SPEAKER_08 0:00

Welcome back to the Blurred Spectrum Podcast, ladies and gentlemen. They, them non-binary followers of the world. We are here to bring to you another episode of the melanated solstice. This summer, we're bringing to you all different types of blackity, black excellence from music to food to art to cannabis and a few things. Anyway, so we're going to uh showcase all of the things that each and every one of our friends and networked individuals have to offer you. So maybe you can stop by your nearest restaurant, get yourself a little bit of, you know, snackity snack. Maybe you can turn off Spotify, find yourself your brand new favorite artist. Uh uh, maybe you can uh visit the next business and you know, black-owned business, and don't think you're gonna get a discount, but you'll get a good deal. These are the things that we're gonna bring to you this solstice, and we hope that you enjoy each and every one of the episodes that we have to offer. But before we get started, because today is black music episode. Uh, that was that was antaclimactic. Uh, this is the black music episode. Um, and we are going to we have a collection of artists and musicians who are here to showcase what they are all about. They're here to tell you about themselves in the most primal way possible. Talking instead of singing. So, what we're going to do, or rapping, or time speaking, or mixing, or playing, you know, all of that stuff. Anyway, so okay, so first I have to introduce our panelists, and then I'm going to introduce our uh esteemed guests, starting with myself, your uh moderator for this uh lovely episode, Suchino Shogun. Next, we have Ms. Skittles. Hello, we have the Black McCoy. Bonjour, we have Kaze Shinryu. Hola pouring a is that cranaple? Is that crapple? Uh this is black.

SPEAKER_11 2:03

We also have the best part of waking up.

SPEAKER_08 2:08

Oh is liquor in your cup. Oh my god. Uh, we also have shampoo bracelets.

SPEAKER_00 2:15

I believe they're in the middle of what's up, in the middle of shipping, yes.

unknown 2:21

What's up?

SPEAKER_08 2:23

Best time of the morning. Uh, and now our esteemed guests starting with an urban nerd.

SPEAKER_03 2:31

How are we doing? Um I'm excited to finally be up here. I've been a long time follower, supporter. Um, but yes, my name is Josh. I go by an urban nerd, all one word. Um, I am a rap artist, spoken word artist, and I recently became uh New London, Connecticut's um poet laureate. Um, so wherever they need poetry, I will be going up and speaking and uh talking about people and sharing feelings and stuff. So I appreciate y'all having me up here.

SPEAKER_08 2:58

Oh no, no, you've been you've been you've been asking for some months, and we was like, what episode is it gonna fit into? We gotta figure it out.

SPEAKER_03 3:04

Look, don't make me roll down to DC. Y'all know I become a poet.

SPEAKER_08 3:09

Don't let him say that. We haven't heard a word. Right. Uh that's not true. So, anywho, uh, next, uh, we have Miss Antonia Aurora Lloyd. Come on, girl, bring it up, bring it up, bring it up, bring it up, bring it up. Also, we have the the incomparable, the amazing. I don't know the real name of this brother, but he's gonna give it to you. Crazy eight the great.

SPEAKER_06 3:43

What up, what up, what up, what up? It's your boy Crazy Eight the Great, Cleveland Zone, hip hop, superhero, uh, nerd, core rapper, extraordinaire, and all around good guy, you know. So I'm just glad to be here. Thank you, thank you, thank you for the invite. And uh let's have some fun.

SPEAKER_08 4:01

Awesome sauce, awesome sauce. I'm in complete agreement. And of course, whoo, this this this this guy's off the charts. Like, I I caught him on this episode right before he got to like that that that breakthrough of famous. You know, that breakthrough of famous where you that you don't call the people from your past. Like, we caught him right before he hit that line. This is Mr. Drew Keys.

SPEAKER_05 4:22

Yo, yo, what's up? What's up? Drew Keys, what's going on with y'all? Producer, pianist, engineer, all the above. You know, check out the music, but we'll get more into that. Thanks for having me, Joe.

SPEAKER_08 4:34

No problem, no problem. Thanks for being on. So, as I said, we also have to introduce this, this, uh, this, this, this amazing gentleman that I've been I've been told many things about. Uh, Mr. Carrington Kelso.

SPEAKER_09 4:50

Hey, hopefully they've been good things, Gwyn. I'm looking at you. Uh, singer, songwriter, producer, um, gamer, and uh a nerd enthusiast.

SPEAKER_10 5:04

Happy to be here. I keep telling you, if you're trying to get that overwatch team together, we can go ahead and add Karen to that um again.

SPEAKER_09 5:10

Come on over.

SPEAKER_08 5:12

You let me know when y'all want to do the Overwatch team because I've been waiting. So, to begin, we are going to just ask a couple of questions to each of our individual artists and musicians and producers and pianists and uh nerds and blurts and everyone. Um, starting with Miss Aurora. If you will, a couple of questions. Sure. How did you get started? What brought you to the table? What type of artist are you?

SPEAKER_07 5:41

Uh so I didn't give much of an intro, but hi. Uh uh well at the core I'm always RB, but I, you know, I've I've been influenced by so much uh musically, it you never know what type of RB it's gonna come out to sound like. Um I started wanting to do something in the entertainment industry um when I was about seven or eight. Um, I don't know if anyone remembers the play, but there was a um phenomenal play uh that was doing it on this whole circuit run that was phenomenal called uh Bringing the Noise, Bringing the Funk, um, which consisted of like tap dancing and playing with uh on like trash can lids and things of that nature. And it was a whole production phenomenal. Yeah. My uncle took me to one um because he was friends with the cast. Um, so when I got to meet them, and like I was a little kid and I got to do my little version of tapping for them. Um, but that that particular moment was what kind of inspired me to want to do something in the entertainment industry. Initially, I was trying to be an actor, um, but where I grew up as a kid in Philly, that wasn't an option. So we just had to um the close thing I could do to act was sing, and then ended up falling in love with singing. And then I started taking it seriously in middle school, which is when I first started going to the studio and really writing songs and all that good stuff.

SPEAKER_08 7:10

Awesome, awesome. So you you talked about uh uh a bunch of different experiences that really kind of drove you into getting into, well, you know, eventually into music. Uh would would you say you have like a specific type of artist or type of music that like inspires you to sing?

SPEAKER_07 7:28

Um, most definitely. Uh back in those, back when I was younger, um it the there were like three primary women that I that were consistently in my ears, um, which was uh India Ivory, um Janet Jackson, and uh Aaliyah, Aliyah. Um and then I don't know what happened, something like something changed, and then uh around my middle school years was when like Sierra dropped, and for some reason she her her her moment really was like what made me say, okay, bitch, we doing this. We doing this world on doing this shit. Um, but uh definitely after in the latter years, uh Shade and um Don Richard from Danity Kane before this hype that I'm like I'm hot going on with Don Richard because yeah, I'm a diehard baby. I'm a die heart. So, but yeah, those are the primary ones.

SPEAKER_08 8:29

Okay, okay, okay. So, you know, having in having artists or having specific types of styles of music that inspire you, I'm sure, lead you into you know, getting into your creative space. So, what would you say for another uh maybe a younger black artist or maybe a struggling black artist, a singer who you know doesn't know exactly what they want to do, what what would you say is your way of kind of getting into the zone? I don't know if anybody's seen Soul, but you know, that zone where it's um honestly, you don't realize you're in the zone until you're in it.

SPEAKER_07 9:06

In my personal experience, in my own feeling, like sometimes you don't know what you may have a passion for until you do it and realize, oh fuck, I love this. This is amazing. So I it's one of those where just like follow, follow your vibe. Like if it feels good to you, see where it's gonna take you, see where it's gonna lead you. Um, because that's honestly what I did. I didn't clearly I didn't have the intentions of being of doing singing and dancing and songwriting and all that. I just genuinely wanted to act, and I got introduced to music in a in a in a different way, and it I've been hooked ever since and learned that is low-key been my calling. So that's what I would say, because I I feel like people find their passions in the most innocent of ways. Like it's not always so slap hard in your face. Um and it's har it's it's very hard for folks to distinguish their passion when they're when they're chasing what they think they it is their passion.

SPEAKER_01 10:07

Right.

SPEAKER_07 10:07

Um, and folks don't realize that like sometimes what you're chasing isn't your actual passion, it's just what you think you should do to get to wherever you're trying to get to in life. Which isn't a bad thing, but it's like don't be surprised if you fall out of love with it or you lose interest or attraction to it. Because when it comes to your passion, you don't ever lose the love of it at its core. Regardless of the the business bowl, the politics, and all the ramble around being what you are, you'll always love it to the core.

SPEAKER_10 10:40

True.

SPEAKER_07 10:41

So, you know, that's that's that's my cheese on it. I don't know.

SPEAKER_08 10:46

I don't know about anybody else, but that's yours.

SPEAKER_07 10:48

I don't know about nobody else, but that's what I knew.

SPEAKER_08 10:52

Okay, thank you, Aurora. We'll come back, but thank you. So, from one singer to a singer producer artist, uh Carrington Kelso, sir. Uh how did it all start? How did how did it begin?

SPEAKER_09 11:07

Um, so I distinctly remember growing up in a household that was uh very gospel and Michael Jackson heavy. Whoa. Um and I adored that music, but it wasn't until I bought, like with my own money, my first two CDs were uh uh Beyonce's Dangerously in Love album and Alicia Key's Songs in a Minor. And my mom to this day will tell the story. I played those records back to front, front to back, up to top to bottom. Like I just couldn't, I was so enamored uh with what these women were doing. Uh, I started to obsess. Um, but I was a very shy child, so I couldn't sing in front of people. My mom would catch me behind closed doors or in the shower or like when I thought no one was around. And she thought it was uh a hobby or like, you know, he might like this, but not like a career. Um, and then all throughout like middle school and high school, I did regular choir, like classically trained um, you know, the shit you do in school. But in college, when I met Gwen, I joined Adrenaline, which was a show choir that opened this new door performance that I had never done before. We were singing, we were dancing, I taught myself guitar. And like at 18, I was like, this is it. This is what I have to do for the rest of my life. Like, it's not even a want, it's like a need. I I don't feel complete if I'm not doing this. And uh I started writing songs and they were terrible at first. And uh it's a muscle. Songwriting is a muscle.

SPEAKER_10 12:51

Comparatively to now, for me, that is that okay, that that is a valid assessment of yourself.

SPEAKER_09 12:57

But there's been a lot of growth. Um, and I I am uh appreciative of that Carrington because without him, I couldn't have gotten to where I am today. Um, and I still, you know, listen to those songs and laugh, like, look at where we've come from. Um, but it was show choir, like adrenaline was what really like nailed into me. Like, I have to be on the stage, I have to perform in front of people. Um, I feel like I get the most joy um by doing that, by engaging with people on a stage. So that was kind of like my quick synopsis of how I got started.

SPEAKER_08 13:38

Awesome, awesome, awesome. Okay. So going from your humble beginnings to uh where you are now in terms of your uh your ability to write songs, your ability to create scores, what would you say is one of your greatest improvements from all of your different skills and talents? Telling the truth.

SPEAKER_09 13:57

Oh, I think that as an artist, it is our responsibility to tell the truth. And that zone uh that you were talking about with Antonia, I know when I'm telling the truth because I slide into that. Like it is the most smooth, like I know I am on to some the songs, write themselves at that point because you are in a true moment. Um and when I was younger, listening to John Mayer, Ed Sheeran, Beyonce, uh John Legend, uh, just so many artists, I was trying to sound like them. And my voice is kind of husky, it's raspy, it's soulful. Um, and I couldn't, I couldn't mimic their sound. And that's how I found my sound. And when I started lit uh living in authenticity is when the songs started writing themselves. And now at almost 30, I know that there is no other Carrington. Nobody can write songs the way I write songs, nobody can perform the way I perform, and I can't perform like anybody else. Um and it took me some years to like learn and accept that and really cherish that space.

SPEAKER_08 15:14

Wow. Living for the truth. Okay, okay, okay. So your your, you know, like it, like you said, your greatest growth is, you know, you making it you being authentic, you're following what your voice, finding your voice, and then fight following your voice into what your songs are supposed to be saying. So for a another artist or another um singer or somebody who wants to put themselves out there, uh, let's say they found themselves within somebody else. How would you say would be the best way to break through from that shell of another person into their own?

SPEAKER_09 15:57

Uh, journaling helps me a lot. It separates my feelings from other people's feelings. And in my journals, I often find a lot of my songs. What stories am I trying to tell? Um, I don't want anybody to mistake that I am not a product child of the artists that inspire me. Um, every artist is a filter of everybody they've listened to. It just kind of goes through you. And so I take a little bit from here and I take a little bit from there, and then together it makes me. Um, so there is no uh issue with being inspired by or finding yourself in uh like an indie or Sierra Beyonce for me. Uh, this is a Beyonce merch. Um, but you have to be true to yourself, you have to tell the stories that only you know how to tell. Like, you know, Sierra is telling her story, Beyonce is telling her story. What is your story? Um, and when you get really firm and centered around that, I think that's when you create the best art. Phenomenal.

SPEAKER_08 17:05

Thank you, uh, Mr. Kelso. So thank you. From a guitarist to a pianist, Mr. Drew Keys. You have done quite a few things in your tenure in the music industry. Uh let's let's start from the beginning. I mean, uh I've known you for quite some time and you've always had your hand in some type of music. How did it all start? How did it begin?

SPEAKER_05 17:30

So it first started uh like actually like before Howard. Um, I got started um like in high school. I took piano lessons. Um my mom got me into piano lessons so I could start playing in the church. But um, of course I couldn't start playing right away because I didn't really know much. So, you know, at the church, you gotta be, yeah, H U, you know. Yeah, so when you in the church, you know, you gotta be, you gotta know your stuff for real, for real. So I I started taking lessons and then like a week later, uh, we made a go-go band around my way in Silver Spring.

SPEAKER_10 18:08

So um play, but we made a skills is having us.

SPEAKER_05 18:19

Hey. But nah, so pretty much from that band, you know, I had just started like teaching myself how to play by ear. So I was taking lessons to learn how to read music and playing Go Go had me um playing by ear. So my first band was called Shut Em Down Band. And since then I had pretty much been playing distantly, and um then I got around to actually playing in the church. I got good enough to play the church. Um, I picked up producing. Um, so from I I guess what that was um what year did I start? Well, I've been playing for about 16 years, so I don't know. I started so yeah, so I've the let's see. The bands I play for, um, Go-Go bands have been Shut Them Down Band, KOB, uh TMA. You're like, what are all these acronyms, right? Go go Symphony, uh, New Vision, Trill Band. Um, the biggest band has been TCB. And yeah, like a whole A. Like I started playing keys first, and then I picked up producing using uh Fruity Loops. If there's anybody that's you know in a music production.

SPEAKER_10 19:36

Oh, I'm sorry. I had friends who like were I remember when they were getting on Fruity Loops like back in the day, and they were like, I haven't heard that word in a while.

SPEAKER_05 19:47

I play FL, but in low key, some of the biggest songs I would make were Fruity Loops. Yep. So pretty much when I first started making beats, I wasn't really making ghoul beats, I was just making like RB and like rap beats and just like different styles. And it wasn't really until recently, it really wasn't until the beginning of this year that I really started producing gold beats. So, you know, I pretty much put it together, you know, like me as instrumentalist, uh like my experience with playing for bands and production and merged it. And you know, I picked up a bass also. So I started getting into these remixes. Um, the first one I did was the Buss It Challenge, and you thought that going crazy. And I'm like, okay, let me um, you know, put my own take on it. So I did the whole transition, whatever, the cutscene, and then, but I'm like, okay, but when the beat drops, I'm gonna have to play my remix. So that's what I did. And when I dropped that video, it pretty much I had never seen that much love on social media ever.

SPEAKER_10 20:46

Could you want to send us that video so we can shoot it over to Seyonai and Miss Skittles, please?

SPEAKER_05 20:55

All that, but yeah, that video just started going crazy, and I'm like, okay, this is what people want to hear. Like, they want to hear go-go production because like no one ever shared anything that much. So I'm like, okay, let me keep this up. So the next one I did was beatbox, and uh beatbox remix is what kind of went viral first in the area. Um, and you know, that was just going crazy everywhere, everyone doing the challenge. Then June Bug came to the city and he um he he got on stage with TCB, was partying with the band, he learned how to beat his feet in like a weekend. Like he's from everybody was like, yo, what the fuck? And then he actually used my remix and made a video. So when he did that, I got like a thousand followers in a day. Like it was crazy.

SPEAKER_01 21:42

Wow.

SPEAKER_05 21:43

Yeah, that really elevated things. Um and then more recently, um, actually there's this Kodak uh collab that I did. So a few months ago, I was um probably like December, I was on IG just kind of following. In every producer that had credits on major products and just following them on IG. And like, if they follow back, I'll DM them, like, yo, let's work. What's your email? Yada yada. So one guy I linked up with, I sent him some music and he hit me back. He's like, Yo, Kodak got on the record. Don't tell nobody. I'm like, oh shit, like for real. And I'm like halfway believing it. I'm like, uh, I don't know. Like, I don't even know this guy. Like, is he? I don't know. Is he just bluffing? Like, is it really gonna happen? But he's he calls me back. He's like, yo, I need your info. It's dropping on his birthday. So I'm like, okay, great. Like, cool, bet. Like, so I'm like, oh, June 11th. Okay, cool. So fast forward to now. Um, yeah, Kodak just dropped his new product, his new project, um, Happy Birthday, Kodak, and I co-produced the first track, Glarious. So yeah, so it's just crazy. Like, so much has been happening this year. So it's just like, I'm just like telling myself I'm gonna put out as much music as I can this year, and you know, it's happening. Doors opening, so yeah.

SPEAKER_08 23:06

Nah, definitely, definitely do as Ms. Skittle was saying, your flowers is definitely deserved. Uh, as I was saying when I introduced you, you know, I've I've watched you, you know, work on music for years. And, you know, whether it's just following you on Facebook or just, you know, watching what you're doing, you know, it's you you've never taken a second to say, ah, you know, maybe I shouldn't, or ah, maybe I should stop. You like you've consistently, even if it's been slowly or fast, you've consistently put out something every single year. So, like, for on the production side, what what would you say to kind of like I did with the other uh musicians and artists, what would you say to an up-and-coming producer? Because I think you remember back in the day, everybody wanted to be a producer. As you're saying, everybody had fruity loos. Everybody was like in their dorm room, like so. What what would you say to an up-and-coming producer or up-and-coming person who just wants to make music and just wants to give music to people? What would be your inspiring words?

SPEAKER_05 24:06

First thing I would say is to just start for real. I know a lot of people probably have fear of just starting and they're like, uh, I don't know, I want to do this, but I don't know, and uh and kind of scared about it, but just start, like just download the program. Like most of the programs you can find for free online in the pay for them when you really need them. Um also YouTube, YouTube is clutch for uh things like that. Like you can go and watch a YouTube video and kind of mimic it, and it'll show you exactly how to achieve like what you want to do as far as um making beats or recording or anything like that. And um really, you know, you just gotta really put the time in because um, you know, it's it can take years to get to the point that you really want to be at. Like I remember when I first started, FL like probably started producing seriously, like right when we um got to Howard at first and like oh seven, I had been playing the keys probably for years before that, but it's like just because I knew piano didn't mean I knew how to produce. So I had to really just, you know, just put the work in and just really stay consistent. And as long as you really just put the work in and stay consistent, like you know, you'll get to where you want to be. So, you know, YouTube, just do practice your craft, just keep at it, and you know, also collab, collaborating helps a lot because, like, yeah, I remember when I first started producing, like, you know, I knew what I was doing, but some things I didn't really know. So, me working with other guys that were using FL, just having like, okay, like that's a cool shortcut, like, let me remember that. So, you know, definitely collaborate with other people that are doing the same thing you're trying to do is a big help for real.

SPEAKER_08 25:46

Awesome, awesome, awesome. Okay, so one more question. So, your newfound fame, as some people would say, I wouldn't say that because, like I said, I've been literally watching what you've been doing like several years. So, your newfound fame, though, where you know you're you know clabbing and you're working on different people's tracks and producing, what would you say is next for Drew Keys?

SPEAKER_05 26:09

Um, what's next? What's next? So just um expect like more remixes, like pretty much any popular song that you hear um that's going crazy that might have like a TikTok challenge. Like you can probably expect a bounce beat remix of it. Um, I'm gonna try to release remixes like uh probably every two weeks, maybe. Um I'm actually I'm gonna pop some DJ equipment soon and I'll be DJ Keys out here soon. So look out for that soon. Um and yeah, just more collabs uh with rap artists and and you know, and singers also. So, you know, this won't be the last. Um, you know, there's definitely gonna be more projects coming. I'm I'm LinkedIn with uh one of Kodak's producers now, so I'm gonna keep working with them, you know, have some more stuff coming soon. Um, you know, and just I'm gonna keep networking and just keep reaching to artists. Oh, also I'm working on the music for film for uh romantic comedy that'll be uh that's in the works, so that will come out some um sometime eventually. Um want to get more into film. So awesome, awesome. Okay, excellent.

SPEAKER_08 27:24

So from one individual, producer, musician, pianist, to I mean, this this is I like I said, I've heard many things from Miss Skittles. So let's let's have him describe himself. Crazy eight the great. Give it to us. Who why crazy eight? Why are you great? Tell us about yourself, man.

SPEAKER_06 27:49

Yeah, man. Crazy eight the great man, Cleveland, Ohio. Uh, you would consider this what we call nerdcore hip-hop, which uh is really just rooted in in all things uh nerd and hip-hop. Um, nerdcore for me really started um fairly early. Um, but if I want to go right like way back, like I didn't even really want to rap. Like I wanted to draw cartoons. That was what my original plan was. I thought, you know what I'm saying, like I wanted to be the guy that worked for Funimation that drew Dragon Ball Z. Like that's what I wanted to do. You know what I'm saying? That was even in my career passport as I graduated high school. Like that was I was almost sure that's what I was gonna do.

SPEAKER_10 28:32

Um wasn't a doubt.

SPEAKER_06 28:34

Yeah, you know what I'm saying? But uh 10th grade, like even before the end, like 10th grade kind of happened. Um I met a friend and he he wrote rhymes or whatever, and I had been, you know, I pented a little bit. Um and I really got into rap on accident. Like he was over the house, I was whooping his ass and like Halo 2. And uh he was like, Man, you got some beats or something? I'm like, uh sure, you know what I'm saying? So I I just happened to have some instrumentals on my Xbox because the old Xbox used to be able to play music and play games. It was next level. So uh I just happened to have some instrumentals on, and I had never really rapped in front of another person before that that moment. And we got the freestyling back and forth, and he was like, bro, uh, you rap better than me. And I was like, shut up, man. You know what I'm saying? And he was like, he was like, no, I'm serious. He was like, yo, I got a rap group, want to be a part of my rap group? And I was like, I don't got no friends. All right, cool. You know what I'm saying? So so from from 10th grade on, that's kind of how like I really started in my career. But like prior to that, um uh like I've been listening to like Eminem since I was like eight years old. I know ain't nobody supposed to listen to M at eight years old, but back then, like no, I had been um I had been through so many bullying situations. Like I almost I was almost stabbed to death at the age of six due to bullying. Um, so I had been really fighting for self-esteem and the the right to exist next to other people because it seems like because I existed, like everybody hated me for whatever, you know what I'm saying, whatever the reason was. And I went through so much with bullying, had so much anger and everything pent up. So when my older cousins brought, you know what I'm saying, M over and all the other hip-hop that they would listen to or whatever, I gravitated toward that because it was so angry because I was so angry, you know what I'm saying? I was so angry, I was hurt, I was bullied, I had, you know what I'm saying? My dad wasn't at the crib, mom issues, different little things like that, or whatever. So this music was perfect, you know what I'm saying? But he was putting words together in ways I had never heard words put together. And being that my grandmother is such uh a wordsmith in her own right, like she just loves playing with words, word puzzles, word games, reading, um, stuff like that. So pretty much like due to her um living with her, growing up with her, uh I was able to kind of just pick that knack up for words and just loving literature and loving to read and being able to write. So I was like kind of advanced in school, um, due to her, you know what I'm saying, just teaching me every day, um, playing cards and just doing different things like that. So that's pretty much where the name comes from, too, playing cards with my granny and shit. So grandma's doing a little work. Yeah, man, you know what I'm saying, keeping keeping us out of trouble, you know what I mean? So, you know what I'm saying, playing uh playing different card games and playing crazy eights with her and um the eight being a wild card in the card game or whatever. So when I, you know, decided to take rap serious, the name just kind of stuck because I was a wild card doing like rapping in ways that people just wasn't rapping in my in my city or whatever. And being a wild card, I can, you know, the eight can make anything happen musically. So that's where Crazy Eighth Grade came from. Um and just from then, like uh also, you know, um, I want to say like fourth or fifth grade, I tried out for the Cleveland Boy choir. So that's how I found out I had an ear for music um and was in the choir until I was about like 11 or 12. Um we used to do the sing the national athem at uh the Indians game and um Browns games and stuff like that. So I got a taste of what it was like to perform in front of a lot of people, even though I was a part of a choir. And you know, you never really put two and two together until you get put in a situation to where it's like, all right, all right, yeah. Like so music just kind of happened to me as opposed to like setting out to be something I always wanted to do. Um, I was terrible, like I said, terribly shy, being bullied, like no self-esteem, didn't want to be seen, didn't want to be noticed, because every time I got noticed, it was a fight, or I was getting jumped afterwards, you know what I'm saying? So fighting for your life for the first decade of your life, you know what I'm saying, kind of it changed you to, you know, do something different. But I don't know, I've always wanted to be, I guess, a testimony to people that's been through anything that I've been through, you know what I'm saying, or or the like, because like me coming out being a nerdcore artist, rapping about anime, comic books, superheroes, pop culture, um, things like that. There's nobody like me from where I'm from. So I had to be the first me so that I could be that like example for anybody that came after me. Um, and I've been able to do like quite a few, you know, quite a few things. Um I'm a seven-time award winner here in the state of Ohio for best live performer, lyricist of the year. Um, I've gone to Toronto to win international competitions. I've uh I've worked with mainstream artists like Crooked Eye from Slaughterhouse, uh, you know, Royster 5.9 from Slaughterhouse, um, Both Dugs and Harmony, uh a lot of a lot of things. Um, I'm still the the Jack Daniels, Jack of the Beast freestyle champion from the last time that they came in.

SPEAKER_10 33:58

Um Lord, you shouldn't have said that. This man loves Jack Daniels.

SPEAKER_06 34:04

Um technically, technically, I'm still sponsored by Jack. Technically, it's just I don't never really use like the sponsorship really didn't do nothing for me like I thought it would. It's like I could throw their logo on merchandise and albums and stuff like that, and they'll just be like, yeah, we know that guy. But other than that, like they don't help. You know what I'm saying? So until things become an endorsement, I really don't, I really don't be saying much. Um, and yeah, so you know, just just trying to be an activist for anti-bullying always. Um, you know what I'm saying? Because that that struggle has been around since the beginning of time. So it's like I know way more people that's gone through it than not. And I know way more people that's afraid to say something about it than not. You know what I'm saying? So it's like, all right, well, let me just be that for you. Let me be that voice for you, let me be that face for you. So it's like um I started doing anti-bullying tours with music since 2011. Um, I started a campaign called The Most Popular Lane, which meant like being caught in between two worlds. So I was popular because everybody knew who I was, but I also was like known for being lame at the same time. So it's oxymoron. So the most popular lame campaign was just my anti-bullying stance. So it's like we do exist in this space where people put these labels on us, but yet we still get known for it at the same time. So like using that to my advantage, I started using music to build my self-esteem up to the point where now I wish you would try me. You know what I mean? So it's uh it it really was a transformative effort. Like I said, I've been struggling with the whole bullying efforts from from second grade to I graduated high school and just seeing people I've known, um, I've seen people die, I've seen people commit suicide. I've um I've had friends, I've lost friends, I've lost, you know what I'm saying, loved ones. I've seen so many kids now like like doing it because of cyberbullying and and all the trolling that's going on on social media. So it's like um if if if I had to stand for anything, I had to stand for that because I gotta see it, I gotta see it disperse, you know what I'm saying? So I just use I use the music to inspire, and I'm more comfortable in it now because it's like I get to get up every day, write rhymes about my favorite anime, and then inspire a kid to, you know what I'm saying, stand up for itself or make him feel good about him liking anime and not being ostracized or cast out or whatever the case may be. Or it being okay to, you know what I'm saying, not want to fit in and just be you and be comfortable in your own skin. Like I get on stages, I wear a cape, the cape be blown in the wind and shit. And you know what I'm saying? Like it's just wild, but you know what I'm saying. But I live out loud that way. Like, you know what I'm saying? Like the cape was just a symbol to of individuality, you know what I'm saying? Like everybody on stage before me then had their pants down to their ankles damn near, and they rapping about drugs, guns, whatever they want to do. And that's fine, you know what I'm saying? Everybody has a lane to do something to speak on, but I'm gonna step on here, I'm gonna have this cape on, and I'm about to outperform and out wrap everybody on the stage. You're not about to out rap, you know what I'm saying? Like, I'm from an era of hip hop where you just gotta be nice. Yeah, it's like rap, it's rapper die where I come from, you know what I'm saying? So um, yeah, like that's that's that's kind of the origins that is crazy to great.

SPEAKER_08 37:31

I feel like you've answered all of my questions before.

SPEAKER_02 37:34

Right.

SPEAKER_08 37:35

I I feel like he plotted to do that. He's like listening to everybody else's questions, is like, let me just throw down everything. You know what? I think on my toes. I already got questions for you. I'm gonna keep going. So when you're on stage, you as you said before, you know, you rap about, you know, the things that you like, the things that you see, uh things that you know, the anime, maybe even gaming. So, what would you say is not necessarily your most used anime that you refer to, but like what what what like what's your top three that you know at any given moment you could be like bow, bow, bow?

SPEAKER_06 38:10

So I've noticed, and I just had a I had a talk with my best friend, who's also my producer, um, about this the other day. And we noticed that when in doubt, I either rap about Dragon Ball Z, Harry Potter, or or like Captain Planet out of nowhere, just because I was not expecting Captain Planet to be a big one. I swear you'll see the trend. I promise you'll see the trend in so many days that like when in doubt, if I don't if I can't think of nothing else, a Dragon Ball bar come out, a Harry Potter bar come out, or some random Captain Planet will come out. Wow, that's that's interesting. I don't think I've heard it just happened recently. That's how that's how we got like we got to it, it just happened in the studio like a couple days ago, and I was like, yo, this happens often.

SPEAKER_10 39:00

Okay, but but uh before our listeners, what Harry Potter house are you in?

SPEAKER_06 39:04

Oh lord, yes, look, I'm great from doorhouse to till I die, you know what I mean? That's it. That's fair. That's fine.

SPEAKER_08 39:14

This is i there's a there's a there's a lot of not not myself included, but there's a lot of slithering on our panel.

SPEAKER_06 39:22

So you know what I'm saying? I got love for y'all. I got love for y'all. I got we got love for y'all too. I gotta love for y'all. Uh uh, we know the best.

SPEAKER_08 39:38

So all right. It's not. We'll we'll get there. We said we were gonna do it, we still haven't done it, but we'll get there. Aurora's waiting for that one too. So we we we we're gonna circle back to that one eventually. Um, so you know, uh, I you I I completely agree about you know things that happen in your life, whether, you know, whether you're an artist or you know, whether you are, you know, a podcast speaker or whether you know you're an engineer, whatever industry you're in, things that happen to you, if you have the ability to do so and prevent it from happening to somebody else, I always feel like you should take a stand. You should work to prevent it or work to you know ease that pain that somebody else is going through. So with your campaign for you know anti-bullying, anti-cyberbullying, we actually had a couple of episodes before. Uh, one was our um cosplay, well, it wasn't cosplay, just cosplay, but it was our uh mental health episode. Uh, we had a couple of those where we're just talking about you know different things that cause um mental pains, if you will. One of the things that both uh Scionet cosplay as well as the Black McCoy and Miss Skittles were talking about is just, you know, a lot of the words. I mean, you can pretty much just call it cyberbullying for from some of the things that they choose to cosplay as, you know, uh, people saying, you know, that's not correct. This person is Caucasian or Asian or whatever it is. You can't wear that, you can't just they say they're Caucasian.

SPEAKER_04 41:04

I wish they would say Caucasian. Exactly.

SPEAKER_10 41:07

Lord, um, where so you can't cosplay that they're not black, they're not white either. Shut the fuck up.

SPEAKER_05 41:19

And viral that he not isn't black, and then like the I love that one.

SPEAKER_08 41:23

Yes, yes, right. But uh to so for for all of those individual individuals who are experiencing that, whether they, you know, like I said, be cosplayers or gamers or whatever they're doing, um, what is your like if you if you had the chance to sit down with someone, what is the first thing you would explain to that person, no matter what they're trying to do, if even if they want to just fall on your shoes and be, you know, a rapper or musician who talks or speaks or sings about anime or gaming, what have you, what would you say to them when they're being bullied or when they're being you know dismayed from where they want to go?

SPEAKER_06 42:03

So I've learned I've learned in the the course of my life that the the best course of action, and this may be the least uh PC version of it is to fight back. Um you know what I'm saying? Like I'm I'm a firm believer if somebody is is is really pushing you to that that extreme, punching the fucking face. Like I was always, you know, the whole turn the other cheek or go tell somebody, and I realized that the retaliation that I received from doing that every time I did that was more severe every single time than in that moment, me standing up for myself no matter what, you know what I'm saying? So I would always tell somebody to one, I guess, you know, talk to somebody that that understands where you come from, first of all, you know what I'm saying? Unload, unpack. Get that, you know what I'm saying, get through a lot of that that trauma or just be able to vent. But in the, you know what I'm saying, right after you get done venting and wiping your tears off or whatever, punch them in the face. You know what I'm saying? Um and you know, I'm saying that was one of the things that I struggle with through my anti-bullying campaign because that was against what you know the schools would do or whatever. But it's like, but y'all not paying attention to what's happening to these kids every time they go tell on somebody or every time they go turn the other cheek, it's just allowing people to do more, you know what I'm saying. You only yeah, you only shit only happens when you allow it, you know what I'm saying? And and the faculties and schools and staff has been allowing it for decades, millennia, whatever. And it's only until we stand up and fight for ourselves that you know I'm saying, it's it's going to see any kind of change. Um, and then going further into that, when like translating it into music and just trying to, you know what I'm saying, get your foot in, you have to believe in yourself before anybody else believes in you.

SPEAKER_08 43:57

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 43:57

Um, because it's like if you don't believe in you, Why should I?

SPEAKER_08 44:00

Precisely.

SPEAKER_06 44:01

And you could be the most talented person in the world, but if you ain't you believing in you or you don't have the driver to work ethic, I don't I don't care. You know what I'm saying? So it's like making it realistic to people to know that look, nobody owes you a thing. And it's up to you to make people believe because you believe in it first. Right. You know what I'm saying? So like the the best advice I can give to anybody is one, fight for yourself. And two, make sure that you believe to make sure that everybody else believes out. You gotta have a vision first. Like where I am right now, I saw that 10 years ago. You know what I'm saying? And I was called crazy for it before I got you know on stage with the with the capes and rapping about comic books. I just had a conversation with somebody the other day that it was a big room of people that was talking about how they thought everything that I was gonna do was gonna fail because I'm rapping about cartoons and and and comics and anime. And I mean a big when somebody says a big room is talking about you, that means I did everything right, yeah. Everything that I was supposed to. So yeah, you you gotta believe in you first and then the world to follow, just you know what I'm saying? Be great, do you, and and just watch how those seeds grow into something beautiful later.

SPEAKER_08 45:16

Awesome, awesome. Thank you, Mr. A, the crazy, the brother, uh, from one uh lyricist and uh anime influence individual to another. We must go to an urban nerd. Uh, this is an individual I've known for a very long time, and uh, I mean, I could tell your story, but I don't want to. So I'm gonna go ahead and let you tell your own story. How did it start? Who how were you influenced? What's going on, man?

SPEAKER_03 45:47

Um, yeah, yo, much respect to Crazy Eight, because my story was the opposite. I was the weakest link in the group. Uh so back when I I've always been writing, I've always loved stories since like a Nancy the Spider, since like People Could Fly. Like, I've always loved stories and telling and writing stories. So middle school, um, you know, I had a group of little nerdy friends that was always trying to draw anime, and they were like, yo, um, my boy, my my boy's pops rap, and he was a huge um, you know, Puerto Rican rapper in Hartford here in Connecticut. So we would always like play around. This was like back when we had like a little computer mic, and you would have to hold it next to the speaker, and you had to hold it close enough with Cool Cool Let It Pro, the jacked version of Cool Let It Pro. Um, and the first track we did was Bust the Rhymes, Touch It Remix. Um, yeah, bring y'all way back. Um, and I was the one that couldn't get my verse down, I couldn't remember my verse. I was like rapping too fast because I was I was also an Eminem head, um ludicrous. Uh they they inspired me to rap way too fast. But to the point where, you know, um we we we like rocked with some other kids and it was like Josh is whack, like Josh is weak. Oh no, no, no, no, it was cool, it was cool because that's what I needed. So I got my own mic, I was like, you know, fuck y'all, I'm gonna do my own thing. And then next thing you know, like a couple months, like a year later, they heard me and they was like, Oh shit, like Josh can rap now. So that's kind of Hayton has always been my anime montage, right? Come on to your time skip. It's always it's always been that joint. So, like, so from there, you know, high school we was rapping, and it was the same thing, like people trying to sleep on me. So I just I just always, you know, I'll out rap them to a point where it's like uh you don't have to fuck with me, but you gotta respect respect my opinion and respect my lyricism. So um it which is funny because going going out to to Howard was the first time I even considered doing poetry. Wow. I'm always gonna be, you know, a rap artist first. Um I like writing, yeah, but I never called myself a poet till I saw like an open mic. Um, so from there, I kind of like did a rap without music. And they were like, oh shit, like you a poet? I was like, I guess so. Um yeah, and um, you know, I've always been I've always been uh nomad, so I've been moving around, landed out in Cali, landed out in Arizona, was uh performing out there, and when I came back to Connecticut, by the time I came back, I was like, all right, you know, I can get serious in this thing, and um started slamming, doing some poetry slams. Um, I tell you that was like a next level because when you're just it's different when you rap with music, but when you're slamming and you don't have no beat and it's just your voice in the crowd, they will easily give you a five or six and tell you it wasn't there. Um, so like it will hurt your feelings in the nicest way possible. In the nicest way, yeah.

SPEAKER_05 48:48

But that's that beat can carry a whole song sometimes.

SPEAKER_03 48:53

Bro, a whole song itself. So um after slamming, I definitely it sharpened my pen to where some of my friends kind of twisted my arm and was like, yo, you know, the poet laureate position is opening up, like you should apply, you should apply. I'm all right, fuck, like okay, whatever.

SPEAKER_08 49:12

I'm not gonna get it.

SPEAKER_03 49:13

Yeah, next thing you know, it comes through, and and now I'm a whole ass, you know, poor laureate slash rap artist. So um, yeah, that's kind of more or less my story.

SPEAKER_08 49:24

This guy, the poet laureate of New England, like is it like a Duke? Like, what the fuck?

SPEAKER_03 49:33

It's like in in the city of New London, if they need someone to give like graduation speeches, if they need someone to speak for city council, I will be the person to come and you know write something for them.

SPEAKER_01 49:42

So wow. Who does that?

SPEAKER_08 49:45

Like, does anybody did anybody even know a couple seconds ago that that actual position exists?

SPEAKER_01 49:50

No, I didn't know it.

SPEAKER_08 49:51

You gotta make it.

SPEAKER_10 49:54

Oh, God knows when everything is well. So, like what that's because when I was an undergrad, like one of my majors was creative writing. So respect.

SPEAKER_08 50:06

So uh I know what you went to school for. Um, I know what your degree is in. Um for individuals, and I mean, I I kind of alluded to this uh in a question for one of the previous uh musicians, but um two two individuals who go to school for certain things. Um, I know for a fact that you know people are like, oh, you know, I'm gonna do this. When I get to school, I'm gonna get a major, I'm gonna major in this and get my degree in this. I mean, even sometimes people don't even finish college with the same degree that they started with. But you finished your degree in the one that you started with, but um that's not what you're doing right now. So where was where although you were always doing it, where was the difference? Where was the change? What made you not say, I'm gonna keep doing what I was degreed in?

SPEAKER_03 50:56

So I hated my job. That's really like what happened. Um, I'll tell you exactly the exact moment. So I went to school, um, mechanical engineering, um, you know, shout out to the engineers and Nesby and everybody. Um yeah, yeah, you already know, you already know. Um, but it I always wrapped on the side, you know, Jacob, I'll be the I'll be that that one freestyling in the kitchen. Like that was always me, but it never was something I was like, I'm gonna actually do this like full time, you know. Um, but it when I got out of school, I started teaching by just because I didn't want to move back to Connecticut, I wanted to stay in DC. So I was teaching engineering, um, landed out in Cali and Arizona. And when I did come back home, I was teaching again, but I wasn't making no money. And I was like, let me let me let me sell my soul and go back to engineering and uh make some money real quick.

SPEAKER_10 51:49

That's always what it feels like. It's always what it feels like.

SPEAKER_03 51:52

I'll tell you the day, Martin Luther King day, because there's always a big um slam for the New Haven Peabody Museum. There's a slam and there's a performance, and um, I remember I was saying, I'm very intentional. I was like, yo, I want to feature at this open mic. Like, I'm letting it be known. Like first day I meet meet people, I was out the gate. Um, and he's like, yo, come to this Peabody Slam museum, you know, um, you're gonna meet a bunch of people and they'll help put you on. I couldn't go because the job I was working, they didn't give us like certain holidays off. Wow, and I remember I had I just did my first feature and nobody knew because you know, in the office, they don't they don't hang out in the same circles. It's like I came off my first feature, nobody knew, and I couldn't make it to this next open mic, and I was like, this ain't it. Yep, like I was like, because if I was teaching, I would have the holiday off, um, or at least I would be in a space where I can be more creative. Um and that's when I knew I was like, yeah, this this shit is for the birds. So yeah, pretty much that brought me back into teaching. And um, now actually I'm about to start teaching poetry too. So um this summer I'm trying to line up and teach.

SPEAKER_10 53:01

I'd love to hear it.

SPEAKER_03 53:02

Yeah, yeah, yeah. So I'm making it happen. They're like, you want to teach um engineering? I was like, nah, but I'll teach poetry though. Okay.

SPEAKER_08 53:11

So uh a poet laureate not only is this a uh as I was saying before, a title that not everybody knows about, uh, but you also your spoken word as well as your uh lyricism has uh like Crazy Age the Great uh spilled into certain uh blurred spectrum of uh uh uh uh of areas, you know, anime and gaming, uh cartoons, things like that. So uh like uh Crazy Eight the Great, I have to ask you, what would be your top three? What are your top three uh either anime or games or cartoons that you can say, I mean, I kind of have an idea, but that you would always end up uh uh kind of spitting about.

SPEAKER_03 53:54

So I think if I had to say top three, it's always super smash bros. Yep. And then it's funny because I because I main tune link, I always bring out Zelda references. Um and probably what was it in Naruto. Those are probably the the the top three that you you thought that all right, yeah, yeah, you got it, you got it. But I I always find myself um, and that's why like I've yeah, yo, I've heard Nerdcore and that joint is just always a vibe. Like it's it's funny because I think that for me, I always try to slide it in so that when people are rapping, they're like, oh shit, I didn't even catch that you threw in, you know, a Zelda reference. And unless like I'm intentional and the whole song is dedicated to it, I'm always trying to sprinkle it in so that you don't even notice until after it bumps that you're like, oh shit, you did like a whole side piece about the Jetsons and everything else. Like, yeah, so that's that's kind of always my mission, is just to blend it in. Um, I think Carrington said something like a filter. I I always try to be like a chef. If I can like blend in all my influences, blend in all my artists, um, you know, that I that I always am influenced by, um, to where you can't like taste anything like distinct, you know.

SPEAKER_08 55:06

That was excellently said. Wow.

SPEAKER_02 55:08

Appreciate it.

SPEAKER_08 55:09

What Carrington said, and do your own spin on it. Okay, all right, artists. Okay, well, thank you. Thank you, thank you. So now we we've we've spoken to each and every one of our uh our artists, our musicians, our lyricists, uh musicians. Now the question is I think you all know that we are the blurred spectrum. We talk about you know different things that uh influence blurred. So, you know, the next question is right now in the industry, you know, when you're talking to industry and like, you know, billboard, top charts, there are several artists who, you know, some are real individual, real lyricists who throw uh representation of different blurred areas in quite eloquently, and then there's some fakers that kind of just say like the same thing in every song. So uh, and this is to everyone, not not just the guests, but also the panelists. Um who's doing it right and who's doing it wrong? Who who would you feel is best representing blurred culture in their lyrics? And who do you feel like is faking it, making it hard? Meg.

SPEAKER_09 56:12

Hot girl, Meg, hot girl Meg. Yes, I'm somewhat oh no, I'm a hottie. I'm a hottie. I love it. I love what Megan does.

SPEAKER_04 56:23

Yeah, I love Meg too.

SPEAKER_05 56:25

Meg B and you said something something about Sasuke and and Box. I forgot how to how to box it.

SPEAKER_10 56:32

She had a totoro key. Oh, totoroki Tina, yeah.

SPEAKER_05 56:36

Right, like they had her on Crunchyroll, like for wrote his son, like a t-shirt or something.

SPEAKER_10 56:41

Yeah, she has her own line on crunchy road. I mean her own line with crunchy roll. Yeah, to the bags. I mean, it could be better, so whoever did the designs might need to go to jail.

SPEAKER_06 56:49

But like, you know bags, yeah. The designs lightweight trash, right?

SPEAKER_10 56:52

Yeah, I'm glad she got there, but the she needed a new big better design.

SPEAKER_07 56:58

I'm gonna be I'm gonna be honest. I feel like May got one too many haters about that, about her entire step to that genre. Because if you think about that, you let's be honest about it. How many women you know look like her are that public doing rap on top with that type of bravado saying that they love anime and gaming just as much. Yeah, I mean, there's a lot of them. I like I like and it makes me because it makes me mad because then it's like we put this type of hold upon like who's really giving it or who's not. And I'm like, bruh, she black. Let's be clear. Motherfuckers wasn't checking for black women even to being in the anime till what 20 seconds ago, right? Like, how though? Because like I didn't even get to experience what it was to be around other people who were into being a nerd, a blurred person until I got to DC. And I came to DC when I was 22. So, like, it's just like are you that was because I remember I remember when we met. That and and that was and that by the time I met you, I was 23, 24. Legit. So it's just like, how can you like how when you're at finally in a position to to proudly and publicly state the things that you like or you're into, why does it come off gimmicky or fake when the entire genre in itself doesn't allow a space for them to even exist? Yeah, the way that these kids got it.

SPEAKER_09 58:28

I think there's a lot of gatekeeping, yeah.

SPEAKER_10 58:31

Yeah, I'm not gonna lie, I was super nervous about the question because I was like, do we really have the the authority to say we're fake and we're gonna keep feeling about that?

SPEAKER_07 58:41

Like, don't get me wrong, yeah, Megan, like it her cosplay stuff. It's so it could be definitely be done better, it's no secret, but she kept the money, damn it. But if Bobro don't know the T, it's not is it really on her? Like, I didn't know the T about a lot of shit until I met you, Gwen, and like really started to learn because I wasn't allowed to like that shit around the people I hung around, I wasn't allowed to be in it. I can only enjoy that in my own space and time in my own room, so I didn't know anything outside of what I could even find.

SPEAKER_06 59:13

Kudos to man, kudos to man, but like coming up, lupe fiasco was my guy. Yes, my god, I love lupe. Lupe was one of the first rappers that I paid attention to, openly talking about playing Street Fighter, and you know what I'm saying, the different like nerd elements that he brought that was so authentic to stuff that I was actually doing as he was rapping it, you know what I'm saying? So I always gotta give it to Lupe for being one of my influences and like to embrace rapping about what I like to do and what I'm into. He was rapping about reading manga and and all that shit, you know what I'm saying? Shit, Lou even was like Street Fighter Champion one year, yep, you know what I'm saying? So it was like I gotta give it to Lupe as being one of the people representing, you know what I'm saying, blur culture to the fullest from day one. Day one.

SPEAKER_03 59:59

So I'll tell y'all the one that popped in my head that was like real gimmicky. Do y'all remember the game of thrones mixtape?

SPEAKER_10 1:00:06

No, except there was a game of thrones mixtape. I was like Tiger, big boy, Scott. Yes, yes. I need to go listen to this.

SPEAKER_06 1:00:23

I really don't want to go listen to it right now. I'm gonna skip it.

SPEAKER_05 1:00:28

I forgot that shit happened. It was so quick. I remember that shit. One tape.

SPEAKER_03 1:00:34

Wait, y'all. When was this? When did this happen? Like peak peak Game of Thrones crazy last season.

SPEAKER_04 1:00:41

What? I can't sound strategic.

SPEAKER_03 1:00:46

It does sound tragic. It sounds terrible.

SPEAKER_06 1:00:48

It sounded like the worst idea.

SPEAKER_03 1:00:49

You know how many times you can run Lannister? Like it was bad. It was and it was like, it was like I was excited because, like, yeah, and then I was like, no, this is just a cash grab.

SPEAKER_07 1:01:01

I don't even think you'll watch the show. I found it, so it's called Catch the Thrones. It was a lot of people. Snoop Dogg common wallet and daddy yankee by dollar time.

SPEAKER_10 1:01:19

Oh my god. We would just be doing any and everything because he got the time to like that's at the time. I'm nervous about Snoop Dogg being like I'm gonna be nervous about Snoop Dogg and Daddy Yankee.

SPEAKER_08 1:01:31

I didn't see that.

SPEAKER_03 1:01:32

Daddy Yankee, everybody in the sink into this joint.

SPEAKER_04 1:01:37

Not not with the party title. What are you doing here?

SPEAKER_10 1:01:45

The porn parody, catch the throne's right.

SPEAKER_11 1:01:52

Um volume. They did it twice.

SPEAKER_07 1:01:56

Um they did it twice. Two volumes, baby.

SPEAKER_05 1:02:04

I drank back because I forgot how I even sounded.

SPEAKER_08 1:02:08

Do it once, shame on you. That means somebody bought it. That means somebody bought or downloaded the first.

SPEAKER_10 1:02:20

They okiedoked themselves because a lot of people were like, Oh shit, a game of thrones mixtape. Let's see what this shit is about, and then it was trash. But so many people like got it that they were like, Oh, let's do another one. Like, no, no.

SPEAKER_09 1:02:29

Okay, so HBO did release a an official album for the last season called For the Throne, which is what I thought we were talking about, that had not just rappers, but like Sciza, The Weekend, Travis Scott, yeah, Maren Morris, ex-ambassadors, Jacob Bank, ASAP Rocky, Joey Badass. Like, that was a good project. I enjoyed 14 songs. It's called For the Throne.

SPEAKER_08 1:02:55

It was a good somebody writing these down so we can like notate just these are this is interesting. Uh yes.

unknown 1:03:05

Wow.

SPEAKER_08 1:03:07

The things you know, the things you learn, I swear.

SPEAKER_10 1:03:09

I was gonna leave. I want to throw a Frank Ocean out there because when I listened to a channel and I heard that sound, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:03:17

I almost almost cried. It like waves is washed over you, like over you.

SPEAKER_10 1:03:23

It was like Sony turned into the Holy Spirit and touched in my childhood. Like in the bad way, in the good way.

SPEAKER_06 1:03:34

In the bad good way. Yeah, yo. His whole embodiment was, you know what I'm saying, was blurred for real. Like he took Dr. Doom's essence and made him a rap character. And he even like had Doom Boss perform for him on stage. You know what I'm saying? Like, who takes that to that exchange? Like, so shout out to rest in peace to MF Doom.

SPEAKER_10 1:04:02

We gotta throw it to like one of the OGs. We gotta throw it to the people who made the poke rap because I don't know where I was. Really? That's where you're going. That's where you wanted to go. Let's be very clear. They came through.

SPEAKER_04 1:04:16

They did.

SPEAKER_08 1:04:17

I learned that whole shit too.

SPEAKER_04 1:04:19

Yes.

SPEAKER_08 1:04:20

To be honest, I thought it was the father from Gullagullah Island when I first heard it. Wow. Like, I know because the accent, I was like, oh, this I mean, and well, this could be it. It's possible. It's could it could be him. Go back and listen to it and then go listen to Gullagullah Island.

SPEAKER_10 1:04:34

I literally am playing both tracks in my mind right now. Absolutely not.

SPEAKER_08 1:04:38

I think you're being biased. It's okay, though. It's all right. So, next question. Uh, it's actually really uh a big question for everybody once again. So, when you hear the words black music, what is the first thing, word, or person that comes to mind? Grab it, all music, hold on to it, all music.

SPEAKER_09 1:05:04

All music is black music, it comes from us, it stems from us. So uh take that how you will.

SPEAKER_02 1:05:11

I can't just do that we go.

SPEAKER_06 1:05:12

Like I think of the word soul though, definitely.

SPEAKER_05 1:05:20

So Drew, like even though we wouldn't say that it's pop, like there's pop genre, I feel like we make the most popular music, period. Like as like on the airways right now, current, like it's us, like period. So it's just like underground too. I mean, just it goes so deep for real.

SPEAKER_04 1:05:44

Um I was going to say uh magical, like emotional, like like even I mean, and I hate to bring up like slavery, but but you know, I mean, they when when we was like singing in a field.

SPEAKER_06 1:06:00

like that that that was how we connected with each other that was how we you know like move like for towards freedom and things like that like all like music it is like deeply ingrained in in who we are as as black people so yeah an urbaner yeah I was gonna say all music I feel like even if there is like a branch of like let there be some kind of music river dancing clogging whatever like you want to use we're gonna make it better and that's a lot of times why people get upset I'm just saying we're gonna make it better regardless of what it is because our originators you can throw a trap beat on a lot of stuff and just amp it up what you're saying yeah you could put anything on the trap beat low key correct I'm just saying and I'm beating your feet up and cripple I'm about to say beating your go it's what it is flat crack like I remember seeing those like old like 80s and 90s river dancing commercials at like 2 a.m or 12 o'clock and then I remember the first time I went to a go go I was like oh wait a minute okay I see what we're doing okay I've been watching this for years I got this okay like hold let me show you something real quick um let me get my clogs real quick I also think of James Brown when I think of black music like music don't get no more blacker than James Brown like it has so many you know the most infamous thing the most famous thing to come out of Augusta Georgia yeah you know what I'm saying like so much soul the attitude and everything when it comes to like when I think of black music I definitely think of James Brown.

SPEAKER_10 1:07:39

I feel like he's been sampled I think he's been sampled the most times than any other artists for the hip hop yeah yeah I wouldn't be surprised at all I know we revisit this a lot probably on this podcast but that immediately made me think of Chadwick Boseman so you know once again RIP yeah like every other episode uh yeah it's fun it's it's funny you uh uh going from the the all music route because I think uh if you if you look at like archaeological finds they'll uh I think instruments are older than vehicles so I don't so I don't think we were even even you know people was making music before we were visiting each other um but so I think I think music is more of a very intrinsic uh thing but as far but as far as uh music that that lasts and and music that has certain attributes that's that's definitely that's definitely us because I don't think we want I don't think we need to take credit for our music like that like that howling from uh from the Snyder Cut Justice League they was doing on the beach that was but um but uh the uh yeah no definitely soulful is definitely it's it's it almost it almost sounds like a cop out answer but definitely music that like kind of uh moves you without your permission just like you know you you you feel it before you hear it uh the black McCoy I feel like this is a terrible question for me because I have too many words uh which is why I always reduce you to one wow go to hell um I knew those three um but um I have a lot but the one that uh has been standing out the most to me uh in these few moments is uh conversational I feel like black music has always had something to say someone to say it to regardless of whether it was communicating how to you know achieve liberation or you know consoling one another or relaying some sort of you know ideological message like there's always something extremely powerful in the conversations that black music has on every level you know I will personally say that I I can't say that I endorse every conversation but um but I will I can definitely um get behind the idea that we have a lot to say as a community and music has always been the most um powerful one of well not the most one of the most powerful vessels that we have always had and people and it's so powerful that everyone wants to latch onto it all of the time.

SPEAKER_11 1:10:16

Yep and that goes back to call and response yeah that's very very much a communication also I need to let y'all know that I just had the like the the wildest realization.

SPEAKER_10 1:10:26

So we all said so how long has like Howard had the H H U know call and response oh it's been some time.

SPEAKER_07 1:10:34

Oh no it's just before I got that yeah before I know this panel.

SPEAKER_10 1:10:38

Yeah so I I I just realized in this moment so when I was in middle school I had this one um this one social studies teacher her name was Miss McClure and um I remembered I know it's a short but I remember she was a she's a H she's a Howard alumni and so we had this call and response when I was in middle school because like you know each grade had their like grade and letter so ours was 8 M.

SPEAKER_08 1:10:59

And so we would always be like 8 M, you know and I was like then we're like and it wasn't until y'all like had that moment I was like wait a minute she's been grilling y'all right I know where y'all call like we did it so frequently that because we were like the higher achievers we even did it in Spanish it was so much oh wow right yeah I was like Lord a little razzle dazzle in there she was great a little bit so next question now all of us on this uh episode are uh blurred in our own right and I believe each of the musicians in some way shape or form is said you know the type of music uh that they you know participate in or inspire them or they you know perform and create in so real quick this is like off the top of your head based off of the type of music that you I would say is second to none in your heart and in your mind right what you create on the regular you could easily break into what would be a polarizing either anime video game or character that you would say would fall directly into that particular type of music it's almost like the question where people say you know what movie what movie title describes your life so what character would best defined defined defined define your style of music that's a good question.

SPEAKER_05 1:12:40

I just thought of something real quick that would kind of work um so I don't know if y'all seen that new anime on Netflix um yasuke yes so you know my my main type of music is go go music so um you know that's what I grew up playing and that's what I've been producing lately that's what has got me kind of buzzing lately so I feel like yeah putting some go-go music behind that would be lit like yo if you create that like today I'll share that every day letting me know when you do it I can do it like Basque and then go go that's you can't tell me when you do it if you're gonna do it tell me I got you who's next because that was a moment right there I needed that respect I'm toward I know I could see I was like Carrington is stressed struggling and Aurora's like in her in the face of her mind.

SPEAKER_09 1:13:40

You're like okay so my gut my my gut my like when you first brought up the question the first person that came to mind for me was Tanjiro from Demon Slayer. I don't know if y'all seen the movie so I'm not gonna give spoilers we try our best not to do spoilers out here. Right right I'm just gonna say his inner world is what I really feel like my inner world looks like and so I feel that but but there is there is a hidden rage in that character and that's where I think his fire comes from that I can see in myself like I'm very conscious of this back part of my brain that holds a lot of rage and I think that comes from PDSD. I think that comes from the black experience I think that comes from the queer experience um but for the most part I am a very like peaceful like caring like just uh nice person. But Tanjiro is somebody that I really resonate with beyond the movie just the the how he treats his friends how he carries himself how he feels about family like that's that's me.

SPEAKER_07 1:14:54

See y'all got stuff to walk away with okay I'm trying to figure out the best way to answer this because I I kind of heard it in two different ways and I I first I've made the resignation the not resignation the um the connection to actually more so of a a sound of a particular anime more than the characters but then when I think of like a direct character I know exactly who I I immediately shoot to um so both yes please so I feel I'm I feel cheesy um but okay because literally nobody sees me buried out like this except like my boyfriend and like my inner circle like when and you're among family yes you are so you're in a safe space soundtrack wise honestly um the inuyasha soundtrack that we playing at the end yes baby when I say I resonate to that so heavily just played that and it's so I just my alarm clock this morning that's how I woke up be clear and like um there's something about uh I love Neo so and it was something about hearing that as a kid and it not sounding what I thought Japanese music would sound like or assumed it to sound like and it was just so and like not knowing a fucking thing they were saying but still being so touched like oh it's just a feeling I was so happy when they put all of it on streaming services I got my life but um but directly as a character honestly I is Sailor Neptune. Hayward yes girl yes ultimately hence the name of my album yeah um it's it's and the crazy thing is that it's not not like she's a prominent figure throughout the entire series she doesn't come until the third tail end of it and even then after like the main situation dealt with she her Pluto Saturn and Uranus dip out for a minute they don't come back unless shit get real real. So it's it's and I'm like that's low key my person in real life because I don't I stop being around and in in everybody's face all the time um and I just become a real recluse and I'm like I don't pop out unless I like need to pop out. But also she also is musically talented. She's a violinist um and she does it with such grace and toys and it's so I I be wishing she real in life um but it's something about the way she carries herself and the love and adoration she has for humanity but then also the love she has for her partner which is Uranus and it's it's and she's so balanced. She's so balanced I have never seen her be off her shit unless some shit was really heavy like a battle or fight scene and even then she takes a stand to like be the the scapegoat and to give up give her life oh I love her.

SPEAKER_08 1:18:09

That's why I connect to the most as a person yeah okay so we have two anime lyricists here and I feel like you've asked yours both of yourselves the this question before or you've you've had some type of like inner monologue with your inner self whether it's your karma or uh you know whoever it is I said karma that's funny um or yoko karama exactly what I meant.

SPEAKER_06 1:18:38

So uh an urban nerd crazy eight the great uh who who who is it who who is on the inside that uh best defines your lyricist you just pulled out the Southern Baptist one man I tried not to it just kind of happen and I don't think I don't think you tried very hard you know like my whole my whole life like Goku had been my my spirit animal my whole life but like coming into a lot of the like the no nonsense when it comes to like seeing people um being picked on and stuff like that um I find myself more of a use you're a meshi nowadays like like like I ain't you know what I'm saying I ain't gotta be just a goody two shoes but I definitely won't let no bad shit happen. Exactly you know what I'm saying so I'm I kind of tote that line more nowadays than anything. Yeah so you yeah use my guy like you know what I'm saying like I've been listening watching a lot of actually I think I rewatched you you like two times in the past like three months I'm watching it right now that that's actually currently what I'm watching when I go to sleep. Yeah yeah so I'm kind of I'm I'm I'm in that use case space right now.

SPEAKER_03 1:19:55

Yeah awesome oh I can't wait to hear that music that's gonna be phenomenal I I feel that because I've always wanted I've always wanted to be you know full metal alchemist like that's always been like oh like my work look look but it's like I can create using my voice and music you know what I mean but now like like me taking on this position and also like me being more in like slam and everything else I start feeling more like you know afro samurai like people trying to come from my headband. So like I get in that mindset of like I've always been slept on so like always like I'm I'm never one I'm real peaceful I'm real chill but like as soon as I'm like rapping or some performing then it's like oh shit we didn't know it's like yeah because I don't got to do this all the time. But like anytime I'm slamming people know like oh Josh is ready.

SPEAKER_10 1:20:44

So uh yeah you know I'm I'm always here ready to defend defend my title and my lyrics so uh yeah yeah definitely not for samurai I just imagine that moment in anime where you see like the sword flick out the hilt and then you see flick back and just when I'm chilling I'm smiling again you know yeah like in one piece when you never see Mehawk fight but when you when he actually shows up somewhere he like throws down and leaves and they never let you see what happens you just all you just walking away like I'm done you see the destruction like right any source slash you don't even fucking see it you just see after they put the shit back like right quick as fuck I just released the AMV with uh for uh afro samurai for a song on my album called Never Back Down y'all should check that out please send us send us links please also see now what I was about to do was tell people to drop the plug but since somebody wants to jump the gun wants to get a little bit too slow.

SPEAKER_08 1:21:42

That's all so you know I wanted to make sure you know we gave uh each of our uh musicians and uh artists and producers the ability to you know again like I said before you know put themselves on the pedestal pedestal if they have to talk about themselves in the third person you know really give them give give themselves the ability to just just showcase what they're doing next what's what's happening next what do you want to shout out so uh since crazy eight the great wanted to already start us off so I'll let him finish any other project that he has going on drop it what you got going on breath yo so my debut album animated is out on all major streaming platforms and SoundCloud.

SPEAKER_06 1:22:20

The album has samples from the from everywhere from Naruto to Dragon Ball to One Piece to uh Samurai Sample to a lot of different things my my latest single cosplay angels has been buzzing for almost a year now um and it's you know really got the uh the cosplayers you know I'm saying uh rocking with me you know what I'm saying so I'm really happy about that so you know shout out to all my cosplay angels Miss Skittles especially you know what I'm saying um she definitely been holding me down um so we got music videos coming for every song on the album we have AMV lyric videos for every song on the album dropping um behind the scenes in the booth um videos dropping um one of the the videos especially is a song called Theodore I put my mother on it so my mother was in the studio so we got that that uh footage and everything so people get to see me and my mom create a song together which is really dope um and uh the cosplay angel music video is gonna drop this summer so I'm really really really excited about that oh nice nice nice just I just want to come in and say real quick that um ultra instinct with the inspiration for cosplay angel we know it's like right we know yeah ultra instinct on on his on his album is my fucking favorite like when I'm in the gym like and that song that song is has reached over a hundred thousand streams across all platforms now so that's pretty cool too congratulations yeah congratulations thank you all right mr garrington kelso tell us about yourself what's coming up next what you got popping so I in the studio working on uh my next single and it is definitely uh different sonically for me I've been trying a lot of different sounds this year um with a bunch of singles um but this is kind of gonna be in like a rock bag a little grunge bag for me so I'm very excited about that and um at the end of last month I just released uh a song called Come Over which is available wherever you stream um Spotify App Music uh title Google Play Amazon um it is definitely uh I'm in my Janet Jackson uh bag with something a little bit sexier a little bit uh you know getting you ready for uh hot girl summer so check it out come over so we velvet rope in it or we Domina Joe in it uh yeah no no no it's it's definitely um velvet rope is definitely a little I get lonely you know I need somebody to come visit a little red light district a little you know partition uh Beyonce uh so yeah check it out check it out check it out okay okay okay uh uh true keys you dropped a little bit give us a little bit more what's going on what's going on so uh I mean pretty much just I've been going crazy with the uh with the go-go remixes lately um so just pretty much expect like a remix at least every other week um so I'll drop something just uh I dropped my site so um just check out check out the SoundCloud it'll drop on SoundCloud some stuff might drop on all platforms but sometimes there's some issues with that um so yeah just check for that every week um I don't really have anything really like anime inspired or anything coming out but when uh Jacob mentioned the um the Yasuke edit I I think I might just put that together so I'm gonna go get on my phone and you know video leave and I'm gonna edit some I'm gonna go put them together man and just stop it yeah I'm gonna throw that so that shit would be dope for real so I'm gonna start just using it more animation to just like promote stuff because you know it's easy you you know you can just take a clip of something put your music on it make an edit and that's just content right there you know it's it's easy to make content these days you just gotta kind of think about what you want to do so I'm gonna start doing more of that just to um you know see how how I can get creative with the with anime um so yeah just just tune stay tuned to the sound cloud I mean uh yeah I'll drop a I'm dropping something yeah next week it's a song that already came out actually with the artist I work with but it was like a straight RB track and I pretty much just hyped it and just put a go-go beat behind it um a bounce beat so now the song's gonna be up here on 10.

SPEAKER_05 1:27:01

So I'll drop that next week stay tuned.

SPEAKER_08 1:27:04

That I was already going to share everything but if you start dropping animations and anime off go go beats I guarantee you I will share it two times a day not because I'm trying to share it but because I need to replay it so I can see it so I can I can feed my feet to it gotta get the workout in I've been doing bro no I know you will anytime you say more than once you're gonna do something it ends up happening to the 10th degree so I'm ready I'm excited all right all right I'm sorry okay Miss Aurora give it to him because you you always got everything going on girl g get give it to me um and I feel bad i because I really don't like talking about myself that's why I be making myself short and sweet and I don't be I don't be uh giving myself my own little flowers and talking about who I done dealt shit with and all that my bad I'm gonna do better I promise I can stop you have the black McCoy talk about you for five minutes because if they are elephant I guarantee you they will throw down you want me to do that we can do that real quick

SPEAKER_07 1:28:01

I'm curious to know what they would say. Go ahead. Let's hear what the black requires would say.

SPEAKER_08 1:28:07

Give give it 30 seconds. Give it 30 seconds. Give her all of it. Give her 30 seconds.

SPEAKER_10 1:28:11

It'll be long. Give give me give me a give me a give me a narrow context of what I need to say. Let's say specifically.

SPEAKER_08 1:28:18

I'll talk about specifically to put Miss Aurora on a pedestal. She needs to know who she is, what she can do, and what she has been doing. She needs to know that not only is her art great, but that her art needs to be put out there for the masses. And you can do it in any way, shape, or form with whatever words you would like to use.

SPEAKER_10 1:28:36

So I've known Miss Aurora for a very long time. And one thing I can absolutely say about her eloquence, as well as the beauty behind the mellifluousness of her sound, is that it's one of the most authentic things I've ever heard. And if it is in some way, shape, or form inaccessible to the rest of the world, then I think that's a grave injustice on not simply herself, but the music world in general and black culture in general, because her experience, her, her, the way she communicates it, it's all far too rich and influential to not be a part of the cultural zeitgeist.

SPEAKER_08 1:29:11

Would you like would you like them to keep going? I want to hear it.

SPEAKER_07 1:29:21

Oh my god. Like the thing that everybody's missing in shop.

SPEAKER_10 1:29:27

Don't blame me. I had two cups of coffee today.

SPEAKER_07 1:29:30

Um, but yeah, so uh one of the things that I don't really jump out to disclose about or talk about is the fact that I am trans because I don't, I'm not, I'm not a community person who likes to wear my gender or sexuality on my sleeve. Like I don't, I'm very big in artistry. That's all I study, that's all I've been doing from schools and artists I've gotten to work with the whole nine, so I don't like that. Um, but I am working on an album. I've been working on it for the last like three years, and we're probably at the home stretch. So um it's literally just about finished.

SPEAKER_10 1:30:06

This album has gone through some things, child.

SPEAKER_07 1:30:08

You have don't worry. It's a frustration. It's a whole but we um because it's it's it's the part two of the trilogy. Um, and for anime nerds, uh clearly the now the album is called Neptune, so y'all have already gotten a taste of what why. Um, but um there's not just Sailor Moon references in there, there's hosting shell references that's into the matrix, um not the matrix in its entirety, um, references in there. Um and yeah, I just I I can't say too much and I want to say some more. But yeah, I I really can't wait for y'all to hear it because there's a lot coming with it. Um, but if you are a fan or if you want to be a fan, definitely check out the EP I dropped in 2019. It's called Anime, which is Greek for waiting. Um the cover art for that was also Sailor Moon inspired. Uh, that transformational moment that they have before they are Sailor Moon, but after they decide to not be Usae anymore. Um, that little pretty transformation moment I made that. Uh I had an artist, another queer artist, do a drawing and made that my cover art because I thought it was so dope. Um yeah, uh, but you know, I'm lit. I don't sound like somebody's uh like basement um mess. Um, you know, I I work with a phenomenal engineer, Dimitri Davis, out here in the DMV, um, who's also queer. And um it's for anyone who listens to this and wants to sing, it is very imperative that you find engineers who if as a singer that have a single ear. Your music does not, it's not gonna connect and feel the same if you don't know an engineer that has a singer's ear to understand what it means to mix and master a vocalist in comparison to a rapper. Yep, it's a lot more work, it's a lot more strenuous, and then it's a lot more you have to be aware of, especially if you're big on heavy vocal productions like I am. So um, but yeah, uh you know, I hope y'all like, hope y'all enjoy. My artist's name is Aurora Lloyd. I'm on the Zoom account under like my work thing. So it comes across, it comes off my first, middle, and last name for whatever reason. But my artist name is Aurora Lloyd. Link is wherever it's gonna be posted by y'all. Um, but that'll take you everywhere. And yeah, can't wait for y'all to see what we got coming.

SPEAKER_08 1:32:34

That's how you put yourself on a pedestal. Awesome sauce. Yes.

SPEAKER_07 1:32:38

So save that clip because I ain't doing it no more.

SPEAKER_08 1:32:46

We'll we'll think about it. We'll think about it now. A follower of the blurred spectrum, an urban nerd, give it to him.

SPEAKER_03 1:32:57

Um, it's I'm more performing than I am doing songs right now. I dropped an EP last year. Um, don't overthink it. Um, so feel free to check that out. I'll drop my Spotify link. Oh, that's the name of the EP.

SPEAKER_02 1:33:09

I was like the name of the EP is open quote, close quote.

SPEAKER_08 1:33:17

There you go. I'm sorry.

SPEAKER_03 1:33:20

I am I am looking into actually making music videos. So if anyone knows an animator, I've been looking for an animator. I've been looking to do like some more music videos. Um, yeah, crazy eight the great. I'm all right, say less. Um with that being said, um, I'm in a good spot where I'm performing more in person. I do have a performance coming up Sunday that's live streaming that I can drop to. Um, but I'm looking to work in tour. So I'm gonna be in DC. Um, and if there's something coming up and y'all want me to pop through, um, I'm here for it. Um, so yes, I'll be driving and hopping in my car, my little Volkswagen, then moving. Um, it may it got me out back in California. It's nothing but a word. Um, but yeah, that that's that's what I'm doing.

SPEAKER_08 1:34:02

Awesome. So uh as all of our artists and musicians have said, we will post every single one of their links, their ads, their uh uh uh places where they can be found, where their music can be found. Uh you will see the posts uh all this week where this when this episode drops. Uh so please, you know, follow them, you know, like them, subscribe to them. Uh if you're on Apple Music, you know, give them the thumbs up, give them the hearts, give them the likes, give them the everything. Um, uh make sure you, you know, download, subscribe, get everything you can from these artists because they're amazing, they're phenomenal, phenomenal. Uh and uh what we're going to do is one more time, we're gonna give you the opportunity, like we do for all of our panelists, is give you the opportunity just to say where they can find you. So just give them your ads starting with Mr. I'm gonna go through everybody, starting with Mr. Carrington Kelso, where can they find you?

SPEAKER_09 1:34:54

Uh so all of my socials are just my name at Carrington Kelso. Website is caringtonkelso.com. Wow, Aurora, where can they find you?

SPEAKER_07 1:35:02

Um, I am everywhere. So Google my name, A-U-R-O-R-A, L E. You will find everything, articles, all that other stuff. Everything you want. My bitches, Googleable. Just Google.

SPEAKER_02 1:35:16

Google me. I ain't gonna be like, I ain't trying to come off like the scene.

SPEAKER_08 1:35:22

You still have the pedestal, girl. You still have the pedestal.

SPEAKER_05 1:35:24

Uh Drew Keys. What's good? Everybody, um, follow me everywhere at Drew Keys Music, all platforms. Um, my website, Drew Keys Music.com, and you know, just search Drew Keys on any streaming app, and you'll find me.

SPEAKER_06 1:35:41

Crazy Eight the Great. Yo, I'm Crazy Eight the Great on all social media platforms. That's crazy. The number eight T-H-E, great. It's only one in me. You can't get another. So look for me across there, subscribe. I'm on every major music streaming platform, YouTube, everything under the same name, Crazy Eight the Great. An Urban Nerd.

SPEAKER_03 1:36:05

So I'm an Urban Nerd, all one word, like a tribe called Quest or a Pip name, slick back. Um, you can go to my website and urban nerd.com. It's the best way people remember it.

SPEAKER_08 1:36:17

Say it is so great to have a unique name that you don't have to put like a the or an underscore or a number at the end. You're unique in your own points, especially if it's your name or something that's like you know, unique to yourself to be able to like catch it because you know, people be like just making social media accounts all the time and taking words and names and stuff. But the fact that you can get grab your unique name or your own individual name and put that out there and it be your identifier, I think is is beyond phenomenal. This is amazing. Um, oh, sorry, I have to go through us too. Kaze Shinryu.

SPEAKER_11 1:36:53

Uh yeah, Kaze Shinryu uh on YouTube Ms.

SPEAKER_08 1:36:57

Skittles, Ms.

SPEAKER_01 1:36:59

Skittles, uh T R underscore Kazley on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok.

SPEAKER_08 1:37:06

The shampoo bracelets.

SPEAKER_00 1:37:10

You okay there, buddy? Yawning, sneezing it's at shampoo bracelets on Instagram, shammy b87 on Twitter, and I don't remember his Discord, so do you?

SPEAKER_08 1:37:26

I think it was Shammy B87.

SPEAKER_00 1:37:28

All right, there you go.

SPEAKER_08 1:37:30

Uh the Black McCoy.

SPEAKER_10 1:37:32

So you can find me at the Black McCoy on Instagram and your blue furry professor bay on only fans.

SPEAKER_08 1:37:37

You and the ZonlyFans. Um and then, of course, you can find or hit me up on uh all almost all platforms, Umbral's Arcade, that is Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, Twitch, and then I'm on Discord with Succi No Shogun. And then, of course, as a collective, the Blurred Spectrum, you can hit us up on Instagram and Facebook, uh the Blurred Spectrum, and then on Twitter Blurred Spectrum. Uh, and then if you want to hit us up or send a specific message to each of or each or any of these musicians or artists or panelists, please send us a message to our mailbag, theblurt spectrum at umbralstarcave.com. Uh, we are really excited to have all of these music musicians here. We're so grateful that you were able to show up and show out uh and put yourselves on a pedestal uh today. So we're gonna make sure all throughout the melanated solstice and you know, probably past it, we will make sure we will uh share, retweet, re uh post all of the things um to make sure that uh you are showcased anywhere we are. Um we have a couple projects coming up soon that are gonna need musicians. So, you know, pay attention to your direct messages because we will be uh sending some your way. Uh, but other than that, for our listeners, thank you for listening. Uh, don't forget to share, like, and subscribe. See you later.