March 30, 2025 • 46 mins
Welcome to Season 9!
Check out Amanda's conversation with Brandon Leake!
Brandon Leake is the season 15 winner of America’s Got Talent, a 7x Telly Award Winner, 1x SOVAS Award Winner, and 1x Emmy Award Winner. Brandon has been a Poetic Performer, Keynote Speaker, and Workshop leader for over a decade, traveling locations such as: New Zealand, Canada, Mexico, South Africa, and 42 States. Brandon has collaborated with companies such as Meta, CBS, California Hospital Association, Good Morning America, Golden State Warriors, Sacramento Kings, and many others. Brandon’s use of personal narrative with his gifting in poetic prose allows him to speak not merely to crowds, but to their inner being, to connect one soul to another, to connect people to an intrinsic sense of communal humanity that is at times severely lacking in our world. Brandon Leake is a visionary, whos words, but most importantly actions reflect his love of Christ, people, and the world.
Brandon's Links:
https://brandonleake.com/
CHECK OUT AMANDA'S NEW TV SHOW: The Poet Speaks with Amanda Eke! Now airing on the Archaeology Channel and Roku!
STREAM HERE:
https://heritagetac.org/programs/the-poet-speaks-with-amanda-eke-i28z2vn9bsc?category_id=65263
Be sure to check out The Poet Speaks Podcast on Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/thepoetspeakspodcast/
And listen to,The Poet Speaks Podcast, on the go on ALL STREAMING PLATFORMS WORLDWIDE!
Apple:https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast...
Spotify:https://open.spotify.com/show/1cM1rdF...
Did you know The Poet Speaks is also Amanda's touring global workshop? She teaches people all about how to make, create and the history of Spoken Word and Indigenous oral traditions! To make a booking for The Poet Speaks Workshop with your organization, apply for mentorships with Amanda, book interviews, as well as writing consultations, please use this link: https://www.amandaeke.com/services
Music by: Buzu Buzu
https://www.instagram.com/bbuzu/
Check out Amanda's conversation with Brandon Leake!
Brandon Leake is the season 15 winner of America’s Got Talent, a 7x Telly Award Winner, 1x SOVAS Award Winner, and 1x Emmy Award Winner. Brandon has been a Poetic Performer, Keynote Speaker, and Workshop leader for over a decade, traveling locations such as: New Zealand, Canada, Mexico, South Africa, and 42 States. Brandon has collaborated with companies such as Meta, CBS, California Hospital Association, Good Morning America, Golden State Warriors, Sacramento Kings, and many others. Brandon’s use of personal narrative with his gifting in poetic prose allows him to speak not merely to crowds, but to their inner being, to connect one soul to another, to connect people to an intrinsic sense of communal humanity that is at times severely lacking in our world. Brandon Leake is a visionary, whos words, but most importantly actions reflect his love of Christ, people, and the world.
Brandon's Links:
https://brandonleake.com/
CHECK OUT AMANDA'S NEW TV SHOW: The Poet Speaks with Amanda Eke! Now airing on the Archaeology Channel and Roku!
STREAM HERE:
https://heritagetac.org/programs/the-poet-speaks-with-amanda-eke-i28z2vn9bsc?category_id=65263
Be sure to check out The Poet Speaks Podcast on Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/thepoetspeakspodcast/
And listen to,The Poet Speaks Podcast, on the go on ALL STREAMING PLATFORMS WORLDWIDE!
Apple:https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast...
Spotify:https://open.spotify.com/show/1cM1rdF...
Did you know The Poet Speaks is also Amanda's touring global workshop? She teaches people all about how to make, create and the history of Spoken Word and Indigenous oral traditions! To make a booking for The Poet Speaks Workshop with your organization, apply for mentorships with Amanda, book interviews, as well as writing consultations, please use this link: https://www.amandaeke.com/services
Music by: Buzu Buzu
https://www.instagram.com/bbuzu/
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:06):
Join us on the Poetic Odyssey, a celebration of voices, cultures,
and the power of words. I'm Amanda Ecking. Welcome to
the poet Speaks, where every syllable ignites inspiration for get,
involve with what stories are on these tracks?
Speaker 2 (00:27):
This idea of the Bronx. Now, boogie down Bronx.
Speaker 3 (00:30):
That's what people say, right, Don't become someone's subway story.
Speaker 4 (00:37):
Medicate me with a lick of the like, I am
not afraid to love you.
Speaker 5 (00:45):
All of us have a story.
Speaker 4 (00:47):
Microphone magnifying.
Speaker 3 (00:50):
No one want to listen, So I think that's what made.
Speaker 5 (00:54):
Me in writing the writing disco.
Speaker 2 (00:57):
You ready amazing poetry always.
Speaker 4 (01:07):
Hello everyone, and welcome back to the poet Speaks podcast.
Now our next guest is an award winning spoken word poet, artist, educator,
and motivational speaker performing in locations such as New Zealand, Mexico, Canada,
in thirty six states around the country. Known for his
dark Side Towards fromont his first ever poetry chat book,
and his Crown Jeweled Deficiency A Tale from My dark
(01:29):
Side album, Root and Transparency, as well as healing.
Speaker 2 (01:33):
Also the founder and CEO of Called to Move CTM.
Speaker 4 (01:36):
And Artistry organization with the pursuit of aiding youth and
self actualizing and personally developing.
Speaker 2 (01:42):
Through the art of poetry.
Speaker 4 (01:43):
Oh and yes, he's also the season fifteen winner of
America's Got Talent.
Speaker 2 (01:48):
Everybody, Welcome to the Poet.
Speaker 4 (01:49):
Speaks podcast, Brandon Leak, Brandon, how are you today?
Speaker 3 (01:53):
Ah?
Speaker 5 (01:54):
Very well, thank you for the invites. Very happy to
be here, very happy to be here.
Speaker 4 (01:59):
Absolutely absolutely When you even just now, when you hear
someone reading your bio, do you still blush? Do you
still you get a little goose mumpy believing all the
things that you've been able to do.
Speaker 3 (02:10):
Not really fam I'll be honest, I hate my bio.
That's just but that's just like a personal thing.
Speaker 5 (02:19):
I just hate.
Speaker 3 (02:20):
Like I'm trying to get better at being okay with
hearing my accolades and like being able to enjoy the.
Speaker 5 (02:28):
Hard work I put in.
Speaker 3 (02:30):
I'm a real futurist at heart, and so I constantly
am just looking forward, very rarely looking back at the
things I've already done. Yeah.
Speaker 4 (02:38):
No's that's something so futurists. So you look forward, you
never look back or stay in the present. Is that
what you mean by that?
Speaker 3 (02:44):
Yeah, I'm trying. God's really working on you with that though.
God's like ao soun like, I gave you a testimony,
so you got to you gotta use it. So I'm
trying to take a bit more care of that these days.
Still a work in progress, for sure.
Speaker 2 (02:56):
For sure, let's kind of go back, go back a bit.
Speaker 4 (03:00):
You know a lot of people, you know, they know
you for your accolades, but you know, tell us a
bit about where did you grow up and kind of
tell us how your childhood affected your journey to become
the writer, the poet that you are today.
Speaker 2 (03:12):
So where did you grow up? Were you born and
bred anywhere? Tell us?
Speaker 3 (03:15):
Yeah, so I'm a Cali kid Worner raised in Stockton, California.
That's actually where I still reside now. And yeah, like
writing was never my first love. I enjoyed drawing and
like making comic books as a kid because I used
to go to the Maya Angelou Library, which is, you know,
real poetic considering what I do for a living now,
But I used to go to the Maya Angelou Library
(03:36):
just up the street from my house, and I would
go get these Dragon ball Z manga comics and I
would like trace them with trace paper and then add
my own words to their speech bubbles. But before that,
it was it was just basketball. Like basketball was the passion,
Basketball was the drive. Basketball was the whole dream all
the way through my first two years of college. So like,
I played basketball for about like sixteen years since I
(03:57):
was four, and so that was the whole Like, hey, like,
what do you want to be when you grow up?
Kobe Bryant? Like that was that was the answer, full
and complete.
Speaker 4 (04:08):
That's kind of crazy. I mean, so you were you
were a baller growing up. That was really the dream.
How did you then shift? Because I'm Cali native myself,
I'm from Sacramento, I can say Northern California is definitely
a place I had. I had dreams of sports, whether
it be track, basketball, of course, But I wonder, how
then did you make this shift to becoming a writer,
(04:31):
becoming a poet spoken word poetry, especially performing.
Speaker 3 (04:34):
I wrote poems in like middle school and high school
for girls who I thought were cute. But like in
my freshman year of college, my best friend, Bernard Daniels,
he died due to some gang violence that was happening
in the city. He had actually drowned in a levee
down the street from where we grew up. And I
used to just take them all on my pain out
(04:55):
on the court. It used to just be like my
one place of solitude. If I was calling through something,
I could just let it all out there. This is
one of those pains where releasing it on the court
didn't do nothing for me, didn't help me in any way,
didn't free me anyway.
Speaker 5 (05:11):
And I really prayed.
Speaker 3 (05:12):
And I was like, hey, God, like, like Jesus, what
are you wanting me to do with this?
Speaker 4 (05:16):
Like?
Speaker 3 (05:17):
What are you asking me to do with this pain?
I saw a sign for an open mic and it
was the first time that I had seen and open
mic functioning at my school, and I was like, man,
maybe that's it. Maybe I write about it. And so
I wrote a poem, went and shared it. And that
was kind of like the first experience that gave me
(05:37):
any inclination that poetry could be like the vessel for me,
that it could be a place where me and God
could meet for the sake of the healing that I
needed to do.
Speaker 5 (05:47):
So yeah, I would say that that was like probably like.
Speaker 3 (05:49):
The capstone marker change for me artistically.
Speaker 4 (05:54):
Yeah, and you know, I'm curious, you know, being familiar
to someone that grew up in northern California, stock then
you know it has such variables in terms of the
gang violence, safety that's all around that city. How much
of your life was affected, Like you said, you know,
you had a friend that you know, may they're so
rest in peace that passed away due.
Speaker 2 (06:12):
To that violence. How much of your.
Speaker 4 (06:14):
Life and your youth was affected by that, by those
outer influences of violence and maybe just the community.
Speaker 2 (06:21):
That you were of Stockton.
Speaker 3 (06:23):
Yeah, I think it's actually highly overstated how violent Stockton is,
just because it's not like when I think of any city,
like if you go to the wrong neighborhood, then you
have the unfortunate opportunity to be met with violence or
you know, gangs or drugs or whatever. Like I know
Sacramento is being gentrified as we speak, but like there
(06:45):
was a period of time where being in oak Park
was you know past a certain time would resulting you
not being the most safe individual, you know what I mean.
We know what happens in places like Oakland right now
you go to certain parts of us, So like it's
I think it's overstated, but.
Speaker 5 (07:02):
Like, I would say I was fairly shielded.
Speaker 3 (07:05):
Interestingly enough, I was at a Bible study yesterday and
one of the people was like, man.
Speaker 5 (07:09):
Like, like God has really graced.
Speaker 3 (07:11):
Your life, Like as I hear your story, like God
is really like put a head around you. And I'm like,
man like, as I reflect on it, God really has.
I didn't go to the public school in my neighborhood.
My mom tested me for a magnet school that I
was able to go to that you know, was probably
about like four or five miles away from my neighborhood,
closer to the downtown area, where I got like a
(07:33):
really high quality education. I grew up in a Baptist
amme churt where like I had a church family everywhere
select no matter where I went, I always had somebody
who either had an eye out on me or for me.
So yeah, I would say I was fortunate in a
lot of ways to avoid the pitfalls of what normally
comes especially a lot to a lot of young black men.
(07:55):
Like I've been immensely blessed in that regard. So I
would say it's it's impacted me on on the outer
scale of like seeing things and witnessing them and like
being impacted by people who've been directly hit by them.
Like I attended eighteen funerals by eighteen, Right, many of
them were like family who were like elderly and older,
(08:16):
but like I would say a solid seven to eight
of them were people either my age, slightly younger.
Speaker 5 (08:23):
Or just slightly older.
Speaker 3 (08:24):
And so like that does impact you, you know, like
death does touch me differently because I've had so many
engagements with it. I would say, God really really blessed
me to not have to endure as much as that.
Speaker 4 (08:35):
Yeah, my goodness, eighteen funerals by the time you're eighteen
is wild. I mean, that is really definitely life changing,
and we really appreciate you for sharing that. So tell
me a little bit about now, you know, you went
from a former athlete to becoming a writer. Tell us
about how that kind of evolved for you to now
becoming the career that you've had. I mean, tell us
(08:57):
about how that trajectory kind of slowly or maybe it
happened fast for you. How did that trajectory happen to
now this became a professional life's work.
Speaker 3 (09:07):
Yeah, I mean, like I was an English major in
college for my first year and a half and What
ended up happening was I had a teacher who talked
like the viazine man. For all the young folk who
are watching this, they have no idea what I'm talking about.
But he had a very monotone, boring voice. It was
really really not fun to listen to. I remember falling
(09:29):
asleep in this class for like the third time in
the same day and just thinking to myself like, oh, yeah, like,
I can't I can't stay here, Like I can't stay
in this classity board. I am going to lose my
mind if I stay here any longer. I went and
switched to become a psychology major that same day. I
already had enough courses to qualify for an English minor,
(09:49):
so I was like, hey, I got my minor. I'm
going to be a psych major. I'm going to become
a psychologist, or I'm going to become like a psychiatrist,
or I get the chance to like work with people
who need mental help. And I quickly realized that that
type of one on one relationship where it's only like
one person talking, would leave me really drained. And I'm like, oh,
I won't be helpy doing this, so let's not do
(10:11):
that either. So I'm like, God, what do you want
me to do? And it's around this same time that
poetry starts taking a more prevalent place in my life.
Speaker 5 (10:19):
I made a poet by the name of Michael Bourney from.
Speaker 3 (10:22):
Long Beach, and I'm like, oh, man, like I want
to do that, like I want to be a professional artist.
And I over spiritualize it, like super deeply. I'm like, yo,
God's calling me to be an artist. And then the
poet who I looked up to, Micah, He's like, hey,
whoa whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa whoa before you put a
whole lot on it, do you like it? And I'm
like yes. He was like, do you do you hear
(10:42):
God telling you no, Mike No, He's like, is it unbiblical?
Speaker 5 (10:46):
I'm like no, He's like, and just go for it.
Speaker 3 (10:49):
Operate in freedom until you get told otherwise. And so
like that happens sophomore year, and from that point on,
I was getting my degree because I knew I was
going to have to have a regular job at some point.
But I had been just like slowly and surely making
my way into the idea of like, hey, art is
(11:10):
going to be a very big part of my life,
I'm going to be doing this. And what ended up
happening was after graduating college, I had a whole slew
of issues occur. We can talk about that another time
or in another question, but I was a divine intervention
brought me back home. I worked a job as a
paraprofessional at a school with a student who had a
(11:32):
mental disability, and then I got a job working at
the county for a group called Black Health.
Speaker 5 (11:38):
And all the while while I was doing this, I
was running.
Speaker 3 (11:41):
From my city in Stockton up to Sacramento, where you're
from like three to four days a week, performing at
places like Mahogany, places like Shine Cafe, places like brick House,
places like Luna's Cafe, random open mics that would just
kind of pop up here and there, and I was
just like, Oh, this is it, Like this is what
(12:02):
I'm going to do. This is like I'm going to
chase after this. And then I ended up joining the
Sacramento Slam team and performing alongside them in the year
twenty fifteen, which was really eye opening experience at not
just like the quality of poetry, but the dedication required
to be able to make that type of quality poetry
(12:22):
and all the while I was still working these jobs,
got fired from a couple of them because I was
doing way too much poetry stuff and you know, took
my ls, learned how to make those under dubs. Yeah,
it wasn't until twenty seventeen, twenty eighteen that I really
took the plunge to become a full time poet. Traveling
touring for my album Deficiencies. I did one hundred and
(12:44):
fifty shows over the course of ten months, went to,
as you mentioned, like three or four different countries, thirty
six states, and that number has just grown over time. Yeah,
So that's that's kind of been the trajectory and the
road that we've taken to get here so far.
Speaker 4 (12:59):
No, that's you know, that is when you really kind
of put that into perspective. That is wild, the amount
of footwork and the amount of hustle that you've really
put in there, especially within that ten months over one
hundred shows that you've done. So that's quite a testament
to the passion and dedication. Tell us a bit about
(13:20):
I do kind of want to hit a point yours.
You seem very rooted in your religion and your spirituality
and your religious religionosity, tell us a bit about if
you feel comfortable obviously, tell us a bit about how
much of that guiding force has been kind of trajecting
your career in terms of we'll get into it later,
but you know the industry. Tell us how much of
(13:42):
that guiding force of your spirituality and your relationship with
a higher power, because you know you've mentioned it several times,
how much does that influence so much of where you've
taken your life stack?
Speaker 3 (13:54):
Yeah, I mean it's a it's the life source behind
it all. You know, it's the guiding force behind the
decisions I make. I could likely be very much farther
in my career if I was willing to sacrifice a
lot of the morals, values, and principles by which I
hold most ferment deer in my life. But you know,
(14:14):
you got a question like, hey, at what cost do
you want to go up just for them to tear
you back down? Because that's how society functions, right, Like
we build heroes and then make them villains the moment
that we feel like they got too high, you know
what I mean. Like we see it all the time
in sports, you know, like we build up these people
(14:34):
like a person like Patrick Mahomes. Everybody loved him on
the rise. Everybody was like super happy to see him
win the first and the second. But then it's like, oh,
you're winning too much now, like let somebody else get there.
Speaker 5 (14:45):
Type of a thing.
Speaker 3 (14:45):
You see it with celebrity all the time, like with
musicians who we prop up and be like oh.
Speaker 5 (14:50):
Yo, like look at them, look at all this stuff
that's happening.
Speaker 3 (14:53):
Then they have their fall from grace and everybody it's like, yeah,
they deserved it, and some of it rightfully so, without
a question. But no, like my faith informs the art
that I make, It informs the decisions I make, It
informs the people who I associate with and the things
that I would like to do moving forward. And I
can't say I've always made that my priority, because there
most certainly been seasons, especially shortly after winning the show,
(15:16):
where I allowed my ambition to be my guide versus
the guiding principles that I have. Yeah, that was not
a good season of life. That was not a good
season of life.
Speaker 4 (15:29):
Well, first off, I want to hit a point that
you just said I think is huge there.
Speaker 2 (15:32):
You said I could be much.
Speaker 4 (15:34):
Higher if I was if I didn't let kind of
my greater core of spirituality.
Speaker 2 (15:39):
Lead my life.
Speaker 4 (15:40):
I think that's such a big thing to admit. A
lot of people wouldn't say that. A lot of people
would not admit I could be so much farther in
my career, you know, or whatever a career looks like
to you, that looks so different for each person. A
lot of people just wouldn't admit my success could be
maybe more fun, whatever it is, financially, whatever it is.
If I would to kind of let go of some
(16:01):
of those principles.
Speaker 2 (16:02):
What did it take? And I think a lot of
people don't admit it because it takes a lot to
admit what that means.
Speaker 4 (16:09):
What did it take for you to kind of really
get to that point where you can only admit that
but also still have that integrity and be proud that, hey,
I'm still happy where I'm at.
Speaker 3 (16:21):
Yeah, humility is part of the call, right, and not
just humility and like oh yeah, like I'm humble, I
do these things, but humility and the fact that like,
oh yeah, like I'm not the MC for all who
don't know what that means?
Speaker 5 (16:33):
Like main character. And I think in the West, we.
Speaker 3 (16:36):
Have a lot of people who deal with like main
character syndrome, who feel like the world revolves around them
everything needs to be about them. You'll see it in
the way people think or talk, Like I know in
my own inner head. I've had to really work on
this voice where I hear where I think that people
are constantly looking at me, perceiving what I'm doing, perceiving
(16:57):
what I like, what I'm wearing, or all these other things,
and by humbling myself from that stature to being like, oh, yeah,
like I am just continuing. I am just another part
of this ongoing story that's already happening, and everybody else
is just as busy and involved in not thinking about
me as I am about them. It really helped me
(17:19):
be able to not care about the status because I
think most people don't share it because they're afraid of
what that would do to the status that they feel.
People think of the ass they think about their highest
point and they're like, oh, people still look at me there,
and it's like, Oh, who cares? Who cares what they say?
Who cares how they feel? Who cares what they see?
At the end of the day, are you Are you
(17:40):
proud of the decisions you've made. Are you proud of
the life you've built? In my worst season where I
was like so hell bent on trying to prove something,
my mentor he was like Brandon considered is people who
win shows like these are usually bankrupt within two years
after winning the show. People who win the lottery are
usually bankrupt within two years. And you have built a
(18:00):
lasting career that is still ongoing with still more story
to tell. How awesome is that?
Speaker 2 (18:08):
Yeah?
Speaker 5 (18:09):
When all you see are the things that have gone wrong,
you are ignoring all the things that have been built
up right for you. So yeah, I think that answers
the question.
Speaker 2 (18:18):
Sorry, no, you're good for sure.
Speaker 4 (18:21):
Well, you know, Brandon, let's get into it. You know,
we've already made hints to it. You know, winning America's
Got Talent obviously, you know that was such a huge achievement.
Speaker 2 (18:30):
What was it?
Speaker 4 (18:31):
You were the first person as a spoken word poet
artist to win a show. When that talent show tell
us about how that experience changed your life, you know,
both good, both bad and what are still those ripple
effects that you have, maybe whether it be career wise
but also mentally emotionally.
Speaker 2 (18:49):
Was as we've kind of hinted that a little bit too.
Speaker 4 (18:52):
Yeah, tell us the process. What was the process to
even audition? Most people? I don't even know how does
someone even get that in their viewpoint to even get
into TV like that to audition for a show.
Speaker 3 (19:05):
So I actually auditioned back in twenty seventeen. Originally, my homegirl,
Courtney was like, Hey, Agt's coming to San Jose.
Speaker 5 (19:15):
They never go to the Bay Area. This is our time.
We need to go.
Speaker 3 (19:18):
And I'm like, hey, you said no but a word.
So I went and picked her up, but she wasn't there,
she wasn't at her house. I was super mad at her.
She was like, I'm too afraid. I can't go, like,
just just go without me. And I'm like, Bam, you're
the one who gave me the idea. I don't want
to go do this whole thing solo, but I go
(19:39):
do it. And this is the moment where I realized
that like I loved poetry, I just did not respect poetry.
And the reason why I learned that was they clearly
gave me rules. They told me that you have ninety
seconds to be able to share a whatever work of
art that you're going to be sharing in this ninety seconds.
(20:01):
You're not going to get any more time, and you're
not going to get any less time, right. I showed
up prideful, like, man, I have this really good three
minute poem. It kills every time I go perform it.
Everybody loves it, so they're gonna love it and then
they're gonna let me finish it. And that's how I
know I'll make the show. And what I learned was
if you don't prepare for the call that you've been given,
(20:24):
you can miss it. Because they for sure stopped me,
they for sure stopped be it, told me, hey, yeah,
thank you, You're all good, and then I had to
make my way back and go sit down with the
rest of the acts who were waiting for an opportunity
to get on the show. And I realized in that moment,
I'm like, oh, I didn't make it. I didn't get
(20:46):
the call to go do that this time. And it
really sat with me that I had messed up. And
that's actually what sparked my tour in twenty eighteen for
deficiencies to be able to like dedicate myself to the craft,
to learn it, to be able to like practice and
prepare for the moment. And then twenty nineteen rolls around
(21:07):
and my wife is pregnant, and I'm like.
Speaker 5 (21:09):
Oh, I got to go back to a regular.
Speaker 3 (21:11):
Job because this doesn't come with health insurance. And so
I go work the regular job, go back to being
a full time teacher, and then AGT pops back up
on my Facebook feed and I'm like, you know what,
I'm gonna try it, Like, let's use this as a
litmus test, because I was already going to a poetry
(21:31):
competition called Eyewhips, and I was like, Hey, I'm going
to use this to test and see how much better
I've gotten, and we'll see how I do. So I'll
use AGT as a similar thing. So I go try out,
but this time I have a poem that I've worked
on for two months. I had taken it to fifteen
or twenty different open mics. I had edited it, reworked it,
(21:56):
worked on the performance of it, and I was ready,
and I showed up to Los Angeles at this random
casino in the middle of the desert. I remember I
was the tenth act to perform in my group of ten,
and I looked not only at the acts who were performing,
but the person who was judging us, and I said,
he's checking out after ten seconds. After ten seconds, if
(22:19):
they're not gathering his attention, he's gone. So I'm like,
I only got ten seconds to catch him, so let's
make sure we catch the poem. I did capture his
attention in those ten seconds, and from there it's all history.
Speaker 2 (22:35):
Absolutely absolutely. I love what you said there.
Speaker 4 (22:37):
You said sometimes you know, when you're not ready for
your call, you can miss the opportunity.
Speaker 2 (22:43):
Of your life. And that is very, very.
Speaker 4 (22:45):
True, and that's very factual, and it's a great thing.
You know that second call and you were able to
catch it.
Speaker 2 (22:52):
So take us through that.
Speaker 4 (22:53):
Now, Okay, you go through the ranks of America's got talent.
Obviously it's a couple a couple of rounds. Here you
do and you're now you're at your final. I mean you,
I believe they do the gold buzzer. Right, You passed
through all that and now you get to the final.
Speaker 2 (23:08):
That final night. Tell us what's your stomach like, what's
your mental health?
Speaker 5 (23:13):
Like?
Speaker 2 (23:13):
Most people can't even process something like that. That night
you win? What is that hole leading up to everything?
Speaker 4 (23:20):
What was that feeling like to find out you became
the winner.
Speaker 5 (23:24):
Man, I'll give you kind of like the brief run
through of it all.
Speaker 3 (23:27):
So like the day that I get my golden buzzer
is the day that California shuts down due.
Speaker 5 (23:31):
To COVID.
Speaker 2 (23:33):
Wow no way wow wow.
Speaker 3 (23:36):
So like they had called me because I was working
and I was supposed to I was supposed to come
down on a Monday, and I'd already gotten the day
off of work and out They're like, hey, if you're
not here tomorrow by eight am, then you can't perform.
So I my wife just had our first child thirteen
days before.
Speaker 5 (23:54):
So I was like, hey, babe, if you say.
Speaker 3 (23:56):
No, I completely understand, like you are still recouping from
like giving birth. But my mother in law came down,
took care of my wife, and I went down. So
I get my golden buzzer that day, and I'm like,
oh my god, like what am I going to do?
I get my call to come back, so that way
I can go back down to LA but my family
can't come because I have to be quarantined in a
(24:19):
hotel for the next four months to be a part
of the show for as long as I'm on the show.
Speaker 5 (24:25):
The next poem I do is a poem called Pooky.
And the way that like my poems were.
Speaker 3 (24:29):
Selected for the show was I had to like send
the poem ahead of time, or send them two poems
ahead of time, and then they selected which one they wanted.
And so I sent them a poem about my wife
and I sent them Pooky. And I was like, Hey,
they're going to pick the poem about my wife because
Pooky's a little edgy, not really, but like for national television,
I don't know how they'll do. And when they picked Pooky,
(24:50):
I'm like, oh, I'm gonna get eliminated.
Speaker 2 (24:53):
Dog.
Speaker 3 (24:53):
Like we already got all the Black Lives Matter protests
going on. The main people who watch this show are
middle of americle, white folks that is not going to
like this com right, And so I'm like damn. But
then I make it to the next round. I'm like, oh, snap,
let's go, and then I have my worst mental breakdown
of the entire show during this portion. My daughter's like
(25:15):
six months old at this point, yeah, and I haven't
been home in a couple months because I've been here
at the show, quarantine in the hotel and everything.
Speaker 5 (25:24):
And I'm like, man, what is going on?
Speaker 3 (25:27):
Like I want to go home, and they tell me
I can't go home, even when they promised that I
would be able to. And I'm in the middle of
an interview and I'm like, yo, I'm really done with this,
and I just take off all my stuff and they
try to get me to stay, and I just walk
up to my room and I kind of just I
shed my tears, send up my prayer, and I fall asleep.
(25:48):
And then I don't know how long I was out,
but then I hear the banging on my door and
it's my producer, who's technically not allowed in the hotel,
but he was there, and he's like, Brandon, I talked
to the team. If you drive, you can go home,
but you can only go straight home and straight back.
You can't go see anybody else. You can't go to
grocery stores, you can't stop for food, you can't do anything.
(26:09):
And I'm like, no, it's three days ago is when
I needed to go home. I'm locked in to get
this performance done now. So no, like, if I make
it to the next round, I'm going home for a
week and then I will be back a week before
I need to be on stage.
Speaker 5 (26:29):
And so that was the agreement, and then that's when
I did my.
Speaker 3 (26:31):
Poem Letters to my Father, which was super nerve wracking
because that poem was originally six and a half minutes
and then I had to condense it down to three
and a half minutes. So the hardest part was not
reverting back to the old version of the poems. I
rocked that poem out. The next day they announced the
winners and who's going to the final They announced my name.
Speaker 5 (26:53):
I walk off stage.
Speaker 3 (26:54):
I walked clear past the like the interview part portion
where they're trying to, like, you know, get to like
talk with the media. I just point to my producer
and he's like, oh, yeah, no, no, no, he doesn't
have media.
Speaker 5 (27:06):
He's good.
Speaker 3 (27:07):
And I walk straight to my rental car and go home.
And then I do my final poem for my daughter.
And then the day that they're announcing the winner, I
didn't think I won. I did not think I want
because I remember the producers being like, are you sure
you want to do a poem for your daughter as
your last piece. I'm like yeah, I mean, like, I
just did a poem about being a fatherless child. What
(27:29):
better way than to show that the fatherless kid became
the better father. I was like, yo, I'll be top five,
but I'm not gonna win. And so I'm like thinking
about all these things in my head, kind of plotting
it out. And then when i make it to top three,
I'm like, okay, Christina raised next to me and Broken
Roots are next to me. I know Broken Roots did
not win, but Christina Rays she was killer, so she
probably picked up the win. And then when they knocked
(27:51):
Christina Ray off at third, I'm like, I just want
I just won this show, and like you'll see it
on my face while I go like, that's me realize
what just happened. When they announced my name, I just
dropped to my knees. The confetti rains.
Speaker 5 (28:06):
Yeah it was. It was amazing.
Speaker 2 (28:10):
Yeah yeah.
Speaker 4 (28:11):
My goodness though, oh my gosh, that journey to get there,
that is that is a lot. I mean, the birth
of a child, you know, shout outs to your wife,
that is no joke, My goodness to get there, the
kind of toll and stress of that, you know, so
honoring that is so key. So now okay, so you win,
that is that is huge? Tell us again, what was
(28:33):
the kind of winner? What does that package now look like?
You know, especially you wake up the next day after
you win something as big as that.
Speaker 2 (28:41):
You're You're on GMA, You're on all the morning talk shows.
You know, isn't it you? Really?
Speaker 4 (28:46):
You win like a show in Vegas, you win money? Obviously,
what is that next day, the day after, after that
huge dopamine that's just been put on you, But it's
also that huge kind of release of energy from what
you had to do to finally get there.
Speaker 2 (29:00):
What is thou when you wake up the next day?
What does that look like?
Speaker 3 (29:03):
Well? No interviews actually, at least in terms of in
person simply because it was still COVID, so like nothing
like that was happening. That I had probably about like
wenty phone to zoom interviews, like just back to back
to back to back, you know, signing paperword, clearing myself
(29:24):
out of the hotel because one thing that they for
sure did was get us out that hotel by noon
the next day.
Speaker 5 (29:31):
Wow, So we d am They like, hey, dog, we
appreciate you. Head on home.
Speaker 3 (29:39):
We've been paying for this hotel and your food for
the last three and a half four months. You're gonna
have to get up out of here. And so but
my family was there with me. We kind of illegally
snuck them in, which was fun, but no, it was
it was like for me, the biggest part was just
saying goodbye to all of my fellow acts, who I
built like real friendships with. It a point because we
(30:01):
had been going through this really unique experience of being
trapped in a hotel together when we were the only
ones in the hotel, and week after week it becomes
less and less people. Yeah, that was kind of the
weirdest part. It was like being in college again. But
you know that, like come next week, twelve, we y'all
aren't going to be here next week.
Speaker 4 (30:22):
Yeah, so you okay, So now we're at that stage.
Speaker 2 (30:25):
So you you've won it.
Speaker 4 (30:28):
It's a billion in one interviews. Obviously we're still in
the pandemic. Tell us now, kind of what has been
the kind of after you achieve something like that, winning
America's Got Talent, What now what happens to you then?
How was your career Did you see like an immediate.
Speaker 2 (30:43):
Just overnight trajectory upwards?
Speaker 4 (30:47):
What was that like in terms of your career now
that long lasting effects? How did that experience of winning
truly change your life?
Speaker 5 (30:54):
Well, even before Ringing.
Speaker 3 (30:56):
Things change fairly dramatically off the strength that like had
way more opportunities, so that that would probably be the
most significant change is just visibility and people being willing
to accept like, oh, yeah, like he's really good, because
it's like you, what's fort did you play?
Speaker 5 (31:16):
Right?
Speaker 3 (31:16):
So you and I both played basketball, You and I
understand what that is. And so like when somebody tell
you like, oh yeah, Daul like they nice, you'd be like, yeah,
they might be.
Speaker 5 (31:27):
I gotta see it though. I got to see that
they're good.
Speaker 3 (31:29):
And then when you see that they're good, now it's like, oh,
respect Like I feel it.
Speaker 5 (31:34):
I feel like that was kind of what happened with
the show.
Speaker 3 (31:37):
Was like I had always been nice, but folks now
are like, oh, like I can respect it because like
I didn't seen it up close.
Speaker 5 (31:44):
I didn't seen it for real.
Speaker 3 (31:46):
And so like people in the industry, businesses and corporations,
like making believers of people who you know, didn't always
see poetry as a as a valuable art form then
became the goal in the and the reach that we
pulled off, which was beautiful. I'm still longing for the
day where America's got talent le's another poet back on
(32:06):
their stage, because lord knows it's a it's about time
that another one gets a shot at it.
Speaker 2 (32:11):
Sure short, No, that's such a huge point.
Speaker 4 (32:13):
The idea of poetry, spoken word, the art oral traditions, that's.
Speaker 2 (32:17):
Still not a valued art form. So it is that
idea of being able.
Speaker 4 (32:22):
To win such a huge on a huge platform like that,
being able to bring that to the world, that that
makes a difference, just even even in your presence. Still,
you know, I kind of want to move on a bit,
tell us about I mean, do you still face challenges
in the industry, Like you said, spoken word poetry.
Speaker 2 (32:37):
You were the first and still only person.
Speaker 4 (32:41):
Especially on a public platform, to really to win a
show like that. But also, you know, I think about
obviously HBO had that Deaf Jam poetry. You know, we
have the Posts Speaks, podcasts of Demand to Acha on
Archaeology Channel. You know, we do have a lot of
there's still a bit of a lacking of poetry in
public spaces.
Speaker 2 (32:59):
I mean, do you still face challenges in the industry.
Speaker 4 (33:02):
You know, obviously you won an Emmy, did right You
want to tell you you know, you've really expanded your
reach with poetry. But do you still feel like there's
still a challenge for you in this industry as a
spoken word artist?
Speaker 3 (33:14):
Oh?
Speaker 5 (33:14):
Big time.
Speaker 3 (33:15):
I mean the reality is you get up there and
you realize, oh, the work that it took to get
here is less work than it is to stay here,
and way less work than it is to continue to
go up. So yeah, like Hollywood, or you know, the
industry as people want to call it, it has short memories.
(33:36):
They have short memories, you know, Like I was on
the show four years ago now, and that's a lifetime
ago for this industry, right, Like somebody who started a
movie four years ago, people may not really remember them
anymore now, simply because you're out of sight, out of mind.
Not to you know, throw shade on nobody's career or
nothing like that, because I actually really like this actress.
(33:57):
But like the woman who started the diver Urgent films
went through a very similar thing. People thought that she
was going to go on this like massive run, similar
to Jennifer.
Speaker 5 (34:08):
Lawrence after she got done with a.
Speaker 3 (34:11):
Series and she took a break, and that break afterwards,
momentum died down. People kind of forgot and then all
of a sudden she was now doing television versus doing movies,
which some people perceive as a downgrade, may have been
exactly what she wanted to do instead. I couldn't tell you,
(34:32):
but I know this. Two years of distance between your
most successful film and the next project will do a
lot against you unless you've built a fan base that
will find you the way that like you know, like
for comparison's sake, let's use comedy. Dave Chappelle can disappear
for years and then reappear and nothing happened because his
(34:54):
fan base is built for that.
Speaker 5 (34:56):
He made that.
Speaker 3 (34:57):
Kevin Hart can't do that, and that's why Kevin Hart
stays in the face of everybody all the time, Similark,
like Drake and Kendrick Lamar. If Drake disappeared for five years,
like Kendrick, people would be like what now? Would they
be exciting when Drake reappeared? Sure, but there'd be some
people who had been lost in the shuffle. Hendrick does
not have that problem. But that's because he's built and
(35:18):
trained his fan base for that. So in our modern
time where quick fast media is the norm, you have
to learn how to be able to adjust to that.
Speaker 2 (35:28):
No, yeah, you make such a good point.
Speaker 4 (35:31):
Yeah. One of my heroes, heroes, favorite artists of all
time is Shade.
Speaker 2 (35:36):
Remember she did an interview back in the day and.
Speaker 4 (35:38):
She said, and she has one of those fan bases, right,
she could go away for years, people will still celebrate
Shade as one of the greatest. And I remember she
gave a quote one day, she said, you know, people
are scared to go away.
Speaker 2 (35:51):
People as artists.
Speaker 4 (35:52):
They're scared to not be in everyone's face all the time.
They're scared to take time off to go away to
recoup and create something better. But do I understand where
you're coming from a lot of the modern gust that
we live in art artists. Unfortunately, you know the world
we live in with money, money making, you can't go away.
Speaker 2 (36:13):
You have to be there twenty four to seven.
Speaker 4 (36:16):
You know, it really does take a true artist, creating
from just the heart and soul to say I'm going
to step away to create even better. So for you,
I mean, being in the industry like this, it's very competitive,
it's very highly competitive.
Speaker 2 (36:31):
How much does the.
Speaker 4 (36:32):
Competition versus cooperation and community building do you kind of
seek out in terms of you know, your craft as
a spoken word artist, do you find yourself being in
more competition or creating community with your words, obviously with
the work you do with the youth. How much do
you see yourself now competition versus community building through poetry.
Speaker 5 (36:53):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (36:53):
So I'm a highly competitive dude, and it's to my
detriment at times, solely because I can unintentionally burn bridges
just off the strength of like wanting to fuel my
own desire to be great. I feel God really has
called me in this season to like be the bridge
instead of being the fire. And so, yeah, I think
(37:16):
competition has a place because it can fuel people's capacity
to be better, their drive to be better. It can
give them the boost that they need to be able
to chase after excellence. But it can't come at the
cost of being able to build with the people alongside.
You can't come at that cost. Like, I love the
people in my craft who take it seriously, who are
trying to pursue excellence, who are trying to be great,
(37:38):
and who are continuing to push our culture forward predominantly
in healthy ways, not just like oh yeah, like great penmans,
but like great people, because I think great people can
produce the best art. But yeah, in my modern time,
I'm trying to be more community oriented. I'm I'm trying
to be a better steward of the gift that I
have to be able to build people upstead of saying like,
(38:00):
oh yeah, watch how I can break you down so
I can be seen as higher.
Speaker 2 (38:05):
Sure sure, No, absolutely absolutely, And that's a.
Speaker 4 (38:09):
Path that takes a lifetime to still understand what community
and community building is.
Speaker 1 (38:14):
Now.
Speaker 2 (38:14):
Thank you for sharing no moving gears here a bit.
Speaker 4 (38:17):
You know, you've been a poet on an international scale
that you know most poets could only dream of having
that type of success, so quite naturally, you've touched a
lot of lives.
Speaker 2 (38:28):
All throughout the globe.
Speaker 4 (38:29):
Is there a story you could share, maybe even a
moment where you realize the impact your words of spoken
word of the word had on another human being.
Speaker 3 (38:39):
There's a seventy two year old white woman in Iowa
who reached out to me after my poem Pooky, and
she told me, Brandon, thank you for opening my eyes
because I hated Black Lives Matter. I used to you know,
protest against you know, all these all this vandalism and
(38:59):
all this all these you know, all these things I
thought people were making. These police brutality stories up and
then I heard your story and I realized I'm a
mother of three young boys, and I would burn a
city down if something like that happened to them. Another
story of a young lady in Brazil. She told me
(39:19):
she never met her father. She didn't know the man,
and he had recently reached out to her, and from
my time on the show, she had always contemplated, because
she had had this letter for about a year, on
whether or not she should actually reach out and be
able to go meet him. And my poem about my
father and I encouraged her to actually go meet the man,
(39:41):
and now they have a I won't say a thriving relationship,
but they are at least cordial and he has a
role in not only his daughter's life, but his granddaughter's
life too. There's a young man who is in Australia
who told me, man, becoming a father is the scariest
thing because I don't want to make the same mistakes
(40:02):
that my father made with me. And I'm only nineteen,
but when I hear you talk about your daughter, I
want to be that guy.
Speaker 5 (40:10):
So those are just a few instances.
Speaker 2 (40:12):
Wow, No, that is amazing.
Speaker 4 (40:14):
It gives you goosebumps for you as the person on
the receiving end, Do you even have the bandwidth to
even understand what that means that you've had that great
effect on someone's life?
Speaker 2 (40:26):
Can it even be can you even process it fully?
Speaker 3 (40:28):
You know? No, especially at the time being the futurist,
I've always been Yeah, I never really allow myself to
kind of just sit with it and to just be like, oh, yeah,
like I did really awesome work. Like I'll be there
in the moment as I'm messaging them back, but then
as soon as the message is gone, then I'm away
from it all.
Speaker 2 (40:48):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (40:48):
So I'm trying better.
Speaker 4 (40:51):
Yeah, absolutely so, Brandon. I mean, you've shared so many gems.
We really appreciate you and your time on the show today.
One of the things that this show really seeks to
do is give advice for the next generation of poets.
Anyone for their closet poets. They've been in the game
for a while, maybe they don't have to start. I mean,
what is just from your you know, give us some
(41:14):
free game. What advice do you give to aspiring poets
to look up to you and want to follow in
your footsteps of really making spoken word and poetry life's work.
Speaker 5 (41:24):
Three pieces of advice, I'll try to make them quick.
Speaker 4 (41:27):
One.
Speaker 3 (41:28):
Be a healthy person before you're an awesome poet. It's
far more valuable that way. Lesson to write the bad poem.
Speaker 5 (41:37):
It doesn't.
Speaker 3 (41:38):
All of the work you make does not have to
be amazing. All of it does not have to be beautiful.
Some of it can be trash, some of it can
be just awful, And you will find that writing the
bad stuff will give you the chance to be able
to then write the good stuff you're hoping to get
out of it. And then, last, but not least, don't
ask for success without being willing to pay the costs
(42:00):
that it requires. Many people will get jealous, get frustrated,
get upset that they haven't reached the heights that they
desire to reach, not realizing that in order to get
that high, in order to get that success, there was
a lot of imbalance that was required. I can't tell
you the number of hours I sacrificed from family, from friends,
(42:20):
from people who I love and practice in my backyard
or in the car or at some random park, the
number of hours I spent on the road to go
to an open mic in another city so I can
try out and find a new scene just to get there,
share my poem for three minutes, and then have to
take another three hour drive home so I can make
(42:41):
it to work the next day on time. It's going
to require imbalance for a season. And if you desire excellence,
then go get excellent, but you also have to give it.
So yeah, those would be my three pieces of advice.
Speaker 2 (42:54):
We appreciate it now. Those are excellent. Those are amazing,
Thank you so much. Brandon. What legacy do you hope
to behind through your poetry? Brandon?
Speaker 3 (43:02):
Honestly, these days, I just want to be known as
somebody who loves Jesus and loved people.
Speaker 5 (43:07):
And so if I can do those two.
Speaker 3 (43:09):
Things really well and have people be like yo, man,
like he loved God well and he loved us well,
then I feel like I did a good job.
Speaker 4 (43:18):
Thank absolutely all right, Brandon, last question we have for
you on the Post Speaks podcast today, Brandon, why do
you need to get your words out?
Speaker 3 (43:26):
I get these words out, because if I did, I'd
probably probably go kill some of y'all from what y'all
be doing out here in these streets.
Speaker 5 (43:32):
I'm just gonna be honest. So I choose a I
choose words instead of violence.
Speaker 2 (43:36):
There we go, all right, y'all he would out if
he could shoot. All right, he chooses words my violence.
Speaker 3 (43:44):
We love it.
Speaker 2 (43:45):
We love it, all right, Brandon. Well, thank you so
much for being guest today.
Speaker 4 (43:49):
Now before we wrap up, wrap up, just tell the
folks out there what's next for you in the year
twenty twenty five.
Speaker 2 (43:55):
And above and beyond?
Speaker 4 (43:56):
And where can folks find all of your amazing work
at any social media websites that you.
Speaker 3 (44:01):
Want to drop For January twenty twenty five, my short
film Complexity, which won fifty six awards internationally and nationally,
will be debuting online on my YouTube page just Brandon Leak.
Speaker 5 (44:16):
You will see me when you type it in. It's
my I channel.
Speaker 3 (44:20):
I have about almost twenty thousand followers there, So yeah,
that'll be debuting in January. February of twenty twenty six
will be my return back to poetry. For all who
don't know, I've been on sabbatical for about a year
and a half now. God called me home to be
able to take a break, be with my family, to
rest and to reconnect with Him, and in that I
(44:41):
have been preparing for this next album entitled Intimacy, and
we will be putting on three live shows in my
city and then potentially a very small tour. But it's
me with a sixty piece orchestra, a band, and a choir,
so it is not just branding up there on stage.
(45:02):
You're gonna get a full on performance. You will find
me at Brandon l E a k E on all platforms.
I'm the only Brandon Leak with a check mark next
to his name on all these platforms, so I'm pretty
easy to find. Hit me up on YouTube, most importantly Instagram.
You'll see me every day. So yeah, just come highlight
(45:23):
a brother. I'll be around awesome. Thanks so much, Brandon.
Speaker 2 (45:26):
Everyone.
Speaker 4 (45:26):
Brandon's links will be down below no matter where you're
listening to this podcast, no matter the platform, check out
the detailed box detail sections below for Brandon's all his links.
Speaker 2 (45:37):
All right, well, Brandon, we really appreciate you.
Speaker 4 (45:39):
Thank you so much for being a guest on the
Polts Speaks podcast today.
Speaker 5 (45:43):
Thank y'all.
Speaker 4 (45:44):
Absolutely all right, everyone again, Brandon's links. Brandon Links links
will be down below in the description box below.
Speaker 2 (45:52):
Everyone, thanks so much.
Speaker 4 (45:53):
Check out the Polks Speak podcast no matter where you
listen to your podcast, all everyone, take care.
Speaker 5 (45:57):
Bye bye
Join us on the Poetic Odyssey, a celebration of voices, cultures,
and the power of words. I'm Amanda Ecking. Welcome to
the poet Speaks, where every syllable ignites inspiration for get,
involve with what stories are on these tracks?
Speaker 2 (00:27):
This idea of the Bronx. Now, boogie down Bronx.
Speaker 3 (00:30):
That's what people say, right, Don't become someone's subway story.
Speaker 4 (00:37):
Medicate me with a lick of the like, I am
not afraid to love you.
Speaker 5 (00:45):
All of us have a story.
Speaker 4 (00:47):
Microphone magnifying.
Speaker 3 (00:50):
No one want to listen, So I think that's what made.
Speaker 5 (00:54):
Me in writing the writing disco.
Speaker 2 (00:57):
You ready amazing poetry always.
Speaker 4 (01:07):
Hello everyone, and welcome back to the poet Speaks podcast.
Now our next guest is an award winning spoken word poet, artist, educator,
and motivational speaker performing in locations such as New Zealand, Mexico, Canada,
in thirty six states around the country. Known for his
dark Side Towards fromont his first ever poetry chat book,
and his Crown Jeweled Deficiency A Tale from My dark
(01:29):
Side album, Root and Transparency, as well as healing.
Speaker 2 (01:33):
Also the founder and CEO of Called to Move CTM.
Speaker 4 (01:36):
And Artistry organization with the pursuit of aiding youth and
self actualizing and personally developing.
Speaker 2 (01:42):
Through the art of poetry.
Speaker 4 (01:43):
Oh and yes, he's also the season fifteen winner of
America's Got Talent.
Speaker 2 (01:48):
Everybody, Welcome to the Poet.
Speaker 4 (01:49):
Speaks podcast, Brandon Leak, Brandon, how are you today?
Speaker 3 (01:53):
Ah?
Speaker 5 (01:54):
Very well, thank you for the invites. Very happy to
be here, very happy to be here.
Speaker 4 (01:59):
Absolutely absolutely When you even just now, when you hear
someone reading your bio, do you still blush? Do you
still you get a little goose mumpy believing all the
things that you've been able to do.
Speaker 3 (02:10):
Not really fam I'll be honest, I hate my bio.
That's just but that's just like a personal thing.
Speaker 5 (02:19):
I just hate.
Speaker 3 (02:20):
Like I'm trying to get better at being okay with
hearing my accolades and like being able to enjoy the.
Speaker 5 (02:28):
Hard work I put in.
Speaker 3 (02:30):
I'm a real futurist at heart, and so I constantly
am just looking forward, very rarely looking back at the
things I've already done. Yeah.
Speaker 4 (02:38):
No's that's something so futurists. So you look forward, you
never look back or stay in the present. Is that
what you mean by that?
Speaker 3 (02:44):
Yeah, I'm trying. God's really working on you with that though.
God's like ao soun like, I gave you a testimony,
so you got to you gotta use it. So I'm
trying to take a bit more care of that these days.
Still a work in progress, for sure.
Speaker 2 (02:56):
For sure, let's kind of go back, go back a bit.
Speaker 4 (03:00):
You know a lot of people, you know, they know
you for your accolades, but you know, tell us a
bit about where did you grow up and kind of
tell us how your childhood affected your journey to become
the writer, the poet that you are today.
Speaker 2 (03:12):
So where did you grow up? Were you born and
bred anywhere? Tell us?
Speaker 3 (03:15):
Yeah, so I'm a Cali kid Worner raised in Stockton, California.
That's actually where I still reside now. And yeah, like
writing was never my first love. I enjoyed drawing and
like making comic books as a kid because I used
to go to the Maya Angelou Library, which is, you know,
real poetic considering what I do for a living now,
But I used to go to the Maya Angelou Library
(03:36):
just up the street from my house, and I would
go get these Dragon ball Z manga comics and I
would like trace them with trace paper and then add
my own words to their speech bubbles. But before that,
it was it was just basketball. Like basketball was the passion,
Basketball was the drive. Basketball was the whole dream all
the way through my first two years of college. So like,
I played basketball for about like sixteen years since I
(03:57):
was four, and so that was the whole Like, hey, like,
what do you want to be when you grow up?
Kobe Bryant? Like that was that was the answer, full
and complete.
Speaker 4 (04:08):
That's kind of crazy. I mean, so you were you
were a baller growing up. That was really the dream.
How did you then shift? Because I'm Cali native myself,
I'm from Sacramento, I can say Northern California is definitely
a place I had. I had dreams of sports, whether
it be track, basketball, of course, But I wonder, how
then did you make this shift to becoming a writer,
(04:31):
becoming a poet spoken word poetry, especially performing.
Speaker 3 (04:34):
I wrote poems in like middle school and high school
for girls who I thought were cute. But like in
my freshman year of college, my best friend, Bernard Daniels,
he died due to some gang violence that was happening
in the city. He had actually drowned in a levee
down the street from where we grew up. And I
used to just take them all on my pain out
(04:55):
on the court. It used to just be like my
one place of solitude. If I was calling through something,
I could just let it all out there. This is
one of those pains where releasing it on the court
didn't do nothing for me, didn't help me in any way,
didn't free me anyway.
Speaker 5 (05:11):
And I really prayed.
Speaker 3 (05:12):
And I was like, hey, God, like, like Jesus, what
are you wanting me to do with this?
Speaker 4 (05:16):
Like?
Speaker 3 (05:17):
What are you asking me to do with this pain?
I saw a sign for an open mic and it
was the first time that I had seen and open
mic functioning at my school, and I was like, man,
maybe that's it. Maybe I write about it. And so
I wrote a poem, went and shared it. And that
was kind of like the first experience that gave me
(05:37):
any inclination that poetry could be like the vessel for me,
that it could be a place where me and God
could meet for the sake of the healing that I
needed to do.
Speaker 5 (05:47):
So yeah, I would say that that was like probably like.
Speaker 3 (05:49):
The capstone marker change for me artistically.
Speaker 4 (05:54):
Yeah, and you know, I'm curious, you know, being familiar
to someone that grew up in northern California, stock then
you know it has such variables in terms of the
gang violence, safety that's all around that city. How much
of your life was affected, Like you said, you know,
you had a friend that you know, may they're so
rest in peace that passed away due.
Speaker 2 (06:12):
To that violence. How much of your.
Speaker 4 (06:14):
Life and your youth was affected by that, by those
outer influences of violence and maybe just the community.
Speaker 2 (06:21):
That you were of Stockton.
Speaker 3 (06:23):
Yeah, I think it's actually highly overstated how violent Stockton is,
just because it's not like when I think of any city,
like if you go to the wrong neighborhood, then you
have the unfortunate opportunity to be met with violence or
you know, gangs or drugs or whatever. Like I know
Sacramento is being gentrified as we speak, but like there
(06:45):
was a period of time where being in oak Park
was you know past a certain time would resulting you
not being the most safe individual, you know what I mean.
We know what happens in places like Oakland right now
you go to certain parts of us, So like it's
I think it's overstated, but.
Speaker 5 (07:02):
Like, I would say I was fairly shielded.
Speaker 3 (07:05):
Interestingly enough, I was at a Bible study yesterday and
one of the people was like, man.
Speaker 5 (07:09):
Like, like God has really graced.
Speaker 3 (07:11):
Your life, Like as I hear your story, like God
is really like put a head around you. And I'm like,
man like, as I reflect on it, God really has.
I didn't go to the public school in my neighborhood.
My mom tested me for a magnet school that I
was able to go to that you know, was probably
about like four or five miles away from my neighborhood,
closer to the downtown area, where I got like a
(07:33):
really high quality education. I grew up in a Baptist
amme churt where like I had a church family everywhere
select no matter where I went, I always had somebody
who either had an eye out on me or for me.
So yeah, I would say I was fortunate in a
lot of ways to avoid the pitfalls of what normally
comes especially a lot to a lot of young black men.
(07:55):
Like I've been immensely blessed in that regard. So I
would say it's it's impacted me on on the outer
scale of like seeing things and witnessing them and like
being impacted by people who've been directly hit by them.
Like I attended eighteen funerals by eighteen, Right, many of
them were like family who were like elderly and older,
(08:16):
but like I would say a solid seven to eight
of them were people either my age, slightly younger.
Speaker 5 (08:23):
Or just slightly older.
Speaker 3 (08:24):
And so like that does impact you, you know, like
death does touch me differently because I've had so many
engagements with it. I would say, God really really blessed
me to not have to endure as much as that.
Speaker 4 (08:35):
Yeah, my goodness, eighteen funerals by the time you're eighteen
is wild. I mean, that is really definitely life changing,
and we really appreciate you for sharing that. So tell
me a little bit about now, you know, you went
from a former athlete to becoming a writer. Tell us
about how that kind of evolved for you to now
becoming the career that you've had. I mean, tell us
(08:57):
about how that trajectory kind of slowly or maybe it
happened fast for you. How did that trajectory happen to
now this became a professional life's work.
Speaker 3 (09:07):
Yeah, I mean, like I was an English major in
college for my first year and a half and What
ended up happening was I had a teacher who talked
like the viazine man. For all the young folk who
are watching this, they have no idea what I'm talking about.
But he had a very monotone, boring voice. It was
really really not fun to listen to. I remember falling
(09:29):
asleep in this class for like the third time in
the same day and just thinking to myself like, oh, yeah, like,
I can't I can't stay here, Like I can't stay
in this classity board. I am going to lose my
mind if I stay here any longer. I went and
switched to become a psychology major that same day. I
already had enough courses to qualify for an English minor,
(09:49):
so I was like, hey, I got my minor. I'm
going to be a psych major. I'm going to become
a psychologist, or I'm going to become like a psychiatrist,
or I get the chance to like work with people
who need mental help. And I quickly realized that that
type of one on one relationship where it's only like
one person talking, would leave me really drained. And I'm like, oh,
I won't be helpy doing this, so let's not do
(10:11):
that either. So I'm like, God, what do you want
me to do? And it's around this same time that
poetry starts taking a more prevalent place in my life.
Speaker 5 (10:19):
I made a poet by the name of Michael Bourney from.
Speaker 3 (10:22):
Long Beach, and I'm like, oh, man, like I want
to do that, like I want to be a professional artist.
And I over spiritualize it, like super deeply. I'm like, yo,
God's calling me to be an artist. And then the
poet who I looked up to, Micah, He's like, hey,
whoa whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa whoa before you put a
whole lot on it, do you like it? And I'm
like yes. He was like, do you do you hear
(10:42):
God telling you no, Mike No, He's like, is it unbiblical?
Speaker 5 (10:46):
I'm like no, He's like, and just go for it.
Speaker 3 (10:49):
Operate in freedom until you get told otherwise. And so
like that happens sophomore year, and from that point on,
I was getting my degree because I knew I was
going to have to have a regular job at some point.
But I had been just like slowly and surely making
my way into the idea of like, hey, art is
(11:10):
going to be a very big part of my life,
I'm going to be doing this. And what ended up
happening was after graduating college, I had a whole slew
of issues occur. We can talk about that another time
or in another question, but I was a divine intervention
brought me back home. I worked a job as a
paraprofessional at a school with a student who had a
(11:32):
mental disability, and then I got a job working at
the county for a group called Black Health.
Speaker 5 (11:38):
And all the while while I was doing this, I
was running.
Speaker 3 (11:41):
From my city in Stockton up to Sacramento, where you're
from like three to four days a week, performing at
places like Mahogany, places like Shine Cafe, places like brick House,
places like Luna's Cafe, random open mics that would just
kind of pop up here and there, and I was
just like, Oh, this is it, Like this is what
(12:02):
I'm going to do. This is like I'm going to
chase after this. And then I ended up joining the
Sacramento Slam team and performing alongside them in the year
twenty fifteen, which was really eye opening experience at not
just like the quality of poetry, but the dedication required
to be able to make that type of quality poetry
(12:22):
and all the while I was still working these jobs,
got fired from a couple of them because I was
doing way too much poetry stuff and you know, took
my ls, learned how to make those under dubs. Yeah,
it wasn't until twenty seventeen, twenty eighteen that I really
took the plunge to become a full time poet. Traveling
touring for my album Deficiencies. I did one hundred and
(12:44):
fifty shows over the course of ten months, went to,
as you mentioned, like three or four different countries, thirty
six states, and that number has just grown over time. Yeah,
So that's that's kind of been the trajectory and the
road that we've taken to get here so far.
Speaker 4 (12:59):
No, that's you know, that is when you really kind
of put that into perspective. That is wild, the amount
of footwork and the amount of hustle that you've really
put in there, especially within that ten months over one
hundred shows that you've done. So that's quite a testament
to the passion and dedication. Tell us a bit about
(13:20):
I do kind of want to hit a point yours.
You seem very rooted in your religion and your spirituality
and your religious religionosity, tell us a bit about if
you feel comfortable obviously, tell us a bit about how
much of that guiding force has been kind of trajecting
your career in terms of we'll get into it later,
but you know the industry. Tell us how much of
(13:42):
that guiding force of your spirituality and your relationship with
a higher power, because you know you've mentioned it several times,
how much does that influence so much of where you've
taken your life stack?
Speaker 3 (13:54):
Yeah, I mean it's a it's the life source behind
it all. You know, it's the guiding force behind the
decisions I make. I could likely be very much farther
in my career if I was willing to sacrifice a
lot of the morals, values, and principles by which I
hold most ferment deer in my life. But you know,
(14:14):
you got a question like, hey, at what cost do
you want to go up just for them to tear
you back down? Because that's how society functions, right, Like
we build heroes and then make them villains the moment
that we feel like they got too high, you know
what I mean. Like we see it all the time
in sports, you know, like we build up these people
(14:34):
like a person like Patrick Mahomes. Everybody loved him on
the rise. Everybody was like super happy to see him
win the first and the second. But then it's like, oh,
you're winning too much now, like let somebody else get there.
Speaker 5 (14:45):
Type of a thing.
Speaker 3 (14:45):
You see it with celebrity all the time, like with
musicians who we prop up and be like oh.
Speaker 5 (14:50):
Yo, like look at them, look at all this stuff
that's happening.
Speaker 3 (14:53):
Then they have their fall from grace and everybody it's like, yeah,
they deserved it, and some of it rightfully so, without
a question. But no, like my faith informs the art
that I make, It informs the decisions I make, It
informs the people who I associate with and the things
that I would like to do moving forward. And I
can't say I've always made that my priority, because there
most certainly been seasons, especially shortly after winning the show,
(15:16):
where I allowed my ambition to be my guide versus
the guiding principles that I have. Yeah, that was not
a good season of life. That was not a good
season of life.
Speaker 4 (15:29):
Well, first off, I want to hit a point that
you just said I think is huge there.
Speaker 2 (15:32):
You said I could be much.
Speaker 4 (15:34):
Higher if I was if I didn't let kind of
my greater core of spirituality.
Speaker 2 (15:39):
Lead my life.
Speaker 4 (15:40):
I think that's such a big thing to admit. A
lot of people wouldn't say that. A lot of people
would not admit I could be so much farther in
my career, you know, or whatever a career looks like
to you, that looks so different for each person. A
lot of people just wouldn't admit my success could be
maybe more fun, whatever it is, financially, whatever it is.
If I would to kind of let go of some
(16:01):
of those principles.
Speaker 2 (16:02):
What did it take? And I think a lot of
people don't admit it because it takes a lot to
admit what that means.
Speaker 4 (16:09):
What did it take for you to kind of really
get to that point where you can only admit that
but also still have that integrity and be proud that, hey,
I'm still happy where I'm at.
Speaker 3 (16:21):
Yeah, humility is part of the call, right, and not
just humility and like oh yeah, like I'm humble, I
do these things, but humility and the fact that like,
oh yeah, like I'm not the MC for all who
don't know what that means?
Speaker 5 (16:33):
Like main character. And I think in the West, we.
Speaker 3 (16:36):
Have a lot of people who deal with like main
character syndrome, who feel like the world revolves around them
everything needs to be about them. You'll see it in
the way people think or talk, Like I know in
my own inner head. I've had to really work on
this voice where I hear where I think that people
are constantly looking at me, perceiving what I'm doing, perceiving
(16:57):
what I like, what I'm wearing, or all these other things,
and by humbling myself from that stature to being like, oh, yeah,
like I am just continuing. I am just another part
of this ongoing story that's already happening, and everybody else
is just as busy and involved in not thinking about
me as I am about them. It really helped me
(17:19):
be able to not care about the status because I
think most people don't share it because they're afraid of
what that would do to the status that they feel.
People think of the ass they think about their highest
point and they're like, oh, people still look at me there,
and it's like, Oh, who cares? Who cares what they say?
Who cares how they feel? Who cares what they see?
At the end of the day, are you Are you
(17:40):
proud of the decisions you've made. Are you proud of
the life you've built? In my worst season where I
was like so hell bent on trying to prove something,
my mentor he was like Brandon considered is people who
win shows like these are usually bankrupt within two years
after winning the show. People who win the lottery are
usually bankrupt within two years. And you have built a
(18:00):
lasting career that is still ongoing with still more story
to tell. How awesome is that?
Speaker 2 (18:08):
Yeah?
Speaker 5 (18:09):
When all you see are the things that have gone wrong,
you are ignoring all the things that have been built
up right for you. So yeah, I think that answers
the question.
Speaker 2 (18:18):
Sorry, no, you're good for sure.
Speaker 4 (18:21):
Well, you know, Brandon, let's get into it. You know,
we've already made hints to it. You know, winning America's
Got Talent obviously, you know that was such a huge achievement.
Speaker 2 (18:30):
What was it?
Speaker 4 (18:31):
You were the first person as a spoken word poet
artist to win a show. When that talent show tell
us about how that experience changed your life, you know,
both good, both bad and what are still those ripple
effects that you have, maybe whether it be career wise
but also mentally emotionally.
Speaker 2 (18:49):
Was as we've kind of hinted that a little bit too.
Speaker 4 (18:52):
Yeah, tell us the process. What was the process to
even audition? Most people? I don't even know how does
someone even get that in their viewpoint to even get
into TV like that to audition for a show.
Speaker 3 (19:05):
So I actually auditioned back in twenty seventeen. Originally, my homegirl,
Courtney was like, Hey, Agt's coming to San Jose.
Speaker 5 (19:15):
They never go to the Bay Area. This is our time.
We need to go.
Speaker 3 (19:18):
And I'm like, hey, you said no but a word.
So I went and picked her up, but she wasn't there,
she wasn't at her house. I was super mad at her.
She was like, I'm too afraid. I can't go, like,
just just go without me. And I'm like, Bam, you're
the one who gave me the idea. I don't want
to go do this whole thing solo, but I go
(19:39):
do it. And this is the moment where I realized
that like I loved poetry, I just did not respect poetry.
And the reason why I learned that was they clearly
gave me rules. They told me that you have ninety
seconds to be able to share a whatever work of
art that you're going to be sharing in this ninety seconds.
(20:01):
You're not going to get any more time, and you're
not going to get any less time, right. I showed
up prideful, like, man, I have this really good three
minute poem. It kills every time I go perform it.
Everybody loves it, so they're gonna love it and then
they're gonna let me finish it. And that's how I
know I'll make the show. And what I learned was
if you don't prepare for the call that you've been given,
(20:24):
you can miss it. Because they for sure stopped me,
they for sure stopped be it, told me, hey, yeah,
thank you, You're all good, and then I had to
make my way back and go sit down with the
rest of the acts who were waiting for an opportunity
to get on the show. And I realized in that moment,
I'm like, oh, I didn't make it. I didn't get
(20:46):
the call to go do that this time. And it
really sat with me that I had messed up. And
that's actually what sparked my tour in twenty eighteen for
deficiencies to be able to like dedicate myself to the craft,
to learn it, to be able to like practice and
prepare for the moment. And then twenty nineteen rolls around
(21:07):
and my wife is pregnant, and I'm like.
Speaker 5 (21:09):
Oh, I got to go back to a regular.
Speaker 3 (21:11):
Job because this doesn't come with health insurance. And so
I go work the regular job, go back to being
a full time teacher, and then AGT pops back up
on my Facebook feed and I'm like, you know what,
I'm gonna try it, Like, let's use this as a
litmus test, because I was already going to a poetry
(21:31):
competition called Eyewhips, and I was like, Hey, I'm going
to use this to test and see how much better
I've gotten, and we'll see how I do. So I'll
use AGT as a similar thing. So I go try out,
but this time I have a poem that I've worked
on for two months. I had taken it to fifteen
or twenty different open mics. I had edited it, reworked it,
(21:56):
worked on the performance of it, and I was ready,
and I showed up to Los Angeles at this random
casino in the middle of the desert. I remember I
was the tenth act to perform in my group of ten,
and I looked not only at the acts who were performing,
but the person who was judging us, and I said,
he's checking out after ten seconds. After ten seconds, if
(22:19):
they're not gathering his attention, he's gone. So I'm like,
I only got ten seconds to catch him, so let's
make sure we catch the poem. I did capture his
attention in those ten seconds, and from there it's all history.
Speaker 2 (22:35):
Absolutely absolutely. I love what you said there.
Speaker 4 (22:37):
You said sometimes you know, when you're not ready for
your call, you can miss the opportunity.
Speaker 2 (22:43):
Of your life. And that is very, very.
Speaker 4 (22:45):
True, and that's very factual, and it's a great thing.
You know that second call and you were able to
catch it.
Speaker 2 (22:52):
So take us through that.
Speaker 4 (22:53):
Now, Okay, you go through the ranks of America's got talent.
Obviously it's a couple a couple of rounds. Here you
do and you're now you're at your final. I mean you,
I believe they do the gold buzzer. Right, You passed
through all that and now you get to the final.
Speaker 2 (23:08):
That final night. Tell us what's your stomach like, what's
your mental health?
Speaker 5 (23:13):
Like?
Speaker 2 (23:13):
Most people can't even process something like that. That night
you win? What is that hole leading up to everything?
Speaker 4 (23:20):
What was that feeling like to find out you became
the winner.
Speaker 5 (23:24):
Man, I'll give you kind of like the brief run
through of it all.
Speaker 3 (23:27):
So like the day that I get my golden buzzer
is the day that California shuts down due.
Speaker 5 (23:31):
To COVID.
Speaker 2 (23:33):
Wow no way wow wow.
Speaker 3 (23:36):
So like they had called me because I was working
and I was supposed to I was supposed to come
down on a Monday, and I'd already gotten the day
off of work and out They're like, hey, if you're
not here tomorrow by eight am, then you can't perform.
So I my wife just had our first child thirteen
days before.
Speaker 5 (23:54):
So I was like, hey, babe, if you say.
Speaker 3 (23:56):
No, I completely understand, like you are still recouping from
like giving birth. But my mother in law came down,
took care of my wife, and I went down. So
I get my golden buzzer that day, and I'm like,
oh my god, like what am I going to do?
I get my call to come back, so that way
I can go back down to LA but my family
can't come because I have to be quarantined in a
(24:19):
hotel for the next four months to be a part
of the show for as long as I'm on the show.
Speaker 5 (24:25):
The next poem I do is a poem called Pooky.
And the way that like my poems were.
Speaker 3 (24:29):
Selected for the show was I had to like send
the poem ahead of time, or send them two poems
ahead of time, and then they selected which one they wanted.
And so I sent them a poem about my wife
and I sent them Pooky. And I was like, Hey,
they're going to pick the poem about my wife because
Pooky's a little edgy, not really, but like for national television,
I don't know how they'll do. And when they picked Pooky,
(24:50):
I'm like, oh, I'm gonna get eliminated.
Speaker 2 (24:53):
Dog.
Speaker 3 (24:53):
Like we already got all the Black Lives Matter protests
going on. The main people who watch this show are
middle of americle, white folks that is not going to
like this com right, And so I'm like damn. But
then I make it to the next round. I'm like, oh, snap,
let's go, and then I have my worst mental breakdown
of the entire show during this portion. My daughter's like
(25:15):
six months old at this point, yeah, and I haven't
been home in a couple months because I've been here
at the show, quarantine in the hotel and everything.
Speaker 5 (25:24):
And I'm like, man, what is going on?
Speaker 3 (25:27):
Like I want to go home, and they tell me
I can't go home, even when they promised that I
would be able to. And I'm in the middle of
an interview and I'm like, yo, I'm really done with this,
and I just take off all my stuff and they
try to get me to stay, and I just walk
up to my room and I kind of just I
shed my tears, send up my prayer, and I fall asleep.
(25:48):
And then I don't know how long I was out,
but then I hear the banging on my door and
it's my producer, who's technically not allowed in the hotel,
but he was there, and he's like, Brandon, I talked
to the team. If you drive, you can go home,
but you can only go straight home and straight back.
You can't go see anybody else. You can't go to
grocery stores, you can't stop for food, you can't do anything.
(26:09):
And I'm like, no, it's three days ago is when
I needed to go home. I'm locked in to get
this performance done now. So no, like, if I make
it to the next round, I'm going home for a
week and then I will be back a week before
I need to be on stage.
Speaker 5 (26:29):
And so that was the agreement, and then that's when
I did my.
Speaker 3 (26:31):
Poem Letters to my Father, which was super nerve wracking
because that poem was originally six and a half minutes
and then I had to condense it down to three
and a half minutes. So the hardest part was not
reverting back to the old version of the poems. I
rocked that poem out. The next day they announced the
winners and who's going to the final They announced my name.
Speaker 5 (26:53):
I walk off stage.
Speaker 3 (26:54):
I walked clear past the like the interview part portion
where they're trying to, like, you know, get to like
talk with the media. I just point to my producer
and he's like, oh, yeah, no, no, no, he doesn't
have media.
Speaker 5 (27:06):
He's good.
Speaker 3 (27:07):
And I walk straight to my rental car and go home.
And then I do my final poem for my daughter.
And then the day that they're announcing the winner, I
didn't think I won. I did not think I want
because I remember the producers being like, are you sure
you want to do a poem for your daughter as
your last piece. I'm like yeah, I mean, like, I
just did a poem about being a fatherless child. What
(27:29):
better way than to show that the fatherless kid became
the better father. I was like, yo, I'll be top five,
but I'm not gonna win. And so I'm like thinking
about all these things in my head, kind of plotting
it out. And then when i make it to top three,
I'm like, okay, Christina raised next to me and Broken
Roots are next to me. I know Broken Roots did
not win, but Christina Rays she was killer, so she
probably picked up the win. And then when they knocked
(27:51):
Christina Ray off at third, I'm like, I just want
I just won this show, and like you'll see it
on my face while I go like, that's me realize
what just happened. When they announced my name, I just
dropped to my knees. The confetti rains.
Speaker 5 (28:06):
Yeah it was. It was amazing.
Speaker 2 (28:10):
Yeah yeah.
Speaker 4 (28:11):
My goodness though, oh my gosh, that journey to get there,
that is that is a lot. I mean, the birth
of a child, you know, shout outs to your wife,
that is no joke, My goodness to get there, the
kind of toll and stress of that, you know, so
honoring that is so key. So now okay, so you win,
that is that is huge? Tell us again, what was
(28:33):
the kind of winner? What does that package now look like?
You know, especially you wake up the next day after
you win something as big as that.
Speaker 2 (28:41):
You're You're on GMA, You're on all the morning talk shows.
You know, isn't it you? Really?
Speaker 4 (28:46):
You win like a show in Vegas, you win money? Obviously,
what is that next day, the day after, after that
huge dopamine that's just been put on you, But it's
also that huge kind of release of energy from what
you had to do to finally get there.
Speaker 2 (29:00):
What is thou when you wake up the next day?
What does that look like?
Speaker 3 (29:03):
Well? No interviews actually, at least in terms of in
person simply because it was still COVID, so like nothing
like that was happening. That I had probably about like
wenty phone to zoom interviews, like just back to back
to back to back, you know, signing paperword, clearing myself
(29:24):
out of the hotel because one thing that they for
sure did was get us out that hotel by noon
the next day.
Speaker 5 (29:31):
Wow, So we d am They like, hey, dog, we
appreciate you. Head on home.
Speaker 3 (29:39):
We've been paying for this hotel and your food for
the last three and a half four months. You're gonna
have to get up out of here. And so but
my family was there with me. We kind of illegally
snuck them in, which was fun, but no, it was
it was like for me, the biggest part was just
saying goodbye to all of my fellow acts, who I
built like real friendships with. It a point because we
(30:01):
had been going through this really unique experience of being
trapped in a hotel together when we were the only
ones in the hotel, and week after week it becomes
less and less people. Yeah, that was kind of the
weirdest part. It was like being in college again. But
you know that, like come next week, twelve, we y'all
aren't going to be here next week.
Speaker 4 (30:22):
Yeah, so you okay, So now we're at that stage.
Speaker 2 (30:25):
So you you've won it.
Speaker 4 (30:28):
It's a billion in one interviews. Obviously we're still in
the pandemic. Tell us now, kind of what has been
the kind of after you achieve something like that, winning
America's Got Talent, What now what happens to you then?
How was your career Did you see like an immediate.
Speaker 2 (30:43):
Just overnight trajectory upwards?
Speaker 4 (30:47):
What was that like in terms of your career now
that long lasting effects? How did that experience of winning
truly change your life?
Speaker 5 (30:54):
Well, even before Ringing.
Speaker 3 (30:56):
Things change fairly dramatically off the strength that like had
way more opportunities, so that that would probably be the
most significant change is just visibility and people being willing
to accept like, oh, yeah, like he's really good, because
it's like you, what's fort did you play?
Speaker 5 (31:16):
Right?
Speaker 3 (31:16):
So you and I both played basketball, You and I
understand what that is. And so like when somebody tell
you like, oh yeah, Daul like they nice, you'd be like, yeah,
they might be.
Speaker 5 (31:27):
I gotta see it though. I got to see that
they're good.
Speaker 3 (31:29):
And then when you see that they're good, now it's like, oh,
respect Like I feel it.
Speaker 5 (31:34):
I feel like that was kind of what happened with
the show.
Speaker 3 (31:37):
Was like I had always been nice, but folks now
are like, oh, like I can respect it because like
I didn't seen it up close.
Speaker 5 (31:44):
I didn't seen it for real.
Speaker 3 (31:46):
And so like people in the industry, businesses and corporations,
like making believers of people who you know, didn't always
see poetry as a as a valuable art form then
became the goal in the and the reach that we
pulled off, which was beautiful. I'm still longing for the
day where America's got talent le's another poet back on
(32:06):
their stage, because lord knows it's a it's about time
that another one gets a shot at it.
Speaker 2 (32:11):
Sure short, No, that's such a huge point.
Speaker 4 (32:13):
The idea of poetry, spoken word, the art oral traditions, that's.
Speaker 2 (32:17):
Still not a valued art form. So it is that
idea of being able.
Speaker 4 (32:22):
To win such a huge on a huge platform like that,
being able to bring that to the world, that that
makes a difference, just even even in your presence. Still,
you know, I kind of want to move on a bit,
tell us about I mean, do you still face challenges
in the industry, Like you said, spoken word poetry.
Speaker 2 (32:37):
You were the first and still only person.
Speaker 4 (32:41):
Especially on a public platform, to really to win a
show like that. But also, you know, I think about
obviously HBO had that Deaf Jam poetry. You know, we
have the Posts Speaks, podcasts of Demand to Acha on
Archaeology Channel. You know, we do have a lot of
there's still a bit of a lacking of poetry in
public spaces.
Speaker 2 (32:59):
I mean, do you still face challenges in the industry.
Speaker 4 (33:02):
You know, obviously you won an Emmy, did right You
want to tell you you know, you've really expanded your
reach with poetry. But do you still feel like there's
still a challenge for you in this industry as a
spoken word artist?
Speaker 3 (33:14):
Oh?
Speaker 5 (33:14):
Big time.
Speaker 3 (33:15):
I mean the reality is you get up there and
you realize, oh, the work that it took to get
here is less work than it is to stay here,
and way less work than it is to continue to
go up. So yeah, like Hollywood, or you know, the
industry as people want to call it, it has short memories.
(33:36):
They have short memories, you know, Like I was on
the show four years ago now, and that's a lifetime
ago for this industry, right, Like somebody who started a
movie four years ago, people may not really remember them
anymore now, simply because you're out of sight, out of mind.
Not to you know, throw shade on nobody's career or
nothing like that, because I actually really like this actress.
(33:57):
But like the woman who started the diver Urgent films
went through a very similar thing. People thought that she
was going to go on this like massive run, similar
to Jennifer.
Speaker 5 (34:08):
Lawrence after she got done with a.
Speaker 3 (34:11):
Series and she took a break, and that break afterwards,
momentum died down. People kind of forgot and then all
of a sudden she was now doing television versus doing movies,
which some people perceive as a downgrade, may have been
exactly what she wanted to do instead. I couldn't tell you,
(34:32):
but I know this. Two years of distance between your
most successful film and the next project will do a
lot against you unless you've built a fan base that
will find you the way that like you know, like
for comparison's sake, let's use comedy. Dave Chappelle can disappear
for years and then reappear and nothing happened because his
(34:54):
fan base is built for that.
Speaker 5 (34:56):
He made that.
Speaker 3 (34:57):
Kevin Hart can't do that, and that's why Kevin Hart
stays in the face of everybody all the time, Similark,
like Drake and Kendrick Lamar. If Drake disappeared for five years,
like Kendrick, people would be like what now? Would they
be exciting when Drake reappeared? Sure, but there'd be some
people who had been lost in the shuffle. Hendrick does
not have that problem. But that's because he's built and
(35:18):
trained his fan base for that. So in our modern
time where quick fast media is the norm, you have
to learn how to be able to adjust to that.
Speaker 2 (35:28):
No, yeah, you make such a good point.
Speaker 4 (35:31):
Yeah. One of my heroes, heroes, favorite artists of all
time is Shade.
Speaker 2 (35:36):
Remember she did an interview back in the day and.
Speaker 4 (35:38):
She said, and she has one of those fan bases, right,
she could go away for years, people will still celebrate
Shade as one of the greatest. And I remember she
gave a quote one day, she said, you know, people
are scared to go away.
Speaker 2 (35:51):
People as artists.
Speaker 4 (35:52):
They're scared to not be in everyone's face all the time.
They're scared to take time off to go away to
recoup and create something better. But do I understand where
you're coming from a lot of the modern gust that
we live in art artists. Unfortunately, you know the world
we live in with money, money making, you can't go away.
Speaker 2 (36:13):
You have to be there twenty four to seven.
Speaker 4 (36:16):
You know, it really does take a true artist, creating
from just the heart and soul to say I'm going
to step away to create even better. So for you,
I mean, being in the industry like this, it's very competitive,
it's very highly competitive.
Speaker 2 (36:31):
How much does the.
Speaker 4 (36:32):
Competition versus cooperation and community building do you kind of
seek out in terms of you know, your craft as
a spoken word artist, do you find yourself being in
more competition or creating community with your words, obviously with
the work you do with the youth. How much do
you see yourself now competition versus community building through poetry.
Speaker 5 (36:53):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (36:53):
So I'm a highly competitive dude, and it's to my
detriment at times, solely because I can unintentionally burn bridges
just off the strength of like wanting to fuel my
own desire to be great. I feel God really has
called me in this season to like be the bridge
instead of being the fire. And so, yeah, I think
(37:16):
competition has a place because it can fuel people's capacity
to be better, their drive to be better. It can
give them the boost that they need to be able
to chase after excellence. But it can't come at the
cost of being able to build with the people alongside.
You can't come at that cost. Like, I love the
people in my craft who take it seriously, who are
trying to pursue excellence, who are trying to be great,
(37:38):
and who are continuing to push our culture forward predominantly
in healthy ways, not just like oh yeah, like great penmans,
but like great people, because I think great people can
produce the best art. But yeah, in my modern time,
I'm trying to be more community oriented. I'm I'm trying
to be a better steward of the gift that I
have to be able to build people upstead of saying like,
(38:00):
oh yeah, watch how I can break you down so
I can be seen as higher.
Speaker 2 (38:05):
Sure sure, No, absolutely absolutely, And that's a.
Speaker 4 (38:09):
Path that takes a lifetime to still understand what community
and community building is.
Speaker 1 (38:14):
Now.
Speaker 2 (38:14):
Thank you for sharing no moving gears here a bit.
Speaker 4 (38:17):
You know, you've been a poet on an international scale
that you know most poets could only dream of having
that type of success, so quite naturally, you've touched a
lot of lives.
Speaker 2 (38:28):
All throughout the globe.
Speaker 4 (38:29):
Is there a story you could share, maybe even a
moment where you realize the impact your words of spoken
word of the word had on another human being.
Speaker 3 (38:39):
There's a seventy two year old white woman in Iowa
who reached out to me after my poem Pooky, and
she told me, Brandon, thank you for opening my eyes
because I hated Black Lives Matter. I used to you know,
protest against you know, all these all this vandalism and
(38:59):
all this all these you know, all these things I
thought people were making. These police brutality stories up and
then I heard your story and I realized I'm a
mother of three young boys, and I would burn a
city down if something like that happened to them. Another
story of a young lady in Brazil. She told me
(39:19):
she never met her father. She didn't know the man,
and he had recently reached out to her, and from
my time on the show, she had always contemplated, because
she had had this letter for about a year, on
whether or not she should actually reach out and be
able to go meet him. And my poem about my
father and I encouraged her to actually go meet the man,
(39:41):
and now they have a I won't say a thriving relationship,
but they are at least cordial and he has a
role in not only his daughter's life, but his granddaughter's
life too. There's a young man who is in Australia
who told me, man, becoming a father is the scariest
thing because I don't want to make the same mistakes
(40:02):
that my father made with me. And I'm only nineteen,
but when I hear you talk about your daughter, I
want to be that guy.
Speaker 5 (40:10):
So those are just a few instances.
Speaker 2 (40:12):
Wow, No, that is amazing.
Speaker 4 (40:14):
It gives you goosebumps for you as the person on
the receiving end, Do you even have the bandwidth to
even understand what that means that you've had that great
effect on someone's life?
Speaker 2 (40:26):
Can it even be can you even process it fully?
Speaker 3 (40:28):
You know? No, especially at the time being the futurist,
I've always been Yeah, I never really allow myself to
kind of just sit with it and to just be like, oh, yeah,
like I did really awesome work. Like I'll be there
in the moment as I'm messaging them back, but then
as soon as the message is gone, then I'm away
from it all.
Speaker 2 (40:48):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (40:48):
So I'm trying better.
Speaker 4 (40:51):
Yeah, absolutely so, Brandon. I mean, you've shared so many gems.
We really appreciate you and your time on the show today.
One of the things that this show really seeks to
do is give advice for the next generation of poets.
Anyone for their closet poets. They've been in the game
for a while, maybe they don't have to start. I mean,
what is just from your you know, give us some
(41:14):
free game. What advice do you give to aspiring poets
to look up to you and want to follow in
your footsteps of really making spoken word and poetry life's work.
Speaker 5 (41:24):
Three pieces of advice, I'll try to make them quick.
Speaker 4 (41:27):
One.
Speaker 3 (41:28):
Be a healthy person before you're an awesome poet. It's
far more valuable that way. Lesson to write the bad poem.
Speaker 5 (41:37):
It doesn't.
Speaker 3 (41:38):
All of the work you make does not have to
be amazing. All of it does not have to be beautiful.
Some of it can be trash, some of it can
be just awful, And you will find that writing the
bad stuff will give you the chance to be able
to then write the good stuff you're hoping to get
out of it. And then, last, but not least, don't
ask for success without being willing to pay the costs
(42:00):
that it requires. Many people will get jealous, get frustrated,
get upset that they haven't reached the heights that they
desire to reach, not realizing that in order to get
that high, in order to get that success, there was
a lot of imbalance that was required. I can't tell
you the number of hours I sacrificed from family, from friends,
(42:20):
from people who I love and practice in my backyard
or in the car or at some random park, the
number of hours I spent on the road to go
to an open mic in another city so I can
try out and find a new scene just to get there,
share my poem for three minutes, and then have to
take another three hour drive home so I can make
(42:41):
it to work the next day on time. It's going
to require imbalance for a season. And if you desire excellence,
then go get excellent, but you also have to give it.
So yeah, those would be my three pieces of advice.
Speaker 2 (42:54):
We appreciate it now. Those are excellent. Those are amazing,
Thank you so much. Brandon. What legacy do you hope
to behind through your poetry? Brandon?
Speaker 3 (43:02):
Honestly, these days, I just want to be known as
somebody who loves Jesus and loved people.
Speaker 5 (43:07):
And so if I can do those two.
Speaker 3 (43:09):
Things really well and have people be like yo, man,
like he loved God well and he loved us well,
then I feel like I did a good job.
Speaker 4 (43:18):
Thank absolutely all right, Brandon, last question we have for
you on the Post Speaks podcast today, Brandon, why do
you need to get your words out?
Speaker 3 (43:26):
I get these words out, because if I did, I'd
probably probably go kill some of y'all from what y'all
be doing out here in these streets.
Speaker 5 (43:32):
I'm just gonna be honest. So I choose a I
choose words instead of violence.
Speaker 2 (43:36):
There we go, all right, y'all he would out if
he could shoot. All right, he chooses words my violence.
Speaker 3 (43:44):
We love it.
Speaker 2 (43:45):
We love it, all right, Brandon. Well, thank you so
much for being guest today.
Speaker 4 (43:49):
Now before we wrap up, wrap up, just tell the
folks out there what's next for you in the year
twenty twenty five.
Speaker 2 (43:55):
And above and beyond?
Speaker 4 (43:56):
And where can folks find all of your amazing work
at any social media websites that you.
Speaker 3 (44:01):
Want to drop For January twenty twenty five, my short
film Complexity, which won fifty six awards internationally and nationally,
will be debuting online on my YouTube page just Brandon Leak.
Speaker 5 (44:16):
You will see me when you type it in. It's
my I channel.
Speaker 3 (44:20):
I have about almost twenty thousand followers there, So yeah,
that'll be debuting in January. February of twenty twenty six
will be my return back to poetry. For all who
don't know, I've been on sabbatical for about a year
and a half now. God called me home to be
able to take a break, be with my family, to
rest and to reconnect with Him, and in that I
(44:41):
have been preparing for this next album entitled Intimacy, and
we will be putting on three live shows in my
city and then potentially a very small tour. But it's
me with a sixty piece orchestra, a band, and a choir,
so it is not just branding up there on stage.
(45:02):
You're gonna get a full on performance. You will find
me at Brandon l E a k E on all platforms.
I'm the only Brandon Leak with a check mark next
to his name on all these platforms, so I'm pretty
easy to find. Hit me up on YouTube, most importantly Instagram.
You'll see me every day. So yeah, just come highlight
(45:23):
a brother. I'll be around awesome. Thanks so much, Brandon.
Speaker 2 (45:26):
Everyone.
Speaker 4 (45:26):
Brandon's links will be down below no matter where you're
listening to this podcast, no matter the platform, check out
the detailed box detail sections below for Brandon's all his links.
Speaker 2 (45:37):
All right, well, Brandon, we really appreciate you.
Speaker 4 (45:39):
Thank you so much for being a guest on the
Polts Speaks podcast today.
Speaker 5 (45:43):
Thank y'all.
Speaker 4 (45:44):
Absolutely all right, everyone again, Brandon's links. Brandon Links links
will be down below in the description box below.
Speaker 2 (45:52):
Everyone, thanks so much.
Speaker 4 (45:53):
Check out the Polks Speak podcast no matter where you
listen to your podcast, all everyone, take care.
Speaker 5 (45:57):
Bye bye
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