Participants: Lance Wilbur (Host), Dwayne Lemon
Series Code: TKS
Program Code: TKS000001
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00:29 Hello, my name is Lance Wilbur.
00:31 And I'm Dwayne Lemon. 00:32 And we'd like to welcome you to TKS, 00:34 A True Knowledge of Self, 00:36 where we get to know ourselves from a biblical perspective. 00:40 Now, Dwayne, you understand that 00:43 as we go through this program, 00:45 we're going to be dealing with some controversial subjects, 00:48 we're gonna deal with some subjects 00:50 that people might not be exposed to 00:52 or it might be new for them. 00:53 And we're gonna be kind of using 00:55 as a backdrop, this conflict. 01:00 And in the Bible, in the Book of Revelation Chapter 12, 01:03 it talks about a war. 01:05 And we're needing to help everyone understand 01:08 that we're engaged in this war, 01:09 there's a conflict or controversy. 01:12 Now it talks about a war that started in heaven 01:15 but it also goes on to say in verse 12 01:18 that this war came to the earth. 01:21 And we have to understand that the war 01:23 or the battle is over the minds of humanity. 01:27 Something also interesting in verse 11, 01:29 it talks about how humanity overcame 01:32 or gained the victory in this warfare. 01:34 And it talks about the overcoming of humanity 01:38 by the blood of the Lamb, 01:39 which we're gonna talk about extensively in future episodes, 01:42 and by the word of their testimony 01:45 and this in fact, is what we're gonna be 01:46 talking about in today's episode. 01:48 We're gonna be talking about the power of one's testimony 01:51 to overcome obstacles. 01:52 That's right. 01:54 To have the power, obtain the power to save 01:58 and not only for us as individuals, 02:00 our own stories, our own testimonies, 02:02 but the power to transform others' lives. 02:05 So we're gonna be dealing with your testimony today. 02:08 And I'm gonna start by asking a very simple question, 02:11 where are you from? 02:13 Well, I'm from New York, 02:14 specifically Hollis, Queens to be exact 02:17 and you know, coming from New York 02:20 and the East Coast, there is a lot of things 02:23 pertaining to urban life that you find 02:26 are several types of origins in New York. 02:29 One of them, of course, is one of the things 02:31 that we're gonna be addressing a lot in our episodes, 02:32 which is the hip hop and R'n'B culture. 02:35 I was heavily exposed to that, 02:37 you know, from a childhood growing up. 02:39 And I'm the youngest of eight, 02:41 grew up in a home that had both mom and dad you know, 02:45 and I was privileged to have that. 02:47 But at the same time, 02:48 even though mom and dad were there, 02:50 I found myself at times 02:52 you know, receiving love from my mother 02:54 as best she knew how to love, receiving it from my father 02:56 as best as he knew how to do it, 02:58 my siblings, I have four brothers, three sisters 03:01 and even though we all had our own lives, 03:04 we tried our best to connect together as a family unit. 03:07 But I think just you know, being an individual 03:09 growing up urban life style, 03:11 there was no religion of any kind. 03:13 So there was not Christianity, Islam or Judaism 03:16 or any other connecting dots that are, 03:19 you know, bringing us back to these major religions 03:21 but nevertheless, we were household 03:23 that tried to do good to the best 03:25 of what we understood to be good 03:27 and we thought in our minds 03:29 that we were a pretty well-to-do middle class family. 03:33 Yeah, now let me help the audience understand 03:35 what we're dealing with. 03:37 When we're talking about hip hop culture 03:39 and we're talking about New York City. 03:41 New York City is the birth place of this culture 03:44 that now spreads across the globe. 03:47 And Hollis, Queens is one of the flashpoints 03:51 for the hip hop movement. 03:54 And so understand that this family, 03:57 your upbringing is in the middle 04:01 of this culture that is screaming forward 04:05 that some people think as a fad 04:07 but is actually taking New York by storm 04:10 and soon to be taking the world by storm. 04:12 That's right, because you know, 04:14 when you think about New York especially, 04:16 when you're looking at the 1980s going into the 1990s 04:20 which is of course, my era, you know, 04:22 you're talking about some of the greatest hits 04:23 to ever hit the hip hop and R'n'B industry. 04:26 Everybody from of course, Run- D.M.C, 04:28 I said Hollis, Queens so you know, 04:30 that's where Run- D.M.C. were from. 04:31 And then all the way down to LL Cool J, 04:34 you know, Q-Tip and five from A Tribe Called Quest, 04:37 I mean, all of these different, you know, major rap groups, 04:40 major hits today, this is where they got their origin, 04:43 right there in Queens, New York or somewhere adjacent to it. 04:47 So you're right, we were right there 04:49 entrenched in all of this. 04:51 So tell me a little bit more about 04:54 how now your childhood and your upbringing, 04:57 your household kind of formed you 04:59 or shaped you as a man 05:00 and or the things that you ran into growing up. 05:03 Yeah, I mean, you know, everybody, 05:05 you know, the Bible lets us know 05:07 that we all have purpose, 05:09 you know, we were brought into this world for a reason. 05:12 We are not the results of same bang 05:14 or some freak accident that just took place. 05:16 We have purpose in life. 05:17 Now when I'd look at the book of Isaiah 43:7, 05:20 it tells us that, 05:21 "When God made us He made us for His glory." 05:23 I didn't know that of course, 05:25 because again, there's no religious background 05:27 but I had the hunger and the passion 05:30 from a child to find out, well, what is my purpose. 05:32 So I looked around. 05:34 When I looked at my father, he was a jazz musicianist, 05:37 he was drummist specifically, 05:38 and very, very talented at what he did. 05:40 My mother was a corporate woman, 05:42 my brothers, for the most part, 05:44 were musicians as well, my brother Leslie, 05:46 he played several instruments. 05:47 My brother Vernon instruments, my brother Michael you know, 05:51 I know that he likes to sing a lot 05:52 and a guest being around that musical upbringing, 05:56 plus I grew up in a house where were very musical, 05:58 you listen to music all the time. 05:59 We listen to a lot of rhythm and blues, 06:01 we listen to a music style that was called funk 06:04 and you know, there were a lot of guys like 06:06 you know, the P-Funk Parliament Movement with 06:09 you know, Clinton and some of these other guys 06:13 but you know, their names elude me right now. 06:14 But the point is when I was around all of this music, 06:18 obviously it's started to mould me as you asked. 06:21 And I'm trying to figure out well, what's my contribution 06:23 because I can't play the drums, I can't play the base, 06:25 I can't play anything and I can't sing. 06:27 So it was at a young age that I discovered 06:29 whenever music would come on, I would just start dancing. 06:32 I mean, I would just start dancing, 06:34 my legs would just start moving in voluntarily. 06:36 And it was at a very young age 06:38 that I started to develop a skill set for dancing 06:43 and I got real good at, at a very, very early age. 06:45 Right, so explain as well that 06:48 there's different elements to the culture. 06:51 We're not gonna simply just be talking about the music 06:54 and the partying 06:56 because there is all different dimensions 06:58 of the influence of hip hop, but specifically, you get, 07:00 now involved in the dancing aspect 07:02 or the breaking aspect. 07:04 And this is one of them-- 07:06 At least, probably it's the earliest recognized 07:09 exposure and aspect of hip hop 07:12 that kind of went out to the world, 07:13 the break dancing and the dancing culture 07:15 is extremely large. 07:17 Oh, yeah. And it's everywhere. 07:19 So talk about your experience 07:21 as you started getting into that in the street level. 07:23 Yeah, I mean, because again, my mother and father 07:25 because they didn't have major heavy guidelines to, 07:28 to guide me in growing up, 07:30 I was heavily exposed to the street, 07:31 I was exposed to street life. 07:33 So even though I didn't live "street life," 07:35 I was exposed to it because I was surrounded-- 07:37 By different friends. Oh, you were around it. 07:39 Yeah, I was just around it all the time. 07:40 So as a result of that I found myself meeting some brothers, 07:45 they were into the break dancing. 07:47 We started to form a break dancing group 07:49 and we would walk around with our little cardboard boxes 07:52 and then we just tear them open pour little talcum powder on it 07:55 and everybody would start doing everything from backspins, 07:56 the head spins and you know, all this stuff. 07:58 There was a difference between the break dancer 08:00 and the one who did pop. 08:02 And I was the guy who did pop, 08:03 which is usually, when they use the arms 08:05 and all these different things. 08:06 Hey, don't do it now. Yeah, yeah, you know. 08:07 And these were the guys who did more of the pop 08:10 and that's what I did. 08:11 So I found myself more so the guy always standing 08:13 and doing the upper movements 08:15 than the guys who were down on the floor 08:16 doing all the dirty grimy spinning and everything else. 08:19 So I found that this was intriguing me, 08:21 this was pulling at me 08:23 and dancing became an outlet for me 08:25 because I didn't think I was a good looking guy, 08:27 I didn't think I had anything 08:29 that could really draw people to me to make me feel 08:31 that kind of special guy that I wanted to feel, 08:33 girlfriends, things of that nature. 08:35 But dancing became an outlet for me to get attention. 08:39 And as a result of that, I found that 08:41 dancing became this medium for me to get glory. 08:44 Again, I didn't understand 08:45 this whole Bible principle about us giving God glory. 08:47 So everything was about giving myself glory. 08:50 So dancing became the outlet for me to do that. 08:52 So I got into the break dancing and then eventually you know, 08:55 just growing up and eventually getting to high school level, 08:58 we started to transition 08:59 in more different forms of dance 09:01 which is still connected to the hip hop culture. 09:03 And I started to bring that talent 09:05 and those skills and those abilities 09:06 into the high school arena. 09:08 Right, so you're going parties, you're getting recognition. 09:11 Yep. 09:12 And now there is a flashpoint or at least at the local level 09:15 you start to blow up, so what happens? 09:17 Yeah, I mean so, can you imagine, 09:19 at one minute you're walking down the street 09:21 and people actually initiates saying hello, to you. 09:24 One minute, the young ladies 09:26 that you used to look at far off 09:27 and wish that they will give you some attention, 09:29 now all of a sudden you're getting attention. 09:32 So I became kind of the local 09:34 real, real local neighborhood celebrity. 09:37 But when I went to high school, 09:40 I found myself in another realm, 09:41 but once again I'm not known. 09:43 Once again I don't have a lot of friends 09:45 and now I have to try to find a way to you know, grab 09:48 and get people to be friendly. 09:49 To establish ourselves. 09:51 Yeah, just to kind of establish myself, 09:52 make a name for myself. 09:54 So I knew again, I didn't have anything about me from dress 09:57 or looks or any other type of talents or skills 10:00 to draw people to me but I knew I could dance. 10:03 So I found out that in high school, 10:05 they had something called Homecoming King, 10:07 Homecoming Queen Pageant. 10:08 And that was basically a talent show 10:10 and everybody got a chance to go on there 10:12 and demonstrate whatever their talent was. 10:14 In my case it was dancing. 10:16 So I got a chance to perform and when I began to dance, 10:20 lo and behold, you'd probably see, 10:22 the picture come up on the screen here 10:24 where you can see now 10:25 that I became the Homecoming King. 10:28 Next to me is a young lady by the name of Melinda. 10:30 She was the Homecoming Queen, she was a wonderful singer 10:33 but for myself it was the dancing 10:35 and at that point, I'm not gonna lie to you, 10:37 I felt like I was on cloud 999 at the-- 10:40 So you got the glory, you have the glory now. 10:42 I got the glory now. 10:43 And you know, it's, it's interesting 10:45 looking in hindsight 10:47 because when I began to study the Bible, 10:49 and I began to read about the characteristics 10:52 of the being that was known as Lucifer 10:54 who eventually became Satan is, 10:57 when you read Isaiah 14:12-14, the Bible shows that 11:01 His whole motive was about bringing glory to himself. 11:04 He was not satisfied with the gifts, 11:06 the talents and the skill, and the abilities 11:08 of which he had plenty of with God, 11:10 he wanted God's position. 11:12 And therefore, he said I want that glory that belongs to you. 11:15 And that's why the Bible says, "I will be lifted up." 11:17 "I will ascend above the stars." 11:18 All this I talk. 11:20 And I found myself in my I stage 11:22 at that point in high school. 11:24 Now as the story goes in Scripture 11:26 and as a story goes from many of us, 11:29 there is a crisis movement. 11:31 There is something that happens as you can continue 11:32 to build yourself up, you build yourself up, 11:34 things are going well and something intervenes, 11:37 you know, there's some humbling experience. 11:39 So what happens with you that makes that transition, 11:41 where that crisis movement 11:42 where you had to think differently. 11:44 Well, one of the things that happened was 11:45 when I was in school, 11:47 again, I feel like my school became my congregation. 11:51 So now when I go there 11:53 as the minister to that congregation, 11:55 the minister of dancing, 11:56 you know, I expected to get praise, 11:58 I expected to get glory. 12:00 Well, there were some visitors who came by the school 12:02 and when they came down to the school, 12:03 they were also dancers. 12:05 And as they started to dance at a talent show, 12:08 the whole auditorium was responding to them, 12:10 to the point they were even lifting up their hands, 12:12 you know, which we know is an act of worship. 12:14 I'm sure they didn't know that 12:15 and I didn't know either at that time 12:17 but nevertheless it is what it is. 12:19 Here it is that I'm watching these brothers dance on stage 12:22 and I'm watching how the auditorium 12:24 is just giving them all this praise and everything 12:28 and jealously rises up to my heart. 12:29 Yeah, you feel disrespected. That's right. 12:30 And you know, and when a brother feels disrespected, 12:32 he wants to handle it. 12:33 So that's what I did, so I got a few friends of ours 12:36 and we went up on the stage 12:37 and we started to make a move around the stage 12:40 while we're walking around the guys in a circle 12:42 kind of like how the shark circles around its prey. 12:44 But to dancers, that was communication 12:46 that I'm about to battle you, not a fight but battle. 12:49 Challenge. 12:50 But the problem was is that the teachers 12:52 and other people didn't understand 12:54 that body language. 12:55 So they thought we came up to fight. 12:57 So they told us get off the stage, 12:58 I got off the stage and long story short, 13:01 before you know it somebody thought 13:03 I wanted to fight those guys, I didn't. 13:05 And they started to fight with those guys, 13:07 started to beat them up and the whole auditorium 13:10 would seem went to get my back to start beating those guys up 13:13 and a major fight broke out, people got hurt real bad, 13:16 police cars, ambulances, everything is showing up 13:19 at my high school now 13:20 and when I came back just to few minutes later, 13:23 because I left, took a little walk, 13:25 came back, saw all the police cars 13:27 and ambulances and then when I came inside, 13:29 people said "What are you doing here?" 13:30 I said, "What do you mean what am I doing here, 13:32 I just wanted to see what happened." 13:33 They said, you need to get out of here, 13:34 you, they're saying, "You started to this fight." 13:37 And I was like, "What? I didn't start anything." 13:38 And the long story short of it is 13:40 they were convinced I started the fight, 13:43 the guys who were dancing were part of vicious gang 13:46 that was known in Brooklyn, New York 13:48 called The Decepticons, 13:50 from the cartoon, "The Transformers." 13:51 Hey, we heard about them in Massachusetts. 13:53 Oh okay, see. That's how that was. 13:54 Yeah, there you go. 13:56 So I mean they were part of The Decepticons 13:57 and that, anybody who knew about 13:58 the gang knew that they were no joke. 14:00 They were not the kind of people you wanted to mess with. 14:02 So I found myself going home that night. 14:05 And when I got home, my mother called, 14:07 my mother opens the door. 14:09 She has a phone in their hand, tears in her eyes 14:10 and she's saying, "Why these boys are calling me, 14:12 telling me, they're gonna kill my son. 14:15 These guys called Decepticons." 14:16 And I was like, "Are you serious?" 14:18 And you know, mom said yes. 14:19 And long story short, that crisis moment, 14:22 I had to drop out of high school 14:23 because my mother said and my father, 14:25 "We're not gonna let you go back to school 14:27 because if you do, these guys will kill you." 14:29 So as a result of that it was through death threats 14:32 that I could no longer go back to school, 14:34 anywhere in Queens. 14:35 And my mother and father said, "You're not going, 14:36 that you just going to have to figure out something else." 14:38 So that was a crisis moment that kind of kicked in. 14:40 So that kind of escalates. Does it die down? 14:43 What's the end result of the conflict? 14:45 The end result is I had some good friends 14:48 who knew that I didn't start the fight. 14:50 So what they did was they got in touch 14:52 with some of the guys on the other side. 14:54 Told them Dwayne didn't do it. 14:56 And they pointed out the guy who did it. 14:59 And the guy who did it or got-- 15:01 You know, started the whole fight. 15:02 They did end up killing him. 15:03 So again, these guys meant business, 15:06 they were gonna do what they said 15:07 they were gonna do. 15:08 My life was spared now 15:10 but when I went to my mother and father 15:11 and told them, I said, "Okay, so everything's okay. 15:13 Can I go back to school?" 15:14 They said, "No, we don't want you to go back to school still. 15:17 You just gonna go ahead and need to find a job." 15:19 So now I'm on a hunt trying to find a job. 15:21 I have absolutely no skills, 15:22 talents or degrees or certificates. 15:24 How old were you at this time? 15:25 At this time I'm 16 years old, no 16 going on 17. 15:28 So I'm like what am I supposed to do now. 15:31 And then this is when I found myself 15:34 trying to get odd jobs working at UPS in different places. 15:37 Hated it, I mean-- I understand. 15:39 Yeah. I hated it for several reasons. 15:42 So I knew that I needed to make money. 15:45 My parents knew I needed to make money. 15:46 But the problem is I didn't have 15:48 any skill sets to do it except one. 15:50 And that was the dancing. So here I am. 15:52 I'm always sitting down watching music videos, 15:54 I'm watching people perform. 15:55 I'm watching people do all these things. 15:57 The thought started coming to my mind. 15:59 "Why can't I be on the video? 16:00 Why can't I be one of those guys?" 16:02 So therefore, I started to hear about auditions. 16:05 For the first time, heard about auditions. 16:07 How did you hear about them? 16:08 Well, when you go to house parties, 16:10 a house party is always gonna lead to a club. 16:13 Because you go to a house party, 16:14 you meet people, especially, if you meet dancers. 16:16 If you meet the dancers, the dancers are gonna tell you, 16:19 hey, have you ever heard of the Palladium? 16:21 Have you ever heard of this place that place. 16:22 So I started finding about all these clubs 16:24 throughout Queens, New York, 16:25 some in Brooklyn, most in Manhattan. 16:28 And therefore, I started to go to the clubs in Manhattan. 16:31 In the clubs in Manhattan, 16:32 sometimes you have celebrities come by. 16:33 Right, what people don't realize also is that 16:36 as hip hop is growing in popularity 16:38 and making money for major companies 16:40 and major labels, 16:41 they are actually sending workers, 16:44 scouts and A&Rs, talent scouts are going now into the club. 16:47 All the time. 16:48 So even locally in the boroughs but mainly Manhattan. 16:51 All the time. If you've got. 16:52 if you you've got to that level in Manhattan 16:53 showcase there somehow, 16:55 then it attracts the attention definitely. 16:58 Exactly, so before you know it, 17:00 in going to the clubs, you meet people 17:02 especially, when you meet the other dancers. 17:03 And there's always a battle. 17:05 You know, if you win the battle, then that's huge. 17:08 That's huge. 17:10 You see what happened was I knew that 17:11 I needed to get with the dance groups, 17:13 so I didn't want to kind of do everything myself. 17:15 So at this stage, where I started to transition 17:17 from a high school, now going into the club scene, 17:22 I didn't go by myself I had kind of a group with me 17:24 and there were three brothers 17:26 that I was part of a dance group 17:27 where we were called Quiet Storm. 17:29 And the words Quiet Storm meant we walk soft but we hit hard. 17:33 And that was the whole concept. 17:34 The quiet storm, you know, walk soft but hit hard. 17:37 And I actually have a photo of them. 17:39 You know, of some of the brothers 17:40 that we worked with. 17:42 And you know, these are some of the guys that I work with, 17:44 the one on the fence his name is Lonnie, 17:46 his stage name was Shadow. 17:48 And it was because you know, no matter 17:50 what anybody could do on the dance floor, 17:51 he could shadow it and do it better than them. 17:53 So that was his concept. 17:55 Because you know, stage names was huge in hip hop culture 17:58 and it still is. 17:59 So he was Shadow. 18:01 The other brother with the dread standing 18:03 in the front that was Excel. 18:04 The other brother, light skin guy 18:06 standing in the back, that was my good friend Damien 18:07 but you know his name was Dagger. 18:09 And then my name was DES. 18:11 And you know that sounds real corny 18:13 but it did have a meaning. 18:14 And the word DES, it was D-E-S, it stood for dark 18:18 'cause that's obvious. 18:20 Then there was ecclesiastical, which was interesting 18:22 'cause even before I gave my heart to the Lord. 18:25 I did feel I was a spiritual brother. 18:27 You know, so I just accept the spirituality 18:29 in its general sense. 18:30 So ecclesiastical and then the S was skillful. 18:33 So that was DES, dark ecclesiastical and skillful. 18:36 So now we are all partners. 18:39 We're going into the club scene. 18:41 We're dancing and performing and doing all these things. 18:43 And then eventually, we started to meet people 18:45 who said, "Hey, have you ever heard about an audition?" 18:48 I was like, "What's that?" 18:50 They said, "Well, this is where you can go 18:51 and meet some of these artists and you can perform. 18:54 And if they like you enough, 18:55 they will put you in their music video. 18:57 And they will also pay you." 18:59 And this and that and the other. 19:00 And I was like, "Man, can you imagine getting paid to dance?" 19:03 Yeah, 'cause I'm dancing for free just-- 19:04 In my opinion, I'm just loving life. 19:06 But now to get paid for, 19:08 now there's a business aspect to this. 19:10 That has blown me away. 19:11 So before you know it I started to go on some auditions. 19:14 And so how long did it take-- How many did you go to? 19:17 You know, what was the climate like 19:19 and when did you get a break? 19:21 Well, there are several scores and scores of auditions 19:26 that you typically are gonna go to 19:28 because the best talent in New York City 19:31 is gonna come to those auditions. 19:32 Especially, if there's a big artist. 19:34 So if it was like a local rapper 19:35 or something like that then you know 19:37 you probably want to have a large turnout, 19:39 the competition is easier. 19:40 But when it came to the big names, 19:42 especially, in those days, 19:43 you know, we're talking early 1990s, 19:45 you know early 1990s, late 1980s, early 1990s, 19:49 you got some really big names now, 19:51 you've got the LL Cool J, 19:53 that was a huge name in hip hop. 19:54 You had Run-D.M.C., of course, huge name in hip hop. 19:57 Queen Latifah, huge name in hip hop. 19:59 So if you had anybody like that, 20:02 that's where, you could literally go up 20:03 against up to 500 to 1,000 dancers. 20:07 And then you got to be scaled down to be number one pick. 20:10 Right, so they're casting for videos, 20:11 they're casting for tours. 20:13 Exactly. Videos and tours. 20:15 So I went on several of them and there were several 20:17 I did not get. 20:18 The one that was probably 20:19 the greatest breakthrough for me was Queen Latifah. 20:22 Queen Latifah ended up holding 20:24 an audition and she wanted to bring 20:26 some people with her on what was called 20:28 the Public Enemy Apocalypse World Tour. 20:31 And it was led by-- Massive tour. 20:32 Massive tour, it was Public Enemy, 20:34 Leaders of the New School which included Busta Rhymes, 20:37 A Tribe Called Quest, Queen Latifah, 20:39 several hip hop artists, 20:41 major hip hop, Naughty by nature. 20:43 So when I went to that audition, 20:46 I performed and I was dancing before Latifah, 20:48 Latifah was sitting just a few feet further 20:50 from where you're sitting, she was sitting back there 20:53 and she had to watch me dancing. 20:54 I was right in front of her and I just put on my best. 20:56 And when I performed, she looked at me 20:59 and she kind of had this smile on her face like she approved. 21:02 So I was really happy. 21:03 So I went home and my phone rang 21:06 and when my phone rang 21:08 there was this woman's voice saying, 21:09 "Hi, could I speak to Des?" 21:11 And I was like okay not everybody calls me with Des. 21:13 You know, scaling it down, eventually I said, 21:15 "Who's this speaking?" 21:17 "This is Queen Latifah." And I was like, "Oh, okay." 21:19 And you know, got a little excited. 21:20 I had-- you got to try to keep cool 21:22 but nevertheless got excited. 21:26 And then from that she said, "Congratulations, 21:28 you've been chosen to go on the tour with us." 21:30 So it was from that point 21:32 that I was able to really transitioned 21:35 where now, I'm not the guy 21:37 sitting down watching the videos 21:39 but now I'm the guy that was in the videos. 21:41 All right. So you get the break. 21:44 You go, are you going on tour, is this a video? 21:46 This specific one was for the tour. 21:47 The Apocalypse tour. Yeah. 21:49 So you go on tour now and this obviously 21:51 is gonna lead to other jobs. 21:53 Oh, yes. Other spots, other slots. 21:55 So to what extent did you, you know, blow up as they say? 21:59 Okay, well, I got a chance to work with several artists. 22:02 Some of them were really, really known in the time 22:06 when I was performing. 22:07 Some of them are not as known today 22:09 and then there are some artists who are. 22:10 The artists that I don't know how prevalent 22:12 they are today in the hip hop and on the industry, 22:15 but there was a gentleman by the name of Tony Terry. 22:17 He was he was a great singer, great singer, very talented. 22:20 And I worked with him. There was a-- 22:22 When house music was a big hit, 22:23 today you don't hear a lot about house music. 22:25 But when house music was a big hit, 22:27 one of the big names behind it was CeCe Peniston. 22:29 So I got a chance to work with her. 22:31 There was also a lady by the name of Lisa Lisa, 22:34 Hispanic sister. 22:35 And Lisa Lisa and the Cult Jam. 22:37 That's what they were called. The Cult Jam, I remember. 22:39 Yeah. And you know. 22:40 So these were the folks that I don't know 22:41 if they're as known today. 22:43 But nevertheless they were pivotal at that time. 22:46 Again, late 1980s, early 1990s. 22:48 So other artists that are known. 22:50 The artists that are known are more so like Queen Latifah. 22:52 Obviously. Okay. 22:54 Naughty by nature, then there was Wu-Tang Clan 22:57 which of course, has Method Man there, 22:58 which a lot of people still acknowledge in hip hop realm. 23:02 Then there was of course, 23:05 what's the other one here, Brandy. 23:07 Brandy was a major breakthrough. 23:09 I got a chance to go on tour with Brandy, Keith Sweat, 23:11 Boyz II Men, the group, the R'n'B called Silk. 23:14 Brandy is still a major hit today. 23:16 So I didn't just perform for them 23:20 and go on tours with them and do the videos with them, 23:24 but then it got to a point that 23:25 it moved me even to a higher level 23:27 which took me to more of the business 23:28 aspect of dancing which was choreography. 23:32 I never knew this. I could-- 23:34 I was very creative in putting together dance steps. 23:37 That was something that I knew how to do. 23:39 So it was consistent that every time I perform, 23:43 people would say, "Hey, can you make up some of the steps?" 23:46 One day I was asked by a group to go ahead 23:49 and create about 12 routines. 23:52 When I said, "Okay, what will you pay me?" 23:55 And when I discovered the amount 23:57 of thousands of dollars that you could get paid 24:00 just for creating one song, 24:03 that's when I started to realize, 24:04 wow, there's a business aspect to this whole thing. 24:06 'Cause you know, again I'm the kind of guy, 24:07 I was happy just to dance. 24:08 Right, so it didn't make sense to do the dancing per se 24:11 but now go to that next level and choreograph 24:15 and make crazy money. 24:16 Exactly. So now here it is. 24:17 I'm now in the hip hop and R'n'B industry. 24:20 I'm entrenched in it. Now I'm in the videos. 24:22 Now I'm going on tour. 24:23 Now the limousines are dropping me home at night. 24:25 Now all of these things are happening. 24:27 I'm making thousands of dollars. 24:29 And as far as I'm concerned, I have arrived. 24:33 That little void that was in my heart 24:35 from way back, even as a child growing up 24:38 of just a point of satisfaction 24:39 that only God can fill, it was still there. 24:42 And it was amazing that you can make money. 24:43 It was amazing that you could be in the limelight. 24:45 It was amazing that you could have 24:47 people wanting your autograph and all this other stuff. 24:50 But still there's an emptiness inside. 24:52 There are people who often think 24:54 how could a multimillionaire actor or actress 24:57 or somebody kill themselves? 24:59 What in the world they're sad about? 25:00 But they don't understand, you can make lots of money. 25:02 You can be in the limelight, you can have people watching 25:05 over you and "loving you." 25:07 But at the end of the day 25:08 there's a void in every man's heart 25:09 that is designed only for God to fill. 25:13 And it was because I didn't know that 25:15 that going through the industry, 25:16 now here's where it gets deep. 25:18 When you do not have 25:22 that void filled, you try to fill it. 25:26 With the stuff. Exactly. 25:27 You try to fill it with stuff. 25:28 And this is why it is very typical in entertainment 25:31 that there's always somebody buying the latest car. 25:33 There's always somebody getting 25:35 that unique iPhone that only they have. 25:38 There's got to be something unique, 25:40 there's got to be something different. 25:41 There's got to be something special 25:43 and extravagant that stands out 25:44 that can bring about this temporal satisfaction 25:48 that only God can fill in truth with eternal satisfaction. 25:51 Right, and now, I mean, we're gonna have to transition 25:54 because in our next episode 25:55 we're gonna go through that journey. 25:57 Of how that transition, what sparked it. 26:00 Why make the change, why even consider a change, 26:03 considering the fact that you're at, 26:05 at least somewhere in the top 26:07 of your craft of your skill set. 26:10 And that's the thing. 26:11 Like you said, as we get into an area 26:16 where we find "success" there's still the social needs 26:20 that aren't met by money. 26:22 Or you might try to seek it through relationships. 26:24 Or like you said, you might seek it 26:26 through things, material items. 26:27 And there's that spiritual side as well, 26:29 and this is what we're gonna be focusing on 26:31 and talking about what true knowledge of self, 26:34 hip hop is rampant with spirituality. 26:37 There's a religious undertone that kind of guides 26:40 and governs that at least the thought process 26:43 and the thought leaders of hip hop. 26:45 And so it's out there. 26:46 So we're gonna talk about, you know, 26:48 some of those transitions, some of those interactions 26:50 and the different encounters 26:52 you had with those various religions. 26:54 And what kind of led you to consider something 26:56 greater than yourself and move into 26:59 what we now know to be the truth. 27:02 So I want to encourage the audience 27:05 to continue to tune in, to invite a friend, 27:10 and consider when we talk about true knowledge of self, 27:12 we're talking about hip hop culture. 27:15 Does it really have it or is there more to the story. 27:18 Is there truth in Scripture? 27:21 Is there a way to escape without having to sell drugs, 27:25 without having to having to become an athlete, 27:29 without having to go into the music industry 27:31 or the entertainment industry. 27:33 Is there another way to escape the trappings of the city? 27:37 So we thank you for tuning in to TKS, 27:40 True Knowledge of Self. 27:41 And we want you to continually remember 27:44 as it says in the Bible in Proverbs 2:6, 27:49 "The Lord gives wisdom and out of His mouth 27:54 cometh knowledge and understanding." 27:57 Remember these things. And we hope to see you again. |
Revised 2016-02-04