The Spirited Actor - Ralph Cooper (II)

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hello, and welcome to the Spirited Actor Podcast with me
Tracy Moore. I was a casting director for film and
TV and commercials for over thirty years. I transitioned to
a celebrity acting coach after I cast a film New
Jersey Drive with executive producers Spike Lee and director Nick Domez.
I auditioned every rapper from Biggie Smalls to Tupac, and

(00:24):
I realized that rappers and musical artists they needed help
transitioning to acting. My clients consist of musical artists from
Buster Rhymes to Eve, Missy Elliott, Angela Yee from The
Breakfast Club, and Vanessa Simmons, to name a few. I
also coach sports stars and host as well. I feel

(00:45):
I have the best of both worlds. As a casting director,
I know exactly what they're looking for, and as an
acting coach, I can coach you to be remembered in
that room. Now I know, I know actors want to
get the job. I get that, but being remembered by
casting director that is powerful. And now it's time for

(01:05):
meditation of the day. Your sadness is a gift. Don't
reject it, don't rush it, live it fully and use
it as fuel to change and to grow. We have
been taught in this world that feeling bad or sad

(01:27):
is bad, But the truth is is that we need
to feel all the emotions that human beings actually experience,
and sadness isn't a bad thing. Crying isn't a bad thing.
Like I love to have a good fry sometimes because

(01:48):
it just kind of flushes. Usually for me, that's during
a movie. My mother is so steely strong that I
just didn't experience growing up and emotional mother, so I
internalized a lot of that and growing up you had
to be strong. But I'm telling you there is greatness

(02:12):
and strength, but there is also greatness in sadness. Don't
stay and live in the sadness again. Create a happy thought,
something that you think of that would start to slowly
transition those sadness, those bad feelings, that depression, and it'll

(02:33):
slowly bring you out and the next thing you know,
you'll be in higher vibrations. You'll be inspired to do better,
to make changes because you don't want to feel sad
all the time. Today, I will embrace the sadness, understand

(02:55):
the sadness, and know too shall pass. Before we get started,
I'd like to remind everyone to look out for my
new show, Inside the Black Box. I'll be co hosting
with the great Joe Morton. We'll be on Crackle Network
real soon. I'll keep you posted. Welcome to the Spirited

(03:18):
Actor Podcast with me Tracy Moore. I was just having
a conversation with a friend of mine the other day
talking about how I landed here in nineteen eighty three.
Nineteen eighty three, ladies and gentlemen, and I knew two people,
and I grew to meet and just have so many
wonderful people in my experience. Early in my experience, one

(03:42):
of my people you're about to meet. Y'all are in
for an amazing treat. I feel blessed in my life
because I do have relationships with people who are so
valuable in this industry. As our guest is, however, I
grow and gravitate to their spirits, beautiful energy, beautiful people

(04:06):
care about people and humanity, and you can see their light.
I want you all to stand up for a legend.

Speaker 2 (04:16):
A legend.

Speaker 1 (04:18):
Ladies and gentlemen, please put your hands together. From mister
Ralph Cooper the second, Yes, I am so happy to
have you on the show. I was telling everybody before
you came on that you actually are my ex husband's friends. Yes, right, that's.

Speaker 3 (04:42):
How I got.

Speaker 4 (04:44):
That's how we met. And Steve was such a great spirit,
such a wonderful person, and was so helpful in crafting
not just the music, but the hit of a whole generation.

Speaker 1 (04:59):
Yeah, yeah, he. I feel very blessed to have been
around him to learn. Even though I had, you know,
no connection and interest in you know, the music business.
He was relentless and he never you know, he never
took no for an.

Speaker 4 (05:19):
Answer, exactly, he never took no for an answer.

Speaker 3 (05:24):
Never.

Speaker 1 (05:25):
I want to start at the Apollo. You guys, Ralph
has the most amazing history and legacy, man, so I
want to start at the beginning. Ralph, tell them who
you are.

Speaker 4 (05:40):
I thank you, Tracy. That's a great well, and it's
so much fun to join you and your your fans
and audience. It's an honor. I grew up the son
of the man that created Amateur nighted at the Apollo
and found the icons of American music. And my mom

(06:01):
was a singer who was very popular in the forties.
Both my dad and my mom had children very late
in life, very late in life, and I guess that's
something that people understand now.

Speaker 3 (06:15):
And so I was.

Speaker 4 (06:16):
Very blessed to be the son of these two great entertainers,
much like much like you, Tracy, having children of you
and your husband, you know what I mean. And it
gives a different perspective when you grow up and you
come you hear this music in your house, you're a baby,

(06:38):
you're sleeping, and you come toddling out.

Speaker 3 (06:41):
That's literally what happened to me. And there's my mom.

Speaker 4 (06:44):
It's like three o'clock in the morning, like on a Saturday,
and there's my mom singing, and there's George Shearing, and
there's Oscar Peterson, and there's Count Basie, and there's Uncle
Muhammad Ali, and there's people in the living room. And
I'm bouncing around on people's knees and listening to them

(07:06):
tell me everything about life, about love, about fighting to
do entertainment in those decades and what it was. And
I'm just learning basically from the grand masters. And so
I was in positions that most people look back at
and say, you were there when your uncle Malcolm X

(07:28):
and Martin Luther King had a meeting, And I say yes,
not only was I there, but I can tell you
who else was in that meeting at the Brownstone, at
doctor Logan's house, And they basically were sitting in that
meeting talking about with Reverend Jackson, with Uncle Percy Sutton
and all these other people, and they were talking about

(07:49):
how the American black culture and race can and should
be moved forward. And so, you know, and it's very
hard to share these stories with other people because these
were what they call closed door sessions. So you know,
but it was a powerful perspective to grow up in

(08:11):
because you would see what was being planned, what was
being plotted, what was being discussed, what was being nervous,
and what was being good? And then which way we
should go, you know, and how how could it go?
And and I'm a baby, I'm a kid, you know,
I just happened to grow up in dad's business. And

(08:34):
this is the business of entertainment, but the business of
entertainment across socio politics, economics, you know, and and on
and on and on.

Speaker 1 (08:46):
So you grew up this is so fascinating. This is
why what the audience, this is so great. So you
grew up almost like your life was preordained for you
in a way, right, and being around great how they
sed you, right, But you also grew up in such
an amazing pivotal time because civil rights unrest, right, And

(09:12):
this is where well I'm going to ask you, is
this where you feel was like one of the highest
points of our creativity because we could only communicate through
our music, through our poetry to James Baldwin, Miles Angelou,
Nikki Giovanni, you know what I mean, like because you've
got a chance to be and feel.

Speaker 4 (09:32):
That, Yes, I did, I really did. And I got
to tell you your question is very insightful. You know.
I I grew up at a time it was very
strange because I learned like where expressions came from, like homeboy,
you know what I mean and other things. You know,

(09:53):
where these expressions started and what they meant and where
they came from. And I also grew up at a
time when it was extremely extremely creative. For instance, Marion Anderson,
who was the black woman that's saying, you know, the
famous Lincoln Memorial in Washington, d C. Was my physical
is my physical godmother. She passed obviously, but was my godmommy.

Speaker 3 (10:17):
And so.

Speaker 4 (10:19):
It was an extremely creative time for all of us.
You know, it is extremely creative time. And it was
a time of a lot of creative wealth, if you will,
there's a lot of creative wealth at that time.

Speaker 3 (10:34):
And there was very, very, very.

Speaker 4 (10:39):
The avenues of getting to the public were different then
than they were currently number one. But in saying that,
and there was there was, there were things that are
different now.

Speaker 3 (10:52):
But the fight is the same.

Speaker 4 (10:54):
It's very it's very strange and very weird. But yes,
it was a very creative time. And I'll say something
just as a perspective, right, the riots of civil rights
and the fighting of humankind were very defined, extremely defined.

(11:17):
The current riots that some a generation that just grew
up an eighteen nineteen twenty twenty five year old, they
were not around. Even though I was at the very
tail end of the civil rights we knew what it was.
We knew what it was and why it was, and
the boils and the fights that led up to it.

Speaker 3 (11:38):
But the current rot and that was a change.

Speaker 4 (11:42):
It was a change in everything, you know, culture, thought, patterns, language, people.

Speaker 3 (11:49):
But the current riots that just happened were a little
bit different. And so you get to see how certain
very powerful.

Speaker 4 (12:00):
Movements can happen, can have subliminal can have motivations that
are different from another giant riot. So it's a different
perspective of where it's going, how it hit, what it
made as a change, and where it's going where it
takes you afterwards, you know what I mean. I do

(12:21):
feel that there was a lot more creativity back in
the day. Slightly.

Speaker 3 (12:26):
I hate to say that because I don't want to.

Speaker 4 (12:29):
I don't wanted to mean my age group and my
friends that are super creative and that you know, fight
to put the culture at first and really let our
voices be heard. And we've done some amazing things recently.

Speaker 3 (12:44):
You know.

Speaker 4 (12:45):
There's there's cases that have been overturned because people did
movies about them.

Speaker 3 (12:52):
There's people that have.

Speaker 4 (12:54):
Been getting away with certain things and because a creative
twist to telling their story happened and they've been arrested.

Speaker 3 (13:02):
And they can't hurt anyone anymore.

Speaker 4 (13:04):
So there's things that have happened through entertainment that have
changed the culture for the better, you know.

Speaker 3 (13:11):
And that's a modern day.

Speaker 4 (13:12):
Thing because I sense that back in the day, you know,
you had more voices in the marketplace, more singers for
just zero in on give an example, you had more
female black singers in the marketplace, and you could never
get enough because Diana Washington sounded different than Ella, sounded

(13:36):
different than on Sassy, Sarah Vaond sounded different than on Billy,
sounded different than you know what I mean. So everybody
was bringing shades Nina Simone. They were bringing their own stance,
they were bringing their own vibration, they were bringing, you know,
a whole different vibration to it.

Speaker 3 (13:55):
And you never got you never got tired of it.

Speaker 4 (13:59):
You attracted to more than one of it.

Speaker 3 (14:02):
It was amazing what happened, you know.

Speaker 4 (14:07):
And now there's I don't believe that the talent's not there, right,
but we don't have all those female singing.

Speaker 3 (14:17):
Voices in the marketplace.

Speaker 4 (14:19):
I mean I was, you know, really actively pushing the
music side of life and business. For instance, I noticed that,
you know, a record company usually has a format, meaning
you have one singular male or female, a male group,
a female group, a male band, a female band. Now

(14:44):
for a while, nobody can find a female band.

Speaker 3 (14:48):
Wow, nobody can find.

Speaker 4 (14:50):
A fit and nobody promoted a female band. So it
was exciting when you had and when I say band,
I mean where the members are physically musicians. You know
what I mean versus you know, so tracks. Yeah, so
certain people were in their slot as the number one
male singer. So you would think, you know, if Luther

(15:15):
Vandros I'm just picking up time period for instance, if
Luther Vandros is in the market, it's the number one
male singer at a time that the record label would
have to then be developing the next young Luther.

Speaker 3 (15:29):
Do you understand what I mean.

Speaker 4 (15:30):
So, if Frank Sinatra was the guy, they were developing
the next young singer under Frank whoever, that was right,
you know what I'm saying. So, but now today that's
not necessarily the way it goes. And as a result,
because the matrix is not based on pure talent or
voices or pure creativity, somebody with lesser bent to the

(15:56):
creativity side, but higher on the number matrix can wind
up with a record deal that maybe long term that
really sustain, can't really sustain not there, lad, But they
have the numbers. And if you say, oh, based on
your numbers, ten percent of your audience will buy your record.

Speaker 3 (16:17):
You got a record deal.

Speaker 1 (16:19):
Wow.

Speaker 4 (16:20):
Wow.

Speaker 3 (16:21):
It's a whole different matrix.

Speaker 4 (16:23):
And of course, growing up in the Apollo legacy, it
was always based on talent, right right?

Speaker 3 (16:29):
You know what I mean?

Speaker 4 (16:32):
Yeah, I mean, And I'm talking about recent I'm talking
about Chris Rock, I'm talking about Fat Joe. I'm talking
about people that and Christmas never in competition. Let me
let me get that straight for everyone.

Speaker 3 (16:42):
Who was always a special guest for me. But he
owned his craft on the Apollo stage. And so you
know where's Fat Joe was.

Speaker 4 (16:52):
And it's proud to tell you that he was an
amateur night contest and who won, who won and went
on to have amazing career all the way up through today,
you know what I mean. And there's other great ones
Summer Walk, there's great ones that I could talk about.

Speaker 3 (17:07):
That are super current, and there's the great ones from
the past. But it was always.

Speaker 4 (17:12):
Based on the talent. Nobody cared whether they had a
social media following social media to play, but it didn't
matter because you were introducing people to the audience, and
the audience the people made the stars they were really
So it was all based on talent.

Speaker 3 (17:31):
So as a result, you had a lot more.

Speaker 4 (17:35):
Impotence for people with talent and voices and paraphrasing and
telling storytelling to be in the marketplace.

Speaker 3 (17:43):
Because if you felt.

Speaker 4 (17:45):
That so and so's voice was not your voice, you
would find a voice that was your voice, that was
telling stories you wanted, whether it was Dinah Phillis Hyman Horn,
you know what I'm saying, or Walker or you know,
any of the people listening out all the way up
through today. And I am very much the son of

(18:08):
true artists, obviously, but I'm very much about the talent
because I believe that there's voices that are needed in
the marketplace and that these voices say something to uplift
the people. And when I say to people, I'm counting
our culture as right as the human race, right, as
well as the human race right exactly.

Speaker 1 (18:32):
So I have a couple of things. One I love
when you were talking about how films what they've done
in terms of education or exposed. You know, you have
films like Till and Black Wall Street that people didn't
even know, didn't even know. Like I was on my

(18:53):
Instagram and Tom Hanks made a comment really you know
he was he was saying how upset he was that
he did not know about Black Wall Street. He just
learned about it. And I just commented to him, like, honestly,
why would you know, like they weren't teaching black history
in your home growing up. So I understand your anger

(19:16):
for not knowing, but there was no reason for you
to know. So so then so then I said, you know,
I started sending him. He didn't respond, but I started
sending him other things that happened today that are still happening.
So are you. So if if that isn't something I
sent him where, I don't know, I heard about it,

(19:37):
but these kids from Connecticut, I believe it was. They
were selling they were doing a slave auction, live slave auctions,
selling black girls. So I sent him that and said
because he thought that Black Wall Street was appalling a travesty,
I said, well look that what about this and what

(19:58):
you know? So that is the power of this medium,
medium that we are exposed to. My question, I have
two questions that are kind of in there. What happened
to R and.

Speaker 4 (20:12):
B ooh boy, you are going deep. I first want
to make a comment about what you said. Our friend
ice Cube. I'll never forget him going into.

Speaker 3 (20:24):
JFK and saying to.

Speaker 4 (20:26):
The interview, hey, I'm going to go watch this movie
by Oliver Stone, and.

Speaker 3 (20:31):
I really you know, I'm young, I didn't.

Speaker 4 (20:34):
Know the JFK story. So I'm going to learn about
JFK through watching this movie, right, And that resonated with
me because I'm in the same space. But as a
baby knowing these people.

Speaker 3 (20:49):
I feel like these stories have to.

Speaker 4 (20:51):
Be told because if you don't know where you came from,
you have no directional on how you can move forward.

Speaker 3 (21:00):
Or uplift or do better. And it is sad. And
I'll give you a modern day example.

Speaker 4 (21:07):
You know, everybody I know went to see hidden figures
and they came out of hidden figures and said, I
didn't know it.

Speaker 3 (21:14):
Was like that, I didn't what the hell?

Speaker 4 (21:17):
We black women hill together mass and got the rocket up.
Nobody teaches you that in school, that that's you understand
what I'm.

Speaker 3 (21:25):
Saying, right, I didn't know it. They never taught me that.

Speaker 4 (21:28):
Yeah, you know what I'm saying, and I know exactly,
and you know, and we're young babies, we know that,
and we're about the culture and you know. So it's
really really frightening when you find out the below the line,
what really caused it to happen, and you find out
that you were not educated and don't know that it happened.

(21:51):
This way, and the film is a medium that can
allow you to see it, feel it and learn it
and learn it.

Speaker 3 (22:00):
And so I agree with you about the medium. Now,
what happened to R and B Cow I am why?

Speaker 4 (22:10):
Well, you know, it's funny because you know I signed,
I signed the biggest rapper on the West Coast and
I'm sort of the facto god father of West Coast rap.

Speaker 3 (22:20):
Don't laugh, But.

Speaker 4 (22:21):
Because when I signed, yeah yeah, when I signed Iced
Tea to Warner Brothers, to sire Warner Brothers. And thank
God for seymour Stein because he really saw the vision.
When I signed him, there there was no West Coast
rap at that time. There was no nothing, nothing nothing.

(22:41):
In fact, Eyes was on a gospel label for his
first record.

Speaker 3 (22:46):
Oh yeah, and you know what I mean.

Speaker 4 (22:48):
And so but but it was and I'll say it
like this, it was the sound of a generation. It
was the sound of a coming younger generation and it
really got into the marketplace. And if you remember, and
I'm sure you do because of your background with Steve,
you know, everyone at the beginning, and for an eighteen

(23:10):
year old, this is gonna blow their wig back. Everyone
in the beginning said, and I'm talking about at the
record labels, not people, not people the audience, not the
people on the street.

Speaker 3 (23:21):
Not the consumer. Right, these are the geniuses running.

Speaker 4 (23:26):
The record music business, right instead, Oh, this rap thing, Yeah,
it'll be around for a couple of years, but it's
a it's a fad.

Speaker 3 (23:34):
It'll be around for a couple of years.

Speaker 4 (23:35):
It's a fat it's not gonna last long, not you know,
not like Rocke and Wrong, nothing like that. And now
here we are sitting at a billion dollar industry. It
has launched fashion language magazines, tours, merchandising, and all kinds
of cross promotional things.

Speaker 5 (23:54):
So they didn't even give rap hip hop a chance
in their mind when first started. Now so if you
can imagine that you had people that couldn't in the
executive suites that could not see that hip hop could
have this level of the future, you could also understand

(24:16):
the mentality of not being able to preserve the other
formats of music that were already established that should have
been kept and kept pushed onto a new generation. And
therein lies that whole thing I was talking about about.

Speaker 4 (24:34):
It was the responsibility of the record label because I
I'm a singer. If I'm a singer I'm a songwriter.
Where do I go? If the words are coming through
my soul?

Speaker 3 (24:47):
Where do I go?

Speaker 4 (24:47):
I have to wind up.

Speaker 3 (24:49):
At a record label, because that's who puts out music.

Speaker 4 (24:52):
I'm not going to I'm going to be a very
unhappy soul trying to be an electrician. I'm going to
be a very happy so trying to make my money
and survive being a driver, being a golf cart operator
on a golf course. I feel like music is my thing.
I have to be at a record label. So everybody
goes to the record label. But if the record label

(25:12):
doesn't feel like it's important to keep a certain sound
in the marketplace, even though it's a proven sound, why
you develop the next level? Like the whole Luther example,
if you don't know who your next to young Luthers are,
then you're in trouble of potentially, as the old expression goes,

(25:36):
you know you're shooting yourself in the foot before you
start the race. And this is what really, in my
humble opinion, happened to R and B past Brian McKnight
who I love, and past Neo, who I happen to
be very close to. And I could tell you that
story it's a great story, but you know, you really
had I hate to say it like this, but you

(25:58):
had the not the death of R and B, but
you sort of had the slowdown and almost death of
R and B because the record labels just became more
of a bank and became a matrix of doing things
against not the talent and not the audience, but other

(26:18):
things like how many MySpace numbers you got.

Speaker 3 (26:21):
Right, we got the right MySpace numbers.

Speaker 4 (26:25):
Okay, there's a lot of songs written by people that
have no way to have on MySpace. There were a
lot of songs written by people that were nervous and
didn't know how to translate their song into a TikTok kit.
But they're writing hit songs that can call my Daddy
told me a very great story, maybe too long to

(26:48):
tell you now, but his biggest hit back in the
day was from a guy who hung out and wanted
to see mister Cole at a show that he is
doing in an upstate New York and had written this
song for mister Cole. And the man sat outside trying
to get to mister Cole. And this man had no

(27:10):
other way to get to mister Cole but to sit
outside the stage door in the winter to say, mister Cole,
I wrote a song that I think you would love
and this is a song for you. Was Acting Cole's
biggest hit. So I mean, if you're not able to
basically get into a format that the record labels deemed

(27:31):
the barometer, you're.

Speaker 3 (27:34):
In deep trouble.

Speaker 4 (27:35):
And these and these these formats sometimes I'm not going
to say they can be manipulated, because they fight against that.
But you know, they these formats have not to do
with the creativity or the songwriting or the delivery or that,
you know, they have more to do with the technical
aspect of how many followers I have? Right, And again,

(27:57):
like you know, it's very easy if I'm an influencer
to get a big following. But just because I have,
you know, five million people following me and I'm an influencer,
does that make me the next Rihanna?

Speaker 3 (28:10):
Does that make me the next Beyonce?

Speaker 4 (28:12):
Say?

Speaker 3 (28:13):
Does that make me the next Chaka Cohn? Beyond Diana Ross?
I'm not sure you know what I'm saying.

Speaker 4 (28:20):
And actually I can show you a whole list of
people that got signed by the labels that really where
they spent the money, and you know their contracts didn't
last past the first single, second single, first album, because
these people are more influencers and that's what their thing is,
not songwriters' performers.

Speaker 3 (28:41):
So I think in that whole.

Speaker 4 (28:43):
Matrix now a sound like R and B from the heart,
from the soul, songs that are from the hearts, from
the soul, telling universal stories about love and chasing love
and finding love and getting over broken heart got lost.
And if you don't have executives that are really key

(29:05):
to keep a sound in the marketplace evolving for every
generation sonically sonically, But if you don't have that kind
of acumen and discipline, you can easily lose a sound.
And I think this is what has happened to R
and B and now thank god that the eighteen to
twenty five and twenty five to thirty five, along with

(29:27):
the forty five plus audience is frantically looking for soulful
R and B music today because in our hearts and
souls we want it.

Speaker 3 (29:38):
In our hearts and souls.

Speaker 4 (29:39):
We want it's spiritually fulfilling, it's psychologically fulfilling, and it
reflects every single day. Now, let me make a dichotomy.
Whereas and I'm down for all hip hop. I'm down
for all rap because these are my friends, and I
helped push the culture in the highest level.

Speaker 1 (29:57):
Yes you did.

Speaker 4 (30:00):
If a drill rapper is talking about all the murders
they have to commit, if a drill rapper is telling
about how they're gonna shoot somebody close to them because
of the money, because of this.

Speaker 3 (30:13):
It may be more.

Speaker 4 (30:15):
I am listening to you. But if I'm not an ouder,
if I'm not in that culture, you're not really speaking
to me.

Speaker 3 (30:25):
Whereas if you sing a song about a love breakup,
Oh you're speaking to me. You're not speaking to me
all day.

Speaker 4 (30:33):
You understand what I'm saying.

Speaker 3 (30:34):
So now the music becomes more and more and more
and more.

Speaker 4 (30:40):
Less and less and less and less about something that's
universal because it's very specific. You know what I'm saying.
It's very specific. And so now if the record companies
are looking for that more and more, then less and
less because you're a voyeir listening to a story that

(31:03):
may not be something that you're immersed in because you
don't live it every day.

Speaker 3 (31:07):
Whereas those universal themes of love, losing, winning, gaining.

Speaker 4 (31:13):
Broken heart, mending a broken heart, getting the girl back,
getting the boy back are things you deal with every
day at different age groups, levels and potentially.

Speaker 3 (31:23):
Throughout your whole life.

Speaker 1 (31:25):
Wow.

Speaker 4 (31:27):
So it becomes a different perspective. And this is why
I think the younger audience, who not everybody is in
the life of fast cars fast mind me, some people
are in the life of I got into a job,
I built my wealth, I built my family. You know. Now,
I fight to keep them in church, I fight to

(31:48):
keep them in school, I fight to keep them good
and clean.

Speaker 3 (31:51):
And so they don't really know that life, you know
what I'm saying. So those songs.

Speaker 4 (31:55):
Go stoopid right over your head and a way in
a way, you know what I'm saying.

Speaker 1 (32:00):
Oh my god, I could talk to Ralph and I
know you guys can listen to him all day. A
wealth of knowledge, a wealth he drops so many jewels here, Ralph.
Our time is up, and I'm so sad it goes
by so fast when you are talking to some great
people who've got great stories and laughs. I'll save it

(32:25):
for class in session because what I want to say
is that, because oh man, I just can't even imagine,
like what your life was like being around all of
these legends and you know just who are embedded in
our black history. Right in terms of talent, you're going

(32:46):
to see class and Session and these two actors here.
I just wanted to in class and session, after you
give them feedback or before, just tell them what you
look for in talent. What is it that just gets
you going in here?

Speaker 2 (33:02):
Like?

Speaker 1 (33:03):
Because you know, I'm gonna bring Elsa laython on. She
has two spirited actors she's going to introduce to you
each have a question, Hey.

Speaker 2 (33:11):
Elsa, Yes, Hello, Hello, thank you mister Ralph. Wonderful, Hello, Hello.
That was wonderful. Especially I come from a music background,
so that was especially thrilling to hear from me. And
I think we lost him for a seconds.

Speaker 1 (33:30):
Oh we did. Okay the stories that he has you guys,
my lord. Okay, that was good.

Speaker 4 (33:40):
That was good interview.

Speaker 1 (33:41):
It was fast.

Speaker 2 (33:41):
It was.

Speaker 1 (33:47):
Yeah, fast, Okay, sorry, go ahead, we're back.

Speaker 4 (33:51):
We're back, okay.

Speaker 1 (33:54):
So I'll just throw it to you episodes. So, Elsa,
who do we have today for Ralph?

Speaker 2 (34:00):
So today for our questions, we have miss h Tyler
del Gotto. Welcome, Ki, you can come on camera, Hi, Ki,
And one of my favorites, and we have mister g
Rodney Owens. Welcome Rodney.

Speaker 6 (34:19):
How are you? Mister Cooper?

Speaker 1 (34:20):
How are you?

Speaker 3 (34:20):
Hey? Pleasure like pleasure?

Speaker 2 (34:25):
So Ki you are first? What's your question him?

Speaker 1 (34:28):
Mister Cooper?

Speaker 2 (34:29):
How are you?

Speaker 4 (34:30):
Hi?

Speaker 3 (34:30):
Kai?

Speaker 4 (34:30):
How are you?

Speaker 7 (34:31):
I'm okay, so I wrote down my question.

Speaker 3 (34:34):
So Whitney okay?

Speaker 1 (34:35):
Love it. But what are some trends or changes in
the film industry that you are that are impacting producers today?

Speaker 4 (34:45):
Oh? Good question. The film industry has gone through a
lot of changes. It's a great industry. But I will
say that the recent BLM riots did bring in awareness
to put more urban esque, black cultured movies into the market,

(35:05):
and it allowed some directors and some producers and some
writers to tell some stories that previous to the riot
it was an uphill battle. So there's more in the
marketplace now that celebrates our history than ever before. And

(35:25):
it's kind of nice because the generation that's viewing it
gets to really hear some different perspectives. But they're also,
like I said earlier, it's causing an affecting change. It's
really causing an affecting change.

Speaker 3 (35:42):
Whereas a lot.

Speaker 4 (35:43):
Of films back in the day and all of them
are great because it gave a perspectives into our culture
on many levels, from Uncle Melvin van Peebles all the way.

Speaker 3 (35:56):
Down to well, first of.

Speaker 4 (35:57):
All, I'm gonna tell you something for a while, and
this is a you could research this. When the golden
Age of television happened way before we were born. People
were not going to the movie theaters, right, there was
a point in time where people not going to the
movie And in the early mid seventies, it was a

(36:21):
urban movie released by a major studio that brought people
back into the theaters.

Speaker 1 (36:29):
Wow.

Speaker 3 (36:30):
And that's a little known fact.

Speaker 4 (36:32):
The movie was called Superfly, the original Superfly, and that's
what yeah, And people were staying at home watching this
new thing called television. And literally the theaters were going
like kind of like what they were after the pandemic, like, oh,
we're not getting an audience. We don't know. And so
it was a it was a black movie that brought

(36:54):
them back put the butts in the seats.

Speaker 3 (36:56):
So we have that kind of.

Speaker 4 (36:59):
Economic and socioeconomic and audience power, and it's you know,
it's a little known fact that it's happened in the seventies,
and that's what really brought the people back in the theater.
So you would think again, if I'm an executive, that
I would promote that and keep that kind of film

(37:20):
in the people's face all the time at a high
level because of what it did for the industry. But
now today, to answer your question, there has been a
lot more wider acceptance of stories that were not being
able to be told on a wide level and being
accepted and being promoted by Hollywood to the masses. And
that's not just urban movies, but female stories. You couldn't.

Speaker 3 (37:45):
You couldn't for years.

Speaker 4 (37:47):
It was very hard if you had a female action
story to get that driven and funded and released by
a major studio.

Speaker 3 (37:56):
Whereas now you think, what are you crazy? You got
Charlie starone, you got Hollie. This was that one they
opened up a movie.

Speaker 4 (38:02):
Not a problem that's recent. That's very very recent. Yeah,
And so you know, and let's not go into our
brothers and sisters and the lgb T community. They couldn't
get their movies into mainstream at all, you know what
I mean.

Speaker 3 (38:17):
So those kind of.

Speaker 4 (38:18):
Changes have been affected. Currently there's more in the marketplace
that reflects real human kind, and I think that's very
important for us to celebrate.

Speaker 3 (38:29):
Because we need that in this medium.

Speaker 1 (38:33):
Excellent, Thank you, You're welcome.

Speaker 2 (38:37):
Awesome, Thank you, g Riddy. What's your question?

Speaker 1 (38:40):
How you doing, mister Cooper?

Speaker 6 (38:41):
Once again, I'm g Rdney Owens.

Speaker 4 (38:43):
I'm as brother.

Speaker 6 (38:45):
I'm intrigued by your whole life story, some amazing stuff.

Speaker 1 (38:49):
My question is.

Speaker 6 (38:51):
I'm a music buff. I love music, right. Do you
think that the lack of the R and B artists
of today is by design? But like promoting a certain
genre of music to not you know what I mean too?

Speaker 3 (39:08):
Rodney Gee, Rodney going he going deep? Deep dog, You're going.

Speaker 4 (39:13):
Deep dog, I know, but listen, listen, Yeah, you're gonna
get a solid trouble. But the answer is yes, I
I you know, I'm a big proponent of our black
music culture. I've you know, I've been there for a
lot of the people. I helped a lot of people.

(39:36):
I particularly got a lot of people signed. I helped
people where you would be shocked if I mentioned names
of people that I helped in various ways that are
like I said, Neo for instance, you know I didn't
sign him, but at one point I was his manager
in a boys group, for instance, And I feel responsible. Yeah,

(39:58):
Oh that's a heck of a story. And I feel
responsible because I pulled him aside and I said to him,
you know, listen, your songwriting is amazing. You can write
songs for yourself, you can write songs for the group,
you can write songs for other people.

Speaker 3 (40:13):
Don't ever stop with that.

Speaker 4 (40:15):
That songwriting ability is going to take you so far
in this industry that above and beyond performance, it could
become a staple for you, for you, for you as
an artist. And he took that to heart and literally,
you know, look at Neo today. Having said that, Yeah,
having said that, having said.

Speaker 3 (40:36):
That, I.

Speaker 4 (40:39):
The music labels have made a lot of money. They're
the portal to get the music to the people pre
the discro kid generation, pre all of that, pre DIY
where you could do it yourself right, and again, if
you don't have a little bit of a war chest
behind you, it's still hard to do it yourself. You're

(41:00):
competing in a wall now of one hundreds of thousands
of people DIY at the same time, So you're still
competitive in the space, and you need to spend money
and or figure out a way to get your voice
heard because now the highway got so much wider, right
in the DIY highway. Having said that, if the executives

(41:23):
were on the track of doing what I described earlier,
which is to develop the next level of R and
B at all times with their finger on the pulse.
So when a certain and we all age, we can't
help that right until we find a cure for that,
we all age. Right. So at one point a record

(41:45):
label president has to know that an artist, although your
voice gets better as you get older, they have to
know that there may be and some greats have gone
on Johnny Mathis, Tony Bennett. Look how long they performed.
But you got to know that there may be a
time when they are like a Selene deal. There may
be a time when poor Selene where other things, just

(42:10):
the human body function may derail them, stop them from
performing doing anything like that, even though the artist wants
to perform more. You have to have your pulse on
the next to Luther Vandross. Yeah, you have to say,
if Brian mckknight is my superstar R and B male,
who's the next younger Brian McKnight, Where's the next Temptations,

(42:32):
Where's the next Jodasy? Because if Jodasy is in the
legacy of the Temptations.

Speaker 3 (42:37):
Where's the next? Where's the next?

Speaker 4 (42:39):
Because just because we're at twenty twenty five doesn't mean
I don't want a Jotasy or Temptations exactly, does not
mean that so And in fact, if the audience for decades,
my parents, my parents' parents, my great grandparents have grown
up around a do wop group, into the Temptations, into Jodasy,

(43:03):
I'm really kind of grained into finding my generations Jodasy
because my daddy.

Speaker 3 (43:11):
My mommy talk about it.

Speaker 4 (43:12):
I heard the songs growing up, I heard the songs
on the radio as a kid.

Speaker 3 (43:17):
I'm really looking for that.

Speaker 4 (43:18):
So the fact that we can't point to two to
three mega girl groups in the market is kind of
scary to me because at one point you had Destiny's
Child and you had TC in the market, two totally
different girl groups, two totally different songs, two totally different
stage approaches, and you sold out both. But now I'm

(43:43):
sitting here in twenty twenty five going where's the Nex
in Vogue, where's the Ex Supremes, Where's the ex?

Speaker 2 (43:48):
Yeah?

Speaker 4 (43:48):
I agree, So somebody was kind of maybe asleep at
the wheel or or was there a meeting that.

Speaker 3 (43:58):
Said hmmm, because the audience to me, to me, to
me is there.

Speaker 4 (44:03):
And look at nobody put out a memo saying, oh,
we don't want no boy groups.

Speaker 3 (44:09):
Right, we don't want.

Speaker 4 (44:10):
No boy groups, you know. And so whether it's in
Sync you know what I'm saying, or Jodesy or New Kids,
the memo didn't go out that Americans and the world
doesn't want boy groups.

Speaker 3 (44:24):
And in fact, when.

Speaker 4 (44:26):
Other countries see the whole in the American music system,
they can come in and now you have like BTS
and you have other world groups. Now I love the
fact that we can enjoy the music of other people.
But it's painful to me that there is no young
boy group in the marketplace that I could point to

(44:49):
that I could say if I had kids that they
would be wanting to come to me with I gotta
get tickets for.

Speaker 3 (44:55):
This boy group, Daddy, I gotta go see them. So
somebody had to be responsible for that.

Speaker 4 (45:00):
So that's my answer, gee, and.

Speaker 1 (45:04):
He's going to stand by that. Yeah, that's a good answer.
Thank you guys for the questions, Elsa, thank you for
bringing on who I haven't seen my favorite people at
g Rodney and then Elsa. Also, these are the actors
that are going to be participating in class and Session

(45:25):
which is coming up. So audience, stay tight. I know
your head is like heavy like with this information and
this knowledge and wisdom, so stay tight because Ralph Cooper
the Second will be with us in class and session
coming up on the Spirited Actor Podcast with me Tracy Moore.

(45:46):
Welcome back to the Spirited Actor Podcast with me Tracy Moore.
You are so blessed. Mister Ralph Cooper the Second is
still with us, ladies and gentlemen. So we are going
to go right into class and session. And you know
this is where we have two spirited actors who are
going to perform a scene for a Ralph and he's
going to drop some more jewels. You guys should have

(46:06):
your treasure chests open to receive them. All right, Elsa,
let us know what we have today and what's going on.

Speaker 2 (46:16):
Yeah, so I'm excited about this one. Get your tissue
ready today for a class and session. We have that,
Miss high Tyler del Gatto. Welcome back, Todd, thank you,
thank you, And we have mister g Rodney Owens, Welcome
back to you.

Speaker 1 (46:34):
Rodney thank you, thank you for having me at pleasure.

Speaker 2 (46:38):
Okay, So today's scene is written by a page turner
titled Mine, Body and Soul. Interior Mike and Tina's living
room night. Mike is sitting on the couch anxiously flipping
through TV channels. The clock on the wall ticks loudly,
walking the passing minutes as he waits for Tina to

(46:59):
come home. The front door opens. Tina enters, looking exhausted
and one out as usual.

Speaker 6 (47:07):
Yoh, what the hell, Tina?

Speaker 3 (47:09):
Where you've been?

Speaker 1 (47:10):
You laid again?

Speaker 6 (47:12):
You look tired, and you've been acting distant.

Speaker 1 (47:17):
Are you seeing someone else? Mike? Please? Not this again.
I have a lot on my planet work. Look, don't
lie to me, Tina.

Speaker 6 (47:29):
I know when there's something else more going on.

Speaker 1 (47:32):
Tell me the truth now.

Speaker 2 (47:35):
Tina hesitates, her eyes, betraying a hint of guilt. She
knows she can't keep the charade much longer.

Speaker 7 (47:44):
It's just work, Mike.

Speaker 2 (47:46):
You know what.

Speaker 7 (47:46):
Listen, I don't have time for this right.

Speaker 1 (47:48):
Now, Tina? Is it somebody I know? Mike? Please?

Speaker 7 (47:57):
Can you just can you trust what I'm trying to
tell you?

Speaker 1 (48:01):
There is nobody else? No, No, not this time. I'll
tell you what.

Speaker 6 (48:08):
I don't know who it is, but whoever it is,
I s would to.

Speaker 1 (48:11):
God, I will kill him for making you straight from me.

Speaker 7 (48:18):
You know what? I wish you could. I wish you
really really could. I wish you could put your hands
around his neck and snatch him from my mind, body,
and soul.

Speaker 2 (48:35):
Mike is puzzled by her response, Unsure of what she means,
Tina takes a deep breath, summoning the courage to reveal
the painful truths she's been hiding.

Speaker 6 (48:45):
Okay, so let's start with a name, when address or something?

Speaker 7 (48:50):
Really the person that has me tired and has invaded
my body?

Speaker 1 (48:59):
It's cancer?

Speaker 4 (49:03):
What wait?

Speaker 7 (49:04):
Come on, I've been going through chemotherapy, Michael, and I
didn't tell you because I was trying to protect you.

Speaker 1 (49:16):
Are you serious right now?

Speaker 2 (49:19):
Mike's anger dissipates in an instant, replaced by shock and sorrow.
Tears streamed down his face as he realizes the depth
of Tina's suffering on her selfless act of keeping it
hidden from them.

Speaker 6 (49:33):
You know, I'm so sorry, baby, I'm sorry.

Speaker 1 (49:37):
I didn't know.

Speaker 6 (49:40):
Look, I promise you, I promise you you will get
through this together.

Speaker 1 (49:48):
Okay, I love you. I love you you.

Speaker 2 (49:53):
Tina nods, her own tears, now flowing freely. In that moment.
Their love and bond are stronger than ever before as
they embraced united in the face of a new journey
with a formidable enemy.

Speaker 1 (50:08):
See, I'm going to throw it to you, Ralph, you
tell him what you saw.

Speaker 3 (50:18):
Well.

Speaker 4 (50:19):
I love the work first of all. The only comments
I'm going to make, because you know, usually you depend
on the director right for the interpretation. The only comments
I'm going to make are the sonics of it. I
like g Rod's coming on really strong. I want to

(50:41):
see more of a shock when g Rod hears it's cancer.
He's as destroyed as miss Delle Guy. He's a significant
other to someone who he thought he had busted her
with a whole train of what she had done against
the relationship, and now he's finding out that bubble that

(51:05):
he built in his head and his soul emotionally, mentally,
and it was really making him sick physically.

Speaker 3 (51:11):
That he's going to come on that all of a.

Speaker 4 (51:13):
Sudden when he finds out the cancer, it his whole
world explodes. So I'd like to see his whole world
like I like the reaction. Gee, I just want to
see more of the.

Speaker 3 (51:25):
Oh my god, you have what you know, like in
your eyes.

Speaker 4 (51:29):
The whole thing has to be like like like you
experienced something you never experienced before, but you now are
seeing it firsthand.

Speaker 3 (51:38):
Right. But I do like your use, I like your movement.

Speaker 8 (51:44):
I like a lot and on a stage, I would
believe you because I believe you would even do more
of the movements like maybe walk away, come back, be loud,
you know, be effective.

Speaker 4 (51:58):
But at the same.

Speaker 3 (51:59):
Time, when you get blown backwards, we have to feel
that too. And it could be there's choices here as
an actor.

Speaker 4 (52:06):
It could be that you are very demonstrative when you're
coming on, but then when you come off, you're frozen.

Speaker 3 (52:16):
So you can make that choice. It could be you
know what I mean.

Speaker 4 (52:19):
It could be a choice of just you know, you
totally break down and go outfit to omega one hundred
and eighty degrees the other way. But otherwise I love
to take and I love to read, and with our
young starlet, I would say again, you know, I'm not
that kind of producer who really I allow the actors

(52:39):
to make their choices. My only comment on the young
starlet Kiah when when you are telling him you might
want a factor in how his emotions are going, you
know what I mean, And you might be like, it
might cause you to stammer, it might cause you to
go But but but Mike, you know, why would you

(53:02):
think that, why.

Speaker 3 (53:03):
Would you feel that? But what gives you that impression?

Speaker 2 (53:07):
You know?

Speaker 4 (53:07):
And it's all in your faith. So you're you're challenging
him because you know what about You're about to hit
him with the incredible Hulk.

Speaker 9 (53:14):
Knockout punch because in his in his mind, you're cheating,
you're rolling, you're fronting your you're lion, you know, and
you're scheming, and you're somebody else's you're sharing yourself.

Speaker 3 (53:28):
With somebody else. But in reality, you're fighting for your life.

Speaker 4 (53:33):
And when you tell him that, that is that emotion
coming out of you about what it really really is.
I should be able to really be knocked down. So
as much as g Rodney was knocked down, I got
to be knocked out, like oh my god, oh my god,
you know, and g Rodney is going to be knocked down,

(53:55):
and which is going to turn him around? You know,
like three times he's going to come right back you're like, oh.

Speaker 3 (54:01):
Now he's about baby listen. No, oh my god, baby,
Oh my god, this is our fight.

Speaker 4 (54:07):
No more do you have And this is the best
kind of descriptive I could say of it. When the
scene starts, you're at opposite. It ends you're not a
team anymore. By the high point of the reveal, you're
you're the You're the biggest team ever because you're the
other man.

Speaker 3 (54:27):
Felt like.

Speaker 4 (54:29):
I have to now be.

Speaker 3 (54:30):
A part of the solution. Yeah, there is no problem.

Speaker 4 (54:36):
In fact, my significant other was trying to protect me.
And those emotions have to be shown from both the
female side and the male side. So that's my only comment.
And and in that are varying degrees of physicality, vocal technique,

(54:57):
and again the emotions that could be brought up, you know,
are so strong with that with that piece that both
you and both the male and the female could bust
out into tears at any time at the end. That's
the beauty of the piece, you know what I'm saying.

Speaker 1 (55:13):
Yeah, absolutely, thank you, Yeah, thank you guys, thank you else.

Speaker 4 (55:19):
Yeah, you're both great.

Speaker 6 (55:21):
Yeah, that was amazing, that was amazing stuff.

Speaker 1 (55:24):
Thank you, And I mean, Ralph, all I can say
is that. I really pray you're writing the book, your book,
your story.

Speaker 4 (55:32):
Thank you that that is true. You know, I got
I got Dad's memoirs published at HarperCollins.

Speaker 3 (55:40):
Okay, I wrote, I wrote the forward.

Speaker 4 (55:43):
I'm turning that into a film, okay, and I literally
now you know, the theater is literally going Oh newsbreaking flash,
news flash. I want to announce something. The theater is
going through a lot of changes on twenty Fishery and expanding,
and so there's an up.

Speaker 3 (56:01):
Yeah, there's an update.

Speaker 4 (56:02):
There's the Apollo Stages at the Victoria, which the Victoria
was the theater down feet not down the block, but
it was literally feet down, you know. And so we're
doing Apollo Stages at the Victoria, which is now its
own little complex with housing and all kinds of things.
So it's wonderful. There's a jewel Box Theater, which is

(56:25):
a you know, ninety nine to one hundred seater that's
going to be constructed at the Victoria. But there's going
to be more stages to be able to allow the
culture to be pushed promoted, more artists to be theme.

Speaker 3 (56:43):
Active interaction. And because it's Dad's ninetieth year.

Speaker 4 (56:47):
Of amateur night.

Speaker 3 (56:49):
I'm going to go back in in May and host
some of the shows.

Speaker 4 (56:54):
Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, Okay, we got to come to it.
Yeah yeah. So it's an amazing timestamp, you know, after
growing up with the man that created the format, wrote
all the formats, found these icons of American music, and
you know, and literally now coming back home and hosting

(57:17):
the show is going to be an amazing feeld. But
I'm gonna host it in a way that I can
because there's a perspective I have that anyone else hosting
obviously doesn't have. You know what I'm saying, right, you
know what I mean? There's great stories to be told
because you know, like dad found Billie Holiday down the
block from the Apollo.

Speaker 1 (57:40):
That story, No, I Steve told me that story. Honestly,
I know that story. But but this is the deal.
The thing is is that not only are you a
part of it, but if it wasn't for your dad
creating this platform, where would these artists be to you know,
like because the Elevan was later, you know, Soul Train

(58:02):
was later, but this was like and I have to say,
I've been there so many times, Harlem, the most challenging
audience I've ever experienced.

Speaker 4 (58:13):
Much like totally rude.

Speaker 1 (58:16):
But they know talent. I got to get They no
talent audience because they're not gonna let you do the
hokeey do.

Speaker 3 (58:24):
Come there, they're not.

Speaker 4 (58:26):
And that's a barometer that kind of tells you how.

Speaker 3 (58:29):
Much people want the talent. If the show was not
being sustained.

Speaker 4 (58:34):
By the talent, there'd be no need for the show.
And the show inspired everything, like you said, from America's
Got Talent all the way from the history of the
Ted Voys.

Speaker 3 (58:46):
Major Bows.

Speaker 4 (58:47):
Yeah, the voice Star Sarves. You know, it's ridiculous. Having
said that, Having said that, the beauty of that audience,
the beauty of Harlem in the house, the beauty of
that very discerning, spiritual, energetic, very very metaphysical audience that

(59:08):
has predicted and helped stars on their craft because you know,
our greats came onto that stage and really had to
work the craft. Loser got mood a couple of times
people got booed that you would go, hold on, who
got booed? You know, you would be shocked when you
look at the history of what happened. So and then
people got off to the wrong foot because they were

(59:30):
just so overwhelmed, nervous. That's what happened with baby Ella Fitzgerald.
She came out and got off just on the wrong
key because she was overwhelmed.

Speaker 3 (59:39):
She was shaking off stage, and.

Speaker 4 (59:41):
When she got out, she got into the wrong key
just by the stake, first time on the Apollo stage.
And so the band's going one way, she's going the
other way in the wrong key, and the audience is
starting to go, you know, get the boot ready, and
you're starting to hear it, and she busts out in
tears and.

Speaker 3 (59:59):
Ran off, you know what I mean. Dad had to come.

Speaker 4 (01:00:03):
Back on, realizing what had really happened. This is all
real time now. He came back on. He stopped the band,
he stopped the audience. He says, I think everybody got
off on the wrong key. Then he got he said
let's reset everything, calmed Ella down, Baby Ella, you know,
and literally said let's start, ladies and gentlemen, Ella fitzgeral.

(01:00:26):
And that was so razor sharp that if he had
not done that, we might have lost that talent.

Speaker 3 (01:00:35):
We might have lost Ella, you know.

Speaker 4 (01:00:37):
And his his acumen was amazing, and coupled with the
Apollo audience was amazing. And that's happened two or three
times in different generations where we could have lost this
person because of not they didn't deserve it. It's just
outside circumstances, a nervousness, you know what I mean, which is.

Speaker 3 (01:00:56):
A humanistic thing not to be you know, down.

Speaker 4 (01:00:59):
On any level you're walking out on the greatest stage
on the planet in real time, you are nervous, you
know what I'm saying. So it's natural, it can happen.
It can happen, but yeah, it's an amazing Recently we
were interviewed. I was interviewed for the BBC based around
an l a thing and they just aired it now.

(01:01:21):
I think it's playing in America on BBC, but it's
called ten Pictures and literally you know. The BBC person
asked me, you know, because when you describe Dad's life,
you go, well, he asked me, was this because I said,
his magical touch was higher, was from a higher power.

(01:01:45):
It was a higher level of operation. Because what he
did and what he found, and the fact that he
never really wanted to manage anybody. He said to me,
I said, Dad, you know, why didn't we build the
greatest record label on the planet. Had all the greatest
stars on the world coming through the stage, and he
turns to me. He said, Ralph, you know, if you
manage one person, then you can't manage everybody. And if

(01:02:10):
you manage five people, if you're gonna want to manage
ten people, you're gonna want to manage one hundred people.
You can't handle that.

Speaker 3 (01:02:16):
But in the position I'm in, I can help everybody.
And so that was like, whoa wait a minute, Yeah,
say that again.

Speaker 4 (01:02:25):
Yeah, you know what I mean.

Speaker 3 (01:02:26):
So it's amazing how he saw that.

Speaker 1 (01:02:30):
Yeah, it's superseded dollar.

Speaker 4 (01:02:32):
Signs, profitability.

Speaker 3 (01:02:34):
That was not in it. That was not the vision.

Speaker 4 (01:02:37):
The vision really was about the people and the talent
and being that pathway right allowed us because to me,
Amateur Night is literally the musical spinal cord of America
as you go down that spinal cord in every generation
because music reflects what's going on.

Speaker 3 (01:02:58):
So at every.

Speaker 4 (01:02:58):
Spinal cord, every every year, every generation, every decade, there
it is and it's reflected in the music, you know
what I'm saying. So it was an insight that I
thought was amazing. And so the BBC guy said to me, well,
your father just started a young talent show. I said, no,
you didn't start a young talent show. The talent show

(01:03:18):
is a talent show. You allow the host to introduce
the talent, and then the host allows the talent to perform.
That's not what happened. There were magical things that happened
where we as a humankind would not have had that
talent if he didn't have a discerning eye to make
sure that the talent was presented in the correct manner.

(01:03:40):
And that's something that's lacking in a lot of these
other shows because the motivation is talent, but underneath it
is a financial thing, you know what I'm saying. So
it's interesting. It's a very deep, interesting perspective that supersedes
the physicality. It's much more of a metaphysical thing.

Speaker 1 (01:04:01):
Well, I just want to say that I feel extremely
blessed and grateful to have you as a guest to
not only educate our audience in you know, the talent
that ah your dad, you then so blessed to put
your hands on and give us America and Black America

(01:04:23):
these icons and legends that we have today and forever on.
And also I want to say hosts too, because I
knew wrote Rush and I and Steve Harvey had a career.
So it goes on and on.

Speaker 4 (01:04:35):
It goes on on it. It's in comedy, in dance, yes,
you know it. Chris crossed so many things and we
don't get to talk about that. But from the comedian,
like literally Chris rock hone his talent on the stage
of Amateur Night as a special guest. I always made
them with a special guests. But you know, from moms

(01:04:55):
maybely on and moms maybely for the kids that don't
know it, you know, was a predecessor to Wanda Sykes
today on all levels. Listen to me, fam on all levels.
So it's not like it wasn't there. It was there,
but it needed to be brought to the audience. So

(01:05:16):
we've had quite a black cultural experience, like Tracy so
aptly described, that supersedes into all forms of entertainment coming
off that stage. And it's an amazing story of progression
because here we are today in twenty twenty four to
twenty five talking about it. We're talking about it, you

(01:05:37):
know what I mean.

Speaker 1 (01:05:39):
Ladies and gentlemen, please once again our extraordinary guest, mister
Ralph Cooper, the second just phenomenal Ralph love you forever.

Speaker 3 (01:05:50):
Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Speaker 1 (01:05:54):
I can't wait till the show airs. You guys are
going to have a great time when we come back
on the Spirited Actor Podcast with me Tracy Moore. I'm
going to give you guys some love. Thank you. And
now it's time for Kudos Corner. Kudos Corner is a
place where we celebrate actors, support them and introduce them
to you. This week's Kudos Corner puts the spotlight on

(01:06:16):
Spirited actor Raina Sedanio. Raina recently returned to the role
of Ava for season three of All Black series Makeup
and Breakup. Now she's filming season two of fellow Spirited
actor Felicia Bishop's YouTube series In a New York Minute,
where she stars as Tara. Previously, you've seen Raina in

(01:06:39):
Bubbly Brown Sugar, now streaming on black Oak TV, Random
Acts of Flyness on Max and of course, Raina will
go down in the Inside the Black Box History as
the actress who made Felicia Rashad cry with her moving
monologue performance during season one episode Kudos Terina Sedanio and

(01:07:04):
now it's time to give Love. I was having a
conversation the other day with my family, and I was
talking about how, in my observation that this world is
so quick to gravitate to negativity and bad feelings first. Right, So,
for instance, in talking to actors, you guys will submit

(01:07:26):
to a role and then you know, someone will say, well,
how how did the submission go? How do you feel?
I don't know. I don't think you know. I don't
think I did a great job. I mean, there's probably
somebody out there better than my That in my experience
is usually the place, the first place that actors will go.
I want to change them. I want all actors to

(01:07:48):
go back to the first time that you wanted to
be an actor. The excitement, the passion, the focus, the
relentless journey that you were ready to jump on. Always
go back to that place and remember why you're doing
what you're doing. Our guest today, Ralph Cooper, says something

(01:08:09):
really important. He said that when you know your history,
then you know who you are. And that's what we
need to embrace our history, our power, our mightiness, our
kings and queen's And then once you know who you are,
you will know whose you are and you will understand

(01:08:31):
the power in which you have embrace your power and
embrace your history. Don't forget to look out for us
on our new show, Inside the Black Box. My co
host will be Joe the Legend Morton. It's going to
be the Spirited Actor Podcast on Steroids. We'll be streaming

(01:08:52):
on the Crackle network. I'll keep you posted. Thank you
for joining us on the Spirited Actor Podcast with me
Tracy Moore. I look forward to our next Spirited Podcast.
Thank you.