SPEAKER_03 1:48

Welcome to the Hilltop Glove Podcast. Today we had the pleasure of speaking with Tam the Vibe, a talented hip-hop artist, host, and curator of urban music events in Columbia, South Carolina. Tam's latest EP, 7 p.m., is deep thinking, chill vibes, creative uh and creative discography. Her music draws from her personal experiences and those of others, which make it relatable, honest, and profoundly human. Tam's cool and eccentric demeanor inspired her stage name, Tam the Vibe. Which uh pardon me on that. I'm a roback. I got it. Alright. Roback Roback. I can't mess with that.

SPEAKER_01 2:23

I got all the time in the world. I don't know my job, but I'm cool.

SPEAKER_03 2:29

Welcome to the Hilltop Glove Podcast. Today we had the pleasure of speaking with Tam the Vibe, a talented hip-hop and curator of urban music events in South in Columbia, South Carolina. Tam's latest EP, 7 p.m., is deep thinking, chill vibes, and has and she also has a very creative discography. Her music draws from her personal experiences and those of others, which makes it relatable, honest, and profoundly human. Tam's cool and eccentric demeanor inspired her stage name, Tam the Vibe, which reflects her professional and personal brand, a blend. Tam's music reflects the ever-changing vibes of life, which is evident in her songwriting. She pours her heart and spirit into every note, making her performances and interviews authentic and deep. Tam's personality and creativity shine through in her work, making her not just an artist, but an experience. Her music resonates with audience by remaining relatable and true to the human experience. Tam is a force to be reckoned with in the urban music scene, and her contributions go far beyond her music. As a host and curator of music events, she has created a platform for other artists to showcase their talents. Tam has established herself as a leader in the industry, and her creativity and passion have earned her a place in the hearts of her fans. In this episode, discover the journey that is Tam the Vibe. Thank you for joining us today. How are you doing?

SPEAKER_02 3:50

Who y'all talk about? I was just about to say, I'm not sure.

SPEAKER_03 3:58

We can do it.

SPEAKER_04 4:06

Yeah, man.

SPEAKER_01 4:07

She done wrote me a new bio, ain't he?

unknown 4:09

No.

SPEAKER_01 4:11

Going in the e-mail. Pull a transcript, put it on your website. Nah, I'm good. Thank y'all. Thank y'all for having me.

SPEAKER_03 4:18

Excellent. Well, we're happy to have you this morning. We appreciate you being on time.

SPEAKER_01 4:22

I try. You know, like I told you, I'm not usually here for y'all.

SPEAKER_02 4:29

Talking about time, you know, um, like you said, you host events and stuff like that. So how does that help? Being on time and being on time, how does that throw you off a little bit?

SPEAKER_01 4:41

Um, it just I think it depends on what I'm doing, right? Um, so like my speakeasy Thursday events that I do, um, like the doors, oh, I always put on the fly, the doors open at eight, show starts at nine. But of course, it's a Thursday, people getting off work, you know, they got to go home, do this to kids, whatever it may be, and then people start kind of getting dressed and flowing in. So sometimes, a lot of times, the show does not start at nine.

SPEAKER_00 5:06

So I would let y'all know that.

SPEAKER_01 5:09

Sometimes it doesn't start at nine. If it starts at nine, that's a really, really good night. Like it's probably like a holiday or something, and people don't have to go to work or something. But um, you know, with that, I kind of play it more by ear. Um, but I've done shows at like the art bar, um, where that was more like a this is what this is, this is just at time, this is what you're doing, you know, this is the time that you have. We gotta make sure that the DJ is loaded up.

SPEAKER_03 5:37

So um, you know, time is whatever I say it is, depending on when people respect your time though.

SPEAKER_01 5:47

No, um, I definitely do, you know, when when the artists that I book for different shows show up on time, that means a lot to me. Because time's a valuable, right? You can't get that back. You can't, you know. Of course, you know, you say you pay people for their services, but you're paying them for like their service. But you're not really, you can't really compensate somebody for time for real. You know, it's you you can't put a price on it. Yeah, so I look at it that way. And because I look at it that way, I do try my best to respect somebody's time. Even if I'm if I know I'm gonna run late, I'll say that like way ahead of time. Like I'll I might be three hours before wherever I'm supposed to be, but I'm in my head, like, oh boy, let me just say this just in case. And then if I'm on time, great. You know what I'm saying? And if I'm not, they already know, you know.

SPEAKER_02 6:32

I respect that because people can pivot when they know in advance. And right, you know, right just out of respect. Like, hey.

SPEAKER_01 6:39

Yeah, it's a respect thing. I'm real big on respect. So yeah, I try my best to respect people's time.

SPEAKER_03 6:45

That's a big thing because I know our podcast know how to be good in whatever industries we're in, uh whatever business we're working in, we want to make sure that we do things professionally. And so one of the things I know that we always talk about, and we'll hit this at the end, we always like to talk about time management because the port is time management to make sure that you're gonna be good and professional at what you're doing. It always pops up. It pops up in everything you're gonna do, time management, time management growing up, it's something that depending on who you are around, it may have been emphasized. But for a lot of us, specifically for those in the culture, it's not a big thing. We run on our own time, but it's important to make sure that you have some kind of standard.

SPEAKER_01 7:27

Yeah, no, and I think like, well, for me, um, growing up, my mother who raised me, she's old enough to be my grandmother, you know. So she was born in 1937. So, you know, I got raised real old school, real traditional. And a lot of it was kind of like uh uh, you know, societal politics, racial politics, you know. They already say black people lazy, you know, they already think black people late. Yeah, no, so that was like I had to know you gotta be on time. They already say you're gonna be late, you already think you're gonna be late. And then like sometimes when I'm late, I just hear it in my head.

SPEAKER_00 8:02

They are, oh no, I was gonna be late.

SPEAKER_01 8:06

But yeah, no, I that was driven into me.

SPEAKER_03 8:08

Certain things I just yeah, because you took like that's what I said, I thought we appreciate it. When we saw you coming in, we're waiting. Oh, she's here. She here. You were ready, but we were ready. And like we were talking, like you said, even though you don't even live far away, you're like, hey, I want to make sure I don't do that thing that most people do when you live close enough, you think. Because I will do that.

SPEAKER_01 8:26

No, listen, you know where I'm most late, and I probably even said this on work. Yeah, going to other people's job. Yeah, I'm I'm you know, you know, like I had a conversation with my supervisor like the other morning. She ain't say nothing to me about being late, because we usually walk in at the same time. So I just ask somebody, so you know, little the five-minute window, you know what I'm saying? We good, she's like I'm like lunch too, little, yeah, you know, but yeah, no, when it comes down to like things like this, I don't know, you know, your your passions and things drive you differently, but yeah, because you aren't working for somebody else. This is working for you, exactly for each other.

SPEAKER_02 9:07

So going back to your um upbringing, tell us about you born and couldn't be talking like that.

SPEAKER_01 9:12

No, no, no, boy, no, no, boy, no, what I'm from day four or three, I'm from Paulie's Island. Pauley's Island is um an hour north of Charleston, like 30, 40 minutes south of Myrtle Beach. Yeah, for sure. For sure. Um, probably like the last little piece of that Gulla Geechee corridor before it stops. Like the thing about it is it's like something. So like the thing about it is right, you hear in me in certain times, because it's like inflections when you say certain, like I, yeah, like when I say boy, stop, man, it's man, boy, you know, things like that or whatever. So you'll hear it, it comes out. I've been away so long, you know what I'm saying? But when I you'll know, like when I've been home though, because this is it's full on man. I just came from home. Man, my people cook me up everything, boy, just all the time.

SPEAKER_03 10:15

Where that girl from? Where that girl from? Is that they gonna know what it is. Nah, seriously, that's I I I've lived in Charleston long enough to tell folks, and and I'm my folks, they're they're Geechee too, and my grandmother.

SPEAKER_01 10:23

No, Charleston is very concentrated, yes, you know, like it's almost like a whole, like, they're like a country in themselves. Like Charleston is a different country in itself, like they need their whole own thing.

SPEAKER_03 10:35

They said, Yeah, well, I don't know if you know, so Queen Quet, she's the the the quote unquote the matriarch of the Golagee nation. Yeah, they have their own flag, they have their own constitution, they're actually a recognized people. Yeah, own Bible, yeah, translation. That happened not too long ago. Yep, all of that. Just like just like any other the Cherokee nation, uh Iroquois, any other, they're a recognized people. Like, for real? I'm like, yeah, it's the queen from so that's going from where you're talking about from that Pauli's Island area all the way down to Florida. Florida, yeah. Yeah. People don't think about it. What the we get?

SPEAKER_01 11:08

Now I remember when I first went off to college because I um I started when I graduated high school, I went to Spartanberg Methodist. And it was me and one of my um friends that uh went there together, but there was like a pretty decent sized group of kids from Charleston that came up too, and like nobody had ever heard the accent. Like people, are you from Jamaica? I'm from Paul is out. They from Charleston.

SPEAKER_03 11:36

Why do y'all talk like that? Especially even when it's um, even when you get to Orangeburg, that culture high gets up to Orange Burger. Yeah, we have a really good partner from Orangeburg, and man, I swore.

SPEAKER_01 11:45

It's little and then something too.

SPEAKER_03 11:47

Maybe like maybe like A Bow.

SPEAKER_02 11:49

Yeah, Abo. Hey, where are you from?

SPEAKER_03 11:51

Oh, that's all over the state.

SPEAKER_02 11:52

Yeah, we have to say both.

SPEAKER_01 11:55

It's always boy, boy, boy, boy. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 12:00

But um also uh just when just talking about your background, of course, you being from Pauli's Island, um, this is one thing we always like to ask everybody because um that I would you say that that the the story of where you come from is so big. Could you talk a little bit about um your childhood experiences and what influenced you growing up to lead you onto the path that we're at right now?

SPEAKER_01 12:25

The radio was always on the miles.

SPEAKER_03 12:30

I was like when people used to call something.

SPEAKER_01 12:32

It was like this one religious state station, like that was local, like radio Baha'i or something. I don't know, but like they had they they like always did uh they always played, you know, what was popular, but then like you always had like those spots where where they were preaching their religion, which wasn't bad. So I was getting everything, you know, little culture and things and all the music, but the radio was always on. My grandfather had a crazy vinyl collection. I always got in trouble for touching. So cause now, because I'm I'm a little older than I look. I'm I just turned 39, so like I'm comfortable. Girl, you talking about black dogs. I thought you were 24, 25 years old. I thought you were younger with songs on that thing.

SPEAKER_03 13:14

Whatever you doing, and I'm gonna talk to you afterwards and figure out what you're doing.

SPEAKER_01 13:17

I didn't I I try to do people right, I drink water, I smoke weed.

SPEAKER_00 13:23

Keep the vibe right, keep the vibe right.

SPEAKER_01 13:25

Yeah, pretty much, but um as far as like just coming up, yeah, like music was always playing. Um I I found DH1 and MTV before I found BET. So like I honestly kind of like was seeing like, you know, when MTV first started, it was just all rock and soft rock. So I saw Aerosmith and all these people kind of before Michael Jackson was a big, you know what I'm saying? So like I grew up with hip hop. I saw all of these, you know, the moguls become moguls, and uh, you know, so um I think what resonated for me and was like, oh shit, I can do this was probably when I saw like the Bret, probably. Because I always knew who I was, right? Yeah, like I always been a time boy. Like it ain't never been, you know what I'm saying? Like I always knew who I was. So like when I saw the break, I was just like, oh shit, we can rap. We can rap. We can rap. Yeah, we can rap, we gonna rap. Yeah. So um that started, you know, just me trying to put my own little words together.

SPEAKER_03 14:32

The first real solid female artist.

SPEAKER_01 14:34

Probably, yeah. Cause I I did like I saw Queen Latifah and I saw MC Light, but I think because the brat was so much like how I saw myself. Oh, that's what I was about to say. It was that real lyricism. No, she was going off, and I was just like, and she rapping fast. I don't know what the hell she's saying, but yeah, you know what I'm saying? But like I said, and she looked like how I saw myself. That's what I was about to say. That representation really meant something to me, even though I didn't understand it at the time, but that's why she was like my fave. But um that started putting together my own little rhymes, but it was more poetry. Um, because I was always like a quiet kid, a shy kid. So that was always just my way of you were shy?

SPEAKER_00 15:17

You wouldn't think it, right? When's your birthday? Yeah, October 29th. I'm a Scorpio.

SPEAKER_03 15:22

Scorpio, there it is. There it is. Finally, finally, we don't ever get we don't get many of y'all. Yeah, skip don't get me, yeah, sprinkled every once in a while. We don't get many of y'all. Yep. Oh yeah, two days, literally just two days. Two days. Bye, bye, my man. Like, like mine, like mine. You know what I'm saying? Man, it's interesting because so you were you to have your thoughts processed.

SPEAKER_01 15:48

Yeah, and then coming up where we came up at, like, there wasn't any type of hip hop scene or rap or music scene, anything like that. So it was all just TV and radio. And then once I got like middle school and started getting my own little money because I was like selling candy and shit like that.

SPEAKER_03 16:04

Like tell people about selling about selling candy.

SPEAKER_01 16:06

I'm trying to tell you, the greatest hustles in the world started off and having candy, burning seed. I was the one.

SPEAKER_03 16:14

Yeah, definitely not. Oh, amazing. Oh man.

SPEAKER_01 16:20

They messed around. I remember they messed around, they built the um Sam's Club in Myrtle Beach. And um, my cousin got a card. And I'm like, oh you gotta take me, we gotta go. That's when the hustle went up. Yeah, it was a rap after that, but no, um, yeah, just you know, doing doing just watching, watching through that that lens and having to immerse myself in the magazines and in the media and things like that. Um, the first time I got into like a studio situation, because I had my moments where I pop out, right? I always be introverted, but I had my moments where I pop out. So we'd be we was at a basketball game. Um, our rivals was Georgetown High School. Georgetown. Georgetown. Shout out Bulldogs. They had a crazy homecoming just uh a couple of weeks ago. But um, but um I just ended up rapping. So at the time, one of the people that would come DJ the games was a guy named DJ Dynamite. And DJ Dynamite was Pete Pablo's tour DJ. DJ Dynamite from Georgetown. He's still out there. That's he is from Georgia. That's my old, that's my OG for real. So he heard me and he was like, hey, you gotta come to the house. You know, let's try to figure something out. So I go, I go out to because he's live, he lives, he's Georgetown, but he don't live like you know how that's young.

SPEAKER_03 17:46

I know how it is to live out.

SPEAKER_01 17:47

Yeah. So I'm out in the woods somewhere, we in the shed. I'm like 16, 17. My mama don't know where the hell I'm at. I'm thinking in my head, boy, my mom gonna whoop my mother. Don't know where I'm at. But um, when I over there, he made a beat right then. And I wrote to it. Oh, MS, do you remember what he made the beat on?

SPEAKER_03 18:11

Because it's a mess.

SPEAKER_01 18:12

I just wanted it just so like for the young folks listening, they'd be like, whoa, what I can I'd tell you wasn't no internet, no computer involved. That's what I'm saying. Just made a beat. Not a not a screen involved, it was just like some matter-of-fact, like hustle and flow. Yeah, just the old school MPC, and I think he had yeah, he had like a keyboard, and that and that was it. Oh man, if you had the MIDI on the MPC, like it was over. Yeah, and it wasn't even like the MIDI, it was just like regular big arrows, yeah. Yeah, yeah, and I was like, okay, so this is how this works. So I wrote them, I didn't record that day. So then Pete Papa picks up, can't catch up with dynamite, but he doesn't let me go. He's just like, I got this guy named Adrian, and he produces, he recorded his house. He's in Georgetown, too. So he hit he's like, go to Adrian, because you need to keep going. So I go to Adrian, go to his house again. My mama's gonna kill me. I'm just at these grown people's houses. You know what you're gonna make.

SPEAKER_00 19:09

But um business mom. You know what I'm saying?

SPEAKER_01 19:11

But um, same thing. I go over there, he makes the beat. I write right then, I record it right then. So now I got a tape. Oh, tell him a tape.

SPEAKER_00 19:22

I got a tape, dog.

SPEAKER_01 19:25

Man, I go back to school the next because I got a car. This is like my senior year, so now I got a car. So now I'm going back to school.

SPEAKER_02 19:31

Playing the tape, bumping that tape.

SPEAKER_01 19:36

I'm talking about that shit, it was a minute, literally a minute. It wasn't even that long. Like over and over again. I'm gonna catch this minute over and over again. One for the uh two for the then, something. I remember it. I was gonna ask you because the beat was real simple, like bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum. We found each other on Facebook a couple years ago. Adrian, the guy, Adrian. We found each other. But that was like the I turned 19, though. Fast forward, I turned 19, and I'm writing. I'm sitting in my room and I'm writing, and um I'm not writing about anything. I'm just putting words together, and it's not the music I listen to. Gotcha. You know, because coming up through the 90s, you know, you're heavily influenced by real lyricism, things that make you think and feel like for some reason, always in my mind, I always want to be like a hip-hop Mary J. Blige. Okay, she's always been like the pinnacle for me as far as emotion goes. Because you, no matter what you're feeling, Mary J. Blige got a record for you. She does. No matter what you're feeling, the highs, the lows, the in-betweens, whatever it is, you can go in that lady catalog and pull one out for you. So I always kind of wanted to be like that. I knew that I always wanted to say something. If I ever got a platform, I want to serve properly. I'm not putting it like that in my mind when I'm 19, but I'm just like, I ain't saying shit. I ain't talking about nothing. Yeah.

unknown 21:06

Stop.

SPEAKER_01 21:07

Stop rapping, stop writing. I just live in. Just living life, you know what I'm saying? Wow. And then like probably when I was like in my mid-20s, I picked it up and started writing again. And then like 2017 is when I like just like, I guess I'm about to go for it.

unknown 21:25

You know.

SPEAKER_01 21:27

Yeah. Cause I knew I had I I didn't know what I had, but I knew that I wanted to serve. I knew that I want to say something. I knew that I want to like help people the way that music helped me, you know. So that's why um a lot of the music is, you know, but like you don't really have like party joints. Like, I don't need that. Other people do that shit. That's not what I need to do.

SPEAKER_02 21:52

What type of vibe do you give off to your audience?

SPEAKER_01 21:54

Um as far as like the music, once they hear it, or with what I think they think beforehand. Um once they what I put out, just honestly my life in other people's lives. Um, I read a lot. So, you know, I educate, or at least I try to. Um, you know, I like to phrase things in the way um, you know, um it was a history major, I have a history degree, go Carolina. Um, so a lot of documentaries, things I watch. So um I was watching a documentary on Malcolm X, and he always does a speech. If you see old him, old video of him doing the speech, one of his guys is always in the back, and he always just said, say it plain, Malcolm. And I'm like, and his speech was always just it wasn't up here. It was always like right here, where no matter who heard it, everybody could consume it and walk away with something. So I always tell people, like, yeah, I can mirror lyrical miracle and all of that other shit, because I could rap for real. Like that's one thing I always took my time at. I was like, I never wanted to be good for a girl. I just wanted to be good. Yeah, I could rap for real, and nobody's gonna take that from me. I know that I stand up, but I always want to just, you know, make it so that everybody can take in what I'm saying and what I'm doing. I never want to talk above anybody's head.

SPEAKER_03 23:23

Like that, yeah. You don't want to do that. And I I want to touch on this point because you were saying this earlier, and I'm and this is what I'm getting from it. When you stopped at 19, seeing that you because like you said, you weren't really putting any like there was no need to or something to do it. It's like you wanted to get life experience. Can you talk about the importance of having life experience and being able to make music?

SPEAKER_01 23:50

It makes a difference to be able, because the thing about it is like we all do the thing, right? When you're young, old people don't know what they're talking about. You know it's not me, it's not gonna be me. That happened to you. Times have changed, this is the same world anymore. You know, all clearly they ain't figured out. Right. But I got raised old school, like I told you. You know what I'm saying? So I always had that wisdom that being raised old school, that means that everybody else around me was that much older too. So I always had wisdom. I always knew what that meant to have it. Um, because I had a lot of older cousins who I saw the difference between them and like other people I knew around that age, you know, 18, 19, 20, because they were reared the way I was reared. Yeah, they didn't make some of the same mistakes other people made. And not saying we listen to every single thing, you know, that we're told or advised against it. But you know, certain things you could just you could see that that bus coming, you know what I'm saying? Yeah, it'd be like, I'm gonna jump out the road, you know what I'm saying? So um I always knew that if I lived inside, and I'm from a small town, right? Yeah, like this, it's still nothing in Paul's Island, honestly. Like they built it, they be they build it, they built it up, you know what I'm saying?

SPEAKER_03 25:13

But it's the place you go to retire. It's a place, right? Exactly.

SPEAKER_01 25:16

It's a tourist town. Right, it was arrogantly shabby. That's our arrogant. Arrogantly shabby. That's the name, that's uh the the the slogan, the motto for Paul's Island. Arrogantly shabby. Like, yeah, nah, quiet, cool, cool vibes. You go, you go to Paul's Island to shut the hell up. That's what you do. It's not Myrtle Beach. No, it's not Myrtle Beach. And it never will be never will be, and never will be either. But nah, like I had I knew there was more outside of what I saw. And my mother, um, she always told me too, but she was well traveled, well educated. That's why I come, I come from a line of educators. My grandmother was an educator, my mother worked in education, so I come from that. So they always told me there's so much more than what me start. My mama gave me this rule. And I started telling my friends this when we went in high school, so then everybody was like, Oh shit. My mom always used to tell me, you got two years to get your ass out of Paul's island, you're gonna be stuck.

SPEAKER_03 26:13

Oh, so you were ready.

SPEAKER_01 26:15

So she used to tell me she would tell me that from like sixth grade. She started telling me. She's like, nah, you got to get the hell out. You're gonna be stuck as a curse, it's a trap. Now, because now we girl the geechee, right? You know what I'm saying? So certain things when you got a geechy woman, an older geechee woman saying certain things to you and looking you square through your soul saying that you kind of believe it, but then when you get older, you know, and you start kind of seeing, okay, well, they graduated about four years ago, they still think. Yeah, you can always come back. But you gotta go, though. Because once you leave and see that there's more out there, you're not gonna go back and stay. You're gonna be like, oh, I got to get the hell out of here again and stay going. Because it happened to me, like I had to go back home, regroup, and then come back or whatever. But the point was I left and I knew there was more, you know. So when you know that um there's more out there to life and you haven't gotten that experience, I did have that knowing that I didn't have the experience. Like I I knew I had to live to say something. Because what am I talking about?

SPEAKER_03 27:19

Thank you. Thank you. I think people are starting to see that now. Um, specifically this year, with the being, you know, 50th anniversary hip hop, a lot of weird stuff happening right now. I was I was I was very perplexed by um the statement that was made by little yachty.

SPEAKER_01 27:36

What did he say? What'd Shotchi say?

SPEAKER_03 27:38

Yachi, what's you say? He said, he said, man, this hip hop music that's out now is whack. It sucks. It's not good anymore.

SPEAKER_02 27:46

I said, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.

SPEAKER_00 27:49

We've been having the same conversation since Kip was telling us that our shit wasn't tight. Say it.

SPEAKER_03 27:55

But it's starting to reflect in the money now. Yeah, there's the point that you're saying is that the music that is out there, the the emphasis on life experience and giving you something that you can actually digest that is nutritious for your mind, body, and spirit. It's not not being there, even a little yachty knows that it's missing. Yeah, yeah. So I really like that point that you're you're bringing up.

SPEAKER_01 28:19

Because even with like your stars that pop out, right? Because artists come out all the time, right? Especially since the age of the internet and social media and stuff, but like you still only have those stars that are like they have that staying power. So who is that like in the past 10, 15 years, like Drake, J. Cole, Kendrick? But like all of them. No, and I get it, because you know, I have mine in order to, and Drake may or may not be on my list at all, but staying power, but staying power. And the reason the reason why they have it is because a yeah, you might go through Drake's catalog, and now we look back and be like, you know, this guy just been toxic. He just been singing that shit to say it however. He is speaking into people's feelings, though. He is he is, you know, he's he's relatable, he's not just selling packs. Exactly. Jake Cole up there speaking his speaking mind, speaking his heart. He's been coming after people recently. Exactly. I love it. I love Cole Cole coming for everything. I love it. Kendrick, of course, we know that man is all about you making sure he delivers the art properly. You know what I'm saying? But those are your people that had to stay in power. Even the RB and stuff like that, like the songs that pop out every hand there, because RB isn't as big as what it used to be. The songs that pop out is because it hits you. It makes you feel something. So I never I I think I always knew that, I always understood that um for ego purposes and for serving the people purposes.

SPEAKER_03 29:53

You got your head on. I like when you said the ego.

SPEAKER_01 29:56

That's something big. You got your head on, correct? It's like balance, right? Like some you you just gotta know how and when to use it. You know what I'm saying?

SPEAKER_00 30:08

And it wants to do stuff, you gotta give it a little outlet. Because I tried for years, man, just stomping out.

SPEAKER_03 30:13

This man right here does not he does not want the ego to go. You know what? No, no, I've come back to Red Long. Okay, good.

SPEAKER_04 30:18

No, no, you need it. You need it to move. Yeah, you need it.

SPEAKER_03 30:21

If there's a healthy dose of it's not bad, it's just when you when you allow it to be the all in all, you end up like Diddy. But moving on to the next. Um, but didn't Diddy have a change of heart and come back and give everybody their. Oh, wait, no, well, so there's a piece of the sake of having sign NDAs.

SPEAKER_01 30:37

But uh let me and let me also add on songs that nobody wants to buy, you know, use anymore, right? Right. There's no money because that publishing only works. Like, who who wants to put Craig Mac's flavor in your ear in a commercial now? Nobody, so he they gave him back something useless preach. That's all I'm telling people.

SPEAKER_00 30:58

Y'all can like promote your own songs now, try to get them placed somewhere because other than on a Thai commercial.

SPEAKER_01 31:03

That is like some of them had some hits though, like, because I was like a bad boy fan coming up. I had like everybody album and all kinds of shit. Like some of them could probably go back around.

SPEAKER_03 31:11

TikTok could probably bring some of them songs, but they would have to go and do the work of the work of pushing it. But you're right. I mean, you're talking about I mean, they're definitely bangers. Come on, because if not, we wouldn't be talking about it, right? Um, but yeah, that that's a good point. Uh that that balance of the ego and and actually making sure that you're giving people something to where you're serving. Yeah. I like that you say it. Like, I don't I don't really hear um musicians specifically in hip-hop say that. So I'll tell you, and I'll tell you this, this is weird, because my brother, I'll tell you, because we always work in the service industry in the sense of like doing uh service for uh for people and community work, right? And we would always find that we would be the only black. And it was something that was weird. We were like, why are we the only black man here? We're supposed to be out here serving, and everybody looks like us, but no one wants to go serve us that look like us. And so it's nice when we see other people um who are quote unquote outside the normal doing stuff like that because they don't really you don't realize your value. Your value is high and it's very appreciated.

SPEAKER_01 32:14

I think um because it's more personal, it's it goes beyond the music. Like I've been in like different times of my life, very dark times of my life where I've been praying and I say to God, like, listen, whatever you need, whatever, you know, I'ma serve you, and I'ma serve your people. Just pull me out of whatever I mean and I mean it. You know, you know, one of my one of my things, I know I've said this a million times, like make me great and I'll make you greater. You know what I'm saying? So when I say serve the people, it's not about the music. Like, cause I serve in a lot of different capacities, right? Like I do these shows. I know a lot of people think, oh, she does it some money, but I make no money off them shows that I do. I don't make no money on the shows on Thursdays. Those those those Thursdays that I do, I don't make no money off those shows. I pay my staff. Yeah, when I go home, I might come home with like $40. Maybe. Maybe I am providing a platform for other artists that are like me, that don't have a platform, you know, a consistent platform. I'm giving them something and I'm putting them from in front of people they would have never been in front of otherwise. I'm giving them an opportunity, and that's something that I didn't have. I had to create or I had to fight to get. You know, so if I had if I can just give this to you, yeah, no, I can't pay you, but you know, make the situation work.

SPEAKER_02 33:40

So talk about your events that you host and provide and curate in Columbia, South Carolina, because a lot of people, some people don't know.

SPEAKER_01 33:47

Um, so I work. Well, my personal brand is the vibration. Um, and my most consistent, it's about to be a year for it. My most consistent event is Speakeasy Thursdays. I host it. Airborne audio um is my DJ, and he's the most best DJ in the whole wide world. Once you not talk about you when you're not in the room. Um, and then Cree. Kree is yeah, she works my door, she makes people feel welcome. She helps me, you know, book people for the shows. Cause sometimes I I'm just, and she'd be like, nah, Tim, put this person on, shut up. And then I'll be like, okay. All right, cool.

SPEAKER_03 34:28

You know, that person, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 34:30

Yeah, but um, I do that. I when I started off doing it, I was doing it at a club downtown and no longer open, but I was doing it every Thursday. I was booking talent. So it's um spoken word artists, an RB singer, and a hip hop artist. And it's a neo-soul vibe. So it's not like you need jumping up and down, and you're gonna sit down, you're gonna smoke this hookah, you're gonna eat these small bites, you know, take these shots, vibe. You feel me? You know, um, real chill stuff. Yeah, um, but again, like I said, it's a platform for um, I don't like saying local artists, but I mean they local.

SPEAKER_04 35:07

Indie, independent, independent. There we go. Indie, there we go.

SPEAKER_01 35:11

Indie artists to um do do what they need to do. And the reason how I got into it is because the club that I started at, they went to do the event, but they didn't necessarily know how to you know tap into that world and put it together. So they asked my boy Quasi Black Nerd Mafia to do it.

SPEAKER_03 35:32

So quasi's like shout out black neuromafia.

SPEAKER_01 35:34

Yeah, sometimes quasi will delegate, and he'll be like, yeah, you do it.

SPEAKER_03 35:38

Delegating. He was delegating.

SPEAKER_01 35:40

He'd be like, Yeah, Tim, I think you better doing it. And I was just like, I'll do it. And now like I probably had a week to do it, like put it together initially, but I was going since then every single week. Had to change venues, business things, because I'm a business woman. Besides from being a rapper, which camera I'm looking into, besides from being a rapper, I'm a business woman. Play with me, don't do it. Um, so I had to switch, I had to switch venues. Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_03 36:06

Um, and so I started doing it just twice a month because I didn't want to um overwhelm myself because trying to find because the thing speak speak on that specifically for our audience about yes, limiting events.

SPEAKER_01 36:19

Yes, tell them you don't want to because the thing about is putting together an event and making sure your event is quality, because that's what I got known for. Like I had people say, I'll come to you an event, and if you know local or independent artists are either gonna be there, I'm fine if you're hosting, because I know it's gonna be quality. So now I got that label. I can't give you that every week and make sure that it's quality. Because now at this point, I'm gonna just be putting anybody on, and I don't do that. And no, I just started doing open mics too, because I want to make sure that everything was quality. But I now that I'm doing the open mics, I think because I had that reputation, people don't just come on and just do whatever they know they gotta be in the right crab. Yeah, they gotta be on that shit when they're gonna be like, and then from there, I'm also uh finding new artists because there's been plenty of artists that have done the open mic, and I'm like, you wanna do a future set, a feature set, you know, in the next two weeks at this same event, you know. So that's that's pretty much what I do. Um that is that is actually like development, yeah. I'm trying, and you know what's crazy is I host so I've been hosting, I've been performing all year and hosting all year, but I've been performing away from the city. I don't really perform at my own events, so it's a lot of people there's a lot of people don't even know I rap for real.

SPEAKER_00 37:46

They just think you're yeah, they just think I'm just so funny, motherfucker, that host it shows. Yo, I mean that seems like a conscious choice. How did you do that? I have my own opportunities.

SPEAKER_02 37:56

You don't want to take the light away from my I like you even more.

SPEAKER_04 38:01

Yo, for real, Scorpios. They like to put people on. Yo, y'all do.

SPEAKER_01 38:07

I believe in a lot of people, um, especially like the people that I'm around the most. Easy, Miller, Vaughn, Kenya. It just y'all know who I'm usually around. I believe in those people so much. I own I probably believe in them more than I believe in myself, and I know who I am as an artist. You know what I'm saying? So you know, again, we we serving people, we loving people. So, you know, my light, my light, light is never gonna dim because I'm giving somebody else their own. Like I'm very secure in who I am. So I don't have to, oh, let me open up the show and room. You know, like I ain't gotta I ain't gotta do all that. Like I know who I am because even off of just hosting, people still like damn, damn, cool. Can you come host this for me? Or can you say, I'm still me. Yeah, I'm still gonna get my shine, regardless of if I'm in the background or if I'm in the front, or whatever it is, what's for me is not gonna pass me by. So knowing that and being secure, believing that for real. Because people say a lot of shit ain't really real about their shit for real. But I mean that and I know it, I believe it for real. So no, I don't have no problem with it. I don't got to. I don't need to. I'm I'm straight. It's this is for you guys.

SPEAKER_00 39:15

Well, and then when you're out there doing other stuff outside of the city, yeah, it's like you opening up doorways, because then if somebody's like, oh, this is really good, well, I've got a whole crew also that I can wait in the back.

SPEAKER_01 39:26

Next sentence every single time.

unknown 39:28

Everything in the back.

SPEAKER_01 39:29

Yeah, it's where it's more, it's more where I come from. I know, but I'm gonna put the gang on. Like, but that's I believe in, like I said, I believe in what we're doing. I believe in my people. Um this year, um, Arts and Droughts, uh Columbia Art Museum. Um, you know, they they hit me up on the fly and was just like, yeah, we lost some some artists and we need to book blah blah blah. And they was like, call Tam the Vibe. So they called Tam the Vibe. However, I played with Easy Moonstone, my band. Oh but I didn't, I you know what I'm saying? But they called me. I was like, yeah, it's me, and it's five other motherfuckers too. Yep, we roll it together.

SPEAKER_03 40:13

Together.

SPEAKER_01 40:14

He was like, okay, well, how many plugs? Yeah, call somebody else, ask about the input.

SPEAKER_00 40:19

No, it's more than me. What inputs do you need for that? Exactly. Whatever.

SPEAKER_01 40:25

If we can do that, we can do that. Even still, like um, like what Miller. Miller did at the edition um earlier this year. It was a show a show they pre-recorded and they put it out on YouTube. Um, real cool vibe. And Miller did it. And she included us, background vocalists, everybody was DJ, like it was a, you know what I'm saying? Then at the edition, saw us at Columbia Museum of Art and asked us to come do at the edition. So now Miller's there with us. You know, it's just a cyclical thing. Like, you gotta energy that's without creating.

SPEAKER_00 41:01

Yeah, yeah, mentality instead of just trying to harvest all the time. Yeah, yeah, we only leave children behind. This ain't administrative talk about like you handle a lot of stuff.

SPEAKER_02 41:12

How do you mentally stay balanced?

SPEAKER_03 41:14

Like you have a thing that you can't be. I know that's shout out, Kree.

SPEAKER_01 41:27

Shout out You can't do stuff by yourself. Um you know, the things I know that not necessarily that I can't do, but that aren't my strengths. I'll reach out to somebody and hit them with a text or a call. Can you help me do this? Can you take this over from me? Or sometimes I just text Kree and just be like, bro, I just can't. It's too much. I can't. I don't wanna help. She'd be like, gotcha.

SPEAKER_00 41:55

Gotcha.

SPEAKER_01 41:56

You know. Um, but the days where I am adulting properly. The days I am adulting properly, yeah, it's water, meditation. I work out um at home. I got it. There's a gym at work, so that helps. Because I pop downstairs to the gym and do like a quick 10 minutes or something real fast. And that that does a whole lot. Um, I try to eat the right things, you know, because I've been depressed, like in a deep depression before, and knowing like that that the nervous system and the brain and the stomach, and knowing that you know, you're putting in certain things, like, so I try, it don't work out too good. Yeah, but I try. You can't do everything perfectly. You know, I'm anemic. I be trying to eat spinach like this.

SPEAKER_02 42:48

Yeah, it's a lot.

SPEAKER_01 42:49

Yeah, but no, I definitely just ask for ask for help. I know my limits. I don't have a problem with saying no. If I just can't, I just I'll say no. I think that's that helps. Boundary setting helps. Yes, boundary. Um, because like I was saying earlier, like you don't have to be everywhere, you know. Um, if it's not beneficial, you know, um do the things that you want to do that you're genuinely passionate about. You don't have to chase every dollar.

SPEAKER_03 43:13

No, you don't.

SPEAKER_01 43:14

All good money ain't all money ain't good money. Uh shit, all people ain't good people. There's a lot more times I turn something down because of the person and not the money.

SPEAKER_03 43:27

Good point. Good point. So I gotta say this before we're gonna wrap up, but we gotta allow you to do this, man. You gotta plug yourself. So where they can find you, where you're at, where all your stuff is. Do you are you selling something on the side of the road? Where can they meet you? All that's right. Yeah, where's the venue?

SPEAKER_01 43:46

I'm saying about speakeasy. There's it's at it's spot, it's called hookah after dark. Hookah after dark is in Sand Hill. Okay, okay. This across from Champs, uh, right across from Mr. Seafood, right next door to Mancoy. It's like a very narrow door. If you don't look for it, you gotta look for it. That's why I just gave you all those landmarks. But people know where Mancoy and Mr. Seafood is, so you'll definitely find it. It's right Mankoy, Hook After Dark. Um, so you can find me at Hook After the Dark on the second and fourth Thursdays. Um, we do, like I said, my Neo Soul event. Um at Tam the Vibe, T A M T H E V I I B E Two Eyes.

SPEAKER_03 44:30

Um, make sure I was looking bad. I was putting in that one eye. And I was like, Person's not existing, two eyes. Maybe three eyes in the future.

SPEAKER_01 44:40

Can you see?

SPEAKER_03 44:41

Yeah, I see. I see it now. I see.

SPEAKER_01 44:43

Vibe with two eyes, because I can see. Might change it three. I've been saying it lately, but that's because I was deep. I was in the I was in the session lately with easy, and I put that in the verse, but I I really might change it to three, the way I've been feeling lately. I've been feeling like um higher level. I like that.

SPEAKER_00 45:02

Yeah, I like that. I know it up, open it up. Change that marketing when you can. I just might.

SPEAKER_03 45:09

We were talking about that earlier.

SPEAKER_01 45:10

Just your kid, let me be tripping.

SPEAKER_03 45:13

We'll work on it.

SPEAKER_01 45:14

Um Tam the vibe on everything, all that's uniform. Hey kids, make sure that your socials are uniform, okay? Don't nobody want to look at at Tam the Vibe on Twitter. At Tam the Vibe 247 Mom. That's stupid. Make all your social media the same thing if you can. But yeah, it's at Tam the Vibe on literally everything that I'm on. So if you type it in and I'm not there, I'm not on it. Um music is the same thing. Tam the vibe on all of your streaming platforms. Like you said, my latest EP, 7 p.m. I am about to start writing, recording music, trying to load up the clip for next year. I've been just in the streets and outside. I I don't have no. But you know, now that I know airborne off work today, we might go Disney.

unknown 46:07

Uh-oh.

SPEAKER_01 46:11

So I know you're off work. Yeah, no, the one thing I know, my boy was gonna be at work. He'd have been name my well, yeah, no. Um, but yeah, y'all stream, stream the old things. I do have some content coming up. Um I don't know what I'm gonna call it yet, but basically, um, while I'm recording new music, I'm gonna go back, I'm gonna talk about some of the old music, just kind of give y'all some background and you know, why I might have written in something that I wrote or break down some songs. You know, I'll be I'll be artist convo. It's it's like my approach is simple. Like I say, I say it plain like Malcolm or whatever, like that, but I be doing some shit, and I don't think people be catching what I do. Bring their attention to just let y'all know I rap free. You feel me? But yeah, that's all my plugs. Speak easy Thursdays. Anytime you see the vibration in the fly, y'all make sure y'all pull up. Anytime you see black nerve mafia, y'all make sure y'all pull up because that's the game, the game, the game.

SPEAKER_03 47:14

Talking about quality events, good people, fun time, and a vibe, and a vibe.

SPEAKER_02 47:19

And a vibe.

SPEAKER_03 47:20

I want to thank everybody for listening to this episode or watching this episode of the Hill Talk Glove Podcast. I'm DJing what? Maya, Mikey, and our esteemed guest.

SPEAKER_01 47:32

I'll be two hours, my changes to do though.

SPEAKER_03 47:36

And we're in the building. We appreciate you all listening. We'll see you next time. Peace.