Speaker 1: Some lives are composed like music, layered intentional, built on
Speaker 1: quiet tension and powerful release. Amar Walker, known to the
Speaker 1: world as Major seven, is one of those lives from Mandeville, Jamaica,
Speaker 1: a tone known not only for its rolling hills, but
Speaker 1: for producing thinkers, cultural contributors, and nation builders. Like one
Speaker 1: of Jamaica's national heroes, Norman manly A, Mar stands in
Speaker 1: a lineage of visionaries who led with both purpose and precision.
Speaker 1: He spent part of his early years at Victor Dixon
Speaker 1: High School, where the seeds of discipline and creative curiosity
Speaker 1: began to take root. However, the true foundation of Amar's
Speaker 1: journey began even earlier in the quiet, unshakable prayers of
Speaker 1: his mound. After enduring six miscarriages, she prayed persistently and
Speaker 1: faithfully for seven years, and then came Amar. His producer name,
Speaker 1: Major seven is more than a nod to musical theory.
Speaker 1: It's a tribute, a living meditation on his mother's endurance,
Speaker 1: her belief, and the truth that some people are called
Speaker 1: not just to succeed, but to uplift and inspire. That
Speaker 1: spiritual thread follows Amar even into the studio. Years ago.
Speaker 1: One of his most acclaimed productions. The Devil is a
Speaker 1: Lie was nearly taken from him by someone more interested
Speaker 1: in profit than principle, but that attempt failed, and the
Speaker 1: irony of that title wasn't lost on him. Some moments
Speaker 1: are more than coincidence. They are reminders of protection and
Speaker 1: trusting God's timing. Since then, Amar has composed for artists
Speaker 1: like Rihanna, Rick Ross, Snoop Dogg, burn A Boy Future,
Speaker 1: and countless others, crafting soundscapes that are both commercially undeniable
Speaker 1: and emotionally grounded. And while his Grammy nomination hasn't come
Speaker 1: just yet, something about this year tells me it's only
Speaker 1: a matter of time. This episode isn't just about music.
Speaker 1: It's about identity, faith, and the kind of quiet power
Speaker 1: that comes from staying grounded in your roots, especially when
Speaker 1: those roots are Jamaican. Because when Amar walks in a
Speaker 1: room or lays a chord or shares his story, it's
Speaker 1: not just him speaking. It's legacy, it's prayer fulfilled. It's
Speaker 1: the rhythm of a culture that moves the world. If
Speaker 1: you're listening to the podcast on Apple Podcast, please remember
Speaker 1: to rate and leave a comment below. Also, don't forget
Speaker 1: to follow us on Instagram at Let's Talk the Things. Now,
Speaker 1: grab your tea, coffee, or a glass of wine and
Speaker 1: Let's Talk the Things. Hello everyone, Welcome back to Let's
Speaker 1: Talk the Things, where we discuss personal growth, travel, music,
Speaker 1: beauty and wellness while encouraging you to live fearlessly and fabulously.
Speaker 1: I'm your host, Ash and this week we are Talking
Speaker 1: the Things with multi platinum music producer for artists like
Speaker 1: Rick Ross, Rihanna, Burna Boy, Buju Bantan, and Snoop Dog
Speaker 1: to name a few. Omar Walker, more popularly known as
Speaker 1: Major seven. Hi, Omar, how are you hey?
Speaker 2: How are you doing? I'm doing amazing. I'm glad to
Speaker 2: be here, so blessed.
Speaker 1: Thank you, Thank you so much for coming to Talk
Speaker 1: the Things with me. Yeah yeah, you have to bustle
Speaker 1: the accent.
Speaker 2: I love it.
Speaker 1: So As a first time guest and for persons that
Speaker 1: are listening for the first time, we begin each episode
Speaker 1: with our listener's favorite segment and it's called that no
Speaker 1: Sound safe. So so Omar, I'm going to read messages
Speaker 1: or social media posts that listeners sent in and if
Speaker 1: you think it sounds crazy or a little bit concerning,
Speaker 1: you'd say that the sound safe and explain why. And
Speaker 1: if you agree, I can't even finish this without laughing.
Speaker 1: And if you agree, say you agree and explain why.
Speaker 1: Sounds good?
Speaker 2: But all right, cool, let's do it.
Speaker 1: So the first person said, Jamaican parents give the worst ultimatums.
Speaker 1: They'll say either you wash the dishes or come a tomatos. Oh,
Speaker 1: you know, I feel like they're a bit.
Speaker 2: Extreme, definitely, but it works though.
Speaker 1: Yes, it prepares us for the world because you can't
Speaker 1: tell us anything that we haven't already been told by
Speaker 1: our parents.
Speaker 2: For real, you aren't sure how to, like, you know,
Speaker 2: take on the challenges of life, because growing up is
Speaker 2: a challenge. It's always like something you know.
Speaker 1: So true, so true. We all need to go. We
Speaker 1: have said this in another episode. We all need to
Speaker 1: go to like group therapy together.
Speaker 2: Being Jamaican Bill's character though.
Speaker 1: Yes, and we also have not only does it build character,
Speaker 1: but I said this in another episode, or actually I
Speaker 1: should say the person I was interviewing said it to me,
Speaker 1: and he's from Grenada. He said that Jamaicans have this
Speaker 1: certain type of confidence, you know, and I was saying,
Speaker 1: it's something that's really ingrained in US. And that's why
Speaker 1: when celebrities even go to Jamaica, they don't really get
Speaker 1: run down for autographs or anything, because most Jamaicans are
Speaker 1: looking at them and saying, he's all right, but I
Speaker 1: can't sing better that name.
Speaker 2: Yes, I definitely believe in that, because I definitely consider
Speaker 2: myself to be extremely confident.
Speaker 1: Love that. Love that, Yeah, I don't know if it's
Speaker 1: the leo or oh my gosh, it's.
Speaker 2: Theer and lying you feel me.
Speaker 1: I love that. That's double Jamaican and alio. Yeah, that's
Speaker 1: a double dosa confidence for sure. All Right, So the
Speaker 1: next person said, imagine your card gets declined at the
Speaker 1: barber and he starts gluing your hair back on.
Speaker 2: First fall, he shouldn't be cutting it off in the
Speaker 2: first place. And then second of all, man Imazellum right exactly.
Speaker 1: This is not nineteen ninety four, so I would hold
Speaker 1: sell or cash up something, but gluing it back on is. Actually.
Speaker 2: Another thing about Jamaican is we're creative. So if Plan
Speaker 2: A don't work, we're gonna have Plan b cd ef
Speaker 2: we don't find a way to make it happen.
Speaker 1: You know, that is so true. That's one thing about us.
Speaker 1: We are very resilient when it comes to finding a
Speaker 1: way for sure. All Right, The next person said, all
Speaker 1: I spend money on is food and clothes, but I'm
Speaker 1: still hungry and can't find anything to wear.
Speaker 2: Hey, thats how you spend all your money on food
Speaker 2: and clothes and still hungry and don't got nothing to wear?
Speaker 1: You know what I mean?
Speaker 2: But you know you're spending it on food and clothes
Speaker 2: for somebody else, or that.
Speaker 1: Means you're like me and you're always hungry even though
Speaker 1: you're spending it on food. It's like, boy, you know,
Speaker 1: I feel for something nice, like you can eat something else.
Speaker 1: It could be that, or it could be the fact that, like,
Speaker 1: I don't know how you are, but I feel like
Speaker 1: sometimes I'll feel like I have something to wear, and
Speaker 1: then other times I'll be like, oh my gosh, I
Speaker 1: need to get something, Like I have nothing to wear
Speaker 1: and I have a closet full of clothes.
Speaker 2: I mean, that's how I feel every time I have
Speaker 2: to go somewhere like tomorrow, have to go to wedding,
Speaker 2: It's like that's how I feel. So after this, I
Speaker 2: gotta go find so like anytime I gotta go somewhere
Speaker 2: I have to do something. I'm like that, but that's
Speaker 2: because I'm not really that big into like I'm starting
Speaker 2: to get into it now, but like fashion, and I'm
Speaker 2: so like locked in on what I'm building, like that's
Speaker 2: just my primary focus. Yeah, it's not my priority at
Speaker 2: least not right now, you know, got you?
Speaker 1: Yeah? Yeah, well that makes sense. So maybe that canzone
Speaker 1: a little safe, but a little not safe, because if
Speaker 1: it's not your priority, then it's like, eh, you don't
Speaker 1: really care, you know, all right? Two more, The next
Speaker 1: person said, I don't know how to turn up anymore.
Speaker 1: I'll be at the bar just checking my emails.
Speaker 2: I guess. I guess I could agree with that because
Speaker 2: I feel like I'm that person. But I do feel
Speaker 2: like I'm lit though, Like I feel like I'm like
Speaker 2: a good energy to be around, and even though I'm
Speaker 2: always doing something like sometimes I could be at Thanksgiving
Speaker 2: and I have my laptop with me, so I might
Speaker 2: be passively just chilling at one point, organizing some files
Speaker 2: or working on something or arranging something, but I still
Speaker 2: like engage with the family and cool. So I feel
Speaker 2: like I'm kind of like in the middle, but I
Speaker 2: still need to be better balanced. So I'm like a
Speaker 2: workaholic obsessed with what I do.
Speaker 1: You know, well, you already in the vision that explains
Speaker 1: a lot, That explains a lot. You're very driven, I'm sure. Yeah,
Speaker 1: But I think that's a good thing to point out,
Speaker 1: right because it's safe because that means that you are
Speaker 1: on top of what you need to do, you know,
Speaker 1: your focus. But it's not safe because you do need
Speaker 1: that balance, you know. So I agree with you. It's
Speaker 1: kind of like in the middle.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm very intentional, very like got a bit long
Speaker 2: to do list, just never ending, constantly just task and yeah,
Speaker 2: so I definitely need a little bit more balance. But yeah, seasons,
Speaker 2: you know.
Speaker 1: But it's hard. Yeah, And it's hard too when you
Speaker 1: have like so many dreams and aspirations and you know,
Speaker 1: you just want to do everything. It's really hard to
Speaker 1: like stop.
Speaker 2: Yeah, focus is important. Yeah, you have to be focused
Speaker 2: and you have to be intentional. And I think a
Speaker 2: lot of the stuff that I do, even though it
Speaker 2: may seem like so many things, like, I think they
Speaker 2: have synergy with each other and I've found ways to
Speaker 2: you know, I'm always building systems. So for me, it's
Speaker 2: also about like efficiency so I'm big on working smarter,
Speaker 2: but I'm also working harder too, So I'm combined working
Speaker 2: smarter with harder and that's just allowed me to just
Speaker 2: like propel like super fast with everything that I'm trying
Speaker 2: to be.
Speaker 1: I love that. Yeah, I love that. Intention definitely matters
Speaker 1: and helps you to get to where you need to be.
Speaker 1: So yeah, I love that, beautifully said. Okay, last one.
Speaker 1: This one's a little bit long, but the last one.
Speaker 1: People will literally admire you from afar, get to experience
Speaker 1: you in real time and become envious after seeing you
Speaker 1: are exactly who you appair to be. Your light will
Speaker 1: always offend persons who are at war with themselves, So
Speaker 1: choose wisely who gets to experience you. Your frequency is valuable.
Speaker 2: No, I agree with that one hundred percent because I
Speaker 2: feel like whenever you're doing something, no matter how positive
Speaker 2: you are, no matter how inspiring you are, no matter
Speaker 2: how humble you are, I think it will feel like
Speaker 2: people always find like the negative and something. And you know,
Speaker 2: a friend the other day was telling me, oh, yeah,
Speaker 2: someone was hating on something that you did, and I'm
Speaker 2: just like, man, I don't even got time to even
Speaker 2: think about that, Like or like engage in a conversation
Speaker 2: that has to just do with debating whether this is
Speaker 2: better than this with somebody, like on some comparison level
Speaker 2: where it's it's like I'm not comparing myself to to anybody.
Speaker 2: I'm just you know, I'm just becoming who I believe
Speaker 2: that I meant to be. So I'm super focused and
Speaker 2: you just can't be distracted. Like somebody sent me a
Speaker 2: crazy hate message the other day, like oh uh after
Speaker 2: Doop dog followed me, there was like, oh you think
Speaker 2: you're on that because Snoop Dogg followed you and then
Speaker 2: called me an islander, N word and all this other stuff.
Speaker 1: What.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it was crazy. So I mean I just like, yeah,
Speaker 2: just blocked and kept them moving. You know, I can't
Speaker 2: even pour any energy into that at all.
Speaker 1: Yeah, absolutely not. That is actually insane.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I know, right, But it's crazy that there's people
Speaker 2: out there whose purpose is just so low or none
Speaker 2: existent that like, yeah, they actually have time to like
Speaker 2: create a whole profile with no picture and you know,
Speaker 2: just to troll people or.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's crazy. I mean I think you handled that beautifully,
Speaker 1: but that's just crazy how much your drive can trigger
Speaker 1: somebody you know exactly say something like that.
Speaker 2: That's insane, it's pretty wild. So you know, I just
Speaker 2: try to stay focused. And I think the most dangerous
Speaker 2: person is the person with no purpose.
Speaker 1: No sah, that is a word that's so true, that's
Speaker 1: so true, and seriously, like, well, first of all, I
Speaker 1: think this one is very safe and it's very true
Speaker 1: because I think you have to be aware of and
Speaker 1: it doesn't mean to be paranoid, but just aware of
Speaker 1: people that are envious of even your ability to produce
Speaker 1: certain things. Right because for me, and coming from a
Speaker 1: musical family, I know that certain things, especially when it
Speaker 1: comes to producing music, you either have it or you don't.
Speaker 1: It's not always something you can be taught. Like, yes,
Speaker 1: you can go to a school of music and learn
Speaker 1: the basics and things like that, but as my dad
Speaker 1: would say, some people just have like a feel when
Speaker 1: they're playing or producing music, and it's something that can't
Speaker 1: be emulated, you know. So some persons will see that
Speaker 1: and know they can't take that from you because it's
Speaker 1: God given, and so they figure if they put you
Speaker 1: down enough, maybe you'll start to small up yourself and
Speaker 1: maybe you'll start to say, oh, maybe I'm not that
Speaker 1: great like possible. You know, maybe you know, but they
Speaker 1: don't know they're dealing with Jem and Alio.
Speaker 2: I'm out here, you know, Like I just feel like,
Speaker 2: you know, yeah, people always want to minimize others, especially
Speaker 2: like I said, they don't have purpose. But you got
Speaker 2: to know who you are, even before the world knows
Speaker 2: who you are. I think for me, like what you
Speaker 2: said is super true. Like, yes, you can be gifted,
Speaker 2: and I do believe that I'm gifted, but even more
Speaker 2: than that, I feel like I'm skilled. It's not enough
Speaker 2: to just be gifted, Like you have to take your
Speaker 2: talents and you got to work on them every day
Speaker 2: and refine them and continuously be a student and want
Speaker 2: to grow and like just never stop growing, you know.
Speaker 2: I feel like that's truly where greatness is born, is
Speaker 2: born in isolation. It's it's something my mom always told me,
Speaker 2: heights by great man reach and kept we're not attained
Speaker 2: by sudden flight. But they, while their companions slept, were
Speaker 2: toiling up with through the night. And I feel like
Speaker 2: I ended up taking that so literally, really being up
Speaker 2: all night every night just just putting in work, putting
Speaker 2: in work, putting in work, and putting in ten thousands
Speaker 2: of hours into my craft. So I think even more
Speaker 2: than a technical skill or like playing the piano or
Speaker 2: whatever it is, or I think my greatest gift is
Speaker 2: actually my vision. Like I think that I have the
Speaker 2: ability to see what things can be before they are,
Speaker 2: and I know how to like turn my visions into
Speaker 2: realities and take ideas and put them in a tangible form.
Speaker 2: But I'm always gonna think of like the biggest idea
Speaker 2: and then I'm going to find a way to like
Speaker 2: try to make it happen. And once you do the
Speaker 2: impossible one time, then you realize that, yo, you could
Speaker 2: do it over and over again.
Speaker 1: Absolutely. And I had to literally contain myself because my
Speaker 1: mom is gonna hear this and literally scream yeah, because
Speaker 1: she says that same quote to me literally every other day. Wow,
Speaker 1: that's so crazy. I have to literally like hold like
Speaker 1: allow you to speak because I'm like, that's so crazy.
Speaker 1: You know many people I've said that to when they're like, oh,
Speaker 1: I've never even heard that, really, And I'm like, what,
Speaker 1: my mom says that to me so much that I
Speaker 1: have the whole thing memorized.
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, I'm saying I think my mom used to
Speaker 2: have a hanging on the wall where she wrote it
Speaker 2: on like the back of a you know, she broke
Speaker 2: down a cornflakes box and turned it around and turned
Speaker 2: it into a poster and had it hanging on the
Speaker 2: wall and it was written on there.
Speaker 1: Gosh, although my mom says it to me all the time,
Speaker 1: it's literally one of my favorite quotes because I think
Speaker 1: it just encompasses like who I am as a person,
Speaker 1: like I'm going to work hard, I'm going to achieve
Speaker 1: my goals no matter what. And I think it's just
Speaker 1: so it's just so encouraging, you know what I mean. Like,
Speaker 1: I think it also reminds you that you can't watch people,
Speaker 1: you know. That's something my dad always says, like don't
Speaker 1: watch people or don't want what other people have because
Speaker 1: you never know how they attained it, you know, and
Speaker 1: also you don't know the work that they have to do.
Speaker 1: So even when we were in school, like growing up,
Speaker 1: my parents would say, you know, you see this person
Speaker 1: at this party or this function, you don't know that
Speaker 1: they're probably uplate studying and making sure they have their
Speaker 1: work done. You just see them out and think like, oh,
Speaker 1: they're all about fun. But you better believe they're making
Speaker 1: sure they study. They just don't have to advertise it,
Speaker 1: you know. So yeah, wow, that is so crazy that
Speaker 1: you said that. I rarely hear anybody know that quote.
Speaker 2: Wow.
Speaker 1: That was fun, and now it's time for us to
Speaker 1: talk the real things. So you talked about your mom, right,
Speaker 1: And so I read that major seven isn't just a moniker.
Speaker 1: It's layered. You know, there is a reference to your
Speaker 1: musical journey and the musical reference to the chord, but
Speaker 1: it's also about your mother's journey and your birth. So
Speaker 1: can you explain a little bit more about what that
Speaker 1: means and how that dual meaning has shaped how you
Speaker 1: navigate the world.
Speaker 2: Oh, definitely, I think just knowing that my mom she
Speaker 2: actually well, first of all, when I wanted to come
Speaker 2: up with a musical name, I was thinking, like, y'all
Speaker 2: want something that's both personally meaningful and also has like
Speaker 2: musical context. So the musical context for me was the
Speaker 2: major seventh chord in music theory. And then I thought
Speaker 2: of like, you know how, my mom she actually had
Speaker 2: six miscarriages before I was born, so I was number seven,
Speaker 2: and I thought that was just special in the story
Speaker 2: behind it like she had a vision in church and
Speaker 2: then like to name me Samuel, So my middle name
Speaker 2: is actually Samuel, and like handing the Bible who prayed
Speaker 2: for her son for seven years. And then the number
Speaker 2: seven is just such a significant number just throughout the universe,
Speaker 2: throughout you know, biblically, like it's just a spiritual number
Speaker 2: and like a number of completion. And then me also
Speaker 2: being born in the seventh month of the year, in July,
Speaker 2: and yeah, wo then I actually have my July twenty fifth,
Speaker 2: I actually have my first kid on the way. My
Speaker 2: daughter's supposed to be born on the twenty eighth of July.
Speaker 2: That's her due date, so she might even come on
Speaker 2: my birthday.
Speaker 1: And oh my god, it's so beautiful.
Speaker 2: Her name is thank you. Her name is going to
Speaker 2: be seven.
Speaker 1: I cannot manage. That's so beautiful. And then the fact
Speaker 1: that you're born on the twenty fifth, five plus two
Speaker 1: is seven.
Speaker 2: Oh no, I didn't even think about that part too.
Speaker 2: See that's a whole another seven.
Speaker 1: Oh that's crazy. Wow. Well congratulations. First of all, that's
Speaker 1: great news, and it just goes to show how, like
Speaker 1: you know, you were really meant to do this, to
Speaker 1: be where you are, you know what I mean, because
Speaker 1: that not only that number just surrounding you, but how
Speaker 1: you were brought into this world. I think that's really
Speaker 1: indicative of you having a purpose. Ye you know, you
Speaker 1: talk a lot about your mom and you know her
Speaker 1: resilience and her faith. What does it mean to carry
Speaker 1: her story into rooms that you walk into? Now?
Speaker 2: It means everything. It's funny because even going to Jamaica,
Speaker 2: like one of her favorite artist is bears him. And
Speaker 2: so when I first met Bars, right, Yeah, it's like
Speaker 2: the first question he asked me was like, what does
Speaker 2: what does your name mean? And so I told him
Speaker 2: that story, and then later I facetied my mom and
Speaker 2: I have a whole video of like my mom being
Speaker 2: at work and he's just talking to my mom and
Speaker 2: just just showing love.
Speaker 1: You know. Oh, and it's such a lovely human being.
Speaker 2: It's real.
Speaker 1: Yeah, Oh my gosh, I love that.
Speaker 2: Yeah. So it means a lot to just carry that
Speaker 2: story with me. And I think just you know, the
Speaker 2: things that she taught me, just like exercising those things
Speaker 2: every day, and like I think my mom, matter of fact,
Speaker 2: I think she told me she used to walk seven
Speaker 2: miles to school every day, and like just coming from
Speaker 2: Jamaica to be like the very next generation and to
Speaker 2: be respected, you know by all the heroes of our culture,
Speaker 2: whether it's you know, the Marley family or Sizla or
Speaker 2: Junior Read or all these people that I've had the
Speaker 2: pleasure of just connecting with and being able to contribute
Speaker 2: to the culture that created me. To me, like, that's
Speaker 2: like everything just being you know, one generation of someone
Speaker 2: who was walking seven miles to school and my dad
Speaker 2: who didn't even meet his dad to when when I
Speaker 2: met him at the same time, Yeah, when I was
Speaker 2: going to school in Jamaica. So it's just crazy because
Speaker 2: you know, it's like, you know, just seeing where my
Speaker 2: family came from, my roots are. It puts purpose in
Speaker 2: me every day of just wanting to maximize my opportunity
Speaker 2: and my potential and also my impact.
Speaker 1: I love that. That's such a beautiful story. And you
Speaker 1: said you went to school in Jamaica.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I did. I went to school in Mandivale.
Speaker 1: Oh, oh my gosh, that's where my mom is from.
Speaker 1: Oh that's yes.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I went to Victor Dixon High School for two
Speaker 2: years first and second form.
Speaker 1: I think that's so cool because I had no clue
Speaker 1: that you even went to school there.
Speaker 2: Oh yeah I did.
Speaker 1: That's amazing.
Speaker 2: I was probably some of the most fun times in
Speaker 2: my life.
Speaker 1: Right, school in Jamaica is just like a whole episode
Speaker 1: every day. Yes, I mean no air condition, but yeah,
Speaker 1: definitely a part of it, none of that, yes, yes,
Speaker 1: oh I love that. So, as a young Jamaican creative
Speaker 1: right growing up in the diaspora, what role do you
Speaker 1: think culture played in forming your sense of self? Because
Speaker 1: even though you went to school in Jamaica, you only
Speaker 1: went there for a couple of years, so I gather
Speaker 1: the rest of your you know, childhood, young adulthood was
Speaker 1: in America.
Speaker 2: Yep. Yeah, So I'm from Atlanta, so, like you know,
Speaker 2: Atlanta has a lot of culture too, and a lot
Speaker 2: of music and a lot of all these different things.
Speaker 2: And then and then I was around so much family,
Speaker 2: Like both of my parents are like one of thirteen kids,
Speaker 2: so I have so many uncles and aunts and cousins.
Speaker 2: So I'm constantly surrounded by like Jamaican culture and so
Speaker 2: much music and all these different things. But honestly, in
Speaker 2: my household, you know, it's funny to set number seven again,
Speaker 2: my parents is seven day vent and so like I did.
Speaker 1: Oh my gosh, that's crazy.
Speaker 2: So oh, so he didn't really grow up listening to
Speaker 2: like a lot of like different kinds of music. Like
Speaker 2: a lot of times my parents was playing the same
Speaker 2: tape in the car, flipping it over occasionally out of
Speaker 2: here like some Bob Marley, some Whitney Houston.
Speaker 1: Okay.
Speaker 2: Yeah, There's certain songs that stand out in my oilihood,
Speaker 2: like you Are Not Alone by Michael Jackson and I
Speaker 2: Believe I Could Fly I was one of my favorite
Speaker 2: songs growing up. And then it wasn't until I went
Speaker 2: to Jamaica and where I really started like learning. The
Speaker 2: first person I stayed with was my friend David Campbell.
Speaker 2: He was older than me and so he was probably
Speaker 2: in like fifth form when I was in first form.
Speaker 2: And you know, he comes from a family, like a
Speaker 2: very tech family, so he was always building and breaking
Speaker 2: down his computer. So I learned a lot of my
Speaker 2: technical skills and just my like computer tech savviness just
Speaker 2: from like living with him. And then the next year
Speaker 2: I was staying with Reggie, who was I think he
Speaker 2: was in fifth form at the time when I was
Speaker 2: in second form, and and staying with Reggie he was.
Speaker 2: He was just like such a big fan of hip hop.
Speaker 2: He had all these CDs of like Biggie and Tupac
Speaker 2: and Eminem and like ludaic Is. Like I got into
Speaker 2: so much music and got introduced into like freestyling, and
Speaker 2: someone was like, yo, you have freestyle. Just put on
Speaker 2: the beat, and then everybody started rapping, and I started
Speaker 2: reading the dictionary just to increase my vocabulary, just so
Speaker 2: I could beat everybody in freestyle battles. So it was
Speaker 2: just a whole journey of just like self discovery just
Speaker 2: living in Jamaica. And and then honestly, like it wasn't
Speaker 2: until until I actually produced DJ Kalli's Holy Mountain with
Speaker 2: Buju and Sizzla and Movado, And that's kind of when
Speaker 2: I really started like really looking in the mirror and
Speaker 2: like wanting to tap more into my Jamaican roots because
Speaker 2: it just felt so good to contribute to culture that
Speaker 2: you know, it made me want to like dive in
Speaker 2: even further because it just furthered my purpose and yeah,
Speaker 2: elevated my purpose, and I just felt like there's so
Speaker 2: many things like contribute with the knowledge that I've received,
Speaker 2: even outside of Jamaica, that I could pour into the
Speaker 2: culture while at the same time discovering the culture putting
Speaker 2: the faces to the names, which I never did growing up.
Speaker 2: So I was like always hearing Capleton, but I didn't
Speaker 2: know what he looked like or who he was. So
Speaker 2: it's like I'm going to go record with him and
Speaker 2: I'm listening to studying his music, I'm like, yo, that
Speaker 2: was Capleton the whole time. So now I just know
Speaker 2: so much more. And so it's almost like a self
Speaker 2: discovery project of just like a lot of things that
Speaker 2: I've been doing and focused on within Jamaica and trying
Speaker 2: to just Yeah, it made me just proud of want
Speaker 2: to represent Jamaica on the global scales.
Speaker 1: I love that, and I love that you brought up
Speaker 1: that song because I think that's one of those songs
Speaker 1: that have, you know, that feel. My dad would be
Speaker 1: very proud of me, because that's like his favorite thing
Speaker 1: to say as a musician. But like, you can just
Speaker 1: feel that that was produced by Jamaica, and this is
Speaker 1: before I knew you produced it. Like I could just
Speaker 1: tell there's just something about it, like you can't replicate
Speaker 1: that feeling. I don't really know how to describe it.
Speaker 2: I know what you mean. I mean, honestly really speak
Speaker 2: of my language, because the way I look at music
Speaker 2: is I don't think about how music sounds when I'm
Speaker 2: making music, Like I'm always I'm always like, how does
Speaker 2: it feel? Everything every decision I make is based on
Speaker 2: how something feels versus how it sounds.
Speaker 1: Yeah, And that's how I grew up around music. I mean,
Speaker 1: I grew up around my dad just literally getting with
Speaker 1: you know, some of the best musicians, Uncle Barri's, uncle Tutz,
Speaker 1: and they just start playing and it ends up sounding
Speaker 1: like a hit song. And they're literally just playing like
Speaker 1: they don't plan anything, and it's just like it just
Speaker 1: has this feeling. It just feels authentic. It feels like home.
Speaker 1: That's the best way I can describe it.
Speaker 2: And then when you're able to capture that, people feel
Speaker 2: that frequency when they're listen into it. Because it's captured,
Speaker 2: it's almost like taking a picture. It's a moment in time.
Speaker 1: It can't be doe to technology, yes.
Speaker 2: And so it's just like, you know, I consider creating
Speaker 2: music and then the things that I apply to the music,
Speaker 2: to me that like enhance the feeling. It's almost like
Speaker 2: someone who takes a picture. Now they're editing the photo.
Speaker 2: Now they want to turn up the saturation and they
Speaker 2: want to maybe make it black and white or so.
Speaker 2: It's just like when I'm thinking of like every sound,
Speaker 2: I might capture somebody playing the bass, but I'm thinking, like,
Speaker 2: how do I want it to feel? Do I want
Speaker 2: it to feel vintage? Do I want it to be warm,
Speaker 2: or do I want it to you know, like just
Speaker 2: be very intentional on where it's placed. Like so all
Speaker 2: those things add to the feeling. So I kind of
Speaker 2: see every sound is like a blank canvas, and I'm
Speaker 2: just like coloring it and I'm getting even more detailed.
Speaker 2: I'm zooming in and I'm really like going into my palette,
Speaker 2: mixing colors together and getting it even in between the
Speaker 2: colors just like it might be like very light green,
Speaker 2: or it might be really dark red or you know.
Speaker 1: So I really love that description. I love that you
Speaker 1: can tell say you read dictionary for fun, you know,
Speaker 1: because that's such a really vivid description, like for somebody
Speaker 1: that is not aware of music or how music is
Speaker 1: created for them to picture that, and it's so interesting
Speaker 1: you describe it that same way Because I had Aston
Speaker 1: Barrett Junior on Here a couple of seasons ago, and
Speaker 1: he was talking about the struggle continues, the struggle discontinues,
Speaker 1: I'm sorry that he produced with Damian Marley, and he
Speaker 1: was just explaining, like again, the feel of the music
Speaker 1: and the feel that he wanted to get. And it
Speaker 1: was so funny because it's like I now understand all
Speaker 1: that I'm older. I now understand more of the jargon
Speaker 1: that my dad and my uncles would use when it
Speaker 1: comes to music, because I don't know how to read music.
Speaker 1: I don't know any of that. But when you grow
Speaker 1: up around it, it's like you can just tell that feeling,
Speaker 1: you know what I mean. And I remember I had
Speaker 1: Uncle Sli on here, Sly Dunbar Wow from Sly and Robbie,
Speaker 1: and he was telling me about when he did Punky
Speaker 1: Reggae Party and the drum you know, the drum role
Speaker 1: that he did in the beginning. And it's so funny
Speaker 1: because he was telling me about another song and knowing
Speaker 1: like that that was my dad on the drums. And
Speaker 1: then my dad was telling me about the song and
Speaker 1: knowing like, oh, that's Uncle Sly, Like I knew that
Speaker 1: was him just by listening and I'm like, Dad, how
Speaker 1: do you know that? Like literally, he'll just hear a
Speaker 1: little role and he's like, oh, yeah, that's sly And
Speaker 1: I'm like, oh, do you know that's crazy?
Speaker 2: You want to know it's super crazy too. My mom.
Speaker 2: The other day, my mom texted me this one song.
Speaker 2: I guess it's going viral and it's about like family.
Speaker 2: And then I have a big cousins chat and then
Speaker 2: they sent it in that cousin's chat too, and I
Speaker 2: was and I put the screenshot of what I said
Speaker 2: to my mom. I was like, oh, it's a meaning
Speaker 2: full song. But literally within five seconds, I could tell.
Speaker 2: I could tell. I was like, this sounds like it
Speaker 2: was generated by AI and I could tell. And they
Speaker 2: were like, how can you tell? How do you know that?
Speaker 2: And I could just I just know, you know, like
Speaker 2: I could, I could hear, I could hear the difference,
Speaker 2: so I could feel the difference or I know how
Speaker 2: it would write versus human. Even though it's getting really good,
Speaker 2: don't get me wrong, Like there's some crazy ideas being
Speaker 2: generated with AI, but like I can't even tell, even
Speaker 2: though a lot of people who wouldn't know, but like
Speaker 2: it's literally five seconds within hearing it, I could tell
Speaker 2: I was like, Yo, this sounds like it's generated by AI.
Speaker 2: And then I looked it up and then it was
Speaker 2: but no.
Speaker 1: So talking about feel right, we had such an in
Speaker 1: depth conversation I lost my train of thought. So talking
Speaker 1: about feel when was the first time that you felt
Speaker 1: music move you, not just like something that you liked,
Speaker 1: but something that you felt like this told me like
Speaker 1: this sound or you know, these chords chose me and
Speaker 1: I have to create something.
Speaker 2: Well, before you said I have to create something, it
Speaker 2: immediately what I was thinking of. You know how I
Speaker 2: mentioned some of my favorite songs in my childhood. Like
Speaker 2: as you were speaking, it brought me all the way
Speaker 2: back to like some memory of some apartment we used
Speaker 2: to live in and I'm a little kid, and it's
Speaker 2: a it's like a tape or CD playing and it
Speaker 2: had Michael Jackson's you Are Not Alone the song you
Speaker 2: you know that song, Yeah you are not alone, I'm
Speaker 2: here with you. And just that feeling like it always
Speaker 2: made me feel something. And so like as you're talking,
Speaker 2: I went all the way back into it's like a
Speaker 2: time traveled back to that moment and I could feel
Speaker 2: the feelings that I felt just hearing that song and
Speaker 2: how it like, yeah, it was a comforting song to me.
Speaker 2: You know, I love that, And I think that's what
Speaker 2: music is. It's literally the soundtrack to our lives. And
Speaker 2: that's why, like you know, making music is actually an
Speaker 2: important job. Music. I've literally like had a song called
Speaker 2: Breathe that I played like in a situation where my
Speaker 2: cousin was basically having like a mental breakdown and I
Speaker 2: didn't even really realize he was battling certain things. And
Speaker 2: I had a song called Breathing and just playing he
Speaker 2: was like Yo, played again, be cuz played again. And
Speaker 2: it was like a three hour ride from Portland, Jamaica
Speaker 2: back to Osurius, I think, and it was like I
Speaker 2: just played that song over and over and it calmed
Speaker 2: him down so much, and just realizing like just how
Speaker 2: powerful music is. There's so much power in music. So
Speaker 2: it's good to just know it's a responsibility, you know
Speaker 2: what I'm saying. To create music, you have to know,
Speaker 2: like you know, there's certain frequencies that you could put
Speaker 2: out there, like you could make somebody feel happy, you
Speaker 2: can make somebody feel sad, you could make somebody feel angry,
Speaker 2: like there's so many things that music can do. So
Speaker 2: it's really really really powerful and special at the same
Speaker 2: time to know that, like you're literally creating the soundtrack
Speaker 2: to somebody's life.
Speaker 1: Isn't that something that's so beautifully said? But it's so true,
Speaker 1: Like you have a lot of power, yeah, you know,
Speaker 1: in what you create. And so it also makes me
Speaker 1: want to ask you, is there a project that ever
Speaker 1: made you feel like whoa, like this is bigger than me,
Speaker 1: Like something that reminded you why you even do this
Speaker 1: in the first place?
Speaker 2: Man, I would say there's a few. There's one that
Speaker 2: I'm working on right now called Sometimes I Wonder, And
Speaker 2: basically this is a song that I've actually been like
Speaker 2: producing for like seven years, and I feel like the
Speaker 2: production is done now. It's like an Afro influenced pop song.
Speaker 2: They're also like I had like live Brazilian percussion and
Speaker 2: live horns, and it feels it feels very like it's
Speaker 2: very like reflective and introspective, and it's it's about you know,
Speaker 2: it's about hopes. It's like sometimes I Wonder, there's things
Speaker 2: gonna change, people fade away, all these different things, and
Speaker 2: and so like just doing that song, I had this
Speaker 2: big vision for it, like I could see it being
Speaker 2: like we are the world, like being connected to companies
Speaker 2: like Coca Cola, Disney, the Olympics, the World Cup, like
Speaker 2: it has that feeling. And so I basically like created
Speaker 2: a whole PDF about the vision of how I could
Speaker 2: see this song being used. And I've seen these kids
Speaker 2: in Africa called Nation Infinity Africa and they have almost
Speaker 2: a million followers on Instagram, were probably even more, and
Speaker 2: like they basically are in orphanage, and all these kids
Speaker 2: used dancing as their way to like express themselves. And
Speaker 2: I took a lot of their videos from Instagram and
Speaker 2: I basically like chopped it up and edited it to
Speaker 2: the song to create an overall pitch that I started
Speaker 2: sending out to all these companies and every thing. And
Speaker 2: by doing that, I actually connected directly with that organization.
Speaker 2: And just because of my vision for this song and
Speaker 2: the way that I was able to put my vision
Speaker 2: in a tangible form, now I have like really big
Speaker 2: directors and all these people trying to like literally shoot
Speaker 2: a documentary call sometimes I wonder in And because of that,
Speaker 2: I got invited to a big event for organization that
Speaker 2: has all these schools in Africa and is creating all
Speaker 2: this impact and just so many things have come out
Speaker 2: of it to the point where it's like, now I
Speaker 2: have a nonprofit organization being that just got found it
Speaker 2: called Major Change Initiative. All these different things all because
Speaker 2: of this one song's vision and it's beautiful and it
Speaker 2: just shows how much, like you know, just putting your
Speaker 2: vision in a tangible form and really going all in
Speaker 2: on that vision, you know, it could literally impact the world.
Speaker 2: You know, you could literally change the world. And yeah,
Speaker 2: so that's a project that I'm really proud of. And
Speaker 2: then something that's come out, I would say working with
Speaker 2: Rhapsody Rhapsoy is one of those artists that puts so
Speaker 2: much feeling into her music and like really cares about
Speaker 2: the artific So working with her was a very like
Speaker 2: artful and creative experience. And so she had a song
Speaker 2: called Faith that I felt like was just so special
Speaker 2: the way that record came together and like when it
Speaker 2: and it actually just got nominated for like a BT
Speaker 2: Award in the Inspirational category alongside another song that I
Speaker 2: did called Rain Down on Me with Gloiala and Kirk Franklin.
Speaker 2: Kira shared and Maverick City. So yeah, it's just been
Speaker 2: interesting just just even reading the comments on the song,
Speaker 2: like yo, like this song made me cry, or this
Speaker 2: song made me think about this, or like there's so
Speaker 2: many ways that the song can touch people. You know,
Speaker 2: I've played the song for people and they've cried. Like
Speaker 2: I've literally played music that I've created for people and
Speaker 2: watched grown men cry before. And that's because of the
Speaker 2: feeling that I put into my music. Back to the field,
Speaker 2: It's all about the feeling. And as I'm making this music,
Speaker 2: I'm thinking about how how do I want somebody to
Speaker 2: feel when they hear this? And like I said, every
Speaker 2: decision that I make in the production process is based
Speaker 2: on that.
Speaker 1: Yeah, And you know it's it's so funny because listening
Speaker 1: to your researching the songs that you've produced and then
Speaker 1: listening to them, the most recent one being Sweet Love,
Speaker 1: which is actually what led me to find you so surprisingly,
Speaker 1: I didn't know you produced The Devil is a Lie.
Speaker 1: You know, all those other songs that I've been loving
Speaker 1: Holy Mountain for years, not knowing you were the producer
Speaker 1: on them. But then I thought, now i know, I'm
Speaker 1: not crazy. I knew it had to be a Jamaica
Speaker 1: on that producer, I said, I could feel it in
Speaker 1: my ball.
Speaker 2: Yeah, And I think and I think, like yo, even
Speaker 2: a lot of the new reggae music and like even
Speaker 2: some of the legends, Like I feel like a lot
Speaker 2: of the new reggae music is lost the feeling, you know.
Speaker 2: I think that like it's not being produced the same ways.
Speaker 2: It's not. It's very digital. It's very like you know,
Speaker 2: the way I approach production now is like I'm not
Speaker 2: even programming strings or horns or guitars, like I'm getting
Speaker 2: everything done live. I flew to Spain just to record
Speaker 2: the drums properly with the drum like I'm taking the
Speaker 2: extra model and applying the things that I do and
Speaker 2: even these other genres and when there's bigger budgets and
Speaker 2: all these things, and I'm trying to like take these
Speaker 2: feelings and back to the culture because I want to inspire,
Speaker 2: you know, innovation in the reggae sound and just like
Speaker 2: being able to like bring back that feeling. Let's bring
Speaker 2: the feeling back, and let's let's still innovate it, but
Speaker 2: let's bring that feeling back, you know. So that's that's
Speaker 2: something that I want to push the backing vocals. I
Speaker 2: had the Cold Bust in Amsterdam, Like on those backing vocals.
Speaker 2: Everything about it was about like the feeling and just
Speaker 2: making for sweet love. Yeah yeah, just making sure we
Speaker 2: capture the essence. Yeah, I could tell you like all
Speaker 2: the pieces around the world that came together just for
Speaker 2: sweet Love to happen.
Speaker 1: You know, listen that song. First of all, Berna Boy
Speaker 1: did an excellent job delivering that song. It's cadence, everything
Speaker 1: but the feel of that song. I'm somebody that even
Speaker 1: though I'm a young person, they call me old people
Speaker 1: picnic because I grew up around I told you know,
Speaker 1: I grew up around all my uncles, my dad, That's
Speaker 1: what I grew up around. So I love that like
Speaker 1: rock steady, And I told you this offline that like
Speaker 1: rock steady vibe, that's like that seventies rock steady reggae,
Speaker 1: Like that is my time period for sure, which is
Speaker 1: so crazy to say because clearly I was not even
Speaker 1: thought of during that time, but like that's what I
Speaker 1: grew up around. I feel like that's the time period
Speaker 1: of reggae where it was just feel good music and
Speaker 1: when I heard sweet Love, like that's what I felt.
Speaker 1: It's just the harmonies, the backgrown vocals. It was like, no,
Speaker 1: this has to be produced by Jamaica, Like no way,
Speaker 1: you know what I mean? Like this, nobody else could
Speaker 1: capture this, you know what I mean? So how did
Speaker 1: that come about? Like just getting him to do a
Speaker 1: reggae song? Was that your idea? Was it his idea?
Speaker 2: Like?
Speaker 1: How did that whole thing come together?
Speaker 2: Honestly? I would say like it really started because I
Speaker 2: had another track. I had another record that I did
Speaker 2: with Rhapsode. I was a reggae It started a whole
Speaker 2: thing with me and RHAPSI doing like reggae influenced stuff,
Speaker 2: like reggae fused with hip hop. And so I had
Speaker 2: this one record and everybody wanted it. Like a record
Speaker 2: executive called me and they were literally trying to pay
Speaker 2: me like crazy money for this beat, and I honestly
Speaker 2: didn't want to sell it, just because I believed in
Speaker 2: song that we had and like I'm still planning on
Speaker 2: dropping it and doing something special with it, and so
Speaker 2: they had. What happened was they had a new new
Speaker 2: artist that they signed that wanted to use that beat,
Speaker 2: and I basically was just like, man, I really rock
Speaker 2: with this song. And then they were fighting for that
Speaker 2: song and it was a whole thing and I was
Speaker 2: just like, man, just send me the vocals. I'm gonna
Speaker 2: try something. And so so the original one was kind
Speaker 2: of more like a hip hop fusion and then this
Speaker 2: one just the song just made me go like more
Speaker 2: just fully reggae with it. And when I brought it
Speaker 2: back to them, like nobody really responded. And when I
Speaker 2: went to LA, they kind of slept on it. I'm like, bro,
Speaker 2: I'm telling you, y'all are sleeping on this. So so
Speaker 2: I went to UH. When I went to London, I
Speaker 2: was meeting with Nia Smith at the graduation office and
Speaker 2: Nia was I was just playing stuff and I played
Speaker 2: him that He was like, Yo, send that to me.
Speaker 2: And then you know, he sent it to his team
Speaker 2: and then you know, I got a call and they're like, Yo,
Speaker 2: this is the DOPESTUH reggae record I heard in like
Speaker 2: the last ten years. I sent it to burna Boy
Speaker 2: and he wanted to write write to it. He just
Speaker 2: want to make sure it's available and yeah, and you
Speaker 2: know that's where it all started.
Speaker 1: Wow, Oh that's amazing, and I agree. I agree with him.
Speaker 1: It is like it's just so well done. I don't
Speaker 1: I don't know how else to put it, but like
Speaker 1: it's just it's really well done. I feel like I'm
Speaker 1: just gonna say it here first, it's giving Grammy nomination. Hey,
Speaker 1: you know it is. It is honestly, like it's so
Speaker 1: well done. I mean, all of your stuff is well done,
Speaker 1: but you know that reggae influence, I feel like it's
Speaker 1: very strong. Yeah, in Sweet Love for sure.
Speaker 2: Yeah. And I think it's just like me having these
Speaker 2: authentic pieces, like just to just to talk a little
Speaker 2: bit of the production process. So I started, like you know,
Speaker 2: just taking the old drums off the song and taking
Speaker 2: the a cappella and and I got in with my
Speaker 2: bass player, Jerks. He's like the dopest when it comes
Speaker 2: to like reggae bass. He's played for Damian Marley, he's
Speaker 2: played for Chronics, all these people, and so he moved
Speaker 2: to Atlanta, so we connected. So I Hadham come over
Speaker 2: and we basically started started it off just like you know,
Speaker 2: building that chord progression just off the off of the bassline,
Speaker 2: and then after the after we laid the bass to
Speaker 2: these rough drums. I send it to my drummer in Spain.
Speaker 2: His name is Joanne. He's really dope showing the reggae drummer.
Speaker 2: And then I literally pulled up on Spain like and
Speaker 2: we recorded some crazy drums. I loved his sonics and
Speaker 2: the way that he captures the drums, and so that's
Speaker 2: like those textures are important to me, you know, and
Speaker 2: the way that you capture it is the difference between like,
Speaker 2: you know, taking a picture on iPhone versus like having
Speaker 2: a very high end camera and knowing how to use it,
Speaker 2: and like, you know, just the difference of that. So
Speaker 2: those things are important parts to me. Then I basically
Speaker 2: played the keys on there, and I found a keyboard
Speaker 2: player named Luke in Jamaica and I and I really
Speaker 2: had hired him to just replay what I did, but
Speaker 2: I wanted that feel. I wanted the authentic feel of
Speaker 2: someone who's alive playing reggae musicians. I was like, Yo,
Speaker 2: replay the keys, but here's the cords and give me
Speaker 2: that shuffle and give me the organs. And then so
Speaker 2: he did such a great job on that. Even though
Speaker 2: I hired him on it, it just like I pretty
Speaker 2: much added him to my team and we did some
Speaker 2: much stuff since then, and uh yeah and yeah, and
Speaker 2: then I even gave him publishing on the record everything,
Speaker 2: and so like he's really a part of my team now.
Speaker 2: And then I sent it to Bruce Beats in Miami.
Speaker 2: I had Bruce write some horn arrangements to it. Then
Speaker 2: I sent it to my other horned player, wat Him.
Speaker 2: So Bruce plays the trumpet, so now wak him. He
Speaker 2: plays every horn, so now he layers it with the
Speaker 2: trombone and all these different parts. And then I'll send
Speaker 2: it to the Cold Bus in Amsterdam and precious wisely
Speaker 2: and they come up with these I describe like the
Speaker 2: vibe that I'm going for with the backing vocals, and
Speaker 2: then you know, they put that together and it's just
Speaker 2: it's just a beautiful combination of just just me, like
Speaker 2: combining the special the specialist, you know, like the best
Speaker 2: the strength of everybody for the vision of the song.
Speaker 2: And yeah, so that's how I try to really produce everything.
Speaker 2: I think it's it. I really try to capture that feeling.
Speaker 2: And then even when I get all the pieces, it's
Speaker 2: like now it's time to color them, Like how do
Speaker 2: I mix the horns to where they feel like this?
Speaker 2: How do I mix the bass to where it feels
Speaker 2: like this, how do I So it's not just about
Speaker 2: capturing it. It's like now you have to color it.
Speaker 2: Like to me, like when I'm just capturing it, it's
Speaker 2: literally like having like a coloring book before you apply
Speaker 2: to color, you know. And then you really just got
Speaker 2: to sit.
Speaker 1: With you man, you and these analogies are like a
Speaker 1: one I thank you, and then you just got to
Speaker 1: take the best of the best, the best parts of
Speaker 1: the performance, the best parts of the arrangement, the best
Speaker 1: parts of you know, figuring out how things work together,
Speaker 1: creating space.
Speaker 2: And you know something that somebody said to me, my
Speaker 2: friend Willie lytton the day he first met me. He
Speaker 2: was just like, yo, when you hear my music, he said,
Speaker 2: I love the way you use negative space, and that
Speaker 2: always stuck with me. I was just like, when I
Speaker 2: thought about that, it made me realize that, you know,
Speaker 2: the way that you use sound and noise is just
Speaker 2: as important as the way you use silence, Like silence
Speaker 2: can be just as impactful and just as colorful as sound.
Speaker 1: You know, Yes, and that could have so wow, that
Speaker 1: could have so many different meanings. I think, Yeah, that's wow.
Speaker 1: That you might need to put that on a T
Speaker 1: shirt because that seriously, like that could have That's a
Speaker 1: whole other episode that could have so many different meanings.
Speaker 1: But I think that's very profound honestly, when you're producing, right,
Speaker 1: especially for a lot of mainstream artists, how do you
Speaker 1: protect your cultural integrity? You know, like you said, with
Speaker 1: having that song and them wanting it, but you knowing
Speaker 1: that you want it to be with you know this
Speaker 1: person or have this kind of song while still even
Speaker 1: adapting to an evolving global zone, right, because you're not
Speaker 1: a reggae producer, you're a producer of music.
Speaker 2: It's like, exactly, even further than that, I feel like
Speaker 2: I'm just an artist. I'm just a creator, you know, exactly, Yeah,
Speaker 2: even deeper than that, because the same creativity that I
Speaker 2: apply to my music, I'm going to apply that creativity
Speaker 2: when I'm doing business. I do the same thing when
Speaker 2: I'm networking. I'm a network created creatively. When I'm speaking,
Speaker 2: I'm gonna speak creatively, Like no matter what I'm doing,
Speaker 2: I want to I want to apply my gifts and
Speaker 2: apply my creativity to it, and my work ethic and
Speaker 2: all these different things. So I think it's I think
Speaker 2: being an artist is something that you just are you.
Speaker 1: Know, yeah, yeah, But how do you protect that though,
Speaker 1: because somebody could say, oh, well, you know, we don't
Speaker 1: do you know, classic reggae songs like that, you know,
Speaker 1: but you want to protect your cultural integrity, want just
Speaker 1: in a certain way.
Speaker 2: I would say, like, the way I protect it is
Speaker 2: just by living by a model that I have, which
Speaker 2: is building over chasing, Like I don't think I'm really
Speaker 2: chasing anything, so I'm not afraid to be like, nah,
Speaker 2: I don't even want to do that, or I'm not
Speaker 2: chasing anything, or somebody could want me to do something
Speaker 2: and I'm focused on this, so they could try to
Speaker 2: even stare people have There's been people, big producers who
Speaker 2: will stare me away from reggae or try to stare
Speaker 2: me away from the culture because they're just like all
Speaker 2: the people in it, or the business is different, or
Speaker 2: it's not enough money in it, or it's not enough
Speaker 2: you know, like you know, you're going to make more
Speaker 2: money doing this, and and some of those things could
Speaker 2: actually be true, but I feel like the way that
Speaker 2: I'm able to do that is just, you know, I
Speaker 2: don't make music for money, y'all. Like, I do it
Speaker 2: because it's art. I do it because I care about
Speaker 2: the art. And yes, of course you all want to
Speaker 2: make money from it and do great and all that stuff,
Speaker 2: but like, that's not the driving force of why I
Speaker 2: did music. It was always something that was about helping
Speaker 2: my family. It was about it was about love, it
Speaker 2: was about being great. It was about maximizing my potential.
Speaker 2: It was about impacting the world. It's about inspiring others,
Speaker 2: inspiring greatness and you know, setting an example. My dad
Speaker 2: always told me be a leader, not a follower.
Speaker 1: So I think, just like walking On, I have the
Speaker 1: same parents. We need to do a DNA test because
Speaker 1: we have the same parents. I'm so sorry to interrupt you,
Speaker 1: but I literally when you said that, I said, no,
Speaker 1: this wrap up the podcast.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm crying. That's crazy.
Speaker 1: Yeah, but no, yeah, that's so true. I'm sorry. I
Speaker 1: normally don't intern.
Speaker 2: No, you're good.
Speaker 1: That's so crazy because my dad says exact same thing.
Speaker 2: Wow, that is that is kind of crazy. Nah, but
Speaker 2: it's true. It really is true. So I feel like
Speaker 2: that's really how you protect the integrity, Like you just
Speaker 2: gotta you gotta know who you are and what you
Speaker 2: stand for you know, like like even as I'm talking,
Speaker 2: I see, uh, I see next to my name Major
Speaker 2: seven the pictures, there's no picture there. It's all black.
Speaker 2: And as I'm talking, the vocal on the meter is
Speaker 2: green and then I see yallow. So just looking at that,
Speaker 2: I see I see the colors of Jamaica. You know
Speaker 2: what I'm saying. It's who I am, and I see it.
Speaker 2: I see it everywhere I see it. I see the
Speaker 2: connection between everything. And it's just like looking at the
Speaker 2: game from bird's eye view and just knowing who you are,
Speaker 2: knowing what you stand for, knowing what your vision is,
Speaker 2: knowing where you're going, because honestly, like you have to
Speaker 2: know who you are before the world does, like you know,
Speaker 2: they learn who you are. You have to know who
Speaker 2: you are, yep.
Speaker 1: And that's the only way you can stay on your
Speaker 1: path because people are going to try to throw you
Speaker 1: off your path, but.
Speaker 2: All the time know who you are.
Speaker 1: It will be very difficult to do that all the time, Yes,
Speaker 1: for sure. Okay, last two questions before we get to
Speaker 1: our final segment, although two more hours. So one of
Speaker 1: your most known productions, The Devil is a Lie. Rick
Speaker 1: Ross and Jay Z how did that come about? You know,
Speaker 1: where were you mentally and musically at the time, and
Speaker 1: was that Did you know it would be such a
Speaker 1: big song at the time when you produce the track.
Speaker 2: Honestly, at that time, I was basically just I think
Speaker 2: I was just getting out of college. I was trying
Speaker 2: to figure I was trying to figure out just trying
Speaker 2: to figure out life, you know, and I was still
Speaker 2: like giving my all the music, just sacrificing everything possible.
Speaker 2: And and the way the record happened, you know, it
Speaker 2: was actually a bit of controversy around that record because
Speaker 2: like a producer, I know, actually try to you know,
Speaker 2: finesse and really steal to beat and take the credit.
Speaker 2: So it came out in a crazy way, and it
Speaker 2: was like kind of a big thing, but it was
Speaker 2: kind of the start of my career and really the
Speaker 2: end of his, to be honest, and so like at
Speaker 2: that time, I had r and B legend. Keith Sweat,
Speaker 2: he was he was very like he became aware of
Speaker 2: my talent. He was believing in me, and so I
Speaker 2: called him for advice because at one point they were
Speaker 2: actually trying to finesse me out the track that other producer,
Speaker 2: so this is what happened. He knew that I had
Speaker 2: absolutely nothing as far as as far as money goes,
Speaker 2: because I always had everything, you know what I'm saying.
Speaker 2: But he thought I had nothing, you know. And because
Speaker 2: of that, he tried to call me and be like, yo,
Speaker 2: I'm trying to look out for you. I know that
Speaker 2: you need some bread. And so I had somebody, an
Speaker 2: indie client, who wants to buy this beat from me.
Speaker 2: You just gotta basically do the paperwork and they're gonna
Speaker 2: give you three grand for this beat. So this time,
Speaker 2: I have absolutely nothing, like I've never made money ever
Speaker 2: in life, and three grand sounded like amazing, you know,
Speaker 2: It's like life changing at that time. And my friend
Speaker 2: was literally going to give me a ride to go
Speaker 2: pick up that money. And I sat there in the
Speaker 2: car before we started go ahead and there, and I
Speaker 2: played the beat one more time and I was just like, man,
Speaker 2: he think I should sell this beat? And he was
Speaker 2: like we actually talked about it the other day, and yeah,
Speaker 2: he was just like yo. I was telling you, like, bro,
Speaker 2: are you crazy? Get that money? And da da da da,
Speaker 2: And I literally played the beat. I called Keith, I
Speaker 2: sent it to him and then I think he was like, Yo,
Speaker 2: it sounds like it could be something. I listened to
Speaker 2: it again and I literally told him. I told my friend,
Speaker 2: I said, I said, I could hear Rick Ross, jay
Speaker 2: Z and two Chains on this beat. Like I'm not
Speaker 2: gonna sell it, you know what I'm saying. And I didn't.
Speaker 2: And I didn't even know those were the intentions of
Speaker 2: somebody else until way down the line. But I had
Speaker 2: this just delusional belief in myself and just like I
Speaker 2: know my and that's what taught me, like, yo, I
Speaker 2: have the gift division because you know that that song
Speaker 2: was inspired by you know, even me watching the movie Jangle.
Speaker 2: When I think about when I was making that beat
Speaker 2: and I heard that part of the sample, it immediately
Speaker 2: made me think of what I was seeing when I
Speaker 2: was watching Jangle and how it felt to be in
Speaker 2: that setting, and like I'm I'm trying to like capture
Speaker 2: the feeling of that movie as I'm making that beat,
Speaker 2: and so like I think Rick Ross actually had a
Speaker 2: song in that movie, and that's probably what made me think, like, yo,
Speaker 2: I could hear Rick Ross, jay Z and even two Chains,
Speaker 2: because like it has that like Mike like sophisticated ignorance
Speaker 2: and and like I always felt that way. And what's
Speaker 2: crazy was I was driving home one day too after
Speaker 2: the song came out, and I heard a DJ actually
Speaker 2: on the radio playing like remixing it with two changed
Speaker 2: vocals on there, and I heard it one time ever
Speaker 2: in my life. And then I found which I found
Speaker 2: the video clips. I tried to record it, but I
Speaker 2: was driving and I caught the end where I heard
Speaker 2: the DJ's name and actually just connected with the DJ recently.
Speaker 2: I think his name was Jalyn. I think it was
Speaker 2: a Jamaican DJ too, which is crazy in Atlanta, and
Speaker 2: I messaged him and I told him that story. And
Speaker 2: so it's just crazy because it's like, you know, the
Speaker 2: things that I believe, I'm able to see them before
Speaker 2: they actually manifest a lot of times. And people even
Speaker 2: asked me when I meet celebrities, They're like, yo, are
Speaker 2: you ever nervous? Do you get starstruck? And I always
Speaker 2: answer this question like this, I'm always like, honestly, that's
Speaker 2: where I feel most at home. I feel most comfortable
Speaker 2: because I've I've visualized these moments so much in my
Speaker 2: mind that it's like when I get there, I feel
Speaker 2: like I belong there. I put in so much work
Speaker 2: that I know that I belong there, and so when
Speaker 2: I'm actually in those rooms, it's where I feel the
Speaker 2: most comfortable. That's like that's home, you know, it's where
Speaker 2: I belong.
Speaker 1: I love that. WHOA, what's a way to take something
Speaker 1: negative or someone's attempts at you know, stopping your purpose?
Speaker 1: And see that's the thing that people don't realize. And
Speaker 1: you said something so key, this guy, whoever this guy is,
Speaker 1: thought you had nothing yep, right, But what people don't
Speaker 1: realize is when you're covered by God and when God
Speaker 1: has certain plans for you, you know, like we're say
Speaker 1: in Jamaica, who God blessed, no man cursed for real?
Speaker 1: You know, nobody can stop that. And I love hearing
Speaker 1: stories like that because to me, it just proves why
Speaker 1: you might think that you can stop somebody from prospering,
Speaker 1: but you don't.
Speaker 2: Have that posblem even without me knowing, somebody was on
Speaker 2: a full on mission to destroy, full mission and I'm
Speaker 2: not even knowing. I'm not even knowing whatsoever. So it's
Speaker 2: just kind of crazy that it played out the way
Speaker 2: that it played out. And you know, yeah, since then,
Speaker 2: that song has done so much things and for me
Speaker 2: to have seen it in a movie. And then that
Speaker 2: song get is licensed in Black Mass movie trailer with
Speaker 2: Johnny Depp. It's been in like stuff for ESPN, and
Speaker 2: it's been in stuff. It was in the Monkey Man movie.
Speaker 2: It just got licensed again and they're paying big money
Speaker 2: every time they license it. So I know that like
Speaker 2: the feeling, thank you, the feeling that I wanted to
Speaker 2: capture when after watching Jango and having that vision, you know,
Speaker 2: it just shows that that the impossible is only a
Speaker 2: matter of you know, trying and never giving up and
Speaker 2: just keep on believing in it and not just believing,
Speaker 2: but put putting action behind the.
Speaker 1: Belief, you know, right, because faith without works is dead, right,
Speaker 1: And it's such a perfect title, The Devil is Alive.
Speaker 1: Couldn't stop omar.
Speaker 2: I really got the irony in the in the title, right, like.
Speaker 1: Yes, oh my gosh, what's a beautiful story. I love
Speaker 1: hearing stuff like that. Love it. This episode is going
Speaker 1: to come out in June, probably like the first week
Speaker 1: of June, and it's also Caribbean American Heritage Month, yep,
Speaker 1: So I thought I would ask you, what do you
Speaker 1: want the world to understand about the role of Caribbean influence,
Speaker 1: not just in music, but in shaping global culture.
Speaker 2: I would say that, like the Caribbean definitely impacts the world,
Speaker 2: especially just even just being Jamaican. You know, I've seen
Speaker 2: how reggae music is so big in other places, Like
Speaker 2: I remember when I went to Japan with Sizla. I
Speaker 2: had no.
Speaker 1: Idea I love reggae, Oh my gosh, yeah.
Speaker 2: I had no idea. And I went all over Japan
Speaker 2: and seeing like people who speak English as if it's
Speaker 2: pat to, well, like they learn English through pat and yeah,
Speaker 2: it's like they don't know how to some of some
Speaker 2: of them don't even know how to say anything but
Speaker 2: bless up, bless up, and they're talking like Jamaicans, you know.
Speaker 2: So it just goes to show like how powerful, you know,
Speaker 2: island culture is. I see, like even a lot of
Speaker 2: the dances, everything, you know, it could stem from just
Speaker 2: a small island and impact the world. And I think
Speaker 2: that just goes to show, you know, how powerful our
Speaker 2: culture is because and how powerful we can be. Like
Speaker 2: it's an example, it's the perfect example of you know,
Speaker 2: you know, just being one in billions of people on
Speaker 2: this earth and being able to do something that reaches
Speaker 2: millions and billions of people is just insane to just
Speaker 2: come from an individual or just how Jamaica is just
Speaker 2: such a small place but could have global impact And
Speaker 2: isn't that something It's really a lesson in it that
Speaker 2: you know, it doesn't matter where you start, you could
Speaker 2: really impact the world as long as you're doing something
Speaker 2: unique and authentic. And I think that's what the Caribbean
Speaker 2: and Jamaica and particular thrives on. You know, I feel
Speaker 2: like we're very unique and so like the things that
Speaker 2: are just natural and just obvious to us, is or
Speaker 2: normal for us, is cool to everybody else, you know,
Speaker 2: just our swag. We have natural swag, our confidence, the
Speaker 2: way we talk. Everybody wants to talk like us, wants
Speaker 2: to look like us, wants to be cool like us,
Speaker 2: you know what I'm saying. So yeah, so I think
Speaker 2: it's true. And to us, it's like sometimes we don't
Speaker 2: even understand how special we are and how much impact
Speaker 2: that we have. So it's also, like I said, a
Speaker 2: responsibility because we set the trends of the world.
Speaker 1: You know, beautifully said all right, So before we transition
Speaker 1: to our final segment, I've been allowing my guests to
Speaker 1: ask me one question this season because you guys don't
Speaker 1: normally get to ask it. Oh really, so is there
Speaker 1: anything you'd like to ask me?
Speaker 2: Hmm, I wasn't prepared for this. Let's see.
Speaker 1: That's the point. You got to think on your feet.
Speaker 2: Yeah, all right, cool. Well I told you I used
Speaker 2: to read the Dictionary freestyle, so it shouldn't take me
Speaker 2: too long to come up with something. Listen. I just
Speaker 2: want to come up with a really good question. All right,
Speaker 2: all right, I got you. I got you. What do
Speaker 2: you feel like? What is your vision? And what do
Speaker 2: you feel like your gift is and where do you
Speaker 2: see it have an impact? Like what's most important to you?
Speaker 2: What's your what's your what is your why? And what
Speaker 2: is your goal?
Speaker 1: Oh? I love that can tell you read the Dictionary?
Speaker 2: Yes, so.
Speaker 1: I would say, wow, that's such a layered question. So
Speaker 1: I think my gift is being a mirror for people
Speaker 1: and remind people of their worth. I think that that's
Speaker 1: my gift because I grew up in an immediate family
Speaker 1: with parents that constantly did that and do that for me.
Speaker 1: So I almost look at it as like somebody that
Speaker 1: grows up with a lot of money, right, Like, let's
Speaker 1: use that analogy. I'm not as good as you as
Speaker 1: an analogies, but I'll try. Right, So, if you grow
Speaker 1: up with a lot of money, let's say, like you're
Speaker 1: a Hilton or something, right, you might feel like I
Speaker 1: would like to give back because there's so many people
Speaker 1: in this world that don't have a lot of money.
Speaker 1: So if I could, you know, donate to a charity,
Speaker 1: if I could, you know, help the homeless, do something
Speaker 1: because I have this abundance of money, Well, I grew
Speaker 1: up with an abundance of love and with a mother
Speaker 1: and father. Particularly as a woman, it's important to have
Speaker 1: a father that constantly reminds me every day, co great
Speaker 1: I am, how beautiful I am not only on the
Speaker 1: outside but on the inside. And yeah, and it doesn't
Speaker 1: make me arrogant. It makes me grateful, you know what
Speaker 1: I mean? Because I know that's not normal. And I
Speaker 1: only know that, No, it's not. Until I got older,
Speaker 1: I realized, Wait, everybody's parents don't call them a hundred
Speaker 1: times a day and tell them they're so proud of
Speaker 1: them and very encourage them. Yeah, Like I thought that
Speaker 1: was normal until I got older, and I thought, wait,
Speaker 1: this is the exception, not the rule.
Speaker 2: You know.
Speaker 1: So when I created this podcast, you know, I created
Speaker 1: it for a myriad of reasons, but the real goal
Speaker 1: was to have Caribbean persons and initially listen to it
Speaker 1: and feel seen, you know, so whether they're hearing somebody
Speaker 1: else say something they can relate to, or me saying
Speaker 1: something they can relate to and feel like, oh, that's
Speaker 1: a Jamaica, that's a Caribbean person. Like I can do
Speaker 1: that too, you see what I did then, But no,
Speaker 1: I think, like that's definitely it. And I think much
Speaker 1: like you, and I think I get it from my
Speaker 1: maternal grandmother. I can like feel people's energy. I feel
Speaker 1: like every guest I've had on this podcast, you included,
Speaker 1: I feel like God or my grandmother because she's past now,
Speaker 1: has sent them to me because they end up saying
Speaker 1: something that I need to hear, even as a host,
Speaker 1: you know what I mean, Or just like in this conversation,
Speaker 1: I usually never interrupt people, but everything you were saying,
Speaker 1: I'm like, oh my gosh, like how do you know that?
Speaker 1: Or how do you you know what I mean? And
Speaker 1: it's I don't think it's a coincidence that certain persons
Speaker 1: end up coming to talk to me. I also, and
Speaker 1: I say this probably every episode. I take it very
Speaker 1: seriously that people who are strangers to me trust me
Speaker 1: to ask them anything I want, you know, never ask
Speaker 1: me what are you going to ask me? What are
Speaker 1: you going to say? I need to know beforehand. I mean,
Speaker 1: I've had Deborah cox on here, I've had Uncle Sly,
Speaker 1: I've had so many different people that could very well
Speaker 1: say what are you going to ask me? Because I
Speaker 1: don't want to be asked anything crazy, And it's like
Speaker 1: it must be I assume something about me that they
Speaker 1: trust me because I could be asking you anything, you
Speaker 1: know what I mean. I don't take that like lightly,
Speaker 1: and I'm very aware of like the questions I ask.
Speaker 1: And I just want people to leave after recording this
Speaker 1: episode and feel good about what they've accomplished and prode. So, yeah,
Speaker 1: hopefully that answered your question.
Speaker 2: That's amazing. Thank you, Thank you very You do a
Speaker 2: great job at what you do. This is very easy.
Speaker 2: You're easy to talk to.
Speaker 1: Oh, thank you. So many people say that and it
Speaker 1: makes me feel so good. And I'm a bad girl,
Speaker 1: but sometimes I feel like crying, but I can't cry
Speaker 1: because yeah, bad gilting, but no, I really do appreciate that.
Speaker 1: That really really means a lot. All Right, So the
Speaker 1: last segment, don't be scared. I'm going to ask you.
Speaker 1: I'm going to ask you six rapid fire questions, and
Speaker 1: I want you to answer with the first thing that
Speaker 1: comes to mind. So just one word or one sentence,
Speaker 1: all right, all right, cool, all right? What's one sound
Speaker 1: or rhythm that instantly transports you back to Jamaica.
Speaker 2: I would say, uh, horns, ooh.
Speaker 1: And I normally don't ask follow up questions, but I'm
Speaker 1: curious why.
Speaker 2: I think that there's so many iconic songs in Jamaica
Speaker 2: that have like great horns and horn sections and like
Speaker 2: even just the introductions. Like I feel like reggae music
Speaker 2: has so many special intros. I could almost like tell
Speaker 2: if I'm a sample of old reggae song just off
Speaker 2: of the intro. There's so many great intros to songs
Speaker 2: in reggae music. Yes, and I think a lot of them,
Speaker 2: a lot of them have like really great horn lines
Speaker 2: and the texture of the horns. It just feels so
Speaker 2: triumph in, very very unique. So I always always love
Speaker 2: incorporating horns into into reggae music.
Speaker 1: I love that And if you like horns, if you
Speaker 1: haven't heard it already, you should listen to the horns
Speaker 1: in Reggae got sold by Tomato instantly made me think
Speaker 1: of yes I will. It instantly made me think of that.
Speaker 1: And my It's funny because my my instrument is drums,
Speaker 1: obviously because of my dad. So I think of the
Speaker 1: drum roll in Punky Reggae Party and then bass too
Speaker 1: fly and the bass.
Speaker 2: Bas and drum is so important.
Speaker 1: Regular my family man yep, yep, the base two in
Speaker 1: that and then the drum solo in the beginning of
Speaker 1: everything I own by Uncle ken ken Booth, which is
Speaker 1: my dad. So I think that's how I think of
Speaker 1: drums too. But yeah, no, I'll definitely.
Speaker 2: Send you put yes for sure. All right.
Speaker 1: Next question, if you could have dinner with anybody alive
Speaker 1: or deceased, who would it be and why it will be?
Speaker 2: Tupac? Yeah, that was my That was my initial answer. Damn.
Speaker 2: And that was such a quick answer. I really didn't
Speaker 2: think this.
Speaker 1: Oh my god, I was surprised. Definitely, people like take
Speaker 1: a breath.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I definitely answered that super quick. But the reason
Speaker 2: do it again if you want. But the reason why
Speaker 2: I said Tupac, Yeah, okay, I mean, I'll probably do
Speaker 2: it again. But like the reason why I said Tupac
Speaker 2: for real is because, like, like when I was living
Speaker 2: in Jamaica that second year, like I listened to so
Speaker 2: much Tupac and I loved how like artistic he was,
Speaker 2: how poetic, how like the things that he stood for,
Speaker 2: like he really stood for things and and and it
Speaker 2: just went off for principles. But man, there's there's honestly
Speaker 2: so much people like I almost have it. And it's
Speaker 2: in different categories. It depends on what I'm really trying
Speaker 2: to gain. But yes, yeah, because if it's about music,
Speaker 2: that's one thing I'm gonna be like Yoney Houston, Michael Jackson,
Speaker 2: Bob Marley, Like it's people like that that I'm gonna
Speaker 2: think of. But if it's just about in general, man,
Speaker 2: I might want to talk to Jesus. No am, I.
Speaker 1: I'm for real, that might be the best answer that.
Speaker 2: And if not Jesus, I might say King Solomon because
Speaker 2: he the wisest right.
Speaker 1: Said please to let me talk to Jesus or one
Speaker 1: of the man dames because yea, oh my gosh, that
Speaker 1: is such a brilliant answer.
Speaker 2: I I'm crying.
Speaker 1: I think I think that beats Tupac. I mean, you're
Speaker 1: not good for that, but for sure, Oh my gosh, Okay,
Speaker 1: I have to get myself together. That's hilarious.
Speaker 2: All right.
Speaker 1: What is your favorite Jamaican food?
Speaker 2: Ox tail, rice and peace?
Speaker 1: My gosh, everybody love everybody's favorite. I can't even Okay,
Speaker 1: let me ask you a follow up question, and I
Speaker 1: normally don't, but I have to ask if you had
Speaker 1: to choose, you had to choose your life was on
Speaker 1: the line between ox tail and rice and peace or
Speaker 1: I can sell fish.
Speaker 2: It's an easy ox tail.
Speaker 1: Really, yeah, it's the easy for me.
Speaker 2: At least I'm not that. I mean, yeah, I love
Speaker 2: acting and selfish and you know, the breakfast acting. I mean,
Speaker 2: I'm not a big breakfast person like that. That's when
Speaker 2: I was like, yo, you might hear my stomach ground
Speaker 2: or something, because it's like I'll just get up and
Speaker 2: just go you know what I'm saying. I get up,
Speaker 2: just get my day started, and I'll start working. And yeah,
Speaker 2: so I don't really eat breakfast a lot of time,
Speaker 2: but I do love acting softish. But it's like, what's
Speaker 2: that hunger. It's just like, man, I could use the
Speaker 2: oxtail right now, you feel me?
Speaker 1: Oh my gosh. I had CJ. Milan on here and
Speaker 1: she produced Vibes Cartels show at the Barclays and she
Speaker 1: said the fate the same exact thing. She said, Ash,
Speaker 1: I have oxtail and rice and peas at least once
Speaker 1: a week. I said, but CJ. Your chest high once
Speaker 1: a week.
Speaker 2: It's like it's like eating a steak man, like, like,
Speaker 2: oh my gosh, it's a that's a high end meal
Speaker 2: in Jamaica.
Speaker 1: What you mean it is your chest? I have to
Speaker 1: be real high to have that so often. But yeah, okay, no,
Speaker 1: that's that's an expected answer. But I just had to
Speaker 1: ask why. All right, two more questions. What is hm hmm.
Speaker 1: What's your most fond memory of Mandeville.
Speaker 2: It was one day immediately this memory came up. It
Speaker 2: was one day where one of the older people think
Speaker 2: it was cam She had came into school on a
Speaker 2: day she was off, but she came in to get
Speaker 2: something from school, and you know, like Victor Dixon has
Speaker 2: like a gate at the front, so it's like you
Speaker 2: can't yeah, basically, uh, and I basically snuck out of
Speaker 2: school with a couple of my friends. I think it
Speaker 2: was a melody and maybe LeVar and we literally snuck
Speaker 2: out in the trunk of the car and like it
Speaker 2: went to like.
Speaker 1: A guy, this is just a story. Don't skull class
Speaker 1: please and thanks.
Speaker 2: Nah. Definitely definitely was wild when wild in my Jamaica days.
Speaker 2: It was a fun time. Yeah, it was adventure. Yeah,
Speaker 2: so that the time I skipped school and and uh
Speaker 2: left in the trunk either that time. Man, dang, I'm
Speaker 2: getting too many memories. I done thought it like two more.
Speaker 1: Now, Yeah, tell me, I want to know.
Speaker 2: I'll tell you the last one after, Okay. But yeah,
Speaker 2: so it was another time where they was having a
Speaker 2: big event at school and I think they was in
Speaker 2: like the auditorium or the chapel or whatever. And so
Speaker 2: because there's the fence around the whole school, we basically
Speaker 2: like me and my friends ran across the football field
Speaker 2: and went up the hill through the trees and everything,
Speaker 2: and then basically went up to like NCU because like
Speaker 2: Northern Caribbe University is like right up the street basically,
Speaker 2: and so we went up there and we tried to
Speaker 2: go into the store that's over there and then we
Speaker 2: saw a teacher and then the teacher literally started chasing
Speaker 2: us like around this like big water pump thing. It was.
Speaker 2: It was crazy, the teacher was chasing Nah, we definitely
Speaker 2: got got no. I wasn't safe at all, and we
Speaker 2: got a big, big trouble. Man. I think like they
Speaker 2: beat us and everything. And then we had like I
Speaker 2: think I had a rite, Like I forgot how many
Speaker 2: lines I had to write.
Speaker 1: Like it was like, yes, people in the American school
Speaker 1: system don't.
Speaker 2: I don't know about none of that. I don't know
Speaker 2: about none of that. But yeah, those memories came. Man.
Speaker 2: I actually had it for a long time. But when
Speaker 2: I went to Jamaica late last year, yeah, I was
Speaker 2: I had an opportunity to just like ride out with
Speaker 2: some friends. Yeah, and I just got to see Mandival
Speaker 2: really quickly. It wasn't it wasn't a long time, yeah,
Speaker 2: but it was just a very short ride. I also
Speaker 2: with like artists, uh, Stephanie saint Comb and Chelsea and
Speaker 2: McCoy and the whole crew. They I met them out
Speaker 2: there when I met Barris and then they just basically
Speaker 2: invited me they was going to OCHI. So I was like, yo,
Speaker 2: I about to go see my family and everything. And
Speaker 2: then they was like, yo, I'm stopping at Manival And
Speaker 2: that made me just want to go on that little
Speaker 2: road trips so bad, just because I hadn't seen Mandibal
Speaker 2: and so on, and I really only got to see
Speaker 2: it for like a quick second, okay, but just that
Speaker 2: one little split second of even like seeing the church
Speaker 2: I used to go to there being more built up
Speaker 2: and stuff. It brought back a lot of memories and
Speaker 2: a lot of nostalgia. So I really want to go
Speaker 2: back there and spend a little bit more time and
Speaker 2: really see everything. But nah, it was special to even
Speaker 2: just be back in the vicinity, you know.
Speaker 1: I love that. Beautiful. I love that. Okay, two more questions.
Speaker 1: What's a habit or a daily ritual that keeps you grounded?
Speaker 2: Hmhm, daily ritual that keeps me grounded? I would say, hmmm,
Speaker 2: I do some much things every day. But what's the
Speaker 2: thing you know? I would say, just uh man, there's
Speaker 2: so many things I do every day, but to keep
Speaker 2: me grounded, I would say, like, babe, try to pray.
Speaker 2: Like whenever I remember to pray. There's probably some days
Speaker 2: I might forget, but like so, but there's times where
Speaker 2: things happen or like I might get a crazy call,
Speaker 2: or like this meeting went well, and then like things
Speaker 2: are happening in my favor and then I have to
Speaker 2: like I'll stop and I'll be like yo, you know,
Speaker 2: give thanks, you know, and just making sure that I'm
Speaker 2: always grateful. It's always making sure I'm showing gratitude, like
Speaker 2: having having just overall gratitude and appreciation for everything and
Speaker 2: even the things that don't go my way, just like
Speaker 2: the journey itself, you know, just having this gratitude, I
Speaker 2: would say, keeps me grounded.
Speaker 1: I love that. Beautiful, beautifully said. And the final question,
Speaker 1: if the younger version of yourself could hear one of
Speaker 1: your records today, what do you think he'd say?
Speaker 2: Man, wow, I think he would be like he would
Speaker 2: he would definitely say wow. And like I didn't even
Speaker 2: know the level was that high, you know, because when
Speaker 2: I was first starting and I always felt like, you know,
Speaker 2: my stuff was dope. I always felt like I was creative.
Speaker 2: And then it got to a point where where I
Speaker 2: had an experience that really like shaped like my definition
Speaker 2: of what quality was and helped elevate my quality. I've
Speaker 2: been chasing, like higher quality ever since. And I think that,
Speaker 2: you know, just the level that I'm at right now
Speaker 2: and some of the things I've been able to accomplish.
Speaker 2: I think, just looking back, you know, like me looking
Speaker 2: back at my young self now when hearing the stuff
Speaker 2: I was doing back then, some of them were actually
Speaker 2: really great ideas, but they weren't executed well. I see
Speaker 2: that I was always a great visionary, but sometimes what
Speaker 2: I had to learn over years and skill, like my
Speaker 2: talent was being a visionary visionary, but I had to
Speaker 2: develop the skill of executing my vision. So I think
Speaker 2: over the years, I've been able to just get even
Speaker 2: more refined and better at executing whatever is in my
Speaker 2: head and whatever the vision is. So I think, yeah,
Speaker 2: I think my younger self would look at me and
Speaker 2: be like wow, Like I think they would be in
Speaker 2: awe at what I'm able to accomplish. And I think
Speaker 2: my future self will say that about myself now, because
Speaker 2: I feel like I've only scratched the surface of what
Speaker 2: my potential is. I think I'm just now getting into
Speaker 2: it for real, for real, I'm just getting started.
Speaker 1: Well, I'm glad I caught you out before you win.
Speaker 1: You're seven to eight Grammys.
Speaker 2: I'm catching no, no, no, I'm always going to be available,
Speaker 2: especially especially for the real ones. You know.
Speaker 1: Well, unfortunately that concludes a podcast, but or the episode
Speaker 1: I should say, but I have to say my little
Speaker 1: thank you you so, Omar. I want to thank you
Speaker 1: for your sound, your story, and your spirit. I think
Speaker 1: you remind us that some dreams are born through statistics,
Speaker 1: but others, like yours, are born through grace. And I
Speaker 1: think that you carry Jamaica not as a flag to wave,
Speaker 1: but as a language. You speak fluently in rhythm, in excellence,
Speaker 1: in your integrity, and in legacy. So to our listeners,
Speaker 1: if you ever doubt your purpose, let Omar's journey and
Speaker 1: story remind you it doesn't matter where you start. What
Speaker 1: matters is that you honor where you're from, stay grounded
Speaker 1: in who you are, and let that be enough to
Speaker 1: move the world. So thank you so much for coming
Speaker 1: to talk it things with me.
Speaker 2: It was an amazing time, and I just want to
Speaker 2: say thank you so much for inviting me on the show.
Speaker 2: I think you did an amazing job and I think
Speaker 2: we we covered a lot of great things that you know,
Speaker 2: I think we will have impact on some people and
Speaker 2: so I really appreciate your time and your energy and
Speaker 2: everything that you said, all those special kind words that
Speaker 2: means a lot to me as well, And those are
Speaker 2: the kinds of things that keep me inspired and keep
Speaker 2: me going. And so you know, I already see great
Speaker 2: things in your future as well, and I think that
Speaker 2: you're you're doing an amazing job. So you should. You
Speaker 2: should definitely keep growing. Anything that I could do to support,
Speaker 2: I'm with it. And with that being said, make sure
Speaker 2: you follow Major seven M A j O R S
Speaker 2: E v E N everywhere.
Speaker 1: Yes, for sure, and we would be waiting for you
Speaker 1: to win your Grammy.
Speaker 2: Let's go, it's on the way. It's already done.
Speaker 1: Yes, yes, it's already done. And thank you so much
Speaker 1: for your kind words, Omar. You know I can't text
Speaker 1: stuff like that. You know that guy that love Gray,
Speaker 1: I can't text stuff like that, But I appreciate you.
Speaker 2: Let the tears flow.
Speaker 1: No, thank you so much. I had an amazing time
Speaker 1: talking to you, and I really do believe that you're
Speaker 1: meant to have this conversation and I really think it
Speaker 1: will move a lot of people. Thanks again,