SPEAKER_02 1:48

Welcome to the Hill Pop Love Podcast. The motivational podcast for the hip hop millennials. Good morning, and welcome to this episode of the Hill Top Glove Podcast. I'm your host, DJ Ann Wett, with my co-host and brother Skip. This is our sixth episode with our talented guest, Corey Rockbottom Davis. Mr. Davis is a father, graphic artist, entrepreneur, content creator, and founder of Rock Bottom Studios. He is also a man of the other upcoming established artists and creators in the Columbia arts community and a podcast of the booth. Again, good morning, Mr. Davis. How's your year been thus far?

SPEAKER_00 2:40

The year has been quite interesting. It's been quite interesting in a good way. So yeah, yeah, I can, I, I, I have nothing but good things to say about the year. It's been, it's been rather insightful. It's been rather, you know, rather interesting. So yeah, yeah. Nothing but good things and positive vibes.

SPEAKER_02 3:03

Right on the money, right on the money. Well, just to start off our audience, could you give them a little bit more background about yourself and what you do? I know I did run through a list of things that that you have tagged underneath your name, but if you just give them just a little bit more information so they can see what's going on with you.

SPEAKER_00 3:19

Oh, absolutely. Like it was mentioned before, my name is Corey Rockbottom Davis. I am an artist who lives here in Columbia, South Carolina. My main area of expertise is I am a writer/slash artist of comic books. I've been doing that for on the independent circuit and on uh in magazines and such since like uh the late 90s. So about 20 plus years I've been I've been doing that. And just recently I've got into the game of animation. So I am an animation director. Um I direct certain animations that that come from my own personal catalog of creations. Uh some of it, or the majority of it, is based on the comic books that I have published over that course of time that I mentioned. And um, yeah, that's pretty much been my life as of late. So I write and draw comics, and I am now in the realm of directing animation.

SPEAKER_02 4:19

Interesting, interesting. I know I was doing some research on you and was looking through some of your past experiences, especially this write-up that you did about the explanation of how you got into your love of comic books. And there was a story about you going to Food Lion with your mother and actually finding some finding some comics, Batman in particular. Could you explain how you, as a black man, got into the comic book mode and into the love of comics, art, art, the art part of it as well, and the animation. How did you become so enveloped into the whole comic book industry?

SPEAKER_00 4:53

Yeah, that that story is pretty layered. I think it's yeah, it it's it's my my my mom was like after my parents' divorce, we moved here to Columbia, which is pretty much from Washington, D.C., Maryland area. Like my entire my entire family was born here. I was the only one that wasn't born here. Like all my siblings, everybody, yeah, everybody was born here. I was conceived here. My dad, my yeah, I was conceived here. My my dad, after graduating, he graduated from Benedict. Yeah, I know, right? Because I mean, it's like tradition. He graduated from there, I graduated from there, my uncle graduated from there. But but yeah, long story short, I was conceived here out of six kids. I was the last of six kids. My dad, after graduating Benedict, I was hired by the Secret Service. So he he became a Secret Service agent. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's what I'm late for you to talk about. Yeah, we we we got he got stationed with the Treasury Department um in Nashville, Tennessee, where I was born. Okay. And then he went on White House duty around the time Reagan became president. So that's how we ended up in DC. Yeah, so so yeah, so that's that's another interesting story. But we ended up there, my parents divorced in '83. We moved, my mom and I moved down here in '84. And pretty much around that time she started uh seeing someone who was uh a DJ. Yeah, he was a he was uh heavily rooted into hip-hop culture because he's from New York. Oh, wow. And this is where I learned the like everything. Like my love for hip-hop music, I think, started through there and hip-hop as a culture, where you have the elements of hip-hop, right? Go ahead. So we all so everybody knows what the elements are who you know gives uh gives a damn about hip-hop. But of course, we all know that yeah, of course we all know one of the main elements is graffiti. Yes. So he he yeah, so with and him being a DJ, which is you know another element, and him being a graffiti artist on top of that, I was introduced to something called the Black Book. Now, for those who don't know, the Black Book is like the Bible for graffiti artists. It was the Bible, the Quran, anything. Yeah, but you talk about it. Yeah, the Black Book is where graffiti artists before they would tag trains in New York or wherever, the Black Book is a hardcover black sketchbook that you draw your tags out in first, like a draft before you go out and tag whatever object you're going to tag with spray paint. So it's like you you get your rough draft in the black book, and then you go and then you tag it, but then that black book is kind of like a portfolio of your work by the time you're done with it. So I was introduced to that, and that's how I got introduced to the world of comics, because there are a lot of characters in that black book that were comic book characters. Yeah, so about I'd say around 86 is when I picked up the first comics I I collected from a 7-Eleven up in DC. It was, and one was like a true classic. Well, they were both classics. It was a reprint of the night Gwen Stacy died with Spider-Man. And the other one was the very first issue that had just came out as brand new of when the Incredible Hulk turned gray. Shut up, man. Yeah, when he filled in the toxic waste. Yeah. I I didn't realize that I had a historic issue at that point. You still have it? I don't know where that book is right now. But if I did, if I did. Yeah, so flash forward to 89. This is what you read about going to the store and getting the Batman. That the summer 89 was lit. If you were. It was apparently a very lity summer. Yeah, 89 was a very litty summer. I'm telling you, I'm telling you, the summer '89 was lit, especially because Batman was everywhere. Exactly. Like I it was probably about a year or so worth of advertising and merchandising for that movie. And you saw the Batman symbol everywhere. Like, we were drawing it on our notebooks in school, like everything. Yeah, t-shirts. I mean, the the promotion and the marketing for that movie was top-notch. So that's what made a lot of Batman fans out of myself and my friends was that and going to see the movie and everything. So I would I would go to this food line and and and get copies of Batman because I wanted like at that point, I was a fan. I was like, I I need to get everything that is Batman. And that was kind of like my my gateway drug for the addiction of comic books. So I I go here and then I started I started to venture off into other comics, you know. And I started noticing this book called The X-Men. And I I saw the covers, and I was like, I am intrigued by the art on these covers. And this was when Mark Mark Silvestri was doing the art for X-Men, and his art kind of drew, he his art drew me to buying this book, and then like I started reading it, and I was like, oh man, this the story is is just captivating. Because I'm just like, yeah, I mean, I mean, the narrative of the X-Men, for those who don't know, is just like this is a group of marginalized people who try to survive in a world that fears and hates them. And I was like, man, that sounds familiar. Yeah, exactly. I was like, what are we going through? So yeah, so I was just like, so I was in I was intrigued by the narrative initially. And and like I think like the art drew me in first, then the narrative, and then the actual story, the execution of the storyline from that narrative. And then I started noticing, like, as familiar as it sounds, there's only one person of color in the group. Isn't that crazy? Yeah, yeah, that was at least at that time that it was it was storm.

SPEAKER_02 12:11

Yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_00 12:13

And I I I picked it up, and then an issue later, they killed her off. I was like, damn, I just got here. Oh wow, oh yeah.

SPEAKER_02 12:22

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Because she's been around, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 12:25

Yeah, they killed her character off like not even an issue or two issues into it. And and then, like, I was like, man, so then something else happened after that. Another artist came on and took over the art duties of the book. And this is when I started to learn that, you know, comic art, you know, comic book artists, there's like a revolving door of different artists that can come in and take the story. Then I was in, yeah, and then I was introduced to the art of a man named Jim Lee. Jim Lee is like the Bruce Lee of the comic book world. Everybody wants to be this dude. Everybody takes a look at his style and says, this is what I looked at that at what 11, 12 years old when I saw it, and that's what made me say, this is what I want to do. Because his he wasn't drawing like anybody else. I mean, Sylvestri was was good, and he was far removed from the template that Jack Kirby laid years before. Way back in the day, yeah. Yeah, because I mean, if you ever saw that book, How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way. Yes, I remember the book. Oh, yeah, I remember that book. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, that's like the Bible for comic book artists. Like everybody, like, no matter how old it gets, no matter who you are, that book is still relevant till this day. And I think it's been around since the 70s. Who? And yeah, and John Bushima, I think, is the artist that was giving the tutorials in the book, but he's also a product of that Jack Kirby era. So everything that he did looked like Jack Kirby's stuff. Jack Kirby. Gotcha. So when they're telling you how to draw the Marvel wave, they uh they should have just named that book How to Draw Like Jack Kirby.

SPEAKER_04 14:26

Jack Kirby biting.

SPEAKER_00 14:28

Right. If you want to work it, but but but I say all that to say this: that Sylvestri was so far removed from that style. He had his own thing going. And I mean, you had like Art Adams here and Michael Goldens there over the years, but nobody that made like a such a significant impact like those guys did. Like Sylvestri and Lee and McFarlane and Rob Liefeld and all those guys who went on to create image. This is where they started. And I was watching their career like get birthed right in front of me without even realizing. Yep. Right. So seeing Jim Lee's work in X-Men is what made me say, this is what I want to do. And the lack of representation when it came to kids that looked like me at that time. Like there was a, and you you have to look at it like this. This is an era where you have Black Panther, you have Luke Cage, you have Captain Marvel. A lot of people don't realize, like, you see like a Captain Marvel Marvel movie and all that, the first female Captain Marvel was a black woman. And that was Monica Rambeau.

SPEAKER_02 15:45

Yeah, if you're watching Wanda, that's not well known.

SPEAKER_00 15:48

If you're watching WandaVision now, if you're watching WandaVision, the show, the Monica Rambeau is in there.

SPEAKER_02 15:56

Oh, she does a she has a camera, but stop playing. That is the right way. She's one of the main characters. She's one of the main characters.

SPEAKER_00 16:02

Yeah. She was Captain Marvel before Carol Dandress was Captain Marvel in the comic books. She led the Avengers. And she got a little time to shine at that point in time where I was collecting comics, but then she was gone. You know what I mean? So there was really no real representation of us until like the early 90s, where, you know, uh where we started to take the front seat as characters of color in comic books and everything. And that's when static and everything was born, and and hardware, Blood Syndicate, and and Milestone Comics came out with like this through DC with a stable of nothing but black characters, black superheroes. And that was around '92, I think. It came out around the same time Image did. But you know, Image, you know, they were in the limelight because they were just like, you know, they were the guys who were the like the guys I mentioned, Sylvestri, Lee, all that stuff, they were leaving Marvel because of what they felt was unfair practices within the workplace. And they started their own thing. And it was around that same, around that same time, that's when Milestone came out. And Milestone was a bunch of black comic artists and black creators that had a portion of DC comics to where we could just shine and we could have characters, kids that were my age at that time, and have characters that look like us and feel represented and not left out of the initial narrative of how comics were being presented at that time. You know what I'm saying? So it was like an entire stable of black superheroes, and that's where static came from. So static shots and all that stuff. Yeah, so so yeah, so it was that was like at that time that I mentioned when I picked up that comic and I wanted to do drawings, you know, I wanted to do comic art, I should say. And I wanted to get into the game and create more characters that look like me. And that was pretty much the catalyst for me wanting to get into the business, is that, you know, I I as much as I love comics, you know, comics is they're basically an escape. Especially when it comes to young people. It's an escape from everyday life. It's an escape from, you know, school and and having to do chores. Anything anything that could weigh a kid down of that age, of a of a certain age group. This is yeah, it's an outlet. It's their escape from the the real the the everyday life that they have to face that you know they feel that's wearing them down. So it's it's their way of escaping. And what better way to escape than to see within this medium characters and heroes that look like you, that represent you and represent where you come from, you know? So that was very important to me, and it's very important to me to this day. The art and the act of representation is very important when it comes to well, actually anything in the realm of entertainment. But yeah, you know, it speaking from my standpoint, from what I do, it is very important to have the proper representation of any background, any walk of life. I would rather hear those stories told by the people that come from that community. You know what I mean? It makes it more authentic. So that was uh that's a very important thing to me, and and those elements of of what I just uh presented was the you know my biggest motivation to get into the game, and and here I am.

SPEAKER_02 20:08

So how so speak continuing on that that line of reasoning, man? It seems that it's very important. You seem very passionate about this. You you really want to be successful in your endeavors to expand diversity in the art community, particularly in Colombia. Who are you collaborating with on these efforts to do such such movement?

SPEAKER_00 20:28

There's a lot of folks that I have collaborated with here as far as pushing that narrative. One in particular is a buddy of mine named James Conway. Shout out to James. Yeah, so so I I've been working with him. He he's an artist and he draws under the name of Ruthless Wright. And I've been kind of, you know, in the beginning, we kind of mentored him a little bit, like since I've known him. It's been about a decade since I've known him. But, you know, he's come into his own, so he don't need me no more. So but no, he he works alongside me.

SPEAKER_02 21:03

Um but that's good. Like, so you you taught him how to fish for himself. He doesn't need to keep sitting by you, he could do his own.

SPEAKER_00 21:10

Well, I mean, even not even this necessarily that it's just the fact that, you know, what he's gone out and and obtained on his own outside of that is is very, you know, very impressive, actually, and very important. And I've I've sat with him and you know, got him in a position to where he works alongside me. I want him to shadow the people that I'm working with within the industry that can, you know, help him, you know, advance to where he wants to go. Excuse me, because he he what he wants to do, he wants to do more than just draw. He wants to get into the business side and everything as well. As far as like who I've collaborated with as far as like kind of making an impact on the community, one of my one of the closest people that I have been in contact with over the last few years pre-COVID was a buddy of mine named Mark Klessinger. Shout out to Mark. He is no longer in the community. He he he moved on to to bigger and better things. And we not not at all, not at all. So we've we've been kind of we we kicked some ideas around and stuff while he was here as far as trying to put together like a uh a couple of different things. Like we would get together and and and plan shows and everything, and I would do shows at his establishment when he had frame of mind and and all of that stuff, and we had so many ideas that we wanted to unleash, but I guess the timing was was just was just off. But there's there like I guess I guess to ask you a question, like what exactly like when you say team up with people or who have who I collaborated with in what realm as far as what we've planned, like if we plan shows or I guess to give you a more correct answer.

SPEAKER_02 23:14

Yeah, so for like the the shows you've been working on, but also uh work. So certain comics that you have been working on, even like your Blur Core podcast, things like that that you have been working on within within the Columbia. Got you.

SPEAKER_00 23:30

Got you. So within the area to start with Blurred Core, Blur Core is a podcast that I developed with James, and there's Erskine Ham, who is the owner and creator of the Orange Phoenix podcast. Heel Carmichael, who has his own wrestling podcast, and my and you know, James, it's the four of us. And we're pretty much doing a podcast that revolves around the world of black nerd culture. The blurred culture, if you will. That's that's yeah, that's the actual thing for those who don't know. Blurred culture. It is it means black nerds. So we pretty much get together and and we're doing uh a podcast that revolves around that aspect of our culture. Yeah, so we like everything that we've we've put together in the last few months, excuse me, is is phenomenal, like how it all just kind of came together. It was a it was a slow process in the beginning, but now it's really starting to take shape, and I'm very excited to share it with the world. And yeah, yeah, pretty much. And and and outside of that, I I work with a ton of different local artists as far as bringing the projects and animated projects that you know to life that I'm working on now.

SPEAKER_02 24:48

So there's what are some of the new newer projects that you have been working on? Particular, I had a question about one make sure I'm correct on this name. The make sure I have this proper. I move myself around. There was uh, of course, you're working, like I said, I want to know about the blurred core because first of all, I want to know where and where and when can people find blurred core so they can listen to that podcast. First of all.

SPEAKER_00 25:17

Well, we'll we're gonna have it on uh Podbean. It's gonna be on iTunes. I know it's gonna be on my website, rockbottomstudios.com. And you can find like, yeah, you can find Orange Phoenix and and all that stuff on online and everything. And I know there'll be links there. They're gonna be sharing it on their platforms or whatever. Pretty much, those are the main places that you can find it when it comes out.

SPEAKER_02 25:41

Because we'll make sure to promote it too, because that look that looked cool as heck. And then also your Shadow Club. What's going on with Shadow Club? And who are you working with from Shadow Club?

SPEAKER_00 25:51

Shadow Club is amazing. Shadow Club, to give everybody a background, it's a comic book that I created not long after I created Jetboy in the early 2000s. It's basically a story of all the old universal characters, the Wolfman, the Mummy, Dracula, Creature from the Black Lagoon from Frankenstein's, all that, all that stuff. They come together to build an army to save the world. And yeah, so so I've been doing the comic for, you know, I guess ever since then. And now we're in the process of giving it to the world in animation form. We're actually in the process of pitching it at Amazon as an animated series. Cool. Cool.

SPEAKER_02 26:35

How and I have another question about that too, because I was looking at the work that goes into it, you know, just being an internet ninja, but how hard is it to, because I know art in general is not easy, but animation to me seems even harder. How much of a grind is that? And of course, it has to be a work of love for you to be doing that. How hard is it to do what you do, especially the animation part moving over from just using uh ink and pencil to sketch?

SPEAKER_00 27:04

Well, pretty much right now, I'm still in the process of learning certain aspects of animation. But the hardest part that I have, you know, well, I'll I'll do the character designs. So what I'll do is I'll lay out the character designs and the plot for a blueprint. And then from that point, you know, like I'll draw the characters and say, okay, this is how this character looks. All right, I'll type up a treatment for the script or a summary and say, okay, this is what the story is. And then from that point, I just tell everybody else what to do.

SPEAKER_03 27:42

Hey, there we go.

SPEAKER_00 27:44

I like that. I just I tell the people who make it move and look pretty. You know, I I just make it, I just make it look pretty, they have to make it move.

SPEAKER_03 27:56

And it's just like that's pretty much it.

SPEAKER_00 28:00

But but you know, but then they take those designs, they they put their own spin on the design. So, I mean, it's not just the fact that they just make it move. They put their own spin on the designs, they they simplify it for animation because certain designs, because I come from a comic book world, these guys are doing animation, so a lot of these uh designs have to be a lot simpler. That's what I was wondering.

SPEAKER_02 28:22

Yes, that's what I was wondering because I know you can't because I I've done animation, I've worked with 3D programming and stuff like mine and stuff, and you can't take one from the other, you really do have to edit those things down to make it uh simplistic and actually make it work properly. So people don't understand that part. They just see the finished product, they understand all that work that goes into getting that done, to getting that that that 12 minutes of live action, and and and it's not as easy as people may think it is. And I just want to see if you can explain some of that to our audience so they can understand the work that goes into actually sitting there and watching one of your favorite animations or seeing some good um live action comics. Like that's not it's not easy to do.

SPEAKER_00 29:06

Oh, yeah, it's not easy at all. It takes a team, that is for sure. Because if you're doing it by yourself, you are asking to be driven into the ground with exhaustion because it's there's so many different steps. You start off with the the character designs, then from the character designs, you have to do a final design, which is the design that's going to be going over to animation, then you have the actual steps of animation, and there's several different programs and and and all that that are involved in actually making those drawings move. So you have that, and then there's an entire different team or entire different, you know, set of artists that do the backgrounds. So you have the backgrounds set into place, and then you animate on top of those backgrounds, and then you have to, you know, bring those two elements together in the proper marriage, and then from that point you have to position, you know, make sure that the animation within the mouths are moving correctly when it comes to doing the voiceovers and everything, and that's an entirely different beast right there, because you know, you have to have the people come in. Usually, and and like there, I've seen it done two ways. You can record the voices prior and then animate the mouths around it, or you can have the voices and animate the mouth around the voices that are already pre-recorded. So there are two different ways to go about that, and it's like the process is just it's it's it's it's long, it's it's tedious, but you know, unless you have like a giant studio. That's what I was wondering.

SPEAKER_02 30:47

Yeah, you're talking about week weeks of work to produce a project, right?

SPEAKER_00 30:54

Right, exactly. Like weeks of work. So, yeah, because there's so many layers to that, how it works. So, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 31:01

And so building on that that time and that effort that you have to put into doing your art and being a creative, we know you have a beautiful child. What is it, what is it like being an active father and a working creative? And and how has your creative background affected the way that you parent and spend time with your family? And with that being said, do you have any, after you answer that, would you have any tips to those that desire to be both a creative in a career and want to start a family, they want to have both of those things?

SPEAKER_00 31:32

Oh, yeah, absolutely. Involve your kids in what you do. Period. That's it. I mean, it's it's it it it now, uh granted, it sounds a lot easier than it actually is. Because I I'll tell you right now, in the beginning, I I uh I I would tell my daughter, I was just like, Yeah, look, Daddy drew this, and she's like, So? She didn't come out and say that, but just that was the whole initial attitude. Yeah, but then you know, my son, my son took a liking to to what I was doing when he was about her age, and and he would be fascinated for about five minutes and then he'll go off and do his own thing. But um, but yeah, but yeah, but it's it's like you you involve the kids in what it is that you do, and you know, you just kind of you know, if you're still doing it, they're gonna pick up on what it is that you're doing anyway, you know? Exactly. So yes. So now my son has his own business that he's doing. He's he's the owner of We Lit. And it's he's yeah, he he's pretty much representing musical acts here in locally. He's finding new fresh talent to give to the world, local talent. If you look up We Lit, uh you'll find uh a whole stable of people that he's interviewed on his uh radio show. He has a radio show, he's working on a TV show. I'm helping him with a few things, but for the most part, like this is his baby. He's doing he's out here doing it. He's looking for new local talent as far as musicians go. He wants to move off into the field of like, you know, not just music, but bringing in other artists that actually, you know, do like paintings and drawings and such. He wants to cover the whole realm of artists, you know, that are here locally within the community and just give them an opportunity to shine. And uh, you know, a lot of yeah, and and and since he has the he's developed that platform, you know, I pretty much gave him the uh blueprint from what I was doing, and he just kind of took that and ran with it, made it his own. I just I'm just like, all right, I'll lay this out for you. From that point, you on your own. So he went out and the word improved. Yeah, I was just like, yeah, I this is this is the blueprint. You've seen what I've been doing, you've seen who I've been doing it with over the years, all the way up until now. I'll give you these elements and from that, show me what you got. And he did it. And he's been doing it on his own. He don't need me.

SPEAKER_02 34:12

So doesn't that feel good? Doesn't that feel good to know that you know we can yeah, he can do it by himself.

SPEAKER_00 34:20

Oh yeah, it feels phenomenal. Feels phenomenal. And and like even with that, we're we're developing some stuff together. We got an idea for a cooking show. We were talking about that the past week that we're gonna Yeah, we're gonna develop something like that. You know, I don't have a whole lot of details on it. We gotta sit down and iron some things out. But but yeah, but my daughter is getting into art a lot more now. Like over the past couple of years, she's been kind of clinging more to what I've been doing on the art side, but now she's she's into video games. And she gave me an idea for a video game. Yeah, exactly. Right. So she's she's doing video games, like she plays like Roblox and Minecraft. She's I think she's upstairs now playing Roblox. Like she, yeah, she she's been developing uh a concept for a video game. And uh she's I've been helping her, you know, like kind of along the way. So I know a few people within the industry that can help her actually develop this game and actually make it a thing. So I I put out the call and we're just gonna use her blueprint and you know, yeah, make it make it so. So we're gonna, you know, put that thing out there and and and see how it works. You know, she's a like I said, she's a fan of Minecraft and Roblox. So her whole thing about Roblox is, you know, the foundation for what it is she wants to do with her video game. And, you know, I'm just helping her develop it and make it an actual reality. So she's she's actually at the age of six, she's developing her own video.

SPEAKER_02 36:07

Like they say, you look at some of these young folks nowadays, and I always like to say, dang, man, I'm lazy, man. I ain't getting nothing done. Look how hurt me these young folks are. That is good, man. That's so good to hear, man. That's breath of fresh air, man. I do have another question just to follow up behind what we're talking about, especially with you integrating the family into what you do, but also working that into the arts community here locally and just continuing to develop the diversity level and making sure that you don't go along with the normal conformity and just pushing the envelope on what is accepted. What are some things that you need that you think need to be addressed in the Columbia arts community to help affect the change of allowing a more diverse not just audience, but like the the creatives themselves as well to be attracted to the area to stay here, work, produce, and live.

SPEAKER_00 37:06

Okay, here comes the deep water. Dive into it, bro.

SPEAKER_02 37:11

Dive into it.

SPEAKER_00 37:13

Trying to save it, trying to save it. Yeah, yeah. All right, okay, I'm I'm not pulling any punches when it comes to this. There we go. We just we just need the community to kind of get their head out of their own asses a little bit and realize that their definition, just based off of what I've seen, you know, being a part of the community for, you know, the past decade and some change maybe, just from what I've witnessed, there's a very narrow view of what art is here compared to places that I've been. Art communities. I've I've I've been in the Miami Art District. I've developed a family type of establishment with them there to the point where I can call them up anytime and say I want to do a show, they'll make it so. My friends down there, Wendy, Keprock, I can name drop all day, but I ain't gonna do that. But but ultimately at the end of it, I have I have like I've seen how I say that to say this. The reason I can name drop those people and say those names is because I've developed that type of relationship with them. You know what I mean? And that's very important within the community because you can't have a community if you don't have some type of working relationship with the people within that community. You know what I mean? So they're getting in Miami, New York, Columbus, Ohio, Providence, Rhode Island. These are just cities that I can go in and just say, I want to do something here. Let's make it happen. And yeah, exactly. But the but the thing about it is how their communities are structured is a lot more advanced and open-minded than the community that we have here. Because here it's well, I'll put it like this everywhere you go, and and this is is this will be argued until the end of time, like there are cliques within communities, right? Of course, of course. How these cliques operate within these communities are different. Like, you have, say, for instance, in one of the places that that I do a lot of of shows and and have a working relationship with the community, down in like the Miami Art District, the cliques down there are the comic artists, hang with the comic artists, the graphic designers hang with the graphic designers, and so on and so forth, right? But they'll come together at an art show, a gallery, a museum, anywhere that houses all types of art. They can, those cliques can all come together and play nice under one building, under one roof, and say, okay, I can I'm in this clique, but I I'm interested in how this clique does their thing within the realm of art. I'm a graphic artist. I know nothing about comic book art. I want to see what this comic book artist has to offer because I respect the artistry behind it. I like their work. I want to know more about what they do, and that's how you build relationships, and those clicks can come together and play nice. Here, on the other hand, the clicks, the clicks that are here are the equivalent of a high school lunchroom. Dang. No, I'm not surprised. The burnouts sit at one table and they stay over there. The popular kids stay at one table and they stay over there. The nerds stay at one table and they stay over there. And then when they try to come together, it's just like this awkward presence. You know what I mean? It's all pretty much like high school lunchroom politics. I can't hang with that group because I don't like that person within that group over there. So I cannot deal with those people. I'll just stay over here. That's the mentality of this community. And the community is eating itself. That's why we can't progress. Tell me one thing. Tell me one thing within this community that we have done outside of what Mark Klesinger has been trying to do before he jumped ship, that was actually revolutionary. Something that actually was all-inclusive, not just all-inclusive for the artists and the diversity of artists, but for the art itself. Like nobody can really name that. We we had several things that just kind of fell by the wayside. Priest did Cola Con. Come on.

SPEAKER_02 42:24

I was about to say Skip those these issues.

SPEAKER_00 42:27

Yeah. Because not only did it display diversity within the comic book artists and the type of art that was presented, it incorporated music and you had hip hop at the at the very front. Like in the daytime, you had a comic book convention. At night, you had a concert. What? Come on, man. That's so dope. That's a beautiful. Two elements in one. Yep. And the community did not get behind it enough to keep it going. That's the thing.

SPEAKER_02 43:05

That's a dang shame.

SPEAKER_00 43:07

You gotta do better than that, man. And that's the thing. And pretty, like I said, like Mark Klessinger was like the mastermind behind First Thursdays. If you remember how lit. If you remember how lit first Thursdays used to be, they close off Main Street. You got art going on everywhere, on every block that they, I mean, all of that. You had different types of art. You had like circus performing arts going on over here. You had live music playing while you're walking down the street to the next venue. You had taps, which was there, which is gone now. You had Anastasia, you had Anastasias that was there, that's gone now. You had S that was there, and that's gone now. You know what I mean? Out of the case. I need to think about it like that. Ouch. Right. So, like it's it's a ghost town. And this was all pre-COVID. Yeah. You know what I mean? So, yeah, when you and a lot of it had to do with that type of mentality running the community. You can't have a community like that. I mean, that's not a community at all. Community, one of the foundations of community is solidarity. There is no solidarity here, thus for making this community a joke. True. Exactly. The biggest joke I've ever seen.

SPEAKER_02 44:31

How could you increase the solidarity in the community?

SPEAKER_00 44:34

By opening up the community's minds to what art really is and giving them more of a variety of artists, because the worst thing that you can do, especially in the in the realm of art, entertainment, whatever, is rob your audience of the luxury of variety. And that's what's been done here.

SPEAKER_02 44:57

That's a good statement. I like that. Robbing your audience of the luxury of variety.

SPEAKER_00 45:02

Yeah, because I mean, think about it. Yeah, because when you think about it, I mean, you want to be able to have those options, especially when it comes to art. You don't want to be confined because that's pretty much, I mean, you can ask about a thousand different people what art is, and you'll get a thousand different answers. But one constant is the fact that, right, yeah, and and and like one constant within you know those answers is the fact that art is not to be confined. One constant that you will find when you discuss what art means to an artist is that you can't confine it into one thing. I mean, that's what it's supposed to do, it's supposed to break the rules, it's supposed to go outside of the box. You go outside of the box, you travel outside of the box, stay out of out of that box. That means that you are not subjected to one kind of art. Here, I think this community needs to learn a little bit more about what diversity is within the realm of art and give the community a little bit more. Because I mean, I can sit back and watch somebody paint a painting on canvas, but I can sit there and watch this one person that everybody's got their eyes on here and think about five or six different digital artists that live here that don't have that same type of an outlet. That's true.

SPEAKER_02 46:31

Do you think it's like an elitism in the art scene in the sense of you you have what, like you said, the the types of different art and you're not giving it the same cachet? Or do you know what I mean? Like is it really that?

SPEAKER_00 46:47

I think, well, I I would I used to think that it was like a uh level of elitism, but I I just think now it's just people being stupid. You know, I just I mean because I mean because the answer is right there in their face and it's blatant, and it's just the execution is pissed poor. You know what I mean? I mean, you can I mean it's there. You have the ability to do this and incorporate these other artists. I mean, I've like you go to like the Museum of Art downtown, I've only seen one comic book artist there displaying their work. And you know, and and and that person is a very good friend of mine. So I've only seen that one person display their work there. And I mean, they could correct me if I'm wrong if there's been others, but I've never known, I'm pretty tight with the comic artists in the community. Right. If if there's ever been anybody else, then I need to know who they were, and even with that, why it's not done more often. Very true. You know what I mean? So it's it's just like I mean, if there is a hierarchy, I would like to sit down and talk to these people.

SPEAKER_02 48:09

Because it's Yeah, who's running this stuff right now?

SPEAKER_00 48:14

Right, right, right. Because I I would want to know, like, because there had been a lot of talk, like a lot of these, these, these artists in the community are just like, well, the community's being brought down by mediocre artists coming in and doing stuff. I'm just like, well, who's the hierarchy? Who's qualified in this community to say who's mediocre? Right straight up. Because whoever the hierarchy is thought that the epitome of top-tier artistry was yarn bombing the trees on Main Street.

SPEAKER_02 48:45

Dang.

SPEAKER_00 48:48

Yeah. Whoever is in this hierarchy who's who's saying that, you know, they thought the epitome of top-tier artistry was painting couches and putting them on a curb downtown. I'm not knocking the artists for doing that because it is art. You can't deny that. It is art. But I'll be damned if I allow any forum of people or any council or anybody to sit down and say that certain artists that are coming into the community are mediocre when that's the best you have to offer. You can sit down somewhere with that.

SPEAKER_04 49:27

Yep, I feel you.

SPEAKER_00 49:29

Because I can tell you right now, with your couches and your young bomb trees or whatever you got, I can name five artists right off the top who live here that could come and give you something worth looking at that you could say, man, this person is doing it, and I've never seen anything like this before. You know what I mean? Yep. And that's when I I would do shows here and I would bring those artists. You know what I'm saying? I would let them shine just as much as I'm doing. Like, I'm I'm I mean, I'm here, and people know that I'm gonna be here, and they'll come to see me, whatever. But I need you to bring your stuff. I need you to bring your stuff because they ain't seeing this stuff. You know what I mean? So I would bring these people that don't have the spotlight on them, that need it on them, and say, sit down, present your stuff, and give these people the variety that they've been robbed of for so long, that they continue to be robbed of.

SPEAKER_02 50:31

I like how you say that. How you say that they've been robbed of that quality and that the other expressions of art that exist that are here locally. And it is sad because they're they're missing out on culture in the area where they live that can also be supportive of the econom the economy and economics that are here. So that that is real it's backwards, man. It's real backwards. Yeah, and will there do you think there'll be more effort to actually host and have events where you can allow local artists to show their skills, show what they do, especially with us coming up into the spring and the summer. Hopefully, these months will be better for COVID. We'll see these numbers continue to increase, we'll be able to bring more people out together, and so hopefully we'll have more things going on. I'm working on something. That's what I like to hear, man. That's what I like to hear, brother man. I'm working on something. Well, we're waiting, man. We're gonna be waiting for it.

SPEAKER_00 51:36

I've got a few friends. Thank you. Thank you. Because I I've been sitting around, we actually had a plan right when COVID hit.

SPEAKER_02 51:47

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 51:48

Like that, like this was something that was actually going to take off. We started talking about it like that December or something prior to COVID. Damn it. And then we were planning on having something around June or July of that year, as far as an outlet here in Columbia.

unknown 52:12

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 52:13

And then COVID came through and said nope. Nope. So, yeah, so we we've got something, we we're putting together things in other cities. And we're we're we've got something going on in in another city. I don't want to get yelled at for me. I don't know how much it's probably about it with with the people involved. So I don't want them yelling at me. So yeah, but there's no problem, no problem. But yeah, but those say that same group of people, we're we're we we've got a plan for here in Columbia to do what we initially wanted to do here. And we're just restructuring and and reworking it for the post-covet market to give those artists a platform. A lot of them I'm already working with, I've I've already given them work. So they're working with me now on the Jet Boy stuff and and the Shadow Club stuff. That's by the time COVID is is you know starting to chill out, and we're able to create a market, then you know, the plan will already be done. Because like I said, we're we're working on it now. Okay. So when it's it's yeah, we we're we're ready. We're ready. We're not asking nobody nothing. We're just we're not trying to fit into uh any type of particular click. Those days are over. Done. Don't even go back to it. Yeah, so we're we're we're not, I mean, you know, there's there's certain channels that you have to go through, of course. Mm-hmm. But certain protocols you have to follow. But other than that, it's it's it's just it's just what it is. So we're we're making that happen, we're working on it, and it's it's gonna be very interesting, and it's gonna be, you know, it's gonna be very fruitful for other artists that are outside of the loop. He's all like in Columbia, you know what I mean? So it'll it'll be uh a safe haven for them to come and display their works. That's good to hear.

SPEAKER_02 54:50

Well, I know we're getting towards the end of the hour. Uh before we go or anything like that, I always like to have people get out their information, let people know where they can reach you, where they can contact you, where they can follow more of your works, so they can figure out what's going on with you at all times. And then of course we'll go ahead and put this stuff up on our site as well, so we can go ahead and blast you out to the people. But yeah, if you could give them some of that information, that'd be excellent.

SPEAKER_00 55:17

You can find me at uh rockbottomstudios.com. That's Rockwithout the K. There, there, that's a hub for everything that I'm doing. We're about to relaunch this weekend, actually, with with everything. So go to that website. That is, you'll find all my information there. My my Facebook presence, Instagram, Twitter, everything is there. Updates on all the projects that's going on, the Jet Boy Animated Series, Shadow Club Animated Series, all the comics that are incorporated into that. There's a store there. You can pick up all that stuff there, and the merchandise and the shirts, everything. Pretty much, if you go to that website, all your questions will be answered. Like if you the yeah, yes. So that that is a hub for all things Rock Bottom Studios and what I'm doing, what I got going on. And uh, yeah, so just check out the site, check out the pages that are incorporated with uh Jet Boy on Facebook and and Shadow Club Karma on Facebook. Give it a like, look at the content, you know, stay in, you know, stay in the loop. And uh yeah, we we got some stuff coming for you. We got some heat coming for you soon.

SPEAKER_02 56:27

That's what I'm talking about. Well, shoot, Skip, is there anything you'd like to add before we finish up today?

SPEAKER_01 56:33

You know, it was just an honor just to get uh Corey order because in a lot of ways, and I know Corey doesn't necessarily um I don't know if he necessarily thinks about himself like this, but in some ways, especially when it comes to like persistence and following through like projects and stuff, especially creative projects, I kind of always looked at him as a mentor in a sense because he's one of the few people that I know that, like I said, who can take an idea in his head and put it out in the ri in real life to where other people could see it and appreciate it. And that's a gift that is often taken for granted, not even just at our community, but just in just in general. And so it was nice just to be able to get the opportunity just to be able to chop it up with them and stuff, because I know a lot of times we have conversations all the time. Because me and Corey, we can we could sit and talk all day about stuff, just like things with creativity, things with life. And it was just great just to be able to get them up here because I know when it came to us even creating the web, the podcast, he was one of the first people I came to talk to about it, just visually how to put it together, and just the steps, you know, ideas of types of people we should talk to with stuff. He was one of the first people actually I consulted about it going back to last year and whatnot. And as a matter of fact, he's the one who created the logo. During his trade, that's the truth. Yep, that is his logo.

SPEAKER_02 57:52

We appreciate that, brother. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, and yeah, we appreciate that greatly, man. We know we need them logos looking at the show.

SPEAKER_00 58:01

I appreciate your appreciation. And I appreciate you having me on the show and and involving me in the capacity that you have with the logos and everything. I I am, you know, I am grateful to be able to have this lane and this opportunity with you guys and and keep up the good work, man. You guys are on it. You guys are doing a fantastic job. You know, just just keep doing what you do, keep inspiring the artists that are are watching you and and and listening, tuning into the podcast, man. Just keep it going, man. Keep it going.

SPEAKER_02 58:36

You know, we will, and I just want to reiterate our thanks and our appreciation again, Mr. Corey Rockbottom Davis. We appreciate you being on the podcast today. And until next time, the Hilltop Glove Podcast signing off. That's it for today's episode of the Hilltop Glove Podcast. Make sure to subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, and other platforms. Also follow us on Instagram and Facebook at Hilltop Glove.