December 9, 2022 • 44 mins
Getting shot as teens, transforming their pain into artistry; featuring music artist 2Hungry, Kodine Dreams and tattoo artist Phillip "Rock" Lester.
About Oya:
Oya L Sherrills is a survivor, a lived experience leader in her field, an advocate, and an organizer. Author of "Musings of a Rascal", she works to create a culture where healing practices are centered and valued. Oya likes to pave paths that connect past and future ancestors in efforts to prioritize peace and community-driven solutions that break cycles of violence and address trauma. She's creative, she's a mama, and she's for the trees.
Links:
https://www.instagram.com/2hungry.hq/
https://www.instagram.com/creative_ink_214/
https://www.instagram.com/ambassadorsshop/
https://www.instagram.com/eat.entmt/
https://www.instagram.com/kodinedreams/
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 (00:01):
Content warning. This episode will discuss a lot of heavy
topics such as homicide. Please be kind to yourself, prepare
yourself with before and or after care, and if you
or loved one's going through it, you can reach out
to the crisis call center at D to seven three
(00:25):
or you can reach out to Compassionate Friends at eight
seven seven nine zero zero one zero. Thank you us
(00:46):
to explore the stories, policies, and practices and ideas. This
is with your host, Oh yeah, yeah Hill. Welcome, Welcome, Welcome,
good people. This is your host, Oya el Charel's of
(01:07):
Survivors Hill, a podcast of the Next Up initiative, and
this is part two of I'm Surviving the Bullets. According
to every town dot org, each day, on average, thirty
Black Americans are killed by guns and more than a
hundred and ten experienced non fatal injuries. Something else you
(01:27):
should know from a g R is the data shows
a clear connection between poverty and violent crime, and in
the United States, poverty is inextricably linked to anti black
racism and white supremacy because of centuries of racist policy
making and disinvestment. More black people than white people live
(01:49):
in poverty in the United States, but research has shown
that black and white people in poverty commit crimes at
the same rate. Yah know what Pop said. He's said,
if I choose to ride THU until the day I die,
nobody gave a funk about us. But when we start
to rise a hero in their children's eyes, now they
(02:11):
give a funk about us, which brings us to the hair.
And now, when the national conversation has turned to the
frequency in which we are losing rap artists, I argue
that it's nothing but a reflection of the inattention to
the community violence, which is bolstered by both police brutality,
an issue with the fighting since MLK and as an
(02:33):
activist journalist radio host Margaret Prescott has reported all for years.
The occurrence of community violence is also affected by police
treatment of black folks pain as n HI cases, which
is no human involved cases that has led to many
unsolved code cases in our communities, ensuring that we must
(02:55):
build more reliable, more sustainable, and more community driven public
safety models. In this part two episode of I'm Surviving
the Bullets, we talk about the conjunction of art and
healing when it comes to gun violence. We have three
(03:17):
grassroots creatives. We have Too Hungry, Coding Dreams and Philip
brack Less Ter let's get into it. So let's bring
it on over here to Mr Too Hungry, Why don't
you tell us a little about yourself and about your
(03:40):
journey mob and Farmer also known as Too Hungry. I
got a pretty crazy life. I think it's kind of
a movie, you know, coming to the tarshts a longer,
heavy facial marcus omnia. So I've actually means the least
side of the underdeveloped on my face and then if
takes a lot of other things like inside of my mouth,
my eising, my sight, and all that other stuff. So
(04:02):
that's always been a dominant factor in life and it
still is. With that thing said, growing up with an
E it's like a lot of trauma, a lot of bullying,
a lot of the humanizing, a lot of fighting just
to be a human to be treated equal. But thank
God for music because since I knew how to wrap
(04:23):
this stuff, that would be my I don't know, like
my five minutes of fan to be treat lock a
normal human. When I go into side for any like damn,
they's specially kicking wrap. Then I don't wrap that in
any dog in the room put together and like dude,
what he so? Yeah, music is always man um saving me,
(04:45):
and even when growing up with that diagnosis comes from
a lot of surgeries. I didn't know he had a
lot more an adult time than it would as me
being a child, so me wanted to pursue music. That's
always a challenge having my int then repaired when I
had to go to the hospital and then I got
the next thing to my voice in the shop and
(05:06):
I had to wait to learn to get back out. Yeah,
that's very hard, and a lot of things in the
music industry, it's like everything is like it images everything,
images everything, and I can't even get attached to that
because I look different every two months. Yeah, that's always
been a challenge tools trying to identify myself in a way.
I feel like I have my own aesthetic or style
(05:29):
or something like that. The not here, I thought, I'm
not hear this, and my tattoos because other things that
are never gonna change no matter what what happens. Um,
a lot of things don't notice. But I actually grew
drugs on that side of my face so I can
cover my ear because I got tired of everybody name.
I'm just staring at me in public and stuff like that.
(05:49):
So that's why I did that. I thought it's just
a lot easier to be out. I had to to
stand out my hair then, like trying to think out
what happened to me and stuff like that. Oh yeah,
although life is happens that ends, it always connects to
the positive psycule out the end of the time, some way, somehow,
all the negative experiences, Nate, I taught the in fact,
(06:13):
that's beautiful to hear, and you identify as the survivor
of crime as well, what is the experience that made
you feel like you survived some criminal activity. Every day,
I'll feel like I so bad, I'm sucking the other
naking back home tonight, I feel like I was about
(06:35):
and then taking my another ones away from me al
sabat and my mom is still coming back to me.
Also love. But yeah, getting shot was definitely one of
the biggest biggest times, the getting shot and getting not
changed national dropping on school because it all happened within
two weeks. Um, you're gonna changed snash on any ninth
in Verymont, which is crazy because I live like two
(06:56):
blocks away from there now. And then in that same week,
I got shot and I was six team. Around the
same time I dropped out of high school. I was
intent grade and the day I thought I shot with
my first day of continuation school and like a predominantly
cut the area. It's like, yeah, that was that's crazy.
It was heavy on my mind. Like you said, you
used to go up there, You're going down when I
(07:16):
got shot. I did it all. To be honest, I
went up At first. I was so filled with rage,
like I went to burn the whole world down. I
would have made my own gang. In the second called
everybody I know, everybody I ever got arrested for a case.
Anybody I know that flashing ain't gun. We all got
to make our own game. I'm at the police that
I know, the shady ones, everybody. We're gonna burn this
(07:38):
whole planet up. I was so angry. And then having
to go to that school, it's a lot of theory
to me, like a lot a lot. It was already scary.
Dupe was already a scary place from the other side
of the gate because right next to Washington on the
other side of the gate, and it's already like it
seemed like a place where they send all the criminals
of the school or whatever going out in the like damn, yeah,
(08:01):
I'm gonna beat my answer saying nachils my favorite food.
I don't know. You can't say stuff like that, and
you environments, you can't say favery fold, you can't say nothing.
Now you gotta watch everything. You gotta watch you talking
your shoelaces. You gotta watch the letters on your backpack.
Why are hanging off like that? Like damn bumming me?
Like what's your need? You need the whole letter off? Yeah,
(08:23):
so that I think getting shot and not knowing why,
not knowing who did it then like it happened for
no reason. But at the same time, having glimpses in
my memory, I feel like they were talking to me
and still not knowing who. That was just even worse
to go not environment the next day, and so as
you were like navigating that experience, but at the time
(08:49):
you were like, I mean, you didn't associate with any
like kind of gangs in that way. How did you?
How did you get over? That's year? I went up first,
like like Rock said, I went up thirst Um, I
got even more dangerous. I let that fear and push
me to the max where I'm like, I'm wearing whatever
(09:11):
I want. I'm stepping into everybody neighborhood like I want
you all to try me again. I like everybody in
my mo own speed. Now I got a snipers there
where I go. I went, I went crazy. I jumped
through but thank God joined the gang. And then with
so much stuff happening at the same time, then I
(09:32):
went down. I went completely down. I went to total
opposite way. I was like, my mental health start playing
a big told me like my mom would come back home.
I'm hiding under the bad type of stuff, shaking because
there's so much stuff playing out in my mind and
stuff like that. So after having my prideful moment of
feeling like they tried to take my life and I'm
(09:53):
angry about it and I'm gonna sure you as you
can't and I'm a defendant and I'm gonna take anybody
else's when tried to testing it, and in my mind
I started to feel like it's not easy for them
and do it. No matter what you do, no matter
who you are, it's not easy for you to go.
So I'll stopped doing everything I love to do. I'll
stopped going out. I stopped doing everything. Um that's when
(10:17):
I had the transformation from unfaid dis average are too hungry,
you know, I s firs that you also, I thought
I got shot and stuff, and I understand you're at
the hospital that same day, same night, and all of
that stuff, and we're working on music. Healing through art
pretty much, and that stuff is really helped and through
that time all day able to get back out in
(10:40):
life on my appetite. I've always felt like art is healing,
right like throughout a lot of the experiences that I
have had. I've been a writer and I've written poetry,
and that has been a way that I've kind of
like alcomized my really wrong feelings and um like released
(11:03):
a lot of those really heavy emotions. But I also
see that in in the media and culture, you know,
art can be the opposite of healing. And so I
wonder for you, how do you differentiate between like art
that is healing and art that is harmful. With the
(11:24):
art that I create or the art that I consume,
I'm gonna stay at to turn them. So I listened
to the frequencies and stuff the hand beats, So it
comes to consumer art, the vocabulary that's something I'm really
big on for certain things that they say, I was like,
I don't want to freet that to my sub conscience there.
You know, sing songs, their deeds have a really good
(11:46):
frequency tiger than the art tom For me as a creator,
there's lots of times for under one express negative emotions
because music and running is probably the only way that
I can get it out. So Um, through so much
time of making art, I do understand making art for
myself can still heal other people. Because I'm finding Melvin
(12:10):
that was not for anybody, that was for me. And
I didn't plan on marketing that song from oting it hostening,
to be honest, none of that I'm not didn't planning
to do nothing with but um, when I put it out,
it had such an intact because I was so raw
and authentic for myself that other people would be able
(12:31):
to relate to that, see themselves in those lyrics and yeah,
although I'm just trying to hear myself, but I'll never
help a lot of other people through the process. Oh,
that's really dope. And so it's like the intention is
what you're talking about. It's like when you sit down
to do your art, if you start with an intention
(12:52):
of one healing yourself. It gives that peace the potential
to open up healing for anybody who consumes it as well.
And so has there been times where you feel like
you did not start with the intention for healing. Yeah,
for me, it's like three lanes. I can go and
making song thats I can make this for me, I
(13:13):
can make this for them, and we're making stuff for them,
not necessarily making it to heal them. It can be
like how the industry wants stuff. Oh, you need to hit,
you need to shake that as song, and that's when
I'm making music for them, making it for me. I'm
none of the outside stuff. No no, no, that's to
beat you like, no, no, that sound weird. This for
me and then it's just like just making stuff for
the sake of making art. Now it's only the most
(13:35):
funnest time because you you don't have any expectations for
you didn't put any intentions, so whatever the result is
clearly awful. What the subconscious energy from yourself that you
put into that art, And you know it would be
some of the most parting times, right, I mean that
sounds like it's too And hold that thought we'll be
(13:58):
right back after a word from our sponsors. I know
rockets an artists too, you know, in a lot of ways, right,
(14:21):
and so I want to throw that question to him
to like, how do you differentiate between making art that
is healing versus art that is harmful? I think it's
the message. So the art forms that I do is
I draw, but said just aren't clothing too, So that's
an art form as will. And you know for folks
(14:43):
to do music, that's an art form as will. It's
the message. So generally, like you know, if I'm drawing something,
it has some type of meaning to it. You know,
the picture is going to communicate like something to you.
And that's what I do sometimes, you know, tell a
story through art knowing that you know it has AUM,
it has an under and then overtone. UM. That's designed
(15:05):
to communicate um, some positive So that's just what I do. UM.
You know, I haven't seen too much negative art. You know,
maybe some tagging on the walls. Some dude, that's some
hate stuff. That's exactly what that is. That's some how
you stuff. So that's just what that's real for me. UM.
People as always attracted to pictures. UM, so just you know,
(15:25):
and putting pictures together and communicating a story or you
know what I'm saying, are pointing people in the direction
to inspired their thought. So that's just what I do.
Um I said, you know, counterproductive art. Again, I don't.
I don't really get to see much of it, you
know what I'm saying, because I look at art, you know,
especially visual art. I see the beauty invisible art. Um
(15:48):
in spite of the level of a person artistic, like
you know what I'm saying, skills, it's always something good
there to kind of like you know, like yeah, you
know what I'm saying. And seeing folks you know, express
theirselves through our I think that's you know, positive. So
I really can't differentiate between like, you know, bad stuff.
And I don't want to get into music, you know
(16:09):
what I mean, because we all we we know, we
know what's up. You know what I'm saying, No deal,
so disrespecting nobody, but you know, we gotta start hoping
folks accountable some stuff that people put in the airways.
We know we can do it a little differently straight up,
you know what I'm saying. But again, I'm not gonna
criticize folks for their they're crafting what they do. You
know what I'm saying. What I speak to us the
(16:30):
results when you've got kids thinking that, you know, using
lean is the way. And now we got you know,
an epidemic in our community. But young folks is you know,
drinking lean not knowing they're getting their self hooked. Don't
look with HEROD. That's a problem we got young folks
think they just go pop Molly's and go Molly. You
(16:50):
know what I'm saying, And that sore between you know,
someone sharing their experience of drinking lean and then promoting it. Also, Um,
you can think of this in terms of how particular
we can be, like if you are choosing what kind
(17:12):
of fashion to allow in your shop or what kind
of tattoos you would do, you know, and that like
you would feel comfortable doing as an artist. Like, So,
what I'm gonna say this is when it comes to
tattoos very much, and a lot of folks like to
get um face tests, something I don't believe in. So
I don't do no face tests. That's one thing you're
(17:33):
not gonna get out of rock spot. Uh. You know,
I'm getting face tatts and you don't get no whackouts,
So folks don't know whackouts, meaning like you're crossing out
other dudes, neighborhoods on you are crossing any alphabets on you.
That's not something that I do. You can find out
a wor else. I'm gonna say the DeLine though, in
distinguishing from somebody talking about the experience drug use and
(17:53):
actually promoting it, I think we clearly know the too,
all right. So if I'm making videos talking about my appearence,
We'm also holding up double cups and giving toasts to folks,
and we all got leaned. That is a big difference.
I think we need to kind of like understand that,
all right. I just talked about the experience of getting shots,
talk about the experience of incarceration. It wasn't a promotion
(18:15):
to go there. So there's a big difference, right, And
I understand folks. I understand people express theirselves different, right.
I just think that we just gotta be a little
conscientious other people. That is listening to the music and
how they're interpreting um. Sometimes it's not always what's being
said as high as being interpreted, right, So we got
(18:38):
to be conscientious of the messages that we're putting out there,
whether we want to say we're just telling our story
or not. Once we see that it is starting to
have a negative impact, we have a responsibility to reframe
in shape how we communicate our story. This is serious.
(18:59):
We stuff that is going on in our community that
was kind of like never before. And when it comes
to this drug usage, we have young folks that is
dying from fitting all in a bunch of other things
because they under the impression that is cool. And we
have wrote the red carpet out for certain folks that
have celebrity status and in some cases they're not being
(19:23):
real responsible on how they're using their stardom. Right, I'm
not telling you what to do. You know, you do
what you want, but also know that you're shaping the culture.
And one thing I know about music, music is always
kind of like shape the culture and was a reflection
of the culture. So we can even go back to
when you had James Brown, and James Brown was like
(19:44):
saying loud, I'm black and are proud. That was a
time with folcuses at that political consciousness and there was movements.
You know what I'm saying. You had keen. You had
intervidence that was on the ground, and individence was like,
this is a movement and it's you know, blackest movement.
It was even a time when folks had kind of like,
you know, straighten their hair out, you know. James Brown
(20:04):
came back and said this how you gonna get your
respect if you ain't cut your process yet, these are
the messages. It's kind of like being like you know,
in the music. And one thing about music, and people
hear music and they identify with the first thing they
do is start to nod their head. Then they start
to move their feet, then they start to put their
body in harmony with it. The music move people. Remember
(20:29):
there was us that was singing, you know, wading in
the water, you know, Negro spirituals. They helped us through
those conditions that reflected kind of like the culture. Jesus
said something inside the Bible, right, he told the individual
of the Pharisees and inside the seas he said, I've piped,
but you have not dance. So he used music as
(20:50):
a metaphor b actually saying I didn't communicated the truth, right,
and your individuals haven't responded. Anytime you hear some truth
from somebody talking truth. The first thing you do is
not out your head. Then you start to you know what,
move your feet. When you move your feet mean like
you damn I heard that, you know what? I want
to get out here and let somebody know, and then
you put your body in action. So what I'm saying
is that we should just be conscientious of what we're
(21:14):
doing right and back to understanding. Understand how the music
has always been a reflection of the culture. And we
look at the culture today. You know what I'm seeing
the kids on the ground and those in the music.
A lot of folks people are dealing with stuff, and
a lot of it is drugs, addiction. You know what
I'm saying, whether it was yesterday or still today. So
(21:37):
I understand you're saying you've been through something, but another
thing to talk about what you've been through still going
through it and toasting up with it. So I just
say be conscious of that because these little dudes and
these ladies they out there doing that thinking it's cool
and what we're getting this deaf in our community, right,
and these are the facts, whether we accept it, you
(22:00):
like it, dislike it. Again, I look at artists being
something it's beautiful, right, but once we start to see
some results that is counterproductive to the direction of which
we need to be pushing our folks, in our people
in general, I think we might want to think about
modifying some of these things that we're doing, you know
what I'm saying. So I just kind of like, you know,
put that out there because it's serious. And I tell
(22:21):
people this all the time, like, hey, you don't want
it to be your kid. You're don't your your kid.
When you hear about the kid and done overdose. When
you hear about a kid where he done you know,
kind of crime and he's in jail fighting this murders
because he doesn't listen to somebody in the music talking
about how many bodies he's done guys. So now he's
(22:42):
thinking for recreation, he can go out there and get
a body. He got five bodies and he's singing music
and he's free and rapping about it. He gonna catch
your half of body and got life without you know
what I'm saying. So this ship is like real, and
I'm gonna say this, man, I remember when Minute Society
came out and boys in the hood and especially in society,
Man I probably at them. In society, every neighborhood has
(23:03):
somebody called old Dog. You know what I'm saying. Everybody
wants to be an old dog. But the reality of
old Dog in that movie, in the reality of old
Dog that was actually from the streets, was two different results.
Old Dog wind up getting awards and walking on the
red carpet from many society. It was entertainment. It was
a movie for the individual that actually lived that life
(23:25):
status Old Dog. Hey, they got a courtroom in a
long sentence and some dudes on death roll right now
for being old dog. Understand the real from entertainment. We
have a responsibility because we're dealing with people who would
easily influenced and socialized. They look at TV and they
(23:46):
see some of the cases this ship is real, and
they I even distinguished that it's not real. Right. And
this is where those who are kind of like mature
had to say, you know what, we had to start
a pull something stuff in. We had to start the
communicate this stuff a little different. We have to be
conscientious of our message because really it's sucking up the
(24:07):
art floor, you know what I'm saying. So again, I
know some folks ain't gonna like it and some more stuff.
That's cool. I'm gonna tell you this, lady, be your kid,
we're gonna have a different conversation. Yeah, I feel that.
I mean on another level too, for me as a writer,
as a poet, that if I wrote certain things, you know,
(24:28):
if I wrote some of my negative thoughts down, I
would see that manifest in my actual life. So I
have experienced manifestation. So like people say, oh, I don't
believe in manifested, Like it's not about belief at all.
Like these are experiences that folks have. This is an
(24:50):
experience that I have. I have manifested positive things into
my life in my writing, and I have manifested negative
things into my life and my writing. So that's why
I think it's so dope. Like you have that shirt
on right now, protect your energy, right, It's really important
you protect your energy, you protect your thoughts because what
(25:14):
you think becomes you know, what you speak, and it
becomes your actions, right, And your art is an act.
Is you know on what kind of act it becomes
to the world. That's up to you. You know, Well,
I think it's kind of not a little nod that said,
I'm not responsible for reading your kids. At the same time,
(25:36):
all we can do is put out art, and we
can tell you what to do with it. We can
tell you whether again there can have a baby turning
song or whether to go and drop thirty Bodies Today song.
We're gonna tell you what to do with it. I'm
gonna let's put it out. I don't on time we
kind of already know the reactions until you are an
artist where you put out enough music and it's patterns
(25:58):
and your art and can see this is what this
is gonna do, this is what this is gonna do,
this's this's gonna Doctly, I hadn't been there all I've
experiences just my music hills, so I don't. I don't.
I don't really get those from many reactions. At the
same time, I'm many dinner hill. I'm not responsible if
I don't carry on baby depression through my last album,
(26:19):
so I'm not responsible then listening to this album through
their depression. Probably even many words. I mean, I feel
you because even in terms of having discussions like this,
there's gonna be somebody out there who is who is
upset with what I have to say, you know, and
what I have to present, you know, through these airwaves, right,
(26:41):
there's gonna be some people who feel like, oh, you know,
that's not given me what I need to heal, you know,
So I hear what you're saying. And then we have
artists that don't act like their art in that next sense,
we have people like Playlo Carter Hill leave his son
at Denny's and the guy hasn't the new that dnnis,
but we still doesn't dump that album though, like Kanye
(27:04):
who tear riding and his ex wife but on the
tool is still kind of slapping on it. Yeah, I
definitely have had to separate sometimes like the artists from
the art itself. And I think that like that's even
a different conversation in some ways, right because whatever an
(27:25):
artist is actually going through, it might show up in
their work, but that's just a piece of them that's
not completely them, you know what I mean. So I
feel like that's a kind of different process to think
about more so, like I really, of course, I really
love your work. I'm a fan of your work, right,
and I would like to hear more of the themes
(27:48):
that you put out like on the radio, you know, Um,
that's just my preference I also like some music that
you know does have that just ratchet by you know.
I just I do you know, um, because there's sometimes
where I'm feeling like that and I'm in that and
I'm in that mode. But I feel like there is
(28:10):
definitely a distinction, you know, between music that hills and
music that kills. Like there's there literally is music that kills,
you know, and I think that's what rock was jumping
in on. And unfortunately music that kills is more popular
right now in the music that hells. I would say
(28:30):
we're all responsible, not even as artists, but I was
umn being responsible for what we put off? Where are
the like toothpage you can squeeze the way you ain't
turning out toothpage back into your no once it said,
and you can't turn the doctorment, you know. I feel
like all human means, all for in the life are
responsible for what we consume and what we produce. And
(28:51):
as artists, if you remember that you're human being, that
your responsibility too. You don't have to put off all
of our stuff you can, But then mistakes for the consumers,
they're responsible for what they do. What are also because
now they're having things where they're taking lyrics and making
cases based off on people's songs and wan don't be cool.
(29:12):
They took spend my chain around for a round part
two or part one, And because the way people reacted
to my art, now I'm in the cell winning the
same on time my sentence, you know, dyn Will I
ended out that life and all I tried to do
with my attentions when making art was to heal because
the reaction the community is getting me normally not not
(29:32):
the bad fishing. I thought a lot of artists I
can deal with that. But yeah, I think that also
is connected to folks actions too though. Like so if
you know, if you're making music that kills and then
you're out here actually you know, turning up in that
way too, you know you're responsible for that, and you
(29:53):
know you might need to go through a healing journey
like the one that Rock just described, you know what
I mean. But also on the other end, it goes
back to what I said earlier too about criminalization and
a lot of communities, black and brown communities often that
are just overcriminalized in anything that they do, you know,
(30:18):
but in the times when our behavior is harmful, you know,
it is our responsibility to get it to a place
where it either stops being harmful, just stops, you know,
stops being harmful to other, stops being harmful to ourselves,
and hopefully ideally where it can be transformed into healing.
(30:44):
We're gonna take a short break to hear from our sponsors.
Let's see you're here, so before we wrap up, I
(31:05):
just wanted to see if you had anything that you
wanted to add. M Well, first, tell us a little
bit about yourself. Hi. I'm Melissa, a k A. Coding Dreams.
I grew up Long Beach and I currently live in Torrance.
I didn't live in l A for like three years. Um, well,
(31:28):
it's anything that you would like to speak to that
you heard here today. Um. About everybody's art, especially rappers,
I'm gonna be honest, I feel like they don't really
express their art. I feel like they're just doing it
for the money. I'm not even capping. I just feel like, Okay,
we're gonna pull out this great head and next you know,
(31:49):
we're gonna get all the money and all that cool.
I just feel like it's just for money. I mean, yeah,
money resolves, goal is everywhere, and it's like, yeah, but
are you really truly enjoying what you're doing? Like, sometimes
I don't be feeling it through social media through the
music because most music nowadays either about drugs, gang violence, cheating, sucking,
(32:16):
all that type of I don't know, but to be honest,
it is a lot of great people that have many
different talents, and it's like whoa and the fact that
a lot of people and especially kids isn't getting the
right amount of attention for it. And it's like y'all
giving all these other people that just like, for example,
(32:39):
the rappers Baby Mamas, we don't know what they do
and it's like they want to sit behind a phone
and talk mess over Twitter and Instagram, sitting around like
and then people is paying attention and feeding into their
drama through social media and it's like I just don't
sit right. But people that has the art and talent
(33:02):
and wants to do what they want to do, I
feel like the people should pay more attention to the
artists because I feel like the artists have a lot
to give out to the world. Yeah. I appreciate what
you said there too, And I'm curious, So what do
you think could get us to music culture that is
(33:23):
more healing music towards the healing culture. Yeah, Like, what
do you think could just off the top of your
head that you feel like could bring our music culture
towards more healing. Moving on, moving on, Stop bringing up
old people. It's not gonna make your life better. It's
(33:44):
really not bringing up old situations. I mean, yeah, it's
cool you could put it out into a song, but
if it's like repeatedly over and over and over, it's
just gonna be war out and you're just gonna be
saying the same thing over, like, move on and just
think to yourself, like how would this affect my community?
(34:05):
How would it affect like the world, Like you want
the rappers want the world to be a better place, right,
So I feel like the music should start by a
healing by saying something that will heal. Maybe like what
Too Hungry said, Like he put his feelings in his
music and his negativity, you know, towards music and all that.
(34:28):
And when he said the one project that he dropped
it was for him and it blew up. That probably
healed everybody else, you never know. I feel like that
was great. Um. I think you can't even give a
creator a therapist, you can, but from the way we function,
for the way that our minds and our hearts and
(34:49):
souls are wired, and our therapy and at the same
time the very thing we love, sometimes we may hate it.
And they did the biggest stressful thing I was happening
them towards. So I feel like places and conversations where
artists could come together and get all their heads and
share we're normal people with other artists, with people that
(35:11):
they don't usually talk to, our community members, politicians, whatever
the case may be. I know that stuff helps me
to wake up and get all of the matrix and
understand that everything I'll do has an impact, you know,
the butterfly effect. Every everything I'll do is gonna affect
something ten years from now. Whether if I jokes to
blow my no they're not, I don't know, but it's
(35:32):
gonna think something. I think healing conversation for artists, that
would be a place where they can kind of wake
up or see themselves from the outside. And because I thirst,
and I draw the schools scaming offers, I would ratchet
and think the savage. I would ratchet like I mean
care you thought I was making this for you? Why
don't anything you. I'm not worrying about your kids and
(35:57):
your mama. And even today I go back on our
old YouTube video Nasty Tickle and the comments like it's
so side he used to be wearing so many times
and took anything on that say, I don't know. I
feel like artists we're so focused on we forget the
road exist. We need to get that. Well, you're creating
(36:19):
your own world. Yeah, we need to get that too.
To the hawash and dishestar our music and go and
close to our music, driving the work, screening our stuff.
But um, this is a good reminder for me. You know.
It's definitely action say that. Um yeah, this conversation definitely
helps him not need to stay awoke with this um
(36:41):
Deluxe album that's coming out. On everything else that's about talking.
So how can people find you and support you? Too hungry?
You just start to the number. Too hungry You can
find it on Instagram. Too hungry to HQ and Twitter
and there's too hungry HQ. Thanks look too hungry HQ
anyway at think then told them to the shop asking
(37:01):
about me. Yeah, I'm sorry. The link to some music
or something somewhere associated with this platform but yeah, yeah,
rock any final words of peace, final words of healing.
I'm just gonna say M greatly appreciate UM being here today,
being part of the interview and listen um folks, different perspectives.
(37:24):
Hopefully you know it provides something to the audience of
this podcast. And I'm just gonna sign off. We're just
saying peace in the streets. So, UM, what I hope
to do is play some of Validation on this episode.
And so I don't know if you wanted to speak
(37:44):
to that, just so I can out, Yeah, yeah, can
you speak to validation? Um? The album of the song
both alright, Look a Validation is like the pill from
the matrix in my head. I wanted to be an experience.
I didn't want to just be Eric Kenny. I wanted
you to listen to something and I wanted you to
(38:05):
feel it in else there. I wanted to shake something
and you change the way you think, change the way
you feel. I felt like the most important track on
There is the introduction because it gets you run down
on what the album is about. There's so many things
that we went through in life that is motive as
to who we are, and a lot of people aren't
(38:25):
happy because they're not aware that they seek validation from
everything they're doing their life, from the people they interact with,
from working to going to school. We may say it's
for money, happiness, career. It's a validation. That's the obtruly
de leave so um the song validation. I'm not sure
(38:46):
which urgent I sent you. I don't know if you
have the original the Dan from the original album of
the Lestan album, I don't. I don't remember them. That
song featuring Mama Hungary A K L A. Ray it
was m hmmm. I'll just remember when Chantonina, when he
(39:07):
was making a beat from the Deluxe region, I told
him I wanted to have a survivor spirit. That's that's
the only thing I can really pitch out that. I
wanted that song's energy to carry to feel like no
matter what, no matter how many times you feel like
you're not enough or your youth, so it's there's no
your survivor, and it's always gonna be somebody that's faster
and stronger and better. But you know, you just gotta
(39:30):
keep going because we're gonna make it all. I think
that's beautiful the same. Thank you so much for all
of you guys being here and peace. Thanks, thank you
guys in all. When music or art is done with
(39:51):
healing intent, it can be an oh so powerful tool,
but it's all in how you use it. So I
leave you with one of two Hungry songs released this year.
I listened to it especially when I feel imposter syndrome
creeping in. It's my cure for it. It's a daily
(40:13):
motivation that's grounding, and it's a meditation that reminds me
to say fuck it and just do me. You can
find it wherever you get your music. Here is validation
by too Hungry, it's not. But that doesn't mean that
(41:00):
on none gonna scars. It's a you're gonna me somebody
that's praying and wishing on spires. You know what that
means that you should is drong now, shutting that job now,
it's not it's gonna be something situation trousler, I'm troublom.
(41:21):
That doesn't mean that you do not drine down do
that now. It's all you gonna be time when it flies,
the good fights that you loving your wife like life
in a dream, your one got your ball. You look
(41:41):
at the coloring. Have time don't stop. I put my
plan on the top because if this mine and I locked,
I put the lid on the block. You set your
head and I rock can't give it all that I
got it. It's my ambition to not to spe just
another and watch because I was born at Iguafing's my
way to the top. I dug a hole in the
lot and on the road through the pots, I said
up to fly ye after what the show out. I
(42:02):
got my eye on a crowd, and this is what
it is about. I want to hear him scream loud
and what you can get it back. You see me
deeping around because I'm asked for rounding and I say
it will private pass and attitude and I'm taking what's
my yes stacks a revenue because I'm breaking these lines.
I'm fresh like brand new, get in bettering time yes
stacks a revenue. I'm breaking these lines, these fresh like
(42:25):
brand new getting veterans. It's gonna be somebody that's gone
very smarter than bastard than men that you should be
starr none your little shoves long. It's a you got
me time wing it fly to your fife and you
love your wf like life to the dream. You all
(42:48):
got you fron give all. You better get, Oh you're
better give all. Yeah, you're king you. It ain't get you.
Ain't bad enough for you, ain't sad enough for you.
Ain't had enough of how this work, whichever way you're
taking you with, how this fuck? And it ain't get you.
(43:11):
Ain't dream bigly, So we didn't know what the dream is?
So pretty, this different show the world how to dream lives.
It ain't no Tophi, but the award is a life
plan and this guy is the limit. I'm passing playing
it sail. I'm dead and it's playing. It ain't no beast.
When you're working for ways all you can get the
schedule of rest were play niggers. Don't get impressed. You
ain't looking like a mask. Mom. I'm bading in the
(43:32):
fresh MP School's next. I create every stone like a kid.
I'm in a fascist and bide the show with love
lives and white a minute if you don't be activist,
But the after I thought, how you deal with that is?
But it's it's gonna me's gonna bite. That's faster. Ain't
strong being smart, But that doesn't mean that you're shooting
(43:56):
star not Star song song my Time, when the flies,
good fines and you love no options. I'm like You're
the dream, you are my God, you ballingall. Disclaimer. My views, beliefs,
(44:22):
and opinions are my own and do not necessarily reflect
the views of my guests, resource organizations, or sources shared.
Last thing. Every day we survive is a new chance
(44:43):
to see killing piece to your journey. Good people, a
shap
Content warning. This episode will discuss a lot of heavy
topics such as homicide. Please be kind to yourself, prepare
yourself with before and or after care, and if you
or loved one's going through it, you can reach out
to the crisis call center at D to seven three
(00:25):
or you can reach out to Compassionate Friends at eight
seven seven nine zero zero one zero. Thank you us
(00:46):
to explore the stories, policies, and practices and ideas. This
is with your host, Oh yeah, yeah Hill. Welcome, Welcome, Welcome,
good people. This is your host, Oya el Charel's of
(01:07):
Survivors Hill, a podcast of the Next Up initiative, and
this is part two of I'm Surviving the Bullets. According
to every town dot org, each day, on average, thirty
Black Americans are killed by guns and more than a
hundred and ten experienced non fatal injuries. Something else you
(01:27):
should know from a g R is the data shows
a clear connection between poverty and violent crime, and in
the United States, poverty is inextricably linked to anti black
racism and white supremacy because of centuries of racist policy
making and disinvestment. More black people than white people live
(01:49):
in poverty in the United States, but research has shown
that black and white people in poverty commit crimes at
the same rate. Yah know what Pop said. He's said,
if I choose to ride THU until the day I die,
nobody gave a funk about us. But when we start
to rise a hero in their children's eyes, now they
(02:11):
give a funk about us, which brings us to the hair.
And now, when the national conversation has turned to the
frequency in which we are losing rap artists, I argue
that it's nothing but a reflection of the inattention to
the community violence, which is bolstered by both police brutality,
an issue with the fighting since MLK and as an
(02:33):
activist journalist radio host Margaret Prescott has reported all for years.
The occurrence of community violence is also affected by police
treatment of black folks pain as n HI cases, which
is no human involved cases that has led to many
unsolved code cases in our communities, ensuring that we must
(02:55):
build more reliable, more sustainable, and more community driven public
safety models. In this part two episode of I'm Surviving
the Bullets, we talk about the conjunction of art and
healing when it comes to gun violence. We have three
(03:17):
grassroots creatives. We have Too Hungry, Coding Dreams and Philip
brack Less Ter let's get into it. So let's bring
it on over here to Mr Too Hungry, Why don't
you tell us a little about yourself and about your
(03:40):
journey mob and Farmer also known as Too Hungry. I
got a pretty crazy life. I think it's kind of
a movie, you know, coming to the tarshts a longer,
heavy facial marcus omnia. So I've actually means the least
side of the underdeveloped on my face and then if
takes a lot of other things like inside of my mouth,
my eising, my sight, and all that other stuff. So
(04:02):
that's always been a dominant factor in life and it
still is. With that thing said, growing up with an
E it's like a lot of trauma, a lot of bullying,
a lot of the humanizing, a lot of fighting just
to be a human to be treated equal. But thank
God for music because since I knew how to wrap
(04:23):
this stuff, that would be my I don't know, like
my five minutes of fan to be treat lock a
normal human. When I go into side for any like damn,
they's specially kicking wrap. Then I don't wrap that in
any dog in the room put together and like dude,
what he so? Yeah, music is always man um saving me,
(04:45):
and even when growing up with that diagnosis comes from
a lot of surgeries. I didn't know he had a
lot more an adult time than it would as me
being a child, so me wanted to pursue music. That's
always a challenge having my int then repaired when I
had to go to the hospital and then I got
the next thing to my voice in the shop and
(05:06):
I had to wait to learn to get back out. Yeah,
that's very hard, and a lot of things in the
music industry, it's like everything is like it images everything,
images everything, and I can't even get attached to that
because I look different every two months. Yeah, that's always
been a challenge tools trying to identify myself in a way.
I feel like I have my own aesthetic or style
(05:29):
or something like that. The not here, I thought, I'm
not hear this, and my tattoos because other things that
are never gonna change no matter what what happens. Um,
a lot of things don't notice. But I actually grew
drugs on that side of my face so I can
cover my ear because I got tired of everybody name.
I'm just staring at me in public and stuff like that.
(05:49):
So that's why I did that. I thought it's just
a lot easier to be out. I had to to
stand out my hair then, like trying to think out
what happened to me and stuff like that. Oh yeah,
although life is happens that ends, it always connects to
the positive psycule out the end of the time, some way, somehow,
all the negative experiences, Nate, I taught the in fact,
(06:13):
that's beautiful to hear, and you identify as the survivor
of crime as well, what is the experience that made
you feel like you survived some criminal activity. Every day,
I'll feel like I so bad, I'm sucking the other
naking back home tonight, I feel like I was about
(06:35):
and then taking my another ones away from me al
sabat and my mom is still coming back to me.
Also love. But yeah, getting shot was definitely one of
the biggest biggest times, the getting shot and getting not
changed national dropping on school because it all happened within
two weeks. Um, you're gonna changed snash on any ninth
in Verymont, which is crazy because I live like two
(06:56):
blocks away from there now. And then in that same week,
I got shot and I was six team. Around the
same time I dropped out of high school. I was
intent grade and the day I thought I shot with
my first day of continuation school and like a predominantly
cut the area. It's like, yeah, that was that's crazy.
It was heavy on my mind. Like you said, you
used to go up there, You're going down when I
(07:16):
got shot. I did it all. To be honest, I
went up At first. I was so filled with rage,
like I went to burn the whole world down. I
would have made my own gang. In the second called
everybody I know, everybody I ever got arrested for a case.
Anybody I know that flashing ain't gun. We all got
to make our own game. I'm at the police that
I know, the shady ones, everybody. We're gonna burn this
(07:38):
whole planet up. I was so angry. And then having
to go to that school, it's a lot of theory
to me, like a lot a lot. It was already scary.
Dupe was already a scary place from the other side
of the gate because right next to Washington on the
other side of the gate, and it's already like it
seemed like a place where they send all the criminals
of the school or whatever going out in the like damn, yeah,
(08:01):
I'm gonna beat my answer saying nachils my favorite food.
I don't know. You can't say stuff like that, and
you environments, you can't say favery fold, you can't say nothing.
Now you gotta watch everything. You gotta watch you talking
your shoelaces. You gotta watch the letters on your backpack.
Why are hanging off like that? Like damn bumming me?
Like what's your need? You need the whole letter off? Yeah,
(08:23):
so that I think getting shot and not knowing why,
not knowing who did it then like it happened for
no reason. But at the same time, having glimpses in
my memory, I feel like they were talking to me
and still not knowing who. That was just even worse
to go not environment the next day, and so as
you were like navigating that experience, but at the time
(08:49):
you were like, I mean, you didn't associate with any
like kind of gangs in that way. How did you?
How did you get over? That's year? I went up first,
like like Rock said, I went up thirst Um, I
got even more dangerous. I let that fear and push
me to the max where I'm like, I'm wearing whatever
(09:11):
I want. I'm stepping into everybody neighborhood like I want
you all to try me again. I like everybody in
my mo own speed. Now I got a snipers there
where I go. I went, I went crazy. I jumped
through but thank God joined the gang. And then with
so much stuff happening at the same time, then I
(09:32):
went down. I went completely down. I went to total
opposite way. I was like, my mental health start playing
a big told me like my mom would come back home.
I'm hiding under the bad type of stuff, shaking because
there's so much stuff playing out in my mind and
stuff like that. So after having my prideful moment of
feeling like they tried to take my life and I'm
(09:53):
angry about it and I'm gonna sure you as you
can't and I'm a defendant and I'm gonna take anybody
else's when tried to testing it, and in my mind
I started to feel like it's not easy for them
and do it. No matter what you do, no matter
who you are, it's not easy for you to go.
So I'll stopped doing everything I love to do. I'll
stopped going out. I stopped doing everything. Um that's when
(10:17):
I had the transformation from unfaid dis average are too hungry,
you know, I s firs that you also, I thought
I got shot and stuff, and I understand you're at
the hospital that same day, same night, and all of
that stuff, and we're working on music. Healing through art
pretty much, and that stuff is really helped and through
that time all day able to get back out in
(10:40):
life on my appetite. I've always felt like art is healing,
right like throughout a lot of the experiences that I
have had. I've been a writer and I've written poetry,
and that has been a way that I've kind of
like alcomized my really wrong feelings and um like released
(11:03):
a lot of those really heavy emotions. But I also
see that in in the media and culture, you know,
art can be the opposite of healing. And so I
wonder for you, how do you differentiate between like art
that is healing and art that is harmful. With the
(11:24):
art that I create or the art that I consume,
I'm gonna stay at to turn them. So I listened
to the frequencies and stuff the hand beats, So it
comes to consumer art, the vocabulary that's something I'm really
big on for certain things that they say, I was like,
I don't want to freet that to my sub conscience there.
You know, sing songs, their deeds have a really good
(11:46):
frequency tiger than the art tom For me as a creator,
there's lots of times for under one express negative emotions
because music and running is probably the only way that
I can get it out. So Um, through so much
time of making art, I do understand making art for
myself can still heal other people. Because I'm finding Melvin
(12:10):
that was not for anybody, that was for me. And
I didn't plan on marketing that song from oting it hostening,
to be honest, none of that I'm not didn't planning
to do nothing with but um, when I put it out,
it had such an intact because I was so raw
and authentic for myself that other people would be able
(12:31):
to relate to that, see themselves in those lyrics and yeah,
although I'm just trying to hear myself, but I'll never
help a lot of other people through the process. Oh,
that's really dope. And so it's like the intention is
what you're talking about. It's like when you sit down
to do your art, if you start with an intention
(12:52):
of one healing yourself. It gives that peace the potential
to open up healing for anybody who consumes it as well.
And so has there been times where you feel like
you did not start with the intention for healing. Yeah,
for me, it's like three lanes. I can go and
making song thats I can make this for me, I
(13:13):
can make this for them, and we're making stuff for them,
not necessarily making it to heal them. It can be
like how the industry wants stuff. Oh, you need to hit,
you need to shake that as song, and that's when
I'm making music for them, making it for me. I'm
none of the outside stuff. No no, no, that's to
beat you like, no, no, that sound weird. This for
me and then it's just like just making stuff for
the sake of making art. Now it's only the most
(13:35):
funnest time because you you don't have any expectations for
you didn't put any intentions, so whatever the result is
clearly awful. What the subconscious energy from yourself that you
put into that art, And you know it would be
some of the most parting times, right, I mean that
sounds like it's too And hold that thought we'll be
(13:58):
right back after a word from our sponsors. I know
rockets an artists too, you know, in a lot of ways, right,
(14:21):
and so I want to throw that question to him
to like, how do you differentiate between making art that
is healing versus art that is harmful? I think it's
the message. So the art forms that I do is
I draw, but said just aren't clothing too, So that's
an art form as will. And you know for folks
(14:43):
to do music, that's an art form as will. It's
the message. So generally, like you know, if I'm drawing something,
it has some type of meaning to it. You know,
the picture is going to communicate like something to you.
And that's what I do sometimes, you know, tell a
story through art knowing that you know it has AUM,
it has an under and then overtone. UM. That's designed
(15:05):
to communicate um, some positive So that's just what I do. UM.
You know, I haven't seen too much negative art. You know,
maybe some tagging on the walls. Some dude, that's some
hate stuff. That's exactly what that is. That's some how
you stuff. So that's just what that's real for me. UM.
People as always attracted to pictures. UM, so just you know,
(15:25):
and putting pictures together and communicating a story or you
know what I'm saying, are pointing people in the direction
to inspired their thought. So that's just what I do.
Um I said, you know, counterproductive art. Again, I don't.
I don't really get to see much of it, you
know what I'm saying, because I look at art, you know,
especially visual art. I see the beauty invisible art. Um
(15:48):
in spite of the level of a person artistic, like
you know what I'm saying, skills, it's always something good
there to kind of like you know, like yeah, you
know what I'm saying. And seeing folks you know, express
theirselves through our I think that's you know, positive. So
I really can't differentiate between like, you know, bad stuff.
And I don't want to get into music, you know
(16:09):
what I mean, because we all we we know, we
know what's up. You know what I'm saying, No deal,
so disrespecting nobody, but you know, we gotta start hoping
folks accountable some stuff that people put in the airways.
We know we can do it a little differently straight up,
you know what I'm saying. But again, I'm not gonna
criticize folks for their they're crafting what they do. You
know what I'm saying. What I speak to us the
(16:30):
results when you've got kids thinking that, you know, using
lean is the way. And now we got you know,
an epidemic in our community. But young folks is you know,
drinking lean not knowing they're getting their self hooked. Don't
look with HEROD. That's a problem we got young folks
think they just go pop Molly's and go Molly. You
(16:50):
know what I'm saying, And that sore between you know,
someone sharing their experience of drinking lean and then promoting it. Also, Um,
you can think of this in terms of how particular
we can be, like if you are choosing what kind
(17:12):
of fashion to allow in your shop or what kind
of tattoos you would do, you know, and that like
you would feel comfortable doing as an artist. Like, So,
what I'm gonna say this is when it comes to
tattoos very much, and a lot of folks like to
get um face tests, something I don't believe in. So
I don't do no face tests. That's one thing you're
(17:33):
not gonna get out of rock spot. Uh. You know,
I'm getting face tatts and you don't get no whackouts,
So folks don't know whackouts, meaning like you're crossing out
other dudes, neighborhoods on you are crossing any alphabets on you.
That's not something that I do. You can find out
a wor else. I'm gonna say the DeLine though, in
distinguishing from somebody talking about the experience drug use and
(17:53):
actually promoting it, I think we clearly know the too,
all right. So if I'm making videos talking about my appearence,
We'm also holding up double cups and giving toasts to folks,
and we all got leaned. That is a big difference.
I think we need to kind of like understand that,
all right. I just talked about the experience of getting shots,
talk about the experience of incarceration. It wasn't a promotion
(18:15):
to go there. So there's a big difference, right, And
I understand folks. I understand people express theirselves different, right.
I just think that we just gotta be a little
conscientious other people. That is listening to the music and
how they're interpreting um. Sometimes it's not always what's being
said as high as being interpreted, right, So we got
(18:38):
to be conscientious of the messages that we're putting out there,
whether we want to say we're just telling our story
or not. Once we see that it is starting to
have a negative impact, we have a responsibility to reframe
in shape how we communicate our story. This is serious.
(18:59):
We stuff that is going on in our community that
was kind of like never before. And when it comes
to this drug usage, we have young folks that is
dying from fitting all in a bunch of other things
because they under the impression that is cool. And we
have wrote the red carpet out for certain folks that
have celebrity status and in some cases they're not being
(19:23):
real responsible on how they're using their stardom. Right, I'm
not telling you what to do. You know, you do
what you want, but also know that you're shaping the culture.
And one thing I know about music, music is always
kind of like shape the culture and was a reflection
of the culture. So we can even go back to
when you had James Brown, and James Brown was like
(19:44):
saying loud, I'm black and are proud. That was a
time with folcuses at that political consciousness and there was movements.
You know what I'm saying. You had keen. You had
intervidence that was on the ground, and individence was like,
this is a movement and it's you know, blackest movement.
It was even a time when folks had kind of like,
you know, straighten their hair out, you know. James Brown
(20:04):
came back and said this how you gonna get your
respect if you ain't cut your process yet, these are
the messages. It's kind of like being like you know,
in the music. And one thing about music, and people
hear music and they identify with the first thing they
do is start to nod their head. Then they start
to move their feet, then they start to put their
body in harmony with it. The music move people. Remember
(20:29):
there was us that was singing, you know, wading in
the water, you know, Negro spirituals. They helped us through
those conditions that reflected kind of like the culture. Jesus
said something inside the Bible, right, he told the individual
of the Pharisees and inside the seas he said, I've piped,
but you have not dance. So he used music as
(20:50):
a metaphor b actually saying I didn't communicated the truth, right,
and your individuals haven't responded. Anytime you hear some truth
from somebody talking truth. The first thing you do is
not out your head. Then you start to you know what,
move your feet. When you move your feet mean like
you damn I heard that, you know what? I want
to get out here and let somebody know, and then
you put your body in action. So what I'm saying
is that we should just be conscientious of what we're
(21:14):
doing right and back to understanding. Understand how the music
has always been a reflection of the culture. And we
look at the culture today. You know what I'm seeing
the kids on the ground and those in the music.
A lot of folks people are dealing with stuff, and
a lot of it is drugs, addiction. You know what
I'm saying, whether it was yesterday or still today. So
(21:37):
I understand you're saying you've been through something, but another
thing to talk about what you've been through still going
through it and toasting up with it. So I just
say be conscious of that because these little dudes and
these ladies they out there doing that thinking it's cool
and what we're getting this deaf in our community, right,
and these are the facts, whether we accept it, you
(22:00):
like it, dislike it. Again, I look at artists being
something it's beautiful, right, but once we start to see
some results that is counterproductive to the direction of which
we need to be pushing our folks, in our people
in general, I think we might want to think about
modifying some of these things that we're doing, you know
what I'm saying. So I just kind of like, you know,
put that out there because it's serious. And I tell
(22:21):
people this all the time, like, hey, you don't want
it to be your kid. You're don't your your kid.
When you hear about the kid and done overdose. When
you hear about a kid where he done you know,
kind of crime and he's in jail fighting this murders
because he doesn't listen to somebody in the music talking
about how many bodies he's done guys. So now he's
(22:42):
thinking for recreation, he can go out there and get
a body. He got five bodies and he's singing music
and he's free and rapping about it. He gonna catch
your half of body and got life without you know
what I'm saying. So this ship is like real, and
I'm gonna say this, man, I remember when Minute Society
came out and boys in the hood and especially in society,
Man I probably at them. In society, every neighborhood has
(23:03):
somebody called old Dog. You know what I'm saying. Everybody
wants to be an old dog. But the reality of
old Dog in that movie, in the reality of old
Dog that was actually from the streets, was two different results.
Old Dog wind up getting awards and walking on the
red carpet from many society. It was entertainment. It was
a movie for the individual that actually lived that life
(23:25):
status Old Dog. Hey, they got a courtroom in a
long sentence and some dudes on death roll right now
for being old dog. Understand the real from entertainment. We
have a responsibility because we're dealing with people who would
easily influenced and socialized. They look at TV and they
(23:46):
see some of the cases this ship is real, and
they I even distinguished that it's not real. Right. And
this is where those who are kind of like mature
had to say, you know what, we had to start
a pull something stuff in. We had to start the
communicate this stuff a little different. We have to be
conscientious of our message because really it's sucking up the
(24:07):
art floor, you know what I'm saying. So again, I
know some folks ain't gonna like it and some more stuff.
That's cool. I'm gonna tell you this, lady, be your kid,
we're gonna have a different conversation. Yeah, I feel that.
I mean on another level too, for me as a writer,
as a poet, that if I wrote certain things, you know,
(24:28):
if I wrote some of my negative thoughts down, I
would see that manifest in my actual life. So I
have experienced manifestation. So like people say, oh, I don't
believe in manifested, Like it's not about belief at all.
Like these are experiences that folks have. This is an
(24:50):
experience that I have. I have manifested positive things into
my life in my writing, and I have manifested negative
things into my life and my writing. So that's why
I think it's so dope. Like you have that shirt
on right now, protect your energy, right, It's really important
you protect your energy, you protect your thoughts because what
(25:14):
you think becomes you know, what you speak, and it
becomes your actions, right, And your art is an act.
Is you know on what kind of act it becomes
to the world. That's up to you. You know, Well,
I think it's kind of not a little nod that said,
I'm not responsible for reading your kids. At the same time,
(25:36):
all we can do is put out art, and we
can tell you what to do with it. We can
tell you whether again there can have a baby turning
song or whether to go and drop thirty Bodies Today song.
We're gonna tell you what to do with it. I'm
gonna let's put it out. I don't on time we
kind of already know the reactions until you are an
artist where you put out enough music and it's patterns
(25:58):
and your art and can see this is what this
is gonna do, this is what this is gonna do,
this's this's gonna Doctly, I hadn't been there all I've
experiences just my music hills, so I don't. I don't.
I don't really get those from many reactions. At the
same time, I'm many dinner hill. I'm not responsible if
I don't carry on baby depression through my last album,
(26:19):
so I'm not responsible then listening to this album through
their depression. Probably even many words. I mean, I feel
you because even in terms of having discussions like this,
there's gonna be somebody out there who is who is
upset with what I have to say, you know, and
what I have to present, you know, through these airwaves, right,
(26:41):
there's gonna be some people who feel like, oh, you know,
that's not given me what I need to heal, you know,
So I hear what you're saying. And then we have
artists that don't act like their art in that next sense,
we have people like Playlo Carter Hill leave his son
at Denny's and the guy hasn't the new that dnnis,
but we still doesn't dump that album though, like Kanye
(27:04):
who tear riding and his ex wife but on the
tool is still kind of slapping on it. Yeah, I
definitely have had to separate sometimes like the artists from
the art itself. And I think that like that's even
a different conversation in some ways, right because whatever an
(27:25):
artist is actually going through, it might show up in
their work, but that's just a piece of them that's
not completely them, you know what I mean. So I
feel like that's a kind of different process to think
about more so, like I really, of course, I really
love your work. I'm a fan of your work, right,
and I would like to hear more of the themes
(27:48):
that you put out like on the radio, you know, Um,
that's just my preference I also like some music that
you know does have that just ratchet by you know.
I just I do you know, um, because there's sometimes
where I'm feeling like that and I'm in that and
I'm in that mode. But I feel like there is
(28:10):
definitely a distinction, you know, between music that hills and
music that kills. Like there's there literally is music that kills,
you know, and I think that's what rock was jumping
in on. And unfortunately music that kills is more popular
right now in the music that hells. I would say
(28:30):
we're all responsible, not even as artists, but I was
umn being responsible for what we put off? Where are
the like toothpage you can squeeze the way you ain't
turning out toothpage back into your no once it said,
and you can't turn the doctorment, you know. I feel
like all human means, all for in the life are
responsible for what we consume and what we produce. And
(28:51):
as artists, if you remember that you're human being, that
your responsibility too. You don't have to put off all
of our stuff you can, But then mistakes for the consumers,
they're responsible for what they do. What are also because
now they're having things where they're taking lyrics and making
cases based off on people's songs and wan don't be cool.
(29:12):
They took spend my chain around for a round part
two or part one, And because the way people reacted
to my art, now I'm in the cell winning the
same on time my sentence, you know, dyn Will I
ended out that life and all I tried to do
with my attentions when making art was to heal because
the reaction the community is getting me normally not not
(29:32):
the bad fishing. I thought a lot of artists I
can deal with that. But yeah, I think that also
is connected to folks actions too though. Like so if
you know, if you're making music that kills and then
you're out here actually you know, turning up in that
way too, you know you're responsible for that, and you
(29:53):
know you might need to go through a healing journey
like the one that Rock just described, you know what
I mean. But also on the other end, it goes
back to what I said earlier too about criminalization and
a lot of communities, black and brown communities often that
are just overcriminalized in anything that they do, you know,
(30:18):
but in the times when our behavior is harmful, you know,
it is our responsibility to get it to a place
where it either stops being harmful, just stops, you know,
stops being harmful to other, stops being harmful to ourselves,
and hopefully ideally where it can be transformed into healing.
(30:44):
We're gonna take a short break to hear from our sponsors.
Let's see you're here, so before we wrap up, I
(31:05):
just wanted to see if you had anything that you
wanted to add. M Well, first, tell us a little
bit about yourself. Hi. I'm Melissa, a k A. Coding Dreams.
I grew up Long Beach and I currently live in Torrance.
I didn't live in l A for like three years. Um, well,
(31:28):
it's anything that you would like to speak to that
you heard here today. Um. About everybody's art, especially rappers,
I'm gonna be honest, I feel like they don't really
express their art. I feel like they're just doing it
for the money. I'm not even capping. I just feel like, Okay,
we're gonna pull out this great head and next you know,
(31:49):
we're gonna get all the money and all that cool.
I just feel like it's just for money. I mean, yeah,
money resolves, goal is everywhere, and it's like, yeah, but
are you really truly enjoying what you're doing? Like, sometimes
I don't be feeling it through social media through the
music because most music nowadays either about drugs, gang violence, cheating, sucking,
(32:16):
all that type of I don't know, but to be honest,
it is a lot of great people that have many
different talents, and it's like whoa and the fact that
a lot of people and especially kids isn't getting the
right amount of attention for it. And it's like y'all
giving all these other people that just like, for example,
(32:39):
the rappers Baby Mamas, we don't know what they do
and it's like they want to sit behind a phone
and talk mess over Twitter and Instagram, sitting around like
and then people is paying attention and feeding into their
drama through social media and it's like I just don't
sit right. But people that has the art and talent
(33:02):
and wants to do what they want to do, I
feel like the people should pay more attention to the
artists because I feel like the artists have a lot
to give out to the world. Yeah. I appreciate what
you said there too, And I'm curious, So what do
you think could get us to music culture that is
(33:23):
more healing music towards the healing culture. Yeah, Like, what
do you think could just off the top of your
head that you feel like could bring our music culture
towards more healing. Moving on, moving on, Stop bringing up
old people. It's not gonna make your life better. It's
(33:44):
really not bringing up old situations. I mean, yeah, it's
cool you could put it out into a song, but
if it's like repeatedly over and over and over, it's
just gonna be war out and you're just gonna be
saying the same thing over, like, move on and just
think to yourself, like how would this affect my community?
(34:05):
How would it affect like the world, Like you want
the rappers want the world to be a better place, right,
So I feel like the music should start by a
healing by saying something that will heal. Maybe like what
Too Hungry said, Like he put his feelings in his
music and his negativity, you know, towards music and all that.
(34:28):
And when he said the one project that he dropped
it was for him and it blew up. That probably
healed everybody else, you never know. I feel like that
was great. Um. I think you can't even give a
creator a therapist, you can, but from the way we function,
for the way that our minds and our hearts and
(34:49):
souls are wired, and our therapy and at the same
time the very thing we love, sometimes we may hate it.
And they did the biggest stressful thing I was happening
them towards. So I feel like places and conversations where
artists could come together and get all their heads and
share we're normal people with other artists, with people that
(35:11):
they don't usually talk to, our community members, politicians, whatever
the case may be. I know that stuff helps me
to wake up and get all of the matrix and
understand that everything I'll do has an impact, you know,
the butterfly effect. Every everything I'll do is gonna affect
something ten years from now. Whether if I jokes to
blow my no they're not, I don't know, but it's
(35:32):
gonna think something. I think healing conversation for artists, that
would be a place where they can kind of wake
up or see themselves from the outside. And because I thirst,
and I draw the schools scaming offers, I would ratchet
and think the savage. I would ratchet like I mean
care you thought I was making this for you? Why
don't anything you. I'm not worrying about your kids and
(35:57):
your mama. And even today I go back on our
old YouTube video Nasty Tickle and the comments like it's
so side he used to be wearing so many times
and took anything on that say, I don't know. I
feel like artists we're so focused on we forget the
road exist. We need to get that. Well, you're creating
(36:19):
your own world. Yeah, we need to get that too.
To the hawash and dishestar our music and go and
close to our music, driving the work, screening our stuff.
But um, this is a good reminder for me. You know.
It's definitely action say that. Um yeah, this conversation definitely
helps him not need to stay awoke with this um
(36:41):
Deluxe album that's coming out. On everything else that's about talking.
So how can people find you and support you? Too hungry?
You just start to the number. Too hungry You can
find it on Instagram. Too hungry to HQ and Twitter
and there's too hungry HQ. Thanks look too hungry HQ
anyway at think then told them to the shop asking
(37:01):
about me. Yeah, I'm sorry. The link to some music
or something somewhere associated with this platform but yeah, yeah,
rock any final words of peace, final words of healing.
I'm just gonna say M greatly appreciate UM being here today,
being part of the interview and listen um folks, different perspectives.
(37:24):
Hopefully you know it provides something to the audience of
this podcast. And I'm just gonna sign off. We're just
saying peace in the streets. So, UM, what I hope
to do is play some of Validation on this episode.
And so I don't know if you wanted to speak
(37:44):
to that, just so I can out, Yeah, yeah, can
you speak to validation? Um? The album of the song
both alright, Look a Validation is like the pill from
the matrix in my head. I wanted to be an experience.
I didn't want to just be Eric Kenny. I wanted
you to listen to something and I wanted you to
(38:05):
feel it in else there. I wanted to shake something
and you change the way you think, change the way
you feel. I felt like the most important track on
There is the introduction because it gets you run down
on what the album is about. There's so many things
that we went through in life that is motive as
to who we are, and a lot of people aren't
(38:25):
happy because they're not aware that they seek validation from
everything they're doing their life, from the people they interact with,
from working to going to school. We may say it's
for money, happiness, career. It's a validation. That's the obtruly
de leave so um the song validation. I'm not sure
(38:46):
which urgent I sent you. I don't know if you
have the original the Dan from the original album of
the Lestan album, I don't. I don't remember them. That
song featuring Mama Hungary A K L A. Ray it
was m hmmm. I'll just remember when Chantonina, when he
(39:07):
was making a beat from the Deluxe region, I told
him I wanted to have a survivor spirit. That's that's
the only thing I can really pitch out that. I
wanted that song's energy to carry to feel like no
matter what, no matter how many times you feel like
you're not enough or your youth, so it's there's no
your survivor, and it's always gonna be somebody that's faster
and stronger and better. But you know, you just gotta
(39:30):
keep going because we're gonna make it all. I think
that's beautiful the same. Thank you so much for all
of you guys being here and peace. Thanks, thank you
guys in all. When music or art is done with
(39:51):
healing intent, it can be an oh so powerful tool,
but it's all in how you use it. So I
leave you with one of two Hungry songs released this year.
I listened to it especially when I feel imposter syndrome
creeping in. It's my cure for it. It's a daily
(40:13):
motivation that's grounding, and it's a meditation that reminds me
to say fuck it and just do me. You can
find it wherever you get your music. Here is validation
by too Hungry, it's not. But that doesn't mean that
(41:00):
on none gonna scars. It's a you're gonna me somebody
that's praying and wishing on spires. You know what that
means that you should is drong now, shutting that job now,
it's not it's gonna be something situation trousler, I'm troublom.
(41:21):
That doesn't mean that you do not drine down do
that now. It's all you gonna be time when it flies,
the good fights that you loving your wife like life
in a dream, your one got your ball. You look
(41:41):
at the coloring. Have time don't stop. I put my
plan on the top because if this mine and I locked,
I put the lid on the block. You set your
head and I rock can't give it all that I
got it. It's my ambition to not to spe just
another and watch because I was born at Iguafing's my
way to the top. I dug a hole in the
lot and on the road through the pots, I said
up to fly ye after what the show out. I
(42:02):
got my eye on a crowd, and this is what
it is about. I want to hear him scream loud
and what you can get it back. You see me
deeping around because I'm asked for rounding and I say
it will private pass and attitude and I'm taking what's
my yes stacks a revenue because I'm breaking these lines.
I'm fresh like brand new, get in bettering time yes
stacks a revenue. I'm breaking these lines, these fresh like
(42:25):
brand new getting veterans. It's gonna be somebody that's gone
very smarter than bastard than men that you should be
starr none your little shoves long. It's a you got
me time wing it fly to your fife and you
love your wf like life to the dream. You all
(42:48):
got you fron give all. You better get, Oh you're
better give all. Yeah, you're king you. It ain't get you.
Ain't bad enough for you, ain't sad enough for you.
Ain't had enough of how this work, whichever way you're
taking you with, how this fuck? And it ain't get you.
(43:11):
Ain't dream bigly, So we didn't know what the dream is?
So pretty, this different show the world how to dream lives.
It ain't no Tophi, but the award is a life
plan and this guy is the limit. I'm passing playing
it sail. I'm dead and it's playing. It ain't no beast.
When you're working for ways all you can get the
schedule of rest were play niggers. Don't get impressed. You
ain't looking like a mask. Mom. I'm bading in the
(43:32):
fresh MP School's next. I create every stone like a kid.
I'm in a fascist and bide the show with love
lives and white a minute if you don't be activist,
But the after I thought, how you deal with that is?
But it's it's gonna me's gonna bite. That's faster. Ain't
strong being smart, But that doesn't mean that you're shooting
(43:56):
star not Star song song my Time, when the flies,
good fines and you love no options. I'm like You're
the dream, you are my God, you ballingall. Disclaimer. My views, beliefs,
(44:22):
and opinions are my own and do not necessarily reflect
the views of my guests, resource organizations, or sources shared.
Last thing. Every day we survive is a new chance
(44:43):
to see killing piece to your journey. Good people, a
shap
Host
Oya L. Sherrills
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