Welcome And Guest Introduction

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Hey everybody, welcome back to another episode of the Hilltop Glove Podcast. Today we have the pleasure of interviewing the talented Shanisha Watkins, also known as Lucid Soul. She is a soulful RB artist, audio engineer, and filmmaker whose work beautifully intertwines themes of healing, truth, and creativity. Originally from Windsboro, South Carolina, she is not only a veteran, but also founded, also the founder of Soul Music Group. Through her powerful voice and evocative storytelling, she uplifts her community, advocating for mental wellness and purpose-driven living. She discovered her gifts at the talented age of seven, where she began writing songs and creating her own melodies with her sister singing background vocals while she took lead. Okay. Beyoncé? By the age of 12, she was featured on her cousin's Big Tank debut album, The Wicked Eyed Wildcat. Yes. Rest in peace to my cousin. Oh, rest in peace. That was marking that was marking her first credit as a singer and songwriter. How are you today? I'm doing well.

SPEAKER_00 1:11

I'm well. I am um I'm grateful. I'm grounded, and uh I'm excited to be here.

SPEAKER_01 1:19

Excited to have you. Thank you. It's a long time coming.

SPEAKER_03 1:25

I was just told this is your first your first podcast.

SPEAKER_00 1:29

You know, it's my first. It's the first time for everything.

SPEAKER_03 1:33

Okay, I think you're in the right place though.

SPEAKER_00 1:35

I am. I feel the great energy. Um, I'm here for a reason. So, and I'm like I said, I'm grateful.

SPEAKER_03 1:42

And I have to say this always like to bother people. It's always fun when the guests come in and get to meet them and see what's going on. We get to feel you out and see how you are. Very professional.

SPEAKER_00 1:52

Wow, thank you.

SPEAKER_03 1:53

I came in coordinated. The ladies look lovely. They take care of themselves, they made sure to be prepped and proper, and we love that. It makes our job easier. And so we know that you're serious about what you're doing. I know I was checking out your stuff. I think you're serious about what you're doing. So when you came in, it reflected.

SPEAKER_00 2:10

I appreciate that. You have to be serious about uh what you do, you have to be intentional, uh intentional uh with whatever it is that you do. So you have to set the tone. When you set the tone, you know, that good energy flows. You better know it.

SPEAKER_01 2:25

Speaking of setting the tone. Um we like to start off the be for the beginning of the episode, just get into your into your background, your upbringing, who inspired you? Do you have any siblings?

SPEAKER_00 2:36

Yes, I do. I uh grew up in Windsboro. And uh growing up in Windsboro was it was a simple life. Um but music, music was was everything for me, especially in my family. Um my family was my influence. They were my first influence ever. Uh growing up in the church, singing on a choir. So that was everything to me growing up. And um, yes, of course, I have siblings. Like you say, my sister, she sang background for me while I took the lead. So it's just sharing that, um sharing that world with my family and my siblings.

SPEAKER_03 3:22

How many?

SPEAKER_00 3:23

I have two siblings. I have, but one I actually uh we grew up together. Uh-huh. Oh one, we grew up in separate households. But um I'm grateful now that we have the opportunity to um have that same relationship as my as my sibling that I grew up with. That's awesome.

SPEAKER_03 3:40

That's awesome. Are you the oldest?

SPEAKER_00 3:42

I am the oldest. I am the oldest. I am responsible.

SPEAKER_03 3:47

Yeah, that's that that one, that one over there. That's my oldest sibling.

SPEAKER_00 3:51

He already knows what it is.

SPEAKER_03 3:54

Yeah, keep us alive. I always always tease him about that. It keep me alive.

SPEAKER_00 3:58

Right, right. It is a big responsibility being the oldest sibling. Yeah. Um, but it's the it's the best, the best job in the world. Um I love my sisters, both of my sisters, and

Growing Up With Music And Faith

SPEAKER_00 4:13

I'm their protector. Yeah. You know, we lost our father at a at a very early age. And at a time, you know, since then it was just me, my mom, and my sister. So I had to be, you know, the protector. I had to grow up faster. Yeah. And um I've been enjoying it. I enjoy being the big sister. Yeah. You know, I love being the one that they can come to uh about anything, you know, and and be comfortable and being themselves. Um, we have fun. We have a lot of fun. So that's good.

SPEAKER_03 4:47

I always like to hear good sibling relationships. Oh, yes. Because I know growing up, my father used to tell us all the time that y'all all y'all got. Y'all can't be out here fighting each other and hurting each other, because then what you gonna do when somebody has come for you? Y'all gonna I was like, that make that made other, that makes sense. That makes sense. Maybe we should be assisting each other.

SPEAKER_00 5:05

Exactly. That's what God puts us here for to um to assist and help each other.

SPEAKER_03 5:12

Um, so obviously you have siblings. Musically, you said musically everything was around you. What what musical influences did you have growing up?

SPEAKER_00 5:23

Wow. Um, like I say, my my family, my grandmother, uh, my mom, my mom is a singer. Like if you done uh didn't know, she's actually featured on my first single. In Love, she sings in the background. So when you hear the background, the chorus, that's you hear my mother. You hear her too. So uh, but my grandparents, my um, my aunts, uncles, but um, when you say uh RB artists, I go back like Marvin Gay, uh Donnie Hathaway, Aretha Franklin, uh Patty LaBelle, Whitney Houston, Janet Jackson, Michael Jackson, those were my greatest influences. Um during my time where I really started taking music serious, I was really in tune to uh Janet Jackson and Carl Thomas. So I really um a lot of my vocal control I trained singing a lot of Carl Thomas' uh songs because I'm an alto. Yeah, so I wanted to learn how to control my tenor vocals um a bit more, uh well better. And um it actually helped. It actually helped. Carl Thomas is one of my influences I would love to work with, collaborate with. Uh Janet Jackson, of course. Yeah, uh Missy Elliott, you know, I I grew up on those artists. Uh we were rooted in RB, so and if you listen to my music, uh you will hear those influences. Uh so yeah.

SPEAKER_03 6:56

Any formal training?

SPEAKER_00 6:58

Formal training. I've you know what, I won't say it's been

R&B Influences And Vocal Training

SPEAKER_00 7:03

formal training, but my mother, uh my mother and father did uh put me in modeling school. I was a part of a modeling agency here in Columbia, uh Columbia, South Carolina, and um I learned how to sing different genres, uh country, opera, classical. Opera is probably one of my favorites. Wow. Because I get to test my vocal ranges, uh, reach different octaves. So um I I guess, you know, with that formal training and thanks to my parents for seeing my my gifts and my talents, um, it's really helped train my vocals. Um, it's helped groom me and and uh giving me the ability to give the vocal presentation that I give. So yeah, I guess you can say it's formal training.

SPEAKER_02 7:53

That is formal training. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 7:55

I think you listen, so you learn by listening. Oh, yes. Oh, yes, it's important.

SPEAKER_01 7:59

But I think you said um earlier that you were raised in the church. That seems to be the common denominator of artists. Yeah, yes, and it it shows a difference between um the music then compared to the music now that the younger generation has listened to. You can tell. Listen, they're not in the church. I'm just saying, you can just tell.

SPEAKER_00 8:20

You know, I with that, I really I just think that in today's day it's more freedom with self-expression. We're learning how to appreciate art, uh, people's creative minds, just by letting them be themselves authentically. And it's new to us because music, the industry used to be so sheltered. Like you really had to sing, know how to sing, or had you had to have vocal control in order to be a major mainstream artist. You know, like if you weren't singing like Whitney, Aretha Franklin, Marvin Gaye, The Grace, Michael Jackson, baby.

SPEAKER_03 9:09

Angela Beaufield.

SPEAKER_00 9:10

Listen, you were not considered you weren't considered an artist, but I believe that uh we've breaking down those barriers. We've breaking barriers and we've allowed artists to be themselves. You know, um, me per se, I don't like to critique other artists' music. I don't like to create, uh like to critique their creations because it's their self-expression. You know, and who am I to tell someone that your creation doesn't look good or it doesn't sound good, you know? You have to learn how to appreciate art. And um that's what it is, it's appreciation.

SPEAKER_03 9:48

So I have a question. You done did it. You made me ask this question. So I I like what you just said because I agree with you.

SPEAKER_00 9:57

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 9:58

Always tease uh that creatives when they make art and put it out, it's like you're you're birthing a child. And you don't want anybody to say your child's ugly or your child's woman. Right. You see what I'm saying? Because that's your thing, that's your creation, right? However, do you have the belief in quality like musical quality? Do you think that's a thing? Or do you think it's just subjective? It's whatever you however you perceive it.

SPEAKER_00 10:26

It's to me, it's how you perceive it. Quality sound, you can be in the worst room ever. But it it all comes down to the technical um, the dynamics of music, you know, of sound. Um it's science. So when you I'm I'm I'm real creative. Like I love to mix. Like I have experience across editing, mixing, mastering, but mixing is where you get to be creative. Yeah. You know, you get to take those raw vocals, that raw sound, and and make magic, create magic with that, you know. So yeah, it's sound is created. You can't critique creation. You have to, you have to, it's like building. Yeah. You know, it's it's building, it's creating your canvas. Like another layer. Right. Yeah. It's a different layer.

SPEAKER_03 11:26

And and I want people to understand, especially our audience who may not know you that well. And the reason why you say, 'cause I know why you're saying that, right? But I want them to know why. Um, if you

Art, Taste, And Sound Quality

SPEAKER_03 11:34

can explain and break down your your music group and your background in music, your your your um your education and your your certification in it.

SPEAKER_00 11:45

Yes. So I'm a uh professional audio engineer. I received, I received my bachelor's degree from the R Institute of Atlanta. And um I also received my uh certificate in film and video from Full Sale University. So I don't just um work on the music side, I work on um the production side. You know, um location uh studio live production sound. So it's it's so many different levels and avenues to to sound.

SPEAKER_02 12:24

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 12:25

Um I got my experience cross crossing over into the film industry um just by working with my one of my mentors, Mr. French Spencer. And uh he brought me on set, and that's where I uh met one of my friends at the time, and she was a director in film. So I was just watching him, you know, learning. I was learning from him, you know, just gaining that experience on how we set up, you know, the set from beginning to end, you know, uh pre-production to post-production. And the director saw something in me that I really wasn't paying attention to because I was just focusing on sound. So she um she wanted me to help

Becoming An Audio Engineer And Filmmaker

SPEAKER_00 13:19

assist. Um well, helped her um assist a project that she was directing. So I came on set for a couple of days as an assistant director. So now it's like I went from a sound mixer to and not really the sound mixer, the boomer. You know, you know, I was the boomer, and then I went from the boomer to um dog, I got a brain for it. I forgot what my boys The clicker. Yeah, yeah, the clicker. I went from that to that, and then from that to being a second, second assistant director on set. Oh wow. So it's and now I went from that to do a major production. Yeah, you know, from independent to major productions for BT, uh, AMC, all black networks. So it's wow. You knew you do so much.

SPEAKER_03 14:18

Now, did you have your certificate and your degree before?

SPEAKER_00 14:22

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 14:22

All right, so this is this is important because one thing that we do with this podcast is educational, right? And we're trying to show and spotlight individuals, especially creators in our community, in the process to get into a location that you want to be at in your career. Oh, yes. And so it's good for them to see this process. This is why I wanted you to explain that to me why you were thinking about sound the way you're thinking about it. Because I'm like, because she knows what you're talking about, right? Yes. It's just not coming out of nowhere.

SPEAKER_00 14:49

Right. Education is key to everything that you do. You have to understand that you're a student. You're always a student at your craft, that whatever it is that you're mastering. Um I knew music was a natural gift for me. Singing, that's a natural gift for me. But did I know the knowledge? Did I know the business of the industry and what I wanted to be a part of? So I didn't. And at the time, I wanted to get into the studios, I wanted to record music, and no one was giving me the opportunity, but you know, the opportunity that I had with my cousin. But after that, you know, after going to the military and coming out, I had to make a way for myself. So I say, you know what, I'm gonna go to school and I'm gonna learn how to record myself. I'm gonna learn how to mix my own music, and I'm gonna learn how to master it. And I'm gonna learn the business so that I can release it independently. You know, so it's you are the only one that determines your success.

SPEAKER_03 15:55

Now, where did you get this drive?

SPEAKER_00 15:58

My family, my mother, my mother, my father. Education was number one. I was a straight A student. I was about to ask, I could tell. Straight A student. I could tell, you didn't play around. I'm telling you, me and my sister both straight A students. My parents did not play. I'm telling you, I was afraid to bring a B home. You know, and it was just a piece of homework. It wasn't even a major test. This is 2026, sir.

SPEAKER_02 16:33

But is it?

SPEAKER_00 16:36

Listen. I get it. Listen, but you know, it's and I'm grateful and I'm thankful for that type of discipline. Yeah. You know, it takes a lot of discipline when it comes to achieving what you want in life.

SPEAKER_03 16:52

Now being Air Force. I always tease. I'll tease, I'll make this joke. Look at you. I gotta make this joke. But you gotta say, all right, so my father-in-law and then they're army, right? Oh, army. You ready? But can I say this? Can I say this? Can I make this joke in your favor? See, my wife is ready? All right, my fault. But make this joke in your favor. Everybody knows Air Force is smart. We know the Air Force is smart. We already know what it was. So that's already new when I was gonna meet you. I said, Oh, she's really smart, right? I was looking at yourself, she's so smart. So the reason why I say that is like, was that like your choice and decision to go into the Air Force? Was it based on those academic ideals? Or like, why did you choose the Air Force over the other branches?

SPEAKER_00 17:34

Air Force, I chose the Air Force over the other branches because it

Discipline, Education, And The Air Force

SPEAKER_00 17:41

they had more opportunity. Okay. It allowed me to choose my career. So, you know, when you go into other branches, it's kind of like you're gonna do this career. You test and you go. You know, but with the Air Force, of course, you have to have a you have to meet a certain criteria. You have to have uh a certain, you have to reach a certain point, you know, to be in the Air Force. Yeah. Um, but the Air Force is clean. I'm telling you, we are the cleanest, the cleanest branch of the forces. Um, we are the most elite, and I'm not playing with that. No, but all out. You know, the Air Force has has been great to me. I've had my great days, I've had my bad days. But ultimately, the the uh military set my life up. It really set me up. It was one of the best decisions I've made in my life. It's allowed me the freedom to be able to create and not worry about having to, and I don't like saying it, but I don't have to worry about a nine to five. That's a blessing. That's a blessing.

SPEAKER_03 18:54

We had a guest. Like, um, that's a blessing.

SPEAKER_00 18:56

I stepped into my 40s this year, retired. That's beautiful. You know, and you can pursue your dreams. I can pursue my dreams full force and not have to stress, not have to worry, because I have everything that I need. You know. Um I'm grateful. I'm excited. I can't wait for you guys to to hear and see what I have coming.

SPEAKER_03 19:25

I believe it because the way you the way you present yourself and the way things are played put together. I know it's not haphazardly done. Yeah. So I know what we're gonna receive is going to be a good product, it's gonna be packaged well, it's gonna come with what you would expect to hear, especially RB. RB has to be it's done a little differently. You gotta come a little differently.

SPEAKER_00 19:47

You know what I hate? I hate when I get music to an engineer that just focuses on rap music. Ooh. And they take my music and treat it like it's a rap song. It's immediately I just session is ended. I don't I don't want the money back.

SPEAKER_03 20:09

I don't tell immediately.

SPEAKER_00 20:11

Immediately, I can tell. I can tell from from the just from how you EQ it, just how you compress it, how you from the dynamics, all of that. I can tell when you just don't know what you're doing. Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_03 20:29

You know I asked that. I asked that for a particular reason.

SPEAKER_00 20:32

Oh yeah, you can tell. You can tell the difference, but if you understand and know the knowledge and behind engineering, you can record anywhere you want, and it's gonna come out quality sound.

SPEAKER_03 20:47

You got all right, so this is the question that's.

SPEAKER_01 20:52

How do you ensure high quality audio in a less than ideal room with acoustics?

unknown 20:58

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 20:58

Mic placement.

SPEAKER_00 21:01

Mic placement is the most important shop. If you don't capture your the sound at the source, the best quality sound at the source, you're gonna spend our countless hours trying to recreate or trying to make up sound, you know? So make sure you give yourself some head space, headroom when you're but she she like Mike plays a bit. You want to make sure you have closer at least three inches. You don't want to be all the

Mic Placement And Clean Recording Basics

SPEAKER_00 21:33

speech because now I'm muffled, I can be distorted, I don't want to be too far from now. You gotta what? You gotta make it up, yeah. Space feet. So now I gotta go in and gotta try to cut out that dance air. Yeah. So that was the explanation of it.

SPEAKER_03 21:52

It was a great explanation. I knew I knew she's gonna explain it properly.

SPEAKER_01 21:56

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 21:56

I was so excited. Because like you ready? I'm not like I'm speaking to a music nerd. Like, they're gonna know what they're talking about.

SPEAKER_00 22:01

I'm telling you, mic placement is everything. And you're just capturing it at the right levels. You want to make sure that your levels are between negative six and negative 12 dB. That is perfect. That's exactly what Kevin says when he's editing. Now you're able to see if your your sound is peaking, if you're peaking. You feel me? He talks to us about this all the time.

SPEAKER_03 22:25

I was so excited to have. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 22:27

I'm telling you, and once you have your mic placement down packed, when it comes to EQing, all you have to do is EQ and compress. That's it. A lot of people like to do the extra stuff when if you just capture a crisp, clear sound from the jump, when it's time to edit or mix and you EQ, you're just EQing, you know, problematic frequencies. You're just eliminating those, you know, and it should be simple because you've create, you know, you've captured the best sound, best quality sound in its source.

SPEAKER_03 22:58

Now, as an RB artist and a singer, when you sing, what kind of what are your ideal settings? What are you not not just settings, but what are you what's your ideal atmosphere and place to record? Like what do you like?

SPEAKER_00 23:15

I record all of my music at home. Okay. Every last song you've heard has been recorded at really.

SPEAKER_01 23:22

Oh.

SPEAKER_03 23:23

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 23:24

You probably got a full studio.

SPEAKER_03 23:25

I was about to ask like where when and out. Like, yeah, explain. Because mic placement.

SPEAKER_00 23:31

I just have an interface, my mic, and my monitors. And of course, Pro Tools. Okay. But that's it.

SPEAKER_03 23:38

Do you use any type of sound buffering, like any sound buffering, like physical sound buffering?

SPEAKER_00 23:43

Oh, yes, I do. I use the pop filter and everything. Well, I use the uh chaotic uh eyeball.

SPEAKER_03 23:49

That's what I was wondering.

SPEAKER_00 23:50

I use that's all I use. Okay. And I use, you know, the different dynamics when it comes to mixing.

unknown 23:55

Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_03 23:56

But do you mix it yourself?

SPEAKER_00 23:58

I do a light mix.

SPEAKER_03 23:59

I was wondering. See? Explain the mix. Explain it. Please explain what that is.

SPEAKER_00 24:03

So my light mix, when I do record, I only record the foundation because I just want to see where I'm at, where I could possibly go with the song. And um I'll create that foundation and I'll just put a light mix on it. I already have a pretent, well, a template that I made for myself. And everything is already set up. So when I when I record in roles, I don't have to change anything. I may have to do slight uh adjustments, but I'm such a perfectionist. I don't even have to do the adjustments because I'll just do things over and over and over until I get it. So I'll playlist it until I feel like I reach the right one. And then sometimes I go chop it up, cut and paste, you know? But that's only if it's a a small issue. Now, if I need to re-record

Home Studio Workflow And Light Mixing

SPEAKER_00 24:54

the entire uh verse over, I'll do that. Okay. But um, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 25:00

So you do make those efforts to because like you're saying, is if you get the best recording and audio and you have a good bass, because I tell folks this because mastering and mixing, and I and I've had to do this on some projects, is you'll have folks, they'll bring you something that they've already heavily processed and expect you to make it better I said I'm like, no, give me the raw tracks.

SPEAKER_00 25:25

That's what you need.

SPEAKER_03 25:27

Give me the raw tracks. I don't need the stuff that you put all this, uh-uh, I need the raw tracks.

SPEAKER_00 25:31

You know, that's why I do my mixing and I do the light mix and I'll send it to my engineer. Uh my engineer is DJ Dynasty. And DJ Dynasty is uh Glorilla's DJ. Yeah, I'm about to say, yeah. So um he's my colleague, my very, very good friends. He's like my little brother. So um he mixes and masters all of my music. Like he'll come to the house and he'll spend a day. Not even a whole day. He comes to your house? Yes. That's my brother.

SPEAKER_03 26:05

You ain't playing. You seriously. You ain't lying to us. Okay. Yeah. Wow. That's amazing.

SPEAKER_00 26:11

So it's it's like he he know he already knows my voice. He knows what I want. Yeah. So it's I'll go in, I'll record it, I'll mix it to my liking. Like this is you kind of hear where I'm trying to go with this. Yeah. And uh he knows exactly what I want. He'll polish it up, and we're ready to go.

SPEAKER_03 26:30

Man, that's impressive. And and I will say this too. Is that that's just from from networking and relationship building from when you were in school? Yes. Okay.

SPEAKER_00 26:41

Yes. Okay. We um we took classes together, all of our classes we took together. We graduated together. So we have the same mentors. Like we we're in touch. You know, I'm so proud of what we've all accomplished. You know, we from the moment we met, like we knew where we were gonna go. And we weren't gonna stop until every last one of us made it. And we all made it.

SPEAKER_03 27:09

Each one, teach one, like taking a lot of.

SPEAKER_00 27:12

Every last one of us are doing what we love to do in the industry.

SPEAKER_03 27:16

That's awesome. So and that makes that makes me feel good because they always there are always these like uh these industry horror stories about things not turning out right and people getting left behind or getting taken advantage of. You haven't had that type of experience, have you? You be honest.

SPEAKER_00 27:34

I have had that experience. Okay. But if you don't go through anything, you'll never learn. You'll never learn. So um I think the journey along your journey, it's a part of the process. It's a part of the journey. I was supposed to um interact with them. I was supposed to go through those experiences, those negative experiences to help mold me and make me uh who I am today as an artist. So you just gotta know who your people are. Once you see the red flags, it's time for you to dip. I saw the red flags and I dipped. You know, like I nothing is more important than my peace. Yeah. You know, and I love my authenticity. And I'm very unapologetic about who I am.

SPEAKER_03 28:31

I can tell.

SPEAKER_00 28:33

And I'm not going to settle for less when I've built so much for myself. And find your people. That's all you have to do. Find your people. Find your people. Find your people. Your birthday. February the 11th. Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_01 28:59

Yes. Aquarius. Aquarius. They're sharp. They sharp.

Red Flags, Boundaries, And Finding Your People

SPEAKER_03 29:03

They real sharp. I I have a I have a question to ask you, and um when when we said find your people, made me think about this because my brother and I, we always talk about making sure you're finding your tribe, right? The people that fit well with you, that meld well, et cetera. Well, some instances, and this is a little sometimes it's better for you, it's it may hurt, but sometimes you have to fire people out of your life in order for you to move forward. How do you feel about that? And this is just for our audience to understand this because I know a lot of artists, and we were speaking with an artist today that's talking about this. Like, there's just some people that just you gotta get them out of your life so that you can move forward.

SPEAKER_00 29:41

Yeah, you do. That's the only way you're gonna grow. That's the only way you're gonna elevate. New levels, yeah, new devils, and everybody can't go with you.

SPEAKER_02 29:51

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 29:51

When you learn that, life gets easy, it gets easier, and it gets it's more peace. Um, it's a lot of people I've had to let go, and it hurt. Yeah. You know, these past three years, I haven't I've done nothing. I had to sit down, you know. I had to come home and I had to regroup. So, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 30:19

But now you do you feel like you're in a you're in a better space now?

SPEAKER_00 30:22

Oh, I'm definitely in a better space.

SPEAKER_03 30:24

You look, you look rested, rejuvenate radiant. You look like you're 22 years old.

SPEAKER_00 30:30

Thank you. I appreciate that. God has been good. And I like to say Yahweh, Yahweh has been good to me uh throughout my entire life. And there's no doubt about it. Um Yahweh brought me home and I've started working with kids. I've been working as a substitute teacher with middle school students, and I've been um You're the Saw the Earth. Yeah. Thank the Lord for the first time. I've been coaching. Wow. I've been coaching basketball, middle school basketball. Wow. At Kelly Mill Middle School. Uh-huh. So um I had an amazing season with my boys. I'm working with the youth. Yeah. You know, God, Yahweh has been placing the right people in my life. Um, He's been doing some amazing things for me, opening up so many doors that I never imagined I walked through. Yeah. Um, for instance, working with children. I never can't see yourself doing that. Did we just talk about that before the episode started? I said, you know, and I talked to my wife about this a lot. And I told her, you know, like, I want to do something. I want to create a program to where I can teach children how to um record sound. You know, teach them audio production. Especially coming from you. You know, film and video. And I just wanted to show them like you don't have to be a certain age just to be creative. You know, let's start now, let's start um filming these uh short films for these students, uh children, entering them in these uh film festivals for the youth. Yeah. Um, you know, just giving them an outlet, something to do uh other than run the streets and killing each other. You know, so working with these kids has been amazing. It's been an eye-opener. Yahweh has placed me uh in a place that I've asked for. Yeah. And I'm

Coaching Kids And Building A Village

SPEAKER_00 32:28

seeing everything happening. Full circle moments. Full circle moments, you know, everything is beginning to happen. You know, and I wouldn't change anything like this. Working with those kids, I'm telling you, it is it's a blessing.

SPEAKER_03 32:48

How are their parents? You see how I asked that question. I know what I'm talking about.

SPEAKER_00 32:53

I had to ask the parents, yeah. You know what? Our parents, the parents are still growing. Yeah. We all still growing.

SPEAKER_03 33:08

It's a different generation of parents. That's why I always wonder. I always ask that because we they work with the youth and we work with the youth at uh at a boys and girls club. The parents.

SPEAKER_00 33:15

Yeah.

unknown 33:16

The parents.

SPEAKER_00 33:16

It just takes a village. Yeah. It really does take a village. And just by me stepping into and working in the the school district here at Richmond County, you have to be a village. Yeah. You have to step in and you have to be the one. You can't be so strict and so, you know, like controlling, because you can't control anyone. What you can do is you can relate because we've all been there. And that's the best part of it all is being able to relate with the kids. Like I come in at school every morning, and these kids, coach, coach, coach. I'm gonna be happy to see you. You know, it's it's always something that they have to talk to me about. You know, and they inspire me. They inspire me, you know. I you know how we try to look up to older people for inspiration, but you kids, you inspire me. And you keep inspiring. Keep inspiring because we need you. Our kids help us make decisions. You're telling me you're right where you're at. They do, they help us make decisions. So parents today, get all the help you can get. Let your village be the village. Yeah, you know, that's what's important.

SPEAKER_03 34:36

And just speaking on that, I do think sometimes as a parent, sometimes your ego will get in the way of you requesting assistance from the village because and I can't speak out because I don't have children yet, but I do know people that do have children, and a lot of times, sometimes what you'll hear from this man, they can't tell me nothing because they don't have children yet, or they don't know how it is to have children, and I'm doing the best that I can do. And you'll hear that, and part of it too is you can hear the pain in their voice, and that they really do need assistance, but they don't know how to ask because it feels bad to ask. Yeah, you know.

SPEAKER_00 35:12

I just with that, you know, it starts with you. You have to be the one not in denial of needing help, you know, like the vulnerability. Right. Just be honest, be open, and say, hey, I need help. But also, us working in the district, in the schools, yeah, we have to be inviting. We have to, we have to let the parents know, like, hey, I'm here for you. Right. You know, I'm not here just to collect the paycheck, you know, because the teachers aren't making money as it is. I'm here because I really do care. Yeah, yeah. I really do care. And these teachers, our um faculty and staff, they really do care. They care about these children. And I just wish the parents could see that, you know, like if you just come sit and watch. Yeah, just watching them, just watch. And sometimes you don't even have to tell them your kids, you're gonna be there. Just just come up. Yeah. Just pop up on them. And you'll see how they interact because I treat all the kids like they're my nieces and nephews anyway. That's all. So it's I be cool with them, you know. I don't want to create a stressful environment for them because you don't know what's going on at home.

SPEAKER_03 36:29

That makes so much sense now with your um with your answer earlier to the question I had. We always do our background research, right? Try to be as nosy as we can. But you asked that quote, you asked the question about um allowing the creativity of the artist to exist as it is, right? And whenever you work with youth, what you realize is please don't criticize them, babies. That ain't they are expressing themselves the way that they know how to express themselves. You gotta be open to it. It's not gonna be what you're used to. It's gonna be something different. Each generation has had the same exact issue with the previous one before it. Oh wow, the youth is wild. It's nothing new, it's always there. They're always gonna be different.

SPEAKER_00 37:10

We have to learn how to adapt. We have to learn how to adapt to change. Like, we're gonna keep changing. Yeah, we're going to keep changing. Change is good, and it is. Like, I let these kids be themselves. You know, I tell them as long as you're not disrespecting me. That's ahead. That's a good thing. As long as you're not disrespecting yourself or others, the expressions, the cussing, all of that. Yeah. Be yourself. You know, you're gonna do it anyway. Yeah, right. You know, so and me personally, I'm I cuss. So and I you were good, a military background too. So it's yeah, and it it just helps me complete. You know, and it uh scientific uh studies show that uh gives you superpowers.

SPEAKER_03 38:00

Oh, you ready? Gives you superpowers, yeah. It does, it's a way of expressing your feelings.

SPEAKER_01 38:07

But that goes back to like you said earlier, you letting someone that's the word that they choose to express themselves at this moment in time. Exactly. Who are we to judge them on that?

SPEAKER_00 38:16

Yeah, and if I do see or feel this a problem, I'll redirect them. Yeah, yeah. You know, I'll give them some redirection and I'll talk with them. And you know, I'll let them know, hey, this is what's going on. Like, we need to change this. You know, how do you feel you can change this? No, because I can't change you. Right. What can you do? What do you feel you can do to change? Or is there any way that I can help you make the change?

SPEAKER_03 38:41

So Man, I can talk to you all day. Yes.

SPEAKER_01 38:45

He really can.

SPEAKER_03 38:46

I would sit here and just talk to you all day.

SPEAKER_00 38:48

Let's talk.

SPEAKER_03 38:48

Yo, you are awesome. All right, wait. I got a question. Yeah, go ahead, get your question. I'm not gonna mess with you.

SPEAKER_01 38:53

You know, so we like to, you know, like you said, teach the youth. Can you tell us about a hardship you faced in your life and how did you overcome it? Wow. In any area, it could be whether it was technical or just how did you problem solve?

SPEAKER_00 39:09

Now, I'll tell you, we did have a uh issue at a show we did at uh the City Winery in Atlanta for Angie Stone. Rest in peace to the uh legend, Miss Angie Stone. Uh I was the um assistant sound engineer with my mentor, Mr. Uh Hilbron. Uh he's an actual engineer for Jeezy. So he's actually my one of my instructors to professors, so he's an amazing, amazing, talented uh engineer, producer. So but um we had a little issues with feedback. Um so all we had to do was just, you know, gain stage again, make sure the frequencies uh were eliminated. So that's that's probably about it as far as like technical issues with you know uh sound, um, but hardships in life, wow. I would say losing my father. Losing my father was probably the most difficult time in my life, and it's still difficult today. Um and I I believe that's probably why I am the way that I am today. Um just not having that that male figure in your life, a dominant

Loss, Resilience, And Being Proud

SPEAKER_00 40:38

figure like that. And it wasn't just hard for me, you know, just it was a lot of weight on my mother, you know, and just like my mom is working extra hard now, you know, to support her children.

SPEAKER_03 40:53

I gotta watch it.

SPEAKER_00 40:54

And you know, it's that was painful, but I thank mommy because she she held it down. She held it down, she got us through, and she she molded us into the woman, to the women that we are today. Um that's about it as far as my hardships. I I don't look at any of my everything has been a lesson.

unknown 41:29

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 41:30

Everything in my life has been a lesson. And I feel like I passed them all. I really feel like I passed them all. You know, maybe not then in the moment, but now as I look back and realize all that I've been through, I did pretty good myself, and I'm proud of me.

SPEAKER_03 41:54

Should be.

SPEAKER_00 41:54

First time in my in my life, like I'm I'm proud of me. I'm proud of me. I have a beautiful wife.

SPEAKER_02 42:02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 42:03

You know, I have a beautiful family, you know. Yahweh has been good. Yahweh has been good.

SPEAKER_03 42:13

One thing before we let you, we always like tease this part, shameless plugs, Tom. Of course, as you came over there, did you learn about all the good things you got going on, etc.? Can you explain the acronym for Soul Music Group?

SPEAKER_00 42:28

Soul Music Group, it is Syndicate Outfit, Uplifting Lives.

SPEAKER_03 42:34

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 42:35

And I came up with that actually while I was in the military.

unknown 42:41

Wow.

SPEAKER_00 42:43

It derived from that, being having that camaraderie, having that that teamwork, that structure, the like minds. Um I wanted that for my business. I wanted that for me, for anything that I produce, for anything that I create, and anybody that I'm attached to, or anybody that's attached to me, like is we syndicated. You know, we all together, we are like-minded individuals doing what we love to do. And we're gonna uplift each other as we're doing this. So that's what soul is about. It's about being with like-minded individuals and uplifting others with your production. I thought that was so dope.

SPEAKER_03 43:48

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 43:52

I would love for her to come talk to the kids. Say it.

SPEAKER_03 43:55

I'm not gonna lie, you have to get your yeah.

SPEAKER_00 43:58

I am anything you can. Yeah, no. Okay. I'm here.

SPEAKER_03 44:02

You are so cool.

Soul Music Group And Where To Listen

SPEAKER_03 44:03

My four. All right. Oh my god, yeah, man. I body too much. All right, I'm gonna be good. All right, because I know we got time. All right. So, and this camera over here, I want you to let people know where they can find you, how they can get your music, your socials, and any upcoming events or things you have to be done.

SPEAKER_00 44:20

So you guys can find me on all social uh media platforms at lucid soul. That's L-U-C I-I-D-S-O-U-L. Uh, you can find my music on all digital platforms. That's Apple Music, Spotify, uh, Pandora Music, uh, Deezer. A lot of uh different uh platforms that you can listen. Um my music, you can hear it uh on the Hush television series, All Black Network. Um you can see some of the work that I've helped assist direct as a second, second assistant director and second assistant director on BT, the film's wake, a Wesley Christmas wedding, and um a Kids Man Holiday, which has won um, I think two. Yes, we won two um what is it film festival awards? Yes, Essence Film Festival and one other, but I'll get back to you guys on that one. And then another one, unsolicited, for the um ABF. Okay. Yes. Okay. So yeah, you can check those out. Um I do have new music coming. Yeah, so you guys can be on the lookout for that. I'm excited about that. This new music is is again, it's soulful, it's raw, it's intentional. Um I'm in my storytelling era. Okay, so I love I love storytelling. So we're gonna get a little bit more deep with Lucy's soul. Some good music coming. That's awesome. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 45:58

Are you looking to collaborate with anyone?

SPEAKER_00 46:00

Or how does that work? Of course. I'm looking to collaborate with anyone that is passionate about their music, their gifts. Um, and that's just one of that just wants to create magic. I'm here. Let's do it. I'm waiting on you. Oh, I do. I have a performance coming up. Let them know. May 1st. Um, I don't have all of the full details yet, but I will uh keep you all uh tuned.

SPEAKER_03 46:29

And make sure you get it sent to us and we can record.

SPEAKER_00 46:33

I surely will. We should they should be sending out promo soon, so yes.

SPEAKER_03 46:37

Awesome, awesome. Well, for the Hill Talk Club podcast, I know we got rap. I'm DJing what?

SPEAKER_01 46:43

I'm Tamaya.

SPEAKER_03 46:44

Mike Skip. And then our esteemed guests, Lucid Soul. We appreciate you so much for coming, bringing your bringing your great energy to us today. Uplifting us, making us feel guests, because you're our last one for the day.

SPEAKER_00 46:56

Yeah, listen.

SPEAKER_03 46:57

So it's a great note to end on.

SPEAKER_00 46:59

Listen, I love you guys. I appreciate you for having me. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Keep doing what you're doing. Yes. And like I say, anytime you guys need me, I'm here.

SPEAKER_03 47:08

Oh, we gotta reach out to you specifically. One phone call away. And um, like we always say, please tell somebody next to you that you love them and you appreciate them. We don't always do that, and sometimes we miss out on our opportunities to do so. We don't want to be regretful of it. Make sure you let somebody know that you love them. Um, shout out to Celeb Studios, that's where we are shooting at today. Uh, Chef Jay and her husband Nate, they do a great job here, and they do a good job of looking out for us, making sure that we have a great space to be in. If you want to rent this space, please go to Pure Space and you can actually rent this space for your own use if you want to. Um, outside of that, please like, share, and subscribe. And for the Hilltop Glove Podcast, we're signing out. Till next time. Peace.