WEBVTT - How I Made It: Omar Apollo

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<v Speaker 1>Alna. I've thought Julie Gacia, a lifelong educator and the

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<v Speaker 1>proud recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Today, it's

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<v Speaker 1>my great honor to wish Latino USA a very happy

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<v Speaker 1>thirtieth anniversary. Ucisi Magaskis for thirty years of informing, challenging

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<v Speaker 1>and inspiring us. That Lisi that is to all at

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<v Speaker 1>Latino USA.

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<v Speaker 2>This is Latino USA, the radio journal of News and

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<v Speaker 2>Kurturre Latino USC latin Latino USA. I'm Maria Inojosa. We

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<v Speaker 2>bring you stories that are underreported but that mattered to you,

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<v Speaker 2>overlooked by the rest of the media, and while the

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<v Speaker 2>country is struggling to deal with these, we listens to

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<v Speaker 2>the stories of black and Latino Studio United Latino Front,

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<v Speaker 2>a cultural renaissance organizing at the forefront of the movement.

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<v Speaker 2>I'm Maria Ino Jossa or La Latino USA. Listener. Hey,

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<v Speaker 2>here's a show from Los Archivo's enjoy.

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<v Speaker 3>I loved seeing how people reacted when somebody was singing

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<v Speaker 3>stuff like that that would give you goose bumps or

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<v Speaker 3>like that kind of stuff. I want to be able

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<v Speaker 3>to do that. I still don't know if I do that,

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<v Speaker 3>but it was just something I've always wanted to do.

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<v Speaker 4>New chins.

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<v Speaker 2>From Fudromedia and PRX. It's Latino Usa. I'm Maria no

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<v Speaker 2>Josa today. Omar Apollo a rising star in the indie R.

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<v Speaker 5>And B scene.

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<v Speaker 2>Omar Apollo began making music on his own, teaching himself

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<v Speaker 2>chords from YouTube videos and honing his sound in an

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<v Speaker 2>attic in a small town in Indiana. His musical inspirations

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<v Speaker 2>transcend borders and cultures, reflecting his experience as a son

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<v Speaker 2>of immigrants from Guaalajara, Mexico, growing up deep in the Midwest.

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<v Speaker 2>The music of this twenty three year old Mexican American

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<v Speaker 2>artist courses with rich funk, sweet soul, and upbeat pop,

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<v Speaker 2>and his lyrics often flow seamlessly between English and Spanish.

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<v Speaker 2>Omar began performing music at house parties and open mics

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<v Speaker 2>in his hometown of Lake Station, Indiana. Then, in twenty seventeen,

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<v Speaker 2>while working at a fast food restaurant, Omar found his

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<v Speaker 2>first breakthrough on Spotify with the song you Got the

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<v Speaker 2>He then began receiving invitations to play at venues in

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<v Speaker 2>Chicago and eventually across the country. Almost four years later,

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<v Speaker 2>Omar has amassed more than one hundred million streams on

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<v Speaker 2>Spotify and has signed a recording deal with Warner Records.

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<v Speaker 2>Before the coronavirus pandemic brought the world to a halt,

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<v Speaker 2>Omar had relocated to Los Angeles after wrapping up nearly

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<v Speaker 2>two years of touring throughout North America, Asia, Australia.

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<v Speaker 5>And Europe.

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<v Speaker 2>When California went on lockdown, Omar decided to scrap everything

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<v Speaker 2>that he'd been working on, daring himself to turn Quarantine

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<v Speaker 2>into a lab of sonic experimentation. On this episode of

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<v Speaker 2>How I Made It, Omar takes us to the early

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<v Speaker 2>days of making music on bowered equipment and tells us

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<v Speaker 2>how he explored everything from funk music to corridos in

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<v Speaker 2>order to make his debut album, Apologno.

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<v Speaker 3>It was up Omar Apollo and I'm an artist from Yenna.

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<v Speaker 3>I'm from Lake Station, Indiana, where I grew up, so

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<v Speaker 3>I don't need a GPS to go around anywhere. It's

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<v Speaker 3>kind of very small. Everybody knows everybody type of thing.

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<v Speaker 3>There wasn't really much of a music scene, but I

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<v Speaker 3>would go to little events. I just wanted to perform.

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<v Speaker 5>I don't knew what you need.

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<v Speaker 3>The first bands that got me into music. There's a

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<v Speaker 3>band called the Internet and released album called Ego Death

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<v Speaker 3>when I was like seventeen.

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<v Speaker 5>Need for your thoughts on knowledginal Gar.

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<v Speaker 3>I remember I just listening to the album and then

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<v Speaker 3>I was just like, oh, I need to get a

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<v Speaker 3>guitar tomorrow. So after I heard that, I just went

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<v Speaker 3>to the pawn shop and got a guitar. My friend

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<v Speaker 3>let me borrow his bass. Then my other friend let

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<v Speaker 3>me borrow his interface. My first memory really of getting

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<v Speaker 3>started with music was in the garage. I had a

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<v Speaker 3>few friends who played. I was eighteen when I started performing.

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<v Speaker 3>After we started playing in Indiana, people were like, oh

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<v Speaker 3>you could play, Like come play over here. It was

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<v Speaker 3>just a hobby of something I did, but I wasn't

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<v Speaker 3>sure that it was going to happen. I made you

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<v Speaker 3>got me when he's seventeen, and I remember I was

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<v Speaker 3>by myself really and then I called my cousin because

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<v Speaker 3>he lived down the street, and I was like, Yo,

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<v Speaker 3>you gotta come through, fool, come listen to this song

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<v Speaker 3>I just made. He's like all right, I'm coming. He

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<v Speaker 3>pull up in his little Monte Carlo and then I

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<v Speaker 3>played it for him. He was just like, bro, what

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<v Speaker 3>like that's insane. Maybe there's something you know, but clearly

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<v Speaker 3>say I'm not good.

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<v Speaker 4>I think that I'm ben.

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<v Speaker 3>My friend was like, you gotta put it on Spotify,

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<v Speaker 3>and then I didn't have any money, so gave him

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<v Speaker 3>money to put it up and then got like playlisted

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<v Speaker 3>or something. I got on like three playlist or something,

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<v Speaker 3>and then I woke up and I had like all

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<v Speaker 3>these plays and I was like whoa. I was like,

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<v Speaker 3>that's crazy. I was like working on McDonald's and collected

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<v Speaker 3>in the work that day, and then my friend told

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<v Speaker 3>me the next day. He was like, yo, you gotta

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<v Speaker 3>you gotta put it on another one on you got

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<v Speaker 3>another one. I was like yeah, and then I had

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<v Speaker 3>break lights like ready to go.

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<v Speaker 4>Markers like cut right though.

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<v Speaker 3>So I wanted to get good at making music, so

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<v Speaker 3>I was just made it a bunch of songs a

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<v Speaker 3>month for like the whole summer, like thirty five songs

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<v Speaker 3>in a month, and I wouldn't put them out or nothing.

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<v Speaker 3>None of them ever came out. It's just on this

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<v Speaker 3>hard drive. Whether it was just an idea or like

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<v Speaker 3>or a full song or just a bunch of mumbles

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<v Speaker 3>or a bunch of harmonies. It was not until I

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<v Speaker 3>started like selling out shows that I was like, okay, yeah,

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<v Speaker 3>this is possible. So after I got off a tour,

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<v Speaker 3>I didn't like the music I had been making, and

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<v Speaker 3>I had this process, and I was just bored with

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<v Speaker 3>the process, and so I figured I needed to do

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<v Speaker 3>like a lot of different things, like try different things

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<v Speaker 3>in music. I had twenty five twenty seven songs or something,

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<v Speaker 3>and I was getting ready to put it together, you know,

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<v Speaker 3>release it. But then Quarantine happened, and yeah, it kind

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<v Speaker 3>of hit me. It made a lot of stuff I

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<v Speaker 3>wouldn't normally make. But I had just started using a

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<v Speaker 3>lot of pedals, and there was this one pedal in particular.

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<v Speaker 3>It's called the Mutron. It's like wow, wow, wow wow,

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<v Speaker 3>It's like whoah.

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<v Speaker 5>Wo won't.

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<v Speaker 3>Step you wanted to use it? Bootsy Collins use it,

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<v Speaker 3>George Clinton, everyone used it. I ordered it because I

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<v Speaker 3>was like, oh, we got money, now I can I

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<v Speaker 3>can order things. And then I woke up the next

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<v Speaker 3>morning after playing with it all night, and then like

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<v Speaker 3>made stay Back, and obviously it's very Booty Collins inspired.

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<v Speaker 3>Bootsy Collins is one of the pioneers of funk music.

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<v Speaker 3>He was the first one to like slow it down

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<v Speaker 3>and make this funk music that was sexy and slow.

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<v Speaker 3>I just kind of said the ideas to my managers

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<v Speaker 3>that it would be really cool for got Bootsy Collins

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<v Speaker 3>on this, so yeah, it would be so then I

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<v Speaker 3>just d M them and then then you like responded

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<v Speaker 3>and then uh, you heard the song and he was.

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<v Speaker 5>Down especially, and I'm thinking about you.

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<v Speaker 3>I feel like I still have a lot of things

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<v Speaker 3>that I want to do to like satisfy myself, and

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<v Speaker 3>I think I had the same feelings when I was

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<v Speaker 3>younger too. I played with the La Philharmonic recently and

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<v Speaker 3>they learned this corrido called those that I made well corrido.

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<v Speaker 3>It's a Mexican style of music. It was just crazy

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<v Speaker 3>to hear, like I have the sheet music that transcribed

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<v Speaker 3>sheet music in my studio just because it's really cool

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<v Speaker 3>to look at you. I don't know, I've never looked

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<v Speaker 3>at music that way, and so it was just really

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<v Speaker 3>interesting to see people play along to it in a

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<v Speaker 3>very trained way. My earliest memory of a corrida was

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<v Speaker 3>probably my uncle's, my Theo's playing it in the living

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<v Speaker 3>room like two in the morning. Drunk, just singing. It's

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<v Speaker 3>just music that is nostalgic to me and the family.

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<v Speaker 3>And I'm telling the story of just my life Jesse

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<v Speaker 3>being from Indiana. That's talking about where I was from,

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<v Speaker 3>and then how people didn't take me serious because I

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<v Speaker 3>wanted to do something differ. Well, then the pre course,

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<v Speaker 3>I'm just talking about getting money.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, one day.

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<v Speaker 5>Last I.

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<v Speaker 3>Honestly, getting money, I think is always the goal now

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<v Speaker 3>because I never thought about it on the way up.

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<v Speaker 3>I never thought about money when I didn't have it.

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<v Speaker 3>I was just thinking about music. I love music. And

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<v Speaker 3>now I'm like, oh, I want to have generational wealth

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<v Speaker 3>because it's never It's never ran in my family. You know,

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<v Speaker 3>we'd never had money in my family at all. And

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<v Speaker 3>then the second verse, I'm talking about how much I'm

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<v Speaker 3>making Now it's just this and all everyone who is

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<v Speaker 3>hating on me back home, and yeah, it's kind of toxic.

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<v Speaker 4>Paget go from me for La Jamara can compre Outlas diamonds,

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<v Speaker 4>So Baganda press barabras get remade.

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<v Speaker 6>Don't you.

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<v Speaker 4>See yoga makom pre.

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<v Speaker 3>I go back to Indiana, it just feels different. And yeah,

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<v Speaker 3>just seeing people that you knew and they know and

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<v Speaker 3>they know how you're doing.

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<v Speaker 4>Now, would you.

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<v Speaker 3>I changed every day? I changed this morning, I had

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<v Speaker 3>a breakthrough this morning. I changed every day. I think,

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<v Speaker 3>I think that Why would you stay the same?

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<v Speaker 2>That was R and B artist Omar Apollom. His debut

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<v Speaker 2>album Apollonio is out on all streaming platforms now. This

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<v Speaker 2>episode was produced by Julia Esparsa with help from Julia

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<v Speaker 2>Rocha and edited by Martha Martinez and mixed by Gabriel Lebiez.

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<v Speaker 2>The Latino USA team includes Andrea Lopez Brusado, Mike Sargent,

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<v Speaker 2>Victori Estrada, and Renaldo Leanos Junior, with help from Dorim Marquez.

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<v Speaker 2>Our director of Engineering is Stephanie Lebau. Our senior engineer

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<v Speaker 2>is Julia Caruso. Additional engineering support by jj Carubin. Our

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<v Speaker 2>marketing manager is Luis Luna. Our theme music was composed

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<v Speaker 2>by Zena Ruinos. I'm your host and executive producer Maria

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<v Speaker 2>jo Hosa. Join us again on our next episode. In

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<v Speaker 2>the meantime, keep up with us on social media. Iyatusaves

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<v Speaker 2>not Teva.

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<v Speaker 5>Yes Bye.

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<v Speaker 6>Latino USA is made possible in part by the Ford Foundation,

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<v Speaker 6>working with visionaries on the front lines of social change worldwide.

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<v Speaker 6>The Heising Simons Foundation Unlocking knowledge, opportunity, and possibilities more

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<v Speaker 6>at hsfoundation dot org. Funding for Latino USA is Coverage

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<v Speaker 6>of a culture of health is made possible in part

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<v Speaker 6>by a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

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<v Speaker 1>Can we get quiet?

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<v Speaker 3>Please? Please? Three minutes please?

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<v Speaker 2>One way to engender a lot of love from your family.

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<v Speaker 2>Okay too, one