WEBVTT - Knowing the 'Point of it All' (w/ Anthony Hamilton) 0:00:02.080 --> 0:00:05.960 Good morning, good afternoon, good evening, or whatever you may be. 0:00:06.960 --> 0:00:09.840 You are tuned in to the Vitamin Day podcast and 0:00:10.320 --> 0:00:13.320 I am, of course to your host, Dawn Day. Here 0:00:13.440 --> 0:00:17.000 to um the guys. You want a journey to knowing yourself, 0:00:17.480 --> 0:00:20.760 to living your best life, to living life on purpose 0:00:20.880 --> 0:00:23.760 and for a purpose. Now, today I've been thinking about 0:00:23.880 --> 0:00:28.240 what it means to be in the world, Like what 0:00:28.320 --> 0:00:33.400 do we bring when we walk exists live amongst others? 0:00:33.880 --> 0:00:37.519 Do we bring joy? Do we bring peace? Do we 0:00:37.600 --> 0:00:41.920 bring kindness? Do we bring mercy? Or do we bring doubt? 0:00:42.680 --> 0:00:47.320 Do we bring confusion? Do we bring negativity? Or perhaps 0:00:47.360 --> 0:00:49.720 maybe we bring something in between those two spectrums. I 0:00:49.720 --> 0:00:53.200 don't know, but it is something that we must ask ourselves. See, 0:00:53.880 --> 0:00:57.040 I asked these questions to help clarifying for myself what 0:00:57.320 --> 0:01:00.360 I bring into the world each and every day. Now, 0:01:00.480 --> 0:01:03.240 some of you may know that I have life tattooed 0:01:03.280 --> 0:01:06.680 in my mouth and it serves as a reminder of 0:01:06.720 --> 0:01:09.320 the very essence of my being, and that is that 0:01:09.640 --> 0:01:12.920 my name is Dawn Day and I speak life. That's 0:01:12.959 --> 0:01:16.160 what I do. But also every day I know that 0:01:16.200 --> 0:01:18.120 I have to make a choice in how I choose 0:01:18.120 --> 0:01:20.560 to show up in the world. I have to choose 0:01:20.600 --> 0:01:24.200 to be positive. I have to choose to be optimistic. 0:01:24.400 --> 0:01:26.960 I have to choose to be kind, I have to 0:01:27.080 --> 0:01:31.160 choose to show mercy. I have to choose to live 0:01:31.760 --> 0:01:36.280 my best life on purpose and for a purpose. And 0:01:36.319 --> 0:01:38.959 I don't saying like it's going to be easy, but 0:01:39.040 --> 0:01:41.400 when it comes down to it, we have to realize 0:01:41.400 --> 0:01:44.080 that we have the power to create the lives that 0:01:44.120 --> 0:01:48.640 we want. We have the power to create the environment 0:01:48.680 --> 0:01:52.680 that we choose to exist in. We have the power 0:01:53.200 --> 0:01:58.480 to show up, to exist, to be to floors, to ignite, 0:01:58.480 --> 0:02:02.880 to edify in our best self. But we can only 0:02:02.960 --> 0:02:05.240 do that when we choose to show up to live 0:02:05.280 --> 0:02:07.760 our best life. Okay, I know that was a lot, 0:02:07.920 --> 0:02:10.560 but I say all this to say because I'm so 0:02:10.639 --> 0:02:14.200 excited about who's coming on this episode right now. And 0:02:14.600 --> 0:02:20.240 I'm talking none other than Grammy Award winning recording artist, singer, songwriter, 0:02:20.560 --> 0:02:24.160 multi instrumentalist, author, actor Dad and I would even venture 0:02:24.200 --> 0:02:28.560 to say poet Anthony houlds and legs and gentlemen, now listen. 0:02:29.280 --> 0:02:31.639 This is a very nostalgic moment as we were going 0:02:31.639 --> 0:02:34.720 through the process of booking Anthony, because it just took 0:02:34.720 --> 0:02:37.400 me back to my days at Harvard University, and Anthony 0:02:37.520 --> 0:02:42.000 was like that sound truck. The point of it all, Charlene, 0:02:42.120 --> 0:02:47.800 it's just the big bones. Oh my gosh. So you 0:02:47.840 --> 0:02:50.120 can imagine this moment. But I also say all this 0:02:50.200 --> 0:02:53.680 because so I sat down to talk with Anthony about 0:02:53.760 --> 0:02:56.839 his latest single, Mercy, what it means to be a man, 0:02:57.360 --> 0:03:01.239 how to paint a picture with music, and of course 0:03:01.320 --> 0:03:03.600 what it means to have and to show mercy and 0:03:03.639 --> 0:03:07.720 all lives. So, without further ado, it's time for your 0:03:07.760 --> 0:03:18.600 dose of vitamin D. Get right with me and get excited. Hello, 0:03:18.680 --> 0:03:22.880 Black King, how are you en? I'm doing well. I'm 0:03:22.919 --> 0:03:26.040 doing well that I'm speaking to you. I appreciate that. 0:03:26.120 --> 0:03:29.079 I like the love. I like that. Stop. No, it's 0:03:29.120 --> 0:03:32.600 nothing but a reciprocal thing, because um, you were kind 0:03:32.600 --> 0:03:37.160 of the soundtrack to my year in college. Okay, how university? 0:03:37.240 --> 0:03:40.800 So this is a turn back and you know, I'm 0:03:40.880 --> 0:03:44.600 so I'm so did I say I'm so. I'm so 0:03:44.680 --> 0:03:48.400 excited to dive in to talk about this track, Mercy 0:03:48.480 --> 0:03:51.800 that're releasing to give a glimpse over your catalog. But 0:03:51.960 --> 0:03:55.320 more important, ess to Hamilson, We're going to dive into 0:03:55.400 --> 0:04:01.000 the inspiration um behind this music, because I think it's 0:04:01.040 --> 0:04:04.680 the soundtrack that I think carries your voice. You hearing me. 0:04:05.400 --> 0:04:08.080 I appreciate it. I appreciate it, and I have to 0:04:08.400 --> 0:04:12.480 definitely thank Page for linking us up. And I'm so excited. 0:04:12.560 --> 0:04:16.200 So um, you're doing all right? I am. I'm good. 0:04:16.200 --> 0:04:18.640 I'm in Atlanta in the studio with Jamain de Free 0:04:18.800 --> 0:04:23.320 and uh every Bellinger came through today. Yeah, so we're 0:04:23.400 --> 0:04:28.320 here going ham. I saw your I G. Yeah, I 0:04:28.440 --> 0:04:30.520 saw your I G. And I was sitting there. You 0:04:30.560 --> 0:04:33.440 didn't tell me what you didn't tell me? You want 0:04:33.480 --> 0:04:39.200 what tell me? Anthony? Let talk about No, I don't 0:04:39.360 --> 0:04:43.400 know what you're talking about, but let's let's talk about 0:04:43.400 --> 0:04:45.920 some things that we we can't talk about. And you know, 0:04:46.680 --> 0:04:48.480 I was sitting here, I was talking to a friend 0:04:48.640 --> 0:04:52.880 and listening to your music. Uh. It reminds me of 0:04:52.920 --> 0:04:57.559 a dark liquor, a drink like maybe a Colne Yang 0:04:58.160 --> 0:05:02.760 or whiskey. How you talk about something now you're talking 0:05:02.800 --> 0:05:07.480 about it? Now? What's your drink? My drink? I like 0:05:07.560 --> 0:05:18.039 a little bob makes you do thing that the drink down? Yeah, 0:05:18.040 --> 0:05:20.280 all like a good bourbon, a good whiskey whether the 0:05:20.400 --> 0:05:25.880 American whiskey or or you know, it's something something from Afar. 0:05:25.960 --> 0:05:29.239 It's it's just a good drinking. It's a man's drink, 0:05:30.680 --> 0:05:33.279 a good old whiskey, bourbon or something. You know, talking 0:05:33.279 --> 0:05:36.320 about a bob. Oh, you saw how deep it And 0:05:36.360 --> 0:05:38.520 that's what I feel like, even when we talk about 0:05:38.520 --> 0:05:40.640 the drink. That's what I feel like your music does. 0:05:40.800 --> 0:05:45.839 It's like that that smoky, feel good, safe, sweet, I'm 0:05:45.839 --> 0:05:49.440 with my people kind of thing. Yeah, that's what it 0:05:49.440 --> 0:05:52.720 should feel like. Yeah, that's what a ship feels like. 0:05:53.160 --> 0:05:57.640 You know. I think, uh, you know, when you can 0:05:57.680 --> 0:06:00.960 resonate with things that remind you of your yourself. The dog, 0:06:01.720 --> 0:06:05.560 that dog, brown, that gravy, that that come on piece 0:06:05.560 --> 0:06:09.799 of golden corn bread, come on, that silky cat but'll 0:06:09.839 --> 0:06:12.559 you know, all that stuff just kind of sounds like music. 0:06:12.600 --> 0:06:15.680 Don't You're making me hungry? You know? That was another 0:06:15.800 --> 0:06:17.800 thing I gotta thank you. I had to come in 0:06:17.800 --> 0:06:21.440 here and adifying you because it was because of Sister 0:06:21.560 --> 0:06:26.800 Big Bombs. You told me I was beautiful, thank you 0:06:27.360 --> 0:06:30.000 and enjoying my curves. And I think that's what I 0:06:30.040 --> 0:06:31.880 love about this. And I don't know if you had 0:06:31.920 --> 0:06:34.080 a glimpse to know. But vitamin D is about that 0:06:34.440 --> 0:06:37.360 vitamin D. This podcast is about shedding light. It's a 0:06:37.440 --> 0:06:41.880 pun off of my name, Dawn Day, Okay. And so 0:06:42.040 --> 0:06:44.440 I'm going in there and I'm diving, and as I 0:06:44.480 --> 0:06:47.360 go onto the music and the lyrics, I can't help 0:06:47.360 --> 0:06:49.440 but wonder even as you're starting. Now, you grew up 0:06:49.440 --> 0:06:53.640 in North Carolina, North Calkilaki, as they say, yeah, Charlotte, 0:06:53.640 --> 0:06:56.200 North calass shot of North What made you take a 0:06:56.279 --> 0:06:59.760 chance on your dreams? I had to. It was just 0:06:59.800 --> 0:07:01.640 so deep, it was living, it was starting to live 0:07:01.720 --> 0:07:04.480 its own life inside. So I had to go with it, 0:07:04.640 --> 0:07:06.960 you know, they had to tend to it. I had 0:07:07.000 --> 0:07:09.240 to make sure that I took it to the city, 0:07:09.720 --> 0:07:12.800 to the big cities in New York City and allowed 0:07:12.840 --> 0:07:15.520 it to grow. And uh it birth the man and 0:07:15.880 --> 0:07:18.920 the music, birth some stories. So it's just it was 0:07:18.960 --> 0:07:22.320 just who else supposed to be from the beginning, from 0:07:22.360 --> 0:07:25.800 the womb, even before the womb, and I was putting 0:07:25.800 --> 0:07:28.520 the womb, I was put in there with music. Come on, 0:07:29.280 --> 0:07:32.120 and they never left. Come on, and now you're singing 0:07:32.160 --> 0:07:43.800 your song, I'm saying, So I'm not lone. Yeah, I 0:07:43.880 --> 0:07:47.720 wanted you to add that to the breaking zone, the 0:07:47.800 --> 0:08:01.560 break of do yeah, uh, thank you. And so I 0:08:01.600 --> 0:08:04.440 guess I talked about that a lot because people don't realize, 0:08:04.520 --> 0:08:06.360 you know, what the push came through. And I think 0:08:06.360 --> 0:08:08.920 this push that I'm gonna discuss is gonna lead up 0:08:08.960 --> 0:08:11.640 to the single that brought you where you are right now, 0:08:11.840 --> 0:08:15.240 entitled Mercy. But coming up to to New York, a 0:08:15.240 --> 0:08:19.600 lot of people, um don't necessary take heed to that 0:08:19.760 --> 0:08:24.120 of the plight I guess of a black man and 0:08:24.120 --> 0:08:28.280 and understanding that, you know, coming from a family down 0:08:28.360 --> 0:08:31.480 in North Karaca Lackey, you know, a farm, you know, 0:08:31.480 --> 0:08:33.640 when you really had to go out there and strive. 0:08:33.960 --> 0:08:37.400 I don't know if people oftentimes see the adjustment and 0:08:37.520 --> 0:08:40.840 the shift and understanding why some things may have seemed 0:08:40.880 --> 0:08:44.520 like a ditch or a rock or a stem in 0:08:44.520 --> 0:08:47.160 the way was actually a stepping stool or something to 0:08:47.200 --> 0:08:49.480 propel them forward. And I guess I just wanted to 0:08:49.520 --> 0:08:52.200 get some more insight as an encouragement as to why 0:08:52.240 --> 0:08:58.000 that is so in your life. You know, I've been 0:08:58.080 --> 0:09:01.680 I've encountered a lot, seen a lot of experienced a lot, 0:09:01.960 --> 0:09:05.120 and uh, you know, I learned to take those moments 0:09:05.160 --> 0:09:09.680 that seemed like ditches and branches and things that seemed 0:09:09.679 --> 0:09:13.080 like it was obstruction to my view. And uh, look 0:09:13.120 --> 0:09:14.800 through them there was a different color that was a 0:09:14.800 --> 0:09:18.440 different shade and huge. Um, if you use those things 0:09:18.520 --> 0:09:21.360 and I'll learned how to paint with it with my 0:09:21.440 --> 0:09:25.920 pen and uh, you know, I use it as leverage. 0:09:26.520 --> 0:09:28.840 I didn't. I didn't allow it to create fear in 0:09:28.840 --> 0:09:33.680 a barrier between me and where I was going, you know. 0:09:34.360 --> 0:09:36.480 So I learned. I learned to use the things that 0:09:36.480 --> 0:09:39.680 that that that were tangible and sometimes would be pain, 0:09:39.800 --> 0:09:43.880 sometimes it be happiness. Uh, those things started to create 0:09:44.320 --> 0:09:49.920 a new fabric and uh that fabrary became music. Oh 0:09:50.320 --> 0:09:53.040 and the way it's knitted up and down and all 0:09:53.120 --> 0:09:55.600 the round and splashed with different colors. And like you said, 0:09:55.600 --> 0:09:58.599 that painted your life. And realize in those moments that 0:09:58.720 --> 0:10:02.120 can comfort, the camp for tactic can shield. It also 0:10:02.240 --> 0:10:05.640 is a way there to express your personality. And so um, 0:10:05.800 --> 0:10:09.160 when we're thinking about that painting the music, right, I'm 0:10:09.200 --> 0:10:11.400 wondering when you got to this point and you know, 0:10:11.800 --> 0:10:13.720 and pawing off one of your head singles, what's the 0:10:13.720 --> 0:10:17.040 point of it all? The point of it all is 0:10:17.080 --> 0:10:19.320 I love you love. It's the point of it all. 0:10:19.760 --> 0:10:22.880 That's the reason. That's the ingredient, that's the thing that 0:10:23.080 --> 0:10:27.520 sustains you. That's that's that thing that motivates you and 0:10:28.720 --> 0:10:32.560 encourage you. Um. It's the reason. It's the reason why 0:10:32.600 --> 0:10:35.240 we call and make sure you got Did you get 0:10:35.240 --> 0:10:40.360 home okay? Um? How was work? How you feel? Are 0:10:40.360 --> 0:10:44.200 you cramping bad? Baby? Is there anything I can get you? Um? 0:10:44.760 --> 0:10:49.720 You know That's what That's what it's about. That's what 0:10:49.800 --> 0:10:53.720 a man does. You know, people, he tried to do that, 0:10:53.840 --> 0:10:56.000 be that for that. And you know what I think 0:10:56.120 --> 0:11:00.800 is so amazing is that you speak so much about 0:11:00.880 --> 0:11:03.560 what it means to be a man, stepping up to 0:11:03.640 --> 0:11:06.480 be a man, being a father of six sons and 0:11:06.520 --> 0:11:09.240 even taking a glimpse. I was watching, um, your series 0:11:09.280 --> 0:11:13.080 you did with Mr Harvey from Mentoring Mondays, and you 0:11:13.120 --> 0:11:15.920 admitted to yourself that you said, wait a minute, I 0:11:15.960 --> 0:11:19.760 grew up without a father, But yet you can still 0:11:19.800 --> 0:11:23.160 stand boldly in your manhood and expressial emotions the way 0:11:23.200 --> 0:11:27.600 you do. How is that you know you can't harbor 0:11:27.800 --> 0:11:32.400 bitterness and you can't expect for someone even your father, 0:11:32.520 --> 0:11:34.520 your mother, you can't expect for them to be perfect. 0:11:34.640 --> 0:11:38.319 You can't expect for them to be what your idea 0:11:38.360 --> 0:11:42.480 of them should be. UM. People can only be who 0:11:42.520 --> 0:11:48.199 they are UM until they change. But people are always 0:11:48.240 --> 0:11:51.920 pretty much honest in their moment, you know, whether they're 0:11:51.960 --> 0:11:57.559 messed up or disconnected or just not interested, that's who 0:11:57.600 --> 0:11:59.560 they are at that moment. And uh, you know, me 0:11:59.559 --> 0:12:01.880 and my father there now really cool. We've been cool 0:12:01.920 --> 0:12:07.559 for maybe wow, maybe sixteen years. Uh soul like we 0:12:07.679 --> 0:12:11.920 talked a lot. You know, I don't hold no. I 0:12:11.920 --> 0:12:15.520 don't ask him why he wasn't what happened those moments. 0:12:16.120 --> 0:12:18.400 I could care less as long as you he said. 0:12:19.280 --> 0:12:22.040 I love him and he loves me. And you know, 0:12:22.160 --> 0:12:24.440 you go from where you go from. I like to 0:12:24.480 --> 0:12:28.760 go from where it's comfortable with, it's pure and it's beautiful. 0:12:29.080 --> 0:12:31.400 I don't have to go back to that place, not 0:12:31.440 --> 0:12:34.080 for that, not to not to have a relationship with 0:12:34.640 --> 0:12:37.680 I appreciate your birth and help to birth me, and 0:12:37.960 --> 0:12:42.040 uh yeah, you're gonna be my father. Just not holding grudgers, 0:12:42.120 --> 0:12:49.120 learning to let love uh flower your life and uh yeah, 0:12:49.280 --> 0:12:51.160 I think a lot of people want to just hang 0:12:51.240 --> 0:12:53.000 on the stuff so they could have something to do 0:12:53.760 --> 0:12:57.680 or hang on have an excuse to to being a 0:12:57.760 --> 0:13:00.240 mood or funk or to hold something against something it 0:13:00.679 --> 0:13:02.960 find a way to love that person in spite of 0:13:03.240 --> 0:13:07.559 their flaws, um, you know. And sometimes it's not easy 0:13:07.960 --> 0:13:14.839 because each situation is differently, each everybody has a different story. 0:13:15.320 --> 0:13:18.720 Things happen to people. People are hurt, people are physically armed, 0:13:18.720 --> 0:13:23.760 and you know, so they have a different attitude and 0:13:23.800 --> 0:13:29.079 that's a different uh depth of a pain that sometimes 0:13:29.080 --> 0:13:32.640 we don't understand. So I get it. But but to 0:13:33.720 --> 0:13:36.640 the minute I can, I can choose peace. That's what 0:13:36.760 --> 0:13:40.440 I want a man, which is perfect to which we're 0:13:40.440 --> 0:13:43.600 about to segue too, because even what you said, despite 0:13:43.600 --> 0:13:45.520 that your father not being there, it sounds like you 0:13:45.600 --> 0:13:49.720 granted him a bit of mercy, right, a little mercy, 0:13:49.960 --> 0:13:55.400 just a little bit. Oh, And I love that because 0:13:56.320 --> 0:14:01.520 it's one thing to talk about something m but it's 0:14:01.559 --> 0:14:08.600 another thing to walk, to live, to truly reside in it. Yeah, 0:14:08.840 --> 0:14:11.360 And to know when we understand about a backbone of 0:14:11.400 --> 0:14:14.360 what a father is and to say I'm not looking 0:14:14.360 --> 0:14:16.520 at what yesterday because it is the accepting and now, 0:14:16.559 --> 0:14:18.120 because now is what we have the gift in which 0:14:18.160 --> 0:14:21.640 we are to present it to one another. H you've 0:14:21.680 --> 0:14:26.240 allowed yourself to free up to receive exactly. So let's 0:14:26.280 --> 0:14:29.720 talk about this track mercy. You mentioned with your father 0:14:30.720 --> 0:14:33.360 that it was about an understanding of who he is 0:14:33.480 --> 0:14:37.080 right now. We are valuing now, but yet understanding perhaps 0:14:37.120 --> 0:14:39.560 what he's gone through. Talk to me about this track 0:14:39.640 --> 0:14:45.400 mercy you have mercy. Uh, it's a man who stands 0:14:45.480 --> 0:14:51.400 vulnerable and and open, not weak by no means, but 0:14:51.480 --> 0:14:57.400 it's vulnerable man who's got afraid to expose. Um at 0:14:57.440 --> 0:15:01.760 that place where he cries, where he he yearns, and 0:15:01.840 --> 0:15:07.000 he you know, and and he you know, he has 0:15:07.080 --> 0:15:11.960 fears and certain things, um, allowing people to to see 0:15:12.000 --> 0:15:15.360 that place. I think sometimes people look at a man 0:15:15.440 --> 0:15:19.960 as as just this cement shelled. Um. But we we 0:15:20.040 --> 0:15:25.400 have feelings. We we worry about things like providing for 0:15:25.440 --> 0:15:30.720 our family, um, you know, protecting our kids, um, being 0:15:30.760 --> 0:15:33.640 a husband, being a wife and father. These are the 0:15:33.680 --> 0:15:36.800 things that we we we uh, we have on our mind, alge. 0:15:36.800 --> 0:15:39.480 So sometimes we need a little mercy, Sometimes we need 0:15:39.480 --> 0:15:41.640 a little forgiveness. Sometimes we need a little love, a 0:15:41.680 --> 0:15:45.600 little more love. UM. So it speaks, it speaks from 0:15:45.600 --> 0:15:50.320 that from that perspective, and just say, you know, untie, 0:15:51.960 --> 0:15:57.600 until you walk through my shoes. You can never him 0:15:58.040 --> 0:16:08.880 sing my blue Who never sang my blues? Untie? You 0:16:09.040 --> 0:16:14.320 felt the pain of them broken. Man, Then and only 0:16:14.520 --> 0:16:21.800 then can you understand Anthony? You know what you sound 0:16:21.840 --> 0:16:26.320 like you're saying. You're asking for somebody to see you 0:16:27.040 --> 0:16:33.360 have a little meercy, have a little see. It's a 0:16:33.360 --> 0:16:37.520 beautiful record and it and it features Tamika Mallory, who's uh, 0:16:37.800 --> 0:16:43.200 who's been an amazing um just amazing soldier out here 0:16:43.320 --> 0:16:47.120 fighting for justice and being being a voice for for 0:16:47.160 --> 0:16:50.040 so many people and standing up for men and women 0:16:50.080 --> 0:16:52.680 of color. And I felt her spirit was in the 0:16:52.760 --> 0:16:55.960 place where where she could speak to me and encourage me. 0:16:56.360 --> 0:17:00.200 And that's what she doesn't begin another song, and and 0:17:00.200 --> 0:17:04.760 then it goes in children, such a beautiful testimony of 0:17:04.760 --> 0:17:09.359 a man. She says, I'm not your enemy, I'm your energy. 0:17:10.320 --> 0:17:13.159 What you know, I was in this house and I 0:17:13.200 --> 0:17:19.280 started screaming, right because I said what? And it goes 0:17:19.400 --> 0:17:22.119 back to me even falling in love with your music 0:17:22.160 --> 0:17:25.360 for all of these years, because it's just about edifying. 0:17:25.600 --> 0:17:28.679 And we talk about edifying, it's just being a reflection 0:17:28.800 --> 0:17:32.960 of the light. Yeah, and you said, we just need 0:17:33.040 --> 0:17:36.960 a little love. And I'm thinking to myself, well and 0:17:37.119 --> 0:17:40.399 listening to this track of talking about all the things 0:17:40.400 --> 0:17:43.720 that have been carried, and it's saying, hey, no, one's 0:17:43.760 --> 0:17:46.840 not saying that, oh I shouldn't be caring it. It's 0:17:46.880 --> 0:17:52.040 just saying, see me as I carry it exactly. And 0:17:52.119 --> 0:17:55.160 if I stumble, and if I'm late with the where 0:17:55.200 --> 0:17:58.040 you think I should be or or till your time. 0:17:58.080 --> 0:18:01.679 But you have been appointed to just know that I 0:18:01.720 --> 0:18:04.560 was carrying something and man stummered along the way. But 0:18:04.640 --> 0:18:11.440 don't count me out. And uh, you know understand that that, 0:18:12.400 --> 0:18:15.399 you know, being a man is sometimes he has to 0:18:15.520 --> 0:18:18.520 deviate and has to you know, to pick himself up 0:18:19.920 --> 0:18:24.080 when people don't think he should fall. Um because like 0:18:24.160 --> 0:18:27.439 I said, people picture a man. The truth meaning of 0:18:27.440 --> 0:18:32.720 a man is someone who's always strong, who's always uh brazilient, 0:18:33.000 --> 0:18:37.680 and who doesn't cry. But real man cry, real man. 0:18:37.880 --> 0:18:42.360 Uh Yeah, I crown stage. I don't. I don't hold 0:18:42.400 --> 0:18:45.080 it back. My fans know if I feel it, if 0:18:45.080 --> 0:18:52.320 it hits me, I do it right there. That's it's awful. Yeah, 0:18:52.320 --> 0:18:56.520 it's powerful, it's um. It's I guess essentially it's kind 0:18:56.520 --> 0:19:00.720 of like being a light anyhow, of just saying essentially, Um, 0:19:00.720 --> 0:19:07.080 a light isn't bothered about being blocked. It doesn't matter 0:19:07.280 --> 0:19:12.440 who sees it shine. The only purpose is to be seen. 0:19:12.560 --> 0:19:16.080 And like you said, it's so easy to carry, to 0:19:16.359 --> 0:19:19.920 cover and to block, But to sit there and to 0:19:20.119 --> 0:19:25.320 expose and to stand there, that's another story, that's another dimension. 0:19:25.600 --> 0:19:28.640 And I'm just wondering, how how is it that one 0:19:28.680 --> 0:19:30.919 if you don't have a representation of a black man, 0:19:32.359 --> 0:19:35.639 how does one carry being strong and vulnerable at the 0:19:35.680 --> 0:19:39.240 same time. I think being honest in those moments, those 0:19:39.240 --> 0:19:44.800 true moments, um, you know, and being okay and being 0:19:44.800 --> 0:19:49.159 secured in those moments will help you develop, you know, 0:19:50.040 --> 0:19:52.639 the true meaning of being a man. You start to 0:19:52.840 --> 0:19:56.960 feel like, Okay, I'm vulnerable, I feel this, I'm okay, 0:19:57.000 --> 0:19:59.920 and I'm surviving through it. So that strength and surviving 0:20:00.040 --> 0:20:03.000 and making it through and you know, and you start 0:20:03.080 --> 0:20:08.600 to develop these characters and characteristics and and textures to 0:20:08.600 --> 0:20:13.080 to who you are UM. And you see yourself growing 0:20:13.119 --> 0:20:16.119 in certain ways, and when you identify your growth, that 0:20:16.200 --> 0:20:20.159 takes you to another level of becoming a man UM 0:20:20.240 --> 0:20:22.520 and then you start to be responsible and start to 0:20:22.560 --> 0:20:24.960 take care of that growth. And then as you grow 0:20:25.000 --> 0:20:28.920 more and you be more responsible. There you are, you're 0:20:28.960 --> 0:20:34.240 starting to create your own image of a man um 0:20:34.280 --> 0:20:37.920 that's true to you. Um. And then sometimes you see 0:20:38.000 --> 0:20:43.199 uncle Uncle Jr. Granddad, big big Daddy Rob like you 0:20:43.200 --> 0:20:45.320 know what, I think, I'm starting to look like him 0:20:45.359 --> 0:20:48.080 and act like him. I must be a man now, 0:20:50.359 --> 0:20:53.760 you know. It's always nice when you can see that 0:20:53.840 --> 0:20:58.560 reflection and to know that you've grown more. But it's 0:20:58.600 --> 0:21:02.120 so interesting, and I think and UM, sometimes people kind 0:21:02.119 --> 0:21:07.480 of disregarded to walk in your authority and to have 0:21:07.640 --> 0:21:11.600 dominion over your life because it's a promise that's guaranteed. 0:21:11.640 --> 0:21:14.040 But it's something that I've heard you saying countless times 0:21:14.040 --> 0:21:19.760 and interviews about knowing who you are going further and 0:21:19.800 --> 0:21:22.440 where you're going. Just like you said multiple times here, 0:21:22.840 --> 0:21:26.040 I'm not looking back, so I can't keep counting what 0:21:26.200 --> 0:21:29.959 happened yesterday, the day before that, and why that propelled 0:21:30.119 --> 0:21:33.200 or sometow handered me from going where I am going 0:21:33.320 --> 0:21:38.120 right now. But it's interesting that what I see when 0:21:38.119 --> 0:21:41.879 I see a black man oftentimes is that there's no 0:21:42.119 --> 0:21:46.960 room to be when I as a woman who I 0:21:47.000 --> 0:21:49.400 have never been in any type of trouble with the law, 0:21:49.640 --> 0:21:52.960 having gotten held back. When I can stand out on 0:21:53.000 --> 0:21:54.920 the street and I hear the police and I'm getting 0:21:54.920 --> 0:21:57.280 nervous because I'm standing next to black man. That's only 0:21:57.359 --> 0:22:00.760 one plight that one has to to carry. H And 0:22:00.800 --> 0:22:02.480 here I am because I gotta be strong to look 0:22:02.480 --> 0:22:04.879 after your back. Who do I lean on? And I 0:22:04.920 --> 0:22:08.280 think just looking at society or today, that's what I see. 0:22:08.800 --> 0:22:19.360 A misunderstanding. Yeah, yeah, being misunderstood. The black man has 0:22:19.400 --> 0:22:26.840 been misunderstood so many times. Um. And when you misunderstand something, 0:22:27.560 --> 0:22:31.240 you fear it. And uh, I think that's what the 0:22:31.480 --> 0:22:37.200 outside racist and people who don't, who don't understand who 0:22:37.200 --> 0:22:42.639 we are, um, start to fears and you know, I 0:22:42.720 --> 0:22:45.560 want to destroy, take us out, get rid of us. 0:22:45.840 --> 0:22:49.760 And then then you have been envy how amazing we are, 0:22:49.840 --> 0:22:54.240 how powerful and creative and just beautiful who we are 0:22:54.240 --> 0:23:01.280 full lips? Why those strong back? Uh. Yeah, So that's 0:23:01.280 --> 0:23:05.040 a lot. We have to That's a lot we we Uh, 0:23:06.440 --> 0:23:10.320 we have to face a lot. So what would you say, 0:23:10.840 --> 0:23:12.680 what do you see right now? We've had so much. 0:23:12.680 --> 0:23:16.320 You see the movements that Tamika Mallory is doing. We've 0:23:16.320 --> 0:23:19.560 seen the widespread of what the life of George Floyd 0:23:19.640 --> 0:23:22.000 has done. When we see the likes and the hopes 0:23:22.040 --> 0:23:24.200 of what Kamala Harris is doing in the White House, 0:23:24.680 --> 0:23:26.280 what do you see the state of America now? And 0:23:26.320 --> 0:23:29.320 what do you hope mercy brings? We have so much 0:23:29.359 --> 0:23:34.080 work to do, Kamala Harris and and uh so many 0:23:34.119 --> 0:23:36.520 others me you, we all have a lot of work 0:23:36.520 --> 0:23:40.760 to do. We have to start to create value amongst 0:23:40.760 --> 0:23:45.120 ourselves and to know that that value is just as 0:23:46.480 --> 0:23:50.359 special as any other race. I think, Uh, we start 0:23:50.440 --> 0:23:56.280 to govern ourselves and according and treat ourselves, treat ourselves 0:23:57.200 --> 0:24:02.160 with dignity and uh and not responsibility on old white 0:24:02.160 --> 0:24:07.159 men's to uh to save us. Um, to be our 0:24:07.200 --> 0:24:12.879 own savings. Um. But but this song will be the 0:24:12.880 --> 0:24:15.040 soundtrack to somebody getting to that place and where they 0:24:15.040 --> 0:24:19.600 can feel located to go there and to treat yourself 0:24:19.640 --> 0:24:23.040 with mercy. Yeah, treat yourself with mercy and and and 0:24:23.720 --> 0:24:28.480 see the value. And you camelists, it'll be nice to 0:24:28.480 --> 0:24:31.560 have someone there close too close to the home base, 0:24:32.320 --> 0:24:36.639 and somebody who can speak to talk. Hopefully she stays 0:24:37.280 --> 0:24:43.800 uh connected. Um. You know, people ridicule about her past, um, 0:24:43.840 --> 0:24:46.760 but we all you know, we've all done something that 0:24:46.840 --> 0:24:50.520 we wasn't so proud of exactly. Then we grow and 0:24:50.840 --> 0:24:53.960 so now this allows how to be in our new 0:24:54.080 --> 0:24:58.040 and our new this um maybe the song or brain 0:24:58.119 --> 0:25:01.320 peace to someone of wake something up in someone, Oh, 0:25:02.359 --> 0:25:09.080 remind somebody that you know, although I didn't see where 0:25:09.200 --> 0:25:12.119 you coming from, what you're going through, I think I 0:25:12.200 --> 0:25:17.919 understand that the song connected me to it and uh yeah, 0:25:18.160 --> 0:25:20.439 maybe didn't play it in the White House. Why not? 0:25:21.560 --> 0:25:24.879 Why not? And that's when I look at you and 0:25:24.920 --> 0:25:26.800 I look just look at your career, I look at 0:25:26.800 --> 0:25:30.080 your messaging, and it's a career that I say, why not? 0:25:30.720 --> 0:25:33.760 Because when you talk about just being authentically you speaking 0:25:33.760 --> 0:25:36.280 to Edify, speaking to him Lift, speaking in the sense 0:25:36.320 --> 0:25:38.399 of a black man speaking as a black man without 0:25:38.400 --> 0:25:42.359 a father, you know, just more so of being a 0:25:42.400 --> 0:25:47.879 black man who understands and in many cases overstands to 0:25:48.040 --> 0:25:53.600 know where we're going, Yeah, to know how we're doing it. 0:25:53.800 --> 0:25:56.600 And so I just think it's so powerful because in 0:25:56.760 --> 0:25:59.920 this day and age, we need to understand. And when 0:26:00.080 --> 0:26:02.200 Tamika was in the beginning of this track and she's 0:26:02.200 --> 0:26:04.919 sang see me, and all that you're saying is until 0:26:05.040 --> 0:26:07.600 you see me, see me where I'm coming from, see 0:26:07.640 --> 0:26:09.800 me where I'm going, And I hope that this track 0:26:09.880 --> 0:26:13.439 becomes kind of like the the the the soundtrack to 0:26:13.520 --> 0:26:17.399