I need to bring him in. Yeah, cuz he gonna ask you some quick. I got surprised. Oh, I got a surprise guest for you Okay, so so we always we we run surprises on people in here. Come on in man. Yeah I got a surprise guest there. I got a surprise co-host. He come in and ask these questions that I ain't gonna ask You know Ronnie. Yeah, he never know who he gonna interview either. He don't even know. Yeah, you don't never know He never know but he come a lot. You know what I'm saying? That's crazy Dallas man. Yeah, I show love. I just feel like my show different because I always come with a harder You know like like I gotta ask you where I ain't gonna know some questions. He gonna know. Yeah, he gonna ask some things I might not ask. What's up, baby? What's going on? How you doing, man? Bobby Sessions, you know what I'm saying? We got a double platinum record. Let's talk about it. Let's talk about it. That's what this is, man. Did you know that? No, I didn't. God didn't. So man, like, like, okay, what's the name of the song? Let's talk about that. Muaap. Okay. Muaap. How did y'all even come together to do it? I can't, I got on it with J.Y. probably the same way. Yeah, J.Y. Yeah, so. Yeah, I seen another dude named J.Y. I was upset because it was on, they was on Angela Y's show or something And it was with J.Y. I'm like, this nigga done went, what is he doing? He about, look, Ronnie Boop and I brought this nigga to me I do see it gotta bring He always looking at the stuff and always shows about I got a last minute call on on that record. So I don't know When I look then I saw Bobby name on in the back office.  So A couple months go by I get a call from J.Y.Y.  Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So that was like that was been like me getting jz on a record That's that's what that was for her And then um, I think after Gucci put his verse on it.  You got a feeling That's what we're soon for. Yeah, I mean I said I would in my head the first the Since it has to sample if it was a hit the first time.  So it's like so if he on there and jay wyden had hits I'm like, it's it's a no brain. I got to bring in what you know. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, that's two people that hadn't had Had hits already.  I'm gonna interview him too Many of them already talked about this. Yeah, because I told him you gotta I really don't do people Without doing the behind the scenes. You know how I am. I'm crazy. I'm gonna ask for what you least expect Yeah, what makes the shit? Yeah, like I want to see everything I'm trying to put a puzzle together here. I want to see everything and make the the the wheel click You know what I'm saying? So like how important was he to your career because you talk about him I said his name like a lot of times in this interview. Yeah, because I I'm big on Showing respect and showing respect like he put me on that was that's that's the That's the only person In the business other than paul rozenberg But really jada and I met paul through jadot.   You have your beliefs, but you don't necessarily know what's going on You might know how local shows work or how to sell some merch and things But you don't know how like the business work. Yeah, like record contracts and Publishing and all of this type of stuff. You don't really know how that works And you just fishing for information And you got people that cap so much that you don't know they can talk like they Like connected in a certain way or that they got a certain type of information and you find out When the rubber meet the road it ain't what they do ain't no road that they can lead you to And that's crazy and he was he was the first person I saw that He didn't sell me like a dream all the information was Was practical. Yeah, it was very practical like I told your other interview He told me the first time we spoke was like five hours over the phone And he was like there's no magic red button and I just wish that's going to get you from here to here This is going to take some of this going to be a grind especially with the type of music that you make You're ahead So it's going to take time for people to catch up to this so it's three years for I got the death jam when I got Shortly after I signed the death jam. He was like it's probably going to take you five to six years after this to pop Wow, he told me that in 2018 It's going to probably take you five to six years because you you're too ahead So it's going to take people as a whole time to catch up to where you at How important was it to hear those words as you traveled your journey? as priceless one because Even given that advice is you saying that you feel comfortable making a bet now Based on the value of what something's going to be later. Um, you know I'm saying like you So I already you're already revealing that your mindset is think is a long-term one Well, when did you first hear of bobby session? Man, I've been knowing I've been doing shows with bobby. Maybe It's been what yeah, I'm like almost a decade gotta be really we spoke at a Like cedar hill high school or something like that's hard for me 16 17 But we knew each other before that before that. Yeah, but wow, I got to watch him operate there That was the first time you got no, I got to watch him, you know Field him kids and and and just take the room. You know what I'm saying. I'm like, oh, yeah, he got it How important it was it to to to be able to go to those high schools or go to those type events I actually went to see the hill really. That's right. Yeah You went to the school I actually went to the school and the kids that they had us talking to was the kids that was troubling Yeah, you know, it was the kids that needed to be, you know, a word They needed that word So we went up there and and then they let us walk around the school after that too Like going classrooms and things of that nature. So that was cool. Just just to know I would I would have been one of them kids in their room listening to this man talk and listening to me like Cool to talk. You see what I'm saying? Yeah Now that's the first time I got to feel like his super starter Like really? Ah, bro, when they like was it like periods or whatever when they're in and they go in their next class They saw this man, bro. It was crazy They screaming Every hard way we went like man was like drawing the crowd like they knew they knew who he was already Is this still happening today? Yeah for sure I mean, do we have artists that's going to these schools that's getting that time as little Earl and people like that? I just see Earl do Lincoln yesterday. Okay, so it's still going down. What's going on? Yeah, and that's the big thing. How important is that though for for for a new artist to hit those type of, you know That's usually where your love for music start in school So to see artists that are either That are being successful in it or out grinding in it to see them And and just in they work environment and here here just little tips and tools or the trade why they there That's that type of stuff puts you especially when you're in school because in school, you know, man life ain't there yet Yeah, yeah, right. They watching this name like no, you don't know my life.   Yeah, and then when they wake up it'd be almost like At that point where they gotta wake up.  I think I'm a younger. Yeah from a younger fan that that seen you guys that They were so impressed you was impressed with something that they done or something that they said, you know I get impressed all the time. This one's crazy. Yeah. No, no, I get it. I get it. I get it Yeah, just I guess the main thing for me is Your music or your messaging making somebody feel safe enough to be vulnerable with you to tell you exactly what's going on in their life That's all right. That's all right, but I mean They telling you though like this to the when the days are dark They're telling you in crazy detail how dark it is and how your music or your messaging is helping them Get towards the light at the end of the tunnel.   You got to understand this southern soul. It's like This is wild and then you turn around and you look at it and then he come out of surgery The first thing you do is say I love you poke a bear and send him another video, bro and it's like You never see this kind of stuff, you know, I mean you I'm not thinking that when I'm thinking of something I'm thinking they dealing with the older people man. I'm not thinking about no kids, bro But music has a way of it doesn't it's not racist to any situation prejudice toward any age It can it can affect any color Yeah, it breaks down culture barriers, bro Yeah, that's why I tell people when you being an artist Try to be true to who you is because you leaving an implement of yourself out here And in a hundred years when you no longer here A lot of people gonna try to put two and two together to build the person of who they think you are based off your songs So try to have your songs as Closest to your personality if that's what you push it Yeah, if you want to be comfortable and you want to have a long jibbity in it Your music got to be closer to your personality so people can feel like It's not a character they're getting they're getting you so when they come up to you They like you said they're gonna be genuine They're gonna tell you this that another because they feel like they connect with you now It's artists out here that are really good at putting on the act and like you said talk well And sometimes they stay strength Because everybody got strengths and weaknesses in this. Yeah. Yeah, you know what I'm saying so Why do y'all think that uh Like when you look at Say Louisiana, you got bird man and masterpiece down there. You look at houston. You got j prince You look at Dallas. You hadn't seen that that person that that that that pretty much created something to where It's a label feature looking like hey, man. We got something here that was very and we know the talent is here You see what I'm saying? Why do you think that that that pinnacle or that that person or that that or that brand Have any ruptured here in Dallas um I feel compared to the two people that you just mentioned three Or the two areas you mentioned. Okay. Got it. Got it. Um I think oh you said bird man masterpiece and then uh Because that's kind of the way that I those are people who went in and got You know deals, but when they got their deals, they got a partnership and it was a different time That's that's it's gonna be the first thing I said. I think the different time. I think the time is different. I think just with uh Trying to and you seen I mean just over the past week There's different articles and information coming up coming out about how difficult it is for new artists to break through Because it's just a different time like it's a different time like Back in the day you had to have like some actual money to go record and distribute your music Now if you got a laptop some wi-fi You get tune core or something you can just put stuff out So there's just so much stuff out and people's attention Spans are so split that it's hard to just set up shopping one place and get all the people from one place when all of their styles they Somebody could be from louisiana But they influenced from atlanta music new york music la music like back in the day people from louisiana sounded like They was from louisiana people in houston sound like they was from houston so all the The demographic in that area all resonated with the sound that was being made for the people there from the people there For the people there by the people you know what i'm saying and now It's just I think it's more difficult to social media Yeah to establish that like you said social media like the distractions like i'm listening to a new artist song While i'm scrolling on twitter while i'm watching the game while i'm having a conversation wow, but Can we redevelop in this time? Is there something that hadn't been created yet? You know when I look at like I said the thing that stuck out to me and their friend They've been someone been on the show like all them follow me country Wayne them they was able to change the game Making crazy money every month off of a cell phone. Absolutely There is there something we're missing where music can become a thing to where it can be spiraled on Internet to where it can change the algorithm of the way people are dealing with the way they The way they pretty much embrace the music I definitely think so you see what i'm saying. I just I just don't feel it's just not gonna look how it looked back then correct I'm not even asking for that. Yeah, but yeah, that definitely can't happen I think in some ways it is happening like people are going to find different ways to monetize not just the music But the the personality behind the music and people I think people are doing that in certain ways like when you got rappers that They maybe had peaked out But there's still such a demand for their audience to see them in some kind of capacity Like somebody like t grizzly can go make a hundred thousand dollars a month for people to watch him play Grand Theft Auto. Yeah, but that's still the foundation of that interest was still built on him doing music Like I think it just and I think how if somebody's trying to build a conglomerate in a certain area they just have to have a of Updated and refreshed perspective on what those revenue new revenue streams are going to be at this time and where things are going I think that's most that's certainly possible When somebody just got to see themselves through the transitions of ai and the audience getting more and more distracting distracted and figuring out interesting ways to capture That audience attention attention around the music. I think that's real. What'd you think you Did I'm just saying This new thing this new way because we we can ride on the fact that time has changed But how do we do something to develop our greatness in the internet world? Like you just stated that that that was a great Explanation on it the fact that one could build gamer and do something else and still all of this combined creates something new Yeah, but they don't even just necessarily have to be that it can be something else That's how much I think the we can't get caught up in the way it was Now you can't get caught up in the way it is if things are moving so fast The music is just a vehicle to whatever else you want to do. Yeah now if all you want to do is music Be good at it. Yeah. Yeah, let it bleed and just you gotta Sweat music. Yeah other than that if you got other things going on Once you get in that position you're gonna start trying to do other things with whatever leverage you have Yeah, yeah, as in anything that like like taping is a boss talk. I see we got on the come up boss I already but you always want to keep on breaking down brackets if that's in you The studio audience is coming baby. Oh, you know what I'm saying right here. We're here at first It's coming.  Yeah, yeah transparency and and just transitioning is you got to keep transitioning. Yeah I think that's alive, bro. I think that's where it's at.  Why you got all these people coming over to your store doing this? That ain't gotta do it close. I heard that a lot But I'd have never got boss talk if I'd have listened to everybody I'd have never had this here Because they said this was not what are you doing the people who have been coming in for years You can't go by what everybody else doing you got to be able to go past what everybody thinking Because you don't want to put this here.  That's so true It's only the people that's scared to jump out there on their own. That's it. Right? They're gonna tell you everything they see wrong. Yeah, it's like what you do though That's hard. You understand, but it's the truth because that's who it was. That's it's always exactly But don't be the people that we love. We love them. They care about us too Because they they don't want to they want they try they scared for you. Yeah when you really think about it. Yeah But that's not always a good thing But you gotta it's and it's up to you to have the discernment to know like, okay You're just because your intentions are good for me that don't mean you had the correct information That's gonna serve me. That's real. That's real like and you got to be able to Separate it's like well my intentions. You don't think I'm thinking of your best interests I'm like, yes, you're thinking of what you believe my best interest is based on the information you have at your disposal That doesn't necessarily mean that that's the best information is going to get me from point A to point B So I can still love you and appreciate you but know that I'ma trust this information that I got and Live with the results from that man, you know nifty hustle I met him but I met him in vegas, but I remember seeing him On it was a show he was doing with gary v I don't know if y'all know, you know, you heard gary vana chuck. Yeah gary v is a one who basically Was talking to him about Just how fast technology and how things are moving And it was talking about somebody going to figure it out and do a song a week a song You know the more you putting yourself out there the better it was going to be because you driving this The same thing we doing now trying to figure it out how we want to romantically lay it out there So people can see it and appreciate it He was saying somebody's going to figure that out and just lay lay down lay it down every week Yeah, you know, do you think that would work? It's worked like artists like russ have done it. He dropped a song on Uh like through tunecore one a week for like two three years And then that's how he blew up he blew up because he does work singles. Yeah Wow, so and that strategy definitely can and has worked. Do you think that's uh A thing now that comes a lot of time people just put out singles They don't even put out no whole projects a lot of time. You got you see this a lot Yeah, at some time it throws me out because I'm so old school. Yeah I'm I'm used to seeing a whole project come through I see I but the mixtape era kind of I broke out of like when I started doing singles It was only because I was doing mixtapes and doing whole projects and I was like I think I'm working backwards I think I'm I think I'm putting too much on people play, you know, and I don't have nobody to eat Yeah So what I did was I started dropping singles and that brought a fan base. Then I started back dropping projects so they can hear it Yeah, like I feel like a lot of people come straight in the game with projects Trying to do like like how I do it each song to me is a campus Okay And a lot of artists we real sensitive But if you can get over somebody seeing this right here and not knowing that you got another one in another one Yeah, like they not they they gonna judge just this one, but this this might be the first time seeing this this poster You see what I'm saying? It's like no, this is just one kid. This is one painting I got another one over here that is another feeling like don't judge me off this one if you don't like this one I'm an artist. I got different different right everything you need But you got to build up that following and I tell people come with them singles first because you can build A core like they can get like a feel for you. It's like feeling it's like boxing. They gonna fill you out Right like damn. He jamming. Okay. He okay. He put something else out of that jam too Oh, he gonna put out a songs and everyone jam. I'll listen to this project Wow more so than Hey bro, check me out. This my mixtape like if I've never seen you or heard you before I don't want to hear 12 songs you I'm sorry. I don't yeah Boy you say boy You can win me over in 30 seconds I have a similar mindset. I would say like I think You got to play at your strengths like I think if you if you got like hit making ability I think the singles route is probably the best route and then you have people like um, you familiar with griselda No, okay. That's um It's like I probably heard you song. Yes. It's a collective out of buffalo, new york Okay, like west side gun benny the butcher. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, but yeah, so they probably just collect called griselda or whatever So their thing they don't they don't make songs with hooks. They don't make like Like radio leaning records or nothing like that. So they mass dropped projects kind of like mixtape style. They weren't like Conceptual projects where everything is flowing like this one theme or whatever But they would put a bunch of song the songs would be like two verses or it'd be like three three people rapping on one song They all got 16s and that's the song and they just dropped like three or four projects a year. So it's still High volume, but they're doing high volume of projects as opposed to high volume of singles But I think each each route works if that's what your strength is because you can't just put out singles if you're not Good at making singles if you but if you just got If you're treating like in your example if your canvas is I got a bunch of songs So I'm rapping over a bunch of different beats and that's the canvas and you can crank them out at a high speed Then do that if your thing is like like you said like I got this canvas and I got a strong hook and something That's going to get a certain reaction And it might be best for you to do the single and work that and then put out another single and work that and then get Another single work that where you're building up the audience that wants to hit a full Tech nine had a different way of doing it too. Yeah, he was he came in another error too Yeah, he figured it out and they came with them. They came with them. They still rock with it Oh man, I went to a I went to a tagline show. It was one of the most interesting things I've ever seen Why is it so interesting?  Like it was like I remember this was like 2016 set at a Gas monkey. I'm like, I just I need to see this.  I'm like, I met him They're like you I need his clothes. You couldn't get his stuff me. I'd go everywhere I go to Cali Vegas Atlanta, wherever looking for these clothes, but you had to go to his website So he figured it out early packed. He figured it out early. It's packed. Probably his mask. They were Because it was his stuff. Yeah, and he performed with a mask and he You know his his lousy, you know that fast rap. Yeah, yeah, yeah, four syllable rhymes and dark in there too. Oh, yeah Oh, it was dark. Yeah But he was getting busy you give me. Did you enjoy it? Yeah, I enjoyed it Yeah, it was just I just ain't seen nothing like that was just the first time I've seen that And that was the first time I seen somebody be dominant with a merch That's the part right there cleaning up, bro And you you know, that's important. You said earlier that your mom would sell your merch How important is it to you now?  I mean it's hard sometimes Especially for for artists like that's one of the main ways you're gonna make money Like your merch your merchandise and your performance fees and if somebody Somebody is more than likely gonna buy your stuff online if they saw you live and bought some first in person Yeah, yeah because they like they saw it and they felt the energy and they know the messaging and they they they really connected to it So that's a great way like so if if you go to see technon for example And he rapping and he rapping in a style or how you want to hear people rap And then he got the merch that sounds like like like the merch looks like how the music sounds Everything is like black white and red All of them like the like this little stuff like that all the teas leave the black white and red In some capacity and like people they just Manage it. Wow. That's and that's and that's a marketing strategy. That's all that's the coat up You got a coat like that's a coat Okay, I got I got a question because I always wanted to know because I got I got my own Method of way I break down The the song writing thing. Yeah, like people will hear the songs that you wrote on And it ain't even close to what they would get from bobby sessions, right? What what how do you because I I try to give this game to all the people that want to write They be like, man, I don't know how to I don't know how to dumb it down.  Yeah That's that ain't out that just reference in it on it. It ain't it ain't that bobby sessions All right. So where do you draw from when you dig digging that pot? You see what I'm saying Yeah, that's a great question. I think for me So if I know I'm going to work with someone The first thing I would do I go watch all their interviews All their interviews so I get a feel of who this person is And then from there I listen to like maybe their last two releases, whatever that is like two bodies of work So I go, okay, this is what this person generally likes to say This is what this person is generally about If and then I do like a visualization exercise where I imagine being in the car hearing them on the radio What could I hear from them that would blow my mind and then make that? so it's like That's that's like the formula like I literally imagine like what could I hear that'll be like? Oh my god, it's crazy and then think in that space like I literally will imagine being in the car I imagine being Seeing the radio.  I imagine me being like this is the craziest Shit I ever heard from her like what does that sound like? What does that feel like?  He's not saying what he can say something anything that's hard because that's just what you do But you're saying what can they say that's hard? But it's gonna be read it's gonna still be realistic right today fan base Like because when you writing, it's it's it's like it's it's a task bro. How do you go there? It's a task bro Yeah, it's hard. It's a real Rubik's cube. It's a Rubik's cube. Yeah, you're really trying to understand Where you want to take it for this cause this is a request that they've already requested Are they looking are you just trying do you even know who's gonna get it when you're doing it?  Did you know that you didn't know no no like when it was made? no Like I was I made it for someone else And they passed on it and then That's it. It's man. That's that's just man. That's god And then like I said and then you hear and again, it's like And this is what that's what it gets where with the rap shit like I said with producers It's common place to make the best beat that you get two three four the most talented people to come together to make something But with rap It gets super weird But who who's ever diminished denzel washington's great Greatness if when you see a movie he didn't write every word in the script It's like man denzel is you really that nice Who would do that because that would be dumb to do yeah because it's I mean you can write the craziest stuff in the world But if the person don't it's a skill to deliver something Like you can't take drake's lyrics and have somebody else wrap it and it sound like drake Or it sound like drake's greatness or you could take that the savage like that hook and have somebody else wrap it It's not gonna sound like how mad cut it Because she got you got to be special you got to have it or and then somebody can hear something and then decide like Okay Like some artists they use something you do and they just use it as like a muse and then they decide okay Like sometimes it's hard to just start Like if you already got a like if you think of like that first line and I'm first two lines You normally got the momentum to finish out a hook or to finish out a verse But sometimes it's you hearing a beat and you know you fit perfect on that beat But for some reason you can't think of how to start that they're perfect initiation It's perfect initiation So sometimes you just need to hear just something and then it click like you might not even use no them lyrics You might not use that pattern, but you just hear something and now you can do what you need to do and Kanye He's been great at that But that's why his catalog is so crazy because college dropout and late registration and graduation 808s and heartbreaks and to goddamn my beautiful dark twisted fantasy and to wash the throne and to yeezus and all these classic bodies of work It's a whole bunch of the you got a great mind. You got a great mind. You got a great mind You got a great mind. You got a great mind.  We're here to make greatness. We want to make something where literally your grandkids can be like this Shit still slap. This is still special. Why would who would why do you need to be a hundred percent responsible for?  This is a real That's because that was the game prior prior and people still think like if if someone finds it It's gonna be all this like backlash. It's like man.  It's like you have people that If if you go online and you put your stuff out and let's say you had a hundred comments 97 of them. This is so great.   I ain't never seen it one time in my life Other dudes don't get no credit. Oh, what? You seen some great movies over in your lifetime, right? You seen the credits at the end? Yeah, I've seen them, but I don't read them.  Nobody's looking at a movie with viola davis. Like did she write all them lines? She cried.  Yeah, because that's what mattered at the end of the day Yeah, yeah, but with rap is this thing like if you didn't write every lyric of everything All of a sudden that I got a disqualify Or artists feel like they're gonna be disqualified by the audience like they're not smarter something I think it was drake somebody who somebody said he wrote for drake or something. I remember somebody did It hit the queen Yeah, it hit the queen It came out It put like what the hell just happened and then they made it I would have been mad though The media take that I was queen, I would have been mad, I would have been like you messed my money up It did, it literally derailed this career Missed my money huh? It did, it really did You're working with the biggest artists in the world I don't need nobody to be mad I want to say it was somebody else too in the back What was the other girl named that wrote for uh carry hilsson wrote for Beyonce or something like that I'm just thinking of times where people wrote for people I said they wrote And then it became an issue like nigga, what are you doing? And maybe because they had static too, you know what I mean? But at the end of the day it's like a world like you that world where did you like that world Values things in a different way than everybody and it's tough for writers because like a producer if if you go You could have produced the song for somebody and you had three other co-producers But when the record drops you like yo, I produced On this and they and the other three like I produced on this I put and it's all cool and it's acceptable And nobody's sitting there like well what part did you do?  We just know you produced it with the So by them being able to promote the fact that they were part of that song they can get more work With the songwriters you got to be quiet Or you feel like you got to be quiet in some instances How are you supposed to get more work? Damn if people don't so that's a crazy.  I don't think it's not not today Not today not I don't even think it's ghost writing these days. I think you're just a writer I don't think like he said nobody cares, but yeah the people in the back do it The fans they don't care as much like you said they had a toxic fan base that fan base that come through and try to You know degrade the next fan, but they they had they said they write that whole single book That's what they be doing online this that nothing Yeah, so I know you don't experience that because they probably I'm through you in it and you like I didn't got tagged and all type of weird. So I know exactly what he's talking about Damn man. I don't see that like yeah like Yeah, he right because let's talk about emotions for I don't want to forget this because I've been I've been thinking about it I'm like damn we talked about everything for this last Hour and a half. Yeah, and we ain't talked about emotions yet. We got to get into that. That's his new That's your new song this time record this week this week august 18 8 18 Oh, man Yeah So what's let's talk about it like let's get into it like what I know Hey man, you pulling from somewhere deep when you started messing with h-town man h-town Salute to a motion make you cry sometime The boys were different man. It's different That's different. Like that's like a real that's a real cult classic right there like most people know knocking the boots Oh, that was the one right there. That's like the one but emotions was If you really went into it emotions like you in the h-town like I used to roll with that But maybe two two more after that. Yeah, then Lime between love and hate and but it really wasn't like It wasn't like them. It was like the bombs. That was the one. Yeah, that was the one So that's how so what made you reach there and it even decided to even you know redo that Yeah, so um, so for this new project. We was recorded most of it in uh at nashville And nashville just got a different. I can't even explain the vibe is just like music maker Man for real like it just gotta it's just a vibe in nashville. I don't even know how to explain it and um So this music like man, this just feels real powerful and we need to be super intentional about the things we sample if we're going to sample because right now This is like a uh like we're in a sample crisis right now Everybody is sampling the most popular song of his time. They not changing none of the lyrics nothing like nothing like And it's cool to do that every now and then but like every new release every friday It's just a redo Of some other song And i'm like, all right, we need to do some like real different That's more obscure But something that mean a lot and that was a record that I always thought was dope because the song kind of play out like a Like an autobiography in the original most emotion song is like at the age of 11 I learned about things like god in heaven. I cry I cry and at the age of five like he was going he going in so it's like He's detailing all of these Major moments in his life where that triggers some type of emotion. I'm like, okay, then how about I take That concept and then go with just the different things in my life right now that makes me emotional Wow, and then we and then we sampled it and chopped it up and jade.  I think you got to figure it out man to have Play defining moments in your life where you can look back at what you're doing in your artistry and be able to Depick where you was at in that time in that era We just talked about time in an era that stuff is so important Even when you're reading the book like I read, you know Genealogy and where you came from is important and the way you space it out and how you look at it and how you develop from it Yeah, it's on a whole another level another level. You see what I'm saying All that all that matters, bro And I think people don't give that enough credit for how much it matters I mean, you know, I can remember back when you brought your son and he was here and you mean you talking you You came over with my slogan, you know what I mean and different stuff All we just and as we as we develop I look back at these slots in time and I look at ways to scale and be better The same thing that you're talking about, you know, but then depicting it and writing it out It's like writing it out Yeah, the same thing like you figuring it out as you write it out and you going and you like you said You wouldn't got all those books and and you know read them all that stuff matters, bro Yeah, you know it matters in a way to where it can change your life But a lot of people so busy trying to figure it out just from here and not Not trying to figure out, you know, you got to read you got to figure out ways to You know rejuvenate your mind, bro Yeah Because most people don't understand if I want to collectively do something like I like dealing with youtube and all these different Uh tick tock all this stuff is cool. But how can I do something greater? Yeah People are stuck following right now. We really think about it. Yeah running to the next popular thing Yeah, how can I figure out how to ride the wave of change? I always say that Yeah I want to be on the peak of it. I want to be the one bringing it in, you know what I'm saying, right? Like you got people when three came out they were like like what he just said is is is you consider The crazy one. It's some people's look run.  It was like hell. No, I remember when that came out They're like, I'm not getting on there I was on that my space. He was on my space. Yeah, I got on instagram late I was sick of it because it was just something new coming out. I was like, bro. I'm not doing it It's gonna be another wave and out. Yeah, you know, it's stuck. I had to get on them Same with tick tock now and then and it's gonna be another one after that Yeah, but you didn't ever stop speaking of tick tock before we get off of your like like Do you have to have a tick tock banger in this era? No, you can do it without it. You don't have to have a tick tock banger in no era Like he said, what does tick tock do tick tock a break your record if you got the right record to serve his purpose Yeah, that's true. You got to have the right. What is this? You know what I mean? I'm just just speaking facts The the savage record that made labels pressure artists to make songs for tick tock. Really? Absolutely 1,000 1,000 tick tock thousand challenges did wick that's one of the biggest songs off the in the history of social media period and it was based on It was like sat savage from Megan the stallion say so from doja cat Kind of it really started with a renegade from k camp. That was like the first one Where people where you started seeing tick tock stars blow up tick tock stars came from them doing dances so you would see like There's a Someone named Addison ray who transitioned to an artist.  It's one that was like even bigger than her they Literally started transitioning from tick tock to getting certain brand deals based on Savage like they were they posted a dance and it got like a hundred million plays like one video And then posted another one like so labels start saying hey You need to make a song for tick tock But what happened was so many artists started trying to intentionally make songs for tick tock That in some ways in a lot of ways it killed out the power that if the song don't pop here Then it can't pop and there was a belief for like a little stretch of 18 24 months with labels that if it Wouldn't pop here. It's not gonna pop. That's just not true Did you know when you were dealing with Megan that she was like the first Texas female rap artist to blow I'm be honest. I've never thought of that I just The first one she's um, I think when it's when it's all said and done when you look at the 2020 She's gonna be viewed as the most iconic rapper of the 2020s iconic female rapper of the 2020s That's hard man. We'll end it on that. No man shout out to Megan the style you Absolutely, man. Uh, man, just uh, man. Thank you for coming on show man. How can people get a hold to y'all? I know you if they trying to reach out Yeah, so, uh, you can follow me on all social media platforms at bobby sessions b o b b y s e s s i o n s Um, and then uh, if you need to you know, conduct any business Just go to high standards and the emails will be in the bio and let's get it Let's get to it man. I just think about cocoa.  He's like, man, cocoa. I said, okay. Okay. I'm dumbing it down. Then when I hit the name I think no, no, it was my brother called me. So yeah I say he said some girl cocoa. He said, man, you know what that is.  That's damn A breath of fresh air when people When people are saying r&b is dead and it's like not at high standards It ain't dead over here. Oh, that's about to be platinum I see you selling out dates on the tour right now. Coco Jones. I see you, you know what I'm saying? It's the restorer feel a song that was dominating radio It's an example of a song that wasn't you know, it did some shit on tiktok, but You know, it was it was it resonated with people And so it's like same with tiktok radio twitter DSPs It just got to connect with people the medium might change depend on the song depend on the artist But make the song real and authentic to you man. I gotta ask you this. I just thought about I've been asking everybody So you probably heard it.  What would you want them to say one of the key things? This man is a testimony to what is possible in life if you truly believe in the vision that God gave you Wow, man, thank you for coming on the show man. Thanks for having me. I think we shut it down. Little runny Little runny man, you pulled up crazy, bro Check it man. It's going down man. Motion's friday. Hey motion friday. Let's go man Make it cross sometime baby Check it man boss talk one on one man. It's been another great segment man A boss talk one on one what a boss is told Yeah


Two hours three tools and four boards. We just made the easiest Standing planter ever and we'll show you how we did it right now What is up a welcome back deal it to do it bill to make it so do we and we have a new video each week at this week We've been missing my god Brad and pocket saw they've taken a hiatus. I mean it's it's been a minute now I don't think we've seen them since like Christmas They're they're slacking so we're pulling them out of retirement putting them back to work and put them back to work And what are we building today Kim? Well, I've been wanting to add some colors of flowers It's springtime, so I want to add some new pop to my back porch my tiny tiny back porch It's really small tiny. Yes, and this this little planter is going to be super easy It's a project that anyone can build So if you got your own pocket saw or your own little Brad nailer for Christmas This is the perfect first project if you haven't had a chance to make one yet keeping it real easy Yes, the easiest The easiest to the coolest At the same time and so this thing is perfect for a small space You can put it put it anywhere I think it'll go in a front porch back porch add some flowers You don't have to it could just go in the yard It could just go in the yard Alleyway, that's gonna say you don't have to attach it to a handrail because it's gonna be a standing planter box Stand alone so doing his own thing. Well, let's get it started Step one we're gonna gather all of our supplies. We really just needed a two one by eight At six foot two one by fours at eight foot Some nails like some bright nails some glue something to measure with we're gonna paint them using our country sheet Hey, so then we're gonna add some handles on the side of our boxes We can carry around and that's it. I told you it's gonna be super simple This is gonna be quick and easy and simple. That is it. Oh, and I guess easy and simple the same thing Step two, we're gonna make all of our cuts. We're just gonna take the one by eight and we're gonna make 336 inch pieces not a true 36 inch. We got 72 inch boards. They're not a true 72 inches We're just gonna split the difference and then four legs out of the one by fours at 40 inches And then we'll measure the pieces that go on the end here in a minute. They're about six and a half Six and a half ish. That's my plan. Yeah, you should go ahead and make all of our cuts with the pocket saw Nobody saw that coming We'll make it all the way through It's a one by eight. I don't think it has to do a flip Safety first So they get the actual measurement for the ends We're gonna kind of put it together and I'm just gonna make a mark Assemble the box. We're gonna glue it and hit it with a one and a quarter inch bread. No, not the guy Throw some glue down the side. Yep Steady hands. You know this thing together. We're gonna spend more time decorating it than we are putting it together Step up and now we're gonna paint and stain stain and then paint actually Yes, so I'm gonna stain the box first and give that a little bit to dry And then I'm gonna add a top coat and distress I'm gonna put the vanilla frosting over it and distress it just the box or the legs to it No, I think I'm gonna leave the legs just stained And then I'm gonna paint the box way Oh You with me you feel it I'm feeling it. I feel it Vanilla frosting. Oh vanilla frosting using our country chic paints. It's like a grayish white We are putting these in our store. You should see them any day now. They're in the store. They're there now They're there now. Well, you can go get yours in our store K&G make it calm just a light stroke So I can easily distress Step we're gonna add a little distressing. So our paint technique is kind of distressed if you can see that So sloppy, yep So we're just really gonna get the edges I think I want to keep the center with as much paint as possible. So the stencil will pop So I'm really just focusing on the outside edges and we're gonna use our Little battery-powered Ryobi sander here Looking. Oh, yes with that electric sander. It just needed a quick touch and went straight down to the wood little kiss Let's open a new project and we'll type in our saying I'm not gonna tell anybody what it is yet. You'll have to guess or read I guess We're gonna use apple butter font because that's like ray done. We're gonna make it 24 inches wide Four inches tall now. This won't fit on a mat. So we're gonna slice it. So let's draw a box Then we're gonna select both the type and the box and we're gonna slice it We're gonna delete the box and then delete one of the I like big buds And make sure it looks good on our mat and ago Podge down the stencil and get ready to paint. We're using some matte Mod Podge just to kind of create a little barrier So you don't get as much bleed. I'm not guaranteeing. No bleed. No bleed. I'm going. No bleed. I'm saying less bleed Just stress that's all Hey, I think it will look fine. Actually, let me do this I think that'll land underneath the It does it'll be good I don't know. It's kind of cool and no, it's good though. It'll work. It's like the other vinyl used I'll stick to that Not permanent vinyl. All right, we'll turn it around so we can see. All right. What do you guys think? Can you see it? You like that crack on this? It was intentional and by intentional.  Yeah, we're gonna do a lot. Yeah, we're gonna do a lot of toting around with it All right, you ready? Yeah, all about town. This is our all about town planter tote All right, so next Step a seven and now we're gonna attach the legs We're gonna give them a pilot hole and attach them with a one and a quarter inch screw. Yep So I'm going to put four screws I'm gonna attach these legs to the side of the planter and I'm gonna measure an inch down from the top Three-quarters of an inch in from the side Just gonna drill a little pilot hole. We're gonna do two boards at one time. I'm thinking they should come in and be about like that So what is that? Using an inch and a quarter screw. Yes. Do you think it needs a little brace? I'm thinking it's gonna get real Think it might need a brace Maybe it was two feet tall and you made it four foot tall Maybe you just saw a foot off the bottom. Yeah, it needs a foot off of it Come on in. Come on in. Okay. Let me get in here and explain what happened So I drew this up and I have some great plans, but then when When I wrote the dimensions down I added an additional eight inches So the legs are supposed to be 24 inches from the bottom of the box To the the ground 24 inches and then we were going to add an additional eight on For the box so that they could be attached on the sides like they are so that puts it at 32 But then what I did was say 32 plus eight inches when I cut them at 40 So we need to take eight inches off my legs are too long And it was to tell me really set it down and I started to realize it was totally taller than I had Drawn out. So now we're gonna fix it No, I can't lie. I like this thing Yes, it's the perfect planter for this space here exactly what I wanted and it was super easy to make Anyone can make it you can use those new Christmas tools to make this planter and the great thing about it with this liner I can swap out my flowers for herbs for later in the season and I can't wait to use it It'll be it's already adding fragrance to our porch And we want to say thank you to our top patrons. We really appreciate your support our friends on patreon I love the interaction and I just want to give each of you a nice shout out. So, thank you Megan E Antonia and Janet cat Sherry Megan P. Lois Carrie Tammy Jill and Christina. Thank you guys for joining us We really appreciate your support and if you're not gonna join us over on patreon for the after show We will see you next week, but we'll do it build it and make it again I'm gonna try one of these flowers. I can't do the whole thing I was like, can we wrap it up? Maybe they won't know


Hey everybody, how are you today? It's been a while since I brought you a kind of vlog and chat and I actually got some happy mail last night from Christy Trout and look at the envelope. I can't show all of the back, but she's just, it's one of those envelopes that you know you have to open because there's stuff inside of it, but it's so pretty. And she has this great face on here. I love that. I just love it. I don't know, I think they're kind of grimacing, but I love it anyway. You know, we all have days like that where we're just like, I know I do, I'm assuming you all do too. It's not just me, right? Let's see if I can get my letter opener without moving the camera. Yay, I did. All right, let's see if I can get this open without tearing anything. And we'll see. It is the 26th Tuesday and sometime overnight last night if you haven't seen my thank you message video sometime overnight last night, we hit 1,000 members in my Facebook group and we hit 5,000 here on YouTube. So yay. Thank you guys. I never thought ever that my art journey would take me where it has today, but I certainly enjoy it very much and I enjoy sharing with all of you. So thank you, thank you, thank you. She sent me some really great paper lace and I'm loving layering paper right now. It's really where I'm at layering paper and in some cases I'm going over it with watercolor or underneath it with watercolor. And she sent me this really pretty piece of paper lace. It's a nice big piece too. Really great piece of tissue paper. Y'all know I love tissue paper. I like napkins, but not that much. They're kind of fiddly and they're kind of a pain, but I love tissue paper. I love to collage with tissue paper. She sent me this really great cherub, angel. Love that. That'll look great on a page. Here are some fabulous stickers. Paris themed, wonderful. There we go. I realized that it was time to change my drop paper yesterday when I was trying to film and the camera wouldn't focus because the drop paper cloth was so messy and busy that it, the camera couldn't, poor camera couldn't figure out what to focus on. So anyway, that's what I was doing earlier today. Not that you need to know that and has nothing to do with Happy Mail. Look at this really great cut out. I love those roses. There is some fabulous tissue and it looks like alphabet tissue that's been sprayed with inks. Look, look, look. That's fabulous. I love it. I love it. I love it. It's tissue paper and it's colorful, but there's a nice note. I'll read in a minute. There is a kind of a layered art card. This is, she made this and she's got pouring medium on here. It says on the back, which I have not had like good luck with because like my pouring medium like never seemed to dry. I don't know. Maybe it's just me. This is fabulous, but it's layered and it's got paint and delusion sprays and it's sealed with pouring medium fabulous. And she wrote on the back what she did, which I love that so I can experiment. There are some tags and there is a quote. I love that quote. So above the crowd. Nice.  It has my name on it. And it says Happy Mail. And she, yeah, it's, so thank you Christy so much. I so appreciate the Happy Mail. I'm gonna read your note a little better in a minute when I'm off camera, but I appreciate all the bits and pieces you sent me. I'm definitely gonna be able to use those. They're wonderful. And got some other mail here. Just random mail. You know, Christmas cards that I have the wrong address for people. They're still coming back. It's like the end of January. I don't know what's taking the post office so long to return them to me. But anyway, I think that's it for right now. I've of course, as always, got a million projects going on. I'm trying to catch up and finish journaling Crazy Island Style for February. If you don't know what that is, it is an online year long journaling program of which I am one of the teachers. And if you're interested in checking it out and or signing up, you can do that over at crazyallonuniversity.com. The link should be in the description below.  The link is below. If you go to my YouTube homepage, there's a support button. Like, you know, down on the right somewhere. But you have to be in a browser if you're on your tablet or smartphone and you have to or on a PC and you can click on that button and you know, do your thing. That's it for right now, I think. I can't think of anything else. Just real quick. All right, thank you all. I can't believe that we hit 5,000 here on YouTube and 1,000 in the Facebook group. That happened really quick. Like, I blinked my eyes and we hit 1,000. Wow. All right, that's it for right now. Go out and have a great day. Do something nice for yourself. Yeah, because you deserve it. I'll see you later. Bye.


And once again, I'm here representing two non-profits, Africans United, and Project Bizia. Today we have a new face to interview. His name is Lawrence O'Cayle, and he's originally from Kenya. And why don't I start by asking Lawrence to tell us a little bit about his life growing up as a young man in Kenya? Well, and I just want to say thank you very much for inviting me to this Project Bizia presentation today. I know that this, I wouldn't take this for granted. Oh, thank you. You're welcome. So, growing up in Kenya, you know, as a boy, I grew up between my parents. I am the first born. And my father and my mother, my father's name is Sabian O'Cayle and my mom's name is Jen Arusa, Jen Akongo. We would actually come to have eight children. And being a first born became a caring job for the rest of the other kids.  My father, I could say, that is a decent farmer. And my mom simply took care of us in so many different ways. Sometimes going to the local market, buying fish from Victoria and getting them ready and taking them to another local market, pretty much walking on foot. So, I grew up seeing my parents truly work hard to be able to take care of us and the rest of other kids. Can you interrupt a second? Did you live in a village, what you would call a village, or did you live in the city? I grew up typically in a village. I typically grew up in a village, part of western Kenya, down on the shores of Lake Victoria, very close at the borders of Kenya and Tanzania. And so, you went to school there. Tell us a little bit about the educational system in Kenya, because I know Malawi has, quote, free public schools for everybody, but there are practically no materials to work with. So, a free school without books, paper, pencils, just buildings, that's something. But in Kenya, is public school, what public school is here, that everything is given to you? In Kenya, we have had a number of developments, I would say compared to many African countries. But during the time I went to school in 1980s, pretty much there was no free school. The parents had to take care of the school fees from the primary levels to high school, to a two-year college in Kenya, we call it for a diploma. And then they would continue like that. If your son or daughter were to go to university, you had to pay school fees. But later on, we have seen development and changes in Kenya system of education, where we politicians and religious leaders, they begin to demand that primary education become free. So, with the Kenya new constitution, which is now almost 12 years, so 10 or 12 years, primary education is free in Kenya. And not many countries I think around the world are blessed to have that. So, I would say that Kenya has really made a big, I would say a milestone. So, what we call secondary school, high school, there are fees. Absolutely. So, Kenya until today, when your children are going to high school, they have to put, I would say a total of 50,000 US dollar a year for an average, no, 50,000, not really US dollar, I'm sorry, but 50,000 Kenya shilling, which is like, that would be pretty much like 500, 500 to 600, 500 to 600 dollars a year. That is pretty much American dollars. And that is pretty much very expensive for a peace and farmer like my family to be able to put that every year. Especially with eight children. So, your family made enormous sacrifices every time a child came to the age of high school. It was enormous sacrifice. Just for any family in Kenya, that is an enormous sacrifice. I mean, just thinking of the monthly wages or salary where 250 dollars becomes a salary of someone like, I don't think teachers actually make more than 250 to 300 dollars a month. So you can imagine how enormous that sacrifice would be for a father who is not even a teacher, who is not, you know, on the professional jobs, accountant, who would have to stretch in order to actually take care of these fees. I like to talk about this particular issue in Africa. Because I hope every now and then that will be someone in our audience who is attending public school right now, perhaps a high school student. And if they don't know that they are one of the blessed, because you are blessed to get a free 12-year education in this country. I mean, I used to teach and I used to say to them, this is the only free education you're ever going to get unless you're really fortunate and get a massive scholarship of some kind. So you better make use of it.  They are children. So it's very hard for them to recognize what a blessing this is. And while we're on the subject, this is also why my friend Bazia, whom you've met on previous shows, and I write books which we donate to these schools, because in most countries, and I assume in Kenya, English is one of the things that is taught in public school. The materials for teaching English are... they have to come from outside of Africa. People there are not writing books for schools in English, in Africa. So you have someone who already is not a native speaker of English living in teaching in Africa, and they have no materials that are written in good English except what perhaps they bought from either the UK or the United States. And those books are about things that African children don't know anything about. I'm plugging our book, Necessary Gifts, which is about the first week of a young man named Gift at a private school. Very good. Well, I actually stole the name from our taxi driver and he was Gift. And the gift. Anyway, I want to say that this kind of book is how we get to know someone like Lawrence, because we talk to him, we say, what's going on in the country you came from? Are they writing good books for kids to use in school? So you finished, you graduated from high school and you wanted to do more. Can you give a kind of general picture of your goals at that point and what you would have had to do in Kenya to get them? A lot of changes are going on. At some point it looks like Kenya will be able to afford, will be able to mandate and declare high school free. Again, that would be such a huge political development many Kenyans are actually looking forward to. And it was a challenge for me to eventually go through the system of education and the idols of life and to be able to travel, to come to the United States and continue with education. I mean, I would say some of the things happen because of divine connection. You begin to meet people when there is a purpose in life. It looks like there is a divine connection that can easily happen, or I would say, yeah, I think it is just miraculous connections, something you did not plan. So you meet people where the teachers and the connection begins and the interest develops and people begin to recognize your possibility, your potential, and they begin to see you. Why would you consider traveling to overseas for further education? And that is exactly what happened with me. It is something that I never could actually plan and be able to see materialize. But I got to work with a youth with a mission, is a ministry, an international Christian ministry, a transmisionaries and send them around the world. So I happened to work with the national office in Nairobi and later on that office was moved to Eldoret. And mostly my work was to receive majority of young Americans and some young Europeans and some could come even as far as call China. They would come for holidays and travels to do travels in Kenya, and vacations, missions. And I was trained by the ministry to organize them and be able to travel with them more or less like a tour guide, but we were so much into ministry. So it is through that connection that I met a lady called Rebecca Nu. Rebecca Nu, and she was engaged with a man called what is, what's the husband's name? But we met during that time. I just seen their son's birthday at Doran and was just under 16 years old. I mean, it's wonderful. But they came to Kenya and they did the connection for me to come over and continue with my education in Y1 Youth with the Mission on their campus base in Tyler, Texas. So from there the interest would further depends and the desire to achieve started from there. So I went to a theological seminary in Jacksonville, Texas and did Bachelor of Religion there. During that time also did the junior college for two years at Jackson, IJBC, Jackson Baptist College. And then from there, Bachelor degree was not enough, moved on to get, to be admitted at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas main compass. And I did my master's in Divinity there, on philosophical studies and theology. I want to kind of hitch back a tiny bit because I didn't ask you this question when we met a couple days ago. So what would you say is your big goal? A Catholic minister or priest. What was the initial desire that I would say really shaped me and informed me to want to be, to become, to grow up to become a priest or a minister? And I think it is because the first people that I saw in my life are professional, people I could model after on the bushes bush bush of Kenya, the shores of Lake Victoria, were the Catholic missionaries who were coming down there, some of them from Italy, running the parishes down there. But from the parish they sent young African missionaries, seminarians. They would come down to reach their own people. And I was observing as a little kid, a little boy, and looking at the young African seminarians really had something that really enticed me and I admired, and I began to look after them. I began to want to be like them and I realized that it was all to do with God. They were your role models? They became my role model. So let's go back to you, to Tyler, Texas, and you are now a doctor of divinity. You have all the degrees you could possibly need. And so what do you want to do at this point? Well, I would like to correct you a little bit. I do have a Masters of Divinity. A Masters of Divinity. I do have a Masters of Divinity. I know a majority of people have this misunderstanding about the concentration in theological studies. But Masters of Divinity is one of the major theological concentration. But you study many things. So you study many things. You do study many things when you are doing something like Masters of Divinity. On top of Masters of Divinity is a Doctor of Ministry. So a Doctor of Ministry is just like after Masters of Divinity leaves you with something like 25 to 27 credit hours to be able to become a Doctor of Ministry. Doctor of Ministry is not academic. It's not an academic degree. It is an experiential degree. It is an experience that brings you with a number of few hours again in school. So it is pretty much, Doctor of Ministry is pretty much a Masters of Divinity. But on top of all of that there is educational degree on religious studies. We call it Doctor of Philosophy. So that is way, way another four years after you are four years of Masters of Divinity. So mostly for those who are called to go and work, be professors, be teachers in the universities, they would be required to have Doctor of Philosophy. So I did not want to go further. I wanted to be more of a community leader of which most of that training was done during my Masters of Divinity studies. So you wanted to actually get out into the world, so to speak. I believe the academic world and go into the world and help people find their spiritual depths. I think that's a simple way of putting it. I think a lot of people think of missionaries or pastors as being, I'm just going to say an American bias. A lot of us are suspicious when we meet someone like this.  That was never your purpose. Your purpose was to draw out what was already there, I think. Absolutely. So my goal, just like I told you, my initial desire was to, I look after these Catholic seminarians and of which they led me into seminary but I would never become a Catholic priest as you know that I am married with four kids. My wife is Lillian. Don't stop that. So Lillian and my eldest daughter of whom I adopted by virtue of marriage is Lisa. And Deborah is my own biological kid. Deborah and Uriel is the last one but we are also expecting one on the way who will be a boy, Afghans. So I just wanted to say that I never had to become a Catholic priest. They don't have kids. That's true. But so the desire was to become a community leader. So it is, you know, ministry is intertwined with working, serving in the community. So while you are thinking of becoming a priest, it may come in a different way. You still go on to get the same kind of trainings but the work actually is done in the community. So I think the greatest call that I had in my life was to serve in the community, both political and religious. So religious and political kind of, you know, join together serving the people on the ground here.  Yes, so most of my adult education were done in the United States. So majority of people, especially my present client, they do not understand my background. I came here a little bit earlier than most of the new arrivals. I came here, I would say, in 2004. That is my first time in the United States. And mostly my time was spent in educational institutions.  And then after that, you know, so about the goal, since most of those theological, I mean, religious studies were done here and experience and practice, my goal therefore would be automatic, would be to pursue ordination. So I began the idea of wanting to pursue ordination to become a minister here in the United States with the United Methodist Church in Texas. Oh, God. But you were not able to do that. Yes, so I like the way you put it. But I couldn't be able to do it. So when you are preparing for, when you become a candidate, so we use the word candidate, when you become a candidate for ordination in the United Methodist Church, let me just talk particularly about that, the polity in the United Methodist Church, you go through candidacy, which may last begin from one year to three years. During that time, you are expected to write a lot of doctrinal statements and to be able to articulate your call and why you believe that you got the grace and the gift to serve particularly in the United Methodist Church. Now, it is a rigor of preparation after your theological studies. It is like the doctrinal studies you did in your school in the theology. You have to come and write them for the United Methodist Church elders and from there they will decide if they will move you forward. So there is candidacy in the first year, second year, third year, you are supposed to do a presentation before the Board of Odin Ministries of the district panel, the DS, the district superintendent is the cabinet, is the bishop's eye there, is the one who make it in the bishop's cabinet. So from there they will decide to take you further for ordination so you become a member of annual conference. If they don't move you, you don't become. I attempted, I was told to prepare in my third year I did the first one, I went, I wasn't, they wouldn't let me continue to the candidacy, to become a member of annual conference. I did again for the second time and it also, it was of the same objection and the objection was simply the DS told me and the panel told me what the DS said, the district superintendent and the conference there, I think they were mostly inspired by the district superintendent, they thought that Texas and particularly some areas of Texas were not ready to have an African minister and they therefore gave me an option that I would be ordained, I would be moved forward to be ordained under condition that immediately after the nation I would go back to Kenya. That was such a challenge and eventually, just to summarize the idea, eventually I couldn't actually become a member of annual conference in Texas. Wow, how disturbing. I don't want to dwell on this because the reason I'm very excited to have you here today is how you handled what must have been an incredible disappointment. It is, I mean you deal with things the way they come and while I did not make it to become ordained minister in Texas annual conference it did not stop my spiritual growth and it did not stop me seeing myself as a minister. I continue to minister to people even now I'm doing accounting services and doing taxes and things that I've told you bookkeeping, writing financial statements. Stop a minute because I think I want our audience to catch what happened. I mean you had planned to go the route that one would expect someone to follow given these goals and you followed it for how many years after high school? After high school, candidacy went for like almost six years. Okay so for six years and that doesn't include your college and all the other things you did building up to that, right? It doesn't include, it may go alongside when you are going through your... So for at least let's say ten years after high school you were determined you were working towards it and then you found the door was closed for reasons that I'm not even going to go into discussing because it will make my blood pressure go up. Now it infuriates me but then I come from a different denomination that I don't think would have said the same thing. I don't know though. And you saw something. This is what excited me so much about our meeting. You saw that you could do what you wanted to do no matter what you were doing to support your family. Absolutely. So now you have an accounting business, right? Yes, a small accounting firm. Okay, why don't you quickly tell our audience a little bit about that because we're almost out of time. Absolutely. So I just want to summarize, I know we are out of time but it did not change. Just to finish what I started it did not change. It was just a different platform. Instead of ministering and reaching out the people through the pulpit, now I'm meeting them in a plainclothes in my office as they come to minister. As they come to do their taxes, as they come with the different financial needs depending on their businesses, and I see myself as ministering, helping mostly immigrant communities that are here in Maine. Since 2018 when we moved with my family from Texas to Maine. And I see this as something that almost makes me weep because it is a fulfillment of the way our spiritual life should be. Absolutely. I mean so many times you think of people who go into the church and I mean go into the church Sunday morning, they drink the sacred wine, they eat the bread. I mean and I've done this myself over the years.   So you got around that. You got around that by saying, what the heck? I'm going to go ahead and do what I want to do anyway.


Welcome everyone! Today, we wanted to kick off the beginning of Black History Month by honoring a unique and notable martial artist. Typically, February is dedicated to honoring the achievements of African Americans and their struggles throughout US history. Today, we wanted to roll the clock back a little bit. More than 500 years back, and tell the story of a man who found himself in a foreign land, facing war, victory, and ultimately betrayal. Today, we're going to tell you the story of Jasky, the world's first black samurai and why he's still talked about today. If you like martial arts history, then we invite you to check out our most recent look at the origin of Goju Ryu Karate and also to grab your own commemorative Goju Ryu shirt in our store or in the merch bar below this video. So, Jasky was not only the first black samurai, but also the first non-Japanese samurai in recorded history. We're going to look at who he was, his experiences in just the three short years that he's on record, and ultimately what happened to him, and why we still talk about him today. The historical record of him prior to his arrival in Japan in 1579 is hazy, and there is much debate on his name and origin. He arrived in Japan along with Italian Jesuit Alessandro Valiano on a mission to spread Christianity in Japan. Jasky is often referred to as a slave or servant of Valiano, but this is heavily questioned. Historian Thomas Locke argues that, while it is extremely likely that he was abducted as a child and trafficked by Arab or Indian slave traders, he believes that Jasky was not a slave when he arrived in Japan with Valiano, but rather in his employee as a valet or bodyguard. Locke is the author of the book, African Samurai, the true story of Jasky, a legendary black warrior in feudal Japan. We have included a link to it below in the description. There is also debate on the country of his origin. Many historians believe that he was from Mozambique of East Africa. Others claim that it was more likely he was from Sudan or even Ethiopia. Without having concrete record of his birth and early life, it's a game of trying to track Portuguese trading and missionary routes that could possibly have helped Valiano and Jasky cross paths. Standing at an impressive six foot two, Jasky was known for his strength and fighting skills. Now, missionary priests were not permitted to have the protection of soldiers or guards at the time, so it wasn't uncommon to hire valets who were also well versed in this combat skills. It was when they arrived at what was then the capital city of Kyoto, Japan, where Jasky first met Lord Oda Nobunaga and everything changed. The relationship between Jasky and Lord Nobunaga transcended the history books and Jasky is actually fairly saturated in the modern media. At the end of this video, I'll show you where you can find even more information about the samurai, both historical and fiction. Also, please like and smash that subscribe button. That's how we know you guys want to see more videos like this. Now, Japan was in a very different state in the 1500s and during this time, there in what was known as the Sengoku period, translated simply to period of war in states. The feudal system had collapsed and Japan was fractured into many smaller individual states, all competing for power of the country in a power vacuum. Lord Oda Nobunaga was one of the most notable lords of this time, initiating the movement to unify the country of Japan back together by force. He was one of three lords pursuing this cause and they were known together as the three great unifiers. The moment of Aliano and Jasky arriving in Kyoto, Lord Nobunaga was immediately fascinated with the latter. Jasky absolutely towered over the average Japanese man and his dark complexion baffled the Lord. It is said that this may have been the first dark-skinned man Nobunaga had ever seen before. Jasky was instructed to scrub his skin, believing to have been inked black. Now when it was apparent that this was not artificial coloring and indeed his natural skin, Nobunaga looked at this man before him, unique, tall, well-versed in combat and took an immediate liking to him, putting him under his own employ. Jasky apparently also had a command of the Japanese language because he and Nobunaga were known to have engaged often in conversation. In his book, Lockely noted that, Jasky was initially viewed as a source of entertainment as he was a novelty, but within the month he'd become a valued samurai and member of Oda's entourage. In 1581, Jasky formally joined Nobunaga's forces as the campaign for unification continued. Now the fact that Jasky was designated samurai also serves as an additional argument as to why he was not a slave while traveling the Valiano. Slaves were not typically taught combat skills and it is highly unlikely that Jasky would have been able to learn combat in that short of time enough to earn the title of samurai. Samurai were very often warriors of noble classes who were raised young in the combat arts. And the fact that Jasky already possessed his skills as well as being described as having the strength of 10 men leads researchers to believe that he was under employment and not servitude by the time he shows up on history records. In what was probably his first military campaign, Jasky served by Nobunaga's side during the successful invasion of the mountain ringed Ega province. Their friendship grew closer and it was said that Nobunaga was a great fan of the martial arts, particularly Sumo and the two men would often attend competitions. A painting from 1605 depicts a Sumo match with a dark-skinned man in combat with another Sumo wrestler as a notable samurai stands by watching. It is believed that this man may have been an artistic depiction of Jasky and the samurai being Nobunaga. Now this is just one of possible historical depictions of him. However, some artifacts are debated as to whether or not it is Jasky as the warrior featured. Unfortunately, their run together was short-lived. In 1582, Lord Oda Nobunaga was ambushed by his own general in an act of mutiny. General Mitsuhide Akechi, in an effort to claim power for himself, attacked Nobunaga in his own residence in Kyoto in what is known as the Battle of the Honouji Temple. Akechi had tens of thousands of men while Nobunaga merely had dozens and the scales tipped pretty quickly.  In this ceremonial act of suicide, a person retains their honor by literally taking in terms of their own death into their own hands, stabbing a short sword into their abdomen and slicing horizontally. As gruesome as that is, there's also the follow-up that a sign of victory over an enemy was to take their head and display it in triumph. As an occasional secondary part of seppuku, sometimes the individual will designate a second partner, typically someone close to them, to behead them afterwards. Some accounts say that Yasuke was Nobunaga's chosen second, but it is more likely a man by the name of Mori Ranmaru, a close friend, and by some accounts a possible lover, who was the chosen second. However, it is widely believed that in an attempt to prevent Akechi from claiming his trophy, Yasuke was either instructed or instinctively took Nobunaga's head and sword, fleeing and preserving his lord's honor. Lockely addresses this by saying, there's no record, but tradition holds that Yasuke was the one who took Nobunaga's head to save it from the enemy. If Akechi, the enemy, had gotten the head and he'd been able to hold up the head, he would have had a powerful symbol of legitimacy. Yasuke, therefore, by escaping with the head, could have been seen and has been seen as changing Japanese history. Is that the case? Perhaps. Shortly after the Honogi incident, Akechi was not able to hold on to his power. In 1603, the country of Japan is unified and by 1615, this Ngoku period officially ends. So what happened to Yasuke after this? At this point, he would have become a Ronin or a samurai without a master. No one really knows for sure, but it is possible that he may have joined up with Oda Nobunaga's son, Nobotara, in an effort to rally forces and continue to fight until finally being captured. The last known record of Yasuke in history are mentions of him last being seen being sent back to a Jesuit mission house. Did Yasuke continue to serve other missionaries or was his fate met on the battlefield? We may never know the answer as there have been no more historical accounts of him after 1582. What we do know, however, is the oppression he left on not only the Lord he served, but the legacy of the samurai in the history of Japan. History is important because he was not only the first Black Samurai in recorded history, but also the first non-Japanese. And as I mentioned earlier, he is the subject and or inspiration for a lot of media and there's a chance you may have already encountered some of the reach of his influence. He is the subject of several manga comic series, novels, and in 1968, a children's book written by Yoshio Kurusu. This book won an award for the Japanese Association of Writers. He appears in video games such as Samurai Warriors 5 as himself and he's believed to also be the inspiration of characters in the games of Nio and Guilty Gear Strive. There are two motion pictures that have been announced in recent years to be in production on Yasuke's life, one by Lionsgate and the other by MGM. The former was in talks with late actor Chadwick Boseman to play the legendary samurai before his unfortunate passing in 2020. Most notably, however, was the Netflix series simply entitled Yasuke that premiered last year in 2021. Now, even though this is inspired by historical events, as we've discussed in this episode, the show takes extreme creative liberty and attempts to craft a fantastical story that takes place after 1582 and involves magic, robots, and supernatural enemies. But then again, since we don't know anything about them after 1582, who am I to say it didn't happen? But why is this story worth telling? Why should we remember Yasuke? The unfortunate reality is we do live in polarizing times and the subject of multiculturalism is a hot one, race, culture, discrimination, and even just pure survival saturates the news these days. In any case, Yasuke serves as an example of someone who came from rough beginnings and worked hard, served honorably, earned himself respect, and a prestigious title, and deserves to be remembered for his place in history. He transcended his circumstances and became an important historical figure, one that we are still talking about 500 years later. Now, if that isn't worth something, then let me ask you this. How many of us feel like we're doing something that will still be remembered five centuries from now? I'm curious to know what you guys think about him. Did you already know the story of Yasuke or encountered him in previous media? And what do you think of the Netflix show? Maybe we'll do a Sindojo episode on it at some point. Now, if you guys like this video and you enjoy martial arts history, then please be sure to check out our History of Goju Ryu Documentary. Like, subscribe, grab your Goju Ryu to remember to share it down below, and we will see you next week.


A woman whose daughter was demon possessed came to Jesus in desperation, wanting her daughter to be freed. How did Jesus respond? He said it is not good to take the children's bread and throw it to the little dogs. There, Jesus was using a figure of speech to explain the order of his ministry, first Jew, then Gentile. Though salvation is for all who believe, Jesus first began his ministry by coming for the lost sheep of Israel. Now, this powerful story reveals God's prophetic plan for it. By faith, the Gentile woman did receive her miracle. This bread is for both Jew and Gentile, for any unredeemed who might place their faith in Christ to become the redeemed. What was this bread to which Jesus was referring? Jesus said, I am the bread of life. Jesus himself is the bread, and he's more than healing, deliverance, blessing, favor, miracles, or breakthrough. When you get Jesus, you get all you need. Jesus is the children's bread.


Before we get started, is everyone present for the Frightfully Forgotten Season 6 Production Meeting? It's just me. You're supposed to answer present. Present. Everyone present. And we have someone taking meeting minutes. I can take them. Justin taking minutes. You know, do we have to do this now? It's three o'clock in the morning. I gotta go to work in a few hours. Yes, yes. We're supposed to choose an underrated Part 6 horror movie to kick off Season 6. How about Freddy's Dead? That movie should be Forgotten. Halloween 6? Let's save that for October. Well, I don't know. How about Leprechaun Back to the Hood? Oh God, no. Well, Children of the Corn, 666. The Return of Isaac? I can't think of any good Part 6 horror movies. Maybe we're going about this all wrong. It's Dead of Winter, it's January, it's Winnipeg. How about an underrated Snowbound horror movie? Hmm, alright. Well, how about the Shining Mini-Series? People have been asking us to do it. Shining Mini-Series. Perfect. Man, I can't believe that we're on Season 6 already. Yeah. And I think, at one point we're estranged for 15 years. The best friend of Justin Bush walks out of the past. He teaches his friend how to brew in the basement. But I want you to drink. Yes. So did I when I was your age. And I am your age. A boil over destroy that basement. Best friends, each believed the other had perished. 15 years later they were reunited. Adam was drunk, and Justin got sober. I'm not like Adam, Kay. I'm not a drunk. I review movies on YouTube. That's who I am. That's what I do. Welcome to our Season 6 premiere. That's right. Back from the dead. Pretty much. That's what I feel like after taking a couple of months off and drinking myself to death. You gotta wake the old liver up. So today we have decided to kick off Season 6 with the Shining Mini-Series. There's been some rumblings about on the channel recently. You guys should cover it. So yeah, we should cover it. It's kind of forgotten. A lot of people don't even know this exists. That's right. They only know the Kubrick version. Well here is Stephen King's vision of the movie. This is what he thought the Kubrick version should have been. But before we get started, what are we drinking? Hogarth Castle Bohemian Pilsner. So the Shining Mini-Series was directed by Mick Garris and he did the Stand Mini-Series.   And I found part one on VHS last week, too. Just part one? I know. Like why? Like where's part two? Or three and four for Christ's sake.  He also did Psycho 4, which we had done the Psycho Sequels. Click the link above for that. He wrote The Fly 2. Which we covered. Which we covered as well. Which is a great sequel, another underrated sequel. That's right. The play for this was done by Stephen King, the master himself. This movie stars Stephen Weber as Jack Torrance and I think all of us 90s kids remember him from Wings. That's right. I loved Wings. Elliot Gould is in this. Cortland Mead is in this. Who plays Danny.   Rebecca DeMornay is also in this. What else is she in? Uh... Seinfeld. And the hand that rocks the cradle is in. The movie starts out with Jack actually getting shown around by the sort of summer caretaker of the Overlook Hotel, right? Commissioner Gordon from the Batman movies. Yeah. He gave us a signal. And he's in the gauntlet too. He gets all shot up. By this point Jack has the job. He's getting shown around. Be weary of this finicky boiler that's in the basement, right? You have to release the steam every night. Yeah. A little bit of the history of the Overlook, right? Jack asks him too, is like, are there any ghosts around here? Is this place haunted? No, no, no, no, no. Right away. He's like, no, no, no. There's nothing. He also bumps into Ullman too who's the manager of the hotel. He doesn't approve of Jack firmly against it, but there's a board of directors and they kind of outvoted him, right? So he's got to be stuck with it. He thinks Jack is lazy and he's just not meant for the job. Well, he's an alcoholic. And he's an alcoholic. Yeah. He's troubled. Jack has a little bit of a problem with drink, right?  So Jack ends up bringing Wendy and Danny up to the hotel. Dick Halloran runs into Danny. Dick Halloran realizes right away that Danny has this power, because he kind of has it too, but he's got like a lesser form of it.  Y'all explodes like lights on his Cadillac. On his nice, beautiful car. He's like, oh, that's all right, that's all right.    Look at my car. Nice, Jack.  He's like, well, there's things in the Overlook Hotel, but they can't hurt you. Close your eyes, count to ten, and they'll go away. Danny right away kind of just gets it from his mind, I guess. He's like, what? Like things in Room 217? He's like, well, don't you go in there. So one night while Danny goes into the bathroom to brush his teeth and get ready for bed, Wendy and Jack, they're like knocking on the door. All right, Doc, come on, come on out.  It was a good shot. Jack the Yaks. There's something influencing Danny's shine. Jack gets to work reshingling the entire Overlook Hotel.  No equipment? Just a hammer? Yeah. That would take a lot of shingles to reshingle that whole... Where are they coming from? I don't see no pallet of shingles. No. I don't know. Give me hammer nails. Hammer nails. So at this point, Jack has gotten really obsessed with the hotel, and not only does he get really obsessed with the condition of the hotel, that it must be perfect, he also gets obsessed with the history of the hotel. Down in the boiler room, there's all these records and newspaper clippings. Newspaper clippings. He starts going through these books. He'd originally come in there to kind of write a play. Yeah. But now he's decided he's not going to write a play anymore, he's going to write a history about the overlook.  Yeah. She wants some attention. She lays that on thick, too. Yeah. Oh, it's like... Been a while. That's where the tension between Wendy and Jack starts to form, is that scene where it's like he doesn't even want to be with his wife anymore, he just wants to be with the overlook. Yeah. Danny, he's always kind of playing. He's restricted to certain areas, not supposed to go in any rooms, but he keeps being drawn to room 217. Stupidly, he decides to get the master key, and he gets in, this woman is in the bathtub. That's right. All decrepit and rotten and everything. She takes him to town, you know, you shouldn't be in here. And Danny comes down, he's all beat up and bruised up, and there's no one else in the hotel. Jack has a history of abusing Danny, so of course Wendy accuses Jack of all this. In the meantime, Jack has been going crazy and doesn't want his family to leave the overlook and smashes not only the CB radio, but also all the guts of the... That snowmobile. The snowmobile, and blames it on Danny. Yeah. Must have been Danny. Must have been... Who else would do it? I wouldn't do it. Why would I? Oh, I'm the caretaker here. At this point, Jack is spiraling deeper into obsession with the overlook, and Wendy is the opposite. She wants nothing to do with the overlook. She wants to get the family out of there as soon as possible. Really wants a drink, really bad. All you can think about is drinking at this point. Why wouldn't you? Your family's turning on you, or so you think. I don't blame them. Goes to the bar, and suddenly it's loaded. Not only is it loaded, there's a bartender there waiting to pour you drinks. And there's a party going on too, right? That masquerade party. The bartender convinces him, while you can't let your family leave, you have to take care of them. He grabs a croquet mallet, and goes to take care of his family. In the meantime, Danny's used the shining to kind of try to call Dick Halloran back for help. He is struggling to somehow get on a plane and get through this snowstorm to get to the overlook. That's where we're going to end the plot. I'm sure if you've seen the Kubrick's version, you might know how it ends, but actually, it is a different ending. So if you haven't seen the miniseries, and you only see the Kubrick version while finish watching the miniseries, because it is quite different, and it's the real story that Stephen King intended to tell. At the time when this movie was done in 1997, the movie was pretty well received, right? People seemed to really like it and accept it. But as time went on, people started to dislike it, right? I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that, well, it was made for TV, so their pigeon hold a lot of times with what they can show. Yeah, the language, the violence, it all has to be toned down. The casting on top of it. You can't get better than the Kubrick cast. It doesn't matter who you cast. You are going to be a lesser version, so it is hurt from the get-go. You're always in the shadow of the Kubrick version. But why should you watch the miniseries? And this is the big thing. And I think everyone who loves the Kubrick version should watch this version, because it does explain way much more. Everybody, the backstory of every character, of the hotel, of what the shining is, of who Tony is, you really understand Jack a bit more as like a struggling alcoholic. Like you're a bit more sympathetic with him. You don't really sympathize with Jack Nicholson's Jack Torrance.  Right. In this one, you kind of like understand his struggle. Like he seems like he's at heart a good man who's got these demons backstory with like a lot of the ghosts of the hotel. You understand why the woman is in the tub in room 217. The movie is more relatable when it comes to the characters, right? You can feel, you can sympathize with them because it's like, you know, a lot of people have been in the exact same situation, right? Not looking after a hotel, but you have a job to do. Yeah, exactly. And you have to do it and you can't be thrown off track by it, right? And it's important. The dynamic between the family, you get that a bit more with the whole flashbacks. The cinematography for this movie is amazing, actually, because it's actually done up in the mountains. They actually used the hotel that was the inspiration for the shining, the book. You get a lot of panoramic views for a made for TV movie. It's pretty cinematic. The effects in the makeup, like the lady in the bathroom. She looks really good. Yeah. It looks pretty scary. The hedges. The hedges. Hedges. The topiary. Oh, man. Like that is bad 90s CGI, which I could really they just could have like cut that whole thing out. It would have been fine. Jack looks good and he's all possessed with that mallet. The showdown between Jack and Wendy is actually really good. Wendy actually takes a huge beating in this. You feel it hits her in the gut with that mallet.  Like it's a fight for life and death. He has to kill his son to appease the ghost in the hotel, but he can't quite do it. What the whole movie is about. And they do a great job of it, right? Yeah. You feel what he's feeling.   It's pretty a gut wrenching scene. That's where the movie really does a lot more justice to the character of Jack Torrance is that whole struggle. Stephen King's major dislike about the Kubrick version is like, no, like, that's not the character I wrote. That's not the point of the point of the movie is you do overcome the addiction and your demons torment and your demons. Yeah. So that's why you should watch this miniseries. If you've never seen it, is it does really tell Stephen King's story right better than Kubrick's version? But what's a better horror movie? The Kubrick version is the most one of the most iconic horror movies ever. Right. So how can you ever beat that? You can't. It blows its load far too early. They lay everything out right away. And you know how the movie is going to come full circle.  I know how it's going to end in the first five minutes. Stephen Weber is OK as Jack Torrance. Like he does the job OK. But you you cannot watch it and not think of Jack Nicholson. Yeah, they offered this role to many, many other people who all turned it down for that reason. We don't have film actors in this movie. We have TV actors for the most part. Right. So that that hurts it. The kid is the worst, I think, of the whole movie. How does this kid get cast? Like I have no idea who was the who was what casting director was?   Come on out. It's good packing snow.  I sympathize with Stephen King because he hated Kubrick's version because it didn't match the book and it didn't match his vision. His books are great as books, but they don't translate that well into film, yeah, which is why directors need to change certain things. If you haven't seen the shiny miniseries and you haven't read the book and you want to know exactly what really happens in Stephen King's story. There it is. This is the best way to do it. Instead of reading the whole book. And until next time, keep drinking. This is my kind of haunted hotel. Like you just want to bottle a Jack to appear.  It's for free.  Small price to pay.