Achickwitbeatz presents ⁠the Instrumental Intel podcast⁠, bringing you information instrumental to your artistic career including music industry news & tips, insights & interviews, and beats for your inspiration. Listen on Saturdays at 7 pm EST on ⁠⁠⁠Grander Radio⁠⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠⁠Achickwitbeatz.com⁠⁠⁠.
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Instrumental Intel Podcast

Achickwitbeatz brings you information instrumental to your artistic career including music industry news, insights, interviews, and beats for your inspiration. Listen on Saturdays at 7 pm ET on ⁠⁠⁠Grander Radio,⁠⁠⁠ Achickwitbeatz.com⁠⁠⁠, and your favorite podcast platform.

Transcript Generated by Riverside

00:00
Hey, thank you so much for tuning in to Instrumental Intel. I am your host, music producer, Achickwitbeatz, and I'm thrilled that you're here with me today. Still celebrating Hip Hop History Month by highlighting conversations that I've had about Hip Hop history with Cinqué Barlow and DJ Milk D and King Samson of the Hip Hop Shop. So it's going to be a great time. Before I go ahead and kick it off, I got to give a shout out to my home station, Grander Radio out of Grand Rapids, Michigan. And with that, let's go.

00:27
Hey, I'm Achickwitbeatz, multi-genre music producer and strategist to indie artists and labels. Visit achickwitbeatz.com for resources for artists and instrumentals in various genres available for songs, vlogs, blogs, podcasts, themes, TV, film, commercials, and more. Once again, that's achickwitbeatz.com. That's A-C-H-I-C-K-W-I-T-B-E-A-T-Z.com. Let's make something happen.

00:56
All right, thank you for listening to instrumental intel and we have with us today and you've been a guest on our music marvel show in the past and now it's great to have you actually on this show with your experience in the mental health field. You know, could you kind of introduce yourself and let everybody know who Cinqué is?

01:20
And yeah, share a little bit about your background in the profession and kind of your journey to becoming a therapist. Oh, wow. I don't think we have enough time. First, thank you for having me on. My name is Cinqué Barlow. I'm an LCSW, which is a licensed clinical social worker. Kind of aside from doctor, PhD, about as high as you can go in the social work field. But I am.

01:49
I'm looking at that PhD in another field. But anyway, what got me into the field was, it's been a journey. I think I've shared with many and maybe briefly with you. uh It started with some personal stuff, probably like as a teen, uh personal mental health, and just some other personal struggles. ah

02:17
that I overcame, you know, in retrospect, looking back, oh know, majority of the issues were resolved on the surface, by my early twenties, which seems cool, but that was really just the beginning, you know, dealing with the, you know, with the substance abuse and mental health stuff I was going through at the time. That was just the beginning. oh But, you know, embarked on a career that

02:46
got to a point where I didn't really enjoy it, enjoyed it. And I really wanted to get into the mental health field. oh And as we were speaking before the show, I kind of dragged my feet as well. oh But actually it all came together nicely because when I was focused and ready, everything just fell into place correctly. I had done school, college at an early age and it just didn't work out.

03:15
Because looking back, I really wasn't ready. I went back and got my bachelor's as an adult. ah And I was dead focused. I knew what I wanted and things just fell into place. It wasn't easy, but things fell into place. Once I finished my grad program, worked in community health centers, worked for a nonprofit.

03:43
uh Also, two local hospitals here in Connecticut. And currently I work for uh a town municipality as the uh counseling coordinator for the youth in this particular town in Connecticut. uh So it's been a cool journey, uh not easy, ups and downs and everything in between, a lot of frustration and really many points where I

04:13
wanted to and there were points where I did, I just gave up. said, man, forget this. But no, I didn't. I got back on track, which is the real skill, because we all get sidetracked know, so I've done individual and group psychotherapy, worked with adults, adolescents and geriatric population, um inpatient and outpatient behavioral health.

04:41
Um, my current position, um, I don't know, it's a mix of everything. It's community-based, it's therapy, it's policy. It's cool. It's kind of like everything I've done kind of led me to where I'm at. So it's all worked out. Okay. That's amazing. Um, you know, and congratulations on your journey. it. Yeah. That's really phenomenal. Um, you know,

05:10
since we're talking about mental health and Hip Hop through the years, could you kind of give us a little background on what sparked your love for Hip Hop and maybe some early memories or favorite artists from around that timeframe? Oh, wow. Yeah. It's funny because it's still to this day. That's my, that's my, you know, go to, you know, I think a lot of people look at me and say, are you listening to this? Like, it's just me. Like,

05:37
You know, I often talk to my friends and stuff and just like, we grew up in the perfect spot in time. know, because Hip Hop was kicking off then. And I just feel it hit me and a lot of my generation differently because I look at it, okay, I'm 54 years old, put that out there. I look at folks two, three years older than me.

06:06
And at that time, yeah, they were into Hip Hop, but really it was more gap band and R &B stuff, you know what I mean? Yeah, they liked Hip Hop, but that wasn't really... But us, it just, I mean, it was just, it just spoke to us. So I remember, and song's corny, but I remember...

06:30
hearing, you know, and everyone talks about the song, but it was, it was Rappers Delight because it was a popular song, right? It was just like a pop, you know, fun dance song. But even that pop song, and then yeah, of course there were other Hip Hop songs before that, but that was just heavy rotation you heard everywhere. oh But as a kid hearing that, it just was distinctly different than other music, than singing.

07:00
rapping versus singing. Like when someone is singing, you can misinterpret words or not get what they're saying. There's no, you can't miss the message when someone is rapping. And so that right off the bat just, you know, hit me. And then, you know, going forward, I always talk, you know, for me, the game changer was Sucker MCs with Run DMC. That song was just...

07:29
It just took Hip Hop in a whole nother direction. It was just the rawest thing out at the time. And still today, you know, it still rocks. Seriously. But it was just, of course it was stripped down beats, but just D and Ron just talking about what they wanted to talk about. You know, and that was the beauty of it.

07:58
You know, I think a lot of times just us, just in general, we spend a lot of time in our own heads, to ourselves in our own heads. And sometimes that's okay, but a lot of times it's not. And that's the beauty of Hip Hop, being able to express through words, beats, your feelings, your thoughts, emotions, all that.

08:23
Um, but yeah, it began back in then, you know, from DMC and then, know, everything I can, you know, the LL, the, the, the late eighties, you know, early nineties with Kane, BDP, all that stuff. So, and again, let me just frame it as I'm by, I'm East coast bias, you know, the Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Philly. I'm East coast bias. I gotta put that out there. I do listen to everything, but primarily, um,

08:52
You know, I'm East Coast bias. You know, I know that gets a really, really bad rap, but, know, I don't think that there's anything wrong with recognizing where it was born. Do you know what I mean? Like, you know, I don't, I don't feel like somebody should be made to feel bad because they have a preference for where it originated in that particular sound.

09:22
doesn't mean that you don't like the other stuff. know, it's just you have a preference. I don't think that that's a bad thing. Right. I just want to be clear on that. do, you know, so the songs, the artists I mentioned, you know, I just don't want folks saying, why didn't you mention, wow, this is me. This is where I grew up. This is what I. oh

09:46
And you know what, honestly speaking, you could sit there and read a list of everyone and somebody's still going to say, well, you didn't name. Right, right, I mean, it's always going to be that person until you block them. know, and my block list is so long. But yeah, so, you know, just a little bit of back proud, you know, for anybody listening. That's actually how you and I connected on Hip Hop.

10:13
And, you know, even though I do laugh at like the Google Plus memes and stuff, know, but I will say like you're one of the highlights that came from that very limited era before they went ahead and shut it down. But yeah, very niche social media experiment. Google. Yeah. Yeah. Very, very small window of good stuff.

10:42
Mostly music-wise good stuff. Yeah. There were a few circles that were actually worth something. Absolutely. Yeah. That's how you and I connected, you know, love for Hip Hop and whatnot. So, you know, later I learned that you were in mental health. And so, you know, it just kind of made sense to have this conversation with you, especially with your background in mental health. How would you say that that's influenced your perspective on Hip Hop, especially with, you know,

11:12
themes that kind of mirror struggle and empowerment and whatever may have occurred. are your thoughts on that? Yeah, exactly. Everything you just said. It's been comforting. I guess that's the key point. And why has it always been comforting? Just everything you said, the empowerment, ah the storytelling, the themes of resilience.

11:39
ah not giving up, keep pushing, being really down and out and about to give up, but no, you keep going. um know, social issues, know, political, religious, just everything is in there, which is why I have such an affinity towards the art form. And...

12:06
I just feel it is a powerful medium that oh I think all artists need to just ah really take to heart before creating stuff. Not to say everything needs to be profound and have a message, but just understand that, as I said at the beginning, what you're saying is directly impacting whoever the listener is, positively or negatively.

12:34
And I think both you and I have experienced both. I mean, we can be in a bad place and hear a song and that can, you know, not just necessarily, you know, lift us up, but just, you know, make us feel heard. Like, okay, someone else is going through this type of thing. Music is powerful, you know, the arts are powerful. And Hip Hop has always, for me, been kind of like a mirror at times.

13:04
I identify with so much. I'm kind of a introvert, extrovert thing, whatever you want to say. No, I can be quiet, I think a lot of stuff that's in Hip Hop, I think it's things I feel, I've thought, ah sometimes I want to say, but don't.

13:29
So I identify with so much and I do listen to a wide variety of music outside of Hip Hop too, but you know, I always come, mean, that's the number one. always see all my playlists. I look at all my playlists, but it's always, I look at my favorites list. It's all Hip Hop updating, you know? Okay, this week, new list. It's always Hip Hop. So anyway. Yeah. You know, I'm...

13:56
been admitting lately that, you know, it's been a certain era in my car just about every time I get into it. Every now and then I try to, you know, brush up on some new stuff and keep up with what's going on. But just like you said, like my heart goes right back. So, yeah, I typically stick within the golden era and maybe like a little bit of early 2000s. But yeah, so golden era, classic Hip Hop. We're talking.

14:23
80s to 90s timeframe. in the early days of Hip Hop, do you think that mental health themes were as openly discussed as they are now? Like whether it's blatant or, you know, kind of understated? Absolutely not. um You know, the 80s, and I'll even argue, majority of the 90s um for folks from, I was going say folks who are not part of the masses.

14:50
who came from different communities or did not look like the masses, black and brown folks and other ah minorities. uh It was not something that was talked about. uh I'm even going to go into how you identify gender-wise, LGBTQIA. uh

15:16
uh, like none of that stuff was talked about or acknowledged. It was looking back, you know, retrospectively, I can sit here and say that was a problem, but that's just how it was. So I know for myself going through what I, and I'll keep it to myself going through, you know, my challenges, you know, as a teen young adult in the eighties, like I went through that, um, pretty much with my family and knowing.

15:44
you know, maybe one or two friends. It just wasn't something that was talked about, nobody knew about it. I was ignorant about it, my parents, we had to dig and find information. oh So I don't know, and I didn't know anyone who was really in tune with it. So the music I was listening to, I think folks were making music and maybe, you know, I don't know if anyone intentionally said, yeah, I got a.

16:11
I'm feeling this way. want to get this out on paper and, you know, get some beats to it. I don't know if it went like that. Maybe it did. ah Because a lot of, I know in the 80s, a lot of it looking back, we just dealt with it however we could. And it wasn't always a healthy way dealing with stress, anxiety. ah And then, you know, there's other serious, more serious mental health conditions, know, besides, and not that.

16:39
depression and anxiety aren't serious, but we get into, know, schizoaffective, schizophrenia, bipolar, all that. That's real stuff. And then if that was going on in the 80s, no one had any clue about that, you know, the average lay person, you know what I mean? So, you know, it's a common thing with creative folks, with artists. There's a lot of struggles with mental health for various reasons, you know?

17:07
So no, I don't, to go back to what you said, no, absolutely. I don't feel like that was really focused on, you know, just from what I heard. I could be wrong, but I don't know. What do you, what do you think? What are your? I also kind of have that instinct to say no, then sometimes, you know, when you think about, know, bringing up Tupac and Biggie, no matter who's listening.

17:33
they know who they are. you know, like they're kind of the first ones that come to mind when you think about some of their lyrics and some of their songs telling you they're dealing with depression, but not saying it. So I think at that timeframe, even though those topics were kind of addressed, we didn't really know how to recognize or identify those feelings. And, you know, maybe this might be a little lesser known, but I think this is something that most people, um,

18:02
would know is my mind's playing tricks on me. Like, mean, Scarface basically laid out like, you know, textbook, hey, this isn't cool. I'm having these thoughts because I feel guilty about this. So, you know, even though we wrapped along, nodded our heads or whatever, I don't think that the awareness was on us that they were actually kind of dealing with mental health themes in some of these particular songs. I agree.

18:32
You know, I, you know, you know, the last joint on Big's album, you know? I remember when the album first came out, I went to the store, got it, played the whole joint and that came on and I was just like, wow. But I listened to that probably, I don't know why, I didn't, it came on, you know, probably six months ago.

19:01
Um, and I had heard of Prior to but it just, that's some heavy, heavy, like, real stuff. And, you know, I remember, you know, being that age and listening to it, I'm like, wow. But today, I guess through my journey and what I do for a profession, it just hit like a ton of bricks. I'm like, wow. know? So many tears. Yeah. Yeah. You know, like that song.

19:29
You know, like, yeah. Yeah. No, that's, uh, what is Suicidal, uh, uh, geez, can't think. The last track on. Yeah, I it is actually Suicidal Thoughts. So yeah. Thank you. Yeah. These, yeah. So these songs were out there. We knew them. We knew these weren't good things, but yeah, I don't think at that timeframe, you know, that's just not what the environment was like. Oh.

19:55
Maybe he should see a mental health professional. That uh wasn't even something we would say at that time. Right. Yeah. That's life. Deal with it. Right. You're like, beats hard, man. uh I it felt good to get that out. Yeah, but it's real. I don't know. So I always say, think in terms of mental health and awareness, like you said in 2024,

20:24
I think we're in a fantastic place. Everybody's aware, talking about it. oh But it can still get confusing. There's a lot of buzzwords and terms and everybody's a Google therapist, doctor. I have this, I know how I should be doing. It's a lot of that. oh Word trauma has been thoroughly abused and thrown around.

20:53
Yeah, is all, know, but I'm just saying, maybe there's no, I I think we're in a good place. Let me just stop there. ah Because awareness is step number one, you know, and that wasn't even there. You said go back 20, 30 years ago, you know, particularly in our communities, it just was not there. Yeah. So I do appreciate that aspect. Excuse me. You know, the whole.

21:20
wave of mental health, uh, and so forth. Yeah. But I mean, with that being said, I still think it's a good thing that you brought that up because mental health is so important. You know, we might want to steer away from people who just throw around buzzwords and make sure that you're connecting with an actual professional. Well, I was kind of tipped toe around that, but I guess.

21:45
I won't. Yeah, no, you put it out there. Yeah, you know, I have this conversation with a good friend of mine a lot. And it's great that the awareness is out there. But I just, you know, you really got to look at the source um because it goes from one thing from being, you know, an opinion, something, um you know, you've read or seen, you know, but really just I just say, you know.

22:13
Check your references. Look who's giving you that information. And it's really important because unfortunately, I've seen a lot of folks putting out different monikers or titles. And it's really like... And I won't even put it up, but just you have to check the references. What are the individual's credentials? Are they licensed?

22:40
Um, you know, really dig into that. Um, because a lot of folks, you know, it's motivational speaking, could be coaching, but that is that person licensed? Um, because if they're not, it's a lot of it could be just opinion or what they've experienced, you know, is it evidence-based, you know, what kind of interventions modalities like, you know, so all that stuff matters.

23:07
And I'm not saying everything is bad, absolutely not. I watch videos and, you know, by whomever, you know, of course there's good stuff everywhere, but it is important to check the sources. Just leave it there. Yeah. Yeah. If you want to get better, you want to make sure you're taking the right medicine, right? Cut right to it. I can ramble.

23:35
Hey, we hear the chat about it though. So yeah, so we've talked about, you know, golden era, the, I guess, kind of transition period. What would you say that that was like, so like from the 2000s to the 2010s, did you kind of notice any mental health themes evolving or changing within the culture around that time? From 2000s to 2010s? Yeah, like the 2000s to 2010s, yeah. That was a weird, like I was in an

24:05
I'm gonna be honest, I like, I was kind of disheartened with some of the stuff and I was kind of in, like there were certain artists I paid attention to and then I didn't pay attention to everything. Like a lot of the popular stuff I wasn't feeling. oh So um I think the 2000s were a really good period for music. It had already expanded, it got polished up.

24:35
cleaned up. It was everywhere. You walk in the store, you hear jingles and all that stuff. um You know, the stuff I was listening to, yeah, there was still, there's always a consciousness to it. um You know, some real stuff happening. Um I don't know. And part of it was just, I guess, where I was at during that period of time. ah

25:03
I didn't like, and I'm just gonna be honest, I didn't like or enjoy a lot of like the quote-unquote like party, you know, have a good time club type of music, which is cool. Like that's great stuff, but I just wasn't in that space at that time. uh So. like, yeah, from, especially in the 2010s, a lot of party club music wasn't.

25:29
what we identified as party club music, uh you know, before that era. So like it really slowed down. It might have like a nice high hat for you to bounce to or something, but music started getting really slow and that's what DJs were spending. Like it was kind of, I don't know, it was a unique era. Yeah, so that's why it was kind of like, I mean, there was some good, there was definitely good stuff, but.

25:58
To me, it was a very small kind of, ah a few artists I paid attention to. Yeah, that's why I said like the Main Street, the big stuff. mm-hmm. I feel like- Go ahead, sorry. Yeah, I feel like there were a lot of themes uh in the 2010s that either outright mentioned or just alluded to a lot of, uh you know, like Class A type drug use openly.

26:28
And so like, uh feel like there were a lot of themes, but not necessarily, you know, again, one of those things that people should be like, oh, hey, maybe you should see someone about this. It's just kind of like, oh man, they really opened up on that song. Yeah, talk about one. Give me an artist like, because I'm drawing a blank here. Like, okay, how about uh Kendrick Lamar's Swimming Pools, for example?

26:55
Okay. And honestly, I wasn't listening to a whole lot of mainstream around that time frame, but that was one of the ones that broke through and I'm like, hey, that's kind of nice. Yeah. Poe up, drank, sit down, drank, you know, it's basically, you know, that's the whole essence of the song. And don't get me wrong, like, you know, it's a jam, but yeah, I wasn't listening to it like, oh, dang, he should talk to somebody.

27:21
You know, it still was, yeah, still, I mean, the awareness was better then, right? Yeah. You bring up the theme too of just substance use, and it's not just Hip Hop, but you know, as you said, things kind of started to progress as we go on, and then into the 20, you know, into the heavier, quote unquote, substances and so forth.

27:50
Um, yes, I know for a while they were calling some stuff like Xan rap, like towards the end of the 2010s, you know, it was interesting. I just had to like, think real quick. Like one thing that kind of not spun me out of, but there were certain albums that really hit me and it wasn't, I had to, I just, you know, I had to get the exact year. It wasn't 2010. was 2011. It dropped. Um,

28:20
The album Undone by The Roots, um to me a phenomenal album by them. It was a concept album and just, I know I missed a lot. don't know, folks I knew didn't really dig it. And I guess I kind of get that because for me that album has to be listened to start to beginning. You can't skip tracks. There's no, you know, really.

28:48
You just can't. Anyway, so that album for me was really uh a great experience. I remember, if I remember correctly, it came out, I know it had to be winter or late fall. I can't remember exactly. But that was a great experience. And I say experience because that album just took me places sonically and emotionally, spiritually.

29:18
I looked at it when it came out, they explained the concept of all of this. But just listening to it was just phenomenal. And that just took me on a journey just through all stages of an individual's life. And to jump back, as I do a lot.

29:45
know, resilience and everything in Hip Hop, like my all time, one of my all-time favorite like motivational Hip Hop songs was the Planet by Gang Starr, right? That song, when Hard to Earn dropped, was the first song on that that just, not just Hip Hop song, but it just hit me. And that song has always been like a mantra for me. oh You know, I'm gonna make it.

30:14
You know, that whole song, just talking about how an individual, you know, decides to stop staying stagnant and, hey, I'm gonna go out on my own. And then the song just talks about all the trials and tribulations Guru went through on his way. He felt like giving up at times, you know? And then there's a piece where he talks about, well, I'm thankful that I have this, but...

30:40
this is happening. And then at the end he wraps it up like, you know, I'm going to keep writing and I'm going to keep doing this. I'm, you know, and it's just that, you know, keep pushing mentality that I love about Hip Hop, about that song in particular, but about Hip Hop. keeps good Hip Hop just pushes us, the community forward, you know, it's inspiring. It's uplifting. It can be. oh

31:09
And when I say uplifting, it doesn't mean like we need to be singing, but it can put us in a conscious mind state, uh a good place. Yeah. Well, since you said that and looking at the clock kind of winding down, can you give us a few or, know, even if it's just one or a couple, so I don't want to limit you in that way. But what are some Hip Hop songs that instantly put you in a good mood?

31:38
Like no matter what you got going on, you pop these songs on, you good to go. Stuck in traffic, people blowing, you're putting on. Yeah, really, not anything, but a lot of Tribe Called Quest. Particularly the first, mean, the first, you know, People's Instinct of Travels. I love youthful expression. That's my joint. oh That whole album though, really, lot of the, any of the native tongues, oh jungle.

32:08
Oh man, and I just, you know, I think you know, everyone knows my affinity for Dead or Soul. They can do what they want by me. And that's, know, uh and again, they're timeless. mean, they just have been consistent with it. You know, it's really cool watching them go through everything because they're around the same age, you know, as myself. So watching that, you know, that group just go through everything.

32:38
Um, and rest in peace, Dave, you know, everything happened with day lives. Just like, again, that's kind of, I see that as a reflection of me. And I think everybody can identify with just being young and full of ideas and then being hit with reality and then trying to figure things out. Yeah. But any of that, uh, what else? I don't know. There's just so much. And I just had a whole.

33:05
playlist I listened to on my way home and I can't even think of a song. But I always go back to Hip Hop, a lot of that era, even newer stuff. I'm a big, it's interesting now, today's stuff, I'm more into producers than artists. So I follow a producer, like I'll follow, of course, Alchemist, all the stuff he does, like Apollo Brown, all the stuff he does.

33:34
I know I'm missing a bunch of people, oh but I think for me today it's easier and more effective to follow producers in today's music. Because I come from a place where I used to be so locked into groups and bands and that's really gone away. It's like all these singles and stuff. So I really find that if I latch onto a producer that catches my ear, I get...

34:03
exposed to, you know, some good stuff. That's just what I... Excellent perspective. I have both DJ Milk D and King Samson of the Hip Hop Shop on Yurrrp Radio in the virtual building. How y'all feeling? Feeling good. Thank you for having us. I'm really glad that you could come. DJ Milk D, you've actually got a rare status. oh You're the first returning guest.

34:31
to instrumental Intel, because the original interview then Rooted Sounds and now the Hip Hop Shop. So yeah, I'd love to hear about uh how you guys came up with it and kind of the idea and passion behind it. Well, I'm going to let King Samson start with that answer. uh He is kind of the fire starter for the Hip Hop Shop. So take it away, King Samson. Well, basically,

35:02
Milk had uh his radio station and I've been trying to get on it for a while and it wasn't a good time and basically he finally came up to me and says, oh, if you want to do something, you could do something for an hour. And I was thinking about him like, okay, so I could do a full hour and how I'm going to fill this time. I'm not a talker. So I'll DJ and not say a word for a full hour.

35:31
I said, for a radio station, that's not really good. So I said, so I kicked the idea to him. said, why don't we do a Hip Hop show together? Just me and you and it's like, how's that going to work? And I'm like, we'll work it out. We'll figure it out. Like, it's not a big deal. It's like, we love doing this. So let's do it together and maybe we could come up with something. you know, he liked the idea.

35:56
You know, I bounced some ideas off of him and he bounced ideas off of me. And then we came to the conclusion of the show and one of the, didn't know what to call it. And we ended up calling it the Hip Hop shop. And he liked it and we ran with it ever since. Okay. Well, it's really dope. I appreciate being a guest on it. I had a great time. And so, you know, I actually caught the first episode before the one that I was a guest on.

36:25
And I'm like, man, I'm really onto something. Like just the way that it sounded, the way that it flowed was so smooth. I love the way you guys interact with each other. So yeah, how did you guys actually come to knowing each other and kind of getting that groove that you guys got going? Well, no problem. Well, Achickwitbeatz and all the listeners out there, ah me and King Samson are big kids. oh

36:54
And when I say big kids, uh big kids at heart, but also we were into video games and there was this one particular video game, shout out to PlayStation, especially Socom. You need to bring that back. uh Speaking of that, but there was a game called Socom, which is like Call of Duty. So Socom kind of kicked Call of Duty off.

37:23
And it's a third person shooting game and the game consists of teamwork and we bumped into each other online because even to this day, 24 years now actually, I've known Samson, but I've never met him. Samson lives in Toronto and of course I'm in Richmond, But on this video game, it brought us together through another mutual friend. I'ma shout him out.

37:52
Al Lowe, our brother, aka Shaolin Soldier. Shaolin Soldier, for real. Yes, that is my brother from another mother as well. And this particular individual who is family to both of us, allowed us to come into this group that we call a clan and it was called Soldier's Unit. So all of us had these names.

38:18
And we had tags to ID us as a team or a clan. And we were rocking. We'll meet up every like Tuesday, Thursday or Sundays or whatever your case may be. It was Sundays and Wednesdays. Sundays and Wednesdays. That's right. And it was probably like 20 of us at Achickwitbeatz from all around the world. shout out to XXI. Oh yeah. We got to get like, uh, grassy knoll and um,

38:46
Oh man, ski mask. Ski mask. Yeah, rain man. gotta get rain Flip soldier. Flip RIP. RIP. Yup. Yup. Red. Red light. Yup. Yup. There's a bunch of us. I was called no limit soldier. My son was no limit soldier. I even brought my son in there. That's adorable. We had a toy soldier, a wooden soldier.

39:14
Sofrito Soldier, was so many soldiers, but there was one soldier. One soldier we got a shout out and that is Method Man. And his name on there, 99 Soldier, 99 Soldier. And Shaolin, aka Allo, CEO of Trigadon Productions, out to his label, brought us into the room with meth and he never said,

39:43
in beginning who he was, but that raspy voice, we were like, is that Beth? So to speed up the story, it was really him. And we've met him multiple times. Like, I've been on stage with him, not performing, but in the background. You know, he'd throw water on me and, you know, and give me love and all that stuff. But me and Samson have never met. So one day we're going to do a reunion, get all the soldiers together.

40:13
I Redman and Street Life. I mean, it's crazy. ah So we've met, but we haven't met and it's going to happen. Technology today is just amazing as we all know. So anyway, that's the story. That's incredible. Well, since you guys brought it up.

40:38
With the whole gaming world, know, the fat and music intersects so much. Are there any, I guess, games that you played that kind of stick out in your mind, like where the soundtracks are like some of the songs that they played, just you kind of attach it to that feeling?

40:59
Um, mean, great that auto had the best music. Yeah. I mean that Hip Hop, I mean, it would be Cypress Hill. And I mean, who cares about the profanity? You they were dropping it. Um, they had different stations. you get, if you, depending on your field, yeah. So I always had on the Hip Hop R and B station, but you know, you, there was the rock station. There was a, there was a whole bunch of different station and they had some good tracks like I'm

41:27
Like a lot of the Hip Hop that they had, I enjoyed and I kind of looked out and I kept that in my catalogs of listening to like Sean P was on that. I'm like, yo, I'm a Sean P fan forever. So, you know, I had that on repeat. Yeah. This pin game was phenomenal. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. OK. Yeah. I asked that question because, you know, especially with you guys having the Hip Hop shop.

41:56
made me think about, you remember when Def Jam had the Violator? Oh, absolutely. What was the Vendetta? Like that was one of the favorites. got my butt kicked every time. was actually my husband's game, you know, I still tried it. Yeah, yeah. Every time. So, okay. You know, you guys have been bringing on people to the show and, you know, I know you got another guest coming up for the next one that airs.

42:23
So if you could talk a little bit about how you find who you're going to pick for the next interviews. Go ahead Samson. I don't pick no one. Pick them all. You call me. Okay. Honestly, first couple is it's because we're new and everything like that. We're reaching out to people who we know. People in the industry that we know and that be interesting that will have some interesting stories and whatnot.

42:53
Um, basically, um, we're open to interview anyone, but right now, because we're just starting and we're just trying to get our feet wet, we're reaching out to people who we know. And hopefully they would tell their friends and maybe they would introduce us to new people. And we just keep on moving in that, that length. Okay. That makes sense. I had to ask the question just because the majority of the listeners.

43:21
of instrumental intel are artists or creators in some way, or form. you know, it's always good to have exposure. But yeah, get what you mean about, you know, just reaching out to people that you know is usually the safest bet. Because yeah, I've had situations on other shows before where, know, maybe the PR person reached out and then, you know, you have the conversation. It's just like, whoa, where did you come from? So yeah, it's important to kind of be able to do that vetting, if you will.

43:51
And it's been a blessing to Achickwitbeatz because like, for example, you, ah I do know you, but you're also a dope artist and producer. So the guests that we've had so far, I've known, but they're also dope. So I feel like it has really been easy. So like Samson said, you know, we've reached out to people we know first, but I'm hoping the listeners from the Hip Hop shop

44:20
or even like you said on your show, will inquire because I feel like we're onto something, even you said that. And when you do what you love, let me see, when you do what you love, it never feels like work. And Samson and I are having a blast. And just like what you do on your show, you have fun.

44:47
I feel like this is something that Samson and I could keep doing for a while. Yeah, because you're definitely filling a void. There are Hip Hop shows and podcasts, but they're not doing what you guys are doing. So that's why I say it. And I had to say it publicly as well, you know, just to let people know like, yeah, you guys are onto something special. So, So I know I'm trying to.

45:13
not get mixed up on where we've had these conversations since we've connected multiple times. But who were some of your musical influences? I can tell by, you know, listening to the show, but for those who may not be familiar, who are some of your favorites for both of you? Go ahead, Samson, you first.

45:34
um Influences EPMD, Scalta, I'm a big Sean P fan.

45:45
There's certain Hip Hop that just jives to me. So there's, I don't want to go down the list of names and everything, but foremost, it's EPMD, Helter Skelter. That's where it is. When I was younger, was Big Daddy Kane. You know, I was into the dancing, Scoop and Scrap and whatnot and stuff like that. So anything with the upbeat, I'm really into. I'm a nineties fanatic. That is where I reside most of the time.

46:14
I love that. I might have to borrow that. I tell people all the time, it's still the 90s in my car most of the time. But yeah, that's where you reside. I feel you on that. Well, I'm an 80s guy. Of course, I'm a lot older than you guys. You're one year. Stop it. Oh, man. I feel like I'm 10. But I mean, I feel great. But run DMC.

46:43
is my favorite all-time hip-hop group. To this day, I still wear Adidas, Sheltos. I really just clung to them and I still play their music today. uh Old school Africa, Mbatha, SoulSonic Force back in the day was monumental as well. I was a breakdancer.

47:12
learning how to DJ, ah playing stuff like It's Time and R-E-S-H, all that old school stuff ah really made me fall in love with hip hop. 90s, ah it has to be a tribe called Quest. ah I loved ah like De La Soul. ah I liked the

47:41
That whole movement, is that movement? De La. Thank you. I was getting a mind by the native tongue movement. I was so into that. know, I'm thinking De La Soul, Saturdays, me, myself and I, know, potholes in my, I mean, I can go on and on, but. I was way too young to like Buddy the way I did it. I'm gonna go ahead and type that. Oh, that is funny. But yes, my buddy. Oh my gosh. Yes. Oh my goodness. Yes. That's a classic.

48:10
Um, and then as time went on, of course, know, woo. Um, oh my gosh, man, woo just came out of nowhere. This big large group of guys, man. I was just like, yes. Um, the West Coast, know, Dre Snoop, uh, Mac 10, Cube. Oh my gosh. Mac Dre in Bay Area. Yeah. So yeah, always Hip Hop first, even though I'm a house head too, but Hip Hop is first.

48:40
Yes, and I wish that we had more of those blends that we used to get back in the day. You know, like Jungle Brothers, know, I'll house you and like... I'm gonna do you. Whoa, whoa, Oh, you're getting turned up. Yes. So, yeah, I mean, you know, both of you guys listed some really prominent people who ushered in styles that came, you know, after them.

49:09
And I feel like that's so important. So yeah, with that being said, you both got a love for the classic Hip Hop. Kind of where do you envision things going? Cause lately there've been a lot of people that have returned, they're putting out new singles, new albums. Do you think that we'll kind of get that shift back to where we still kind of have some of those vibes? I mean, of course it's not going to make us feel like how we felt back then.

49:34
but I kind of feel like there might be a renaissance where everything's kind of re-emerging again. What do you think about that? If it happens, it happens. Everything's on a wheel, right? Everything comes back. Will it come back how it was? Never again. We live that. The kids want to push it to their own things. That's their business. I can respect them if they do it, but

50:04
Is it gonna make the money? I don't know how things are going. It's everything is cookie-cutter. You're gonna, you know, they want the violence. They want the flashy girls. They want all that. They think that's Hip Hop and that's only Hip Hop. It wasn't because if the same way that people say this is Hip Hop, this is Hip Hop. I could show you Hip Hop where guys and girls were together and they are fully closed and having fun. We just talk about Buddy. That whole video with like Latifah, everyone was

50:34
Set they were they had clothes on and they were just having fun. They were talking about sexual stuff, but They were closed. They like um, look at de la sol with um saturday You're telling me that girls were popping and they're hoochie and carrying on and guys were kicked No, it was guys and girls and they were roller skating and having fun right so that's Yeah, it will come back. I don't think it left us.

51:03
we got older and we have to dig harder for it. oh I remember the first time I actually listened to Little Brother and I thought honestly, I thought Hip Hop was dead until I heard Little Brother. And I found out they had a whole bunch of albums that I never heard of. And the reason why is because I got busier. I was working. I was trying to get things together. I had no time to sit down and dissect music. But my friend put me onto something and that showed me that

51:32
It's always going to be there, but unfortunately you have to dig for it. It's like the old time. Remember back in the days in the eighties, Hip Hop wasn't prevalent like this. You had to dig for it and we did that to get it and we loved it more. So basically you have to get back to the basics and unfortunately you're to have to dig on your computer and find these artists that want to do it. Well Samson, I'm going jump in right where you just said. That's why I feel like your radio is so different.

52:01
because you can get that type of music on your radio. I'm gonna do my best to keep the old school Hip Hop alive. You don't hear what you hear on your radio. Like, there's so many internet radio stations out there, okay? Kudos to all of them. But I feel like your radio is different because I'm gonna play that stuff you just don't hear anymore. ah And now, uh

52:30
You know, I'm going to start doing the late night editions where I'm going have some underground. Meaning when I say underground, let me rephrase that. It's going to be not censored. I'm going to play the originals. There will be an underground to help artists, independent artists, but I'm going to be playing the original NWA, 2 Live Crew at a certain hour.

52:59
But Samson, are spot on with what you said. I do believe Hip Hop will always live with us old schoolers. You got LL who's still around putting out music. Big ups to LL. Of course, Methan Bread, know, those guys, man, are still putting stuff out. Muddy Waters Too. Muddy, oh man, I heard some of his bars on YouTube. He's still got it.

53:29
He really does. So, anywho, not to continue on that topic, but I'm going to do my best to keep Hip Hop rocking on Yurrrp Radio. Old school Hip Hop, real Hip Hop. Yes. So, yeah, again, I just got to shout y'all out on the blends of listening to the Hip Hop Shop, you know, how you're breaking the music and everything just flows so smooth. It kind of reminds me of back in the day. Well, back in my day.

53:59
When I was kind of young like listening to college radio, we had a couple DJs that just used to keep it real like that So yes, you guys kind of got that Nostalgic feel like new nostalgia if you will so like I kind of love that feeling Listening. So yeah, it's always a pleasure I love the Samson love the Samson. He's doing a good job on Wendy putting the show together. I give him a lot of We're trying else we're trying trial and error. Um,

54:29
I have to give the props to the guys before me. Like I'm from Toronto. We listened uh to 88.1. We listened to the Underground. There's always a Hip Hop. Back when I was younger, there's always a Hip Hop show when it was like 12 to two or something. It was something stupid like that. And I listened to um there was a DJ X. Then

54:56
someone else took over the show after that and they real freaks. was a, I'm forgetting someone that started it off and they put it on the show and that's when we used to listen to Hip Hop. They would go, they would actually travel to New York, get music and come back and play it for us because at one point of time, if a song came out in New York, it took at least a full month before it hit Toronto.

55:23
That would be crazy. But then you have DJs that would uh actually go to New York and dig for those records and bring it back and they play it for us. And then we would be, oh, what's this? And then you find new artists and stuff. I used to tape the shows and stuff like that. That's the feel that I'm trying to bring with our show. And I want you to hear music that you haven't heard before. And, you know, some is new, some, but most of it is old. Some old stuff that you haven't...

55:53
heard ever and maybe you'll find something to listen to. You know what mean? We just try to blend it in and we have good people on talking some good subjects about Hip Hop and that's all it is. Yeah, well, yeah, I love it. I dig it. A lot of times if I'm listening to radio, well, typically like through certain times if I'm working on stuff, it's a little bit harder for me to listen to radio.

56:20
just because I got my headphones on, I'm mixing or oh making something. But yeah, I gotta make sure that I make time Tuesdays at seven, because I know what I wanna be listening to. And you were there. again, I know I thanked you on IG, but thank you for tapping in. We really appreciate that. uh And also your show, so all the listeners out there, if you do get interviewed on the Hip Hop Shop,

56:49
If you go to YurrrpRadio.com, is why you three R's in a P radio.com and go to more at the top of our homepage, you will see the links to the previous shows. So Achickwitbeatz is on there. Check out her interview. is fire. uh In fact, you are our first guest. I feel so honored. Seriously. Yeah.

57:16
You're a veteran in our world. Yeah. Yeah. was an honor to be a guest on the show that I already enjoyed. So, you know, yeah, I just want to make sure that I can shine a light to, you know, any people that are in my audience that weren't yours that they know to check out what you guys are doing. Because most people that know me know how much I love Hip Hop. So, yeah, I want them to to find you and just recognize what you guys are doing. Yeah. Love and bliss, love and the vibe.

57:46
Even the next guest that you had on was incredible. I'm excited to hear who's coming up next. But yeah, you guys, got some dope finds. Oh, got some rain. Hey, hey, listeners. Oh, yes. Please check out the previous ones. Achickwitbeatz, definitely. But stay tuned. We have some special ones coming too. Well, all of them been special, but it's just like we're blessed because they're following in line. I'm like, wow. Yeah.

58:15
Great about our guest so far is like, we're having good conversations and it's not made up. It's like we're just sitting down and we're just talking and we're just talking about Hip Hop and to hear about each person's different engagement in Hip Hop, loved. It's interesting because everyone has a different story about how they fell in love with Hip Hop.

58:43
So it's always new, it's always fresh. And then when you start talking about old things and you get excited and you're talking, it's like sometimes we lose time and the interview is done before it started. You know what mean? Because we're just like, ah! Yeah. I'm kind of excited about our next one, chosen one. Woo! He just went in. He just went in. And I can't wait for that one to come out.

59:12
Awesome. I can't wait to listen. But yeah, get what you mean about like how that time flows when you're conversations. I was trying not to interrupt you when you mentioned 2 Live Crew. Like, you know, some of those, like, oh yeah. So yeah, it's kind of nice to be reminded of, you know, good vibes, good music and kind of to walk that memory lane specifically for Hip Hop. All right. And that's a wrap for this episode of Instrumental Intel. I've been your host, music producer, Achickwitbeatz.

59:41
And want to thank you for tuning in. Once again, as always, I appreciate the guests for coming on and sharing their insights. And I'd like to thank my home station, Grander Radio out of Grand Rapids, Michigan. Make sure you come back next week. I got more goodness lined up for you. So till next time, you know where to find me. Tune in, tell a friend, and I'll see you then. Peace.