S1: Before we start , I want to say hello to my Uncle Homer and dedicate this episode to the memory of Jessica Layne Medlin. Krick 25 years ago you told me the future was going to be boombastic and you were right about it. We still miss you down here. Keep shining.
S2: That's why I'm not going to run away. You were here cause I don't know about you.
S1: I don't know if you do what I do. Oh , well , look , the tape is rolling right now. Get back and get back. I get that camera.
S3: All right.
S1: Since I'm on it , it's a message by the album. You're listening to The Parker. The project is the project project. Good morning and welcome to the season finale for season two of the Parker Edison Project. Throughout the season , we've been subtly showing you how the tenets of black culture play out in real life. Episode one was Art two with symbols. Three was Geography. Four Economy. Five Community. Six Education. Seven Relationships. Eight was laws. Nine was about stories. Four Episode ten is Health. Mental health , to be specific. I've been in therapy since 2019. It's been incredibly helpful. Therapy should be mandatory , especially for men from an early age. We're pushed to be strong leaders. Showing vulnerability disarms that image. Because of this , there are very few spaces in the adult world where it's safe for acceptable for men to show anger or unhappiness. This is especially true for black and brown men. We're really taught or given room to process our feelings. As a result , later in life , we're unable to metabolize traumas that we experience , so they stay inside , too. They manifest as an outburst or an ache for pain or stress related condition , like insomnia or even worse , some odd addiction. I'm not alone in this epiphany. Art often documents the times. When I was growing up , rappers like Red Band Spice One or Dr. Dre promoted the use of drugs as a coping mechanism. This evolved and exists in current times , with new rappers mentioning pills leaving promethazine. But there are signs of the tides changing. My Jay-Z discussed the merits of marital therapy in his four for four album , and even more recently , Kendrick Lamar's Mr. Moral The Big Steppers , which speaks on the merits of therapy in the black community , a subject that inspires me so much. I hopped on phones to get more insight about it. Good afternoon , sir. What city are you in ? I'm in Culver City , California. What's your name and job title ? My name is Jared Morgan , and I'm a licensed clinical social worker. I'm doing this whole episode on good mental health. And I know you work with a special demographic. Who are they ? At my clinic , which is West Side Family Health Center. I mostly work with Caucasians in L.A. Next people , some monolingual. I happen to be bilingual , speak Spanish fluently as well. In my private practice , I work with African Americans or black people , particularly adult males. I found you because I'm in therapy now. Let me ask you this. What drew you to work in this field ? Short version , the pandemic , long version. I actually will be 35 next week. And I have been in therapy since I was 12 years old with the actual same therapist. My mother is a social worker as well , and because of her divorce with my father always believed in mental health. And so at the age of two , I went into sessions with her , even though I don't remember any of that. But she always told me that I would probably want to go back. I felt the need for that. So I identified that around the time that I was 12 and told her she looked for a black male. Given that , that was an absence in my life. So yeah , I've been with that same therapist and so always been open to mental health therapy and I was getting frustrated in 2020 because despite a pandemic happening , people of color and low income folks were not prioritized even in a pandemic. And they kept saying the black communities can hit hardest by COVID. And I was like , my mental health was suffering during the pandemic. I can only imagine. And the clinic that I was doing my hours at part time asked me if I wanted to come back full time , and I took it as a sign that it was time to go into therapy full time. Okay. It's meant to be. Yeah. What percent , if any , of our mental health is genetic and what percentage is a direct result of what we experience ? I think that this is a really good question. The simple answer is we don't really know. We just know that both genetics and our environment play a part. I don't think we can ever sit and. Especially with each individual and say 70% comes just from genetics and the other 30 comes from their environment. You know , some people do experience severe depression and we see that it runs in their family. It can be treated both with medication and psychotherapy. We just know that sometimes it's heavy genetics and sometimes it's heavy environment. And let me just say , like particularly in the black community , knowing that so many of us experience this systemic racism , we have all this secondary trauma watching our brothers and sisters keep , you know , abused by the police and killed. You know , even if this is passed down genetically , it didn't. So much of it is also just environmental. That makes total sense. How do I know if I'm unwell mentally ? Is there another great question ? I think it's different for all people really when we are utilizing bad coping skills , when we are finding ourselves in less joy than enjoy. You know , lack of motivation might be a sign for some people using maladaptive coping strategies like utilizing drugs on a daily basis. So people finding themselves treating others poorly might be another sign that they are not taking care of their mental health. But again , it just it all depends on the individual. And then also , it's just a combination of all of those. I just don't feel well that we know that there might be something that makes total sense. Mental health is something that we can always and should be addressing. Just like the gym , you know , it's a maintenance thing. And so you don't always have to be mentally unwell to get a therapist or to prioritize doing the things that bring you joy and are good for your mental health. I think if you're feeling anxious more often than not or feeling down sad and don't know why. Those are pretty good signs that maybe it's time to go work with a professional. We are in a pandemic and we are dealing with constant stress. How can the average person show up for change without burning out completely ? I think sometimes we take on too much and think that we can't stop , but we really need to make to create limits for ourselves. You know , some people do that by limiting how much news they take in. Some people do that by just trying to do one little thing to add to the environment or to add to sustainability. Like maybe riding their bike one day , as opposed to trying to write it every single day. Adding to that stress of getting up earlier and all this because we see that some of these solutions come from the lens of the privileged. So not everybody can just pick up a bike and ride to work every day. One of the problems is that we know that black people tend to commute longer to work because they can't afford to live where the work is. So how do you expect them to just not drive ? So , you know , finding ways to join in the effort and having compassion for oneself and knowing that I'm doing all that I can do and accepting that and not taking on this weight of law , I can't do it the way that they're telling me to do it. And then taking on that guilt or shame about that , you know , or I'm supporting this company that has didn't do anything for BlackLivesMatter or during the George Floyd protest that , okay , I bought something nice for myself. And that doesn't mean I'm going against blackness because I get that. So finding ways to just be compassionate for ourselves and understanding that we are just human is a good way to care for your own mental well-being and all of this. That's genuinely helpful. That's a real thing that I'm trying to figure out how to balance that out. I want to be a contributing member to society and then use my voice. Absolutely. I feel the same thing. It's a lot. I know that some of these methods are created when you see it created by non-black people. We're not always in the room where we're coming up with solutions. I feel you feel this the inverse of a question I asked you earlier. What does good mental health look like ? Being in touch with oneself. Knowing when you're out of sync. And having tools to address those out of sync moments. Having tools to address when you need to. Around yourself. And knowing. It needs to be done for self care , recognizing when it is important to increase that self care I think is what good mental health looks like because one can be anxious and experiencing more anxiety , say , during this pandemic. But they recognize that and they're addressing it with their tools or working with somebody. I wouldn't say they're in bad mental health just from this time that I've been sitting with you. I'm really impressed with your work. Are you taking clients right now ? I am. Blended roots therapy , private practice with my wife and our website is blended roots therapy. Dot com. Give me your name one more time. Jared Morgan. Get on in there. Clearly. Clearly , he's on point. Thanks so much for your time. So I really appreciate you. Yeah , thank you for having me on. Appreciate it. Think this is important work ? Somewhere around the fourth grade , I deduced that I had superpowers. It was like the butterfly effect. I felt like a wave of my hand could cause a windstorm. I became so aware of my power that I was afraid of it. It caused me to stifle any of my emotions for fear that they would cause havoc. In actuality , I was growing up in a volatile and physically unstable environment where the slightest thing could throw it off balance. Now , as an adult , I understand I didn't have superpowers. I'm an impasse. And even as a kid , I was incredibly tuned in to what was going on around me. This is a quote. I hope you can understand why it brings me such joy to put these experiences in a healthy context for you. You are not causing the offence you were able to predict and there's nothing wrong with you. Your sensitivity simply allow you to know certain things that defy logic and the limited definitions many people have of what is possible. That's page 189 of a book I read this past spring. I wish I could have read that excerpt to young me. I mean it addition you to the person who wrote it.
S3:
S1: On this episode , the topic is Mental Health , and I'm currently reading your book , The Impasse Survival Guide for the Unfamiliar.
S3:
S1: I fully identify with that.
S3: I didn't have the word empath and I was an only child. And I was very sensitive. I had strong intuitions. I had dreams that came true. I had just strong sensitivities when I went in shopping malls. I couldn't figure out why I would go in feeling fine and I'd walk out being exhausted or with some ache or pain I didn't have before. Anxious or depressed. I didn't realize I was taking on the energy , the emotional energy of the people in the shopping mall. And so I felt I was an empathic child , but I didn't have any label to put on it or any way to define it. So I was lost and my parents told me to never mention , you know , my empathic or my intuitive abilities again. So I grew up ashamed of these abilities and I thought there was something wrong with me , that I had them , that I was too sensitive , that I didn't have a thick enough skin , that I didn't fit in the mainstream , that I would rather , you know , watch the moon or walk by a creek and go to a party , you know , that kind of thing.
S1:
S3: It's not as basic to life and my my happiness and my energy. But I you know , I'm a psychiatrist now and I'm an M.D. and an empty house. So I incorporate my my empathic , intuitive abilities with my scientific training and academic training. So I combine all that in my practice of psychiatry and in my workshops. And so , you know , this is something that's very important to me to integrate aspects of myself and to bring in my sensitivities with everything that I'm doing. And so this book , The Survival Guide , is kind of a lifetime of accumulation of the skills I've learned at work in my life because , you know , I've had so many challenges as a sensitive , empathic person getting overloaded by overstimulation , you know , just simple things like what do you do when you're in an airport and these things are bombarding you ? How do you deal with that ? You know , how do you deal with people who are , you know , strong , very strong and emotional and how not to take it on in my body. So all of this I've accumulated over many , many years of practice with patients. And so I wanted to offer it to people. It's not an academic book by any means. It's a very personal book and very instructive. So you're absorbing the energy of other people and you want to enhance your creative , beautiful sensitivities , which is what I'm suggesting. I'm a champion of that. I've kind of devoted my career and my life to helping people develop their sensitivities rather than be ashamed of them.
S1: I'm experiencing that firsthand as I'm reading the book. And actually this question is for me personally , I am an impact and I think I'm so sensitive I try to turn off or dull my emotions. As a result , sometimes I come off as being coarse or unfeeling. Do you have any advice as to how I can maybe better balance that ? Yeah.
S3: It's so beautiful that you're an empathic man and empathic man. I have special challenges because , you know , they have a lot of them. And I don't know if that's true with you , but I have been bullied in the schoolyard , have , you know , have loved poetry and the woods and music and , you know , didn't like video games as much or being in large crowds or playing football or whatever , you know , other non empaths like to do. And so , you know , you're , you know. Beautiful example of a sensitive man , but. But in class , sometimes come off aloof. You know , I've been accused of that because it's like I'm protecting I'm in my bubble. I'm protecting myself from all the stimulation that's coming out at me. And so it seems aloof , but it's not aloof. It just protective. And so what you can do is I don't know if you're at a point where you've come out as an empath. Well , now you have with this show , but I don't know with you with your friends or colleagues , if you felt comfortable sharing , you know , that that you're an empath and what that means. But you might want to sit with those that are close to you. You might want to say , you know , I need to take some alone time now because I have to decompress. That's a self-care tool for empaths. And it's not I'm not rejecting you. I'm not. I love you. I'm , you know , I want to do my best for you. And that means I need to go in that room and put my Do Not Disturb sign on and meditate and think or feel. Look out at the moon , look out at the birds Do whatever you want to do but don't have stimulation coming in.
S1: It's almost hard to do this interview because what you're saying is so applicable and it's stuff that I've fought with my entire life in Never one , never having this conversation. I've never in 44 years even come close to having a conversation like this. And it's it's so applicable. So it's almost hard to to stick with the train of thought in this in this line of questioning , because it's. Wow , I'm really floored. I'm really floored.
S3: I love that. I love that that. You can say that. I love that. You're floored. It's extremely exciting to find out you're an emperor and that it puts things in place for certain people , you know , for a lot of people. Now , I have received so many emails over over the years , you know , I am so grateful reading them past survival guides. I found out I'm an empath , that I never knew what I was. I always thought I was strange or weird or something wrong with me , or psychotic or antisocial or whatever. All the labels that that come in with just not just having a different level of sensitivity. And as a man , we need you , you know , we need to have sensitive men who are in their power. You know , it's a misconception about being an empath is you become soft or you become somehow not courageous or able to take a stand about things or that. It's nothing like that. It's just learning to center yourself with your sensitivities so you can use them for the good in your personal life and in the world. Because we need empaths more than ever now we need and pass on their power , not empaths who are just exhausted all the time and and wanting to stay home with their animals 24 hours a day because it's too much to think of going out. And , you know , that's that's okay if you want to make that choice. But we need some of you to get out in the world now and , you know , make this a better place and empaths , because they have such big hearts and care so much that that's sort of their their downfall , too , because if they don't know how to not take on other people's anger or nervousness or resentments , I mean , people walk around , they're like a field of emotions that can drain you just by going by them. And you don't want to do that. You want to be able to say , I'm a centered person. I am in my body , I'm not floating around somewhere else. I am grounded , I am strong , and I am kind and good and I can make a difference. All right. So it's the power of kindness , you know , and the power of strength that I'm proud to have and the connectivity to other human beings and empaths don't they don't do us versus them. They don't understand that crazy mentality of us versus them. It's we on this planet. Empaths feel a connection to the earth and to humankind , everybody , because we're all human beings and we're all the same package and empaths know that that's not an issue for that. That's not an issue of debate. You know , it's just I feel , you know , I feel you , Parker. I feel my friends I haven't met , you know , who are maybe in the Ukraine or , you know , in Russia , my friends and everywhere , you know , I feel them and I know they're there. And you see , when you're an empath , that is a great source of knowing and power to feel that interconnectivity with everyone and not have to make it a big debate.
S1: You're kind of touching on , you know , major world events. And that's something , especially in the last month , just zapped over. I'm not even able to take in this amount of news as some of my peers are like. It's just too intense , too lutely not.
S3: Nor should you be able to know. No. I advise all my and cath patients who are addicted to the news or tend to turn it on a lot. Now not to do that it's to. Little many doses of the news that's okay. But there's one thing that as empaths and certainly for me as a psychiatrist to learn how to do is not take on people suffering as I help anybody who's sitting across from me with whatever it is they're going through have I'm sorry , everything that they're going through.
S1: I'm going to switch lanes just a little bit because I found this book that you released maybe around 1996.
S3: Did I foresee a writing career ? All I knew was that I'd love to write since I was a little girl. I loved love to write. And my mother published a book of my poems when I was about 14 , and she asked me if she could , and she did. And I said yes. But I didn't realize the impact it would have on me because they were , you know , my first kiss , you know , my first this and my first. And then she she published it. And I was so overwhelmed , I couldn't write for years. And it was just with this book that you saw , that second sight came out in 1996 that I opened up to my writing again. And I felt that that power , like my biological clock , was ticking. And I really wanted children. But I wasn't finding a mate. And it was just. And but then my writing came in and my writing took place of that creative energy kind of lifted my intense desire to have children. And I started pouring it into my writing. And so did I see the 25 years of writing now that it would be what I would dream about and pray for. And then I'm grateful for every day. And I hope until the end of my life , I'm able to write that I have the clarity and the vision and the muse is still speaking to me. I don't want to stop. No , but the muse is to come through you. You can't just force it. But I've been blessed with , you know , having a message that I want to share. And as long as I have that and I know I can help people , I'll continue writing. Wow.
S1:
S3: And it's a very I've thought about it so much. It's so important is I want the work to go on and I want and pass , you know , for hundreds of years to come , do not feel ashamed of their abilities and be able to create a loving world because of their beautiful hearts. And if I can , I want to keep awakening people so they can feel the clarity and the happiness in their lives of being themselves and not having to feel like they have to fit in the mainstream , or they have to be like anybody , that they can be their unique selves and past selves going down whatever side path they're going to be going on , you know , the more the better. They don't have to go down the main road. They could go everywhere , like a rivulet in the in the creek , in the stream. Follow the water , follow the fluidity , follow the music. And if I can help people do that and learn how not to take on the suffering , because that's part of , you know , the lessons is not not taking on other people's suffering , including loved ones , you know , and and also the ability to show empathy to yourself. That's often the hardest. It's easier to care about other people and to be kind to even strangers than it is for ourselves. So that's part of the lesson , too. It's not to beat ourselves up , you know , which everybody does. I know what they do to so many people. So it's okay. It's all okay. But you want to do it less and less.
S1: Thank you so much , Judith.
S3: And my lecture schedule is there and I have online courses and I have all kinds of resources there for impasse and an impasse support page. So you could reach you at my Web site , Dear Judith or Law School.
S1: I'm running over right now to get into this this lecture schedule that you have. Thanks a lot. Okay.
S3: Okay. All right. Thank you. Stay tuned for more of the peppy. Peppy.
S4: Peppy.
S5: You are listening to DJ Rube ? Yeah , it's me. I'm not so serious. Radio on KSM AM 1320 in Oceanside streaming worldwide and here , right here in San Diego at Palomar College Radio.com. And you can also find us on the tune in and live 365 apps under K KSM.
S1: And now back to the PPE. Yep , yep. There's a strange chaos that comes along with the music business. In addition to professional pitfalls , fans feel entitled to critique or insult anything they want about you or your work. It's not a career for the week. Both my first two guests expressed the importance of doing work , but balancing it with things you enjoy. I took that advice in choosing my third guest. I've always been a legit fan of his pin game. There's something bonkers slick about the way he flips his phrases. Just real stylish. Maybe it has something to do with where he's from.
S6: I'm a New Yorker , my East Coast boy. You know what I'm saying ? North Carolina and New York. Born in Cleveland , Ohio. And the name is the artist formerly known as Trash and the Great Out to.
S1: I've been a fan of yours 20 plus years now , man. Like , world famous. Just floored me , man. Like classic material , bro.
S6: So you talk him out. You talk about beating up material.
S1: That might have been where I found.
S6: Yeah , world famous. World famous ? That started a trio. That's the EP. So you know what you're not talking about 20 years from now. Almost 30 years. Yeah , because that's 94. So we take of people and that's cool.
S1:
S6: So I had to go away to jail. You know , I had a 1 to 3 sentence , like 1 to 3 years. But I went to this thing called shock camp. So I got on like 11 months in less than a year. So when I came home , relativity had , you know , you know , they needed that product , you know , certainly have put money up. We had been recording and all that. So what they did was they took a couple of songs from what was going to be my solo drawings and , you know , made the EP. That's why some of the stuff on that on so that that that already set a weird dynamic to the group because it was it was the Beatles were producers and they were producing the Chili album and they were also doing My Gimbals for me to get a deal. You know , separate and apart from that , when relativity heard me on the song Let the Horns Blow by Chili , they was like , No , no. Every other artist on here , who's this other guy ? And and what I was told was Chris Lighty told them , like , yo , you know , that's fashion that's to do that was writing a lot you know wrote a lot of cheese album he Bronx with the Beatles and he was like wait a minute the beatniks or they are a group they're not just producers like yeah , so that's how we got to do.
S1: You've worked with some real heads through your career , like some genuine goats. Can I just name a couple names and you just tell me anything that comes to mind on them ? Yeah.
S6: And I might add a couple , so.
S1: Okay , let me let me ask a fight from A Tribe Called Quest.
S6: Rest in power. MAN five You know , coming up as a kid , late teens , early twenties , you know what I mean ? Tribe was like , don't call standard fire forest groups when you know what I mean. They would just back to back to back smash albums , classic album , classic songs. You know , I was around them , you know , around the same camp and all that stuff. And , you know , I was behind the scenes watching them because I was such a fan. And to be working with them , you know , to be on a song with Feist and Doug and Driver's from Black Sheet , it was crazy. And then to hear that song on the radio was nuts. So Phife was , you know , incredible. We had a funny relationship when we were young over some real don't push. I mean , I won't go too deep into it. But before he passed , you know , we got a call on Instagram. So that was real cool to have , you know , come full circle. It was great.
S1: Prodigy from Mob D.
S6: Crazy that got hooked up because Alchemist had did a song for this some Lynx album and asked me Props and Black Attacks on Boston. And before we got to release the song , he took it and gave it to somebody else. I can't remember who it was , you know , at the time I was salty , but , you know , no one was like , Yo , come on , he gave it to somebody. I forgot who it was , but it was somebody much bigger than us. It was somebody big. His thing to make it up to us was he was going to have Prodigy on a remix with us. Dante Ross hooked it up , paid that money , and we did a song with pride and it was crazy. Like , that's a crazy honor to like , I could see I'm on a song with Prodigy , you know what I'm saying ? And it's hard. It's a hard song. I'm about to rerelease that joint man. So yeah , that that was an honor to man. That's like such a blessing to be able to have that on my resume. And I got to join with the guards growing up saying.
S1: Oh , and I was asking you for different names. You said that you had a couple that you wanted to throw in there.
S6: Man , when I saw your list and you said the goals , I just knew you was going to be like John Jay Common and Fat Joe is out for the cast. It was like common nuts and Joe , that was a DJ , hard to join and then I got the other join were on that I mean with our fans. The remix set out for the cast got a joy with too many links too. Then I got a joint that's like somebody just brought this up to me to say , Man , I've just started working with these producers. My cousin Dr. Butcher put me on. So one of them brought up. He was like , Yo , did you do a joint like congas first ? Like , like real record ? He said , I'm like , Yeah , you got a joint. I like I met you. We have the same manager , man. I'm making Sprite like 18 years old. But , you know , he was no ideas. Pupil No , I was my man. So back in the day and did a joint with him on this kid named Gravity O Brother named Gravity's album. He's out of Chicago and we got a song called City to City on this.
S1: For the listeners. Go look it up. That's a playlist. Just , just in a few minutes. You just gave a whole playlist right there , my guy.
S6: Right ? Right.
S1: Your playlist.
S6: My favorite project. I love my solo album. I love the God Connection album , you know , parts of of street level. I mean , I love street level. I love stretching to say I love I love street level. I listen to it like it's just it was so much madness going on at the time with that album and the fact that we put out props over here that , like , soured me , you know what ? A war to get out.
S2: And , Candy.
UU:
S6: To me , it didn't fit the album like it was chosen for us. We didn't choose it. We were kind of like forced to do that song. So now when I hear people tell me , Yo , man , I'll remember props when it first came out , and I would feel like , Yo , come on , why are you just saying that people genuinely love that song ? And I'm like , Damn , so why have put this negative spin on the song ? Like , Yo , we didn't choose this chip and Chris Lighty chose this song. So , like , we were down on it. I remember going on tour , we would go to do all the mom and pop stores in every city that we would be know and golden promotions at the radio. As soon as you walk in the store , walk on the radio , they would play that like we were so down on it. But it's like people really loved that joy. So that would probably be the only thing that makes me funny with the street level album. And now I've come to Love Pops because so many other people love it and I'm like , Damn , that was my favorite song that I've done. Probably one of my least favorite , but it so many other people enjoy it. I have to embrace it , you know what I mean ? My solo album , definitely. But if I had to pick one as my favorite , I would probably pick. It would probably be street level , you know what I mean ? And that would be would be my solo journey. It's definitely. It's.
S1: It's. Definitely.
S6: Definitely.
S1:
S6: The peak I love Beat. My favorite rapper was from the U.K. , so it's kind of broke up. But , you know , Queens boy like Big J , you know , you got a lot of dudes from Brooklyn. You know what I'm saying ? It's a lot of girls from Brooklyn , a lot of groups. But if I had to go history , I'm going to be talking about Run-D.M.C..
S2: Oh , wow.
S6: You're talking about Nas. You talk about Tribe Called. Quest said you talk about the rule. Albright going you like main sources in the large professors in Onyx. I'm not even going to go there. I'm like heavyweight heavyweights , man , you know , diamond selling artists with 50 of all that. But what Brooklyn does have , though , like I say , is they got the three amigos small , they got big , you got chain and they got Jay-Z. So when it comes to lyrics , it's gonna be Jamaican time with all those we could put Nas G rap. Oh , I didn't even say , Oh , wow , I didn't even talk about one of my old classmates. You know what I'm talking about with a 40 year career. I left New York after my ninth grade year. I got in trouble. I went to North Carolina , how to stay on my grandmother , my uncle for two years. And I remember that summer , my 10th grade year , my brother came and this is back and this is 84 , 85. My brother came in North Carolina that someone said he had a world record. It was like , yo , Jay made a record because , you know , we was all the school , the government , the school caucus for Roberts Academy , you know , all this , you know , that was all he could tell me. I wasn't going to be next. Well , I used to be in that base where he film. Mama said , knock you out a few times , you know , I mean , met his friends and all that.
S1: Deep history , bro. Deep history.
S6: Not even know MTV. This is what makes it easy for me to do what I'm doing right now. Right. But actually , you know , left music to be a father and take care of my kids. Nine girls and five boys , by the way , you know , to take care of them monetarily , I'm. Notionally they are for them , not just kicking our brand and they don't know. They're making sure that all of them put together because I was very honest , I was out of control when I was young. You know what I mean ? I've been with my wife now know for 20 years. So over 20 years or 23 years this year married nine this year. But before that I was wild. And now my first son , I was 16 years old. This the way the game is now , it has allowed me to take this long hiatus and be away for now , be able to come back because there's so many different platforms to get your music out. I don't have to go to a studio on everything and I do it in my house , right in my closet , being totally independent , where every know I put out all that profit comes back to me. To me , I suggest that for everyone that the majors messed everything up , giving people a formula and like , you got to do it this way and we want this type of music or who's co-signing you ? Who are you down with ? So it just , you know , the majors messed up. So we need to get rid of them , get rid of the ridiculous deals that you get on these major labels , you know what I'm saying ? Whereas really like terrible bank loans that Japan ridiculous interest on whatever money they give you and I encourage every artist don't sweat it there are enough airwaves out there for you to be heard. Everybody doesn't have to sell 50 million records. I know a lot of artists brought out a live in their best life. And you've never heard of these people , man.
S1: I appreciate that insight , man , because as someone who's been there , done it to the fullest , the music business is is so much politics and paperwork.
S6: And when I tell you the highway to hard , when you go and find out that somebody has collected , you know , six figures of money that should have been yours from ASKAP , and there's nothing that you can do about it. You start following up and finding out how does that happen ? Like how did I miss out on that ? Like that with a change you talk about like losing money. So when I was young , I really was not business savvy. I really wasn't thinking about that. All I thought about and all I envisioned for myself was fame and girls. That's all I saw was like me performing on ice. You know , Arsenio Hall saw Living Color and the girls I was going to see after that , I never pictured even money broke through some bad mistakes on me. I , you know , I got the lessons the hard way.
S1: With everything that's gone on , how you managed to maintain your sanity and stay so down to earth.
S6: My family man , my wife , you know , my family , my kids and stuff , they were young , you know , when I was really doing my thing , you know , early nineties to the late nineties and all that stuff. They know that , you know , all that. Alex We can fashion all that now is crazy because my kids have discovered over the years , you know , I've gotten those phone calls , you know what I mean ? Like your dad. I don't know you. Dad , did you cry ? I'm with my friends , so I don't know when I'm like , yeah , but , you know , they keep me down to earth because I'm dad , man. It's like , yo , you know , I'm a father. I got responsibilities. I have people's lives that , you know , I have to help God in direct. So having all of that that has also made me more business savvy , made me more on point with , you know , things where , you know , money is concerned.
S1: Let me just ask you this last question. I'm a close up entirely for the new head that needs to get familiar. Give me one track that they need to go to as soon as this interview is over and get familiar with.
S6: Go to the Kanye show and go to the city. The city , man , I've heard that I'll go to the same city. Hungry production produced gravity's album Sucker Mile Gravis a beast to I hope I'm introducing you guys to an incredible emcee by Tony and with gravity out of Chicago so check that out if you want to check something out there , there will be a follow up project. I'm working on it right now to the God Connection album. The Guy Connection album was actually just rereleased by a company in Europe. They just released it on vinyl , CD and cassette this time at the end of February. So that'll be out and they'll be advertising that like around August , September , and then the Godly Part one and part two of the follow ups to my solo album. So be on the lookout for that and check my Instagram is Tony Smalls is Al Tariq is who last fash thank you so much for this my man , Mr. Parker Edison.
S1: Thank you , brother.
S6: Thanks so much.
S1: My appreciated , man. Have a fantastic day.
S6: You took these in my face. Wolf.
S1: Wolf. I'm not about to say anything right now. I'm going to let you sit in that vibe for a second. A Chris , let's run a little of that city to. Sitting and taking the commercial. From city to city. We connect from now on. Shop from shop back to now.
S6: Why do we back down from set pieces on silver and the go to men who walk off to become rock star type stats and they know cinema in that region will not break down and strap megastars like mathematics static don't we don't have in that state something tragic like I'm descending from the single beat around your waist.
S3: Stay tuned for.
S4: More of the pep.
S1: What's up , fam ? This is Kelsey Wray , editor of the Parker Edison Project. I want you to check out my show. Christie's the Internet Live Sundays at 7 p.m. on the platform collection page and YouTube. We talk about culture , art , tech and do in-depth interviews with our favorite forward thinkers. Christie's the Internet hosted by myself and OG Hip Hop every Sunday 7 p.m. on YouTube. Platform collection. And now back to the Pepe. Pepe. This episode is about mental health. The professions with the highest suicide rates are veterinarians , doctors , police , lawyers and dentists. It's because they spend their days trying to fix people's problems. It's easy to be so caught up in our experiences that we lose sight of how constant tragedy day in and day out might negatively affect people in these fields or do something about it. Go out today , get a six pack of beer and give it to your garbage man or woman that works your neighborhood. Fill out a thank you card and randomly give it to your mailman. Bring your dentist flowers or your vet a bottle of wine after your next visit. Thank the people who keep your world going because that's what saves lives. Feeling seen. Feeling valued. This is one more quote The planet does not need more successful people. The planet desperately needs more peacemakers , healers , restorers , storytellers , and lovers of all kinds. It needs more people to live well in their places. It needs people with moral courage , willing to join the struggle to make the world habitable and humane. And these qualities have little to do with success as our culture defines it. That's page 209 from the Empath Survival Guide , and I'm reading it because I agree with it. If you'd like to learn more about anything you've heard , here's some books you might find helpful. The Untethered Soul by Michael Allen Singer The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel van der Kolk and Daring Greatly by Brené Brown. I want to close this season with something that just makes me happy. And if you like music , like I like music , I think it'll do the same for you. Ladies and gentlemen , about to have a moment. Turn your radios up for death , love. And you. Well said.
S2: In Mr.. Do. Hardest. How did this fall apart ? How far apart ? This can be. We're asking is Senator Clinton. Mr.. They ? I don't know what to do right now. Don't know what to say.
UU: Along the way. Maybe if you help me out.
S2: In this nugget. And it's no good game in this little game. Oh. And. Sending me say this followed by kindness followed by the baby was today said his kidneys. How to do so for fun.
S1: Thanks for stopping in. The Parker Edison Project is produced and hosted by yours truly , Parker Edison and the Good People at Platform Collection. Be sure to subscribe and catch the next episode on Apple , Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. If you have any comments or questions , visit the Parker Edison Project dot com or hit us on Instagram at the P.E. Project. My guide , Kurt CONAN , is audio production manager. Lisa J. Morrissette is operations manager and John Decker is Associate General Manager for content. This programming is made possible in part by the KPBS Explore Content Fund. Hello. Saying that because it reminds me of Sesame Street. Stay safe out there.
