WEBVTT - S06E10 - Delve deeper into... Creative Duality with Rapper/Musician/Lawyer Simba Mak 0:00:00.000 --> 0:00:03.320 And I feel like men a lot of times they 0:00:03.360 --> 0:00:06.520 get thankless jobs. Yeah, you know, and they don't get praised, 0:00:06.519 --> 0:00:09.039 they don't get acknowledged for the roles they play in 0:00:09.080 --> 0:00:10.160 their family's lives. 0:00:10.320 --> 0:00:12.400 And I was like, on paper, a perfect candidate. She 0:00:12.440 --> 0:00:15.040 walks in oppositions and Nigerian next, and they're like no. 0:00:15.320 --> 0:00:20.120 I was like, no, why why? Because there's a Columbian downstairs. 0:00:20.120 --> 0:00:23.800 Why I can't understand men are not transparent around the 0:00:23.920 --> 0:00:28.479 experience the realities of being in the diaspora and the 0:00:28.560 --> 0:00:30.600 journey of my grating. And I'm so glad that you 0:00:30.640 --> 0:00:33.239 opened up about so many aspects of that journey. 0:00:33.600 --> 0:00:38.240 And then I started to ask myself, am I really 0:00:38.360 --> 0:00:41.919 the sum of solely my mother's contribution? 0:00:54.240 --> 0:00:58.120 Mom always always they careful. 0:01:04.080 --> 0:01:08.000 Hi, I'm a Panda and I'm Romby. Welcome to Slayered Podcast. 0:01:08.120 --> 0:01:11.240 We're under the Black Hoss Network powered by iHeart recording 0:01:11.319 --> 0:01:14.880 in studio today in Malbezy. 0:01:14.520 --> 0:01:22.360 You trying to get them out disy, but yeah, we're 0:01:22.360 --> 0:01:25.160 here in Bittersweet Studio with our lovely setup done by 0:01:25.200 --> 0:01:26.800 the Pink Lady Picnic. 0:01:27.040 --> 0:01:27.240 Yeah. 0:01:27.440 --> 0:01:31.160 Yeah, You've been laughing even before we press record because 0:01:31.760 --> 0:01:34.600 we have an amazing guest for you today. 0:01:34.640 --> 0:01:37.600 Someone is very very excited about who do we have 0:01:37.640 --> 0:01:37.920 to day? 0:01:38.200 --> 0:01:40.440 Be Okay, we've got Simba in the building. 0:01:40.480 --> 0:01:43.200 But wait before we before we welcome, Welcome, we want 0:01:43.240 --> 0:01:45.600 to let the people know who you are so they 0:01:45.680 --> 0:01:46.880 know that they need to come. 0:01:46.920 --> 0:01:47.320 Correct. 0:01:48.040 --> 0:01:49.880 So we're trying to do over here, all right, So 0:01:49.920 --> 0:01:52.920 I'm gonna read out your bio. No pressure, but the 0:01:52.960 --> 0:01:56.360 pressure slick like Harvey Spector, but raps with the best 0:01:56.400 --> 0:01:59.800 of them. Lawyer turned rapper Simba Mac traded his suit 0:01:59.840 --> 0:02:01.960 and Hi, you can see he's rocking a suited. 0:02:02.120 --> 0:02:07.280 He's looking so good if you're not watching online. Good. 0:02:07.440 --> 0:02:11.480 He overstood the assignment his STUDENTAI career for a career 0:02:11.480 --> 0:02:14.239 in music, so he's based in Melbourne where he's practiced 0:02:14.280 --> 0:02:16.800 as a lawyer. Simber Mac is an artist who has 0:02:16.800 --> 0:02:21.120 always embraced duality, particularly when it pertains to career and vocation. 0:02:21.680 --> 0:02:25.200 His music articulates his life's journey from Zimbabwe to Australia 0:02:25.320 --> 0:02:28.160 and exploring everyday themes that relate to anybody with a 0:02:28.240 --> 0:02:31.320 desire to dream in spite of their background. Can I 0:02:31.320 --> 0:02:36.720 get an a man on that bio? Welcome, Welcome, Welcome, 0:02:36.800 --> 0:02:40.080 welcome a. 0:02:39.240 --> 0:02:42.440 Is not even touching half the things that you have done, 0:02:42.600 --> 0:02:48.480 like so inspirational. We love like I've known you obviously 0:02:48.560 --> 0:02:51.400 when you know someone personally, but you also see them professionally. 0:02:51.760 --> 0:02:54.880 And ever since I saw you perform Anyway two thousand and. 0:03:00.440 --> 0:03:06.000 You it's literally it's insane that the power you have 0:03:06.080 --> 0:03:06.720 on stage. 0:03:07.080 --> 0:03:08.440 Appreciate that like it's a. 0:03:08.400 --> 0:03:11.480 God given talent. And to see you now years later 0:03:11.639 --> 0:03:15.119 still it makes my heart single joy literally because it's 0:03:15.160 --> 0:03:19.000 like I mean, Rumby and I are always supporting creatives always, 0:03:19.080 --> 0:03:21.360 especially from Zimbaba, because we know how much there's an 0:03:21.400 --> 0:03:26.200 extrud to Max. So to see you still doing your 0:03:26.240 --> 0:03:30.720 thing and doing it brilliantly, kudos to you. 0:03:31.080 --> 0:03:32.799 I mean, I think it's I think a lot has 0:03:32.840 --> 0:03:35.040 to be said to I guess where we come from. 0:03:35.520 --> 0:03:38.880 It's a big thing, right, So community has always been major, right, 0:03:38.920 --> 0:03:41.839 Like no one's ever self made, that's a myth, right, 0:03:42.120 --> 0:03:44.840 So we're all a combination of a culmination of everyone 0:03:44.880 --> 0:03:47.320 that's sort of poured into us one way or another. Right, 0:03:47.720 --> 0:03:51.280 So that's one thing. But God you knows as a 0:03:51.320 --> 0:03:54.280 foundation for all of that, you know, And then I 0:03:54.280 --> 0:03:57.040 think the perspective that we've had because before we've come 0:03:57.040 --> 0:04:01.120 from right, that adversity, right, and and having that perspective 0:04:01.160 --> 0:04:04.800 of like the resilience we've we've had to endure together, 0:04:04.880 --> 0:04:07.160 what was poured into us, not knowing where we'd be, 0:04:07.520 --> 0:04:09.680 that we just be put on plane one day, you 0:04:09.760 --> 0:04:12.040 know, and our parents saying for the best, sending us to 0:04:12.120 --> 0:04:15.480 countries they've never been to. Yeah, and saying we hope 0:04:15.480 --> 0:04:18.359 we've done enough for you to figure it out, but 0:04:18.480 --> 0:04:23.679 don't humiliate us then embarrasses and remember the struggle you've left, 0:04:23.960 --> 0:04:27.159 what we sacrifice for you to be in that position. Yeah. 0:04:27.240 --> 0:04:30.560 So every time we've gone through things, we've always had 0:04:30.720 --> 0:04:33.479 that as sort of like a measuring stick to say, well, 0:04:33.520 --> 0:04:36.000 have we stayed where we were compared to what we're 0:04:36.000 --> 0:04:38.880 having to endure where we are now? You know? Are 0:04:38.880 --> 0:04:41.720 we better off back home or we better off in 0:04:41.760 --> 0:04:47.880 this appearance of an advanced strengthle you know. And that 0:04:48.000 --> 0:04:51.520 and then having that community of peers around you at UNI, 0:04:51.640 --> 0:04:53.760 for example, cheering you on or hating on you or 0:04:53.760 --> 0:04:56.640 whatever it is. But you're all in it together, right, true, 0:04:56.920 --> 0:04:59.440 and they look like you on some level you can 0:04:59.520 --> 0:05:02.280 identify with a collective struggle you know what I mean. 0:05:02.400 --> 0:05:06.599 So when one suffers, you moan together. When one celebrates, 0:05:06.640 --> 0:05:09.880 it inspires you. Whether it's through envy or jealousy or 0:05:09.960 --> 0:05:13.480 genuine celebration, it causes you to look in the mirror 0:05:13.760 --> 0:05:17.960 and really assess, am I fulfilling what my parents sacrificed 0:05:18.320 --> 0:05:21.599 so much for me? Yeah, we all helped each other. 0:05:21.760 --> 0:05:24.640 So even even you guys doing what you're doing that 0:05:24.800 --> 0:05:28.760 this is inspirational because same deal, because you laugh about 0:05:28.760 --> 0:05:32.520 it because at Uni, our parents were like, you know, 0:05:33.120 --> 0:05:35.880 make sure you focus on your studies, can get that 0:05:36.839 --> 0:05:40.400 bands because no one really makes money off that back right, 0:05:40.720 --> 0:05:43.520 And our parents didn't have a lot of the advantages 0:05:43.520 --> 0:05:45.800 we have of like you know, accessing you know, private 0:05:45.800 --> 0:05:49.680 school or really decent education that allows you to qualify 0:05:49.960 --> 0:05:52.280 to you know, come to a university in a foreign 0:05:52.320 --> 0:05:55.680 country based off our grades back in Zimbabwe. So so 0:05:55.880 --> 0:06:00.640 for them, their way of us advancing is by them 0:06:00.839 --> 0:06:03.440 giving us what they didn't have, because they think that's 0:06:03.560 --> 0:06:07.279 leveling up, right. But then another thing that they don't 0:06:07.320 --> 0:06:12.280 always appreciate or the blind spot for them is we're 0:06:12.400 --> 0:06:15.880 different generation. But then we've also been thrust into a 0:06:15.920 --> 0:06:20.440 different world Unlike this is so the amount of adjustment 0:06:20.560 --> 0:06:25.039 required and attention to nuance to just even survive in 0:06:25.120 --> 0:06:28.599 this new space, which for which were the first generation, right, 0:06:29.040 --> 0:06:32.400 is something they will never understand. And for us to 0:06:33.040 --> 0:06:35.279 be in a position where we can now sit here 0:06:35.480 --> 0:06:38.400 and not have sub stories but victories, but we can 0:06:38.440 --> 0:06:41.200 also share the journey of the struggles until we got 0:06:41.240 --> 0:06:43.440 to this point, right, it just changes the whole day. 0:06:43.440 --> 0:06:47.080 Like because I can give you an example, like when 0:06:48.520 --> 0:06:52.599 so so when when I headlined new y z here 0:06:53.040 --> 0:06:55.159 in Melbourne, right, find like tens. 0:06:55.000 --> 0:06:57.799 Of thousands of people just dropping that casually. 0:06:58.920 --> 0:07:03.080 It was crazy, Right, So I just finished, We just 0:07:03.120 --> 0:07:05.920 finished settling. Like I was in a class action team 0:07:05.960 --> 0:07:08.000 for a really big firm. We just set of like 0:07:08.000 --> 0:07:11.160 the largest settlement in Australian legal history at the time, right, 0:07:11.360 --> 0:07:13.520 And I was like thirty at the time, and I 0:07:13.520 --> 0:07:15.920 was just sitting in my office thinking, man, like I've 0:07:16.040 --> 0:07:18.440 just like piacked so early, and by then I had 0:07:18.440 --> 0:07:21.280 achieved it. I needed to do help Mom, got my 0:07:21.320 --> 0:07:23.720 brothers through high school in union and all that stuff. 0:07:24.040 --> 0:07:26.760 And I had sacrifices really like my whole life, so 0:07:26.800 --> 0:07:28.480 I could do that whilst I was here, which is 0:07:28.560 --> 0:07:30.240 the point of me coming. So I was like, I 0:07:30.280 --> 0:07:32.360 wanted to do something for myself, and I really wanted 0:07:32.360 --> 0:07:34.960 to pursue music. But then the challenge I had was, 0:07:35.080 --> 0:07:38.040 you know, I was living this dual career situation where 0:07:38.360 --> 0:07:40.600 I had to provide for my family, right, So the 0:07:40.680 --> 0:07:43.560 law thing was paying the bills. But then I was 0:07:43.600 --> 0:07:45.840 a gospel rapper at the time in church, right, so 0:07:46.200 --> 0:07:50.080 you're performing for souls, you know, to you know, preach 0:07:50.160 --> 0:07:51.640 the gospel and all that kind of stuff. So that's 0:07:51.640 --> 0:07:54.480 sharpening your skills, but it's not paying the bills. So 0:07:54.520 --> 0:07:57.080 I really wanted to really have an opportunity to pursue 0:07:57.080 --> 0:07:59.640 my music because I felt like like that was my 0:07:59.800 --> 0:08:03.680 care you know, my vocation, and law was my career. 0:08:04.400 --> 0:08:07.520 Music and entertainment was my vocation. And there's a difference 0:08:07.520 --> 0:08:10.360 between the two, right, your career, like people go to university, 0:08:10.400 --> 0:08:11.720 they can learn how to do that, you know, they 0:08:11.720 --> 0:08:14.960 acquire skill, you know, but your vocation it's God given, 0:08:15.080 --> 0:08:17.040 you know. The most anyone can do is if you 0:08:17.120 --> 0:08:18.920 have it, you have it, you can just polish it 0:08:19.280 --> 0:08:21.000 and make it better. But if you don't have it, 0:08:21.040 --> 0:08:23.080 there's nothing you can look about it. Right, So I 0:08:23.160 --> 0:08:26.080 knew that with a career because so many people can 0:08:26.120 --> 0:08:29.360 qualify to be a lawyer, right, Yeah, I can only 0:08:29.440 --> 0:08:32.360 negotiate my true value up to a certain degree based 0:08:32.360 --> 0:08:37.320 on what the general populace of doing. So unless I 0:08:37.360 --> 0:08:39.559 own a law firm, I have to fit within a 0:08:39.640 --> 0:08:43.679 brackt in theories, right, however, with my vocation, because people 0:08:43.720 --> 0:08:46.040 can't be taught to do exactly what you're described in 0:08:46.040 --> 0:08:49.320 the beginning, right, Read a crowd, whether it's twenty people, 0:08:49.559 --> 0:08:52.760 ten thousand people, one hundred thousand people, and determine how 0:08:52.800 --> 0:08:55.680 you're going to adjust the flow of energy so they're 0:08:55.720 --> 0:08:58.120 receptive to what you do. That's something that's just like 0:08:58.200 --> 0:09:01.840 God give me. And because you've that particular skill set, right, 0:09:02.040 --> 0:09:05.440 that then allows you to actually demand a value because 0:09:05.640 --> 0:09:08.200 people now want to pay for the Symbermac experience. They 0:09:08.200 --> 0:09:10.880 want to pay, you know, for the room experience, their 0:09:10.960 --> 0:09:14.000 mand experience, right, and they can't get it anywhere else, right, 0:09:14.040 --> 0:09:16.080 which is why Chris Brown can charge wady charges, why 0:09:16.559 --> 0:09:19.560 can charge word charges, right. And lawyers have to pay 0:09:19.559 --> 0:09:22.520 whatever they want to and they can always negotiate with 0:09:22.600 --> 0:09:25.360 the lawyer because there's always a cap on their value. 0:09:25.440 --> 0:09:27.440 But there isn't a cap on 's value. There's an 0:09:27.440 --> 0:09:29.640 a cap on Chris Brown's value. So I always understood that. 0:09:29.679 --> 0:09:31.880 So I always want to explore that the entrepreneur and 0:09:31.920 --> 0:09:34.000 me always wanted to see what that looked like. And 0:09:34.040 --> 0:09:36.520 I was like, well, I'm kind of a good place 0:09:36.559 --> 0:09:40.679 with my legal career. It's a nice time to do something. 0:09:40.720 --> 0:09:42.320 And even if I were to fail, I'm going to 0:09:42.360 --> 0:09:44.960 fail forward, but I've said enough for a foundation to 0:09:45.000 --> 0:09:48.320 come back into law. Yeah, So I explained it to 0:09:48.320 --> 0:09:50.160 my mom. I had to have a blessing, right because 0:09:50.520 --> 0:09:53.680 you have single moms, you know, you know zim moms too, 0:09:54.080 --> 0:09:58.120 So so did that and then what happened was so 0:09:58.280 --> 0:10:01.280 fast forward about within about a year and a half. 0:10:01.600 --> 0:10:03.439 What happened was that the fact that I was a 0:10:03.520 --> 0:10:06.120 lawyer allowed me to jump a lot of steps. So 0:10:06.160 --> 0:10:10.119 I got put on like main stages because I was coming. 0:10:09.880 --> 0:10:12.600 For background, so they you knew how to happen. 0:10:13.559 --> 0:10:17.520 Well. I definitely was carrying myself a certain way, energy 0:10:17.559 --> 0:10:20.920 and confidence about me. But at the same time, like 0:10:21.280 --> 0:10:25.080 it takes somebody that's either delusional or knows what they're 0:10:25.080 --> 0:10:32.480 doing to leave a corporate situation uncomfortable, but to embark 0:10:32.520 --> 0:10:38.120 into something that could possibly resulting you not earning anything 0:10:38.120 --> 0:10:41.160 an idiot of yourself. So if people know you've come 0:10:41.160 --> 0:10:44.120 from a successful situation, they're more likely than not to 0:10:44.200 --> 0:10:48.760 give you a shot with your next venture because you've 0:10:48.760 --> 0:10:51.960 done what most people perceive as the hard. Yes, right, 0:10:52.040 --> 0:10:54.240 so they're like, Okay, shouldn't take them too much to 0:10:54.280 --> 0:10:56.199 be able to rock his stakes? Yeah, you know what 0:10:56.240 --> 0:10:58.080 I mean. So I just had to sell the image 0:10:58.160 --> 0:11:00.679 right to at least give me an She needs to 0:11:00.720 --> 0:11:03.760 be on stage saying fast forward New Yar's Eve happens. 0:11:04.920 --> 0:11:07.600 I'm on stage right, and I'm headlining the whole thing, right, 0:11:07.720 --> 0:11:11.600 do the fireworks for the whole city whatever. Right. And 0:11:11.640 --> 0:11:13.960 then as I'm performing, right, because a lot of my 0:11:14.040 --> 0:11:17.280 music's autobiographicals by my mom are struggling all yourself and 0:11:17.400 --> 0:11:19.400 my journey, you know, because I love to inspire people, right, 0:11:19.440 --> 0:11:22.160 that's what it's about. I'm thinking to myself, like, I 0:11:22.200 --> 0:11:24.720 need to do three or four of these, and I 0:11:24.760 --> 0:11:27.840 need to fly mom over because she couldn't. She accepted 0:11:27.880 --> 0:11:29.600 the fact that I needed to do it because I'm 0:11:29.679 --> 0:11:30.840 general right by her, But. 0:11:30.760 --> 0:11:35.360 At the same time she's just like, yeah, yeah, my 0:11:36.240 --> 0:11:43.440 son is nice. I'm still going to say quiet this 0:11:44.080 --> 0:11:46.480 so what unbeknownst to me? Right, So so at the 0:11:46.640 --> 0:11:50.520 end of like the concert whatever, So Citium Melbourne was 0:11:50.559 --> 0:11:52.679 involved in it because it was a Federation square and stuff. 0:11:52.760 --> 0:11:54.880 Right, So my team come up to me and they're like, yo, 0:11:56.360 --> 0:11:59.560 someone from city speak to you. So I'm just like 0:12:00.040 --> 0:12:03.600 ship yeah, right, And because then you can't really you know, 0:12:03.679 --> 0:12:06.320 touch on religion or you'll be careful is such a 0:12:06.320 --> 0:12:09.320 public space. So I was thinking to myself, now we're 0:12:09.360 --> 0:12:12.520 so thorough about it, like we spent six months curating 0:12:12.600 --> 0:12:15.520 the show for a whole hour, Like now we knew 0:12:15.520 --> 0:12:17.040 what we do. How could I have gone anything? Who 0:12:17.040 --> 0:12:20.000 did I offend? So anyway, I go to the back dances. 0:12:20.080 --> 0:12:22.600 Everyone's at the back there, you know, the band or whatever, 0:12:22.760 --> 0:12:24.920 just like looking all somber and stuff. I'm trying to 0:12:24.920 --> 0:12:27.319 boost people's morale, Like, guys, do you understand what we just? Do? 0:12:28.440 --> 0:12:30.560 You know what I mean? Like, there's there's no there's 0:12:30.600 --> 0:12:32.240 a blueprint on how to be a lawyer. There's a 0:12:32.240 --> 0:12:34.920 blueprint on how to be an engineered. There's a blueprint this. 0:12:34.880 --> 0:12:36.520 Stuff, Like there is no blueprint. 0:12:36.640 --> 0:12:39.679 Yeah, we brought this into fruition based off a dream 0:12:39.720 --> 0:12:42.040 that no one believed in, Like who would have thought, right? 0:12:42.559 --> 0:12:44.600 And then everyone's just like yeah, yeah, it's like come on, 0:12:44.640 --> 0:12:49.000 clap people like And then corner my eye, I see 0:12:49.040 --> 0:12:51.319 my mom just walking. She was in the concert the 0:12:51.360 --> 0:12:53.360 whole I had no idea. In fact, we had such 0:12:53.360 --> 0:12:55.760 a bad sound check. I called her and I was like, 0:12:55.800 --> 0:12:57.920 Mom and my buddy umiliated myself in front of the 0:12:57.960 --> 0:13:01.319 whole of Melbourne, and I'm gonna probably need to go 0:13:01.360 --> 0:13:03.440 back on my tailing between my legs and pay for 0:13:03.480 --> 0:13:06.480 my job back. And I was just like, baby, I'm 0:13:06.480 --> 0:13:08.280 on my way to work, I'm busy, I'll talk to you. 0:13:08.760 --> 0:13:09.800 And I was just like this. 0:13:12.160 --> 0:13:13.520 For me, right, yeah, when I need it. 0:13:13.600 --> 0:13:13.640 Mo. 0:13:13.880 --> 0:13:15.440 She's like, okay, it's one of those I told you 0:13:15.480 --> 0:13:18.400 some moments. But seeing her right and knowing that this 0:13:18.600 --> 0:13:21.000 was probably the pen ultimate in terms of experiences for 0:13:21.120 --> 0:13:25.480 me right, having pulled this off right, that all just 0:13:25.800 --> 0:13:28.560 erased my man. I forgot where I was, it didn't matter. 0:13:29.280 --> 0:13:31.360 Tears and then my mom was crying and we like 0:13:31.440 --> 0:13:34.520 crawled to each other. I wasn't find everybody right and 0:13:34.559 --> 0:13:36.880 were just crying. Yeah, and then my mom just came 0:13:36.920 --> 0:13:39.160 and embraced me. And said I couldn't believe it was 0:13:39.200 --> 0:13:41.680 my you're my son, like and she was crying the 0:13:41.720 --> 0:13:44.120 whole time, saying I was just repenting to God, saying 0:13:44.320 --> 0:13:47.800 I did not know that you had this gift in you, 0:13:47.800 --> 0:13:49.280 you know. And I used to spend two hours in 0:13:49.320 --> 0:13:51.080 the toilet when I was nine, and I got this lyric. 0:13:51.160 --> 0:13:54.520 I'm like, like, let me take you back to nineteen 0:13:54.559 --> 0:13:57.040 eighty five. Barbara gave birth to this fat little guy. 0:13:57.240 --> 0:13:59.600 She called him beloved, She called him somebadashi. But Daddy 0:13:59.640 --> 0:14:01.240 looked at me. I said, he's probably gonna make it. 0:14:01.360 --> 0:14:03.480 I remember sitting on the toilet seat age now with 0:14:03.559 --> 0:14:05.680 my pen and pat trying to run my very first ramp, 0:14:06.000 --> 0:14:08.040 My knocking at the door, thinking I'm out of my mind. 0:14:08.080 --> 0:14:10.480 To me, I'm doing homework. To her, I'm wasting time. 0:14:10.840 --> 0:14:13.400 You give me so like so that just came just 0:14:14.240 --> 0:14:16.960 it's crazy, but like to you remember that moment, you know, 0:14:17.080 --> 0:14:20.160 and it's like it just it all made sense. Yeah, 0:14:20.280 --> 0:14:22.360 So even my dad not even being in my life, 0:14:22.400 --> 0:14:25.160 like that was all the validation I ever needed. And 0:14:25.200 --> 0:14:28.200 then everything just sort of like the world became It 0:14:28.240 --> 0:14:30.680 made sense to me, made sense to her why she 0:14:30.760 --> 0:14:34.080 had this weirdo you know kid, but you know, like 0:14:34.200 --> 0:14:35.920 you know, glory to God, like you know, I had 0:14:35.920 --> 0:14:39.320 a lot of friends, people like you family, you know, 0:14:40.560 --> 0:14:43.080 to just keep me accountable to my to my vocation 0:14:43.520 --> 0:14:44.720 and to my career along the way. 0:14:44.880 --> 0:14:48.280 So yeah, you touched on so many things. We can 0:14:48.800 --> 0:14:51.960 we can we can, we can dive into. But I 0:14:51.960 --> 0:14:54.360 would love to talk on this aspect of you being 0:14:54.880 --> 0:15:00.360 Zimbabweing right and especially as a man. Do you find 0:15:00.360 --> 0:15:03.240 it hard like that duality you're talking about where you know, 0:15:03.400 --> 0:15:05.400 we've already gotten a picture of how you kind of 0:15:05.400 --> 0:15:08.280 have this belief even from a young age that you 0:15:08.320 --> 0:15:11.200 wanted to make music, but it was kind of like, ah, 0:15:11.440 --> 0:15:16.280 you know, you're a lawyer, you know, but truly going 0:15:16.320 --> 0:15:21.080 an unconventional profession. And I think to our listeners, Simba's description, 0:15:21.240 --> 0:15:23.800 I think gives a good idea of how complex it 0:15:23.920 --> 0:15:28.920 is doing unconventional things if you come from a Zimbabwean background. 0:15:29.320 --> 0:15:33.240 So what was the hardest part for you or do 0:15:33.280 --> 0:15:35.800 you think the goal was so much bigger that you 0:15:36.000 --> 0:15:39.400 never saw it as hard to pursue you know, music 0:15:39.720 --> 0:15:41.320 as well as you know you did law. 0:15:41.360 --> 0:15:42.520 You did what she needed to do. 0:15:42.680 --> 0:15:45.480 But do you understand what I'm saying, Like, like or 0:15:45.640 --> 0:15:49.120 was a goal just that much more of a motivator 0:15:49.320 --> 0:15:52.400 that the hardship was, Like, Okay, it's part of it, 0:15:52.440 --> 0:15:54.240 but the goal is so much bigger and that's what 0:15:54.280 --> 0:15:56.520 I want to do. And what advice would you give 0:15:56.600 --> 0:16:00.360 someone who understands your struggle and is like, I want 0:16:00.360 --> 0:16:03.240 to do that, but I have this dichotomy of like, 0:16:03.280 --> 0:16:06.320 I need to provide for my family, but I also 0:16:06.920 --> 0:16:10.480 feel this calling to do what I was called to do. 0:16:10.600 --> 0:16:13.200 Yeah. Look, that's such a brilliant question, and it's such 0:16:13.240 --> 0:16:16.600 a loaded question, so many ways you can sort of 0:16:16.640 --> 0:16:20.000 tackle it. Perhaps I'll use maybe a bit of an 0:16:20.080 --> 0:16:22.920 unconventional sort of response. Okay, so I'll look at it 0:16:22.920 --> 0:16:25.560 from this point of view. So pretty much for the 0:16:25.640 --> 0:16:30.120 majority of my life, I've always heralded and praised my 0:16:30.600 --> 0:16:33.880 single mom, right for the sacrifices she made, right for 0:16:33.960 --> 0:16:38.080 myself and my two younger brothers. Right, But my dad 0:16:38.080 --> 0:16:40.880 passed away in April this year, and we didn't have 0:16:41.760 --> 0:16:44.720 much of a relationship to say the least, right, And 0:16:44.880 --> 0:16:49.440 I never ever gave that man credit for anything. Yeah, 0:16:49.520 --> 0:16:56.320 and it was only maybe about a month or so ago. 0:16:56.680 --> 0:17:00.920 I ever really posted about him. And it took a 0:17:01.000 --> 0:17:05.080 lot because in spite of what I'd gone through being 0:17:05.119 --> 0:17:08.160 able to be successful, in spite of you know, him 0:17:08.600 --> 0:17:12.320 being an absentia for a big significant part of my life, 0:17:12.680 --> 0:17:16.480 there's still that resentment and then unforgiveness. Right, So naturally 0:17:17.080 --> 0:17:19.480 I try to be the optimist and focus the attention 0:17:19.560 --> 0:17:23.280 of my mom, who did the positive things in my eyes, right, 0:17:23.640 --> 0:17:27.560 But answer your question, I'm about to be a dad, right. 0:17:28.000 --> 0:17:31.600 So on Father's Day I realized, like, that's when I 0:17:31.640 --> 0:17:33.480 broke down for the first time. So my dad died. 0:17:33.520 --> 0:17:35.960 I didn't cry or anything, you know, because I just 0:17:36.000 --> 0:17:39.320 had so much anger anyway towards him. On Father's Day 0:17:39.480 --> 0:17:40.960 it just hit me that, you know, I want to 0:17:41.000 --> 0:17:42.760 be dead, And I was like, would I ever want 0:17:42.800 --> 0:17:45.480 my child to never want ter have a relationship with me? 0:17:47.119 --> 0:17:49.800 And that made me break down. Then the regrets started 0:17:49.840 --> 0:17:52.760 sitting in. Then you go on this path, it can 0:17:52.880 --> 0:17:55.359 be dark, but it's very reflective at the same time. 0:17:55.840 --> 0:18:01.159 And then I started to ask myself, really, the sum 0:18:01.359 --> 0:18:06.800 of solely my mother's contribution, what did this man pour 0:18:06.960 --> 0:18:10.479 into me? Right? Because I look at my siblings, I 0:18:10.520 --> 0:18:13.960 look at me. We built different they've been raised solely 0:18:14.000 --> 0:18:16.840 by my mom. I at least save my first seven 0:18:16.880 --> 0:18:19.240 years of my life for my mom and my dad, right, 0:18:20.080 --> 0:18:26.000 actually eight years. Now. Here's the thing when I think 0:18:26.040 --> 0:18:32.720 of my upbringing. My dad was so intentional about my upbringing. 0:18:33.240 --> 0:18:34.879 So the first thing he said is you're going to 0:18:34.920 --> 0:18:38.159 be an international statement. My mom looked at him, like 0:18:38.200 --> 0:18:41.440 you're crazy, and my dad said, he's going to master 0:18:41.520 --> 0:18:44.040 the Queen's English. He's not going to speak shun her 0:18:44.640 --> 0:18:46.560 the first seven years of his life. He's going to 0:18:46.640 --> 0:18:50.480 master English because he needs to learn that skill so 0:18:50.560 --> 0:18:53.159 he can conquer wherever he ends up in the world. 0:18:53.640 --> 0:18:56.200 My grandparents, who barely could speak a word, had to 0:18:56.280 --> 0:18:57.920 learn how to speak to me because I couldn't speak 0:18:57.960 --> 0:19:00.840 to him. Right. I only started and Shauna because it 0:19:00.920 --> 0:19:04.919 was compulsory because of school, you know. And even with 0:19:04.960 --> 0:19:08.680 that I got to excel. But having a mastery in English, right, 0:19:08.880 --> 0:19:10.679 and then having to go to the schools that we 0:19:10.760 --> 0:19:13.760 went to amongst white people, my dad just gave me 0:19:13.800 --> 0:19:18.879 this sense of like equal, you get what I'm saying, 0:19:19.160 --> 0:19:22.439 Even an equal like that, I was superior, Like I 0:19:22.560 --> 0:19:25.439 was always the smartest person, even if I wasn't like 0:19:25.520 --> 0:19:28.600 you give me a sense of you've got enough ego 0:19:28.880 --> 0:19:31.399 to give it a go, and even if you fail, 0:19:31.640 --> 0:19:34.840 you got enough ego to try yet. Right, So having 0:19:34.920 --> 0:19:39.480 that is a foundation right in my mental blueprint, right 0:19:39.640 --> 0:19:44.000 like or my mental DNA R gave me this this 0:19:44.160 --> 0:19:45.520 insurmountable sense of. 0:19:45.600 --> 0:19:47.440 I can do any anything. 0:19:47.760 --> 0:19:50.520 And then now that combined with my mom now taking 0:19:50.560 --> 0:19:54.520 me to church and stuff and watching her overcome what 0:19:54.640 --> 0:19:57.919 she did in a patriarchal society as the matriarch in 0:19:57.960 --> 0:20:01.960 the family where she's not designed to thrive, right, and 0:20:02.000 --> 0:20:04.480 she did kept us in private school. Mama was a 0:20:04.480 --> 0:20:08.640 receptionist when we're at Hartman Urson Saint George's, was able 0:20:08.680 --> 0:20:12.240 to keep me in there, right, But then the endurance 0:20:12.280 --> 0:20:14.800 and she never gave us an excuse. My dad went 0:20:14.840 --> 0:20:17.560 to jail so many from the bank you worked for. 0:20:17.680 --> 0:20:23.240 Right when I was she's like nine years away. That 0:20:23.359 --> 0:20:26.359 was public knowledge. And you imagine to go to school, 0:20:26.600 --> 0:20:28.359 and then I was going to Saint George's, right, and 0:20:28.359 --> 0:20:30.200 I was like one of maybe a handful of guys 0:20:30.240 --> 0:20:33.520 would go to school in public transport Macombe, you know, 0:20:33.800 --> 0:20:39.240 and you know that driveway is a long right, and 0:20:39.280 --> 0:20:43.560 then everyone's like looking at she likes. Right, So you're 0:20:43.600 --> 0:20:46.320 like the poor school, poorest kid at the richest school, 0:20:47.000 --> 0:20:48.920 and you have to go and sit there every day. 0:20:49.119 --> 0:20:50.760 And I remember we used to live in Zada Circle 0:20:50.800 --> 0:20:53.639 for a while, right, So like but you know, like 0:20:53.720 --> 0:20:57.680 an like you know, like like a dryer right to 0:20:57.760 --> 0:21:00.159 dry clothes. So the maid who washed you know, like 0:21:00.600 --> 0:21:02.960 our clothes with their hands, right then hang among the 0:21:02.960 --> 0:21:06.119 clothes line, right. But we didn't have like an electric stove, 0:21:06.200 --> 0:21:09.199 so we cook outside with like, you know, firewood, so 0:21:09.280 --> 0:21:12.119 the smoke was going to of course clothes. And then 0:21:12.160 --> 0:21:14.680 you get into the next and guys are like, yeah, 0:21:15.359 --> 0:21:17.040 why are you smile like that? You know where you're 0:21:17.040 --> 0:21:19.560 coming from or whatever, you know, So dealing with that. 0:21:19.720 --> 0:21:21.959 But then even with that, like I always remember, like 0:21:21.960 --> 0:21:24.000