SPEAKER_04 1:45

Welcome to another episode of the Hilltop Glove Podcast. Today we have the pleasure of speaking with the talented Tony Esther, an African-American, unsigned independent artist from Florence, South Carolina. Tony began her career at the early age, at an early age, singing in the church, and has since evolved into a well-rounded artists, raps, writes, and produces her own music. Tony's stage name, Esther, is inspired by the biblical character who was the queen that sacrificed herself to free her people. Her music is shaped by the influences of legends like Jay-Z, Lauren Hill, Queen Latifah, Tupac, J. Cole, and Big Crit. Her philosophy, out of the box, reflects her unique way of thinking and the depth of her meaning in her lyrics. She encourages her listeners to think beyond conventional boundaries, both musically and intellectually. For more information on to how to engage with Tony, visit her website, sc.com, where you can find or purchase merchants, purchase merchandise, and learn about her artist consultation services. And thank you, Tony, for being with us today. Thank you. I feel honored. Finally in the building. Blessed. Yes. That's good. Good. So we you know we always see you at events and stuff like that. So I was like, it's about time we have her on the show.

SPEAKER_00 3:15

Lord have mercy. What are you saying?

SPEAKER_04 3:17

Long overdue.

SPEAKER_00 3:18

Long overdue. We've been at other events with you and other shows with you, but never on hours. Wow.

SPEAKER_04 3:27

Yeah. And we all never get to talk to you as a group or like one-on-one like this. It's always like some other things going on. And the networking events, we don't get a lot of time to actually dive into, you know, what do you do, who you are, what's the meaning. Somebody. Yes. Hello, somebody.

SPEAKER_00 3:45

So humble humble. Um, but that's one of the things that we like about you. You go home, which is oh, which is dope. Um, now, since you're here on our podcast finally, if you could tell our audience a little bit about who you are, okay, where you come from, and what it was like growing up. And the the most, I think this is always a good question because it's always funny. Do you have any siblings? Because it matters.

SPEAKER_04 4:05

Yeah. So actually, I have um one brother, older brother, and a younger sister. Um the middle child. I'm a middle child. Okay. Oh, you think that's a good one. Yeah, listen, I'm a middle child, I'm a proud middle child. Um, like I said, I'm a little awkward, you know, what is it? As we all are.

SPEAKER_01 4:30

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 4:31

Grew up weird. Um so I grew up in Lamar, South Carolina. Okay. Very, very small, yeah, small one-stop light town. Um, you know, proud Silver Fox. And then I grew up in uh Florence, South Carolina, where it was a uh culture shock a little bit. It's popping. Um, West Florence High School.

SPEAKER_02 4:54

Yeah, where I was waiting.

SPEAKER_04 4:56

I went to West Florence for one year, and then you know, went to Wilson. That is where I heard that Wilson.

SPEAKER_00 5:03

All right, now what do you like?

SPEAKER_04 5:04

Now Wilson, H B, what can I say? H B H U, Historically Black High School. Yes, like a university.

SPEAKER_00 5:12

It really is.

SPEAKER_04 5:13

Yeah, it's it's a big deal.

SPEAKER_00 5:15

Oh, you don't, yeah. Wilson is, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 5:17

Yeah, it's a big deal. Check it out. Yeah, but I grew up, um, I tell people all the time I joke. You know, you I can joke about this now. I grew up uh post.

unknown 5:26

Po.

SPEAKER_00 5:27

They couldn't afford the O and R.

SPEAKER_04 5:31

The O and the R. I grew up post. Um Lord. You know, my biggest influence though, what really carried me through life was music. It was music. Um my dad actually was my biggest influence. He had a mic in my hand, he had the voice. He had the um, he he didn't play any instruments, but his voice. His voice was the instrument. Yeah, he taught me everything I knew as far as music. And you learned sound just from hearing him or in his oh wow. Yeah, he grew up. Uh, you know, I grew up singing to him in the choir. You know, he sung in the choir, and then he would also sing in the in the club, you know.

SPEAKER_00 6:12

No, they did it back in the day.

SPEAKER_04 6:13

Yeah, in the in the club. Yeah, that's how they did it back in the day.

SPEAKER_00 6:17

Do it in the club. No, seriously, seriously, the best talent. That's how he did it.

SPEAKER_04 6:21

And actually, my grandfather, I didn't know that. My grandfather, um Ted actually.

SPEAKER_00 6:26

Yo, shout out Ted Dance. Shout out Ted.

SPEAKER_04 6:30

So we talked about it. We know, we know. Yeah, go ahead.

SPEAKER_00 6:33

Yeah, tell her, tell her.

SPEAKER_04 6:35

So the whole time I did not know he married my cousin. Your cousin?

SPEAKER_00 6:40

Nisha, my wife, that's her cousin.

SPEAKER_04 6:43

Oh my god, yeah. So Nisha is my uh Nisha's mom.

SPEAKER_00 6:48

Yep.

SPEAKER_04 6:49

It's my first cousin. Oh, so y'all related. Yeah, y'all family found.

SPEAKER_00 6:52

Yeah, no, and we found out in the because I kept seeing, and I'm looking at her face. This is what messed it up.

SPEAKER_01 6:57

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 6:57

I'm looking at her face because I met her grandfather next day. I'm looking at her face. I've been around with people, I'm like, she looks too familiar, but I don't know her, right? Yeah. And so one day I walked up and I asked her who it was, et cetera. And I was like, you gotta be.

SPEAKER_03 7:09

Yeah. Gotta be.

SPEAKER_00 7:10

And then she started saying the names. I was like, okay. And Nisha was there sitting there, didn't even know who it was. It was funny because um Nigel, her brother came down today, and he's one of like the like there's not many males on that side, a lot of women.

SPEAKER_03 7:24

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 7:24

And so he's like one of two on that side. And so, like, we always tease like the son Nance, because there's not many Nance boys, right? And so he was supposed to be here today, but he had to ride with her. They went to Sumter today. Yeah, they had to go see the family because um I didn't want to just so y'all know, dealing with some issues with air conditioning. And so I didn't want any in the heat because he medical no problems up in here, so he didn't get to come see, but he was like, I want to meet her, I want to meet her. I said, Hey, hopefully everything goes well tonight. We'll get you out to the event and you'll be able to get a little bit of a channel. Oh, yeah, we'll get the event tonight.

SPEAKER_04 7:56

Yeah, yeah, come and look.

SPEAKER_00 7:58

Because they excellent band, because uh we got to actually bother you that uh on that Friday last week to see them perform. Um because I told Tony, I've always listened to Tony's music. Yes, um online on stuff, and um, but I've always saw you at events, and so to see you actually perform live was dope.

SPEAKER_04 8:20

I appreciate it. It was really dope.

SPEAKER_00 8:21

That was my first time actually getting to see the music.

SPEAKER_04 8:24

I know, and you're telling me up front like this. Yeah, I was like, are you? I was listening I haven't performed in a while because I took a hiatus. I took a hiatus uh uh sabbatical because my dad passed away in May. Oh yeah, so it was a lot, yeah, it was a lot going on, but it's crazy how I started reconnecting with my dad's side.

SPEAKER_02 8:49

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 8:50

So the family. Yeah, okay. Like everybody, you know, it's ever since the funeral. I'm like, oh my god, this is this is good. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 8:58

You actually you got a support system that fumes around, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 9:01

Yeah, not just my mom's side, because exactly it happens like that sometimes. Dad's side, I I think that was something that was always missing.

SPEAKER_00 9:10

And it's like the music side, because that is the music side, because they're all talented. Everybody it's weird, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 9:17

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 9:17

So I've been to some of the events that the family does, right? And I'll be at the event, someone will start bringing out music to start singing. Everybody, everybody sounds like they should be signed to some kind of and I'm sitting there just listening, and they're like, hey, you sing too. And I'm like, Y'all sure y'all want this?

SPEAKER_04 9:33

Yeah, I'll try.

SPEAKER_00 9:34

That'll sound good.

SPEAKER_04 9:35

To your music, I was doing your research, you know, trying to learn more to do your bio, and I was like, oh my gosh, she sounds like she's been doing this for years. And I'm like, there has to be some other like or something. Grew up in the church, yeah, choir. Yeah, church choir. And then, like I said, always had that musical influence in me with uh from my dad, because you know, he listens to temptations, to the the brown paper bag music. I don't know if y'all know about that. That's that music. I don't know about that. Tell me about that.

SPEAKER_01 10:04

So tell them what it was about with brown paper bags. Okay, wood, yeah, okay.

SPEAKER_04 10:09

Yeah, yeah. So that's what that's what it always been. And it was more like a feeling thing instead of a um a train.

SPEAKER_03 10:18

Yeah, it's not a good thing.

SPEAKER_04 10:19

Yeah, it's a feeling. So what were you what was it like for you as a kid? You know, like what were you like? Inspired you and you grew up in the church, but what was it like for you? So my family didn't even know. Um, because my brother sings as well. He does quartet, he does um all kinds of things as far as music. But um, they didn't know we sung until we was at like a birthday party. They videotaped it and I hope somebody still has a tape. Um I think we had to been maybe I had to be like 10. And I sung and they was like, What? So ever since then, we in the church, it's like what? They done heard your voice. They like, yeah, I use her for everything.

SPEAKER_02 11:01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 11:02

So yeah, ever since then, getting on the choir. Um pretty much all my life, but I really didn't take it seriously until I'm gonna say about 2017 is when I really like got out there and decided to do this thing for real.

SPEAKER_00 11:17

It's more than just this uh something that you did for fun.

SPEAKER_04 11:20

Yeah, because I did it in the church and um I grew up in the church. Shout out to the church, you know. Shout out to the it's it's I gotta go beyond the four walls. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 11:30

Yeah, expose yourself.

SPEAKER_04 11:31

Yeah, yeah. And um, I didn't choose gospel, but um, it's soul, period. Yeah, that's what I feel when I listen to your music, the soul. And I was like, who influenced her? Like, they did some good, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 11:46

Yep, bravo.

SPEAKER_04 11:48

Church and my daddy and my uncles, and yeah, back there on Friday nights, and they that's that's so real.

SPEAKER_00 11:54

That's so real. You can see you can see the authentic aspect of that in your music. I know um this next question, and and this doesn't make sense because I know you as your professional life, but um piece in pieces. Um if you can explain your process to piece and what are some of the hardships that you overcome in the years, especially from what we're just talking about, um, and how you authentically express it in words through your music, uh, just so our audience can understand some of that process um that you create the artistry that you do.

SPEAKER_04 12:28

Okay. Um, I would say the last few years, even when I started um taking this thing, I would say seriously. Um no, let's go all the way back. So I grew up hard shit, right? So it's just almost like I had to sing my way through everything. I was a writer and a singer as a uh kid. And then fast forward 20 2018. So a lot of people don't know this because I don't really talk about this. I was actually married. Yeah, why are you looking like I was married anywhere? I swear I wouldn't see anything that says I was married, I had a real Kardashian marriage. It was uh for a year. So real Kardashian marriage, maybe like a few months or whatever, but um yeah, I I found myself how can I say this? We're gonna get real, y'all. Um I found myself in a situation where I was married to um my ex. I don't even want to say his name, but you don't need to. He alright. But um I was married to him and didn't realize that that was something that I didn't want to be in. Um I didn't know why. I was very, very depressed in my marriage. And I felt like growing up, growing up in a church, that was the right thing to do. Um doing everything right, I was uh, how can I say this? No, they say don't shack up. Yeah, don't yeah, we didn't do any of that. There's a lot of things that I wrote about. So um when I got out of that during COVID, which was crazy because I was in grad school at the time. That's a lie.

SPEAKER_00 14:20

Whoa, school stressors, everything actually three because COVID, the marriage, and yeah.

SPEAKER_04 14:27

So going through all of that during that time, um, that's how the vulnerability project came about. That's how I found out yeah, so it was it was that that was birthed out of that, like just relationship stuff, and then trying to be vulnerable with myself, with the world, what that is. Now, out of that came the block list podcasts, which how we all came, you know, together. Um, but through all of that, like I really gained, I think that was the beginning of me finding myself, like realizing who I was through my message. Because my mama would say, I heard that song that you sung. You gotta be careful how you sing that thing, and you need to be a little bit more creative on how you say things because you're you know, your little cousins they listen to.

SPEAKER_00 15:17

Oh, yeah, they yeah, they're paying attention, yeah, to everything.

SPEAKER_04 15:20

So you can't just say you out here doing this and you know using all your words and stuff. You gotta be careful of the things that you say. Thank you.

SPEAKER_00 15:29

Thank you for that.

SPEAKER_04 15:31

You're still a lady, a professional at the end of the day, and people are watching. So um that allowed me to be more creative in how I write and how I do things. So vulnerability project came about, and then I started doing the group sessions. So I'm gonna use this degree. I don't know how I'm gonna use this counselor degree. I'm gonna use it.

SPEAKER_00 15:55

Yeah, that's why it's so it makes sense.

SPEAKER_04 15:57

Yeah, everything started piecing together. Um, because one of my good friends, which is um Calvin Graham in Columbia, um, we met in grad school, and um he actually helped me through my divorce, like very encouraging and all that other, you know, stuff or whatever. And I decided to make him a part of the vulnerability project sit-down show. And he's gained clients through. I didn't know that until yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 16:26

Like, what? I was like, wait, you bit what's my 20%? I'm gonna pull a desk.

SPEAKER_04 16:30

Nah, I said, man, listen, like you are my uh, we used to pick at each other, he's my Ayala Vincent. Like, um, but he has helped me tremendously, and through all of that, everything just keep keep happening. It's like I'm using this degree season one because I'm also a school counselor. Oh, of course.

SPEAKER_00 16:49

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 16:50

All that I do a lot, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 16:52

Yeah, all the hack.

SPEAKER_04 16:53

And my career specialist, please do certification right now. We need it in South Carolina, yes, we do. We need it bad in South Carolina. Yeah, because these kids, they they need help, but they lost the arts are gonna save our kids, right? Yeah, I think the same thing because you pull out so much of in a person through art because that's why I feel about my teachers at Benedict. They pulled all the art out of me, and now I'm doing all this stuff, but it's because of them, they saw it in me. I didn't see it in myself, but each person has it within them in some form. That's not what it is, it's a spiritual connection because I'm a very spiritual person, um, not religious, but spiritual. It's a different um, it's a spiritual connection that that stands with that, but it's also you finding yourself in the way to express yourself. Because that's that's how I had to do it. I tell my kids all the time I can't teach y'all something that I don't know myself. Yeah. So this is the way that I learned to do it. And I always felt like, you know, God is very funny, like he puts you in situations to where um you have to teach others. Yeah, I feel like a lot of the struggles that I went through as a kid is to teach kids how to get out of situations themselves. So that's how all of this came about, and I'm very fortunate to be Tony Esther and do this thing called music that I love to express myself. And you're doing it though well. I appreciate it. I appreciate it. That kind of goes into um our next question: the message and the music. So you've been dropping music. If you had to pick one of your favorite songs, what would it be? Um, okay. So I just released a song. That's one. I got two. I just released a song called Um Beloved. So it's on my upcoming project, um, Beloved. I don't know why I call it Beloved movie.

SPEAKER_00 18:47

I was about to say that was one, it's a strong movie. I'll put it like that. Yeah, it was creepy.

SPEAKER_04 18:53

Yeah, a little creepy. Um, but it was basically everything that I went through from 2020 until now. It's like me learning to love myself. When I I didn't, I didn't. I'm getting up on stage with a mic in my hand and not feeling complete. Um and even finding out who I am uh through my sexuality, you know, I'm I'm not I I I feel like I am a child of God, first and foremost, but really figuring out and who I am. Um so that's what uh beloved is about. Um, you know, all kind of transgressions are gonna happen, but I have to keep telling myself to be loved.

SPEAKER_03 19:38

Exactly.

SPEAKER_04 19:39

Um, so it's me speaking to myself, a letter, yeah, open love letter to myself is what that song is. The song that I have is called Choose Joy. And um, that song is basically about me growing up and people calling me a tomboy. And then I grew up to be who I am and love who I am. I decided to choose joy despite of what everybody everybody may say about me, opinions on who I am and how I dress and how I carry myself. I still decide to choose joy and choose yourself. Yeah, yeah. My decision to be exactly. I know it can be kind of hard being an artist, a female artist at that, because of how they other women carry themselves in that.

SPEAKER_02 20:24

Oh Lord Jesus.

SPEAKER_04 20:26

But yeah, it's just like either you're raunchy or you're two too, yeah. Yeah, why it can't be both? Yeah, I don't feel like I'm in the middle because I tell people I ain't changing the oil.

SPEAKER_00 20:39

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 20:41

You try to give me hold. I have to. I I got my own house.

SPEAKER_00 20:47

You have to take care of the house, but still you can you can you can be a complex human and a complex individual just like anybody. Yes, you don't have to fit in a box. Yeah, I think that's something, especially as an artist, where people they look for a group or a demographic to sell to, they want to put themselves in a neat so that they're easy to sell, like Coca-Cola, um Starbucks or something like that. But that's not how humans are made.

SPEAKER_04 21:12

Yeah, yeah. I feel like I'm very uh multi-fashioned. Yeah, yeah. I um my first album was called A Jar with No Lid. Now, I grew up in the 90s, I'm a 90s baby. So my show was a different world, different world. And the episode with crisscross with the jar with no lid. And um beginning of the album said you can be anything in the world you want to be, you know, garbage man or whatever, but there's no lid over you. So it's yeah, no ceiling. I was just, you know, that's that was always my message. Like be whoever you want to be. That's I say that choose joy, everything is aligned. So that's your message in the music right there. You want people to choose joy, yeah, yeah. Be themselves, yeah, yeah. What's your writing process look like? Life happens first, and then I have to sit down and write. Um process it. Yeah, I I learned how to start producing my own music. Um, and that allowed me to like sit with myself and learn new.

SPEAKER_00 22:23

I'll have to ask this now when when you say that, right? Produce your own music, and you can uh speak to our audience about that. Because a lot of folks they want to understand what that means. Do you mean the process of creating the song and recording it, or do you mean everything from making the music to creating the lyrics, recording it, editing it, and etc.?

SPEAKER_04 22:46

Everything. Oh beats.

SPEAKER_00 22:48

Um I want to know what you do. I want to know what you do.

SPEAKER_04 22:51

Like I said, I grew up, I grew up poor, right? So we had to use resources. So what I did, I purchased a MacBook back in like 2017. Um, which is crazy because I still have that same MacBook. Wow. The 2017 that it was refurbished. I bought it off my homeboy. Um, but I just knew in school we used this program called Garage Band. Yeah. But that was in like middle school, and it was a free program. So what I did was learn how to use Garage Band, which is very simple. You just record.

SPEAKER_00 23:24

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 23:25

So recording myself.

SPEAKER_00 23:27

Um were you making your own tracks at that time? Or you were just beats on elsewhere?

SPEAKER_04 23:31

Internet beats. That's what I was wondering. Internet beats um at first, and then I had to learn how to record myself. What does that look like? Buying a little microphone off of Amazon. Um try to figure that out. And then I started muting people like. I think he was one of the first producers.

SPEAKER_01 23:47

Shout out Airborne.

SPEAKER_04 23:49

Um, so started working with him, teaming up, getting beats and stuff like that. And then he would, I would go to his house and sit with him and watch him make beats.

SPEAKER_00 23:59

Isn't that interesting? I love his ear. I love his time. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 24:02

He makes them and then we're like, okay, what else? Right. Yeah. So uh learning from my peers basically on how to make beats. And then getting on different programs, okay. How do I, because I can't catch a beat for nothing, but like getting on different systems and stuff like that. Yeah, I can't catch a beat for that. Yeah, I I can't. Please don't ask me to dance. All right. No, I can't do it. Yeah. Um, but learning all those things, and I also like ad-libs on songs and even making the beat. I learn how to use my voice and then how to mix and all that was other good things. So yeah, from scratch. From scratch. Yeah, you gotta learn it. So who's your favorite producer?

SPEAKER_03 24:49

Oh.

SPEAKER_04 24:50

Um that you've worked with so far. I'm gonna say locally, because we're gonna go locally. Um, I love Airborne, of course. Airborne audio. And because shout out to Airborne, he really taught me so much as an artist and as a producer. So him and my homeboy Matt Graham from Charleston. Go ahead, Matt Graham. Yeah, he's a big boy.

SPEAKER_00 25:16

Chuck Town, Chuck Town stands up. Yeah, yeah, just a giant.

SPEAKER_04 25:19

Yeah, um, Matt actually produced, so I have Blockless is a song that I had. Uh The Vulnerability Project. He produced that. And um and I always say, Thank God for Matt Graham, because this, you know, the city been singing that song.

SPEAKER_02 25:36

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 25:37

So yeah, that was a big song. Um, Blockless. And you know, he makes beat tapes and stuff. So I really like listening in the morning when I get dressed. It's no lyrics, it's just beats. And they just make your mind wonder. So I always, you know, I'm interested in that. I want to make a gospel beat tape. Okay. Yeah. That that's next coming up. I'll be waiting for that. That's very different. That's very different. I grew up in the church. That's what I'm saying. Like, I love I like gospel music. No, no lyrics, isn't it?

SPEAKER_00 26:07

It's funny though, because it's a bite. So, yeah. Because gospel music, that's a yeah, people gotta remember. And I I guess African American music history in America, everything comes from spirituals. That's your jazz, that's your um rock and roll, RB, blues. Considers that's Americana outside of like Appalachian folk music, it all comes from spirituals. Yeah. Outside of that, everything was um that you consider to be Western music is old Mozart style music. That's what it is. And so when you try to like get gospel music out of what is current, you're leaving your history. I said, I love I love my gospel music. I be telling people, they be like, what are you listening to? You gotta say, it'd be it'd be jazz music and gospel music. That's what I play in my office at work. So when you come in and you're gonna hear somebody singing some gospel music, you're gonna hear some jazz music, one or other, you ain't gonna hear no sexy red. No sexy red is my favorite. Yeah, you're gonna hear no sexy red. They're like, dang, that's what you listen to, like, yeah, because that's the basis of all of our music.

SPEAKER_04 27:10

It's a it's it, I feel like it'll reach a different crowd as well.

SPEAKER_00 27:13

It will.

SPEAKER_04 27:14

Um, I'm good for the people who feel like they don't belong. Like black sheep. Yeah, yeah. You say he left the 99 for the one. Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_02 27:26

The one.

SPEAKER_04 27:27

Yeah, you don't follow. Forget the 99.

SPEAKER_02 27:29

Yeah, I'll do your thing.

SPEAKER_04 27:30

Yeah, I go after the one. So I I really feel like I am put here to reach the weird people, the awkward people, the people that feel like there's no place for me.

SPEAKER_01 27:40

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 27:40

Um, and I do that through my music. Yeah. And it still brings everybody. What's your uh your fan base like, like, you know, so yeah, day ones shockingly, um, I went to Charleston. I performed at um the music forum there for a hip-hop tribute show. That was big for me, y'all. I grew up music music forum. I know, right? Yeah, like that. Yeah. Um, you went down there and somebody uh this Caucasian lady um does not look like me, because there was also a set that was there um for country music, Cheryl Crow set or whatever. And she was a part of Cheryl Crow set uh set and she stopped me and she was like, Who are you? Who are you again? And she was like, Um, I just want to say I've been paying attention to you for years, I've been following you for years, and um thank you for talking about God and your music. Like I see him through you, and just keep doing that because there's a lot of people that don't talk.

SPEAKER_02 28:45

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 28:46

Love your soulfulness and everything. And I was just I was about to cry. Like I really was, because I was like, you know me. It was genuine though, too, right?

SPEAKER_01 28:55

It's genuine.

SPEAKER_04 28:55

She don't look like me, you know, none of that. But it's like, no, keep doing what you're doing, because I've been following you ever since you started. Like I see you so fraud, yeah, like it's kids, because I got my little cousins up there rapping my songs, tagging me on whatever. And then it's the you know, even my family, we have dinners and stuff, and they play the play the music, and everybody know the lyrics. I'm like, oh my god, y'all know this.

SPEAKER_01 29:24

It's surprising.

SPEAKER_04 29:26

It's it's it's very broad. Yeah, that's good. You have support, and especially with with your younger cousins, you know, they're gonna ride for you. Yeah, they're gonna promote you, yeah, they're gonna blow you up, yeah. Younger generation. So that's a plus.

SPEAKER_00 29:39

They gotta get to see you.

SPEAKER_04 29:40

I'm very blessed.

SPEAKER_00 29:42

You ain't lying. You ain't lying. And I'll tell you this too. I thought this was really this like weird little statistical stuff, but I feel that especially with like gospel, music, um, right now, and what you're able to do with it as opposed to when we were first growing up, like finally getting a person like Kirk Franklin to make the music feel young, it has taken off to the point great as a popular music medium. So, like you can do gospel with rock, hip hop, whatever it is, blues, et cetera. You can do a gospel thing with it. And I thought this was interesting because like this year, this is like the first time this week was like, and this is this is interesting news, but this week was the first time since 1998 were no hip-hop songs on the top 10 when it comes to like herb music. It was all pop music. Yeah, all pop. And I was telling my brother about this. I was like, I think part of it's because our message in hip hop has become so negative. I hate to say it. I don't want you shooting at me with the ops. Yeah, I don't want you forcing me to do drugs that could kill me like fentanyl out here. I don't want to be out here telling you like the negative stuff you're gonna do to my wife because you're gonna steal her because you got money and I find jets to go to the bar. Like that stuff doesn't make me feel good. Yeah, so like why would I want to be a part of it, right? And so one of the things I think that's happened is the music has become so negatively driven for financial success that it itself into obsolescence. It will be gone. Wow. Because no one's gonna want to pay attention to it. When all I can do now, since I know what your formula is, I can take your hip hop formula and I can put it on a country music song.

SPEAKER_04 31:18

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 31:19

I can take it and put on what they're doing, I can take it and put on a pop song. I don't need you anymore.

SPEAKER_04 31:23

Generating their own musical us anymore.

SPEAKER_00 31:27

And when I tell people that they say, what? I'm like, yeah, because you need to make a product that people actually want to consume. Because back in the day, hip-hop, you wanted to consume it because it was doing what you're saying, reaching that one, that outsider, that person that needs to feel like they're um they can be received. And that's what hip hop used to it has made everybody else an outsider because to be involved in it. There you go.

SPEAKER_04 31:51

I don't relate, I don't relate to them guys.

SPEAKER_00 31:53

I don't lie, I tell people I can listen to Moneybag, y'all. I can listen to Sexy Red, I don't relate with them.

SPEAKER_04 31:57

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 31:57

I don't know these black people.

SPEAKER_04 31:59

I listen to reggae.

SPEAKER_00 32:00

See what I'm saying? Oh, yeah. That's what I'm saying.

SPEAKER_04 32:02

I gotta relate reggae all day.

SPEAKER_00 32:05

So cool about what you're talking about. I think that's awesome. And um, this leading into this next question, I know we're gonna hold you too long because we want to get to this one and let you get some promotion, but can you tell us a little bit more about your journey with aware studio um and the hardships that you face with that new adventure? And what can we expect from you and and your community support with that journey?

SPEAKER_04 32:24

Okay. I'll talk about all right. So I had aware for eight months, right? It was a place, um, a warehouse that I had here in Columbia, right? Now I had it for a few reasons. It was for basically uh incubator for local artists. That's what it was for. It turned into a hangout spot. I had to shut it down. Oh, because I'm gonna tell you, it's a it's a few um barriers that we have in the African American community.

SPEAKER_02 32:56

For one, funding is an issue.

SPEAKER_04 32:59

It's it's a it's an issue. I'm a black woman doing this all by myself. No help, you know. So um went from where um, because this is this is the slogan that I had, where art and storytelling collides. Yeah. So I I'm actually I'm not gonna let it down. It's still gonna be aware, but it's not the physical location. Yeah. So it's gonna be when art and still uh that's not fair to be.

SPEAKER_01 33:27

That's smart. That's smooth.

SPEAKER_04 33:28

So it's going to shift into a whole different direction. And I still want to tell stories. Like I still want people to tell their story. Um, but like I said, it's barriers, it was the financial difficulty because I have a mortgage. So you're gonna do it. Yeah, I'm gonna it's you know, I wasn't gonna let my house go. So the other. Yeah. So and then I went I went back to my career being a school counselor too. Yeah. Yeah, so I did that personal life stuff. Like I said, I lost my dad in the midst of all that, so I felt like I was losing myself. Um I for a while, stop shows, everything. And it was like I needed to just stop everything to find out who I am. Um there's a benefit to that though, because I had to learn about ordinances, I had to learn about codes, I had to learn about all these things. So tell me nothing when I come back and do, you know, do it a different way. So even about funding and resources and things like that, now I I know the formula. Okay. Yeah. So um when I come back, not if, but when. Um we'll we'll see. Sounds wonderful. So the way how can a community support you? Like you said, funding and just um if anybody knows any resources to just hit you up. I would say just listen. Just listen and just look and see what I'm doing. Okay. Um, see if that's something that interests you first and foremost. Like I said, I want to invest in I know it was on the two-notch side of town, and some people ain't too fond of I ain't saying nothing.

SPEAKER_00 35:11

Two notch. I ain't saying nothing.

SPEAKER_04 35:12

Don't just it's okay though, but I you know, I feel like it was a purpose on why it was there. I believe in two-notch. I really do. I feel like it can be the same. You made me believe in it. You made me believe in it. You made me believe in it.

SPEAKER_02 35:23

Yeah, right.

SPEAKER_04 35:24

Like we can revamp right. I feel like we can revamp two-notch, but it's gonna take us as a whole. Yeah, I can't do it by myself. Yeah, and um, I was trying to do it by myself, you know. So um, I do want to be on that side of town. I want to stay serving that side of town. Um, so it's gonna start there, and just me, I feel like I myself I had to get out there and research. You know, my research didn't stop at the building. I need to figure out how to connect with the people.

SPEAKER_01 35:54

Um yeah. Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_04 35:55

I gotta get out of my box of being an introvert. Yeah. Because when you're a business woman, you can't go. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 36:02

Unless you got good reps that go out there. Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 36:05

Yeah. I need to be um driven about, you know, how do I do this thing? So I'm gonna be reaching out to some, you know, business owners about how to do this thing the right way.

unknown 36:18

Okay.

SPEAKER_04 36:18

And not fail, you know, because I don't feel like the first one was a failure. I don't feel like where was a failure.

SPEAKER_02 36:23

No, it was a few years.

SPEAKER_04 36:24

People listen, I did it by myself, um, attained the property and everything. Like that was a lot. That was a lot, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 36:33

Yeah, especially as a young professional.

SPEAKER_04 36:34

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 36:35

Yeah, you didn't have anybody on the backing or anything to make sure. Didn't know anything. They weren't propped up. That's what I'm saying. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 36:41

Didn't know anything, gotta obtain a business license or any of that. Yeah. Like say I um enrolled in uh uh the South Carolina uh what is it arts commission? They had a class with me.

SPEAKER_00 36:55

Shout out, shout out, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 36:57

So I took that class and learned all about you know small businesses and how to thrive. So you know that was one of the things I I know I need more of that in order to do this. Like I went to school to be a school counselor and how to do that and got the experience, but it's like I know I want to be a businesswoman, I want to provide for my community in the way of art. So it's like I need to learn how to do that too. Don't just jump in it. Yeah, you got the you have the knowledge to do so, and the resources, yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 37:30

I agree, I agree, man.

SPEAKER_04 37:32

So, how can everybody find you, follow you? Yes, drop them social, travel with you.

SPEAKER_00 37:38

Even a phone number if you want actually.

SPEAKER_04 37:40

I'll be out and about, y'all. Uh sometimes I'll be at work mainly or in the house, but um I be at shows and I tell people don't be a stranger, like come up, talk to me.

SPEAKER_00 37:52

You don't bite people. Yeah, I'm not gonna be in the store. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 37:56

So I can write about you. You know, I wanna I wanna get to know you. So um even you shoot me a message on or Facebook, Tony Esther, S E.

SPEAKER_00 38:09

That's mainly a straightforward straightforward meeting you can find it. Oh, yeah, yeah, it's the same.

SPEAKER_04 38:14

Yeah, website, yeah, web purchase merch. Anything, just you know, um, yeah, purchase merch.

SPEAKER_00 38:20

Where can they purchase the merchandise?

SPEAKER_04 38:22

Um, aware, you know, I got it in my trunk. I'm one of those two. Okay. I like to shake your hand and get to know you and yeah, like Master P did back in the day. A lot of time I just give my stuff away. I just give it away.

SPEAKER_00 38:36

Too good.

SPEAKER_04 38:38

I mean, I do it because for one, like I'll get it back later on down the line.

SPEAKER_00 38:42

But you know, it's you put the right energy into it. You got that merch with you today?

SPEAKER_04 38:47

Yeah, I'm gonna leave it down. I'm about to go get something.

SPEAKER_00 38:49

Yeah, you gotta get a little quick.

SPEAKER_04 38:53

I get all this. Yeah, man. Yeah, man.

SPEAKER_00 38:56

I gotta wear it. So I'm I'm wearing next to the brand. Yeah, I will.

SPEAKER_04 39:00

You play cards? I run.

SPEAKER_00 39:02

You ready? You you know you're playing.

SPEAKER_04 39:07

I'm playing card because you know I probably spades.

SPEAKER_00 39:09

Thank you.

SPEAKER_04 39:10

Everything, all of my merch is uh is a portion of me. So I got like coffee cups. I need to get y'all cups. Yeah, I got coffee cups and because I love coffee.

SPEAKER_00 39:19

I know you do. You get because you see how you better do that. I'm gonna shoot home and then bring it. Yeah, don't forget about us.

SPEAKER_01 39:28

I love free merch.

SPEAKER_00 39:31

Um, not gonna hold you, we're gonna go ahead and wrap up. But um, yeah, we're we're good. We're good. All right, so my fault, because it messed me up. I'm waiting for that merch. Okay. So this is DJ and what?

SPEAKER_04 39:41

Tamaya.

SPEAKER_00 39:42

And our esteemed guest.

SPEAKER_04 39:43

Yeah, Tony Esther. The Tony.

SPEAKER_00 39:46

We appreciate you joining us. Oh, before I forget, I'm gonna feel bad if I don't do this. We are at Celeb Studios here at addresses 224-O'Neal Court, Columbia, South Carolina, 29223. Excellent, excellent. Um, great venue space. Uh, they hold events and host events here with Chef Jay. And Nate, a matter of fact, number there for if you need to have it for Chef J is 803-667-9058. I'm reading backwards, y'all. Pretty darn good at it. Or you can connect with her husband, Nate. That's my doo right there. Slick as can be at 803-665-5265. And we also have a great intern with us today.

unknown 40:26

Kendra.

SPEAKER_00 40:27

Go ahead, Kendra. Kendra is awesome. Kendra is awesome, awesome, awesome. Um, and we're happy to have her helping us today. Skip just stepped out for a second, but um, other than that, I just want to shout out for him. Um, man, Hill Top Club Podcast. Tell somebody next to him that you love them, that you appreciate them, that you cherish them. And until the next peace.