0:13

Hey , man . Welcome to kinfolk. You

0:15

guys are joining a man,

0:17

us for the first series. And our first

0:20

series is where do we go

0:22

from here, man? I'm new at this. So man,

0:24

bear with me. But uh , today

0:27

I have my brother activists.

0:30

[inaudible] artist's father, husband. I

0:33

got Corey Paul with me and

0:35

a man. He is

0:38

one of the, and just the most

0:40

talented brothers I know are

0:42

working humble brothers. I know. And

0:44

, uh , man, we're gonna tackle this

0:47

topic. Where do we go from here? Corey

0:49

, Paul, what's up man, rather than my brother.

0:51

I appreciate you having me on man. I'm

0:53

I'm , I'm honored to be here, man, man

0:56

, this is, this is, this is good times, man

0:58

reminds me of when we were in the space

1:01

space for years, man. And so , uh,

1:04

man, I'm always in a good spot when I get a chance

1:06

to talk with you, man, a man for

1:08

the people who , uh, may

1:10

know you and may not know everything about

1:13

you, man, a man , uh,

1:15

tell us about your family life and where

1:17

you live in and, and, and uh

1:19

, we're going to get into like what you do in a second,

1:21

but yeah, well, it's important to note

1:24

that I'm born and raised

1:26

, uh, in Houston, Texas , uh

1:28

, Miami Houstonian in my heart. Uh,

1:30

currently I'm in West Palm beach in

1:33

West Palm beach. My wife is , uh , in medical

1:35

school, so that brought

1:37

me, her and my two year old daughter

1:39

, uh, down here to West Palm

1:41

man. Cool, cool.

1:44

Uh, so you from South park, Houston, Texas

1:47

pork Houston takes his baby a

1:50

little bit about that, man. Uh, going

1:52

up to South park . Yeah. So , uh

1:54

, I'm from South port , uh, right off

1:56

of MLK. So you know what MLK

1:58

is in every city, you know what I mean? Uh,

2:01

it's in the hood. So , um , when

2:04

I was growing up in South park, it was like , uh

2:06

, 30% of people that didn't

2:08

, uh, have high school diplomas.

2:11

And so, you know, I

2:13

was in love with, you know, just

2:15

the culture street culture, you know, I'm five,

2:17

10 minutes from screw house. Um,

2:20

and it, it meant everything

2:22

to me to just be with my hood embodied

2:25

, you know what I mean, strength, money,

2:27

cause you know , uh , respect

2:29

all of that. Um, and we

2:33

always talk about the downside of the hood, but

2:36

a lot of the lessons I learned growing up at South park

2:39

, um, were really applicable

2:42

to me as a, as a man. You know

2:44

what I mean, as well. Um,

2:46

you know, it was just about understanding

2:49

how to decipher them and use them in

2:51

the right way, man. So growing up in South

2:53

park and I wouldn't, I wouldn't change it out

2:55

, man. I

2:57

know you're your mama , Betty. Uh,

3:00

and I know a little bit about the history

3:03

of your parents, man. Can you,

3:06

can you delve into that a little bit? Yeah,

3:08

yeah, for sure. Yeah. So my mama man

3:10

, um, yeah, my mom was a soldier

3:13

man, so she, she raised us

3:15

up , uh, just like that. Um

3:17

, we came up tough man. So , um,

3:20

my old man, he was a , he was a great man,

3:23

but um, he got , um, he

3:25

got hooked on crack in

3:27

the eighties, you know what I'm saying? And

3:30

so then that just progressively turned

3:32

into , uh, a man

3:34

turning into a monster, you know what I mean? And

3:36

so when I was young in

3:38

my life around five or six, I

3:40

even remember the shift happening where he started

3:43

going super hard, you know? And

3:46

um, so I , I witnessed a lot of,

3:48

you know , violence and abuse real early

3:50

on in my life. And

3:54

uh, to the point where

3:56

the kind of , uh , climax

3:59

to the story was when I was

4:01

nine, my dad, you

4:04

know, needed drugs. Uh, and

4:06

he came to the house and was , uh , trying

4:08

to kick the door in and take whatever he could. And

4:11

that's when the first time doing it to my mom,

4:13

she , uh, she actually had went and bought

4:15

a pistol and um,

4:18

she told him , man, you come in here tonight, you know, I'm

4:20

gonna pop you and sure enough, he kicked

4:22

that door in and she popped him , man. You

4:24

know, and I remember hearing all of this,

4:26

you know, at that age. Um,

4:29

unfortunately, you know, he didn't die, anything like that

4:31

and he recovered and um,

4:34

I wish that would've been his wake up call, but it wasn't

4:36

man, you know what I'm saying? It wasn't a lot of

4:38

the same continue to progress Indian

4:40

. My dad actually , um,

4:43

he committed suicide when I was like nine

4:45

, uh, 19 years old.

4:47

So all that happened , it's been like within a space of a

4:49

year that happened within the

4:52

space . Yeah , man , within the space of like , uh,

4:56

yeah, bro, like a year, a year

4:58

to , uh , to a year and a half

5:00

maybe like maybe I was like, almost not, maybe I

5:02

was like eight and a half to nine

5:04

, almost 10. Like , you know, something like that, but yeah . Yeah.

5:07

It was , it was definitely within, under a two year span.

5:10

Yeah. Did he, Oh , well shoot. I know

5:12

I'm asking questions now and you know me, Hey

5:15

, I'm wide open. Yeah.

5:17

You got me anything. Did he leave a note? No.

5:20

Well he, he didn't leave a note, but he,

5:23

so he, you know what, see , that's why you say

5:25

ask questions. Nobody asks me a question. Um,

5:28

he a voicemail back in the day

5:30

with the , you know, the voice machine, the

5:33

voicemail machines. Yeah. He,

5:35

he didn't leave a note like a

5:37

, I mean a voicemail saying he was gonna

5:40

commit suicide. He was more,

5:42

he left one that was talking about like, you

5:45

know yeah . You know, he'd been struggling

5:47

and he wanted to get better and

5:49

you know, he loved, you know, that kind of stuff,

5:52

but it wasn't like anything

5:54

about it. That was, you

5:57

know, unfortunately this was a cycle

5:59

him , but then I had my mama kicking them out, him calling

6:02

I'm going to do better. He, I went to rehab a couple

6:04

of times and you know what I'm saying? But

6:06

it just, that was the last one, but it was

6:08

nothing on there that was like alarming

6:12

to , to that extent because he had been battling

6:14

this for a long time and had said stuff, you

6:17

know what I mean before, man?

6:19

Um, yeah . And , uh, my

6:22

Mark and I'm saying it like it's in the moment, but my

6:24

condolences, you know , um

6:27

, man, you're

6:30

one of the most positive and , and

6:32

I don't mean that as a trite statement. I

6:34

mean, as genuine, you see

6:37

hope in everything and

6:40

I re , and I know this to

6:42

be your , your , your character and how you

6:44

are, but I, I especially noticed

6:46

it a man about a year and a half ago

6:48

when we were , uh, you

6:50

, you came into town, we had a restaurant and

6:53

, uh , man , I was like, Oh, Corey

6:56

is one of the most hopeful, but for what

6:58

he has gone through in his life, he's

7:00

one of the most hopeful people I've

7:02

ever encountered. Um, and so as,

7:05

as I think about that and I think about man, you're

7:07

, you're a part

7:09

of your life story. How do

7:11

you think that has , uh,

7:14

what the, the passing of your

7:16

father and the , the things that you saw

7:18

with your father? How do you think that is

7:20

impacted or is impacting your life

7:23

today? Man?

7:27

So man

7:30

, so I , I think

7:32

this answers that question. Um,

7:36

we live in a fallen, broken world

7:38

, uh , best my belief. That's

7:40

what I believe. I believe that , um , since

7:42

Adam , um, and

7:44

seeing enter the world is rough

7:47

man, you know? So

7:49

that that's all , that's in

7:51

different areas. That's what

7:53

all of us, you know, whether you got bread or not

7:55

, you know what I'm saying? Like canceled , I don't

7:57

care. You know what I'm saying? So, so

8:00

I understand it . So to answer

8:02

your question, how does that play a part

8:05

in my life today? The

8:08

, the strength and

8:11

the power and

8:13

the purpose that is birthed

8:15

through adversity, I believe

8:18

is unmatched. Um,

8:21

I believe that when

8:24

you go through things like that, when you come

8:26

out of the wheel , you know, when

8:28

you , uh , go through the fire, when

8:31

you come out on the other side and

8:34

you receive God's grace and

8:36

Lee , and you know, he's the one that allowed

8:38

you to come out, then

8:40

you realize like the,

8:43

the, the power

8:45

in the midst of all of the pain, you

8:47

know what I'm saying? Because I'm a pass away.

8:49

You feel me, but what I can give

8:52

to my daughter, you know what I mean,

8:54

what I can encourage other brothers and

8:56

sisters through my pain. I

8:58

believe that was , um, that

9:00

, that lives on you feel me and

9:03

sell , bro. My mama told me a story

9:05

about how, when she

9:07

was , uh, she had, she

9:10

was pregnant. No , no. She had me. I was three.

9:12

She was pregnant with my brother. And

9:15

when she went to the hospital , um

9:17

, to deliver my brother, my

9:19

daddy took her, but then he left

9:22

her at the hospital and burnt off.

9:24

Right. So told you my dad was on drugs.

9:27

And so he left at the hospital. Didn't

9:29

come back. You know what I'm saying? And

9:32

you know, my aunt had to come up and you know,

9:35

they by a car seat for the baby to go home, somebody

9:37

to be at night , you already a

9:40

woman going through labor. You know what

9:42

I'm saying? And, and your, your husband,

9:44

you know , has left . And so

9:47

after my brother was born, my

9:49

mama was in this apartment,

9:52

in this one, in his hood in Houston. And it caught Broadway

9:54

square, you know, from Houston. Yeah

9:57

, exactly. She

10:00

needs one bedroom and Broadway square

10:02

with his three year old and a newborn.

10:05

You know what I'm saying? And my old man and

10:07

burnt off on her, end up cars

10:10

end up reappearance . Like a few days later,

10:13

it's stripped down, you know what I'm saying?

10:15

And where do we go from here? Right,

10:18

man , bro, you fast forward to

10:21

my mother being who she is

10:23

as a woman who raised their children provided

10:26

is a light in BA you know , all

10:28

of the things that she is today and

10:31

seeing what she made it through. There

10:35

is the most powerful thing

10:37

that encourages beyond

10:39

line. You know what I mean? So I want my story

10:41

to be like that you feel me? I want to be able

10:43

to tell where I was and where I came

10:46

from so that the next time somebody's going

10:48

through it, which they will, you know what I'm saying?

10:50

They can pull on that kind of strength dog,

10:53

man. That's that's crazy, man.

10:56

I never I've known part

10:58

of the store , but I never got an opportunity to

11:00

ask you some of these , um, these

11:02

questions. So , uh,

11:05

man, fast forward in a little

11:07

bit, man, you started to

11:09

rap. Yeah. What , what influenced

11:12

you to rap? Uh, and

11:14

men just tell a little bit about man. How , how , how

11:16

you got from , um , your beginnings

11:19

of rap to , to, to kind of the evolution

11:21

of what you are now. Yeah . Show

11:23

. So me, I'm gonna keep your Jeep . Will you try

11:25

and get that bag man jacket?

11:31

Yeah . That's

11:33

what it is for real. I

11:35

don't understand, man, that curse of poverty.

11:38

When you come from that, man,

11:40

you could be a grown man and you still

11:42

have that thought like, man,

11:45

you know, it's almost like PTSD, if you

11:47

will. Like, I think it is man.

11:51

That's what I've thought. Like you could have 2000

11:54

in the bank, 3000 in the bank, all

11:56

money enough of this month and next month. But

11:58

still in your mind, man, it's like,

12:00

man, I gotta get

12:02

it. I got hit. I got it. I got it. Get it. That's

12:05

all you ever knew. That's all you ever

12:07

knew. That's all you ever saw your whole life.

12:09

You know what I'm saying? So you just

12:12

trying to get enough to where you

12:14

know what I'm saying? You ain't gotta , you feel

12:16

safe. You feel me, you

12:18

feel safe, feel enough safety. Yeah.

12:21

It's a feeling of safety. And man, we can talk

12:23

about my feeling of safety comes

12:26

from having

12:28

enough money in the bank to not worry

12:30

about that. But yeah. Yeah.

12:33

If I feel like I'm good that month I

12:36

breathe and I wait until the next month and I know

12:38

it's an idol, but man , it's a

12:40

, it's a, it's a thing that comes from

12:43

my childhood. I just think people don't

12:45

don't understand. Don't realize the complexity

12:48

of when you come from some

12:50

of the places we come from and

12:52

some of the situations that we've been in that

12:55

you , uh,

12:57

carry with you, we all

13:00

have our idols, but you may carry different idols

13:03

and somebody else that may have come from

13:05

a different type of situation. Yup

13:07

. And because n***a about the different

13:09

levels B , think about the different levels that

13:11

you deal with it on. Like as I've gotten

13:14

older and the thing is, you don't understand

13:16

it when you're younger. A lot of times you just

13:18

like, Hey man, we broke, I need this bag. You

13:20

did this. That's all you got, you know? Yeah.

13:23

That's the vocabulary. Get

13:26

the , is it you feel me? And

13:29

but then I start to think about it, man. God graced

13:31

me. As I got older, I started to think about it more

13:34

and think about it. Pete, think about when you're growing up

13:36

and you broke one, your

13:38

parents, you know, they like, you know, your

13:40

idols, your heroes, you know what I'm saying?

13:42

They know everything. They all powerful

13:44

when you're young, you kid, but then you

13:47

seen was posed to be your hero.

13:49

They struggling lights off. They

13:51

can't, they ain't got the money for this. They

13:54

ain't got the, you know, they can't get food for that. So

13:57

that's kinda messing with you. You

13:59

know, if you got to move from this place to that place or

14:01

this apartment, we ain't got a yard, you know

14:03

what I'm saying? So, you know, we

14:05

moved like 13 times, literally

14:08

every year I went to a different school

14:10

since high school. That's crazy,

14:13

bro. So you see what I'm saying? Like that it builds

14:15

that, you know, unsettled ness and then

14:17

mentioned that high school, bro, if you broke,

14:20

when , if you, when you broke in school, children

14:22

are monsters. Boy say

14:25

man, they savages. They coming for them

14:27

shoes. You know what I'm saying? They coming for

14:29

them. Dirty uniform bands . No

14:32

, you ain't got no line up . They come in

14:35

man to this day, man. It's crazy.

14:39

I always get on people that get

14:41

on people's clothes. Yeah . He always asked

14:43

me, why am I doing like , well, and it's not

14:45

that I'm uh , uh, it's

14:47

not that I'm better because they might be talking

14:50

about something else. Like, Oh, you know, you

14:52

know, he needed to do this. He , she

14:54

needed to do that. But when they talk about like clothes

14:56

, it's like something like, Hey

14:58

listen man, back up off, they'll

15:02

have this look like, man, you

15:04

ain't said nothing this whole time. You

15:07

know? Cause I'm talking about nah , man, I don't

15:10

play that. But it comes from

15:12

where you a kid. When I was a kid, I

15:15

was poor. I had three shirts

15:17

and five pairs. No, no

15:20

it was five shirts and three pairs

15:22

of pants. I had a pair of shirt, a

15:24

shirt for every day of the week. Yeah.

15:26

And then I mix and match my pants

15:29

to get to the end of the week. I was

15:32

Canada . That was zero that's

15:34

real bro. And you know what I'm saying?

15:36

That's , that's what I'm saying. Like dos

15:39

you learn, you know what I'm saying? Like I

15:41

remember learning, you know, like my

15:43

mama time's bed . She go buy me some shoes

15:46

from , uh, we back in the day in Houston,

15:48

we had wieners , you know what I'm saying?

15:50

Or pay less and you ought

15:52

to take it one time coming to school with them, shoes

15:55

on. And you like, I, ain't never

15:57

going to come back foot for our way them shoes again.

15:59

You know what I'm saying? Far away, these shacks back to school,

16:02

you know? So it's like that stuff

16:04

scar you bro. You know what I mean? Like that's , that's

16:06

real pain, you know? And so you're

16:09

trying to get away from there and it always

16:11

looked like, well, we just had money. We wouldn't have

16:13

to deal with it kind of stuff, you know

16:15

? Yeah. Yeah. So that's why

16:17

you started to rap . Yeah . So I started rapping bro.

16:20

I needed that bag. I started , he , I saw these

16:22

, uh, cash money and no

16:24

limit with all these diamonds and these cause

16:26

and P Diddy and biggie and mace.

16:29

You know what I'm saying? With these suits on these

16:31

boats and me and my cousin was like

16:33

saying bag man . Oh man. And

16:35

that's the sole reason

16:39

that we started. I started rapping and

16:41

then that switched up

16:45

when I was about 1920

16:48

ish is when I is , when I switched it up

16:51

to, you know, it being about

16:53

something a lot deeper than that. What

16:55

, what happened at 19 and 20

16:57

that it , uh, transitioned

17:00

you from , uh,

17:02

from this type of rap to what you w

17:05

what you were, were you referring

17:07

to? Yeah, man, I messed around and found

17:09

the Lord. No, see , well,

17:12

I didn't find him. He wasn't lost, you

17:14

know what I'm saying? Uh , he , he,

17:16

he , uh, I accepted,

17:18

you know what I'm saying? I accepted him. Um,

17:22

yeah, man, I was, when I was about 17,

17:24

my partner, he , uh,

17:27

he put me up and he started going to church

17:29

and talking about the Lord and all of that.

17:32

And , um, uh , before

17:35

that I had already was like, you know, I

17:38

gotta get this money so I can get my momma and get my people

17:40

out of the hood. And we gone . That was my whole thing

17:42

is getting the money by Dean

17:46

man . I was talking to him, I talked to my, this is my first

17:48

pastor who will go on to be my first

17:50

pastor. And he was just like, yeah, tell

17:52

me about your plan. Well , you know, I'm telling them about

17:54

my plan B rapid, we're gonna get this money. And

17:57

he said, so you feel like money is the solution.

17:59

Yes. And he said, well,

18:02

what have I told you? It wasn't the solution. Well,

18:04

you know, what was your response to that was like, I was

18:06

like, no , I don't, I ain't grew up in the church

18:09

beat . So I ain't had no past the etiquette. I didn't know.

18:11

I was supposed to respect him. Like, you know

18:13

what I mean? I'm talking to him like a regular person. He's

18:15

like, what are we going to tell you? I'm like, I wouldn't say you tripping.

18:18

You know what I'm saying? So bro

18:20

P he said this man, I never forget. He said

18:22

, uh, cause we talked about, we talked for

18:25

a long time. He said, do you

18:27

think money would have saved your dad? And

18:31

I was like, I'm

18:34

thinking my dad would

18:36

have got 10,000. He

18:39

would've just smoked up. You feel

18:41

me? Ooh . And it was dead

18:43

right there, bro. That statement

18:45

he made that caused my

18:47

whole ideology on life

18:50

to get flipped on, to get flipped on his

18:52

hair, bro, bro, that is powerful.

18:55

Yay money would

18:57

have saved your dad. And

18:59

I knew unequivocally

19:02

unequivocally, no that

19:04

man might've just blessed me too . You

19:10

know , it's something about man and

19:13

it's something about the

19:16

community of people, whether it's two,

19:19

three or 10, when they get together,

19:22

there's something that God does in that. Right?

19:24

Like you couldn't have got that without

19:27

a relationship with that person.

19:30

Cause they gotta know your

19:32

facts, your circumstances. Yup

19:34

. They gotta know something about your dad. Yup.

19:37

You know, and man,

19:39

it's just, you know, I started this podcast

19:42

cause it was like too many times, man . We think

19:44

about God in , um, about

19:48

me and God when it's really we

19:51

and God and just how God

19:53

works through the we Ryan

19:56

man, that right there is is,

19:58

is powerful bro. Yeah. Yeah. You're

20:00

a hundred percent. Right. And I mean, God, he tells , he shows

20:02

it to us in the Bible. Right? Like he created all

20:04

of these things. He created Adam and then

20:06

all this other stuff. Then once he created Eve,

20:09

right. And he was like, okay, now is

20:11

a good, you know what I'm saying now

20:14

is good. You know, the

20:16

, uh , I think, you know, and even

20:19

guiding in the beginning, you know, it , it

20:21

being God, Jesus, the spirit,

20:24

you know what I'm saying? So I think a lot of

20:26

that pushes towards, you know, community

20:28

and togetherness and

20:30

you're right . It , it, it brings out things that

20:32

being alone just can't. Yeah

20:35

man. So , um, you,

20:37

you decide to rap. I

20:39

think I remember , uh,

20:42

probably a few years after you started

20:44

, uh, well you'd

20:47

on to the other side. I think I met you. Did I meet

20:49

you? You were what? Yeah. When

20:51

you met me, I probably was. Yeah. I'm pretty sure. I was

20:53

like 22. When you made me. I

20:55

like 22. So I was, I had just started

20:58

really. Cause I got, I , I first

21:00

heard about, I didn't know I'm

21:02

from Houston bro. We, you know , we from, we from

21:05

Texas. So everybody believe

21:07

in God, you know, that's

21:10

true . That's true. The

21:13

price to every, to the dealer

21:15

, the dealer , everybody got

21:17

it. Tatted on your own Bible, on your dash.

21:20

Everybody believe in God, bro. I remember

21:22

the first time I went to New York and

21:24

um , I saw it as Darwin's sticker. It was like

21:26

the Jesus fish, but it had feet on

21:28

it and it had Darwin in the middle.

21:31

I was like, what is that? And I was realized

21:33

up here, everybody don't believe in God,

21:35

they got they different. But in Texas

21:38

you throw a rock and you probably gonna hit a Christian or

21:41

Christian I'm air quoting. I know y'all can't see me, but

21:43

right . I see you . You

21:45

hear me ? No . So

21:48

I thought I knew who God was,

21:50

but I didn't know what I was talking about. You know? So I

21:53

saw that was my introduction to God at 17.

21:57

And then he would eventually save me

21:59

and start the progress of sanctification

22:02

up until, and my music slowly

22:05

transformed into being no

22:07

cursing or less cursing,

22:09

no cursing, you know, more

22:11

positive. And then eventually I'm

22:14

just wanting to contextualize the gospel

22:16

and, and , and, and tell the story of,

22:18

you know, the hood in my life. Man.

22:29

You tell pregnant powerful

22:31

stories, bro. Like you, you remind

22:34

me and you know, I'm officially

22:36

an old head still . I'm

22:39

old now. Okay . I've got to tell

22:41

you boy the last year. Yeah. So I

22:43

would talk over here. So, you know, back

22:45

in the day we had this guy named

22:47

Scarface, you know, face

22:51

mob , right? Yeah. Nah

22:53

, bro. You , uh, your

22:55

storytelling ability reminds

22:58

me of people

23:00

like Scarface old

23:03

school Scarface . Right . And

23:05

man, just what are some of your influences

23:08

in , in the art of what you do? Yeah,

23:10

no there's love. Yes . Scarface is one of them.

23:13

You know what I'm saying? Yeah . Scarface was definitely one

23:15

of them. Um , coming up, man, I

23:17

loved , uh , Scarface , um

23:19

, um, juvenile from cash

23:22

money. You listen to juvenile album juvenile. I

23:24

can tell you , he tells stories.

23:26

You know what I'm saying? He , he, his hits or, you

23:28

know, back back that thing up and all that.

23:30

When you listen to his album, he'll tell

23:32

you a whole story. Um, so

23:35

Ken's like juvenile, but then also, you know

23:37

, um , um, I'm a pock fan

23:39

, uh , JD kiss , you

23:42

know what I'm saying? I was a big JD kiss fan.

23:44

You know what I'm saying? When I was coming up , um,

23:48

um, also , uh, be creative,

23:50

you know, I was a crit fan for a long time.

23:53

Um, and then I think one of the

23:56

big influences that I didn't even realize

23:59

was , uh , as big of an influence

24:01

on me was Jay , you know what I'm saying?

24:03

Like my cousins used to listen to Jay Z and

24:06

I didn't understand them cause it was over my head cause

24:08

I was too young. But then as I started honing

24:10

in my pin game, you

24:12

know, you go back and listen to the reasonable doubt. People

24:14

think Jay over-hype he night , bro. You

24:17

know, I got people saying that I'm

24:19

like, yeah , you've never listened to it . Reasonable

24:23

blueprint, all of that. So yeah.

24:26

Jesus, Jesus , wherever it comes from. Yeah.

24:29

That's not even a doubt. Yeah. So

24:33

, um, right now your

24:35

evolution as an artist, how

24:38

would you describe who you

24:40

are and what you're ? Well, we know who

24:42

you are, but who you are as an artist

24:44

and what you're doing as an artist.

24:47

Yeah. That's a great question. Um, so

24:49

, uh, I'm a storyteller and

24:52

that's what I do. I tell stories.

24:54

Uh , I try to look at a subject and

24:57

present that subject in a way that

24:59

may help shed light

25:01

, um, expand

25:03

or connect the listener to that

25:06

story. So I started

25:08

doing that with rep and then

25:10

I evolved and it came to a point where

25:13

I wanted to do it with rap, but because

25:15

of my life, it was hard to

25:18

do it in a practical sense. Once

25:20

I became a husband and a father, the

25:23

rap life is tough because

25:27

it's , it's really a young man's game. Like,

25:29

you know, you got to put a lot of music. I do a lot

25:31

of touring . You got to , you know, so

25:34

, uh, that was, it was tough for me to figure

25:36

out what do I go from there now prison data

25:38

evolution is, well,

25:40

I just happened to use rap as the

25:42

platform to tell stories. So

25:46

that was all the way . Cause that's what I knew. So now

25:48

I've expanded. And my primary,

25:50

the primary way that I tell stories now

25:52

is , um, is through books.

25:55

Um, we have a podcast called literacy Kings with

25:58

my homie , Jay , and we we're

26:00

essence in essence, we take books, we

26:02

take the valuable information and

26:04

then we tell the story

26:07

of our culture in relation

26:09

to that information, you know? And

26:12

uh , so we're going to get to literacy Kings. Yeah.

26:14

What, what made you

26:18

that transition? I'm

26:22

thinking was difficult for you at first, right?

26:25

Oh man. Can you walk me through that? It

26:27

was wheeled in his pee . I ain't lying to you. Alright

26:29

so PV. Okay.

26:32

All I, when I was 12 is when I said

26:34

I wanted to rap and that's when I started doing

26:37

it. And now even as I look back

26:39

where I was dedicated, like, this is not me.

26:41

If you, if anybody in on me, you know, I

26:43

ain't, it ain't about bragging or whatever . It's by telling the story,

26:46

I look back that's all I did was write

26:48

rhymes, write lyrics, rap into

26:51

contest , rap, battle, all of that. Right. And

26:54

that was my whole life. I always knew exactly what

26:56

I wanted to do. So from 12,

26:58

all the way to 30 years

27:00

old, bro, that's what I wanted to do. And then that's

27:02

what I did. And God graced me with some success

27:05

to billboard albums. You know what I'm saying? Millions

27:07

of streams online, torn in and nationally

27:10

, um, you know , uh, on

27:12

the radio, all of these things.

27:15

Right. And so , um,

27:17

you know, a , a following on social media,

27:19

all of the things, right. But even deeper

27:21

than that, Pete then the accolades and things

27:24

like that. What did it done for me as a person? I

27:26

literally understood myself

27:28

better through music. Right?

27:30

God would grace me to write

27:33

things that I didn't know about myself.

27:35

I didn't know. I felt that way until I , I wrote

27:37

it out. Right. So all the

27:40

, uh, all sides, it was PR

27:42

it was positive. Okay. Then

27:46

within a span of a month, I found out

27:48

we needed to leave Houston to go to Kansas

27:50

city because my wife got into medical

27:53

school and she also was pregnant. Right

27:56

. So that's

27:58

a trauma , right?

28:03

So I know once, once I daughter

28:05

comes, she's going to have to be as a student

28:07

still. So I'm now neat . I

28:09

need to be a stay at home father. I'm working

28:11

on my tree on King album while I'm thinking

28:13

through all of this. So anyway, to make a long

28:15

story short tour, I

28:18

realized that that moment I can't keep

28:20

doing what I've been doing because

28:22

the whole goal and rap is to not lose money

28:24

when you were independent artist , not even to make money,

28:26

you know what I'm saying? You're trying to gain fans, go to,

28:29

or get music out and not lose money.

28:31

Right. But now I have a daughter on the way

28:33

I have to provide, you know what I'm saying?

28:37

So from

28:39

that happened . So from that , uh,

28:42

being 30 it's for like two years,

28:44

Pete , like 30 to 32 was

28:46

me trying to figure out where do I go

28:49

from here? What , uh , what do I do now?

28:51

How can I be

28:54

of service and how

28:56

can , um, I

28:59

still live passionately but responsibly

29:02

at the same time. And

29:04

that was, that was tough. I

29:06

realized I had a lot of areas

29:08

to grow in my faith. You know, it's easy to be faithful

29:11

when you, when you're comfortable, you

29:13

know what I'm saying? Like , you know,

29:15

so , um, I was out of my

29:17

comfort zone. So I realized I lacked faith. I

29:20

realized that I had a real heavy poverty

29:22

mindset that you talked

29:24

about in the beginning. Um, I

29:26

had a real heavy poverty mindset in

29:28

a sense of, you know , uh,

29:30

being scared to lose, you know what I'm saying? Being scared

29:33

to lose this , this money. Okay . What

29:35

are we gonna get the money from? How are we going ? You

29:37

know, there was a battle. Um, and

29:39

then ultimately , um,

29:42

you know, trusting the Lord where

29:44

you take a step before you see the step, cause

29:46

I could not see. So it was starting to paralyze

29:48

me on, well, where do I step? If I can't see the

29:51

step, I've always saw my steps.

29:53

You know what I'm saying? So that was like two years

29:55

of my life, man. You know, it was just trying to be a

29:57

good husband, a good father , um,

30:00

and figure out where do we go

30:02

from here knowing for at least

30:04

the next four years from 30 to

30:06

34, I wouldn't know

30:08

where my home would be because

30:11

we would be traveling based off of where

30:13

my wife needed to do school. You

30:15

know what I'm saying? So , um

30:18

, that's kinda like a snapshot man of

30:20

that experience , man

30:24

it's so me, at least from afar

30:27

off, the guy was like

30:29

at working your life and as , uh

30:32

, you know, the will say it was good

30:34

to me that I was afflicted that

30:36

I might learn your statutes and

30:39

you know, we all go through those similar

30:41

wilderness. And I think,

30:43

I mean, even personally I was going through my own

30:46

wilderness situation probably at the same time he

30:48

was going through yours and just seeing man

30:51

how God was faithful to

30:54

, um, men kind of , uh,

30:57

push you in a direction where

31:00

, uh, you would be most

31:02

fruitful for him and for

31:04

, uh, for him in the kingdom,

31:07

of course, but also for your family.

31:10

Um, so talk

31:13

to me a little bit about literacy

31:17

gains , man . Yeah , that's, that's my

31:19

that's everything, man. So , um,

31:24

in that time, in, in, in

31:26

that wilderness time , um , I read

31:28

a lot. I read a lot, I read

31:30

a lot. Oh . Uh

31:32

, I read about money. I read about

31:34

, um, God

31:36

, uh, I read about parenting.

31:39

Um, I read about business. Uh , I

31:41

read about culture and history,

31:44

American history, black history. I read a lot

31:47

and there's no

31:49

way that I would have came out on the other

31:51

side. Mmm . The

31:54

way that I did without , um

31:56

, God guiding me to

31:59

read like that. And

32:01

what I realized man is,

32:04

is so much information that

32:07

I did not have, did not know, was not

32:09

exposed to. I mean, bro just

32:11

felt like, it felt like I was just,

32:15

you know, coming out of elementary, trying

32:17

to live life as a man after I realized,

32:21

you know what I'm saying? Yeah. Yeah. And

32:23

so from that, I was like, say,

32:25

man, we gotta read more doubt.

32:27

You know what I mean? Like we , we , we have

32:29

to read more our people, our culture, we

32:32

have to read more, you know what I mean?

32:34

And how do we do that? How do we go about

32:37

sparking that ? And so

32:39

that led me down the path of eventually

32:41

create literacy Kings and

32:43

what we do literacy King's me and my

32:45

homie , Jay , is we break down books to

32:48

build up coaching. So we

32:50

take a book and we go

32:52

through that book. We dissect

32:54

it, analyze it and interpret

32:56

it in a way that is

32:59

palatable. You know what I'm saying?

33:01

Um , well received or interesting

33:04

to people from our culture.

33:06

People who've been marginalized, low sales , socioeconomic

33:09

background, people of color, like,

33:12

you know what I mean? Anybody that fits that

33:14

description , um , we're curating

33:16

the content specifically for yeah,

33:21

man. I've, I've, I've

33:23

uh , listened to a number , uh,

33:25

of the scripts . And

33:28

uh , we now we,

33:31

my wife and I announced subscribe to the podcast,

33:33

my brother , uh, the, the

33:37

idea, what

33:40

strikes me is this idea

33:43

that in order for you to

33:45

serve people, you gotta

33:47

go lower, not

33:50

higher. Um , man

33:53

is something, man. I think

33:55

it just be lost on us. Sometimes, man, we like yo,

33:58

I need to get to the next level and the next level and

34:00

the next level. And it's like, well guys,

34:02

like, man, if you learn how to demote

34:04

yourself, you'll be more used

34:06

to the kingdom. And man,

34:09

just that's why like that,

34:11

that principle that you just applied

34:13

to and I'm going to do literacy, King's

34:16

broke. I don't need

34:18

to speak this into your life. This guy's already

34:20

doing it, but man, you're

34:23

going to serve so many people.

34:26

Amen. By the fact your

34:28

humility man, man, most of us think

34:30

and how do we, you know,

34:32

jumping climbing , you know, what's the next

34:34

day and what , and you're like, yo, okay, I'm

34:38

gonna take these books and

34:40

I'm gonna make them even simpler so

34:43

well and pretty simple , I'm a relate

34:46

them is the better term to

34:48

people who may not have access to them

34:51

so that they can grow and

34:53

be all a , what God's called him

34:55

to be and grow . That

34:58

is, that is the call

35:00

to disciple that man, you

35:03

, you know, in the area of finance

35:05

and Hey man, we think of , uh,

35:07

Christianity as man go to church,

35:10

pay the ties, go home, come back.

35:13

Right. And it's like , uh

35:16

, a worship to the Lord is

35:18

not just, it . It is

35:20

yes. Pay the ties

35:22

and um, come to the church

35:24

house. It can't , that is a form of worship, but

35:26

it's, it's, it's all of life. And

35:29

so man, you're preparing people for

35:31

the all of life part he's at that , man.

35:34

We didn't get, you know, like exactly , like

35:36

you said, I mean, know I'm

35:38

really in the same boat you are. Yeah,

35:40

man, I went to school, I

35:43

still was a PA I still had a poverty

35:45

mindset, clear pass

35:47

, little education, whatnot.

35:50

I was 25, 26 learning

35:52

what it meant to and

35:54

still to this day was shaking

35:57

that off. There's some things, man, that,

36:00

that , uh, only

36:04

God and people

36:06

with wise counsel and people who say,

36:08

you know what, I'm going to come

36:10

down and help you be where

36:12

you need to be. You only get it from

36:14

that game is the game is not told,

36:17

you know, for most people,

36:19

you know, until somebody who's got it says,

36:21

you know what? I ain't going to sell it. I'm to just help

36:23

you. Exactly, exactly. 100%

36:26

bro. And I think that that's the

36:29

cause I mean think about like, you know, anything

36:31

that is foundational,

36:34

right? Like Heath information, you

36:36

need the community, you know, you

36:38

need to be able to apply it and practice it.

36:41

You know? So like these things have

36:43

to come together in order

36:45

for it to make sense. Right. We

36:47

know that just off the muscle, like you

36:50

can't pull up in , in any

36:52

situation and be unattached

36:54

to the people you're trying to serve

36:56

and the place you're trying to serve with raw

36:59

data and expect them to

37:01

get it. You know what I'm saying? It doesn't cause,

37:04

cause we move on different courses. If we talking

37:06

about financial education, financial literacy,

37:09

and uh , you just come with this

37:11

, this Excel spreadsheet that

37:13

doesn't move the needle, you know what

37:15

I mean? Like, you know , where's the relation,

37:17

where is the intersection?

37:20

Where's the engagement when all

37:22

that comes together , um,

37:25

then I feel we can start moving the needle

37:27

in these areas. And so

37:30

that's where we just trying to help, you

37:32

know, be a part of that. And I agree with you 100%

37:34

you go lower to go higher. Um,

37:37

and I think that's just, that's evident, man. Yeah,

37:39

man. That's crazy. Um,

37:44

last few questions and then we will wrap

37:46

up. We'll have another conversation court . Yeah,

37:48

we got it. We got to , uh, I

37:51

, um , I need to be like, it's

37:53

not enough . I know if,

37:55

how many listeners notice like so flat,

37:58

you know, he had his like regulars on

38:01

his, on his show. You know what I'm saying? Like little

38:03

Boosie gonna be on flat like once a month, you know

38:05

what I mean? Just like clockwork, you

38:08

know what I mean? I mean, I mean like clockwork

38:10

dog , so I might need to be like that on here

38:12

, man, just every now and again. No

38:14

bro, listen, listen,

38:16

we can do this at least once a

38:18

month. Cause I don't know. It's

38:20

a , it's an easy synergy. Like, I mean,

38:23

I can't get to my questions cause there's

38:25

more things that pop that you're

38:28

saying and you know, like I'm excited because

38:30

I'm learning more about you as we

38:32

go along. So I mean,

38:34

we were supposed to go to where

38:37

do we go from here, but

38:40

I want to go ahead and give you the floor

38:42

to answer that question in the way

38:45

that you would answer it , uh , knowing

38:47

the tensions and the things that are happening. And

38:50

I know, you know, it's crazy

38:52

that we're having this conversation because I

38:55

think, I think some

38:57

of our, where do we go from here? Can't

38:59

be a reaction it's

39:01

gotta be systematic. Yes.

39:04

The problem systematic. Yeah . And

39:07

the reaction systematic. And

39:09

so man, like , uh , so don't feel

39:11

the pressure to man, give me

39:13

some one offs, but um , where do you

39:15

think we should go from

39:17

here based upon, and some of the things

39:19

that have happened , uh, with our brother, George

39:22

Floyd , uh, the racial tension

39:24

that is the , that exists country

39:27

being split apart because of some of this stuff,

39:29

you know, all this stuff we we've gone through

39:31

in 2020. Where do you think we

39:34

go from here? Yeah, man. So,

39:37

so I think a couple of like large

39:41

picture overview,

39:44

my, you know, those kinds of minds mindsets , a large picture

39:46

overview, a long haul. I think

39:48

that's where we have to store,

39:51

you know, to find inspiration

39:53

and hope. And so we,

39:58

we can see clearly that

40:00

, um, that

40:03

there's a shift right in the normality

40:06

of how we normally have been living.

40:08

That's not even debatable. You know what I mean? We

40:11

can see that shift coming. And

40:13

I believe that in the midst

40:15

of that shift where we have to ask

40:18

ourself is what is God doing

40:21

and how can we come alongside it? Right.

40:24

Because God is

40:26

already in the midst

40:28

he's already. And I don't mean that in this like

40:30

kind of vague Christian, you know what

40:32

I mean? You know, you know, God

40:34

is there, no, no. I mean, literally

40:38

God is already doing a thing.

40:41

And if we seek to come

40:43

alongside of what he's doing,

40:46

then it will be done. But

40:48

if we don't genuinely believe

40:51

and seek what God is

40:53

doing, then

40:56

we will see with our eyes. Right.

40:58

So, you know, it's like the phrase , um,

41:01

you don't see things as they are. You see

41:03

things as you are. Right.

41:05

So if I am, you know,

41:08

if I am paranoid, I'm going to see things

41:10

through a lens of paranoia. Right? So

41:12

that's what I'm saying. We, we , we have to

41:15

genuinely seek like, what

41:17

is God doing in this moment? And

41:19

how can I be a part of that?

41:22

And I say that because with

41:25

so much noise going on,

41:29

it will cause us to be , uh,

41:32

not prison and unconscious to

41:34

what God is doing. Cause we're just seeing all of the media

41:36

clips and the things that are upsetting

41:38

us or enraging us. And

41:40

so we'll miss what he's

41:42

trying to do in this opportunity that

41:44

we have, you feel me. So

41:46

I think that we have to look at the

41:49

Rashidun risk is changing their name

41:51

and logo. You know what I'm saying? Dumb

41:53

taking Anja mama off of, you

41:55

know, the pancakes, you know what I mean? Musicians

41:59

changing their name. Um,

42:01

even in Houston, I'm not sure if this is true

42:03

in IP. Have you heard of that in Houston?

42:06

It's a neighborhood in Houston, Texas called Sienna

42:08

plantation. Yeah. Yeah.

42:12

Well you did you tell me about that? Well,

42:14

I didn't. I was probably, yeah.

42:16

Is that , is it true that they take in the plantation

42:18

off the name ? They are, they call it now

42:21

it's going to be called Sienna girls

42:23

lives there. Yeah . Yeah . Call them , call it Sienna.

42:26

So all of these different

42:28

things that are happening, you got to

42:31

train of thought , you got people going. I just doing that

42:33

because you know, they trying to be on

42:36

the right side of history and politically correct. That

42:38

does not matter. They didn't do

42:40

it before and they're doing it now because

42:42

for some apparent reason they feel they have to.

42:44

So the bigger question is what will I response

42:47

be to that ? Right. So

42:49

I feel like that's the thing, man, is that

42:51

timing is everything. So

42:54

if we look at seek what God is doing

42:57

so we can see not as

42:59

things are, but as we are

43:01

right, then we are seeking to see what God

43:04

is doing. And then we can come alongside.

43:06

We can come alongside of that, trusting

43:09

that this can be

43:11

that third movement. You

43:13

, the release of slavery, the

43:15

civil rights movement. And then now this

43:18

can be there if

43:20

, um, we come alongside

43:23

thinking, optimistically thinking, hopeful

43:26

Indian tie and actions. Yeah.

43:29

Yeah. That's what's up, man.

43:32

Um, uh, and I'm

43:34

a close with this one, man. When

43:37

you hear the word kinfolk , uh,

43:41

what does that remind you

43:43

of me ? So

43:46

, uh, I got a good answer

43:48

for this. I feel like I practice this cause I just

43:50

got a good answer for it. I didn't even know that was going to be a

43:52

question. So I got a song called

43:54

kinfolk. Okay. I

43:56

got a son called kinfolk and

43:58

I don't know my memory. Ain't that good? So I don't know how

44:00

I be coming up with stuff. Cause this song came out

44:03

in 2013 or something like that.

44:05

But you say kinfolk you've said can't fall

44:08

for a long, long, long time.

44:11

And the first time I

44:13

learned about community was when I

44:15

met you. Right? So you,

44:17

you were the, I didn't know what community was.

44:20

I didn't know what discipleship

44:23

that type. I didn't, I didn't know what that was.

44:25

I had never seen it. I had never been a part

44:27

of it. So when I met you and

44:30

I saw hi , y'all got, it

44:32

was like, Oh, this is this crazy.

44:34

You know what I'm saying? And people talk about family and

44:36

stuff, but it really was

44:39

just that, you know what I'm saying?

44:41

And so , um, when,

44:43

so when you , when I think about the word kinfolk,

44:46

it brings me to those memories

44:48

of learning community and

44:50

creating that song , uh,

44:52

based off of that inspiration

44:55

that I can

44:57

, I can have a group

44:59

of people that are not related

45:01

to me by blood, but

45:04

they are my family

45:06

in a, in a general sense.

45:09

So I experienced that for

45:11

real, for real, you know what I mean?

45:13

And so kinfolk is, is

45:15

one of the , the , the best words I feel

45:18

you can have in your vocabulary.

45:20

If, when you use it, you,

45:22

you know what I'm saying? You mean it, man,

45:27

man, this is, this has been good.

45:29

I've been inspired bro, in so many

45:31

different ways. Soon as we get off, I

45:33

want to talk to you more about this, but

45:35

man, Corey , thank you for

45:38

, uh , coming on to

45:40

the podcast, sharing your life, sharing

45:43

your hope. And man,

45:45

I just continue to play. Pray,

45:47

play, pray. God has blessings

45:49

over you, your family and all

45:51

that. Your hand touches my brother. I appreciate

45:54

it greatly, man. Thank you for having me, you

45:56

know, let me run my mouth. I never know what I should

45:58

or shouldn't say when I be in the interview, sometimes

46:01

people don't want you to just keep it. You

46:03

know what I'm saying? So

46:05

I'm glad to be on here.

46:07

You know what I'm saying? Cause I ended up yeah

46:10

. And , and one day, man, I'm going

46:12

to put you as the host and then

46:14

me , I would love to know. I

46:16

would love to chop it up like

46:18

that too . My brother is love, man. I appreciate

46:21

you. Alright man.