SPEAKER_01 1:45

Good morning and welcome to this episode of the Hilltop Glove Podcast. I'm your host, DJ M. What, and I'll be joined by my co-host, Tamaya Allen. Hey, Tamiya.

SPEAKER_02 1:55

Hey, how are you?

SPEAKER_01 1:56

Hey, I'm doing well this morning. Doing well. It's a beautiful day. Man, as always, we with this podcast, we have great conversations. Sometimes conversations are more timely than others. And I know on doing the read up on our guest today, Sam B. Mixon, aka Samuel Barry Jr., I knew this conversation was going to be dope today because we had some events that happened this week and that keep happening. And I see that he was pretty affected by some of these events. And so I think some of that will come up in the conversation today. And I love to talk about it and get deeper into those points. But just to introduce him, of course, like I said, we're going to be talking with or speaking with Sam B. Mixing, aka Samuel Barry Jr., who is a poet, rapper, songwriter, recording, and mixing engineer, as well as founder and CEO of Asked of God Entertainment LLC and Sam B. Mixing Recordings LLC. Welcome, welcome, welcome, brother. How you feeling today?

SPEAKER_00 2:56

I'm feeling good, man. I've been up since about four, four, three o'clock this morning. So I got a little quick back in. Yeah, so we we we up, man, and ready, man. That's amazing.

SPEAKER_03 3:08

Absolute.

SPEAKER_01 3:12

I do appreciate that. I appreciate you being here with us. I know, like you say, you've been up basically since the you woke up with the sun. You got the sun up this morning. So hey, but like I said, tis the life. That's the life of what you do. And I know we're gonna get in a conversation about that. And just to start off, a very baseline question. Um everybody, especially in our community, we know people that grew up spitting rhymes, had dreams of being hip hop stars, or having some kind of place in the game. But and I know just from being uh a nosy internet snoop, man, you've actually did the job. You've actually turned that business model, put network ethic together to create something that is true, and you actually help other artists actualize and realize their dreams. Would you mind taking a minute to talk about your journey in this game and how you evolved from a lyricist to a businessman as well?

SPEAKER_00 4:09

Well, like I personally, I was a late bloomer in the aspect of it. Like a lot of people that I do music with now and have been doing music with, a lot of them started like in their teens, early 20s, and it it went from there. Myself, I started when I was like 26, 27, 28 possibly, writing. And I learned how to write because I was homeless at the time. I left Columbia, I went to Atlanta, and it was really just a rebuilding of myself and uh kind of finding myself and through writing and through poetry was uh a way that helped strengthen me on the inside that just kind of uh encouraged me and kept me moving on. And then one thing just kind of turned into another. So that's how I kind of got into it, and I was down there doing spoken word events and shows and stuff like that. And uh and so then recording came up. And so I would try out different studios, but I just couldn't get the sound that I wanted, and so then I started doing it myself. When I made it back home from Columbia, because I I wound up getting in in school as well, and and that's what helped me too. That's where like the writing came from because I was in college at the time. Okay. And just like I said, I took the long route on everything. Like I didn't graduate from high school, I didn't get my GED till I was like 23. I got my GED when I was 23, and then a lot of stuff happened. Wound up going to Atlanta, got in school, and then came back to Columbia. And so once I got back to Columbia, there was like no places for poetry at the time. I think it just kind of really died down. I don't know if y'all know uh Brother Muwa. Yeah, but he used to go by Chris, and he used to have a poetry here in Columbia, and it used to move around, but that was way before I even kind of started, I believe. And but yeah, but that's how how that how that stuff kind of started, man. It was just one thing out of another. I couldn't get what I wanted out of a studio, so I was like, man, let me buckle down. And then I learned that and uh built the group. That's why I formed Ask the Guy Entertainment, which I do not want to work with artists anymore. I would rather be in the background doing this. I give uh Yeah, man, I give I give advice here and there, and that's another reason why I was up amid an artist here this morning, and just like like the studio is is is more than just a place of music. You know, people really come here and uh and and invent and and get their stuff right. You know, a lot of people don't have access to the church or they don't uh have access to those motivational, and I'm not trying to say that like I'm the top motivational speaker for all the all the artists around here, anything like that. It's just you know, God brings people in your life and and and and if you can be there to support them, most definitely.

SPEAKER_01 7:14

Most definitely. Man, I know as you were talking, you were explaining your your your upbringing into this industry and et cetera. Of course, like you said, it was not at all what you consider the normal way of doing things. You did take that long route, as I like to call it, the the the Michael Riordan route, aka the killer killer mic route. Where you took you you be you were a mature individual before you even correct the start. Yeah, so that makes it a little different. Could you explain our audience how that tinged or colored your perception of the industry?

SPEAKER_00 7:46

And it's and it's just like um I can bring it back uh to like just me being mature enough when I started going to college because now I'm around a bunch of teenagers and uh people in their early 20s. The the word the thing that came up to me was just like the lack of the uh the lack of responsibility that I I seen kind of even with the the kids I was going to college with. And like they had prime opportunities and trying to relate those, trying to relate my experiences to help them to like, yo, you got a a big opportunity right now, and you might want to take advantage of it, you know? Right and and that's the same thing that I'm what I'm kind of hearing with the with the backlash from people now speaking out about the violence in hip hop or rap. Uh they're saying that they gave these they gave these young people these opportunities to change their life and and do all of this, do all these great things to build financial wealth for their families. They're given these opportunities and they're blowing them. But how many people are actually investing into them, telling them, yo, you got this much of money, this how much goes back to Uncle Sam for your taxes. Right. Uh this much we can uh put in this bank, and this will be this will generate income and da da da. Like nobody's really uh saying anything about that.

SPEAKER_02 9:13

So literacy, like just educating them.

SPEAKER_00 9:17

Yeah, so it it's it's really it is really about that. And and then I also have a church background also. So like it's that's that foundation. And I know like a lot of people catch a lot of slack and talk a lot of stuff about the Bible, but there's real there's real good fundamental lessons in there that a person can use to move through life, and and I think that's just like the biggest thing because they have these big stars in their eyes from what uh is being promoted, but that's not at all like the background stuff.

SPEAKER_01 9:53

Got you. Speaking, speaking of that background stuff, and I know you're you're starting to hit on this this point when you're explaining like dealing with folks who don't have that responsibility, haven't learned yet how to be mature and handle themselves out there. And speaking of business, so how did you become and how did you all right, Fence, how did you pick up the skills to be good at the business that you're actually in right now? Which especially as I was looking listening through your mixes and stuff like that, you do an excellent job. You create a product that you you know as an artist, you'll feel good standing next to and you want it to sound off, sound off in whatever venue it might be in. So, how did you get those skills and then how did that ability and that maturity lead to you having a also a good business acumen? This is something I know entrepreneur entrepreneurs should and need to hear about how you transition that from the skill into the business.

SPEAKER_00 10:50

And and see, like when I was down there in Atlanta, um we were working on different while being homeless, we were working on ways to help the homeless. So I I forget his name, and I I wish I could salute him right now, but I forget his name. Henry Anderson. Got him, Henry Anderson. And uh so Henry Anderson, he was kind of the one who kind of really kind of motivated me on the business side. So when I did got the opportunity to go to school, I took business management. And but it was so crazy that I never really received the job using that degree, not even the entry-level position. So that kind of just really stuck. Yeah, so but I took those skills and I kept those skills, and when I got back here to Columbia, of course, I went back to working, like I think the first job when I got back here was at the chicken farm, and then from the chicken farm, I went back into cooking because I I I was cooking ever since I was 16 in and out of uh restaurants. So um, yeah, that's a whole nother story. So I kept those skills even with when I started, people started uh coming to me, and I developed the Axe the God entertainment. It was all just like principles that I learned from school, from Henry Anderson, and most of it is just uh morals. This is how you deal with people back and forth. But now let me tell you, because of now, because of the pandemic, like my thing was I always wanted to help the artists who may not have the financial backing. So for a long time I kept my prices kind of reasonable to low, as some people would say. And I wanted them to come record and use the other money to market and you know get themselves out. So the studio time. But as you can see, like with the economy turning, those ones who don't really have the financial backing, those are the first ones hit. So it's and it's it's kind of like you want to help, but then when the time like times like now, I kind of think like maybe I should have been always going for the deep pockets and then help on the back end is. Once you have your stuff set, yeah, but so so I'm right there in the fight with them right now. That's why I'm maybe so vocal about the political and the other stuff right now, too. Because I'm right there in the trenches with the with the normal folk, you feel me? Yeah, yeah, yeah. My guy, my guy.

SPEAKER_02 13:36

Listen, I follow you on Instagram, so I every day I'll be like, say, exactly. Scroll and you see that one post, and you'd be like, all right, who posted it? Sam.

SPEAKER_00 13:47

Yeah, and you're very controversial.

SPEAKER_02 13:49

I like that.

SPEAKER_00 13:49

I like that. Yeah, and and I'm learning myself too, like, and um, and my bro, we was talking, and um we were like from computer maintenance, computer maintenance, like um I have to do stuff quarterly to my computer to make sure that it runs, I back up stuff, and and things of that nature. So me and my guy, we were talking, uh, salute the grip. Grip, grip type productions, we were talking. And he said, uh he said something. He was like, he was like, we as people, we need to clean out the information that we get and clean out the information that we uh stored in our head. And I thought about it, like I do my computer like that, like all the time. Like, and I'm set up, but I never really thought about you know just downloading all the information that I have acquired and releasing it so I can absorb some more. Wow. So I think that's what we're coming into now. And I've always been uh, I always had this thing about holding my tongue. So now I'm getting older, and I think with the download conversation we just had, like I'm gonna be talking about a whole bunch of stuff in these next coming weeks and months.

SPEAKER_02 15:04

Grip is the guy. I can't wait to have him on the show. Like, I think I had that same conversation with him, and he just makes you think on a whole nother level. So he's one of those people you have to have around you all the time.

SPEAKER_00 15:16

Yeah, correct. Like, he has been such a blessing uh this year, just uh through our conversations, and and he's an older guy. He's not too much older than me, but but yeah, but he's definitely an older guy and very knowledgeable and what you do in your life situation.

SPEAKER_02 15:33

Do you guys bounce ideas off each other?

SPEAKER_00 15:36

Uh yes, yes, we do. And we got a couple of little things that we're working on as well. So yeah, so definitely.

SPEAKER_02 15:44

So I really want to know about Sam. You do a lot of, so what is your your very niche? You know, the recording, the songwriting, poetry.

SPEAKER_00 15:52

Which one is your right right now? I am definitely like I have took a hiatus. Like, I don't even know how my hiatus came on writing, but definitely I write from here to there, but my niche is definitely recording and mixing. I do those very well. The songwriting is tricky nowadays unless we have an artist. Unless I have an artist that come here and and let me know ahead of time, be like, Sam, I'm about to book this studio time. I'm writing this song in the session, and any feedback that you can give me would be good, and we'll do the split sheets and all that other good stuff. Like, that is very rare. I haven't had that. One of my pet pees is that you come to the studio unprepared. And so, like, I'd be ready to make, I've I'd be ready for the artists to come here and they know their stuff. That way, we won't have any problems. If they get in here, record their stuff, project their voice well, they done practice, they're in the zone. We're gonna have a wonderful session, we're gonna have a wonderful, uh, he's gonna have a wonderful, he or she's gonna have a wonderful uh mix at the end of the uh session. But once it gets to the the freestyling, because that's what we see now more more than likely. We've got a lot of artists that's coming in freestyling. So everything is just in out, in, out, in, out.

SPEAKER_02 17:23

Um usually actually any business advice, or is it just strictly music?

SPEAKER_00 17:28

It is strictly music. Um I guess is it just depends. Like I give advice, but I my stuff is just like do's and don'ts, common sense things, artists, uh, especially like new artists. I get a lot of new artists that's coming into it, so I try to help them avoid some of those pit stops uh or those or those pit holes.

SPEAKER_03 17:49

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 17:50

Yeah, more than more than anything. So yeah.

SPEAKER_02 17:54

What age that you gain your interest in music?

SPEAKER_00 17:58

Um my mom was a big influence, but back then it was just like, and I and I stress this so much, like if a parent, if you see your kid do anything like, and if they do it consistently, try to build on that because that might be the thing that keeps them out of trouble. That may be the thing that actually becomes a form of income for them or revenue. So my mom, she uh played like all the 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s music. Is is every time we hopped in the car, we was listening to stuff. My dad had like eight tracks and stuff, even though I didn't know how to work all that good stuff. Uh so I was always around music. Once we moved to South Carolina, that's when uh and we got our first like system. I think that's when I started like tearing stuff apart and hooking it back up, like making surround sound out of speakers that I found, and all that other good stuff. Like I had a whole, I had a waltman, and my walkman would would be pumping like 12s. So Oh wow. Yeah, like I was I was doing stuff like that, breaking up the TV, making surround sound. Wow. Just like all that good stuff, connecting wires, but I never really I never knew that I that could be a career, you know. I thought it was just it was just something that I did and and a way that I can listen to my music, and when my friends come over, they could hear it, and all this other good stuff. But I like it it never really dawned on me like this could be something I could do. And then it took like that whole age from 13 to all the way up to like 23, like those was just kind of just like blank years. Those was this really just I was just listening to hip hop music and stuff like that. There was never no, I want to do this. We was too busy in the streets doing other stuff, playing basketball and and and uh causing trouble.

SPEAKER_02 19:53

But that goes into my next question. So, like what artists did you grow up listening to? Or who inspired you?

SPEAKER_00 19:59

Oh man, I love so I love pop. Like uh that was I think like Dog Pound Gangsters was like my first time really glitching in, you know, they had the singles that would play, the Coolio and stuff like that. But then again, like I listened to everything. My mom listened, like we used to watch Smokey and the Bandit. So, you know, they would have like country music. Yeah, they would have like country music and stuff in there. So I like all music. There's like no music that I I don't like, like from heavy metal, and I probably can't name any bands, but I like know the songs.

SPEAKER_03 20:38

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 20:39

And uh stuff like that. Like one of my favorite songs is Leonard Skinner, uh Simple Man. So um it's it just it just varies. I have a uh my mom definitely helped me have a wide view of music.

SPEAKER_01 20:54

Yeah, it definitely eclectic. And you are not joking about that. When it comes to music that you that you mix and mess with and stuff like that, I know from going through and listening to your Instagram uh videos and stuff like that, I could see you really don't, you don't, you don't, as a creative, you're an open-minded person. You don't close off things just because it's not quote unquote a part of the culture. And that's really cool, man. That's extra dope, especially within the atmosphere of hip-hop. And I know something that I think is important, and I know we're about to get to this part, so I was gonna talk about this too. Dealing with reality rap and the the the vibe and and the sound and the the feel of that music is very unique. And so usually when people deal with that, you don't usually think that they deal or listen to other things or have a how you say a foot in other door doorways, but I know you definitely do, and even from doing your poetry and etc., you would because I was just listening through the YouTube, you have a YouTube setup with playlists, and it has a bunch of stuff that you mix. That is wild, man. It was like everything I could think of was up there, everything sounded good as well. And I know leading to changing directions and moving into the next section, being able to be creative, show your gift, but also keep your balance and be a professional. You were talking earlier about how you try to start off working with folks uh who didn't have much first, but you probably should have dug into some deeper pockets too, as well. What advice from your experiences could you share with our audience about how to successfully operate as a professional creative?

SPEAKER_00 22:41

First thing that comes out to mind is uh uh get out of your own way. Um and that's and that's it. I had to actually uh read some stuff on getting out your own way. But but definitely things may not be as they seem. And I have a problem too with this, but don't react before you know the whole story. Uh and talk to people, talk to people. That that's the that's the biggest thing. Uh to help you as a creative is as far as is is is talking about creating music or just being a creative in the creative scene. Yeah, and all around creative.

SPEAKER_01 23:26

All around. Yeah, doing the work and being in the scene.

SPEAKER_00 23:30

Definitely when you're doing your music, it's okay to step outside of yourself to see other people's point of view. Definitely be true to yourself and use music to to teach. Teach and uplive. Like you do you really want somebody to go through the same things that you that you went through? Um I I really um I really have a I just really have a thing about the senseless killing. That's that's my biggest thing. Like the bragging about senseless killing. And I know like those more for just like that one set, but it's okay to rap about you talking about you defending yourself and things that you did or or you might do or or you're so angry that you might do, but just I don't know, man. That's that's gonna be that's gonna be something that we're gonna have to work on uh moving forward. Um but I know a lot of people see death. Um I I started seeing people die when I was six years old.

SPEAKER_01 24:36

So it's I mean that's a part of our that's a part of being in what they like to call trauma culture, like especially for black folks. Anybody, especially if you grew up in poverty, is something that exists. And then you know this is something I wanted to talk about today, because I've been I was looking at all your posts and stuff in relation to what had occurred, transpired this past week. And I mean, anyone, if you hadn't been on the rock in the last 20 years and you exist out here in the world, you know hip hop runs all culture right now. It doesn't matter where you're at, what's going on, it it has surpassed everything being the most effective way to sell a burger, the most effective way to get somebody in a house. Doesn't matter what it is, you use hip-hop for anything. You can even teach a child how to wipe us behind with hip-hop. Right. But that I mean, so we have these great gains and amazing, hit an amazing plateau. But of course, anytime you you gain so much, you get so much responsibility, there's losses that come with it. And for the culture in general, like people don't understand like hip-hop is a hip-hop is a is an entity and it and it consists of different parts. It's not just rapping. And the MC is just one piece of the ceremony. Like you have your graph designer, you have your your B-boys, your B girls, you got, you know what I'm saying? You got the people who are styling art and and doing other things within the the mix. That's how hip-hop shows back in the day. That's what you used to go. Used to go there and it basically be a bazaar of culture. And I know being like I said, I I know I wrote this up, and this is this is like coming from the heart because like I'm a child of the culture. I grew up in the culture, I love the culture. I saw how it can lift people out of poverty, how it can create economic opportunity, it can clean up neighborhoods. Man, it's amazing what it can do, and it came from the brainchild of poor and destitute people in the cities that were being burnt out and stuff back in the 70s. Like, you gotta think about it, it's crazy, and they were just coming out of being out of heroin epidemic. But like things go in cycles. So I always always tell people um you gotta give things chance, you gotta let it grow, but things happen in cycles. So the place where we came from and try to change, it seems like we're going backwards in a weird way. So in my mind, I believe like the balance of the culture, it has been a loss that came with some of the gains economically. Like we don't have the same plethora in the mainstream of music that we used to have when it came to hip hop. Like hip-hop used to be like a brightly colored Kente cloth of different types of music, styles, feelings, right everything. Now it's like it's just tilted hard one way, and of course, I know part of it's because we don't have our hands on the wheel like we should, but it's tilted one way to the point where you have good guys, you know, these people, these are some good dudes. They gotta rap about trauma in order to make it out there in the in the industry, quote unquote, or in the game to actually be profitable, or no one's gonna pay attention to them.

SPEAKER_02 27:37

So that's sad. That's sad. Do you think that is kind of selling your soul?

SPEAKER_00 27:41

That's and see what I I what I found out yesterday, back in 2020, 200 rappers died. 200. Like, and you would think if any other industry lost 200 employees, you know, there would be some sort of talking about it, there would be some sort of reform. We'll figure out, hey, what's going on? But as they said, nobody's talking about it. And I just found out and I'm in music. And this is not just like in the United States. They had a few uh people from across these too. So, and they died from gun violence. So it's like, what's really going on?

SPEAKER_02 28:21

It's a bit something bigger.

SPEAKER_00 28:23

That's what it kind of feels like. Uh and and I said that because when I when I looked up the rappers, I looked up the mainstream rappers who died, and I thought to myself, I said, man, for every mainstream rapper that that died, there gotta be at least 50 to 60 uh independent local artists that passed. And uh lo and behold, that information had dropped me.

SPEAKER_01 28:44

Yeah, that's why I was that that's the one I was I know when it comes to non-mainstream rappers, it's worse. Yeah. It's worse. Like I I just listened to I listened to a story yesterday out of Chicago. There were two artists from the same click as FBD, uh FBG Duck. Two of them, right? Two of them. They got with two other guys to try to run a heist on an armored vehicle, didn't get none of the money out of the vehicle, killed a 42-year-old woman, got children, etc. Just started the job a month ago, injured another guard, left that place, tried to rob rob a darn boost mobile, didn't get much money out of there, tried to get phones and stuff, ended up the two rappers ended up killing the other two guys with them, because they ain't had nothing really to split between them for the money. Went running, somebody saw them, got all the information down on them, cops found them real quick, like now they're gonna be serving life sentences for nothing, senseless. And these were two like in this and it's not like they were unknown people, everybody knew who they were, and they still were out here trying to live that lifestyle. It's ridiculous. Yeah, man.

SPEAKER_02 29:55

I mean, so what do you think we can do to change that?

SPEAKER_00 29:58

I think I think the first thing comes is with we have to deal with the the communities. We have to get some sort of foundation going with the community, and I've been listening to Dr. Umar. I listen to I rock with Dr. Umar on some of his own on I don't agree with everything, but some of the things I agree with a lot of things.

SPEAKER_01 30:23

People can still speak truth. Like my brother always says, a broken clock is right twice a day.

SPEAKER_00 30:27

Right. So one thing one thing he's heavy on is definitely like legislation. And I know that we can see things inside of our own power, but we definitely need laws and we need policies that can kind of help our communities out. Definitely focus more on trades, finding ways to put money inside these young guys' hands. So this lifestyle won't be that attracted to them. That way that they can feel, they can they can learn some things. And you know how like humans are once we start learning. Once we're learning, we are fully energized, we are active, we are engaged. And it all comes from learning. And so if they're not learning one way, we need to find out different ways of teaching them so that they can be engaged and that they can use day skills. Like somebody mentioned, somebody was like, man, let's get rid of these, let's get rid of these alphabets that they give people in high school and stuff and start giving them money for their grades and stuff like that.

SPEAKER_02 31:25

Oh, because kids will run all the time.

SPEAKER_01 31:30

Yeah, I had a good friend named uh Ty, he he was big about that. He used to run a program in New York to give the guys like in the uh summertime, he said, Hey, if you don't want them out here on the block, he's like, Let him go make some paper. And so he found a way to make the money, and so they wouldn't be on the block because they were already making money. There was no reason for them to be out there.

SPEAKER_00 31:48

And also, like, even when I was growing up, when I when I was growing up, there's two things, it's kind of two things that I really wanted to do when I was living in uh Gonzalo's Garden. I I wanted to be an undersea welder because I learned about that, and I thought that would just be cool going there, diving, doing that stuff. And then I wanted to be a storm chaser. Yeah, I wanted to go chase hurricanes and tornadoes and stuff like that. So um, and it's amazing that we actually have people in South Carolina doing those things. Yeah. Yeah. We know we like really literally have people who hopped on rockets, almost went to we have people working in all these big, vast industries, but it seems like for some reason it be it gets choked off. Whether, and I know it falls back on personal responsibility to a certain extent, right? What do you expect the 16-year-old to do? You know, you uh if he if he has the muscle and the grit, okay, word, this is what I'm gonna do. Uh this is what I need to do to uh make my life better, but that's not gonna be the story for everybody. So uh everybody's not the same. Some people are gonna need a little extra push, some people are gonna have to actually see something tangible to walk into to spark their interest, I believe.

SPEAKER_01 33:05

And some people need repetition. They need repetition, they need consistency over and over and over again. And that takes money and time. And that's what people like. I'm happy that you made that point because a lot of folks don't realize that when you do see a lot of these folks out here who do make all these great new expanses and things and learn things and make these big business moves, a lot of them come from places where they were afforded the opportunity to make mistakes and not die for it. Right. You gotta you because our people, we don't get those options, man. And it and it it it it creates a situation where you, like I said, going back to what I was saying about with trauma culture, where all right, well, if that's the case, then why should I make this op or try to take this opportunity when I know hey, I may not even be able to actually achieve it or or be able to enjoy it. So we gotta afford safety. I think that's a that's a big thing, man. Yeah, safety. Gotta afford it in our neighborhoods.

SPEAKER_02 34:08

Chances make champions, so like you gotta take risks, but is it worth it? Will I bounce back after it? Am I able to? Do I have help? Like right.

SPEAKER_00 34:17

Like we did stupid stuff. Like we did like five points, five points was like a target. That was like it's money down there. So like uh we 16, 16, 15 years old, you know, trying to figure out different ways to make uh money from raking yards. We did it all, like everything, like the good and the bad. Yep.

SPEAKER_01 34:40

And that's and that's how that's how you that's the only way you can learn. And unless you have somebody there to give you some kind of guidance, it's gonna be hard to find it. And I know I ran into a situation yesterday. I was out there, I was on my run doing my exercise, and I ran into these kids and they were tussling on some somebody's yard. They don't know the person who lived at the house, don't know nothing what's going on. They just out in the yard tussling, right? And you know, white folks driving my I I had to run up on the brothers. I said, wait, wait, wait, wait, what are y'all doing? And and why are you doing it right here? Right? And I was just talking to them, and they were just, you gotta imagine it was Friday. They just got off school, there was nothing else to do. I was like, but why are you doing it in this neighbor, like in this person's yard? You like, do you know them? They're like, no, I don't know them. I was like, like, where do y'all live at? Like, show me where y'all live. We can go back there. Y'all can go there, y'all can tell some front of yard, et cetera, in safety of your own house. Because like I was trying to explain to them, your your public, the public perception right now, especially of black males, is not good. And when you're and this is like I said, just grabbing a young someone who's young and giving them time, energy to explain the situation, what's going on. Because they don't know. You like when I was talking to them, I could tell they were innocent. Them little kids, but someone would have seen them as a grown adult. Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_03 35:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 35:53

Oh, yeah. And they have no chin hair, man. But like I said, it was just the fact of sitting there with them and explaining the situation, what's going on in the world, because they ain't paying attention on the movies, they don't care about nothing like that. Unless it's in-you, you know what I'm saying? They out here living life. I remember I was that age, I was the same way. Yeah. So I took that time to give it to them, and then they came back round. I saw them back in the street and I pulled them over and I talked to them again, and I explained them why I did what I did. I tried to let them know, hey, if I came off as too aggressive, I apologize, etc. And it was cool. And they were like all right, such, such. I said, Well, if you ever come by, you see me out, you come holler at me, uh shoot the breeze, whatever it is. If you see me working out, you want to come work out with me, no problem, come do it. And I could tell that they don't get that. That doesn't exist normally to them. They usually just get barked at. Right.

SPEAKER_02 36:38

So, like, did either of you guys mentor?

SPEAKER_01 36:41

Yeah, I Kevin and I told, yeah, we had mentors, man. We took advantage. I don't I don't know if y'all remember. There used to be this president back in the day. His name was Bill Clinton, and uh, he was ratchet, but he did some good things, and some of the good things he did, we we we actually participate in some of these programs where, and it mentoring is a weird word because I ain't gonna get into the breakdown of it, but when you go to Greek and you look up mentoring and what a mentor was, it's kind of weird. I don't want to say that I was mentored, I was I was given assistance from somebody who was wiser than us on about how to handle our business, how to proceed. Some of them were ministers or pastors, others were educators, some were family friends, but we always had people around to make sure, hey, little knuckleheads, this is what I need y'all to do, and this is what I need you to be aware of.

SPEAKER_00 37:28

How about yourself? Myself, I currently I'm currently not mentoring or doing any assistance right now. I have done some things in the past. I used to go to DJJ. I was talking to somebody uh earlier this year, and he said that he was going out there, but that kind of fell by the wayside. I hit up a couple of organizations to see if I could use my um my business to help them out uh a little bit with with what they're doing. And that didn't really uh go through either. So right now I'm not currently mentoring, but I'm always looking for opportunities. Let's believe that. I'm always looking for opportunities.

SPEAKER_01 38:13

And I know Tay you were asking like ways that we can make it better. I know in I think this is in New This is in New Orleans, Louisiana. Yeah, it's in Louisiana. I don't know if it's in New Orleans, but there is a group, and I think it's gonna spread, it's gonna start spreading, but um, they've been actually having uh black fathers in school. Right. Yeah, I've seen that. Yeah, yo, I'm trying to tell you like to to make sure that students are on their grind, that they're going from classics, doing what they're supposed to be doing, not hiding up in the hallways, jumping into the bathrooms, going around the outside to go smoke some weed, blah, blah, blah, making none of that stuff. Because what the thing is, and I'll and I think this is so necessary, and black folks gotta realize this. If you don't police your own and you don't discipline your own, the outside groups will. Will and they won't be nice about it. Well, harshly. Yep, real harsh. Because they don't got no love for you. So why do you expect them to give you a slap on the wrist? When you see how they treat their own, you see what my man just did, just bust two of his own people, got off. Because if they treat their own so harshly, then and they have no love for us, then what do you think they're gonna do to a 13-year-old girl who's acting up in class? What what that police officer did, that that just pick her up, slam around the ground, throw her out the desk. They don't give a darn. Don't do not give a darn. And um, I think the the balance in hip hop culture is important because hip-hop culture influences our youth so drastically. That's why it's important to make sure you have, especially with the men, because this this is our doc, this is our job. We're the disciplinarian. This is our job. We're supposed to hold ranks, hold file, keep people in order. Um, that includes the children. Yeah, the mothers are there to nurture and et cetera, but they need to stick to every once in a while. So, and that's where, especially as men understand the culture and us being hip hop, especially Sam, you understand this as a black man being in hip-hop, it is our job to when we see certain things or when we have opportunities to insert ourselves and not and not be afraid of it.

SPEAKER_00 40:17

Right. And and nine times out of ten, it's it's it's welcoming as long as you come back, as long as you I never I never had young guys uh like it's funny because it was funny because like I seen like a group of guys the other day, man, and they threw down some paper, man, and I was trying to get to the window. I couldn't get to the window in time. Hey, bruh, come on, man. You literally, you can't litter your own neighborhood, bruh. Come on. Yeah, exactly. Just to speak to them, and most of them are most uh are receptive. Like I know, especially to like I know a lot of the older blacks are afraid of the younger blacks. And yes, they are. Yes, they are. And that's just a big problem. It's just a big problem. Oh, what happened a couple years ago in Atlanta with the with the police was called, with the guy was he fell asleep in the car.

SPEAKER_02 41:09

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 41:10

And they called the police. I'm like, bro, like, why couldn't y'all just wake him up? Yeah. And what made it bad is once I heard the 911 call. Like, and it was like, we need to have that sort of love for one another. But I was just watching Project Pac 2, man. And Project Pack was like, the South ain't friendly no more.

SPEAKER_01 41:30

No, I heard that. I heard that interview. Yeah. He but you see why though, right? Yeah. You see why it it it is the it's that legislation principle. Like the the balance of I think hip hop culture, it has to make it into politics. Like, and what I mean by that is what Tupac was doing, and you being a big, being influenced by Tupac greatly, you know where I'm coming from with this. Before he passed, he was trying to create a political party because he understood that lobbyists and legislation create the three strikes in your out rule. It's not the guy, like you don't go and fight somebody with a gun or stab somebody to make legislation work. Right. Nah, gee. It don't take that. It's a different game. But it will do the same exact thing that that knife or that gun can do. Take a man off of the streets forever. Like one of the biggest reasons why in hip hop culture, I think we have that imbalance is because we have a whole generation of black men that never saw the streets, never raised these kids, never seen anything going on, and it was due to crack legislation. The difference between baking soda being with the powder and not put a whole generation away to the point where you still got one of the gentleman that everybody's talking about off that BMF. He's still in jail. I ain't gonna say his name, but he's still in jail. All his other people got off. They've been out already, and he's still in jail for no reason. So again, we gotta make sure that that balance and hip hop. I didn't want to sound like what they said, the kids say the boomers and the old heads. I want to sound like old head, but there has to be balance, bruh. There has to be, you can't everybody out here can just be eating peanut butter and jelly. Somebody gotta eat peanut butter and strawberry or peanut butter and honey. We need variety in life. Spice, you know what I'm saying? Variety is the spice of life.

SPEAKER_02 43:08

Like you're right, but that goes into like work life, balance life. Everything has to be balanced in your life. So, like, Sam, how do you balance your work life and being a creative? What ways do you have any like side things? I know you posted some Hertz music the other day.

SPEAKER_00 43:29

Oh, yeah, oh yes. Like I definitely will uh go into my um and like I'm so chaotic at times. I can bounce around, but I definitely uh meditate. And if push comes to shove, like I love I've uh I've re-fallen in love with fasting. That is like the best thing because it just blows everything down for you so that you can kind of process things, what's really going on. And uh so yeah, so definitely that's how I kind of keep my balance. And my baby, I just love my little daughter. Oh, I love my little daughter. She's been so so I got one, I got one child, man, and uh she's just everything to me. So that's that's my balance. Like I do my spiritual thing on the side and and family time. Those those keep me balanced. That's an excellent answer, man. Excellent answer.

SPEAKER_02 44:31

Right. So do you have any uh upcoming projects we should check out?

SPEAKER_00 44:35

I do. We're working on I got a couple of mixtapes that I'm working on. Right now we got we got the Christmas thing going on with Brian, the violinist. We got uh he did a reendition of uh Nat Keen Code The Christmas Song. And uh we're gonna be from Columbia. So that's from Columbia. Wow. Okay. He's usually uh he's a street performer. Uh is he at the market? So we got him, so he got a project coming out. I got a few mixtapes with single mixtapes that we're working on. So those are what's coming out uh recently in the next couple of weeks.

SPEAKER_01 45:21

Oh, and question, are you of course, are you still taking on uh business with your just with the mixing? Are you still taking business on? If so, like any way that people could get in touch with you if they wanted you to master something from it.

SPEAKER_00 45:35

If y'all want to pull up, if y'all want to record, uh everything is spelt out, everything is spelt out, no abbreviations, it's Sam. B-E-M-I-X-I-N-G dot com. I'm going to sendb mixing.com. You can see my schedule. You can pull up the address on there. So, yeah, man. Any jobs, anything y'all need, any audio, podcasts, radio, instruments, whatever you do that needs to be recorded or mixed. Yeah, pull up. I got you.

SPEAKER_01 46:06

And will they um be able to get pricing on the website or is that done?

SPEAKER_00 46:11

No, pricing on the website. I like to have everything up front. My God. Oh yeah, so you can understand what you're getting into. You have any questions, you can call me 678-368-5278. And that's how I like to work. I like to be up front when we work. Just like I say, I like to be prepared when people come in, especially for recording. But if you let me uh know ahead of time, because like I'm ready, I I enjoy the process, but I want you to leave with something. Like I don't want you to leave with uh a half-finished song, and that wasn't the goal. And the goal and your goal in your head was to finish the song. So I wanna, I wanna um I wanna do what you do.

SPEAKER_01 46:54

And you of course you understand it because you're also an artist, so you get you get the vibe, you get the vibe.

SPEAKER_00 47:01

Oh yeah, and see, like uh, yeah, like I I I done it all like as far as that. Like, we used to do shows four nights a week, all that crazy stuff. Yeah, different shows. So I I've seen it all. That's why I said, like, you you you gotta give people an opportunity. Definitely see the whole situation. If you feel like you've been rubbed the wrong way or anything like that, don't just spaz out, man. Go to that person, talk to that person, see what's really going on. Then if you get that vibe, but I think a lot of I know a lot of people jump off the bandwagon, they jump off the wagon, get discouraged real quick, and they return back to a hostile way of thinking once things don't go that way, especially in music.

SPEAKER_01 47:47

Lots of emotion tied into it. Yes, lots of emotion. Definitely gotta shake that. Hey, one more thing. I was gonna ask this because I was going to see some of the do you man, how have you enjoyed working with the gospel artists and stuff like that?

SPEAKER_00 48:03

And see, and like I come from it, my first, and I said it in another interview, but it was Deacon Richards. I think I said Deacon Bill, but I said in another interview, Deacon Bill, but it was Deacon Richards, and I just saw him like two days ago. Like he's still kicking, looking good, and he was the first artist that I recorded. And that's what like my poetry, like my poetry was was gospel in space. And that was like, it was it was a way for me to find myself too, but then you know, like it was a way for me to talk to people about the Lord as well, and that's the way I used my poetry. Like it was all uh it was all it was all spiritually influenced in some way or another. Um but uh wow, how did where did that go? Where did that go? Oh, I just lost it. I was somewhere.

SPEAKER_02 48:53

It happens, it happens to the best of us, right?

SPEAKER_00 48:55

Yeah, man. But I just saw him, uh yeah, I saw Deacon Richards uh yesterday, but it it's been so wonderful, and like I really believe like she is gonna blow. Like, I'm already ready to throw her to the wolves. I'm ready to call some people. Hey, bro, y'all got some performances, I got this artist I think y'all need to check out. Like, I'm already ready to throw her to the wolves because she is good and I love her music. I love the way that she does it. It's not I I listen to gospel music and I don't quite like the new stuff that I'm hearing. I like uh still Titrick had a song. Oh man, that thing's so hard. I forget the name of it.

SPEAKER_01 49:32

He knows the reason the gospel hard. You know it goes, you know, you know it's slaps, it's slabs.

SPEAKER_00 49:38

Yeah, so um I don't really miss I like the older stuff because the older stuff had a lot more fight, a lot more uh to me, a lot more fight, a lot more presence, a lot more spirit in it. You know what I mean?

SPEAKER_01 49:50

It was like spirituals.

SPEAKER_00 49:52

Yeah, they needed that motivation, they needed that extra lift, they needed that push from God. So like she really kind of embodies that, and it's just it's just an honor. She uh it's funny that uh she was one of my producers, he made a post and I sent it to her, and they wind up, they he said that he practically kind of raised her a little bit. So I was like, man, that's dope. Like it and that's another thing, like so many connections. Like these connections have just been wild, man. Uh that just been resurfacing of lately, like just people are just coming together, like a lot of dots are being connected. So I'm really, I'm really enjoying that. I'm really enjoying that, man. And I I just really think like it's gonna be real good. I don't know when it's gonna hit, but it's gonna it's gonna hit. But she is a wonderful artist, Stephanie Honey. That's her name. Uh and promote, promote. Yes, Stephanie Honey, yes. And uh, she's gonna be, I think like February, the January, that's when we're gonna do the album release, if I believe. I hope I'm not licking any information, but yeah, she's about to be good. Yeah, January. Y'all be looking out for her in January, man. And I'm just so pleased with the songs that we have done. We have already done like four songs right now. Three of them are possibly ready to go. We might go back in them just to kind of touch them up and add a little more feel to them.

SPEAKER_03 51:18

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 51:18

That little reverb here, make this vocal a little bit bigger, something like that. But but right now, man, those songs are hitting. And I'm talking about every I let a couple of artists caught them off guard with it, man, and they're like, wow. Makes your soul feel different. I believe. Yeah, man. Yeah, man.

SPEAKER_02 51:38

So are you are you looking to is there any area that you're looking to tap into that you haven't yet? Like, or do you want certain people to come to you, you know, so you can kind of make more connections? Oh, right now area. In this area or just in Yeah, who are you looking to work with or what type of crowd do you want to tap into?

SPEAKER_00 51:59

Like, I'm I'm I need to set up something with Doubler, with the Doubler. I need to set up something with him. Set up something with him. I'm I'm thinking about something because the thing that him and Tim Nevi did was just awesome. And I let him know that when I saw him, that that was just awesome, and it just blessed me. So I really want to do something like that. And it's just something just out of the box. Always blending, um, I'm always trying to blend hip-hop with something else. So uh, so yeah, so I think I want to work with I want to work with him. Um and I want to I want to work with some more singers, some more, some more good singers. Trade a goat, Trey the Goat, uh Bird Daddy Cool Brees, these are two hip-hop artists that like I can put them with anybody. These are like kind of my like my go-to features. If if somebody's asking for a feature, I'll probably recommend them because they're so dope and they uh they work real fast and they give uh good content too. They give good content with their music. And I just want to work with anybody who just wants to work, man. Let's let's do some stuff. I hate red tape. I hate red tape. Um I hate red tape, and then yeah, I hate doing things by myself when it's supposed to be a group project. Yes, understood, definitely.

SPEAKER_02 53:23

You're well rounded.

SPEAKER_00 53:26

Yeah, so um, but yeah, but that's that's kind of like it, yeah. Right now, I I need to go to more studios, and that's another thing about me. Like, I really haven't been in the studios and stuff, and like me and my guy, we was talking to we was talking this morning, and I told him, like, bruh, like I had anti-industry. That was like my hashtag for like a long time. I don't blame you. So, but I still want to work with like uh I still want to I like I've never been to like big studios. The only studios I ever been to mainly was the ones I worked in. And I worked in V12 for a little while. Uh salute to uh five-star. I went down there to deal with my guy Russian real quick, and I think they changed the name of that one now to like the lab. But uh, like Atlanta, oh, shout out to Willpower. Hey, yeah, yeah, yeah. Here we go. Yeah, shout out to Willpower. They showed me a good time. That was like my first, like everything that I studied about and read in my own personal time to help me, like he was down there doing it, like even from the floating floors and everything. So, man, salute to that guy down there, man, doing big things uh right here from Columbia. And once again, like a lot of people have done great and humongous things from this state. And I think those need to be uh highlighted, and we need to find these people. We need to find these people and bring them back and like, hey, yo. Yes, yes, right. This is what this is what even like the families from the the astronaut that we had that went up on the what it was, Apollo. Yeah, Apollo. Let's go find this family and and see what this family is talking about and stuff. You know, just anything.

SPEAKER_02 55:11

So we're finding on uh social media and everything.

SPEAKER_00 55:15

My social media? Mm-hmm. Oh yeah, Sam B mixing. You should be able to Google me and find everything. Uh Sam B Mixon. Yeah, Sam B mixing will lead you to my Twitter, to my Instagram. Uh I'm on TikTok, but TikTok really kind of doing some stuff right now that I don't really like. Like every time I post something political, they kill me. Like they shut me down. They shut me down early. So it's like, uh yeah. We're messing with TikTok right now. Yeah, they even kill they even killed me on my prices. I can't even promote on there. They heard uh yeah, I'll share my prices like nothing. And they told me uh my car my account is being uh something for violating or that's messed up, yeah. That's messed up. So yeah, I posted a picture of uh and then the last no no that was that the last thing. I think the last thing I did on them was I posted a prayer from Kenneth Copeland and they barred that one when he was pretty when he was praying about COVID.

SPEAKER_01 56:24

But you know, you know they ain't playing with that right now. They good lord, they're touchy. But shoot, man. Um man, it's excellent talking to the day talking to you today. Of course, the first time we got to talk to you, I I've heard about you many times from Mike and from Kevin. So it's excellent having a conversation. I think Tamai, I think you enjoyed this conversation as well.

SPEAKER_02 56:46

Yeah, I've been waiting to pick his brain all week. Come on.

SPEAKER_01 56:51

So um this I just want to go ahead and we'll go ahead and close out today. This will conclude this episode of the Hilltop Glove podcast. We want to thank our guest, Sam B. Mixon, for joining us today. Hilltop Gang! Shout it out. Yes, sir, yes, sir. For the Hilltop Glove podcast. I want everybody to have a blessed one out here on this Saturday. Be safe, enjoy your day, and we will see you next time. Peace.