
From Salam I'm your other host, and today's episode special
for me all the episode. I say that before every episode,
but this one is really special because our guest this
time is not only a friend of mine, but prolific artists.
One of the great living testaments to black excellent supers
(00:57):
and art.
Speaker 1 (01:00):
Is out of out of this world.
Speaker 4 (01:03):
He's a tremendous, tremendous talent, the creative, not just an artist,
but a director, writer, all of those things you would
think you would want to be as an artist. And
that's Hebrew Brandly.
Speaker 5 (01:15):
Hey, hey, hey, that's quite an interesting something.
Speaker 1 (01:21):
You deserve all those.
Speaker 6 (01:23):
Man, I appreciate I'm a blessing him.
Speaker 1 (01:25):
Man, your art is dope.
Speaker 3 (01:27):
Man, I'm talking about like that with jay Z, guys
like that Chance the rapper you know, and brands and
everything it is doing Bell Lair doing it all. I mean,
you've been doing it for a minute. When did you know?
When did you say, Hey, you know what, I'm pretty
good at this. This is like, this is the stamp
that tells me that you know what?
Speaker 1 (01:48):
I made it? Mama.
Speaker 5 (01:50):
I don't know if I made it yet. I've made stuff,
I've made messes. No, I'm just kidding. I I you know,
It's just something I wanted to do. I knew I
was an artist or createive my whole life. I knew that.
I think the one thing I always knew was that
I couldn't work for anybody. M And it wasn't out
of like this empowered thought in my head. It was
(02:13):
just like I'm a horrible employee, Like I suck at
my job, you know, And so it was just that
thing of how do I get to a place where
I don't have I am my boss right, and then
I can hold myself accountable and just do this.
Speaker 6 (02:32):
You know, it's like in.
Speaker 5 (02:33):
School, like I only exceled at the subjects I liked,
you know, everything.
Speaker 6 (02:38):
Else kill much was good in art though I was
I was decent, you know, I got I got bees
in art.
Speaker 1 (02:50):
How you get bees in art?
Speaker 4 (02:51):
Man?
Speaker 5 (02:51):
Because I was a knucklehead, didn't want to listen and
like didn't always do what I was what the assign
it was. And it wasn't until probably like maybe sophomore year,
sophomore year in the sophomore year high school, when my
art teacher just basically was like, here's the key to
the art closet, go ahead.
Speaker 3 (03:13):
The teacher deserved a bee because art is what you create,
not necessarily. I mean they can have a vision to say,
paint this, but do you vision something else?
Speaker 5 (03:22):
Yeah, But if you're a teacher and you're like, hey,
I need you guys to all draw an apple, and
I'm over here drawing like Wu Tang clan members, like.
Speaker 6 (03:33):
I'm not doing the assignment. So that was the problem.
Speaker 5 (03:36):
But I think she I just wore her down and
then to the point where she was just like go
in there there's you.
Speaker 4 (03:42):
Know, and trying to heal you into what was your
first job where some of the jobs that you knew that, oh,
I can't work for anybody, Like what what?
Speaker 6 (03:54):
What?
Speaker 4 (03:54):
What helps you realize that, Oh, if I can't be
my own boss, I'm gonna be broke.
Speaker 5 (03:59):
I had the number one reality check job as a kid.
So I've worked, I've done everything, but my first job,
I was fourteen years old. Lied on my application. I
was working at McDonald's. Okay, but I was working. I
was working weekends, so I had to like and I
was working mornings, so I had to be up there,
(04:21):
like I had to get up at four thirty.
Speaker 1 (04:23):
I gotta make the biscuits.
Speaker 5 (04:24):
I gotta make gotta make the biscuits, the mcmuffins. But
I but they put me on because I said I
had allergies and.
Speaker 1 (04:34):
I did about my age, about my health situation.
Speaker 5 (04:40):
Because I didn't want to. I didn't want to be
in the kitchen. I didn't want to be cooking. If
they if they thought I was gonna be sneezing.
Speaker 6 (04:45):
They weren't gonna put me in the kitchen. But then
they put me on the front register.
Speaker 5 (04:48):
But it was actually it kind of backfire because when
people would come in in the morning and the women
would have all this perfume on. It would like it
would kick my butt. So then finally they're like, all right,
we gonna put you It put me in the drive
through and you know the first window when you take
the money. That was the best thing because I'd sit
up there, you know, they I wouldn't take the order,
(05:09):
somebody else would not just withdraw and collect money. Wow
all day Wow. So that was like but but again
it was just it still was working at McDonald's, right.
It wasn't It wasn't fun, but no, it was just
you know, doing that and I did that for two years,
and you know, having all the homies. You know, I
(05:31):
had a few homies that played you know, high school ball,
ended up going to the league and they would come
in you know during camps and stuff like that after camp,
and I'm like, man, they're following their path.
Speaker 6 (05:43):
I'm working at McDonald's.
Speaker 5 (05:46):
And it just it weighed on me always, and it
was just always that thought of like I gotta get
the hell out of here.
Speaker 6 (05:51):
I gotta figure this. Again.
Speaker 5 (05:52):
I was still a high school but it was still
just like, you know, having those homies early that knew
exactly what they wanted to do.
Speaker 6 (06:00):
And I always knew what I wanted to. I know,
I just want to be artists.
Speaker 5 (06:02):
I didn't know what that fully meant, right because I
didn't have a clear shining example of like what an
artist was fully because there's so many different facets right
to art. Right it could be you know, fine art,
it could be graphic design, a comic book artist, like
I loved it, entertained all of those things, architect but
you know, it was just that thing of like I
(06:22):
want to I'm creative, I want to create. But then
it's that that also, that messaging within a black household.
Speaker 6 (06:29):
Of like that's not a that's not a stable career.
Speaker 1 (06:32):
You can't get no W two.
Speaker 5 (06:34):
With Dad, I was I was more supported as a
as a guy who in high school probably averaged uh
two rebounds and zero point three points a game. I
was more encouraged to pursue a basketball because.
Speaker 3 (06:49):
That's what they saw, that's what they knew, that's what
they saw. I actually want to talk about that. I
want discount to be the theme of the episode because
I know about your background. Your mom encouraged your art.
Dad didn't as much. You know, he encouraged you to
be great at what you did. Obviously you saw success
early on, but sometimes people don't see your craft the
(07:10):
way you see it, or the art or the gift
that you have the way you see it.
Speaker 1 (07:14):
How do you block out some of the noise in
order to pursue your passion.
Speaker 5 (07:21):
I don't know how to advise other people. I think
for me, stubbornness really was my ally. You know, I
refused to listen to I just felt like, did nobody
know what the hell they was talking about?
Speaker 1 (07:37):
You know?
Speaker 6 (07:38):
But but that was in everything though, you know, like
that was even you know, I get that.
Speaker 5 (07:43):
That was life lessons, everything, but primarily within that where
you know, I think it really just took having one
person believe.
Speaker 6 (07:55):
And that person who believed was the closest person to
me was my mother.
Speaker 1 (07:59):
Right.
Speaker 6 (08:00):
Once you have that, can't nobody tell you shit?
Speaker 1 (08:03):
Really, you know what I mean?
Speaker 5 (08:05):
Again, if you have, if you have the passion, and
if it's there, right, all you need is one person
to kind of help boom, and then it's two people,
then it's three, and then it's four, and then you
can convert people and make them realize. But you know,
I would just look around at either family members or
people I knew and you know, my family was lower
middle class, you know, coming up, I come from a
(08:27):
huge family. None of the men in the family on
my mother's side really made anything of themselves. So it's
all the women. But then looking at them and some
of their husbands, right, and you know, it's are all
black people, And I'm like, well, shit, he's a lawyer.
He grew up in a time where I'm sure like
that wasn't even you know what I mean, like the
(08:48):
thought it wasn't necessarily feasible in it's an uphill battle.
Speaker 6 (08:51):
So he did that, right, Why can't I do? You
know what I want to do?
Speaker 5 (08:55):
And you know, it was just these little moments, and
I remember one one moment was to get the artist's
name forgive me. But my father, my dad, My dad
was a weekend dad, right, and so you know, sometimes.
Speaker 4 (09:10):
What does that mean?
Speaker 1 (09:11):
What does a weekend dad mean?
Speaker 6 (09:12):
A weekend dad means I'm with my dad on the weekend.
Speaker 5 (09:15):
And he got to figure ship out because you know
what I mean, it's like sometimes I'm interrupting plans, you
know what I mean. And and and so that meant that,
you know, sometimes instead of it being me and him,
I was the fifth Wheel on you know, dates and things.
Speaker 6 (09:35):
With what's it the third.
Speaker 5 (09:42):
Sometimes talk about from Friday to Sunday, bring a kid
on the fifth Wheel, fifth Wheel.
Speaker 6 (09:50):
But you know, I would have to go, you know,
with my dad on.
Speaker 5 (09:57):
He would he would bring dates on our time, you know,
and and or I would have I'd end up going
to house parties that I was damn sure not invited
to or not supposed to be at his friend's houses
and ended up in a bedroom somewhere, you know, and
like watching TV right while the grown folks downstairs party
and stuff like that.
Speaker 6 (10:15):
But one time he took me.
Speaker 5 (10:17):
There was an artist in Chicago who was a comic
book artist, self made guy, comic like a graphic designer,
early adapter to a lot of these these these forms
of art. And we went to his house and he
was making comic books. Now they weren't really miss they wasn't,
you know at the time. I'm Marvel, I'm DC, I'm
x Men, I'm Batman, all those things. He was doing
(10:38):
stuff more geared towards the black experience, you know, and
it was it was a bit more adult. But it
was just the fact that like this dude was an artist,
like he made it. He's living in this loft. This
is cool, And that was like one of the first
times I saw. I was like, I can like and
in my mind, I'm young, I'm Eric, and I'm like,
I'm I'm yeah, yeah, if he could do this, sometimes
(11:01):
you just got to see it if you have to
see it, So that was important important thing.
Speaker 6 (11:06):
But yeah, man, it was you know, I think this.
Speaker 3 (11:09):
Is because this is the done. There have been that podcast.
We've all kind of been in that word. People have
a trend. So I guess athletically always gifted. People saw
you basketball, football or whatever, but you always had a mind.
One of the things I love about you, You've always
had a mind outside of sports.
Speaker 4 (11:25):
Yeah, for me, I played I started playing sports late,
so I was into all kinds of stuff gamer like,
comic books, all of these things, and I started I
started playing sports in high school, ninth grade and that
was it. Like nothing before then, no Pop Warner, no
rec league basketball, and so for me, I was just
(11:47):
playing because my friends were playing. I just want to
hang out with them. And as I began to get better,
I was like, oh, college just started to come around.
I was like, oh right, okay, I can like In
our family, there was no you're not going to college.
Everybody and my mother got her PhD, my father has
(12:08):
its master's, my sister brothers, everybody went to college. That's
just what it was. And so I was like, Okay,
I can get a scholarship. I can go off to play.
And then when I got to college, after I started
my first game, I remember my dad was like, I mean,
(12:30):
you might be able to make a living out of this.
Right then I kicked it in the overdrive. When I
got drafted seventh round. That other mechanism that we're talking
about kicked in because I'm like, the chances of me
making the team are slim already, and the chances of
(12:51):
me sticking and staying as a seventh round draft pick
it's very low.
Speaker 1 (12:57):
So what else?
Speaker 4 (13:00):
How can I use this to do something else? And
from the beginning, even though I started my first year,
in my first ten years in the league, every off
season I was jumping into something else. I started being
on the radio my rookie year, then followed that with
radio on TV and every market I did. When I
came home in the off season, I would come do
(13:24):
ESPN or just do these shows. And this is when
there was no three thousand sports networks. It was three, right,
and so you had to like figure out a way
to get in. I'm an offensive lineman. Nobody wants to
hear from offensive lineman. But my mentality was, look, I
don't know how long i'mann to be playing this, but
I like other stuff, which turned into film producing film.
(13:49):
My brother best friend Dion was like, I got an
idea for a movie. We took it and ran with it.
I never wanted it just to be about this thing. Right,
Like you're you're starting in the NFL, you're focusing on
People have said this, other players have said, man, you're
(14:10):
a dope player, man, but you focus on too much
other stuff.
Speaker 1 (14:13):
You just got to focus on this. And I was like, well,
this could be going tomorrow.
Speaker 4 (14:18):
Like literally, none of the players have None of the
players can say how long they're gonna play for who.
They don't have control of that. You can sign a
brand new contract and get cut the next year. We
see it happening all the time, and I was like, well,
I don't want to put all of my livelihood in
someone else's hands, So I'm going to do the things
(14:39):
that I enjoyed doing. So when I retired, I just
walked right into broadcasting and producing film, the things that
I had been doing all while I was playing, because
I'm like, look, I'm not just the sum of one thing.
There are multiple things that make up who we are
as people. Whether others can see that or not, that's
(15:04):
not up to me. Right Like I can see it.
You can see it. You can see it, right like
your journey, you know what I mean? You growing up
and them telling you. You're saying what I want.
Speaker 1 (15:18):
To be on TV.
Speaker 3 (15:18):
I wanted to be on TV. I wanted to be
a TV host. I wanted to be on the news,
and growing up in Alabama from from was like, man,
how you.
Speaker 1 (15:25):
Gonna do this? The world away, they can't see it.
Speaker 3 (15:30):
So it wasn't until I actually saw somebody on the
air who looked like me, who had my name, that
I felt like God named Michael Hill. He actually became
my uncle because I married his niece later on in life,
just kind of ironically, and I saw him.
Speaker 1 (15:42):
On television, I was like, well, he can do this,
Why can't I do that? Well? I couldn't do it
at the time.
Speaker 3 (15:48):
I'm from the country, talk like this ain't gonna be
on the go on television like this, mane you know
what I'm saying.
Speaker 1 (15:52):
You can't talk like this, and I'll sing.
Speaker 6 (16:00):
Charged park.
Speaker 1 (16:02):
Do you notice that I've worked so hard to dialect
my enunciation and every star in sports right now can't speak.
They can't talk. But anyway, I digress, man, going back
to you man with your passion.
Speaker 3 (16:15):
Following that passion, there are other obstacles outside of doubt,
you know, taking care you had I think you had
a daughter at the time, son, your son at the time,
young son at the time. You had to take care
of your your your siblings as well, so financially and everything,
all these obstacles in the way. Was there ever a
time where it was like, man, maybe I should try
(16:36):
to pursue something else that's actually going.
Speaker 1 (16:37):
To pay these bills and not my art and put
this on hole. How did you overcome that? If you
if you had those.
Speaker 5 (16:44):
Doubts, I don't think I had doubts for sure, but
there was no other option, you know. That was the
one thing like when my parents died, like all my
parents died, parents being like my mother, my biological my mother,
my biological father, and then my stepfather right all within
a two year window, right, And I mean my mother
(17:07):
and stepfather were six months apart and they passed.
Speaker 4 (17:11):
For me.
Speaker 5 (17:14):
It's weird because when that happened, I kicked. I was
just having this conversation yesterday. As a matter of fact,
I didn't grieve. I just kicked into I have to
get it done. That was it, which is not necessarily
the best, most therapeutic thing to do, right, But because
I had so many people count because it was not
(17:35):
only my brother, my sister, it was my son. My
mom took care of her younger brother, like every every
family's got that one uncle that was the uncle, right,
and so I had to take care of him.
Speaker 6 (17:46):
My aunt at the time, I was twenty seven.
Speaker 1 (17:49):
Wow, all that responsibility.
Speaker 5 (17:51):
My aunt, who you know was kind of down bad,
you know, helped take care of her. So I had
all this right, and I just refused to drop the ball.
And so that that was my mindset where it was like, yeah,
there were days tears, you know, like pain, physical pain,
but it was just the thing of like, nah, no,
(18:13):
I want this. I wanted this for so long. I'm
going to have this now.
Speaker 1 (18:18):
I look at your art.
Speaker 3 (18:19):
It's very it's eclectic, it's very I don't know how
the words to describe art, you know what I'm saying,
But it's progressive in a sense, and I love that
it speaks to our culture, you like with your fly
boy character and everything.
Speaker 1 (18:32):
I mean, it's like so unique.
Speaker 3 (18:34):
Did some of your pain though, because as artists sometimes
I know, like when I'm going through my comedy right now,
my comedy comes from my pain and I can speak
down on stage.
Speaker 1 (18:44):
Did some of your pain things that you were going through?
How was that reflected in your art? Well?
Speaker 6 (18:49):
I think early on, when I first started, the work
that I was doing.
Speaker 5 (18:55):
Is far and wide from the work I do now right,
it was completely different, And I think the best advice
I got, you know, there was a lot of pain,
and there was angst, and it was just it was
it was it was.
Speaker 6 (19:06):
It wasn't just personal.
Speaker 5 (19:08):
It was just the idea of being black in America, right,
and speaking towards those facts, speaking towards history and justices,
all of these things. And the best advice I got was,
though this is a part of you, This doesn't fully represent.
Speaker 6 (19:23):
All of you.
Speaker 5 (19:24):
Paint what you know and what you love, right, all
that other stuff will bleed into it, but you have
to start with the base of you. And so you know,
looking at that, it was like the things that brought
me joy, right were you know, what's what's what's what's
we're films with science fiction? Were these narratives, these stories?
Was was comics and manga and anime and all these
(19:47):
things that I grew up on. That like I had
to fight for right, to fight to love because where
I grew up that wasn't accepted socially, right, So that
was a part of me that I always had to hide. Right,
It's like you're playing you're you're a dual person when
you live. You come from my neighborhood, right, you're the
person you are you can be in the come fines
of your own place, and then you're the person you
(20:09):
are in the streets with your friends. None of my
friends at the time were with any.
Speaker 6 (20:15):
Of that ship. It was seen as you know, like man,
if you draw, if you are in it, that was
it was gay, right, Yeah, it was gay gay all
that stuff, right.
Speaker 5 (20:25):
Because I want to better myself and it's it's so
fast afterwards and it's crazy, but it's like that that
that that that that sense of like over masculinity, right,
that you had to have like toxic, toxic masculine, very
very toxic in the hood.
Speaker 6 (20:39):
So that's what I was fighting but sound to say, like.
Speaker 5 (20:45):
You know, with everything, I just kind of refuse to.
I looked at my friends at the time, right, none
of them were really happy, and even if they were
in the moment, right, it momentarily like it was just
bliss or glee. But long term, I'm like, my dude,
(21:05):
you work at Walgreens, and it's no knock to people
who have to do that. But some of these people
didn't really have to do that. But it was a
matter of like accepting just what was given in their circumstances,
not trying to achieve more. None of my friends in
my circle.
Speaker 6 (21:21):
For that time aspire to beat or to rise above
their station. None of them.
Speaker 5 (21:28):
And you know that saying of like you are your
your three or five best friends are. And so I
looked at that, and again this is before I knew
that phrase, before I realized that, and it was just
that thought in my head of like, man, I'm.
Speaker 6 (21:42):
Not these guys.
Speaker 5 (21:44):
I love these guys, but you know I love them
enough to understand that I got to leave these guys
to get what I need to do, you know, get
what I need, what I want, and involve and so
that that's what was happening, and so I left. I left,
you know, I was in Atlanta for you know time
when I was in school and just travel lived on
hopped on couches in New York living here in La
(22:06):
couch hop and CouchSurfing, but like studying, right, getting to
meet people that were doing the things I wanted to do,
so I could see it right, because if you can
see it, then you can just manifest it, right, And
so that that was the goal. So around the time
my mom, you know, pops had passed, I was just
right at that step of like you know, or taking
(22:27):
that next step to becoming my own person and carving
that name for myself, right, hadn't really done it yet, but.
Speaker 6 (22:33):
I was right there. And so it just was like
I've worked too hard just to go back and to
settle for mediocrity basically, And if that means that we
all have to struggle for a little bit, We're just
gonna struggle for it.
Speaker 1 (22:48):
Sometimes it's just in your guts, you just know what's
going to happen. It was.
Speaker 4 (22:52):
I think you said something very profound there. Right, most people,
especially today, they could be on that train working toward
their goal and what they see and the trip can
take longer than they expect. And the people around them
(23:17):
who waiting to get to the destination, whether it be
somebody taking care of or significant other, friend, peer group,
the negativity coming from that right, yep, man, this is
taken forever. Man, you.
Speaker 1 (23:36):
And so many of us.
Speaker 4 (23:41):
Listen, yeah, and get off the train at the next stop. Yeah,
why would you get off before your stop? And and
just in life like having you having just hearing you say, look,
we might have to struggle a little bit longer, right,
(24:03):
it's not what we want, but trust me, we're gonna
get to our stop. And I think the message to
the young people are because our age we come from
a completely different eraror.
Speaker 1 (24:20):
Right, Like this was like a bootstrap, tie it up,
go get it.
Speaker 4 (24:26):
Number one. We didn't have the information, We didn't have
access to the information that we have now. If you
wanted to learn how to do something, be an artist,
be on TV, whatever that is, produce, right, you had
to tangibly go try to find someone that doesn't ask questions.
Speaker 1 (24:48):
There was no.
Speaker 4 (24:50):
Hey Alex, hey, Siri Hey, how do I google?
Speaker 1 (24:56):
There was none of that.
Speaker 4 (24:57):
So we come from an era where you got to
go out if you wanted, you got to go.
Speaker 6 (25:00):
Get it right.
Speaker 1 (25:01):
You kill what you eat, you eat what you kill.
Now there's so much information.
Speaker 4 (25:10):
The bad part of that is you can easily get
discouraged and sway right opposed to when you're in it.
You're like, man, I didn't come too or I don't
work too hard. I'm not about to get off now.
I done gave everything we in here, eating beans and
rice and water, and I'm not gonna throw that all.
Speaker 1 (25:28):
Away lot right.
Speaker 4 (25:32):
So just having that mentality like, and how do you
put that in young people like my nephews man twenty
three and twenty seven. I'm like, bruh. My wife and
I helped raise them, and he'll today right now, I
(25:52):
was thinking I wanted to do so and so and
so and so I'm like, hey, man, I don't I
don't know how to do that.
Speaker 1 (26:00):
But guess what.
Speaker 4 (26:02):
You have a computer in your hand, Well, what do
I do the question you just asked me? Type it
into just say it into the phone. Oh oh okay, okay.
They're so used to having it there, they don't even
know how to tap into.
Speaker 3 (26:20):
It well, even with AI and everything that's going on
or whatever. So, having said that, passing it on to
the future generations because we were a bootstraped type of
mentality the way we were raised, what we can pass
along to the future generations are the gifts and the
lessons that we learn to make sure that they don't
have to go through those things, even.
Speaker 1 (26:40):
Though they have more at that disposal.
Speaker 3 (26:42):
So, now that your kids are getting older and you've
made it to this point that you got other people
looking up to you, maybe have a nephew or nieces
or whatnot, what are you passing along to future generations
to make sure that they don't have to go through
what you went through and to ensure that they continue
to follow their passions no matter what the obstacles are.
Speaker 6 (27:04):
That's a loaded question. I think I'll just use a
case of like, like my nephews, they.
Speaker 5 (27:11):
You know, they've they've grown up seeing what I've done, right,
Like just like my son, Like my son kind of
grew up. I always say he grew up inside the tornado,
you know, and and then finally the you know that
it stopped spinning and there was you know, there was
some some some bright skys, right, but I think you know,
my nephews growing up seeing you know, and and and
(27:33):
coming to shows and things like that, now they're they're
they're aspiring artists. And the one thing that I teached
him because I think one of the things that's so
lost now is work ethic. Right, Like I feel like,
you know, with the with the accessibility of you know,
(27:53):
social media and all of these things online and now
even a I to to a greater degree, right, even
when it comes to education, right, I can get a
paper online.
Speaker 6 (28:02):
You know, that's done for me. You know, it's what
are you learning?
Speaker 5 (28:06):
What are you you know exactly, And so for them
and even my son, right, just really emphasizing you gotta
work for it, right, like this shit is not going
to especially when you're an artist and a creative right,
whether that's you know, any form of the arts, if
you're a musician to a filmmaker, to a writer, like
(28:27):
you know, you know this like writing is rewriting, right,
That's exactly what it is. And you know, I always
use the term with them, like you know, you have
to fail your way to success. And I say that
all the time, right because I'm not I am a
I am all of my mistakes. My success comes from
(28:49):
all of the things, all of the falls, the failures,
the painting's gone wrong.
Speaker 1 (28:54):
Right.
Speaker 5 (28:55):
I don't get to that one that's right without these
nine that weren't right, right, and so instilling in them
that they have to really work for it. And it's
not easy work. I know when people think artists, oh no,
like this ship is still work, right, Like there are
days when I hate this shit, you know, Like I
(29:15):
am tired of painting. I am tired of you know,
but pushing through to persevere to then see like the
end result.
Speaker 6 (29:23):
Which is so gratifying. Right, I did that right, Right,
I went through all of that to do that.
Speaker 1 (29:29):
Right.
Speaker 5 (29:29):
It's no different than football, right, you gotta pound your
way up the field to score, right, and all them
you know, grueling hits that you take, you know, along
the way, all them downs to finally get there and
to feel that, man, we just we did it, get it,
you know, And and that's that's what I'm I pushed
them towards so and with them. Man, I watched these
little dudes and again they get the game for me now, right,
(29:52):
So I can help them, you know, I still want
them to fail, right, I just don't want them to
fall as.
Speaker 1 (29:58):
Far and it's hard. You're gonna be there catch right, yeah, yeah,
But you.
Speaker 6 (30:02):
Know, watching them grind with more of a sense of purpose.
Speaker 5 (30:07):
And what I mean is that it's a more direct
trajectory for them now because I can kind of guide
them like no, no, no, no, no, don't go, don't
that that little path, don't you know, No no, no, no,
stay here, do this book a left of you know.
And and it's really it fills me with such joy
because the stuff that they're creating at their age, it
(30:29):
blows my mind.
Speaker 3 (30:30):
Here's the advantage that they have. And you talked about
the advantage that you know, growing up, you probably didn't have.
You didn't see it early on until you saw that
one artist and then all of a sudden, WHI, lah,
I can actually touch this is achievable. And now that
you have your nephews and your son and everybody anybody
that's in the art, they can actually touch you. They
see success. It's right in their own home, right in
(30:51):
their own backyard. But the fact that you're not just
giving it to them and making them work forward in
the sense but still carrying them along the way and
when they do fail.
Speaker 1 (31:00):
I mean, I think that's commendable.
Speaker 3 (31:01):
We do a segment on here it's unfiltered, straight up,
you know, raw, uncut, just you straight your mind.
Speaker 1 (31:10):
It's called used to have done There Been that podcast?
Speaker 3 (31:12):
So has there ever been a time where you've done
there been that something that changed your perspective on life
that kind of helps you to grow.
Speaker 1 (31:20):
And become the person that you are today?
Speaker 3 (31:23):
Say more so, you know where there's like a life
altering moment where for your craft and the things we've
been talking about.
Speaker 1 (31:32):
For me, it was my therapy. For me, it was
almost losing everything that I would love, So that was
my done.
Speaker 3 (31:38):
There been that moment that changed my life when it
comes to my personal and my professional life and the
way I think about things.
Speaker 1 (31:44):
Was there ever a moment for you?
Speaker 6 (31:47):
I mean there's a bunch of moments I think.
Speaker 5 (31:50):
I mean, you know, we've kind of talked about when
I think losing my parents, was that that seminal moment
of like I can't I can't go back, I can't
go left or right, I have to go forward. I mean,
that's one that that really stands out. I think, you know,
the moment before that was you know, I had my
son really early.
Speaker 6 (32:08):
I was still in.
Speaker 5 (32:08):
College, right, and my plans were not to be a
visual artist at that time. My plan was I'm gonna
go work for Viacom MTV and and work my way
into you know, film and TV. And but you know,
it was just the thing of like I needed to
(32:30):
be present for him. So, I mean, I can't be
in another state or city, right, I have to be here.
And I think that if I'm gonna be here, then
I gotta work my tail off and figure something else out,
you know.
Speaker 6 (32:43):
And so making those pivots for him is kind of
what led me.
Speaker 1 (32:47):
To a lot of this.
Speaker 6 (32:49):
Right.
Speaker 5 (32:49):
I don't have fly Boy without my son, you know,
I don't have a lot of things without my son's
That's that's my my biggest blessing, you know, and and
the the number one course corrector in my life. You know,
it was him and uh obviously other events again, my
mom and you know, other things, but that was I
(33:09):
would say that moment is what led me to all
of this.
Speaker 1 (33:13):
How is.
Speaker 4 (33:16):
How do you handle being successful, being busy, and being
a dad, being a husband, Right, that's a lot of
It's a lot like people have. There's this mythical thing
out there that people try to to attain. It's called
work life balance.
Speaker 6 (33:34):
Yes, it's a it's a it's a.
Speaker 4 (33:36):
Unicorn, right, Like, I haven't met anyone who's captured this
magical thing called work life balance. So how how is it?
And you your son is older, and you have two
beautiful daughters.
Speaker 1 (33:51):
Married? How do you deal?
Speaker 4 (33:54):
How do you try to prioritize because I mean you're
all over the globe with.
Speaker 1 (34:02):
Your with with with your art.
Speaker 6 (34:04):
I mean, honestly, it's no secret recipe. I like I said,
I had a weekend dad. Right.
Speaker 5 (34:11):
My mom remarried when I was by the time I
was nine, right, she was in a relationship since I
was eight. Quickly thereafter came pregnant with my brother. You know,
a few years later, my little sister. K I'm the oldest.
I was the test dummy, you know how, right when
(34:33):
you're the oldest, parents know what the hell they're doing,
and you just all you out there, right, you out there,
and they get it right, you know, they get it
a little better each time, right, they figure it out.
And so for me, you know, there was a lot
I felt like I didn't get from my parents. I
loved my parents, but there was a lot I felt
like I didn't get and I always wanted. And so
(34:54):
you know, even with my son, you know, starting with him,
but now especially with the girls, like all I do
is just I'm hyper focused that when I walk through
that door.
Speaker 6 (35:04):
I am present.
Speaker 5 (35:05):
I don't even I'm how tired I am. Like they
don't want to hear that shit. They don't care about
my day. They care that I made it back from
my day, right, and they care about the rest of
their day.
Speaker 6 (35:18):
And it's you know, kids, I mean, the kids are selfish,
not just kidding, but no, no, no, but but seriously,
like you know, it's it's it should.
Speaker 5 (35:26):
Be about them, yeah, right, And so that's what I
make it, you know. And and and just I'm I'm I'm.
Speaker 6 (35:33):
Always always, always always.
Speaker 5 (35:35):
Mindful that like my time when I'm home is their time.
And then if they're busy doing something and I can
eke out a little bit of time for myself, I do,
but it's their time, you know, because I just you know,
I'm always thinking about my eulogy, right, and how I'm
(35:57):
eulogized I should say. And I want my kids to
eulogize me like I was God himself right, like he
was the greatest. Seriously, I love my kids, you know,
they are the most important thing, and I want them
to always know that. But I don't I always need
(36:17):
to say it. I want to show it.
Speaker 1 (36:19):
There you go that part.
Speaker 3 (36:20):
Sometimes showing it is better than it's a much better
than actually saying it before we let you go. Man,
it's good that you're being recognized so young for your art.
Also great that you're being recognized while you're still here
because a lot of artists get we don't get it.
Speaker 1 (36:34):
You don't get the flowers chatter to hear.
Speaker 3 (36:37):
On Instagram, he said, buy art from living artists, not
necessarily the dead ones don't need the money, you know
what I mean. So I think that was super important
that you're being recognized right now, and people are so
in tune with your art.
Speaker 1 (36:51):
Man, once I'm able.
Speaker 6 (36:52):
To afford it, cut it out, cut it out.
Speaker 4 (36:56):
I mean, there's such a demand. I'm saying, you know,
like Loo, all I'm saying is, look, he's my friend,
all right. I got one of his sweatshirts on Now
where can where look? Where can people go?
Speaker 1 (37:12):
Yes?
Speaker 4 (37:12):
What's the website?
Speaker 5 (37:13):
Well, first of all, I'm the easiest person to find.
I'm six eight, I'm black, and my name is Hebrew.
Speaker 1 (37:18):
You are huge.
Speaker 6 (37:19):
I'm easy to find. But no, but you can go
to Hebrew Brantley dot com.
Speaker 5 (37:23):
Ye on there the shop at the store, to the
sculpture merch, the merch, the figures, prints, et cetera.
Speaker 6 (37:32):
You know, sometimes things go fast.
Speaker 1 (37:35):
Sometimes I just want something like I got a staircase,
they got this big wall.
Speaker 6 (37:40):
You just needs come to the studio.
Speaker 5 (37:42):
Okay, do what does Come to the studio and just
take whatever you can take that you can fit in
your car.
Speaker 1 (37:49):
I really don Man.
Speaker 4 (37:51):
Sorry if coming there, Bro, I'm a bad I'm a
bad friend. I will go in there and I will
harass this man. I'm like, He'll be like literally, I'll
be inside of the box like hey, man.
Speaker 1 (38:05):
What are you doing going in Just like I'm coming
in there with a U haul truck, bro, with a
long bid.
Speaker 5 (38:10):
Man.
Speaker 1 (38:11):
I'm telling you, Bro, I need that big long painting Bro.
My brother. I just met you today. Man, but I
am so happy that I'm in your presence.
Speaker 6 (38:17):
Man.
Speaker 3 (38:18):
Man, you're you're an icon already. Man, You're a genius.
You're wonderful what you do bestl up with everything? How
can people like you say Hebrew Brentley, how can they.
Speaker 6 (38:26):
Follow you Hebrew band on everything across the board. It's
h e b are you okay?
Speaker 1 (38:32):
Yeah, my man, pleasure man. Thanks. I appreciate you man,
absolutely all right. That's another edition that the done. There
have been that podcast.
Speaker 3 (38:41):
Thank you once again for hanging out with us every week.
We will continue to bring you wonderful guests, entertainers, artists,
whatnot and giving you these life lessons each and every week.
Speaker 4 (38:51):
Yeah, Like, subscribe Inflection Network on YouTube. Let us know
how we're doing. We'll see you next time.
Speaker 1 (38:58):
All right, y'all. This is the Inflection Collective.
Speaker 2 (39:02):
All of us are connected, reflective, real, live, perspective, respective defense,
a ship shad no cap it's big facts are kicked
back just here.
Speaker 1 (39:10):
Every thunder been there
Y'all.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
This is the inflection collective father of us are connective, reflective,
real perspective, respected defense sh shat, no captain spec facts
of kicks back.
Speaker 1 (00:10):
It's here for Sunday fit Dad.
Speaker 3 (00:15):
It's that time again, another time for another episode of
the Done that have been that podcast, hanging out with you.
Thank you so much for subscribing. Thank you so much
for rocking with us. Make sure you tell a friend
and tell a friend because we are doing it each
and every week. By the way, my name is Mike Hill.
I am one of your hosts, and I'm always joined
by he.
Speaker 4 (00:32):
From Salam I'm your other host, and today's episode special
for me all the episode. I say that before every episode,
but this one is really special because our guest this
time is not only a friend of mine, but prolific artists.
One of the great living testaments to black excellent supers
(00:57):
and art.
Speaker 1 (01:00):
Is out of out of this world.
Speaker 4 (01:03):
He's a tremendous, tremendous talent, the creative, not just an artist,
but a director, writer, all of those things you would
think you would want to be as an artist. And
that's Hebrew Brandly.
Speaker 5 (01:15):
Hey, hey, hey, that's quite an interesting something.
Speaker 1 (01:21):
You deserve all those.
Speaker 6 (01:23):
Man, I appreciate I'm a blessing him.
Speaker 1 (01:25):
Man, your art is dope.
Speaker 3 (01:27):
Man, I'm talking about like that with jay Z, guys
like that Chance the rapper you know, and brands and
everything it is doing Bell Lair doing it all. I mean,
you've been doing it for a minute. When did you know?
When did you say, Hey, you know what, I'm pretty
good at this. This is like, this is the stamp
that tells me that you know what?
Speaker 1 (01:48):
I made it? Mama.
Speaker 5 (01:50):
I don't know if I made it yet. I've made stuff,
I've made messes. No, I'm just kidding. I I you know,
It's just something I wanted to do. I knew I
was an artist or createive my whole life. I knew that.
I think the one thing I always knew was that
I couldn't work for anybody. M And it wasn't out
of like this empowered thought in my head. It was
(02:13):
just like I'm a horrible employee, Like I suck at
my job, you know, And so it was just that
thing of how do I get to a place where
I don't have I am my boss right, and then
I can hold myself accountable and just do this.
Speaker 6 (02:32):
You know, it's like in.
Speaker 5 (02:33):
School, like I only exceled at the subjects I liked,
you know, everything.
Speaker 6 (02:38):
Else kill much was good in art though I was
I was decent, you know, I got I got bees
in art.
Speaker 1 (02:50):
How you get bees in art?
Speaker 4 (02:51):
Man?
Speaker 5 (02:51):
Because I was a knucklehead, didn't want to listen and
like didn't always do what I was what the assign
it was. And it wasn't until probably like maybe sophomore year,
sophomore year in the sophomore year high school, when my
art teacher just basically was like, here's the key to
the art closet, go ahead.
Speaker 3 (03:13):
The teacher deserved a bee because art is what you create,
not necessarily. I mean they can have a vision to say,
paint this, but do you vision something else?
Speaker 5 (03:22):
Yeah, But if you're a teacher and you're like, hey,
I need you guys to all draw an apple, and
I'm over here drawing like Wu Tang clan members, like.
Speaker 6 (03:33):
I'm not doing the assignment. So that was the problem.
Speaker 5 (03:36):
But I think she I just wore her down and
then to the point where she was just like go
in there there's you.
Speaker 4 (03:42):
Know, and trying to heal you into what was your
first job where some of the jobs that you knew that, oh,
I can't work for anybody, Like what what?
Speaker 6 (03:54):
What?
Speaker 4 (03:54):
What helps you realize that, Oh, if I can't be
my own boss, I'm gonna be broke.
Speaker 5 (03:59):
I had the number one reality check job as a kid.
So I've worked, I've done everything, but my first job,
I was fourteen years old. Lied on my application. I
was working at McDonald's. Okay, but I was working. I
was working weekends, so I had to like and I
was working mornings, so I had to be up there,
(04:21):
like I had to get up at four thirty.
Speaker 1 (04:23):
I gotta make the biscuits.
Speaker 5 (04:24):
I gotta make gotta make the biscuits, the mcmuffins. But
I but they put me on because I said I
had allergies and.
Speaker 1 (04:34):
I did about my age, about my health situation.
Speaker 5 (04:40):
Because I didn't want to. I didn't want to be
in the kitchen. I didn't want to be cooking. If
they if they thought I was gonna be sneezing.
Speaker 6 (04:45):
They weren't gonna put me in the kitchen. But then
they put me on the front register.
Speaker 5 (04:48):
But it was actually it kind of backfire because when
people would come in in the morning and the women
would have all this perfume on. It would like it
would kick my butt. So then finally they're like, all right,
we gonna put you It put me in the drive
through and you know the first window when you take
the money. That was the best thing because I'd sit
up there, you know, they I wouldn't take the order,
(05:09):
somebody else would not just withdraw and collect money. Wow
all day Wow. So that was like but but again
it was just it still was working at McDonald's, right.
It wasn't It wasn't fun, but no, it was just
you know, doing that and I did that for two years,
and you know, having all the homies. You know, I
(05:31):
had a few homies that played you know, high school ball,
ended up going to the league and they would come
in you know during camps and stuff like that after camp,
and I'm like, man, they're following their path.
Speaker 6 (05:43):
I'm working at McDonald's.
Speaker 5 (05:46):
And it just it weighed on me always, and it
was just always that thought of like I gotta get
the hell out of here.
Speaker 6 (05:51):
I gotta figure this. Again.
Speaker 5 (05:52):
I was still a high school but it was still
just like, you know, having those homies early that knew
exactly what they wanted to do.
Speaker 6 (06:00):
And I always knew what I wanted to. I know,
I just want to be artists.
Speaker 5 (06:02):
I didn't know what that fully meant, right because I
didn't have a clear shining example of like what an
artist was fully because there's so many different facets right
to art. Right it could be you know, fine art,
it could be graphic design, a comic book artist, like
I loved it, entertained all of those things, architect but
you know, it was just that thing of like I
(06:22):
want to I'm creative, I want to create. But then
it's that that also, that messaging within a black household.
Speaker 6 (06:29):
Of like that's not a that's not a stable career.
Speaker 1 (06:32):
You can't get no W two.
Speaker 5 (06:34):
With Dad, I was I was more supported as a
as a guy who in high school probably averaged uh
two rebounds and zero point three points a game. I
was more encouraged to pursue a basketball because.
Speaker 3 (06:49):
That's what they saw, that's what they knew, that's what
they saw. I actually want to talk about that. I
want discount to be the theme of the episode because
I know about your background. Your mom encouraged your art.
Dad didn't as much. You know, he encouraged you to
be great at what you did. Obviously you saw success
early on, but sometimes people don't see your craft the
(07:10):
way you see it, or the art or the gift
that you have the way you see it.
Speaker 1 (07:14):
How do you block out some of the noise in
order to pursue your passion.
Speaker 5 (07:21):
I don't know how to advise other people. I think
for me, stubbornness really was my ally. You know, I
refused to listen to I just felt like, did nobody
know what the hell they was talking about?
Speaker 1 (07:37):
You know?
Speaker 6 (07:38):
But but that was in everything though, you know, like
that was even you know, I get that.
Speaker 5 (07:43):
That was life lessons, everything, but primarily within that where
you know, I think it really just took having one
person believe.
Speaker 6 (07:55):
And that person who believed was the closest person to
me was my mother.
Speaker 1 (07:59):
Right.
Speaker 6 (08:00):
Once you have that, can't nobody tell you shit?
Speaker 1 (08:03):
Really, you know what I mean?
Speaker 5 (08:05):
Again, if you have, if you have the passion, and
if it's there, right, all you need is one person
to kind of help boom, and then it's two people,
then it's three, and then it's four, and then you
can convert people and make them realize. But you know,
I would just look around at either family members or
people I knew and you know, my family was lower
middle class, you know, coming up, I come from a
(08:27):
huge family. None of the men in the family on
my mother's side really made anything of themselves. So it's
all the women. But then looking at them and some
of their husbands, right, and you know, it's are all
black people, And I'm like, well, shit, he's a lawyer.
He grew up in a time where I'm sure like
that wasn't even you know what I mean, like the
(08:48):
thought it wasn't necessarily feasible in it's an uphill battle.
Speaker 6 (08:51):
So he did that, right, Why can't I do? You
know what I want to do?
Speaker 5 (08:55):
And you know, it was just these little moments, and
I remember one one moment was to get the artist's
name forgive me. But my father, my dad, My dad
was a weekend dad, right, and so you know, sometimes.
Speaker 4 (09:10):
What does that mean?
Speaker 1 (09:11):
What does a weekend dad mean?
Speaker 6 (09:12):
A weekend dad means I'm with my dad on the weekend.
Speaker 5 (09:15):
And he got to figure ship out because you know
what I mean, it's like sometimes I'm interrupting plans, you
know what I mean. And and and so that meant that,
you know, sometimes instead of it being me and him,
I was the fifth Wheel on you know, dates and things.
Speaker 6 (09:35):
With what's it the third.
Speaker 5 (09:42):
Sometimes talk about from Friday to Sunday, bring a kid
on the fifth Wheel, fifth Wheel.
Speaker 6 (09:50):
But you know, I would have to go, you know,
with my dad on.
Speaker 5 (09:57):
He would he would bring dates on our time, you know,
and and or I would have I'd end up going
to house parties that I was damn sure not invited
to or not supposed to be at his friend's houses
and ended up in a bedroom somewhere, you know, and
like watching TV right while the grown folks downstairs party
and stuff like that.
Speaker 6 (10:15):
But one time he took me.
Speaker 5 (10:17):
There was an artist in Chicago who was a comic
book artist, self made guy, comic like a graphic designer,
early adapter to a lot of these these these forms
of art. And we went to his house and he
was making comic books. Now they weren't really miss they wasn't,
you know at the time. I'm Marvel, I'm DC, I'm
x Men, I'm Batman, all those things. He was doing
(10:38):
stuff more geared towards the black experience, you know, and
it was it was a bit more adult. But it
was just the fact that like this dude was an artist,
like he made it. He's living in this loft. This
is cool, And that was like one of the first
times I saw. I was like, I can like and
in my mind, I'm young, I'm Eric, and I'm like,
I'm I'm yeah, yeah, if he could do this, sometimes
(11:01):
you just got to see it if you have to
see it, So that was important important thing.
Speaker 6 (11:06):
But yeah, man, it was you know, I think this.
Speaker 3 (11:09):
Is because this is the done. There have been that podcast.
We've all kind of been in that word. People have
a trend. So I guess athletically always gifted. People saw
you basketball, football or whatever, but you always had a mind.
One of the things I love about you, You've always
had a mind outside of sports.
Speaker 4 (11:25):
Yeah, for me, I played I started playing sports late,
so I was into all kinds of stuff gamer like,
comic books, all of these things, and I started I
started playing sports in high school, ninth grade and that
was it. Like nothing before then, no Pop Warner, no
rec league basketball, and so for me, I was just
(11:47):
playing because my friends were playing. I just want to
hang out with them. And as I began to get better,
I was like, oh, college just started to come around.
I was like, oh right, okay, I can like In
our family, there was no you're not going to college.
Everybody and my mother got her PhD, my father has
(12:08):
its master's, my sister brothers, everybody went to college. That's
just what it was. And so I was like, Okay,
I can get a scholarship. I can go off to play.
And then when I got to college, after I started
my first game, I remember my dad was like, I mean,
(12:30):
you might be able to make a living out of this.
Right then I kicked it in the overdrive. When I
got drafted seventh round. That other mechanism that we're talking
about kicked in because I'm like, the chances of me
making the team are slim already, and the chances of
(12:51):
me sticking and staying as a seventh round draft pick
it's very low.
Speaker 1 (12:57):
So what else?
Speaker 4 (13:00):
How can I use this to do something else? And
from the beginning, even though I started my first year,
in my first ten years in the league, every off
season I was jumping into something else. I started being
on the radio my rookie year, then followed that with
radio on TV and every market I did. When I
came home in the off season, I would come do
(13:24):
ESPN or just do these shows. And this is when
there was no three thousand sports networks. It was three, right,
and so you had to like figure out a way
to get in. I'm an offensive lineman. Nobody wants to
hear from offensive lineman. But my mentality was, look, I
don't know how long i'mann to be playing this, but
I like other stuff, which turned into film producing film.
(13:49):
My brother best friend Dion was like, I got an
idea for a movie. We took it and ran with it.
I never wanted it just to be about this thing. Right,
Like you're you're starting in the NFL, you're focusing on
People have said this, other players have said, man, you're
(14:10):
a dope player, man, but you focus on too much
other stuff.
Speaker 1 (14:13):
You just got to focus on this. And I was like, well,
this could be going tomorrow.
Speaker 4 (14:18):
Like literally, none of the players have None of the
players can say how long they're gonna play for who.
They don't have control of that. You can sign a
brand new contract and get cut the next year. We
see it happening all the time, and I was like, well,
I don't want to put all of my livelihood in
someone else's hands, So I'm going to do the things
(14:39):
that I enjoyed doing. So when I retired, I just
walked right into broadcasting and producing film, the things that
I had been doing all while I was playing, because
I'm like, look, I'm not just the sum of one thing.
There are multiple things that make up who we are
as people. Whether others can see that or not, that's
(15:04):
not up to me. Right Like I can see it.
You can see it. You can see it, right like
your journey, you know what I mean? You growing up
and them telling you. You're saying what I want.
Speaker 1 (15:18):
To be on TV.
Speaker 3 (15:18):
I wanted to be on TV. I wanted to be
a TV host. I wanted to be on the news,
and growing up in Alabama from from was like, man,
how you.
Speaker 1 (15:25):
Gonna do this? The world away, they can't see it.
Speaker 3 (15:30):
So it wasn't until I actually saw somebody on the
air who looked like me, who had my name, that
I felt like God named Michael Hill. He actually became
my uncle because I married his niece later on in life,
just kind of ironically, and I saw him.
Speaker 1 (15:42):
On television, I was like, well, he can do this,
Why can't I do that? Well? I couldn't do it
at the time.
Speaker 3 (15:48):
I'm from the country, talk like this ain't gonna be
on the go on television like this, mane you know
what I'm saying.
Speaker 1 (15:52):
You can't talk like this, and I'll sing.
Speaker 6 (16:00):
Charged park.
Speaker 1 (16:02):
Do you notice that I've worked so hard to dialect
my enunciation and every star in sports right now can't speak.
They can't talk. But anyway, I digress, man, going back
to you man with your passion.
Speaker 3 (16:15):
Following that passion, there are other obstacles outside of doubt,
you know, taking care you had I think you had
a daughter at the time, son, your son at the time,
young son at the time. You had to take care
of your your your siblings as well, so financially and everything,
all these obstacles in the way. Was there ever a
time where it was like, man, maybe I should try
(16:36):
to pursue something else that's actually going.
Speaker 1 (16:37):
To pay these bills and not my art and put
this on hole. How did you overcome that? If you
if you had those.
Speaker 5 (16:44):
Doubts, I don't think I had doubts for sure, but
there was no other option, you know. That was the
one thing like when my parents died, like all my
parents died, parents being like my mother, my biological my mother,
my biological father, and then my stepfather right all within
a two year window, right, And I mean my mother
(17:07):
and stepfather were six months apart and they passed.
Speaker 4 (17:11):
For me.
Speaker 5 (17:14):
It's weird because when that happened, I kicked. I was
just having this conversation yesterday. As a matter of fact,
I didn't grieve. I just kicked into I have to
get it done. That was it, which is not necessarily
the best, most therapeutic thing to do, right, But because
I had so many people count because it was not
(17:35):
only my brother, my sister, it was my son. My
mom took care of her younger brother, like every every
family's got that one uncle that was the uncle, right,
and so I had to take care of him.
Speaker 6 (17:46):
My aunt at the time, I was twenty seven.
Speaker 1 (17:49):
Wow, all that responsibility.
Speaker 5 (17:51):
My aunt, who you know was kind of down bad,
you know, helped take care of her. So I had
all this right, and I just refused to drop the ball.
And so that that was my mindset where it was like, yeah,
there were days tears, you know, like pain, physical pain,
but it was just the thing of like, nah, no,
(18:13):
I want this. I wanted this for so long. I'm
going to have this now.
Speaker 1 (18:18):
I look at your art.
Speaker 3 (18:19):
It's very it's eclectic, it's very I don't know how
the words to describe art, you know what I'm saying,
But it's progressive in a sense, and I love that
it speaks to our culture, you like with your fly
boy character and everything.
Speaker 1 (18:32):
I mean, it's like so unique.
Speaker 3 (18:34):
Did some of your pain though, because as artists sometimes
I know, like when I'm going through my comedy right now,
my comedy comes from my pain and I can speak
down on stage.
Speaker 1 (18:44):
Did some of your pain things that you were going through?
How was that reflected in your art? Well?
Speaker 6 (18:49):
I think early on, when I first started, the work
that I was doing.
Speaker 5 (18:55):
Is far and wide from the work I do now right,
it was completely different, And I think the best advice
I got, you know, there was a lot of pain,
and there was angst, and it was just it was
it was it was.
Speaker 6 (19:06):
It wasn't just personal.
Speaker 5 (19:08):
It was just the idea of being black in America, right,
and speaking towards those facts, speaking towards history and justices,
all of these things. And the best advice I got was,
though this is a part of you, This doesn't fully represent.
Speaker 6 (19:23):
All of you.
Speaker 5 (19:24):
Paint what you know and what you love, right, all
that other stuff will bleed into it, but you have
to start with the base of you. And so you know,
looking at that, it was like the things that brought
me joy, right were you know, what's what's what's what's
we're films with science fiction? Were these narratives, these stories?
Was was comics and manga and anime and all these
(19:47):
things that I grew up on. That like I had
to fight for right, to fight to love because where
I grew up that wasn't accepted socially, right, So that
was a part of me that I always had to hide. Right,
It's like you're playing you're you're a dual person when
you live. You come from my neighborhood, right, you're the
person you are you can be in the come fines
of your own place, and then you're the person you
(20:09):
are in the streets with your friends. None of my
friends at the time were with any.
Speaker 6 (20:15):
Of that ship. It was seen as you know, like man,
if you draw, if you are in it, that was
it was gay, right, Yeah, it was gay gay all
that stuff, right.
Speaker 5 (20:25):
Because I want to better myself and it's it's so
fast afterwards and it's crazy, but it's like that that
that that that that sense of like over masculinity, right,
that you had to have like toxic, toxic masculine, very
very toxic in the hood.
Speaker 6 (20:39):
So that's what I was fighting but sound to say, like.
Speaker 5 (20:45):
You know, with everything, I just kind of refuse to.
I looked at my friends at the time, right, none
of them were really happy, and even if they were
in the moment, right, it momentarily like it was just
bliss or glee. But long term, I'm like, my dude,
(21:05):
you work at Walgreens, and it's no knock to people
who have to do that. But some of these people
didn't really have to do that. But it was a
matter of like accepting just what was given in their circumstances,
not trying to achieve more. None of my friends in
my circle.
Speaker 6 (21:21):
For that time aspire to beat or to rise above
their station. None of them.
Speaker 5 (21:28):
And you know that saying of like you are your
your three or five best friends are. And so I
looked at that, and again this is before I knew
that phrase, before I realized that, and it was just
that thought in my head of like, man, I'm.
Speaker 6 (21:42):
Not these guys.
Speaker 5 (21:44):
I love these guys, but you know I love them
enough to understand that I got to leave these guys
to get what I need to do, you know, get
what I need, what I want, and involve and so
that that's what was happening, and so I left. I left,
you know, I was in Atlanta for you know time
when I was in school and just travel lived on
hopped on couches in New York living here in La
(22:06):
couch hop and CouchSurfing, but like studying, right, getting to
meet people that were doing the things I wanted to do,
so I could see it right, because if you can
see it, then you can just manifest it, right, And
so that that was the goal. So around the time
my mom, you know, pops had passed, I was just
right at that step of like you know, or taking
(22:27):
that next step to becoming my own person and carving
that name for myself, right, hadn't really done it yet, but.
Speaker 6 (22:33):
I was right there. And so it just was like
I've worked too hard just to go back and to
settle for mediocrity basically, And if that means that we
all have to struggle for a little bit, We're just
gonna struggle for it.
Speaker 1 (22:48):
Sometimes it's just in your guts, you just know what's
going to happen. It was.
Speaker 4 (22:52):
I think you said something very profound there. Right, most people,
especially today, they could be on that train working toward
their goal and what they see and the trip can
take longer than they expect. And the people around them
(23:17):
who waiting to get to the destination, whether it be
somebody taking care of or significant other, friend, peer group,
the negativity coming from that right, yep, man, this is
taken forever. Man, you.
Speaker 1 (23:36):
And so many of us.
Speaker 4 (23:41):
Listen, yeah, and get off the train at the next stop. Yeah,
why would you get off before your stop? And and
just in life like having you having just hearing you say, look,
we might have to struggle a little bit longer, right,
(24:03):
it's not what we want, but trust me, we're gonna
get to our stop. And I think the message to
the young people are because our age we come from
a completely different eraror.
Speaker 1 (24:20):
Right, Like this was like a bootstrap, tie it up,
go get it.
Speaker 4 (24:26):
Number one. We didn't have the information, We didn't have
access to the information that we have now. If you
wanted to learn how to do something, be an artist,
be on TV, whatever that is, produce, right, you had
to tangibly go try to find someone that doesn't ask questions.
Speaker 1 (24:48):
There was no.
Speaker 4 (24:50):
Hey Alex, hey, Siri Hey, how do I google?
Speaker 1 (24:56):
There was none of that.
Speaker 4 (24:57):
So we come from an era where you got to
go out if you wanted, you got to go.
Speaker 6 (25:00):
Get it right.
Speaker 1 (25:01):
You kill what you eat, you eat what you kill.
Now there's so much information.
Speaker 4 (25:10):
The bad part of that is you can easily get
discouraged and sway right opposed to when you're in it.
You're like, man, I didn't come too or I don't
work too hard. I'm not about to get off now.
I done gave everything we in here, eating beans and
rice and water, and I'm not gonna throw that all.
Speaker 1 (25:28):
Away lot right.
Speaker 4 (25:32):
So just having that mentality like, and how do you
put that in young people like my nephews man twenty
three and twenty seven. I'm like, bruh. My wife and
I helped raise them, and he'll today right now, I
(25:52):
was thinking I wanted to do so and so and
so and so I'm like, hey, man, I don't I
don't know how to do that.
Speaker 1 (26:00):
But guess what.
Speaker 4 (26:02):
You have a computer in your hand, Well, what do
I do the question you just asked me? Type it
into just say it into the phone. Oh oh okay, okay.
They're so used to having it there, they don't even
know how to tap into.
Speaker 3 (26:20):
It well, even with AI and everything that's going on
or whatever. So, having said that, passing it on to
the future generations because we were a bootstraped type of
mentality the way we were raised, what we can pass
along to the future generations are the gifts and the
lessons that we learn to make sure that they don't
have to go through those things, even.
Speaker 1 (26:40):
Though they have more at that disposal.
Speaker 3 (26:42):
So, now that your kids are getting older and you've
made it to this point that you got other people
looking up to you, maybe have a nephew or nieces
or whatnot, what are you passing along to future generations
to make sure that they don't have to go through
what you went through and to ensure that they continue
to follow their passions no matter what the obstacles are.
Speaker 6 (27:04):
That's a loaded question. I think I'll just use a
case of like, like my nephews, they.
Speaker 5 (27:11):
You know, they've they've grown up seeing what I've done, right,
Like just like my son, Like my son kind of
grew up. I always say he grew up inside the tornado,
you know, and and then finally the you know that
it stopped spinning and there was you know, there was
some some some bright skys, right, but I think you know,
my nephews growing up seeing you know, and and and
(27:33):
coming to shows and things like that, now they're they're
they're aspiring artists. And the one thing that I teached
him because I think one of the things that's so
lost now is work ethic. Right, Like I feel like,
you know, with the with the accessibility of you know,
(27:53):
social media and all of these things online and now
even a I to to a greater degree, right, even
when it comes to education, right, I can get a
paper online.
Speaker 6 (28:02):
You know, that's done for me. You know, it's what
are you learning?
Speaker 5 (28:06):
What are you you know exactly, And so for them
and even my son, right, just really emphasizing you gotta
work for it, right, like this shit is not going
to especially when you're an artist and a creative right,
whether that's you know, any form of the arts, if
you're a musician to a filmmaker, to a writer, like
(28:27):
you know, you know this like writing is rewriting, right,
That's exactly what it is. And you know, I always
use the term with them, like you know, you have
to fail your way to success. And I say that
all the time, right because I'm not I am a
I am all of my mistakes. My success comes from
(28:49):
all of the things, all of the falls, the failures,
the painting's gone wrong.
Speaker 1 (28:54):
Right.
Speaker 5 (28:55):
I don't get to that one that's right without these
nine that weren't right, right, and so instilling in them
that they have to really work for it. And it's
not easy work. I know when people think artists, oh no,
like this ship is still work, right, Like there are
days when I hate this shit, you know, Like I
(29:15):
am tired of painting. I am tired of you know,
but pushing through to persevere to then see like the
end result.
Speaker 6 (29:23):
Which is so gratifying. Right, I did that right, Right,
I went through all of that to do that.
Speaker 1 (29:29):
Right.
Speaker 5 (29:29):
It's no different than football, right, you gotta pound your
way up the field to score, right, and all them
you know, grueling hits that you take, you know, along
the way, all them downs to finally get there and
to feel that, man, we just we did it, get it,
you know, And and that's that's what I'm I pushed
them towards so and with them. Man, I watched these
little dudes and again they get the game for me now, right,
(29:52):
So I can help them, you know, I still want
them to fail, right, I just don't want them to
fall as.
Speaker 1 (29:58):
Far and it's hard. You're gonna be there catch right, yeah, yeah,
But you.
Speaker 6 (30:02):
Know, watching them grind with more of a sense of purpose.
Speaker 5 (30:07):
And what I mean is that it's a more direct
trajectory for them now because I can kind of guide
them like no, no, no, no, no, don't go, don't
that that little path, don't you know, No no, no, no,
stay here, do this book a left of you know.
And and it's really it fills me with such joy
because the stuff that they're creating at their age, it
(30:29):
blows my mind.
Speaker 3 (30:30):
Here's the advantage that they have. And you talked about
the advantage that you know, growing up, you probably didn't have.
You didn't see it early on until you saw that
one artist and then all of a sudden, WHI, lah,
I can actually touch this is achievable. And now that
you have your nephews and your son and everybody anybody
that's in the art, they can actually touch you. They
see success. It's right in their own home, right in
(30:51):
their own backyard. But the fact that you're not just
giving it to them and making them work forward in
the sense but still carrying them along the way and
when they do fail.
Speaker 1 (31:00):
I mean, I think that's commendable.
Speaker 3 (31:01):
We do a segment on here it's unfiltered, straight up,
you know, raw, uncut, just you straight your mind.
Speaker 1 (31:10):
It's called used to have done There Been that podcast?
Speaker 3 (31:12):
So has there ever been a time where you've done
there been that something that changed your perspective on life
that kind of helps you to grow.
Speaker 1 (31:20):
And become the person that you are today?
Speaker 3 (31:23):
Say more so, you know where there's like a life
altering moment where for your craft and the things we've
been talking about.
Speaker 1 (31:32):
For me, it was my therapy. For me, it was
almost losing everything that I would love, So that was
my done.
Speaker 3 (31:38):
There been that moment that changed my life when it
comes to my personal and my professional life and the
way I think about things.
Speaker 1 (31:44):
Was there ever a moment for you?
Speaker 6 (31:47):
I mean there's a bunch of moments I think.
Speaker 5 (31:50):
I mean, you know, we've kind of talked about when
I think losing my parents, was that that seminal moment
of like I can't I can't go back, I can't
go left or right, I have to go forward. I mean,
that's one that that really stands out. I think, you know,
the moment before that was you know, I had my
son really early.
Speaker 6 (32:08):
I was still in.
Speaker 5 (32:08):
College, right, and my plans were not to be a
visual artist at that time. My plan was I'm gonna
go work for Viacom MTV and and work my way
into you know, film and TV. And but you know,
it was just the thing of like I needed to
(32:30):
be present for him. So, I mean, I can't be
in another state or city, right, I have to be here.
And I think that if I'm gonna be here, then
I gotta work my tail off and figure something else out,
you know.
Speaker 6 (32:43):
And so making those pivots for him is kind of
what led me.
Speaker 1 (32:47):
To a lot of this.
Speaker 6 (32:49):
Right.
Speaker 5 (32:49):
I don't have fly Boy without my son, you know,
I don't have a lot of things without my son's
That's that's my my biggest blessing, you know, and and
the the number one course corrector in my life. You know,
it was him and uh obviously other events again, my
mom and you know, other things, but that was I
(33:09):
would say that moment is what led me to all
of this.
Speaker 1 (33:13):
How is.
Speaker 4 (33:16):
How do you handle being successful, being busy, and being
a dad, being a husband, Right, that's a lot of
It's a lot like people have. There's this mythical thing
out there that people try to to attain. It's called
work life balance.
Speaker 6 (33:34):
Yes, it's a it's a it's a.
Speaker 4 (33:36):
Unicorn, right, Like, I haven't met anyone who's captured this
magical thing called work life balance. So how how is it?
And you your son is older, and you have two
beautiful daughters.
Speaker 1 (33:51):
Married? How do you deal?
Speaker 4 (33:54):
How do you try to prioritize because I mean you're
all over the globe with.
Speaker 1 (34:02):
Your with with with your art.
Speaker 6 (34:04):
I mean, honestly, it's no secret recipe. I like I said,
I had a weekend dad. Right.
Speaker 5 (34:11):
My mom remarried when I was by the time I
was nine, right, she was in a relationship since I
was eight. Quickly thereafter came pregnant with my brother. You know,
a few years later, my little sister. K I'm the oldest.
I was the test dummy, you know how, right when
(34:33):
you're the oldest, parents know what the hell they're doing,
and you just all you out there, right, you out there,
and they get it right, you know, they get it
a little better each time, right, they figure it out.
And so for me, you know, there was a lot
I felt like I didn't get from my parents. I
loved my parents, but there was a lot I felt
like I didn't get and I always wanted. And so
(34:54):
you know, even with my son, you know, starting with him,
but now especially with the girls, like all I do
is just I'm hyper focused that when I walk through
that door.
Speaker 6 (35:04):
I am present.
Speaker 5 (35:05):
I don't even I'm how tired I am. Like they
don't want to hear that shit. They don't care about
my day. They care that I made it back from
my day, right, and they care about the rest of
their day.
Speaker 6 (35:18):
And it's you know, kids, I mean, the kids are selfish,
not just kidding, but no, no, no, but but seriously,
like you know, it's it's it should.
Speaker 5 (35:26):
Be about them, yeah, right, And so that's what I
make it, you know. And and and just I'm I'm I'm.
Speaker 6 (35:33):
Always always, always always.
Speaker 5 (35:35):
Mindful that like my time when I'm home is their time.
And then if they're busy doing something and I can
eke out a little bit of time for myself, I do,
but it's their time, you know, because I just you know,
I'm always thinking about my eulogy, right, and how I'm
(35:57):
eulogized I should say. And I want my kids to
eulogize me like I was God himself right, like he
was the greatest. Seriously, I love my kids, you know,
they are the most important thing, and I want them
to always know that. But I don't I always need
(36:17):
to say it. I want to show it.
Speaker 1 (36:19):
There you go that part.
Speaker 3 (36:20):
Sometimes showing it is better than it's a much better
than actually saying it before we let you go. Man,
it's good that you're being recognized so young for your art.
Also great that you're being recognized while you're still here
because a lot of artists get we don't get it.
Speaker 1 (36:34):
You don't get the flowers chatter to hear.
Speaker 3 (36:37):
On Instagram, he said, buy art from living artists, not
necessarily the dead ones don't need the money, you know
what I mean. So I think that was super important
that you're being recognized right now, and people are so
in tune with your art.
Speaker 1 (36:51):
Man, once I'm able.
Speaker 6 (36:52):
To afford it, cut it out, cut it out.
Speaker 4 (36:56):
I mean, there's such a demand. I'm saying, you know,
like Loo, all I'm saying is, look, he's my friend,
all right. I got one of his sweatshirts on Now
where can where look? Where can people go?
Speaker 1 (37:12):
Yes?
Speaker 4 (37:12):
What's the website?
Speaker 5 (37:13):
Well, first of all, I'm the easiest person to find.
I'm six eight, I'm black, and my name is Hebrew.
Speaker 1 (37:18):
You are huge.
Speaker 6 (37:19):
I'm easy to find. But no, but you can go
to Hebrew Brantley dot com.
Speaker 5 (37:23):
Ye on there the shop at the store, to the
sculpture merch, the merch, the figures, prints, et cetera.
Speaker 6 (37:32):
You know, sometimes things go fast.
Speaker 1 (37:35):
Sometimes I just want something like I got a staircase,
they got this big wall.
Speaker 6 (37:40):
You just needs come to the studio.
Speaker 5 (37:42):
Okay, do what does Come to the studio and just
take whatever you can take that you can fit in
your car.
Speaker 1 (37:49):
I really don Man.
Speaker 4 (37:51):
Sorry if coming there, Bro, I'm a bad I'm a
bad friend. I will go in there and I will
harass this man. I'm like, He'll be like literally, I'll
be inside of the box like hey, man.
Speaker 1 (38:05):
What are you doing going in Just like I'm coming
in there with a U haul truck, bro, with a
long bid.
Speaker 5 (38:10):
Man.
Speaker 1 (38:11):
I'm telling you, Bro, I need that big long painting Bro.
My brother. I just met you today. Man, but I
am so happy that I'm in your presence.
Speaker 6 (38:17):
Man.
Speaker 3 (38:18):
Man, you're you're an icon already. Man, You're a genius.
You're wonderful what you do bestl up with everything? How
can people like you say Hebrew Brentley, how can they.
Speaker 6 (38:26):
Follow you Hebrew band on everything across the board. It's
h e b are you okay?
Speaker 1 (38:32):
Yeah, my man, pleasure man. Thanks. I appreciate you man,
absolutely all right. That's another edition that the done. There
have been that podcast.
Speaker 3 (38:41):
Thank you once again for hanging out with us every week.
We will continue to bring you wonderful guests, entertainers, artists,
whatnot and giving you these life lessons each and every week.
Speaker 4 (38:51):
Yeah, Like, subscribe Inflection Network on YouTube. Let us know
how we're doing. We'll see you next time.
Speaker 1 (38:58):
All right, y'all. This is the Inflection Collective.
Speaker 2 (39:02):
All of us are connected, reflective, real, live, perspective, respective defense,
a ship shad no cap it's big facts are kicked
back just here.
Speaker 1 (39:10):
Every thunder been there
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Mike Hill
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