April 13, 2025 • 33 mins
Check out Amanda's conversation with Larry Love!
Larry Love is a dynamic professional spoken word artist who performs powerful pieces of poetry with an urgent intent to highlight the need for social change. He is also the Writer, Producer and Director of several spoken Word musical stage plays which center on love and the unpredictability of relationships. As founder and CEO of the entertainment and outreach organization, Creative Love Network, Larry believes that poetry, music and the arts can both entertain and positively impact lives. To that effect, he utilizes his experience as a Life Mastery classroom mentor and a certified Emotional Intelligence facilitator to add impactful substance to his projects and performances.
Having graced stages across the country and beyond, Larry Love is a multi talented creative force and a champion for the people.
Larry's Links: @poetlarrylove
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/
Larry Love is a dynamic professional spoken word artist who performs powerful pieces of poetry with an urgent intent to highlight the need for social change. He is also the Writer, Producer and Director of several spoken Word musical stage plays which center on love and the unpredictability of relationships. As founder and CEO of the entertainment and outreach organization, Creative Love Network, Larry believes that poetry, music and the arts can both entertain and positively impact lives. To that effect, he utilizes his experience as a Life Mastery classroom mentor and a certified Emotional Intelligence facilitator to add impactful substance to his projects and performances.
Having graced stages across the country and beyond, Larry Love is a multi talented creative force and a champion for the people.
Larry's Links: @poetlarrylove
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.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
The power of words. I'm Amanda Ecking.
Speaker 1 (00:15):
Welcome to the poet Speaks, where every syllable ignites inspiration
for get you involved with what stories are on these tracks?
Speaker 2 (00:27):
This idea of the bronx. Now, boogie down Bronx. That's
what people say, right. Don't become someone's subway story.
Speaker 3 (00:37):
Medicate me with a lick of the like.
Speaker 1 (00:42):
I am not afraid to love you.
Speaker 3 (00:45):
All of us have a story.
Speaker 2 (00:47):
Microphone magnifying, notick.
Speaker 3 (00:50):
No one want to listen. So I think that's what
made me write. In writing the writing Disco.
Speaker 2 (00:57):
You ready, amazing poetry O. It's hello everyone, Welcome back
to the poet Speaks podcast. Now our next guest is
a dynamic professional spoken word artists who performs powerful pieces
of poetry with an urgent intent to highlight the need
(01:17):
for social change. He's also the writer, producer, and director
of several spoken word musical stage plays which center on
love and the unpredictability of relationships. As founder and CEO
of the entertainment and outreach organization Creative Love Network, he
believes that poetry, music, and the arts can both entertain
and positively impact lives.
Speaker 3 (01:37):
Everyone.
Speaker 2 (01:37):
Welcome to the Poet Speaks podcast. Larry Love, Larry, how
are you?
Speaker 3 (01:41):
I am good today? How are you?
Speaker 2 (01:44):
I'm doing pretty good myself, Doing pretty good myself.
Speaker 1 (01:47):
Now.
Speaker 2 (01:48):
I feel like there's no way that you couldn't be
good with the name like Larry Love.
Speaker 3 (01:51):
Right, that's what they say.
Speaker 2 (01:55):
Yeah, I want to get straight into it. How did
you get the pen name Larry Love. I think everyone's
going to just be curious.
Speaker 3 (02:01):
Okay, I'm gonna give you two different versions, if that's
all right. First, we have the Hollywood version, okay, And
that's where I would like to say that I took
the name Malcolm X and noticed that X was replacing
the last name, So instead of Larry and my given name,
I put Love there to represent my love for my
people and for my art and the passion that I
(02:22):
have for poetry. That's the Hollywood version. Now, the actual
version is back some time ago, there was a song
by the name of Larry Love, and they used to
play on the radio, and my brother tagged me with
that name, and my friends picked up on it, and
I've been Larry Love ever since, and just to keep
it one hundred. Of course, as a teenager, once you
get a couple of young ladies to say Hi, Larry Love,
(02:44):
of course you're not going to ever change that name.
So it stuck with me and that's where it came from.
So those are the two versions.
Speaker 2 (02:51):
All right, that's the love. Then we go, there we go?
All right? Well, speak of speaking of childhood memories, I mean,
tell us a little bit about where did you grow up?
How did how did your childhood affect the writing and
the process to become a poet as you are today,
And tell us a bit did poetry find you in
childhood or did it find you elsewhere in life?
Speaker 3 (03:12):
Okay? I grew up in sunny southern California, born and
raised in south central Los Angeles. I was born a
couple of months after the Watch Revolt, if you know
anything about that. So I like to tell people that
I was born breathing the air of revolution. My parents
were both revolutionaries involved in the Black power movement, So
always around us was reminders of how important we are
(03:36):
as individuals and as a people. Black is beautiful. Always
have pride in who you are and where you come from.
Surrounded by heroes and kings, and queens of African heritage.
So those things were around me and instilled in me.
So of course that bled into my writing and the
way that I see the world. As far as poetry
(03:57):
finding me, I would say I was more of a writer,
been a poet at an early age, and later in
life I developed a love for spoken word. But I've
always written from a very young and early age.
Speaker 2 (04:11):
Wow wow wow, So kind of taking that back that
is amazing. So you were born right before you said,
right before the rights or during the rights in Los.
Speaker 3 (04:19):
Angeles, right after the riot, so two months after that.
Speaker 2 (04:22):
Wh wow, my goodness, So tell us kind of tell
us a bit of any anecdotes you have. I mean,
that is such a prolific time in history, and you
know history does repeat itself. You know, we see those
same and you know what the future holds some of
those same movements, those same problems. A lot of our
community communities all over we're still facing those same issues now.
(04:44):
I mean, do you remember that time period growing up
in La South Central? During that time, your parents were,
like you said, they were revolutionaries themselves. What was that like?
I think a lot of people don't even realize how
intense those riots intense South. You know Los Angeles was
during that time. Tell us a bit about what growing
(05:05):
up in that was like.
Speaker 3 (05:09):
Nah, it definitely was a unique experience. For sure. The
fallout from that we're still feeling today, and of course
history peaced itself. I was here also for the ninety
two riots in Los Angeles after the Rodney King incident,
so I got to really live it through that particular one.
The first one. I was very very young, but still,
like I said, being emerged and growing up in that environment,
(05:30):
with my parents, family and friends of the family being
involved in that movement, it influenced me a lot. So
it was a period of change, of transformation, empowerment. So
you would see a lot of demonstrations. You would see
people standing up more for themselves as opposed to what
we used to see in films. I mean, my father's
(05:51):
generation was one that wasn't really about the turning the
other cheek and couldn't understand why the water holes being
turned on individuals and the dogs released didn't didn't inspire
them to physically fight back. Of course, we understand that
things were different at that time and you can't really
equate one to the other, but the climate in which
(06:12):
I grew up was more forward. I mean, we would
say they would say more what they felt and just
really be more I would say aggressive in pursuing liberty, justice, freedom.
But it was definitely a different time. It was a
time where blacks were coming into their own so caught
up in the music of that time, which I feel
was the golden era of music. It had messages, it
(06:34):
had meaning. I fell in love with R and B
of that time, and that still resonates with my writing
and the way that I create today.
Speaker 2 (06:43):
Absolutely absolutely. It's so interesting because it's now. So I
grew up in Sacramento, California, you know, now I live
on the East Coast in New York. It's interesting comparing
the two. You know, people you know hip hop originated
here in the Bronx. You know, you talk about the
messages in the music, but we know obviously hip hop
(07:03):
transverse from the Bronx all the way to Cali, right,
and a lot of those messages were so prelevant in
the music in California, telling the struggles of people in Compton, right.
We have so many different forms. I'm curious, you know,
it's interesting. I feel like I can only compare now
when I'm in New York, you know, people they're very
proud of being from the city Harlem, the different boroughs, right,
(07:27):
the Bronx, you know, and did same thing with California
more specifically, LA people are very proud to be native born,
bred Los Angeles people, right if they're stomping grounds. I'm
curious for you. I mean, what is the change you've
seen in LA from then versus now? Is there a
(07:48):
difference you've seen greatly in the community, not just writing
and you know, poetry, but also just in the grand
scheme of things. How was LA changed?
Speaker 3 (08:00):
Yeah, I've actually seen quite a few transformations, one being demographically,
of course, going from a block that was predominantly African
American to it being not so much right now. So
I'm seeing a lot of that. Gentrification is big in
LA right now. So a lot of historical sites and
landmarks you're seeing undergo a change and a transformation. As
(08:24):
far as growing up in it, when you were immersed
in it, you just adapt and make way for the change.
You try to hold on to old values and old
stories and old history as well, because that's very very
important and we consistently fight with that. A good brother
of mine and his organization of which I'm also a
part of, has worked to turn Crenchhall Boulevard, which you
(08:47):
may have heard of, to turn a portion of that
into Malcolm X Boulevard. So that's been an ongoing fight
and it's been pretty successful. So we should be seeing
that come about pretty soon. Yes, it's been a lot
of changes, and I've seen quite a bit growing up
in LA but I wouldn't trade it in for anything
in the world. Like you said, we are proud Los Angelinos.
Speaker 2 (09:09):
Here, absolutely absolutely. So let's kind of circle back a
little bit to your writing. I mean, tell us a bit.
That's such a colorful platform to come from from so
much history, right through your parents, through the city that
you're living in. Tell us how that then developed you
as a writer and kind of take us through when
(09:30):
that kind of professional now making those moves towards becoming
a professional poet, you know, obviously working with different aspects
of spoken word from the stage plays. Tell us how
that kind of that transition happened for you where you thought, hey,
I can actually do this as a job as a profession.
Speaker 3 (09:50):
Okay, Well, the writing started early, like any of us,
we look for validation, particularly from our parents. First there
are our first heroes. So fortunately I was alive how
to use my imagination that was never stifled. So I
always liked to write. And getting that positive feedback and
hearing people say, oh, you're a great writer. That instilled
(10:12):
in me a desire to want to improve in it.
Never set out to do anything as far as poetry.
In fact, I was thinking poetry, Yeah, who he wants
to do that? So I was involved in hip hop
earlier on, during the Golden years of hip hop, did
a lot of that. Worked on a project called We're
All in the Same Gang, which is a West Coast
version of an anti gang project. So I was involved
(10:33):
with that project along with some of the other legends
on the West Coast as far as hip hop goes,
later it transformed into spoken word poetry. Friend of Mine
drug me into an open mic and bam, I fell
in love there. I could say what I needed to
say without having to worry about being constrained by the
measures of a beat or having to have a beat
behind me. I can just go ahead and do what
(10:53):
I needed to do. So that opened up a whole
new round for me. And as far as doing it personally,
I've always had a belief that you should be compensated
for your art, for your talents and your abilities, and
so I set out to find ways that you could
monetize that, and in turn starting my company, the Creative
Love Network, I've extended that to other poets in the community,
(11:16):
teaching them and providing platforms for them to also showcase
their work and be compensated for it. So that's kind
of the progression of me as a writer and going
into poetry.
Speaker 2 (11:27):
Absolutely, absolutely, what was your inspiration for writing back then
versus now at the stage you're at now, What are
the two differences in inspiration or do you still feel
inspired by the same, by the same mysteries and you know,
curiosities in your life.
Speaker 3 (11:42):
Absolutely, the fire runs through both both back then at now.
That hasn't changed the passion for writing and communicating getting
a message out. I enjoy evoking emotion from individuals, being
able to have someone on the verge of setting a
tear or are ready to jump up in protest, or
(12:02):
really feeling what I'm writing, And the gift of spoken
word poetry performance poetry has allowed me to really merge
both of those worlds where I can write and also
deliver it, and I have a gift for delivering the
words that I write in a way that impacts people,
that really makes it powerful. So it was a great
(12:24):
thing to find spoken word and that might and then
just from there taking it to different levels, in different stages,
to the professional around where I can incorporate that into
things like campaigns for Corporate America, sending out messages with
various companies and organizations, or on the lesser level where
(12:44):
I'm in the street, in the community, just getting things
across to students and things like that. Poetry is a
powerful form of communication and if you use correctly, you
can absolutely impact and change lives. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (12:56):
Absolutely, It definitely seems as if you've taken you know,
your work as a poet as an active service, right,
I kind of want to draw back. You said something
really interesting there. You create that album attendedity of people,
the gun violence off the Street remind me the name
of the album that you had mentioned with some West
Coast rappers as well.
Speaker 3 (13:15):
Okay, the project and the album itself was called We're
All in the Same Gang and it was a joint
work between Warner Brothers Records back then and a good
brother who was one of the founding members of the
Crypts brother named Michael Conception. So he put that whole
concept together, got the artist together, and I was brought
(13:36):
in to assist with writing and being a part of
that project.
Speaker 2 (13:40):
Well, I mean that sounds beyond phenomenal. I mean, you know,
I think so much of gang culture, especially in rap
I think it's completely romanticized. I think not many people
really know the history of cribs and bloods, et cetera,
et cetera. Compton, South Central, whatever may have you for you.
I mean, you know, when you look back on that
work that you did, I mean, do you look at
(14:02):
that now? Like that was so important to do and
even now even more important today. A lot of young
folks still need to hear that, a lot of old
folks still need to hear that that message of peace
right within our community street life.
Speaker 3 (14:17):
Absolutely and to that effect, I'm in the schools multiple
times a week. I'm a mentor for young black men
high school and middle school age. So I go in
and I take that message in along with my brothers
who are also a part of the organization. The program
is called see a Man Be a Man. So the
idea is to show them what a real man looks
(14:37):
like and to show them different outlets and different pathways
outside of the gang, drugs and the typical things that
we are shown as on by media. You know. It's
to dispel those rumors in those stereotypes, so absolutely important
and I'm constantly doing that work as well. And it's
also about providing them alternatives. You know, in poetry. One,
(15:00):
if I find a young man or even a young
lady who's interested in writing or doing some sort of poetry,
even if it's something outside of the yards, it's up
to us to give them that guidance, show them how
they could do it, open their eyes, their eyes in
their minds to other alternatives. So yes, it is still
relevant today. And I'm not sure how long you're in
New York, but there was a record called Self Destruction
(15:24):
that was an East Coast version of that same thing.
In fact, that came out first, and then we're all
in the same game. Was it a reaction, not a reaction,
but a way for us to also do that same
type of project and spread that message on the West coast.
Speaker 2 (15:37):
So absolutely absolutely, I'll definitely check out for that. Now
that's a Yeah, it's such a it's such a message
that is just still so needed today. You still see
that that lifestyle is still it's still prelevant with a
lot of folks in our community, especially a lot of
young people. So shouts to y'all for still holding that
(15:59):
work to the fire and you know, putting that out there.
Speaker 3 (16:03):
Now.
Speaker 2 (16:03):
I do want to talk about kind of shifting gears
here a bit, you know, so I found it fascinating,
you know you so you you've kind of lived a
lot of different lives as a poet, you know, with
the rap spoken word now you do now you have
you also have a mixture of musical stage in poetry, right,
you know you directed several spoken word musical stage play
(16:23):
which center on love and the unpredictability of relationships. Tell us,
how does how?
Speaker 3 (16:28):
How?
Speaker 2 (16:28):
How do you? How did you fall into this this
new schema honestly of Larry Love, this new interpretation of yourself,
so many iterations of who you are in your art, right,
tell us how you fell into stage plays and musical
stage plays.
Speaker 3 (16:43):
Okay, Being in the creative community, you find a lot
of individuals with varying skill levels and talents. So I
would find myself I've always been an observer, so I
would sit and watch and just marveled at some of
the talent that people around me had. So I had
an idea of, like, wow, it would be good to
bring all of this talent together outside of just a
typical open mic where you come up and performance it out.
(17:06):
So how can we put together some sort of production
that's on a bigger scale than just this and provide
a platform for those particular artists. So again, to me,
music and poetry are very much intertwined. I look at
music as a form of instrumental poetry and poetry as
a form of lyrical music, so it all goes together.
(17:27):
The key is to be able to fuse that in
a way that the audience understands that they're receiving both,
but they don't see any interruption, right, it's just a
smooth process. And then taking these puzzle pieces and putting
them together and making everyone in that play feel like
they're a star in their own right, so there's no
supporting actors. Everyone is a star in my plays. So
(17:49):
writing and I've always had the ability to come up
with scripts that are realistic no matter who I'm writing for.
It really brings out the character. So doing the work
to write it, getting people together, having the ability to
manage people because we're talking about multiple people that will
be acting, multiple people that will be doing poetry, singers
(18:09):
and musicians, all of this going on at one time,
and having the foresight to see how all that would fit.
So that's how that came about. And then after doing
the first one, the success of that just opened up
the floodgates, and now you know, it's something that's a
staple in what I do and what our company does.
Speaker 2 (18:28):
Yeah, tell us a bit. I mean, how does a
production like that, Like you said, no one is supporting,
everyone's there the main character. How do you even begin
to contemplate the scale financially but also production wise, and
where do y'all kind of hold your plays? What's that
look like in La Okay?
Speaker 3 (18:50):
Well, one thing I've learned a long time ago that
it's hard to do anything by yourself, at least to
the level of excellence that you expect. So it's about
having a team. I have a phenomenal team behind me,
my business partner first and foremost, my queen is Diane,
and then we have Miss Andrea Lee, who is driving
force and making sure the company's name is ringing bells
(19:11):
out there concantly and making things happen. Our newest edition
Anthony the Boogeyman Rutger, he's one of the most phenomenal
poets to have a touch of microphone. So in combination
with that, along with the behind the scenes people that
I have, we have a number of professionals that are
not into poetry per se. They are movers and sakers
and can make things happen as far as what goes
(19:33):
on behind the scenes. So a team is very, very important.
You have to have that in order to really push
anything for it on the level that you want to
do it. From there, it just takes foresight and I
have an uncannyability to manage people per se, to make
people feel connected and important in all aspects and to
(19:54):
find their greatest gifts. And that's what you want to
pull out and highlight that part and when you put
them in those positions to succeed, and then you place
all those parts side by size in a cohesive way.
And that's where the writer comes in because you have
to be able to write it in a way that
it makes sense and it flows. That's a little more
difficult for most people, but I enjoy that. I'm a
(20:16):
chess player at heart, so I like making those moves
and making so everything works out the right way. So yeah,
it's a big undertaking and I am exhausted usually by
the end of the production, but it's a very rewarding
feeling once you have this vision in your head and
then you see it play out in real life before you.
As far as the venues, we played at various venues
(20:36):
throughout the LA area, and that changes based on our need.
Sometimes we need more lighting, bigger stages, smaller stages, so
just depending on what we need. So yeah, that's pretty
much the gist of it.
Speaker 2 (20:48):
Yeah, tell us a bit about what one of those
plays look like. Like I said, it plays center on
love and unpredictability of relationships. What's the inspiration look like
for that? Give us one of the names of one
of the plays that y'all have done.
Speaker 3 (21:03):
Okay, what is a series called to Love or to Leave?
And so in that case, we take a couple or
a couple of different couples and put them on stage
and they're acting out the dynamics of their relationship. So
one of them that we wrote was an issue with alcoholism.
So the husband I played that role, Michael, and that
(21:24):
particular play had a problem with alcohol and also a
little bit of domestic abuse in this. So we always
try to tap into real life situations and make people
think and deal with real situations. So that was the
issue going on. So throughout that play we had that transpire,
showed how he fell into that, how he tried to
dig himself out of it, and how his wife or
(21:45):
his partner reacted to that and the dynamics of that relationship.
So by the end of the show, we involve the audience.
We give everyone a black roles and a red roles,
and we asked them to vote based on what you've seen,
what do you think shit happen? Should she stay with him?
If that's the case, everyone raised the red roles. If
she should leave him, raise the black roles. And we
(22:07):
do that and they go crazy in the audience yelling
why they should stay or go, And it's a way
to keep the audience involved and also have them have
an interest so they determine the outcome of the show.
So you can think about that in terms of later
in life. I remember that play that Creative Love and
Larry Love did about the same situation, and I remember
(22:28):
how I felt when I saw that, and I was
the one that raised the black roles she should leave him.
So I'm in that situation, do I follow that same advice?
So it's something that continues on and then we bring
back different characters in that same play and let them
determine whether they should stay together or go based on
their dynamics and their relationship. But it's really interactive.
Speaker 2 (22:50):
Now that's amazing. Wow, what is the audience response. I'm
sure y'all get people come up to you all the
time talking about like, yeah, I have my roads there. Well,
what's been the kind of feedback that you've gotten. That's
such an interactive, engaging experience to be a part of.
Speaker 3 (23:06):
Oh, we get the whole scale. Need you in that role?
I hated you? That's a good sign. That means it
was played correctly and that the writing was on point.
So we get that all along, and even the characters
of this day, some of the posts will walk out
and people will call them the name of that character
instead of their regular name. Oh, you were Firecracker in
that or you were Michael in that play. So the
(23:28):
response is real good, and I always question whether they're
ready for another episode. It's always overwhelming. Yes, I'm invested.
I need to see what happens with the other couple now.
So the response is always very good and getting intertwining
music along with that. So you may be acting doing
a piece of a poetry performance and then all of
a sudden the song breaks out. It's all woven together
(23:51):
to make it cohesive.
Speaker 2 (23:53):
That's yeah, that's a hell of a monologue. Then now
that shit that that sounds amazing, And tell us how
often when can people go see those? How often do
y'all put on those performances? In stage plays?
Speaker 3 (24:05):
We try to do something quarterly, gotch So every quarter
we do something Right now, we're doing the series called
Kings and Queens of Poetry and Music, So we have
two huge thrones on stage and we represent the queens
and the kings of poetry. Have them come up on
stage and show why they deserve to wear the crown
of king or queen poet. So we do that in
conjunction with honoring the elders in the poetry community. So
(24:28):
every time we do that, we choose a king and
queen poet who's laid footprints in this game of poetry
and done incredible things in the community. So we make
sure to give the flowers to those who have paved
the way for us, while also introducing these new and
upcoming poets that are deserving of a stage as well.
So that's the series we're doing now. We've been doing
that for the last year now, took a quick hiatus
(24:52):
as we're now getting our poets on college campuses. We
just finished a three day conference where we are an
agency represent poets and getting them on college campuses all
across the country and putting them in spotlights and allowing
them to get monetary rewards that they deserve. So that's
been very exciting and looking forward to doing a lot
(25:13):
of that in the coming years as well.
Speaker 2 (25:15):
That's really what's up. That's definitely such I'm sure for
you feeling like every bit full circle moment. You know,
you're now giving back to those and giving them that
opportunity to be independent in their art. So that's such
a shout to all y'all. Shout to y'all. That's amazing
what y'all are doing. So tell us a bit about
now you've already mentioned a bit, but tell us a
(25:36):
little bit more about Creative Love Network. So this is
also this acts as an agency as well for poets
as well. Tell us a bit about the whole DNA
behind Creative Love Network.
Speaker 3 (25:47):
Okay, for that, the idea came about again seeing all
the talent that was out in the community and trying
to figure out how to provide a bigger platform for
them to demonstrate their art. So the name is a
play on Larry Love Creative Love Network, and it really
demonstrates what we're about, the love that we have for
creating and then providing that network for everyone to work
(26:11):
together and to also have an outlet. It's two parts
to the company. The first part of the entertainment part,
so that's providing the platform, the plays, the stages, the
events promotions, so we put on big events throughout the
LA area. The other side is the outreach side, because
we always want to be about community and about people.
So that side of it requires that all of our
(26:31):
poets are Most of our poets and people in the
organization are also certified to teach some form of life mastery,
so we have people that can do life coaching, anger management, parenting,
various things. We have a theme of self love. So
we have a book entitled The Power to Change the
Way You Love Yourself. We incorporate that in our programs
(26:51):
and plays. So it's about the creative side and the
upliftment of our people and people in general. So those
are the few aspects of the company. So we're constantly
doing things that are creative forms of therapy, so to speak.
So teaching you how to better love yourself, teaching you
how to forgive yourself for past things that you may
(27:12):
or may not have had any control over, how to
push through trauma, deal with anxiety, things like that. We
focus on that in the classroom while at the same
time entertaining. So it's again based on our belief that
words have the power, whether they're spoken, saying, written, or heard,
to impact lies and change people for the better.
Speaker 2 (27:32):
Absolutely. I mean, what a CIA if you could just
pick a dream out from the sky? I mean, where
do you see that? Where do you see the ORG going?
What is your kind of dream for the ORG eventually
going in the next couple of years.
Speaker 3 (27:48):
The long term plan and goal is to really touch
more people because I believe our mission is a solid
one and one that is necessary. So getting to a
point where we can touch more people across the country
the world. So to that effect, we're taking steps to
do more multi multimedia things. Tap We want to tap
into television, cable outlets, different factions across the country, different
(28:14):
chapters maybe of the organization that can put on these
type of events and these type of workshops, get into
the school system. So it's really just expanding the work
that we're doing here and taking that global that that
is the goal.
Speaker 2 (28:28):
Absolutely, absolutely, Now that's that's beyond amazing. The Creative Love Network,
Everyone go check them out for sure. Now tell me
was there a Was there a pivotal moment in your
life when you knew you were a writer? There is
any story you remember from maybe childhood, adulthood where it
is it clicked with you. Could you name any memory
where hey, I know I am a writer.
Speaker 3 (28:50):
Now, okay, if we're going to go back to early days,
it was sixth grade graduation when I was allowed to
write the graduation speech and perform it. So that I
had reservations like how can I do this? How are
they going to respond? But I got courageous and did it.
And the response when people started clapping and applauding that
(29:12):
told me, Okay, they like my words and they like
my delivery. So on that day, I think the poet
was born in that auditorium in sixth grade. And then,
of course later as we progress, I get into school
in college and professors are telling me you really need
to change your major, you should be doing something in writing,
and getting that feedback constantly told me that Okay, this
(29:33):
is a gift that I have and I should try
to really do something positive with it.
Speaker 2 (29:38):
That's what's up. That's what's up sixth grade, everyone in
the auditorium. So push your kids to go speak at
an auditorium young as young asy to get them. That's
what's up. Thank you for sharing that. All right, and Larry,
our last question for you on the post Piece podcast.
All Right, Larry Love, why do you need to get
your words out?
Speaker 3 (29:57):
M Because as I said earlier, I I truly believe
that words have the power to change people, change the world.
So I believe my words speak to freedom, they speak
to liberation, they speak to progression. My words are like
the tip of a knife, sharp tip of a knife
that's kind of peeling back the layers of this self
(30:18):
doubt that our people have been wrapped in for so
many decades and years, So peeling that back and helping
people to really understand that we are great, we are valuable,
We deserve every blessing that comes our way. And so
I have to continue to speak because who am I
how to hold that in when I have a gift
and ability to reach people. So it's my duty and
(30:39):
my job to make sure my words are heard one
thousand percent.
Speaker 2 (30:44):
All right, y'all heard them?
Speaker 3 (30:45):
All right?
Speaker 2 (30:45):
Thank you so much, Larry. And before we wrap up,
wrap up, tell us what's next for you in twenty
twenty five and beyond, and tell us where can folks
come find out more about your amazing work. Drop any
social media or websites that you have.
Speaker 3 (31:00):
Twenty twenty four, we're almost at the end of it though.
Right right now we're focused again on the getting those
poets out to these college campuses. So that's a big
emphasis of ours, and we had a lot of success
at this conference and a lot of universities reached out
to us, so we'll be organizing that and sending units
of ports all across the country in the coming year.
(31:20):
On a personal level, I'm working on a spoken word
album right now, so that's something I'm very excited about
for twenty twenty five. The title of the projects title
is Roses and Revolution, so it allows me to tap
into both my revolution every side and my love for
black love, so combining those two things and again Roses
(31:42):
and Revolution. So look out for that coming. And the
Creative Love Network has a lot of things on tap.
We're looking to start a cable show pretty soon. We
are also a book publishing organization, so we have several
books that are being worked on right now that we'll
be bringing to Fruition in the next year or so.
And just getting out there and touching people, teaching them
(32:02):
about loving themselves and spreading our talents and our appreciation
for this art that we call poetry.
Speaker 2 (32:10):
There we go. All right, thanks so much, Larry. Did
you did you drop your social I might miss that
or do you have a website?
Speaker 3 (32:18):
I have not dropped it in My team would be
so mad at me because I always forget to do that.
All right, all right, poor Larry Love. On all platforms,
the company is Creative Love Network, So poet Larry Love
and Creative Love Network on all platforms, tap in with us.
The website creativelovenetwork dot com. Check with us, see what
(32:40):
we're doing, follow us, and yeah, a lot of big
things planned.
Speaker 2 (32:44):
All right, sounds good noworries everyone. We'll put all of
Larry's information in the description box and the details down below.
All right, everyone, Larry Love thanks so much for joining
us on the poet Speaks podcast today.
Speaker 3 (32:57):
Shout up to you, queen.
Speaker 2 (32:59):
All right, thank you so.
Speaker 3 (32:59):
Much to everyone.
Speaker 2 (33:00):
Go ahead and check out all theirs amazing work and
check out the post Speaks podcast where you listen to
your podcasts. All right, Bollie, everyone pee
Join us on the Poetic Odyssey, a celebration of voices, cultures, and.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
The power of words. I'm Amanda Ecking.
Speaker 1 (00:15):
Welcome to the poet Speaks, where every syllable ignites inspiration
for get you involved with what stories are on these tracks?
Speaker 2 (00:27):
This idea of the bronx. Now, boogie down Bronx. That's
what people say, right. Don't become someone's subway story.
Speaker 3 (00:37):
Medicate me with a lick of the like.
Speaker 1 (00:42):
I am not afraid to love you.
Speaker 3 (00:45):
All of us have a story.
Speaker 2 (00:47):
Microphone magnifying, notick.
Speaker 3 (00:50):
No one want to listen. So I think that's what
made me write. In writing the writing Disco.
Speaker 2 (00:57):
You ready, amazing poetry O. It's hello everyone, Welcome back
to the poet Speaks podcast. Now our next guest is
a dynamic professional spoken word artists who performs powerful pieces
of poetry with an urgent intent to highlight the need
(01:17):
for social change. He's also the writer, producer, and director
of several spoken word musical stage plays which center on
love and the unpredictability of relationships. As founder and CEO
of the entertainment and outreach organization Creative Love Network, he
believes that poetry, music, and the arts can both entertain
and positively impact lives.
Speaker 3 (01:37):
Everyone.
Speaker 2 (01:37):
Welcome to the Poet Speaks podcast. Larry Love, Larry, how
are you?
Speaker 3 (01:41):
I am good today? How are you?
Speaker 2 (01:44):
I'm doing pretty good myself, Doing pretty good myself.
Speaker 1 (01:47):
Now.
Speaker 2 (01:48):
I feel like there's no way that you couldn't be
good with the name like Larry Love.
Speaker 3 (01:51):
Right, that's what they say.
Speaker 2 (01:55):
Yeah, I want to get straight into it. How did
you get the pen name Larry Love. I think everyone's
going to just be curious.
Speaker 3 (02:01):
Okay, I'm gonna give you two different versions, if that's
all right. First, we have the Hollywood version, okay, And
that's where I would like to say that I took
the name Malcolm X and noticed that X was replacing
the last name, So instead of Larry and my given name,
I put Love there to represent my love for my
people and for my art and the passion that I
(02:22):
have for poetry. That's the Hollywood version. Now, the actual
version is back some time ago, there was a song
by the name of Larry Love, and they used to
play on the radio, and my brother tagged me with
that name, and my friends picked up on it, and
I've been Larry Love ever since, and just to keep
it one hundred. Of course, as a teenager, once you
get a couple of young ladies to say Hi, Larry Love,
(02:44):
of course you're not going to ever change that name.
So it stuck with me and that's where it came from.
So those are the two versions.
Speaker 2 (02:51):
All right, that's the love. Then we go, there we go?
All right? Well, speak of speaking of childhood memories, I mean,
tell us a little bit about where did you grow up?
How did how did your childhood affect the writing and
the process to become a poet as you are today,
And tell us a bit did poetry find you in
childhood or did it find you elsewhere in life?
Speaker 3 (03:12):
Okay? I grew up in sunny southern California, born and
raised in south central Los Angeles. I was born a
couple of months after the Watch Revolt, if you know
anything about that. So I like to tell people that
I was born breathing the air of revolution. My parents
were both revolutionaries involved in the Black power movement, So
always around us was reminders of how important we are
(03:36):
as individuals and as a people. Black is beautiful. Always
have pride in who you are and where you come from.
Surrounded by heroes and kings, and queens of African heritage.
So those things were around me and instilled in me.
So of course that bled into my writing and the
way that I see the world. As far as poetry
(03:57):
finding me, I would say I was more of a writer,
been a poet at an early age, and later in
life I developed a love for spoken word. But I've
always written from a very young and early age.
Speaker 2 (04:11):
Wow wow wow, So kind of taking that back that
is amazing. So you were born right before you said,
right before the rights or during the rights in Los.
Speaker 3 (04:19):
Angeles, right after the riot, so two months after that.
Speaker 2 (04:22):
Wh wow, my goodness, So tell us kind of tell
us a bit of any anecdotes you have. I mean,
that is such a prolific time in history, and you
know history does repeat itself. You know, we see those
same and you know what the future holds some of
those same movements, those same problems. A lot of our
community communities all over we're still facing those same issues now.
(04:44):
I mean, do you remember that time period growing up
in La South Central? During that time, your parents were,
like you said, they were revolutionaries themselves. What was that like?
I think a lot of people don't even realize how
intense those riots intense South. You know Los Angeles was
during that time. Tell us a bit about what growing
(05:05):
up in that was like.
Speaker 3 (05:09):
Nah, it definitely was a unique experience. For sure. The
fallout from that we're still feeling today, and of course
history peaced itself. I was here also for the ninety
two riots in Los Angeles after the Rodney King incident,
so I got to really live it through that particular one.
The first one. I was very very young, but still,
like I said, being emerged and growing up in that environment,
(05:30):
with my parents, family and friends of the family being
involved in that movement, it influenced me a lot. So
it was a period of change, of transformation, empowerment. So
you would see a lot of demonstrations. You would see
people standing up more for themselves as opposed to what
we used to see in films. I mean, my father's
(05:51):
generation was one that wasn't really about the turning the
other cheek and couldn't understand why the water holes being
turned on individuals and the dogs released didn't didn't inspire
them to physically fight back. Of course, we understand that
things were different at that time and you can't really
equate one to the other, but the climate in which
(06:12):
I grew up was more forward. I mean, we would
say they would say more what they felt and just
really be more I would say aggressive in pursuing liberty, justice, freedom.
But it was definitely a different time. It was a
time where blacks were coming into their own so caught
up in the music of that time, which I feel
was the golden era of music. It had messages, it
(06:34):
had meaning. I fell in love with R and B
of that time, and that still resonates with my writing
and the way that I create today.
Speaker 2 (06:43):
Absolutely absolutely. It's so interesting because it's now. So I
grew up in Sacramento, California, you know, now I live
on the East Coast in New York. It's interesting comparing
the two. You know, people you know hip hop originated
here in the Bronx. You know, you talk about the
messages in the music, but we know obviously hip hop
(07:03):
transverse from the Bronx all the way to Cali, right,
and a lot of those messages were so prelevant in
the music in California, telling the struggles of people in Compton, right.
We have so many different forms. I'm curious, you know,
it's interesting. I feel like I can only compare now
when I'm in New York, you know, people they're very
proud of being from the city Harlem, the different boroughs, right,
(07:27):
the Bronx, you know, and did same thing with California
more specifically, LA people are very proud to be native born,
bred Los Angeles people, right if they're stomping grounds. I'm
curious for you. I mean, what is the change you've
seen in LA from then versus now? Is there a
(07:48):
difference you've seen greatly in the community, not just writing
and you know, poetry, but also just in the grand
scheme of things. How was LA changed?
Speaker 3 (08:00):
Yeah, I've actually seen quite a few transformations, one being demographically,
of course, going from a block that was predominantly African
American to it being not so much right now. So
I'm seeing a lot of that. Gentrification is big in
LA right now. So a lot of historical sites and
landmarks you're seeing undergo a change and a transformation. As
(08:24):
far as growing up in it, when you were immersed
in it, you just adapt and make way for the change.
You try to hold on to old values and old
stories and old history as well, because that's very very
important and we consistently fight with that. A good brother
of mine and his organization of which I'm also a
part of, has worked to turn Crenchhall Boulevard, which you
(08:47):
may have heard of, to turn a portion of that
into Malcolm X Boulevard. So that's been an ongoing fight
and it's been pretty successful. So we should be seeing
that come about pretty soon. Yes, it's been a lot
of changes, and I've seen quite a bit growing up
in LA but I wouldn't trade it in for anything
in the world. Like you said, we are proud Los Angelinos.
Speaker 2 (09:09):
Here, absolutely absolutely. So let's kind of circle back a
little bit to your writing. I mean, tell us a bit.
That's such a colorful platform to come from from so
much history, right through your parents, through the city that
you're living in. Tell us how that then developed you
as a writer and kind of take us through when
(09:30):
that kind of professional now making those moves towards becoming
a professional poet, you know, obviously working with different aspects
of spoken word from the stage plays. Tell us how
that kind of that transition happened for you where you thought, hey,
I can actually do this as a job as a profession.
Speaker 3 (09:50):
Okay, Well, the writing started early, like any of us,
we look for validation, particularly from our parents. First there
are our first heroes. So fortunately I was alive how
to use my imagination that was never stifled. So I
always liked to write. And getting that positive feedback and
hearing people say, oh, you're a great writer. That instilled
(10:12):
in me a desire to want to improve in it.
Never set out to do anything as far as poetry.
In fact, I was thinking poetry, Yeah, who he wants
to do that? So I was involved in hip hop
earlier on, during the Golden years of hip hop, did
a lot of that. Worked on a project called We're
All in the Same Gang, which is a West Coast
version of an anti gang project. So I was involved
(10:33):
with that project along with some of the other legends
on the West Coast as far as hip hop goes,
later it transformed into spoken word poetry. Friend of Mine
drug me into an open mic and bam, I fell
in love there. I could say what I needed to
say without having to worry about being constrained by the
measures of a beat or having to have a beat
behind me. I can just go ahead and do what
(10:53):
I needed to do. So that opened up a whole
new round for me. And as far as doing it personally,
I've always had a belief that you should be compensated
for your art, for your talents and your abilities, and
so I set out to find ways that you could
monetize that, and in turn starting my company, the Creative
Love Network, I've extended that to other poets in the community,
(11:16):
teaching them and providing platforms for them to also showcase
their work and be compensated for it. So that's kind
of the progression of me as a writer and going
into poetry.
Speaker 2 (11:27):
Absolutely, absolutely, what was your inspiration for writing back then
versus now at the stage you're at now, What are
the two differences in inspiration or do you still feel
inspired by the same, by the same mysteries and you know,
curiosities in your life.
Speaker 3 (11:42):
Absolutely, the fire runs through both both back then at now.
That hasn't changed the passion for writing and communicating getting
a message out. I enjoy evoking emotion from individuals, being
able to have someone on the verge of setting a
tear or are ready to jump up in protest, or
(12:02):
really feeling what I'm writing, And the gift of spoken
word poetry performance poetry has allowed me to really merge
both of those worlds where I can write and also
deliver it, and I have a gift for delivering the
words that I write in a way that impacts people,
that really makes it powerful. So it was a great
(12:24):
thing to find spoken word and that might and then
just from there taking it to different levels, in different stages,
to the professional around where I can incorporate that into
things like campaigns for Corporate America, sending out messages with
various companies and organizations, or on the lesser level where
(12:44):
I'm in the street, in the community, just getting things
across to students and things like that. Poetry is a
powerful form of communication and if you use correctly, you
can absolutely impact and change lives. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (12:56):
Absolutely, It definitely seems as if you've taken you know,
your work as a poet as an active service, right,
I kind of want to draw back. You said something
really interesting there. You create that album attendedity of people,
the gun violence off the Street remind me the name
of the album that you had mentioned with some West
Coast rappers as well.
Speaker 3 (13:15):
Okay, the project and the album itself was called We're
All in the Same Gang and it was a joint
work between Warner Brothers Records back then and a good
brother who was one of the founding members of the
Crypts brother named Michael Conception. So he put that whole
concept together, got the artist together, and I was brought
(13:36):
in to assist with writing and being a part of
that project.
Speaker 2 (13:40):
Well, I mean that sounds beyond phenomenal. I mean, you know,
I think so much of gang culture, especially in rap
I think it's completely romanticized. I think not many people
really know the history of cribs and bloods, et cetera,
et cetera. Compton, South Central, whatever may have you for you.
I mean, you know, when you look back on that
work that you did, I mean, do you look at
(14:02):
that now? Like that was so important to do and
even now even more important today. A lot of young
folks still need to hear that, a lot of old
folks still need to hear that that message of peace
right within our community street life.
Speaker 3 (14:17):
Absolutely and to that effect, I'm in the schools multiple
times a week. I'm a mentor for young black men
high school and middle school age. So I go in
and I take that message in along with my brothers
who are also a part of the organization. The program
is called see a Man Be a Man. So the
idea is to show them what a real man looks
(14:37):
like and to show them different outlets and different pathways
outside of the gang, drugs and the typical things that
we are shown as on by media. You know. It's
to dispel those rumors in those stereotypes, so absolutely important
and I'm constantly doing that work as well. And it's
also about providing them alternatives. You know, in poetry. One,
(15:00):
if I find a young man or even a young
lady who's interested in writing or doing some sort of poetry,
even if it's something outside of the yards, it's up
to us to give them that guidance, show them how
they could do it, open their eyes, their eyes in
their minds to other alternatives. So yes, it is still
relevant today. And I'm not sure how long you're in
New York, but there was a record called Self Destruction
(15:24):
that was an East Coast version of that same thing.
In fact, that came out first, and then we're all
in the same game. Was it a reaction, not a reaction,
but a way for us to also do that same
type of project and spread that message on the West coast.
Speaker 2 (15:37):
So absolutely absolutely, I'll definitely check out for that. Now
that's a Yeah, it's such a it's such a message
that is just still so needed today. You still see
that that lifestyle is still it's still prelevant with a
lot of folks in our community, especially a lot of
young people. So shouts to y'all for still holding that
(15:59):
work to the fire and you know, putting that out there.
Speaker 3 (16:03):
Now.
Speaker 2 (16:03):
I do want to talk about kind of shifting gears
here a bit, you know, so I found it fascinating,
you know you so you you've kind of lived a
lot of different lives as a poet, you know, with
the rap spoken word now you do now you have
you also have a mixture of musical stage in poetry, right,
you know you directed several spoken word musical stage play
(16:23):
which center on love and the unpredictability of relationships. Tell us,
how does how?
Speaker 3 (16:28):
How?
Speaker 2 (16:28):
How do you? How did you fall into this this
new schema honestly of Larry Love, this new interpretation of yourself,
so many iterations of who you are in your art, right,
tell us how you fell into stage plays and musical
stage plays.
Speaker 3 (16:43):
Okay, Being in the creative community, you find a lot
of individuals with varying skill levels and talents. So I
would find myself I've always been an observer, so I
would sit and watch and just marveled at some of
the talent that people around me had. So I had
an idea of, like, wow, it would be good to
bring all of this talent together outside of just a
typical open mic where you come up and performance it out.
(17:06):
So how can we put together some sort of production
that's on a bigger scale than just this and provide
a platform for those particular artists. So again, to me,
music and poetry are very much intertwined. I look at
music as a form of instrumental poetry and poetry as
a form of lyrical music, so it all goes together.
(17:27):
The key is to be able to fuse that in
a way that the audience understands that they're receiving both,
but they don't see any interruption, right, it's just a
smooth process. And then taking these puzzle pieces and putting
them together and making everyone in that play feel like
they're a star in their own right, so there's no
supporting actors. Everyone is a star in my plays. So
(17:49):
writing and I've always had the ability to come up
with scripts that are realistic no matter who I'm writing for.
It really brings out the character. So doing the work
to write it, getting people together, having the ability to
manage people because we're talking about multiple people that will
be acting, multiple people that will be doing poetry, singers
(18:09):
and musicians, all of this going on at one time,
and having the foresight to see how all that would fit.
So that's how that came about. And then after doing
the first one, the success of that just opened up
the floodgates, and now you know, it's something that's a
staple in what I do and what our company does.
Speaker 2 (18:28):
Yeah, tell us a bit. I mean, how does a
production like that, Like you said, no one is supporting,
everyone's there the main character. How do you even begin
to contemplate the scale financially but also production wise, and
where do y'all kind of hold your plays? What's that
look like in La Okay?
Speaker 3 (18:50):
Well, one thing I've learned a long time ago that
it's hard to do anything by yourself, at least to
the level of excellence that you expect. So it's about
having a team. I have a phenomenal team behind me,
my business partner first and foremost, my queen is Diane,
and then we have Miss Andrea Lee, who is driving
force and making sure the company's name is ringing bells
(19:11):
out there concantly and making things happen. Our newest edition
Anthony the Boogeyman Rutger, he's one of the most phenomenal
poets to have a touch of microphone. So in combination
with that, along with the behind the scenes people that
I have, we have a number of professionals that are
not into poetry per se. They are movers and sakers
and can make things happen as far as what goes
(19:33):
on behind the scenes. So a team is very, very important.
You have to have that in order to really push
anything for it on the level that you want to
do it. From there, it just takes foresight and I
have an uncannyability to manage people per se, to make
people feel connected and important in all aspects and to
(19:54):
find their greatest gifts. And that's what you want to
pull out and highlight that part and when you put
them in those positions to succeed, and then you place
all those parts side by size in a cohesive way.
And that's where the writer comes in because you have
to be able to write it in a way that
it makes sense and it flows. That's a little more
difficult for most people, but I enjoy that. I'm a
(20:16):
chess player at heart, so I like making those moves
and making so everything works out the right way. So yeah,
it's a big undertaking and I am exhausted usually by
the end of the production, but it's a very rewarding
feeling once you have this vision in your head and
then you see it play out in real life before you.
As far as the venues, we played at various venues
(20:36):
throughout the LA area, and that changes based on our need.
Sometimes we need more lighting, bigger stages, smaller stages, so
just depending on what we need. So yeah, that's pretty
much the gist of it.
Speaker 2 (20:48):
Yeah, tell us a bit about what one of those
plays look like. Like I said, it plays center on
love and unpredictability of relationships. What's the inspiration look like
for that? Give us one of the names of one
of the plays that y'all have done.
Speaker 3 (21:03):
Okay, what is a series called to Love or to Leave?
And so in that case, we take a couple or
a couple of different couples and put them on stage
and they're acting out the dynamics of their relationship. So
one of them that we wrote was an issue with alcoholism.
So the husband I played that role, Michael, and that
(21:24):
particular play had a problem with alcohol and also a
little bit of domestic abuse in this. So we always
try to tap into real life situations and make people
think and deal with real situations. So that was the
issue going on. So throughout that play we had that transpire,
showed how he fell into that, how he tried to
dig himself out of it, and how his wife or
(21:45):
his partner reacted to that and the dynamics of that relationship.
So by the end of the show, we involve the audience.
We give everyone a black roles and a red roles,
and we asked them to vote based on what you've seen,
what do you think shit happen? Should she stay with him?
If that's the case, everyone raised the red roles. If
she should leave him, raise the black roles. And we
(22:07):
do that and they go crazy in the audience yelling
why they should stay or go, And it's a way
to keep the audience involved and also have them have
an interest so they determine the outcome of the show.
So you can think about that in terms of later
in life. I remember that play that Creative Love and
Larry Love did about the same situation, and I remember
(22:28):
how I felt when I saw that, and I was
the one that raised the black roles she should leave him.
So I'm in that situation, do I follow that same advice?
So it's something that continues on and then we bring
back different characters in that same play and let them
determine whether they should stay together or go based on
their dynamics and their relationship. But it's really interactive.
Speaker 2 (22:50):
Now that's amazing. Wow, what is the audience response. I'm
sure y'all get people come up to you all the
time talking about like, yeah, I have my roads there. Well,
what's been the kind of feedback that you've gotten. That's
such an interactive, engaging experience to be a part of.
Speaker 3 (23:06):
Oh, we get the whole scale. Need you in that role?
I hated you? That's a good sign. That means it
was played correctly and that the writing was on point.
So we get that all along, and even the characters
of this day, some of the posts will walk out
and people will call them the name of that character
instead of their regular name. Oh, you were Firecracker in
that or you were Michael in that play. So the
(23:28):
response is real good, and I always question whether they're
ready for another episode. It's always overwhelming. Yes, I'm invested.
I need to see what happens with the other couple now.
So the response is always very good and getting intertwining
music along with that. So you may be acting doing
a piece of a poetry performance and then all of
a sudden the song breaks out. It's all woven together
(23:51):
to make it cohesive.
Speaker 2 (23:53):
That's yeah, that's a hell of a monologue. Then now
that shit that that sounds amazing, And tell us how
often when can people go see those? How often do
y'all put on those performances? In stage plays?
Speaker 3 (24:05):
We try to do something quarterly, gotch So every quarter
we do something Right now, we're doing the series called
Kings and Queens of Poetry and Music, So we have
two huge thrones on stage and we represent the queens
and the kings of poetry. Have them come up on
stage and show why they deserve to wear the crown
of king or queen poet. So we do that in
conjunction with honoring the elders in the poetry community. So
(24:28):
every time we do that, we choose a king and
queen poet who's laid footprints in this game of poetry
and done incredible things in the community. So we make
sure to give the flowers to those who have paved
the way for us, while also introducing these new and
upcoming poets that are deserving of a stage as well.
So that's the series we're doing now. We've been doing
that for the last year now, took a quick hiatus
(24:52):
as we're now getting our poets on college campuses. We
just finished a three day conference where we are an
agency represent poets and getting them on college campuses all
across the country and putting them in spotlights and allowing
them to get monetary rewards that they deserve. So that's
been very exciting and looking forward to doing a lot
(25:13):
of that in the coming years as well.
Speaker 2 (25:15):
That's really what's up. That's definitely such I'm sure for
you feeling like every bit full circle moment. You know,
you're now giving back to those and giving them that
opportunity to be independent in their art. So that's such
a shout to all y'all. Shout to y'all. That's amazing
what y'all are doing. So tell us a bit about
now you've already mentioned a bit, but tell us a
(25:36):
little bit more about Creative Love Network. So this is
also this acts as an agency as well for poets
as well. Tell us a bit about the whole DNA
behind Creative Love Network.
Speaker 3 (25:47):
Okay, for that, the idea came about again seeing all
the talent that was out in the community and trying
to figure out how to provide a bigger platform for
them to demonstrate their art. So the name is a
play on Larry Love Creative Love Network, and it really
demonstrates what we're about, the love that we have for
creating and then providing that network for everyone to work
(26:11):
together and to also have an outlet. It's two parts
to the company. The first part of the entertainment part,
so that's providing the platform, the plays, the stages, the
events promotions, so we put on big events throughout the
LA area. The other side is the outreach side, because
we always want to be about community and about people.
So that side of it requires that all of our
(26:31):
poets are Most of our poets and people in the
organization are also certified to teach some form of life mastery,
so we have people that can do life coaching, anger management, parenting,
various things. We have a theme of self love. So
we have a book entitled The Power to Change the
Way You Love Yourself. We incorporate that in our programs
(26:51):
and plays. So it's about the creative side and the
upliftment of our people and people in general. So those
are the few aspects of the company. So we're constantly
doing things that are creative forms of therapy, so to speak.
So teaching you how to better love yourself, teaching you
how to forgive yourself for past things that you may
(27:12):
or may not have had any control over, how to
push through trauma, deal with anxiety, things like that. We
focus on that in the classroom while at the same
time entertaining. So it's again based on our belief that
words have the power, whether they're spoken, saying, written, or heard,
to impact lies and change people for the better.
Speaker 2 (27:32):
Absolutely. I mean, what a CIA if you could just
pick a dream out from the sky? I mean, where
do you see that? Where do you see the ORG going?
What is your kind of dream for the ORG eventually
going in the next couple of years.
Speaker 3 (27:48):
The long term plan and goal is to really touch
more people because I believe our mission is a solid
one and one that is necessary. So getting to a
point where we can touch more people across the country
the world. So to that effect, we're taking steps to
do more multi multimedia things. Tap We want to tap
into television, cable outlets, different factions across the country, different
(28:14):
chapters maybe of the organization that can put on these
type of events and these type of workshops, get into
the school system. So it's really just expanding the work
that we're doing here and taking that global that that
is the goal.
Speaker 2 (28:28):
Absolutely, absolutely, Now that's that's beyond amazing. The Creative Love Network,
Everyone go check them out for sure. Now tell me
was there a Was there a pivotal moment in your
life when you knew you were a writer? There is
any story you remember from maybe childhood, adulthood where it
is it clicked with you. Could you name any memory
where hey, I know I am a writer.
Speaker 3 (28:50):
Now, okay, if we're going to go back to early days,
it was sixth grade graduation when I was allowed to
write the graduation speech and perform it. So that I
had reservations like how can I do this? How are
they going to respond? But I got courageous and did it.
And the response when people started clapping and applauding that
(29:12):
told me, Okay, they like my words and they like
my delivery. So on that day, I think the poet
was born in that auditorium in sixth grade. And then,
of course later as we progress, I get into school
in college and professors are telling me you really need
to change your major, you should be doing something in writing,
and getting that feedback constantly told me that Okay, this
(29:33):
is a gift that I have and I should try
to really do something positive with it.
Speaker 2 (29:38):
That's what's up. That's what's up sixth grade, everyone in
the auditorium. So push your kids to go speak at
an auditorium young as young asy to get them. That's
what's up. Thank you for sharing that. All right, and Larry,
our last question for you on the post Piece podcast.
All Right, Larry Love, why do you need to get
your words out?
Speaker 3 (29:57):
M Because as I said earlier, I I truly believe
that words have the power to change people, change the world.
So I believe my words speak to freedom, they speak
to liberation, they speak to progression. My words are like
the tip of a knife, sharp tip of a knife
that's kind of peeling back the layers of this self
(30:18):
doubt that our people have been wrapped in for so
many decades and years, So peeling that back and helping
people to really understand that we are great, we are valuable,
We deserve every blessing that comes our way. And so
I have to continue to speak because who am I
how to hold that in when I have a gift
and ability to reach people. So it's my duty and
(30:39):
my job to make sure my words are heard one
thousand percent.
Speaker 2 (30:44):
All right, y'all heard them?
Speaker 3 (30:45):
All right?
Speaker 2 (30:45):
Thank you so much, Larry. And before we wrap up,
wrap up, tell us what's next for you in twenty
twenty five and beyond, and tell us where can folks
come find out more about your amazing work. Drop any
social media or websites that you have.
Speaker 3 (31:00):
Twenty twenty four, we're almost at the end of it though.
Right right now we're focused again on the getting those
poets out to these college campuses. So that's a big
emphasis of ours, and we had a lot of success
at this conference and a lot of universities reached out
to us, so we'll be organizing that and sending units
of ports all across the country in the coming year.
(31:20):
On a personal level, I'm working on a spoken word
album right now, so that's something I'm very excited about
for twenty twenty five. The title of the projects title
is Roses and Revolution, so it allows me to tap
into both my revolution every side and my love for
black love, so combining those two things and again Roses
(31:42):
and Revolution. So look out for that coming. And the
Creative Love Network has a lot of things on tap.
We're looking to start a cable show pretty soon. We
are also a book publishing organization, so we have several
books that are being worked on right now that we'll
be bringing to Fruition in the next year or so.
And just getting out there and touching people, teaching them
(32:02):
about loving themselves and spreading our talents and our appreciation
for this art that we call poetry.
Speaker 2 (32:10):
There we go. All right, thanks so much, Larry. Did
you did you drop your social I might miss that
or do you have a website?
Speaker 3 (32:18):
I have not dropped it in My team would be
so mad at me because I always forget to do that.
All right, all right, poor Larry Love. On all platforms,
the company is Creative Love Network, So poet Larry Love
and Creative Love Network on all platforms, tap in with us.
The website creativelovenetwork dot com. Check with us, see what
(32:40):
we're doing, follow us, and yeah, a lot of big
things planned.
Speaker 2 (32:44):
All right, sounds good noworries everyone. We'll put all of
Larry's information in the description box and the details down below.
All right, everyone, Larry Love thanks so much for joining
us on the poet Speaks podcast today.
Speaker 3 (32:57):
Shout up to you, queen.
Speaker 2 (32:59):
All right, thank you so.
Speaker 3 (32:59):
Much to everyone.
Speaker 2 (33:00):
Go ahead and check out all theirs amazing work and
check out the post Speaks podcast where you listen to
your podcasts. All right, Bollie, everyone pee
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