Speaker 1: Welcome to Inside the Studio presented by I Heart Radio.
Speaker 1: I'm your host, Joe League. Okay, So, like a lot
Speaker 1: of us, the guest on this episode of the home
Speaker 1: edition of the show, Anthony Ramos, has been figuring out
Speaker 1: how to keep busy, how to keep working, and he
Speaker 1: has kept working. He's almost done with his second album.
Speaker 1: But also, like a lot of us, he's been keeping
Speaker 1: busy in a different place, namely at home. So even
Speaker 1: though he started working on the song before Lockdown, his
Speaker 1: new single Stop is partly about this. It's about learning
Speaker 1: how to be still, how to enjoy some silence, And
Speaker 1: this was all on our mind when we started the
Speaker 1: home edition of the show. The idea was to let
Speaker 1: you know how artists are coping with Lockdown, how it's
Speaker 1: affecting their lives, how it's affecting the way they make music,
Speaker 1: how it's stopping or starting their creativity. And when Anthony
Speaker 1: talked about giving himself permission to sit on the couch
Speaker 1: and watch old Harry Potter movies in this episode, I
Speaker 1: really felt that, although in my case it was old
Speaker 1: episodes of thirty Rock. Anyway, if you enjoy this episode,
Speaker 1: be sure to listen to the I heart radio podcast
Speaker 1: hosted by our Quarantine correspondent Jordan runt Talk. It's called Rivals,
Speaker 1: Music's Greatest Feuds, and it is available wherever you get
Speaker 1: your podcast. Hello everybody, my name is Jordan runt Talk.
Speaker 1: But enough about me. My guest today is a star
Speaker 1: of stage, screen and song. It sounds like a cliche,
Speaker 1: but in this case, there's no other way to put it.
Speaker 1: He truly has done it all. You probably know him
Speaker 1: from the original cast of Hamilton's or the hit Netflix
Speaker 1: series She's Got to Have It, or for appearing alongside
Speaker 1: Lady Uga and a star was born. Last fall, he
Speaker 1: dropped his debut solo album, The Good and the Bad,
Speaker 1: a series of soulful tracks to tell the story of
Speaker 1: his remarkable life so far. You think a global pandemic
Speaker 1: might slow him down, but you'd be wrong. He has
Speaker 1: a new single, Stop, which explores the beauty of staying
Speaker 1: still just a little bit, maybe one of the only
Speaker 1: good things to come from the COVID pandemic. I'm so
Speaker 1: happy to welcome Anthony Ramos. Thank you so much for
Speaker 1: being here. It's such an honest I'm doing it. Thanks
Speaker 1: for having me so You've been so busy these last
Speaker 1: few years. You've gone from filming in the Heights to
Speaker 1: recording your debut solo album filming She's Gotta Have It,
Speaker 1: And now you're sitting still, Like how you adjusting to
Speaker 1: all this downtime? Oh? Man, dude, I think, uh, I
Speaker 1: think it's been nice. It's been nice. Actually I've had
Speaker 1: that much downtime, but uh, but but I've had more
Speaker 1: than than than usual, and it's been really nice to
Speaker 1: be able to just like one, be in the apartment
Speaker 1: that I like pay rant for what I'm saying, like
Speaker 1: not on a plane somewhere like you know. And I
Speaker 1: love traveling, and I love working, and I love doing
Speaker 1: things and seeing things and experiencing new new things. But
Speaker 1: I really am hyped and uh and just like grateful
Speaker 1: for this time I've had at home. Man, Like it
Speaker 1: just it just really made me appreciate it more and more.
Speaker 1: And like after this, um, I think being home will
Speaker 1: will as much as I can, will be at the
Speaker 1: top of my mind way more than it was before.
Speaker 1: You know, I was like where we go? Before I
Speaker 1: was like, Yo, where we're gonna we out, let's go,
Speaker 1: We're go. And now I'm working on my second album. Man,
Speaker 1: I'm almost done, you know, so so we're uh, you know,
Speaker 1: we're in the thick of it. It was I had
Speaker 1: to get on this equipment because you know, A and R.
Speaker 1: I was like, Yo, come on, so we start at
Speaker 1: work sun. Yeah, let's great. You're feeling productive because I
Speaker 1: feel like I hear both sides. I hear people that
Speaker 1: are like, all right, I'm here, I'm gonna work so hard,
Speaker 1: or those people that are just like I just am
Speaker 1: not feeling it right now, but you're feeling inspired right now. No,
Speaker 1: I'm feel really inspired for sure. Yeah. Man, it's uh
Speaker 1: because you know, I think there was this pressure that
Speaker 1: I put on myself at the start of this, and well,
Speaker 1: first of all, I was like, how am I gonna
Speaker 1: deal with this? This is a whole new way of
Speaker 1: life that I've not experienced I don't know ever. And
Speaker 1: uh as far as like learning how to be still
Speaker 1: and actually like finding comfort and and and being still.
Speaker 1: So there was two weeks where I was just trying
Speaker 1: to get over that. And then after that it was
Speaker 1: like ship do I make Like how do I I
Speaker 1: wanna do I make? Like A like, do I write
Speaker 1: songs right now? Do I I don't know what do
Speaker 1: I what I do? Do I write script do? I
Speaker 1: don't know what. I don't know what to do right
Speaker 1: now with myself. And and then there were you know,
Speaker 1: there's all the people posting about if you're an artist,
Speaker 1: this is the time to make art, right like, and
Speaker 1: I'm like, you know, but I don't feel inspired. I
Speaker 1: don't feel inspired to make art. And and then so
Speaker 1: I think it wasn't even It wasn't until maybe a
Speaker 1: month maybe till April, which oddly enough was like the
Speaker 1: armor getting period. I would call in New York City anyway,
Speaker 1: who's who lives in New York or was in New
Speaker 1: York and April knows that that it was like crazy here, uh,
Speaker 1: I mean the hospitals were full, Like I mean, I've
Speaker 1: never heard sirens like the way I heard them, uh,
Speaker 1: you know, and so so so that was wild. But
Speaker 1: I think in that time I had started to accept
Speaker 1: like what like life is gonna be and what it
Speaker 1: is at the moment. And then I think, then the
Speaker 1: creativity and then the then then the spark to write
Speaker 1: songs and too to do stuff kind of naturally happened
Speaker 1: and I stopped kind of it kind of happened when
Speaker 1: I stopped forcing myself to to work, or I was,
Speaker 1: you know, forcing myself to work for the sake of
Speaker 1: doing it, right, Like, I was just kind of just
Speaker 1: doing it just because I was like, well, what else
Speaker 1: am I gonna do? But then then I was kind
Speaker 1: of like, no, you know, I actually like it's okay
Speaker 1: if I just want to set on the couch and
Speaker 1: watch Harry Potter, Like that's fine, Like I can do
Speaker 1: that as much as I want to do that. I
Speaker 1: should actually do that as much as I want to
Speaker 1: do that, right, like um and uh. And then when
Speaker 1: I feel compelled to write a song or I feel
Speaker 1: to move and put the pens in the paper, you know,
Speaker 1: on the fingers of the phone, you know, and and
Speaker 1: you know, and then we'll do that. So I think
Speaker 1: that that's that was kind of the natural progression. Tell
Speaker 1: me about your new single Stop. I mean to me,
Speaker 1: it sounds like sort of like zen lessons learned from
Speaker 1: from lockdown, being present, being in the moment, just slowing down.
Speaker 1: What is the genesis of that song is? That's sort
Speaker 1: of everything you just mentioned, like learning how to just
Speaker 1: sort of be still. The genesis of that song was,
Speaker 1: what's what's interesting about that song is that song what
Speaker 1: was written I would say days before I came back
Speaker 1: to New York and probably a week and a half
Speaker 1: before I found out that we were going to go
Speaker 1: on the lockdown. Well, so it wasn't even about what
Speaker 1: I'm going through now, but it sounds so perfect. It's crazy,
Speaker 1: like that song was about what I was going through
Speaker 1: before this. So that's probably I mean to go back
Speaker 1: to what I was saying about those first two weeks
Speaker 1: when when when you know, and dealing with the reality
Speaker 1: of of now being in lockdown and how how was
Speaker 1: I gonna how was I gonna like that to that
Speaker 1: because I had I hadn't lived that way. Like some
Speaker 1: people are good in silence. Some people know how to
Speaker 1: just like read a book and chill for a whole day,
Speaker 1: you know, and they find peace in that. Like I'm
Speaker 1: just like on the goal and if I'm not going,
Speaker 1: like what am I doing with my life right now?
Speaker 1: I should be seeing friends or I should be you know,
Speaker 1: working on something, and that mentality like I've had for years,
Speaker 1: you know, And I think, I mean to be honest, like, uh,
Speaker 1: some of it comes from growing up in a way
Speaker 1: where you feel like I have nothing and I have
Speaker 1: to do everything to just get something. It was funny
Speaker 1: like I had a baseball coach who used to my
Speaker 1: brother actually used to say this too, used to say, Yo,
Speaker 1: you know, when you sleep with somebody else, someone else's
Speaker 1: is trying to take a spot or something like, when
Speaker 1: you sleep with someone else is working hard and uh,
Speaker 1: and it's almost like, so you grow up now and
Speaker 1: now I at twenty years old, it is almost like
Speaker 1: I feel guilty when out like to sleep, for sleeping,
Speaker 1: for resting, first being still because it's like if I'm still,
Speaker 1: someone is out there working harder than me. And then uh,
Speaker 1: and this is what this time is talking like. And
Speaker 1: so I wrote a song about that. This song is
Speaker 1: me saying I want to learn how to do that.
Speaker 1: I want to learn how to stop. And then the
Speaker 1: world stopped and we were like, you you know, a
Speaker 1: song that was about one moment becomes about more than
Speaker 1: one moment, you know, And I think that's that's the
Speaker 1: beauty and and and uh and the music and and
Speaker 1: and this song stopped for me. You know, it's like
Speaker 1: the first verses. Sometimes I wish my life was like
Speaker 1: a photograph double tap, the good ones and just photoshop
Speaker 1: the bad I put them in my wilet, in my pocket.
Speaker 1: If I need them, then I got him. A life
Speaker 1: don't work like that. Sometimes I feel like I'm in
Speaker 1: Nike's on the track, even if my feet are up.
Speaker 1: Even when my feet are up, my mind is running fast.
Speaker 1: When I'm home, I getting patient when I'm going. I
Speaker 1: kind of hate it. But my life works like that.
Speaker 1: And then right and then we go into like but
Speaker 1: like it's like sunsets and open water. The sky is
Speaker 1: full of technic color. There's beauty right in front of you.
Speaker 1: There's so much to discover if you stop and breathe
Speaker 1: it for the moment, stop and give it a minute
Speaker 1: in your own it. Stop it. It's only just begun,
Speaker 1: right like every moment right, like when we step into
Speaker 1: it's only just begun. As sooner they'll be almost over.
Speaker 1: So stop, see what comes in the focus. Stop. It's
Speaker 1: kind of crazy what you notice. Stop. It's like a
Speaker 1: setting sun. Sooner will be almost over. Stop right like
Speaker 1: I think you know, we always equate some of the
Speaker 1: most beautiful uh we say, Man, it's like, what a
Speaker 1: beautiful sunset? What if you ever heard like what an
Speaker 1: ugly sunset? Right, but right never, but you have to
Speaker 1: stop to see that taking how beautiful that sunset is,
Speaker 1: and the sunset only happens for this much time and
Speaker 1: then it's gone. A beautiful message that we all need
Speaker 1: right now. I can't believe that was written before all
Speaker 1: of this. That's so perfect. It's just really your right
Speaker 1: capt for the moment. Yeah, how has all this impacted
Speaker 1: your writing process? I know you work with your collaborator,
Speaker 1: Will Wells very often. I mean do you You've been
Speaker 1: zooming a lot? Like how's that been working? Yeah? I mean,
Speaker 1: you know, well Will and I you know, technology is amazing.
Speaker 1: I was just on. I was just on the phone
Speaker 1: right before uh you and I got on and and
Speaker 1: uh talking to someone about how how amazing technology is,
Speaker 1: Like how you could you know, well, Will, Will's technological wizards.
Speaker 1: So Will, uh you know, was on. He was giving
Speaker 1: me lessons on how to get started, how to use Logic,
Speaker 1: which is the program that many people used to to
Speaker 1: you know, cut records and too you know, cut their
Speaker 1: vocals or lay down the guitar or whatever right and
Speaker 1: make their beats and logic or able to out. In
Speaker 1: my case, I'm using logic and Will goes, um, you know,
Speaker 1: so Will, it's like teaching me how to kind of
Speaker 1: get started, how to use it, how to cut my
Speaker 1: home vocal if I need to. And but also then
Speaker 1: it's like their their applications on the computer, my team viewer, like, uh,
Speaker 1: even on Zoom right now, we're on Zoom, like where
Speaker 1: you can share your screen with someone and Will can
Speaker 1: just be engineering. But it's amazing that you can still
Speaker 1: work that. You know, we even still you know, I've
Speaker 1: I've done sessions with folks to uh, you know, Europe,
Speaker 1: and it's like, Yo, if you didn't want to read
Speaker 1: your house, I have a session, you don't, right, I
Speaker 1: mean it's not like being in the room with people.
Speaker 1: But um, but this is a nice alternative. I was
Speaker 1: so glad we get to hear your music now because
Speaker 1: I know some of your projects have been put on hold.
Speaker 1: I'm so sad about In the Heights being pushed back.
Speaker 1: But the movie set and done, right, you've you've watched it.
Speaker 1: How was that experience for you? Yeah? And the Heights
Speaker 1: was I mean that that that that experience was amazing. Man,
Speaker 1: We're done. We shot it. We shot it last summer,
Speaker 1: and uh, there there are very few things that can
Speaker 1: top um the moment I was in the middle of
Speaker 1: the street and Washington Heights with seventy four other you know,
Speaker 1: uh Latin X artists dancing in the middle of the street,
Speaker 1: singing about pride and singing about what with um and
Speaker 1: singing about like um and you know, going hard in
Speaker 1: the hot summer, uh, in this choreography that was so
Speaker 1: that is so authentic to New York and too to
Speaker 1: the vibe here into the Latin, the Latino New York
Speaker 1: Latino experience here like that sound, black ums, the cloud
Speaker 1: and the going guys and all of that blast blasting
Speaker 1: the years and then people spitting bars and with you know,
Speaker 1: I can't wait, bro, I can't wait. And I know
Speaker 1: that show was just so special to you, just when
Speaker 1: you saw it on Broadway the first time. Tell me
Speaker 1: about what that show means to you. Yeah, I mean
Speaker 1: that show means a lot to me because you know
Speaker 1: so uh, you know, I'm like barely five nine, freckle like,
Speaker 1: fair skin like dude. Like nobody's in the rush to
Speaker 1: write a lead role for me at any you know,
Speaker 1: ain't nobody trying to recasting My Fair Lady with Anthony
Speaker 1: Alamos the nickname for Broad is the Great White Way.
Speaker 1: So how do you it? So how do you think
Speaker 1: some care from the projects from you know, Puerto Rican
Speaker 1: and predominant Puerto Rican in black neighborhood, right in African
Speaker 1: American neighbor but like Fields, when they're trying to find
Speaker 1: their way in the realm of entertainment, where the nickname
Speaker 1: is the Great White Way, I was like already like
Speaker 1: and they just weren't role for me. Man Like, finally
Speaker 1: I saw in The Heisman and it was just like
Speaker 1: one of those things where it was like the characters
Speaker 1: didn't only look like me, but they sound like me.
Speaker 1: They were talking about food that I, you know, grew
Speaker 1: up eating, and it was able the mute the music
Speaker 1: sound like music I listened to growing up, and like,
Speaker 1: you know, and the characters not only did I feel
Speaker 1: like I related to them, but I was like, yo,
Speaker 1: I know these people, Like I know the beat guy.
Speaker 1: I know that guy that's you know, his forearm is
Speaker 1: solid because he was scrape and shape. He's shaping and
Speaker 1: ice all day, puts it in the cup and got
Speaker 1: his syrup. You know, the little old man that got
Speaker 1: the bank and the best tan you've ever seen, you know,
Speaker 1: knowing characters like Snob, you know, the main character, and
Speaker 1: in that story, uh, you know, he reminded me of
Speaker 1: this guy named Leo who used to you know, who
Speaker 1: used to have a ball. They got on the corner
Speaker 1: where I used to live, and Leo used to hook
Speaker 1: my family up like we were you know, we were broke,
Speaker 1: uh you know, but uh, you know, like Leo will
Speaker 1: hook us up sometimes. You know, we didn't have enough
Speaker 1: for the milk, but we didn't have enough for the bread.
Speaker 1: You know, we only had enough for the eggs. They
Speaker 1: would be like, you don't worry about it, like give
Speaker 1: us some candy, you know, to like you know, walk
Speaker 1: out with like and um. And it was like those
Speaker 1: dudes that that they just see everything. So it's only
Speaker 1: right that the story is told from from the eyes
Speaker 1: of this guy who owns this boy they got this
Speaker 1: corner store, because those guys see everything. They see all
Speaker 1: types of people walking in out of their store. Like.
Speaker 1: It was kind of the musical that made me rethink
Speaker 1: a little bit like, oh maybe there is a space
Speaker 1: for me here. You know, people spending bars on stage
Speaker 1: and some one minute, somebody sounding like, you know, the
Speaker 1: most beautiful army. So that if you got Jordan's Fox
Speaker 1: singing these beautiful notes and you've got lint man Well
Speaker 1: spitting these bars, you know, like it's crazy like you know,
Speaker 1: so it was. It was a nation up of all
Speaker 1: all the things that I kind of grew up with, music, food,
Speaker 1: the vernacular, all on one stage. It was almost overwhelming.
Speaker 1: I was like, wow, I never see anything like this.
Speaker 1: Was it intimidating at all? Stepping into that role that
Speaker 1: that lemon Well created that was so personal to him.
Speaker 1: I think he started writing when he was nineteen or something.
Speaker 1: Was that intimidating at all? Yeah? I mean I don't
Speaker 1: It wasn't intimidating because Lyn didn't really put that pressure
Speaker 1: on you know. I never really felt that pressure from him,
Speaker 1: you know, rather that like he was always really like,
Speaker 1: y'all just do your thing, bro, Like do you think
Speaker 1: you know? It's it's a funny story too, Like I
Speaker 1: got an interesting history with those guys, with Lynn and
Speaker 1: his team, right, Like I I auditioned when I was
Speaker 1: nineteen for In the Heights back um Man ten years
Speaker 1: yars ago. I guess that it's gonna be two years now.
Speaker 1: But I auditioned for a non Union National tour of
Speaker 1: in the Heights, and I don't think it was. I
Speaker 1: don't think I was going for like I think I
Speaker 1: was to be a part of the ensemble ca asked
Speaker 1: as a dancer. You know, I didn't get it, bro
Speaker 1: I was crushed. I did four auditions and I didn't
Speaker 1: get it. Three years later, I do an open call
Speaker 1: for another musical that I was like totally not right for,
Speaker 1: and then I like and then a few minutes later
Speaker 1: I getn't email hey, like, we'd let you to audition
Speaker 1: for the Sting Car Hamiltons mix tape. And I saw
Speaker 1: that landing and all the same team working on it.
Speaker 1: So at first I was really nervous and and at
Speaker 1: first I was like damgn, like, uh, the way this
Speaker 1: ended for me last time wasn't good. I didn't get
Speaker 1: the job. Like so I was pretty already kind of
Speaker 1: psyching myself out. One of my friends was like, you
Speaker 1: really did go to this and it wasn't even gonna
Speaker 1: work out with the schedule that I had with this
Speaker 1: other show, but I was doing it anyway. I was like,
Speaker 1: you know, the castinger was like, you're really right for this,
Speaker 1: and she's like, you just gotta just we're just gonna
Speaker 1: keep calling back. I don't know how we're gonna work
Speaker 1: it out, may not, but now we're just gonna keep
Speaker 1: calling you back. And I do my final audition, I
Speaker 1: get to work and uh and at Radio City and
Speaker 1: they call us all up to the large rehearsal hall
Speaker 1: where wherever heears up stairs and they're like, yo, we're
Speaker 1: gonna we're gonna cancel the show and I lose my jo,
Speaker 1: but I get laid off. All of our seventy seven
Speaker 1: castles laid off. Three hours later, they're like, hey, we
Speaker 1: don't we heard about heart Lights. We want to hire
Speaker 1: you for handles his mistake, And that's how I jumped on.
Speaker 1: That was my start of the journey, right, And that
Speaker 1: was and then I think for that moment on right,
Speaker 1: Lyn and I did that. It was like a four
Speaker 1: week workshop and asked me to do this other thing
Speaker 1: he had written. So we just started cultivating this relationship.
Speaker 1: And by the time we got to in the Heights
Speaker 1: of Movie, I was already like shocked and grateful, but
Speaker 1: I had stopped doing Hamilton's in Seen. Finally in this
Speaker 1: role comes up with Snobby. They're doing a seven performance.
Speaker 1: Um uh, seven performance. Uh, it's the show of in
Speaker 1: the Heights at Kennedy Center. Something beside me just said
Speaker 1: I think it was good, and it was like, just
Speaker 1: just go do this job. You don't know why. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it's gonna be mad hard, you're gonna want to quit
Speaker 1: theater after, but just go. And I didn't want I
Speaker 1: didn't want to quit theater after. But I was very tired,
Speaker 1: and it was it was like, just go, and I
Speaker 1: just jumped right in. Then I jumped right in and
Speaker 1: and and I went. I did that show at the
Speaker 1: Kennedy Center and Lynn Lynn came to a few rehearsals,
Speaker 1: and Lynn also came to the show a couple of times.
Speaker 1: And then all of a sudden, he writes this tweet,
Speaker 1: and it was basically something to the effect of like, Asine,
Speaker 1: you grew up tap this, and you buy these tap shoes,
Speaker 1: and you've been tapping all your life. You know that's
Speaker 1: what you've been doing. And then you hang it up,
Speaker 1: you put the tap shoes in the box, you put
Speaker 1: it up in the closet. You have a kid. All
Speaker 1: of a sudden, all of a sudden, you're you're you're
Speaker 1: hanging out downstairs. Years go by and there you're just
Speaker 1: hanging out downstairs. All of a sudden you here tapping
Speaker 1: from from the top floor and you're wondering what that was,
Speaker 1: and you're like, man, well there's a no is that
Speaker 1: you go up to the top floor. All of a
Speaker 1: sudden you see that your kids took the tap shoes
Speaker 1: that you used to have took him out, and it's
Speaker 1: your kids tapping in the room that you realize that
Speaker 1: those those shoes fit him better than they ever fit you,
Speaker 1: and those shoes were always made for him and not
Speaker 1: for you. That's how That's what it feels like watching
Speaker 1: Anthony Rolmo's played with Snobby. You know he wrote that
Speaker 1: sweet Bro, I was done. I was in my bag
Speaker 1: crying out, like, oh this is crazy, this bananas. I
Speaker 1: got the movie soon after that. All of that long
Speaker 1: story is to say is that no, I didn't feel
Speaker 1: pressure because everything I had been through to get to
Speaker 1: that moment and to get to that point to be
Speaker 1: on that set that wasn't got on that set. It
Speaker 1: was like it was almost like, yo, bro, he was
Speaker 1: born for this. It was it was a blessing. What
Speaker 1: is your relationship like with Lena? Mean? This does he
Speaker 1: has he given you sort of compositional tips for songwriting.
Speaker 1: And see a mentor is see a big brother? Is
Speaker 1: he like a colleague? Is he all the above? Like
Speaker 1: how would you define what your relationship is? Or is
Speaker 1: it the fire explanation? He's He's definitely a mentor for sure.
Speaker 1: Like I've learned so much from him, um directly and indirectly,
Speaker 1: you know, you know. I remember one time he said
Speaker 1: something to me and he was like, yo, like I
Speaker 1: cracked the joke. And I said something like, um man,
Speaker 1: since as I talked to her, and I should change
Speaker 1: the way I speak. And he was like, he says
Speaker 1: something something something to the effective, like you never have
Speaker 1: to change the way you speak, pop, I usually make
Speaker 1: sure people understand. And I was like, wow, that's incredible,
Speaker 1: like and uh and you know and like he said
Speaker 1: that and uh and like I I never forget that
Speaker 1: that quote and like and then all of a sudden,
Speaker 1: I'm like, you know, like and then like we'll be
Speaker 1: on set or whatever and you will say something or
Speaker 1: he will change something in a song, and you just
Speaker 1: like notice the tendencies and you noticed like the you
Speaker 1: begin to notice the patterns of like and the motivations
Speaker 1: as to why he changes things, and it's and it's like,
Speaker 1: how do we get to the heart of the truth
Speaker 1: of this? And uh And I think I take that
Speaker 1: in my writing, like everything is so thought through because
Speaker 1: and I try not to overthink, you know, because because um,
Speaker 1: because that can be a trap too. But I do
Speaker 1: I do like to to think a lot about what
Speaker 1: I'm saying and how I'm saying it, because there's nothing
Speaker 1: more dope than when somebody listened to a song didn't
Speaker 1: understand the lyric. They go back and they're like, this
Speaker 1: song was about this the whole time. It's it's just
Speaker 1: it's just fire man. It's like, so I've I've learned
Speaker 1: so much from him and like, yeah, now you know
Speaker 1: we like you know, we would you know, we we
Speaker 1: hang out and and shipped like you know, like we
Speaker 1: spent we spent New Year's Eve together and uh uh
Speaker 1: in Puerto Rico that it was dope. You know, we
Speaker 1: we each hell and whatnot. But but it's I think
Speaker 1: the thing that's double about our relationship is like there's
Speaker 1: this like trust there that is uh, it's almost like motivating,
Speaker 1: like it's just like you want to be your best
Speaker 1: because this person was so elite at what they do.
Speaker 1: It's trusted you with this, you know, with this work
Speaker 1: and with this you know what I'm saying, believes in
Speaker 1: you and this and and with with with with their
Speaker 1: work that they've worked so hard on, you know, like
Speaker 1: and I worked over eight years and then WoT be
Speaker 1: worked over the six you know. So it's like, you know,
Speaker 1: that's kind of our relationship. There's like this trust there
Speaker 1: that that is, uh, you know that I don't that
Speaker 1: I don't take your friend. And there's a love there too,
Speaker 1: you know, like and you know he has kind of
Speaker 1: you know, he has treated me like you know, big brow.
Speaker 1: He's definitely been a big brow to me and like
Speaker 1: kind of like you know, put me on. You mentioned
Speaker 1: music having so many different meanings and just applicable so
Speaker 1: many situations. I mean, Stop is a great example. Is
Speaker 1: born from a completely different circumstance, but it's so it
Speaker 1: resonates so much. Now I've been seeing a lot of
Speaker 1: Hamilton's lyrics on signs at George Floyd protests and Black
Speaker 1: Lives Matter protests, especially from my shot. I feel like
Speaker 1: it's the one I seem to see a lot. Uh.
Speaker 1: That's to feel pretty good. How does that feel for
Speaker 1: you to just see those words out there and that
Speaker 1: give people, you know, hope. I think it's important. I mean,
Speaker 1: I mean when you hope, you you hope to do
Speaker 1: pieces of art that impact people, you know. I think
Speaker 1: when when you're right at something and and or you
Speaker 1: you know, you you're shooting a film or your music
Speaker 1: video or whatever, like you know, you know, even even
Speaker 1: to stop music video. We're shooting this Friday, and I
Speaker 1: can't I can't wait to to put it out because
Speaker 1: of what it's about, right, Like, um, you know, and uh,
Speaker 1: you know, we we found this awesome guy who who
Speaker 1: gives these haircuts you want to talk about really like
Speaker 1: stopping and breathing it in, like this guy gives haircuts
Speaker 1: and and and all all proceeds go to this donation
Speaker 1: based on all proceeds go to the Black Lives Matter movement.
Speaker 1: And uh and uh Anthony Payne is his name, and um,
Speaker 1: uh you're not to give away what the video is about,
Speaker 1: but that's a part of the video. And like, you know,
Speaker 1: I think in art you want to do your best
Speaker 1: to highlight the stories that matter. And I think, you know,
Speaker 1: and hope that in the process they correlated to something
Speaker 1: else going on that also matters, right. You know, It's
Speaker 1: funny how you know these words in the context of
Speaker 1: our story, right, Like it's all these actors of color
Speaker 1: and playing these like white presidents and founding fathers. But
Speaker 1: like told through the lens that it's like Puerto Rican
Speaker 1: do who wrote all of these words? Like all these words?
Speaker 1: Who was inspired and most of it inspired by the
Speaker 1: hip hop culture which was born in the Bronx, you know,
Speaker 1: in the African American and Puerto Rican communities, you know,
Speaker 1: And and it's like how all all these things correlate.
Speaker 1: And then to now write the story that has been
Speaker 1: so old that we've kind of taken ownership of, uh,
Speaker 1: I think America now right, the America that we want
Speaker 1: to see in America that we are seeing, the colorful
Speaker 1: America week. It's almost like we're taking ownership of the
Speaker 1: story of these stories, and we're like, we're gonna make
Speaker 1: this country how we see it and how we want
Speaker 1: to see it. We're gonna help the world understand what
Speaker 1: America actually is and what America is going to look like,
Speaker 1: and what we are fighting for, what we're working towards,
Speaker 1: and like to have you know, people singing the right
Speaker 1: having the lyrics written on their signs, and the protester
Speaker 1: or you know, people chanting I'm not throwing away my shot,
Speaker 1: right like or like it's like that's what you want,
Speaker 1: that's what you hope for, that's what you hope, uh,
Speaker 1: you know, that's what you hope happens when you make
Speaker 1: you know, I think some of us we make songs
Speaker 1: and they come out, yeah, maybe their hits and then
Speaker 1: they go away or whatever. But like it's just so
Speaker 1: you know, you think about the songs that have lasted forever,
Speaker 1: like the you know, like the What's going on right,
Speaker 1: like the Lean on Me and the like these songs
Speaker 1: that have out lived I mean, they have lasted forever.
Speaker 1: You know, I have moved people and touched people for
Speaker 1: so many years, right, and they I think they still will, right,
Speaker 1: they don't really care about us. Like these songs that
Speaker 1: have just man in the mirror, like these joints that
Speaker 1: are just like every now and then you get a
Speaker 1: splash in the water and I think, you know, we
Speaker 1: gotta splash in the water with this one, and hopefully
Speaker 1: it just keeps, you know, rippling out. And I'm just
Speaker 1: grateful that it's um that people feel inspired by this
Speaker 1: work that we all did, and you know, and and
Speaker 1: Krudle sing them for the words that he wrote and
Speaker 1: that their h you know, people feel fired up for
Speaker 1: for you know, for justice. You know, this makes people
Speaker 1: gets people fired up for to fight for for us
Speaker 1: right in the world. It's been such a pleasure and
Speaker 1: honor speaking you. I don't wanna take up too much
Speaker 1: more your time. My my last question, and I love
Speaker 1: asking this. It's might always been my final question for
Speaker 1: these this series. What's the first thing you want to
Speaker 1: do when this pandemic is over? If you could snap
Speaker 1: your fingers and have everything go back to the way
Speaker 1: it was trip, you want to take person, You want
Speaker 1: to hug meal, you want to go out and have
Speaker 1: what's the first thing you would do? You know, it
Speaker 1: was wild. I put up a post yesterday about about
Speaker 1: missing toward about missing just playing live. I think the
Speaker 1: first thing I want to do is because because I
Speaker 1: have been fortunate enough to see my mom this time,
Speaker 1: and you know, I've I've been fortunately you know, like
Speaker 1: you know, thank God right like the you know, the
Speaker 1: in New York City again, Like you know, I'm really
Speaker 1: grateful that that our case. I think yesterday we recorded
Speaker 1: the first day we have no deaths. That was huge,
Speaker 1: you know what I'm saying for our city and um,
Speaker 1: and it's almost a sense of like, let's just we
Speaker 1: can take a deep breath for us, you know, for
Speaker 1: a second. It's not over. But guys, it's just like
Speaker 1: let's celebrate this and let's just take a deep breath
Speaker 1: from we've all worked to get to to this point. Right.
Speaker 1: But I think the first thing and I just I can't.
Speaker 1: I don't know what the first thing is gonna be,
Speaker 1: but I know what. I am so excited for us
Speaker 1: to play a live man. I just want to feel
Speaker 1: that vibe. Bro. I want to I just wanna, I wanna.
Speaker 1: I want to be on stage. Um, I want you know,
Speaker 1: get you know, having that having just having that time
Speaker 1: with with an audience and and you know, and just
Speaker 1: have that time of communion. You know. I think that's
Speaker 1: the time of community sometimes, I don't, you know, I
Speaker 1: think the most beautiful thing about live shows is that
Speaker 1: I think people feel a sense of community. That's why
Speaker 1: people go to see theater, right, Like there's there's there's
Speaker 1: some special about laughing with a group of people, right,
Speaker 1: There's something special about crying with a group of people.
Speaker 1: Sometimes people don't even feel comfortable crying on their own,
Speaker 1: but they see the person next to them crying. That
Speaker 1: gives them this thing where they can feel, uh like
Speaker 1: they can release right, like they're not alone and they
Speaker 1: can let it out right like somebody see somebody else laughing,
Speaker 1: and maybe that sparks them, like isn't it so funny?
Speaker 1: But sometimes you hear someone laughing so hard in the
Speaker 1: audience that it makes you laugh and what you don't
Speaker 1: even remember what the joke was, but it's the person
Speaker 1: cracking up that makes you laugh. And I just I'm
Speaker 1: so excited to get back to that that form of
Speaker 1: community and that having the opportunity to to share in
Speaker 1: that way, you know, that's I think that's like the
Speaker 1: first thing that I'm going to I'm gonna run to
Speaker 1: a show or I'm gonna have a show. Yeah, thank
Speaker 1: you so much for your time and it has been
Speaker 1: such an honor. Thank you Georgian, thanks for having man.
Speaker 1: This is awesome. M We hope you enjoyed this episode
Speaker 1: of Inside the Studio Home Edition, a production of I
Speaker 1: Heart Radio. For more episodes of Inside the Studio, and
Speaker 1: other shows from i heart Radio. Check out the i
Speaker 1: heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.