The Renaissance Files Podcast
Greetings & Welcome to the RFP experiences where we aspire to inspire until we expire! The objective of the podcast is to provide the listeners with new perspectives, ideologies and conceptual frameworks that can serve as resourceful toolkit to help in navigating life’s inevitable obstacles. The host Juda$ X invites you to embark on this lifelong journey of elevation, enlightenment and personal development so you can start building a better self today to handle the challenges of tomorrow.
The Renaissance Files Podcast
@PatrickCWalters Talks Leaving St. Kitts With a Dream & Staying Focused | Conversations with Juda$
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What does it really mean to turn a passion into a profession — and build a life that's entirely your own?
Today, Juda$ X sits down with Patrick C. Walters — Kittitian-born spoken word artist, recording artist, arts educator, and curator based in Toronto — for a conversation that goes far beyond poetry and into the mechanics of identity, improvement, and becoming.
Together, they explore why so many creatives feel stuck — not because they lack talent, but because they're waiting for opportunity instead of creating it. Patrick and Juda$ challenge the idea that success comes to those who simply work hard, revealing how self-awareness, proactivity, and the courage to fail publicly are the real building blocks of a lasting creative career.
Patrick opens up about what it meant to leave St. Kitts at 19 with nothing but a passion and a psychology degree — navigating microaggressions, homesickness, and the pressure to assimilate — and how he learned to turn his outsider status into his greatest superpower. He shares why discipline in one area of life elevates every other area, and why "moving the whole product forward" — mind, body, art, and spirit — is the philosophy that keeps him growing.
Juda$ guides the conversation toward the deeper questions: What does gratitude really look like when you strip away religion and ritual? What does it mean to fail publicly and still show up the next month? And what separates the talented artist in the basement from the one who actually builds a lane?
Through honest reflection, real-life stories, and lyrical wisdom pulled directly from Patrick's music, this episode challenges you to stop waiting for a lane — and start building one.
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In this interview, you'll learn:
How to Apply Discipline From One Area of Your Life to Elevate Every Other Area
How to Treat Your Life as a Product — and Move the Whole Thing Forward
How to Recognize Your God-Given Talent Before the World Validates It
How to Build Consistency Through Intentional Decision-Making, Not Motivation
How to Stop Fearing Failure and Start Using It as Your Greatest Teacher
How to Use Gratitude as a Daily Performance Metric — Not Just a Feeling
How to Embrace Regret as a Sign of Growth Instead of a Mark of Failure
How to Build a Circle That Elevates You — Without Limiting It to People Who Look Like You
How to Relish Your Individuality as a Tool — Not Just a Trait
How to Break Free From Learned Helplessness Through the Power of Small Wins
How to Become More Self-Aware Before Any Self-Help Book Can Actually Help You
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🎵 Stream Patrick Walters: patrickwalters.ca
📱 Follow Patrick: @patrickcwalters
🎧 The Offshore Account & Human Nature — Available on Spotify & Apple Music
The Renaissance Files Podcast is hosted by Juda$ X and your episode guide is Juda$ Hendrix!
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Remember that the distance between you and your higher self is just information! Our goal is to provide you with some useful tools that you can utilize to continue taking your life to the next level. You’re exponentially more powerful than you think you are so never place limitations on your ability!!
Cold Open On Experience And Risk
SPEAKER_03Maybe this is a bit of a hot take, but I feel like experience is the only teacher. You could learn something from a book, you could learn something from some like someone else, but at the end of the day, until you experience it yourself, you'll never fully know how it is. A risk is actually an opportunity because if there's no risk, there's no reward. They are intrinsically linked. You can't have risk without reward. You can't have reward without it. It's rare to find reward without risk. Some would argue that you can't have reward without risk because the risk is actually the thing that creates the reward in the first place.
SPEAKER_00Greetings and welcome to the Double Eye Chambers, more professionally known as the Renaissance Reflections Chambers. And you're tuning in today for an episode of the Renaissance Reflection Conversations with Judas. Where I connect with exceptional individuals who've attained some level of success in their spaces and take an introspective journey down memory lane for them to provide some context of how they got them from the start to their finish. Today we have very special guests. I could definitely say I'm in the presence of greatness without a doubt. Very multifaceted individual. You can call him a poet, you can call him an artist, you can call him an art educator, you can call him a musician. These are just a few of his many, many talents. And I'm very proud and honored to have my bro on the platform today, Patrick Walt.
SPEAKER_03Thank you so much for having me, bro.
SPEAKER_00Man, it's definitely my pleasure, bro. You know, um, usually for me when things are in the early stages to have you involved is usually a good thing. You know what I'm saying? So I have I have exceptional expectations for what's gonna happen here today. And I know you're gonna provide some very insightful context for the people and for myself, and uh provide the many gems as you usually do. Before we get into it, I'm just gonna allow you to explain to the people who've never met you before who is Patrick Walters.
SPEAKER_03So you introduced me quite well just now, I think. So I'll I will take from what you said and say that I'm a poet and an arts educator and a creative person in general. I'm a learner, I'm a thinker of things, and I like to be involved where I can to provide value in many different spaces. So um that's who I currently am, and I look forward to giving you a new intro tomorrow because it might be something else.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, man, I'm looking forward to it. I mean, I feel like you far from your peak.
SPEAKER_03You're always growing. I tell you all the time, sneak peek behind the uh the camera, but I tell you all the time that improving is my superpower. Just always being able to go back to the next thing and see how I could have improved and do it better the next time. That's like one of the things that I pride myself on. So yeah.
SPEAKER_00And you basically led us into the follow-up question. Because I asked you just before, super insightful answer, and I love it. So I'm gonna ask you again to repeat for the people what is one word you think could encapsulate your very essence that is Patrick Walters?
SPEAKER_03Improvement. Improvement. Constantly looking to do something new, something fresh, something better than before, and always looking to make an impact and say something important with my art or whatever the case may be that I'm working on. I like it to have some sort of value and relevance.
SPEAKER_00Do you have uh an improvement process framework in place, or is it sort of like freelance? So I'll give you an example where like you work out.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_00So I would assume you have like schedules and what you're gonna do, things of that nature. So you could basically gauge your progress. Do you have a metric like that for yourself personally and also for your art? Is it one thing?
SPEAKER_03I actually make no real differentiation in terms of the various aspects of my life. I like to think that my discipline in one area of my life improves and has a positive impact on discipline in other areas of my life. I I think there's this idea that like folks who excel in one thing, they tend to like fall behind or whatever the case may be. But I think if you have discipline and you have like foundational principles across your life, then that actually will be the thing that helps you be more disciplined in all areas of your life. Successful people, they don't just do their jobs or become entrepreneurs or whatever the case may be. They're also interested in personal development, becoming more intelligent, becoming more empathetic, becoming more healthy, working out. Like there's all these various things that you can identify, macros basically that you can identify for folks who excel in their fields, in the various fields, and they kind of all share the same outlook and perspective on life.
SPEAKER_00That's a fact. Staying on your background, why using your actual name as a stage name? Why Patrick Walters as the stage name?
Improvement As Whole-Life Discipline
SPEAKER_03Because my work is my life and there's no real separation, like I mentioned just now. I think that pretty much if you wanted to know who I am as a person, you're you have only to listen to my music. You have only to listen to my music. The rest of it is self-explanatory from there, in my opinion. Obviously, if you understand the metaphors and the bars and the similes, then yes, there's even a greater level of understanding that you will have. But the stories and the narratives that I choose to paint are purely my own in terms of like witnessing things, experiencing things in life, having perspectives, educating myself, learning about different points in history and stuff like that, and just becoming a more well-rounded individual in general, like I said, just now helps me to become a better artist as well. So, like the discipline that I have in working out four times a week or doing walking or whatever the case may be, that is actually helping me have more discipline as an artist to, you know, write a certain amount or make sure that I'm still creating at all times and stuff like that. So I try my best to move that idea. I call it moving the whole product forward. So like the whole product being my life, improvement in every single aspect, not just becoming a better artist, but becoming a better, well-rounded person.
SPEAKER_00Coming from the place that we come from, saying kids, I'm saying it's the sweetest place in the world. Why did you choose to pursue poetry as opposed to anything else under the sun? Especially considering the fact that there was no, I would say, infrastructure for that at that time.
SPEAKER_03Before I realized that I could ever do it professionally as a career, I fell in love with the art of doing it. I realized I had a God-given talent and I had a good enough support system to actually keep me going and to put myself in a situation where like I could flourish and be encouraged, and my mom and dad were supportive. I actually uh was telling you this story the other day of the first poem I ever wrote entitled The Earth and uh it was in grade four and my teacher sat and she was like, Oh shit, this is this is really good. Yeah, and took it to my principal and mission was like, Yeah, okay, you go we got something to work with here. I think that that kind of like spawned a little bit of fire inside me to be like yo, this is something that I am pretty good at and I enjoy doing it, and I think that I have something to say here, so I might as well pursue it. And my family my mom and dad were like, you know, very um supportive in that regard. So and then shortly after that, well, I should I shouldn't say shortly after that, I continue to write and continue to share in different contexts in church, etc. etc. And then when I was in Fort Farm, I had the opportunity to go to Island Expressions. I think I actually maybe even been third farm, I had the opportunity to go into Island Expressions.
SPEAKER_02When I die, donate my body to the science. It can cut me open and extract me from my face. The smile in my eyes and the inspiration in my feet and my hands.
SPEAKER_03More difficult to absorb which is the open mic show that used to run down at uh Mapau, I think. Started by Samuel Duggins. It was a really good learning ground for me to make mistakes and like I said, which is a theme of today's improve, get better. I did poems every every month for a year on Alan Expressions, and not all of it was perfect, but by the time I was done, I was pretty good. Wow.
SPEAKER_00What made you want to stay that consistent? Was it decision that you made at the top of the year or it just kind of happened?
SPEAKER_03No, it was a decision that I made at the top. Actually, a decision that I made at the end of the previous year, and I was like, next year I'm gonna do a poem or poems, multiple, even sometimes every month for the whole year. And I kind of made that my mission. Like I said, it was a good training ground for me to learn what good poetry was, and there was a lot of other good artists there as well, so I could kind of like you know learn from them as well and see what people were doing that were getting a response. I went to school for psychology, so I didn't actually plan to become a full-time artist until just about I was ready to leave school, yeah, university, and the opportunities started to become more available to me based off of what I was doing. So that's kind of how that worked out. But even before I realized that I could do it full-time, it was always a passion.
SPEAKER_00You mentioned university, so I just want to understand that point really quickly. Yeah, why psychology?
SPEAKER_03I've always been interested in people and how they think can work. My second album was entitled Human Nature because I am fascinated by human nature. We see the wrong thing to do and still do it every day. That is so confounding but beautiful to me.
SPEAKER_00I mean, because realistically, what would childhood be without poor decision?
SPEAKER_03Right, and learning from them or not learning from them, and being defined by them or not being defined by them, you know, that is human nature, and that's why I named that album that because that album for me was like kind of explaining how I am as a person. There's very personal stories in there about my life. So I wanted to make sure that like I was the first person sharing, and then in that indoor in so doing, ask people to also think about their own humanity in doing these things that we all do on a day-to-day basis.
SPEAKER_00Do you set time aside to just think? I know for some people that meditate like 30 minutes every day. Is that something that you also do as well?
SPEAKER_03To a certain degree, although I will admit I'm almost constantly thinking, and it is more important for me to schedule time when I'm not thinking, intentionally not thinking, versus worrying about scheduling my thinking time as much because, like for me, that's why I do mindfulness, like intentional mindfulness meditation, for at least 20 minutes at five-minute periods throughout the day. So, like, I might have four uh or five little five-minute periods where I'm just like being present, I'm here, I'm because you know you're not gonna get like like half an hour to just sit down and embrace the fact that you're alive and you're breathing, but you could do it for five minutes, you know. I'm saying you could you could even do it for like three minutes and then just chop it up throughout your day. So you you're taking little breaks to kind of give your brain a rest. Because if you just go 110% for the whole time, you're gonna run into a situation where you're you're gassed by the end of the day. And you may not even be physically tired, but but mentally you're gonna be done.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I mean if mentally, if you're done, you're done. You're done. That's what you're done. You're finished.
SPEAKER_03So that's really a thing for me where I'm like, yo, I gotta make I gotta make sure that throughout the course of my day, I'm taking a little two, three, four, five minutes to just be like, I'm here, I'm living, I'm breathing, give thanks, remove. I got a couple things to do, but yeah, I'm gonna be fine. Today's gonna be a good one. Let's just get it. And I'm just like focusing on breathing, not even like having these thoughts consciously, I'm just realigning, just you know, simple.
SPEAKER_00And how how instrumental you think that process is for you? Essentially maintaining, being under constant pressure because you juggle a whole bunch of different things, right?
SPEAKER_03Yeah, yeah, yeah. And I think that's like a good way to phrase it, like a tool that I use, you know, because it these are all tools that you refine and skills that you build over time, right? And when I was talking earlier about moving the whole product forward, it's like I want to make sure that I am taking care of my arts education career, my poetry career, my music career, recording artist, and also, you know, I'm starting to sell merch. I have a Patreon that I want to improve upon and do more things with. Like, there's so many things that I'm interested in working on at any given day, on any given time, that if you don't take a second, it will just engulf your thoughts and you won't be able to even separate the issues because I've and I've had I'm speaking from experience now too. Whereas like in the past when I wasn't able to do those things, I was just feeling overwhelmed constantly, which is not a good place because that's actually like in like some people have the response of like going super super super duper hard, but my response was like I can't do anything right now. I don't even know where to start, I don't even know where to begin, fam. You know what I'm saying? So it's like that was my kind of thing, and it was the and it was debilitating to a certain degree, and I had to like separate these things a bit more strategically, and I've had a lot, I've had help along the way, different people, you know, learning how to do those things. So it's like there's a lot of different like tools that I've acquired over time to get to help me get to this point.
SPEAKER_00How did you even come to the realization that they're uh there are tools? Did you seek out or did you have conversations? Did you stumble upon them? Because I think a lot of the times people don't, and me being one of them, don't know what's accessible because it's not a general conversation that's you that's usually happening, like hey, I'm having a challenging time at work now.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_00What skills do you use to like that's not a conversation that people usually have, or even talking about the importance of still time, like you said, and understanding what still time is. So, how did you become aware of these tools?
SPEAKER_03You and I talk about this all the time. It's like developing self-awareness, right? And I think I always say, like, if there was one first tool, it's the tool of self-awareness. Now you could be like, okay, how do we get self-awareness? And there's multiple ways in which you can build your self-awareness, become a more thoughtful person, but that actually is the first step in terms of where you're going to be moving forward because you want to get to a situation where you're using your self-awareness to build the other areas of your life up. That's kind of how I would look at it. So gaining self-awareness first in terms of understanding your place in the world. But what self-awareness essentially means for me is like understanding your place in the world, the responsibility that you have as a person to every other person, and also like understanding what skills you have and what weaknesses you have. Because a lot of people just walk around not thinking about the things that they're good at and not thinking about the things that they're bad at. And they keep repeating the same mistakes over and over again because they're not even aware of the things that are like constantly coming up as um repetitive things, themes in their lives.
SPEAKER_00A concept I have about that is essentially you're focusing on the effect and not the root cause.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_00So it's like cutting the grass but not pulling up the weeds.
SPEAKER_03Right, and you're gonna just get more weeds. Just get weeds, not the good ones.
SPEAKER_00You can count on them to come back without a doubt.
SPEAKER_03Right.
Mindfulness Tools For Heavy Days
SPEAKER_00You spoke about L and expressions, you spoke about having an opportunity to fail. Yeah. Could you explain what does what does that mean, having an opportunity to fail? What does that mean?
SPEAKER_03Man, that's such a great question, bro. So for me, like when it comes to taking opportunities, right? And we talk about this all the time, like when you when it comes to taking certain opportunities, you don't have to get it right at all, except for one time. You can get it wrong 99 times and get it right one time, and then you're good. People have this fear of failure that keeps them from improving and evolving, and you cannot, under any circumstances, be afraid to fail because that is how you grow and improve. Obviously, that's a theme that repeats itself time and time again in my music and my poetry in terms of not ever giving up and not ever taking no for answer and taking a fall down without you know doing a get up. You gotta do the get up part. So for me, that's always been super important. I really am thankful for the moments and the times in my life where I had the opportunity and the safe space to kind of make a mistake here or there to improve, to get better, to be able to be to a point now where it's like, okay, yeah, I'm I'm I'm master of the ship now, I can teach others how to do those things that I was learning.
SPEAKER_00Because you've been sailing for right. Could you explain how important experience is? Because I'm going again off of what you said earlier about island expressions.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_00You talk about the opportunity and seizing the opportunity.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_00So could you talk a little bit about how experience, just in a general sense, regardless of if it's island expressions or things that you did overseas, how important is experience?
SPEAKER_03Maybe this is a bit of a hot take, but I feel like experience is the only teacher. Like you could learn something from a book, yeah, you could learn something from some like someone else, but at the end of the day, until you experience it yourself, you'll never fully know how it is. You know what I'm saying? And that and that for me is one of the quintessential elements of the human experience. It is unique. Well, not unique, actually. You could say it's across species where like even other uh animals, dogs, cats, whatever, when they see something, they don't know to be afraid of it the first time. But then when it when it hits you, they run away and now they learn to be afraid of it. You know what I'm saying? You could you could tell them don't go to you, yeah, but they can still go. Like it's like a baby, even. Yeah, you know, or a toddler. Tell a toddler, yo, don't touch that. Do not touch that under any circumstances. Yeah. And they're and then they and then they understand. Then they understand. And where's a common saying is proverb? Who can't hear? Must feel. Right. So and and humans, humans can't hear. Like, we for the most part, we can't hear. We gotta we gotta feel something with self, and then they're gonna be like, oh, okay, I understand now. So I actually had to experience all those things first, and I think we all do. We all we all have because you could talk a big game until you're out there, like in the league. You know what I'm saying? Like, so you don't really know what that is, and that's why that's why I think experience is so so so important.
SPEAKER_00Valid, valid, valid. You speak a lot about gratitude, right?
SPEAKER_03Yes.
SPEAKER_00Could you explain to the people why gratitude is important?
SPEAKER_03Gratitude is important because if you don't take a second to understand what you have, you will start to lose those things because you're not valuing them and you're not cherishing them. Now, when I say like give thanks or be thankful, I'm not saying like to any specific higher power or anything. Like we all have our own belief system or non-belief system, and that's cool. I'm not even touching on that. My idea of gratitude is just like, yo, I am immensely grateful for being alive right now, and that's number one. Number two, I got family, I got friends, I got life. Number three, I got money, I got this, I got that, whatever the case may be. And you do your own value system for what is important to you in life, right? But after a while, people people be like, Oh, uh, I can't find nothing else to be thankful for. What does that even mean? You're doing something wrong then. You should you should be doing better, trying to find more things to be thankful for. And and if you don't have more things to be thankful for, that is a sign that you need to be doing more things. That is a sign that's actually another tool that you could use for your own improvement. How many things do I have to be thankful for? And if it's not more things today than it was yesterday, maybe you should get to work.
SPEAKER_00And the same theme of experience, right? Could you talk about your university experience?
SPEAKER_03Yeah, so I went to um York University in Toronto for psychology. I graduated in 2015. It was a four-year program, but I did summer school twice. So I did it in three because I really wasn't having a good time. I was over it. So I was like, yo, I'm gonna do these double summer courses and we can just be up out of here. Yeah. And we're gonna be good. So I and ended up actually graduating in the fall of 2015. And by then, I had already like had a really strong idea of like who I wanted to become as a person, and I was realizing that I could become a full-time artist and do arts education and that kind of stuff. So I was like, yo, let me just like throw myself completely into this situation and and try and set up some some stuff for myself. The first year or two was very difficult coming out of university with a degree, but not pursuing any more like education. Like normally, people who do a degree in psychology end up doing like a PhD in psychology, so they could lecture or teach or whatever. Yeah, I do not have a PhD in psychology, I just have a degree in psychology. I nah, I'm not getting that shit. I'm not getting that shit. It's mad long, you gotta do mad shit. But shout out to everybody who does, and that's your calling. But at the same time, I I realized for me by the time I was finishing up my first year, I was like, nah, I'm good, I'm good. And I have other passions and other interests.
SPEAKER_00So, yeah, just trending off for that same point, right? I feel like mental fortitude is very important and it's not something that's really talked about. Could you, using that framework, share a little bit of how you demonstrated mental fortitude during your time in university?
SPEAKER_03Like I was saying, I think that one of the key aspects of living in North America, especially being someone from the Caribbean, is like you have to be able to build up that mental fortitude and that like ability to withstand the inconveniences, microaggressions, people not understanding you, different way of living, speaking the same language but saying it differently, all that stuff. My whole ability and process to withstand that is much more robust now than when it was when I was first moving to Toronto in 2012. So I've done a lot of growth and I've done a lot of development as a person. Going back to that idea of moving the whole product forward is like part of that product is also like becoming less flimsy. You know what I'm saying? Less flimsy, just like really just making it that you you you're not even entering my inner matrix, you're not even a problem in my life. You you wash off me like water off a duck's back. You know what I'm saying? It's nothing. Whereas things used to really like wear me down at a certain point, sort of feeling overwhelmed and like you know, thoughts of anxiety and depression and uh loneliness, missing home, all kinds of things. But at the end of the day, through repetition, as you were speaking about earlier, I've been able to really develop that sense of self and self and sense of identity. Being in Toronto has made me fall in love with Saint Kids even more than I did already when I was living here.
SPEAKER_00Absence McDad, go for it.
SPEAKER_03That's what they say, right? That's what they do indeed.
Gratitude And University Mental Fortitude
SPEAKER_00Most definitely, man. And I feel like I just always refer to Saint Kitts as goal. Yeah, you know what I'm saying? Thanks. You know, safe. Yeah, basically on top of it. Can't tag me. You mentioned quite a few things, and like I said earlier, you're very multifaceted. I think you spoke briefly about arts education. So could you give some more context of what is arts education and how did you get involved in arts education?
SPEAKER_03Yeah, 100%. So when I moved to Toronto 2012, I went to university and then leaving university, uh sorry, the year before I left university. So this is 2014 now, because I I left university in 2015. So 2014 I participated or represented Toronto at the Canadian Festival of Spoken World in Victoria, BC, which is in uh Canada, in um like Vancouver area. And um we placed second in the country, and I was like, Oh, okay, we got some talent here, we got some potential here. This was my like when I had started to really like think about arts like as a career more, yeah, right. But as I mentioned to You like I also had bills I had to pay, I had money that I had to make. You know what I'm saying? I couldn't just live off the meager livings that I was dealing with at the time. And so I basically was looking for a way to do art while also making it more of a like a full-time profession and not just doing shows and not that could because that could be like inconsistent depending on the time of year, depending on what's the vibe or who's booking what or whatever gigs are available or whatever the case may be. So arts education was a vehicle for me to practice art on a full-time basis and actually like make a living and establish a career within the art field without having to do something that was like completely like one of the odd jobs that I used to have as a bartender, as a salesperson in Zara. You know what I'm saying? In the Eaton Center. Shout out the Eaton Center. And at the time, so what going back to 2014-15, leaving university, I got into um poetry and slam, but also just like doing open mics and doing shows. And shout out to Dwayne Morgan, who is a huge but a positive influence in my life in Toronto. He is actually a trailer blazer in the poetry space and poetry community, and he was doing a lot of art education. He was doing a lot of like workshops, speaking engagements, young people, old people, everybody. Everybody, everybody, just like really doing work out there and getting into his communities and you know, speaking to people in a way that really mattered and uplifting them and giving them tools to further express themselves through poetry and through art. So I was like, yo, that's that's so cool. And then my friend uh Patrick De Balen was getting more into it, doing workshops and stuff like that. So my friend Josh and I, we just did a bunch of like pro bono stuff, just like working, just like wherever we could to hone our skills and build up our CVs and just grind out workshops and speak with people, go into communities. That was kind of how I got started as an arts educator. And eventually I started working with the Toronto Public Library and I started getting grants and doing like programming for myself, working with uh so many cultural hotspots, North Europe Arts, Arts Reach, everybody. That was kind of how I got my career started as an arts educator.
SPEAKER_00You spoke earlier about shows being inconsistent because people doing buckens and stuff. How did you go from being featured on shows to throwing your own show?
SPEAKER_03It's a beautiful process to throw your own show, but as any promoter or show event coordinator will tell you, it's not for the faint of hat. You know what I'm saying? You have a lot of invested on the line whenever you do your own engagement or entrepreneur experience or project in general, right? Definitely. And a show is no different, it's it's an investment in your career. The return on div on investment can can vary based off of many factors. When I decided to put on my own show, which thankfully I had again the support of being able to do it in sync its first, yeah, right? I did social currency in 2017 and 18 and built off of that to give myself a platform to be able to do shows in in Toronto. If I didn't have the experience of doing social currency twice in sync its prior to, there was no way that I would be able to do anything, even doing shows in general, because that's how you prove to yourself that you know you can really commit the whole way. It's easy to say, yeah, I do this or I get booked here or whatever the case may be. But like, what what are you putting on the plate for yourself? You know what I'm saying? What are you going out and doing that you know you you can say like, okay, this was my stamp on proceedings, this is my impact in my community. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00To that same point, I used to work with a guy, uh Ivan Hanley. Yeah. And he would always say, Bring your house papers and let's see if you're gonna work the same. Yeah. Because if you don't have skin in the game, the stakes are very different. Yeah. So you can afford to be more nonchalant.
SPEAKER_03And human nature, it's hard to be motivated without the right incentives.
SPEAKER_00Almost definitely.
SPEAKER_03You know what I'm saying? If it's just a situation where the outcome is almost predetermined, the desire is low.
SPEAKER_00You mentioned two folk folks earlier who basically have been making waves in the poetry space. How important is it for you to surround yourself with? I don't want to just say like-minded people, but just motivated and people with aspiration.
SPEAKER_03I'm a huge proponent of that. I feel like, what was the quote? You are the five closest people to you in life. I I really believe that holds a lot of truth. Which is why, in addition to successful people, I try to also surround myself with people who show great self-awareness and empathy. Because those are also qualities that I want to reflect in my own life as well. In addition to success in various fields. And the diverse areas in which my friends all have various interests is also a good reflection of the fact that we all have different ways of approaching life, but the foundational principles are all kind of the same. So it's not just about like just liming with other artists, it's about liming with successful, productive, positive-minded individuals in general, regardless of whether they may be an artist or architect or engineer or whatever the case may be, is more important the character and the perspective on life than anything else.
SPEAKER_00Okay, on that same note, right? What's what's the best piece of advice that you've ever gotten that you never used?
SPEAKER_03The best piece of advice that I've ever gotten that I've never used. Yeah. Can it be a good piece of advice if I never used it? I mean the reason why I said that. Yeah, give me some context for that one.
SPEAKER_00You can receive really good advice, but it just might not be applicable to you.
SPEAKER_03Because it's like I see. Oh, yeah, yeah. Okay, uh actually that's that's actually a really good question. I have a good answer. I spoke with a consultant one time when I was trying to map out my career, and the advice he gave me was to stop trying to do everything and focus on one thing and do it to the best of my ability. And I think that in a vacuum, that is not bad advice in a vacuum, but it is not applicable to my life, and so I had to do something else. And for me, it's not about just doing as many things as I can because I don't have any problem saying no to a project that I don't believe in. But what I do have a problem with is passing up on the opportunity to enrich or enhance my life or someone else's life by embarking on a creative project that I deem to be worthy and I deem to be fun and engaging, but also like character building and worth my time and career building potentially as well. So those are more my criteria in terms of what I would be getting involved with.
SPEAKER_00During the transition from completing school into adulthood, right? What is one piece of advice if you could you could give to yourself at that specific point in time when the transition was coming? Like I'm about to take this step to because you said that's what you we started noticing. Hey, I could be a full-time artist. Yeah. Right at that moment, what is one piece of advice you would give to yourself to prepare you for?
Arts Education And Building Your Lane
SPEAKER_03Yeah. I always tell people that it's not good to not have any regrets. It's good to have regrets because it means that you've grown and you've gained perspective and you've looked back and you're like, I did something wrong there. But your regret doesn't have to define you. And one thing that I do regret is not being more proactive early on in my career and more proactive in terms of organization specifically. And I spent a lot of time thinking or being of the opinion that just because I was really good at poetry meant that I had some sort of right or moment that was pre-ordained to me without me having to go out and necessarily like grab the bull by the hand, so to speak. Yeah, and I wish that I had been maybe even spoken to by somebody who could encourage me to be more be even more proactive specifically as an artist because like my parents instilled good values and work ethic and stuff. I wouldn't be here today if not for them, obviously, and did lessons that they've taught me along the way. But what I'm saying is specifically as an artist, what that could have been. How could I have been more proactive in those first let's say year and a half, two years, yeah, when I was just like broke AF and just had I just in grind mode. So for me, I look back on that period of life and I'm thankful for it because I learned a lot about myself and I became a better individual because of that. But it doesn't mean that I have to glorify the struggle. I want to make sure that I don't have to struggle moving forward, right? So it's about respecting that part of my life and the lessons that I learned, but being like, yo, if I had to do that over again, I would do it way more smarter because I'm smarter now. Like, why would I be going back and just grinding, grinding? I would just do things a lot more intentionally and proactively. I was kind of just like waiting for opportunities when I could have been even going harder to just make more lanes and more opportunities, like I learned to do subsequently.
SPEAKER_00You say you have a love and a passion for poetry, for arts, for creating, right? What's your creative process like? Where do you draw inspiration from? So, like, is it a situation where hey, I just had this experience or I saw this thing, I'm gonna write a song? Or is it you have moments of flush data where something's coming to me and you start putting it together, and as you as you're putting it together, then that's when everything formulates.
SPEAKER_03Both of those things. Oh, really? Yeah, at uh at different times for sure. I think for me, it and it's the same reason why my artist name is my name, Patrick Walters, because I'm giving my audience a very authentic experience. Or trying to give my listeners a very authentic experience. I'm telling you about my life, I'm giving you experiences firsthand. I'm not co-opting anyone else's story, I'm sharing the unique parts of my own story and the things that I've learned from other individuals as time has gone on, right? But for me, I would never tell a story of doing something that I personally wasn't doing because there's enough people to tell those stories. Yeah, there's enough men who just did all of that. That's their story. But I got my own and I got a lot of cool shit to tell you, right? And I got some good ways to look at the world that you maybe didn't even consider prior to hearing me do my thing. So that's what I focus, try my best to focus on, and not to glorify any one specific thing, but to just really hone in on what it means to have a human experience. That's why I named my last album Human Nature because I find myself very interested with the experiences that we all go through on a day-to-day basis: the dissonance, the love, the everything. So I find myself very, very fascinated with the human experience, and that's that's kind of why I try to keep it as authentic as possible. And my writing process or my creative process is a reflection of that as well. So sometimes I am like right now I'm in make an album mode, right? I'm working on my third album right now. I'm in saying it's looking to work with some other amazing artists who are here to expand the sound and to build further community with my people. And so I'm writing when I feel inspired, but I'm also making sure that I'm taking time to write, right? Because if I just wait to just write the next moment when I'm inspired to do so, that's the lack of proactivity that I was mentioning prior to. So I have to also now incorporate scheduled, not scheduled, like I'm writing it down, but like be intentional throughout my week, for example, and say, okay, have I been doing enough work in my creative process? And if not, then now I know that I need to focus a little bit more time, let's say, towards the end of the week with creative process. And whether or not I have a moment of inspiration is almost secondary to the fact because I'm making sure that in that time I'm gonna do something, I'm gonna put a little bit of work in.
SPEAKER_00Staying in the same vein of creative process, how did you transition from spoken word to added musical instruments? Like, how did that come about?
SPEAKER_03I've always been very interested in hip-hop and hip-hop culture and how poetry relates back to hip-hop. The earliest uh rappers were poets who just did like instrumentation, and that's kind of like how hip-hop and rapping was was was born. Yeah, right. And so for me, it's just like kind of refining that, like almost bringing it back to its basic elemental process, but in a different way than Raekwan and all the legends, and not even Raquan, probably like KRS one, like going right, right back, way back, way back, you know what I'm saying? To the beginning. So, like, folks like that, like my goal is to bring a different sound with familiar fundamentals, but the sound is different. And you can hear poetry, you can hear rap, you can hear music, you can hear instrumentation, you can hear a reggae vibe or RB vibe or rocking rocking.
SPEAKER_00That's what's raping in my wanted, right?
SPEAKER_03But at the same time, I'm keeping it poetic and I'm keeping it flow state because that's my sound. So it's like reggae within that version, RB within that version, rap within that version. That's kind of what I'm aiming for. And I think I've really refined the process over the time that I've been making music and made that transition. But I still do a cappella poetry as well. You know, I still perform poetry shows, I still record poetry, I still have poetry specifically on my album that has very little music, even still, and and I will always have that. I will always have tracks that are just like straight up, this is a poem, right? But probably the majority of what I'm doing right now is like verses, songs, choruses, hooks, that kind of shit. And that's just where I'm at right now. It's a great place to just be exploring and refining the process.
SPEAKER_00Nah, because like you're saying, it's improvement, right? So you just keep getting better.
SPEAKER_03Exactly. That's the goal.
SPEAKER_00I can give you the names and just give us some context behind uh the inspiration for the name.
SPEAKER_03So we have human nature. Yeah, so human nature is just about my fascination with the human experience I was telling you earlier about just like humans' ability to see a wrong decision and make it time and time again. It's just so fascinating to me. And I find it beautiful to be honest with you. Like, I think our vices are part of who we are as people, and we cannot fully ever separate ourselves from our vices because these are the things that also make us humans, but also we have an immense, immense capacity for compassion and love and being empathetic towards one another and being kind towards one another and being altruistic. We have the ability to do those things, so it's like I didn't name it human nature just to say, yeah, we all sin or we all drink or we all we all have sex or whatever, but it's also just like we all have the capacity to be even greater. That is also human nature, and that's what you really what I wanted to explore on that album is like from top to bottom the good, the bad, the ugly. Like what does it mean to be human?
SPEAKER_00Wow, that's powerful.
SPEAKER_03Double salary, double salary is a double entangre, obviously. The song is about money and sorry, the the EP is about like finances and and stuff like that, but also it's a two-track EP, so it's double songs, right? But it's is so it's two songs, double, double the the salary. Also, double salary is an allusion to also when it came out because it came out at the end of the year in December, and in December in Saink is traditionally the government workers receive a double salary, right? Traditionally, traditionally, traditionally, and so for me that was just a kind of like a cool little play, little play on words there.
SPEAKER_00The offshore account, yeah.
SPEAKER_03My my favorite name for an album uh or a project so far, of course. But the offshore account has been basically like my life in a nutshell up to that point, and that's why like it's really difficult to recreate your first album, or like almost impossible, you could say, because you never be in that point again where you're just making an album because you love making an album and you're creating a piece of art that will live on, and it's the first time you get to experience or introduce yourself to the world on a sonic level. And so the offshore account just kind of represented everything that I was up until that point. I felt like coming to Toronto, having lived in St. Kids for 18 years of my life, basically was like an awakening into a different thinking and a different lifestyle, even and the offshore account, obviously, that's another double entangre with the idea of money offshore account, but also my account offshore, like my offshore retelling of the story, my account of what happened, right? And so that's kind of where that stemmed from. And I feel like everybody who has heard that has been like, oh yeah, like it's it's a really accessible double entangre, which is why it's one of my favorites, because it's obvious that I'm alluding to multiple things at the same time by saying offshore account, and whatever it is that you bring into it is also a part of it as well. So it's really nice for the audience or the listener to be able to bring their own experience into what the offshore account actually means.
SPEAKER_00I'm going to essentially pull a few lines from some music and just have you like talk about what this means to you, essentially, because I think there's a lot of gems in the music, and as you were saying earlier today, every time you listen, uh My Dark Triste Fantasy, you find something new. Yeah. And I feel like it's the same sort of thing, and it's really cool to get your perspective. So King Ellie, yeah, you have been beating this quote dead, man. Like beating the dead hearts. A risk is a chance when you take it, and the lane will only appear when you make it.
SPEAKER_03That's one of your favorite quotes, too.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, without a doubt.
SPEAKER_03Because that's applicable in many aspects of your life. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Without a doubt. A risk is a chance when you take it, is basically just telling people that to not be scared of their dreams. Most of the time, there's that like jumping off point where you have to go from like whatever you were previously doing inside your comfort zone to what you want to be doing in the future, which is likely to be outside of your comfort zone. And so the risk is flopping or failing, but a risk is a chance when you take it. A risk is actually an opportunity because if there's no risk, there's no reward. They are intrinsically linked. You can't have risk without reward, you can't have reward without it's it's rare to find reward without risk. Some would argue that you can't have reward without risk because the risk is actually the thing that creates the reward in the first place.
SPEAKER_00Most definitely.
SPEAKER_03Right. And so for me, a risk is a chance when you take it. And a lane only appears where you make it, is just kind of adding on to that thought of like you actually won't have anything handed to you. Like I was talking to you earlier about my level of proactivity and expecting things to just kind of fall into place for me because I was a talented artist. Talented artist doesn't mean anything. Talented artists is just talented artists. You could be talented artists in your basement, and it's what you're gonna do. Like, what am I gonna do about me being talented? And so that's where I had to develop proactivity over time to get to a point where I could create the lane for myself.
SPEAKER_00Okay, okay. And uh latter portion to that same bad is and faith is saying your destiny alloy every day because words ain't enough, but I could start something great, and in the end, divine timing could never be late. AJ link me today.
SPEAKER_03Yo, it's so interesting to me how so many times in my life I have been so impatiently waiting for something, and then like when I got it, I was just like, okay, this is great, I'm on to the next thing. But you are not in control of when your moment happens. When you get a little lane for success, it's not always entirely up to you, right? Because there's often other players, there's often other competitors in the space, there's often obstacles against you in any facet of life, in any industry. And so for me, fate ain't enough, but it could start something great. Sorry, words ain't enough, but it could start something great. It's like that's putting the key in the ignition. I have a dream that one day I can be a full-time artist and live and thrive and pursue my passion. I could say that out loud, and that ain't enough, but it could start something great. I still need to do the action afterward. I still need the follow-through on what it is that I'm saying I'm gonna do. But the word is the most powerful part because that's the first action, and then you go from there. It's about implementing the things that you say into real life.
SPEAKER_00So essentially that's you're already set. Yeah. The next phase of that would be when you hit the gas. So the key's already in the ignition. Yeah. You put it in drive.
SPEAKER_03Right. And you're gone.
SPEAKER_00Okay, perfect, perfect. I got a few more here for this one, and then again, pull one or two from the outshow account because like I just love that. And uh to ease up on the levels of power that were holding me down, they tried to block me on the inbound, they tried to tell me how I should sound, where I should round my A's and E's and tone down the accent and be an I candy to a further extent.
SPEAKER_03Ah man, you're bringing me back.
SPEAKER_00Could you tell us more about that?
Creative Process And Sound Evolution
SPEAKER_03You're bringing me back. You're bringing me back. I feel like there at different points in my life has been certain pressure to kind of assimilate and not only assimilate, but to like push forward some of the things about myself that I personally am less interested in. Like my good looks. It's like, yeah, I appreciate the love. Sometimes I do show off or feel particularly handsome, and you know, I might be like, yo, feeling handsome today. I mean, you know me. That's not even my ethos on a regular basis. That's not even my personality on a regular basis. It would be strange for me to just be like standing on the gram one day because you know, got luscious hair or whatever the case may be. You know what I'm saying? It would be strange without the character.
SPEAKER_00I really like how you just flex and really so.
SPEAKER_03But you see, easy, easy how it sounds already I ain't even got started yet. It already sounded crazy. Sit back there and say my hair ain't luxurious when you know it is, bitch. Exactly what it's on me, no silk press. On me, no silk press need. No, I'm saying so. For me, it's like, yo, that's not even that's not even my ethos. There's far more important things that I'm interested in. Yeah. Right. And then also the rounding A's and E's is just like the resistance that I initially felt when I first came to Toronto and I had to like code switch a little bit and like practice code switching and whatever. Like I was telling you before, like now I do it without even thinking. Actually, somebody asked me the other day, what do I think in? That really threw me off. I was like, damn, that's crazy. Like I didn't even conceptualize the ablets. Then my answer to them was like, I think in my Kitian accent, but do I? Because I'm just thinking, like I'm just I'm not even cognizant of what it is. But then obviously, based on who I'm speaking with or the platform or where I am or whatever the case may be, those things will also determine how much or how little I choose to code switch. So it was just kind of like talking about that, like just the back and forth that you constantly feel, even internally, to like find that right measure of communication based off of who you're talking to and on what platform you're talking on.
SPEAKER_00That sounds a way to bring it up too, because it's like it's something that you deal with on a daily basis, right? Yeah. When you live abroad. And what I thought about earlier when you were speaking about just having to assimilate is when I went to convent and people from overseas would come to convent. Yeah, they would be having that experience that you're having.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, yeah, exactly. It's like the reverse almost in a certain way. And no matter where you go, when you're in a different community that is not necessarily your own, you're gonna be an outcast to a certain degree. You know what I'm saying? It's inevitable. It's about how well you can adapt and how well you can deal with that. We're talking about some folks who the other day who go overseas for different schooling or whatever opportunities, and they're not able to do that, or they end up not making it or not choosing to stay for whatever reason. But I can totally understand that because you are made to feel like an outsider from the time you get there to the time you leave, you're made to feel like an outsider. You know what I'm saying? You could be cool with that and be like, okay, yeah, I'm an outsider, is okay. For me, it's like I even took that a step further and I'm like, I'm gonna use that as a superpower, I'm gonna use that as my special ability. I am different. Thank God I'm different to the rest of you to the rest of you guys. You know what I'm saying? So it's like, give thanks for that. I appreciate my uniqueness. If I was just like every other Torontonian or every other Canadian, then I would have to find some other way to differentiate myself. But it's very clear the very moment I open my mouth, for the most part, unless I'm deep code switching, but when I start speaking, is it's not Torontonians are immediately aware of the accent, whether or not I'm trying to put it on or not. Just in terms of my ex life experience. Experiences the things that I would talk about or the things that I would know about is a different set of information. Like I know so much more about other countries or whatever the case may be because their their education is mostly focused geared towards Canada itself and learning about Canadian history and stuff like that. So they probably know more about that than I would. So I wouldn't necessarily be able to have a conversation about some shit that happened back in Canada back in the day, and whatever the case. But then I also have a lot of other world history knowledge that they wouldn't necessarily have access to. So it's just about like finding common ground, but also like understanding that no matter what, you're gonna have a different perspective on life.
SPEAKER_00You basically relish in your individuality, right? You have to. How important is that to you for you to get to where you're going?
SPEAKER_03I think I, like I said, I've as time has gone on, I've got better at using it. I've got better at using my individuality and I've gotten more comfortable with what that can mean. Even just going back to like talking about looks and being handsome and stuff, it's not even that, but I've gotten some good advice recently to start sharing more of that kind of thing just because that's also a part of who I am as a person. Like, and I don't have to feel bad about that. It is who I am, it is what it is. And so for me, I think it's just about like being able to share more parts and be more authentic for the same reason that my artist's name is my name. It's just about continuously bringing more aspects of authenticity to the table for people to see, and that's what for me being an artist is all about. It's about sharing little aspects of my life that I feel like can be relevant to someone else.
SPEAKER_00So we can switch to the offshow account real quick. Cool breeze. Yeah. Her name is Dynasty.
SPEAKER_03Yes, Dynasty Williams. Okay, I got it wrong. Amazing recording artist in in Toronto.
SPEAKER_00Her voice is just impeccable, bro.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, yeah, she's amazing.
SPEAKER_00The skill I display these days is a testament to effort and the ode of making one talent into two. You wouldn't believe all the setbacks that I've sat through. But if you must wait, make it great. Yeah. So just tell us about two setbacks you had to sit through.
SPEAKER_03I remember I remember when I was first applying to become poet resident at the Toronto Public Library. My initial application was completely denied because I think there was only a specific amount of spaces and my qualifications had not met the path requirements or whatever. And so, you know, they were they were gracious in their in their decline, but I took it very, very harsh because I first of all I thought I had that. I thought I had that in the bag. So I was already like, yo, it's about to be a good little act, zam, zamzam. So then I was like, damn, that's a that's an L. That's an L. I gotta hold that. But at the same time, it taught me a lot. And the next year I applied again and was successful. And I was successful because I took the year to increase my CV and to to do things and to put myself further out there and show that I was worth being being brought in. And another one actually, in the same vein, I applied for a big grant, like City of Toronto. Sorry, it was actually Ontario Arts. So, like the way that granting in the city is set up, there's micro granting, which is like anything under like a thousand basically, and then a thousand to like ten thousand is where most grants fall, especially if it's granting from within the city. Yeah, and then the city itself has grants that are available from like 10k to like 20k, for example, and that is for like projects that are run for multiple weeks and workshops and stuff like that, and you show and you provide a plan and a and a budget and everything, you go through the whole process, and then there's Ontario grants, which is like Ontario is the province or the state, otherwise, other for Americans where Toronto is in. So Toronto is the city, and then Ontario is the state or province, okay, right? And so those grants on a provincial level and the ones also on a federal level, which is countrywide, could be anywhere from 20, 50 multiple year grants that could be spanning tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars. And so for those grants, you kind of have to be a business or like an NGO, which is a non-governmental organization, or not for profit. I am none of those currently, but I still wanted to apply because I believed in my idea and I knew that I could do it, but I didn't have the proof at the time, right? So when they declined, I said, could you like give me some more feedback on why I was unsuccessful in my application? And basically they were saying, like, yeah, like the the the proposal you gave us is amazing, but we have doubts as to your like capacity to fulfill the grant, basically, right? And that was that was just another moment where I was like, Word, that's a setback, that's a reality that I had to live in for a bit because at the end of the day, I'm not a business, I'm not a not-for-profit organization by myself. I may be in the future, there's ways in which you can do stuff like that in terms of incorporating or whatever the case may be for yourself, but there is a limit to how much you can do just by yourself in terms of that field specifically with granting. I I feel like I'm at that point where I'm like always like pushing up against that and what that can look like. But again, I would never let a setback hold me down for too long. I'm forward, I'm finding another plan, I'm finding another avenue. If you block this one, I'm going down this road. I can reach my destination regardless. So that's that's how I view it.
SPEAKER_00That's the resiliency, man. Yeah, I feel like resilience is extremely important, but I think a lot of the times we don't necessarily look at the positive part of resiliency, right? Because if you don't get challenged, you can't demonstrate resilience, right? Right. Like if you don't go to the gym, you can't build your muscles. It's the same concept.
SPEAKER_03So And the risk of that is pain and discomfort and effort that you have to put in and discipline to go to the gym in the first place. But then the reward is where you wanted in the first place. And it's like for you, are you going to be willing to do that? Are you going to be willing to make the sacrifice in order to get the reward down the line? And I think we should be always looking for more opportunities to do that.
SPEAKER_00One challenging thing to that, just think just playing devil's advocate for a little bit, right? So I would say you have proof of concept now for a lot of the things that you thought about, right?
SPEAKER_03Yeah, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_00For somebody that doesn't have proof of concept, I talk about this thing called learned helplessness where you've been so stuck in such a rut for so long that you think you can't change the situation and everything's out of your control. What information would you provide to that person with that sort of thinking to essentially emancipate themselves from that situation?
SPEAKER_03Small wins.
SPEAKER_00Underrated. Small wins, very underrated. Small wins.
SPEAKER_03Small wins is so underrated, but you said it absolutely correct. Like giving yourself an opportunity to win a little bit so you can win big down the line, giving yourself attainable and achievable goals that will give you motivation as you hit them to set bigger and better goals for the future. That is what people tend to not do. They want to reach the finish line before they start the race. And they're not taking right. That's true. Um, but that's why I'm here not to slow you down, but to give you goals in between. To give you the goals in between. Because you're gonna get there, I have no doubt. But it's the goals in between that really like make the difference. And I think you know, that 10-meter Mac, that 20-meter Mac, that 50-meter Mac, those are the ones that you want to hit before you even reach 100 meters. Because you gotta hit those before you reach there, right? One thing my father told me from a very early age. I remember wanting to go back to school late for lunch because I was watching cricket and I would say, Yo, Pops, give me five, yeah, school. Me missing nothing in school, you know, nothing going on, the bell just rings. We go in, we go up the road a little bit, is it's okay. And he used to say, watch here, them deer done, make their millions. Yeah, make none yet. Go school. And he was right, he was right. Like, I did I didn't want to take the steps in between. I was just like, yo, pick it up, that's what I can be. And it's like, nah, like in addition to two sports, you also have to have a good foundation. You have to as much as possible educate yourself, even if it's not in an academic setting, you know, educate yourself in general, right? There's so many tools and different ways of alternative learning these days that if school is not your jam, then find what is and give yourself a lot of opportunities to succeed in life because I never thought when I was 12 years old that I was gonna be a professional artist. I didn't even know. I I thought initially that I was gonna do art, but also have a job as a psychologist, and those things would be a thing, but then I stopped. I didn't enjoy like psychology in university, and I was like, this is not actually what I want to do. What I want to do is become a full-time artist and pursue that, and so that's why I had to shift. But if I didn't have steps in place in between there, I would have been faltering. And I was until I made those changes.
Lyrics On Identity And Resilience
SPEAKER_00Okay, okay. So I just got through like just random questions, hobbies. You spoke about cricket. How'd you get into cricket?
SPEAKER_03My dad is a huge cricket fan, and uh he enrolled me in the Keith Atherton Cricket Center when I was eight years old. Shout out to Keith Atterton, uh former West Indies player and my former coach. I mean, I fell in love. I was always very athletic as a kid. I used to run and like I said, play cricket and stuff, and so that was just like a natural outlet of expression. Now I don't play cricket in Toronto. I used to when I first came to Toronto, but the setup was not ideal, let's just say that. But now I have so many other hobbies. I play golf as an athletic thing, but I also go to the gym regularly, work out regularly. I also am very interested in cooking, I'm very interested in playing chess. I have many different interests that are outside of just being an artist. If you're into cars like that, I'm not I'm not a super big car person in general, but one car that I think would be cool, apart from like a sports car, of course, because I feel like that's like an easy answer. The G class Mercedes, the SUV one, the G Wagon, yeah. Oh my god, that joint right there, that's a tough one. Yeah, I ain't gonna eat him hold you. It's a tough one.
SPEAKER_00I see two of them on the island. Oh, for real? A black one and a gray one. Yeah, they're different.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, but the toughest part flex that I ever seen was I used to go to school with this young lady in university, and her family was very affluent. And one time they picked her up in four BMW M6s, all black, windows tinted. Wait, in four? She went in the middle one. There was one in front, the second one, her, and the last one.
SPEAKER_00She got X6 Convoys, what you say?
SPEAKER_03M6 Convo, yeah. Yeah, X6 Convo. That's why. That's crazy. Yeah, it was incredible. It was incredible. It was one of the most incredible care flexes that I've ever seen. And that's what made me realize that like you can have any care, but at the same time, like there can always be some other care that you just be like, damn. I ain't got a care. That's why I feel like right now I'm at a point in my life where I'm spending more money on experiential things more than like material things because making memories is a very fun pastime of mine. That's one of my other hobbies, making memories.
SPEAKER_00I had a quote recently that said something to the effect uh if you understood, we were essentially just here to collect memories. You will swing for defenses.
SPEAKER_03Bro, that's such a good one. That's a good one. I like that one. A teeth in that one. A teeth in that one, you're going again with that one for my next track.
SPEAKER_00I've been stealing your shit all the time. Good, good.
SPEAKER_03It's it's it's free, free use, uh, as they would say. But yeah, I love that because it's so true, you know. Like, you never know. You never know. You never know when it's time. And so I ain't gonna waste time by getting too caught up in the day-to-day judgery of things. I try my best to stay very 30,000 feet. That's why, as I'm sure you realize, like, I try my best not to let much things get to me. I have a pretty cool homeostasis in terms of just my general demeanour because I'm A, I'm operating from a place of thankfulness, and B, I realize that life is too short to get worried about the trivial things that we are concerned ourselves with on a day-to-day basis. So I really try my best to just stay focused on the big picture and apply the everyday goals in between.
SPEAKER_00If you could live anywhere else in the world, where would it be?
SPEAKER_03As in not saying kids are not Toronto.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I feel like saying kids is like that's a cheat code.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, yeah, that's like obvious, right? If I could live anywhere else, I would like to live multiple places for three to six months periods. I would like to live in Korea for three months. Korea? Yeah, Korea's cool, bro. Okay, I don't know. Yeah, they're on a wave over there, bro. They're on a wave, they got swag, they got mad swag, and then they're bro, yeah, bro. Plus, like Korean culture in general is interesting to me. Japan for three months would be cool. Japan is clean, Japan is like pristine. Just the people, the culture, the food, Paris for three months would be dope. Food, French food, views, culture, history, Amsterdam. Probably wouldn't want to stay too long in Amsterdam and just get lost in a sauce. Maybe maybe like a two weeks or three weeks to be good. I don't even want to live in Toronto for as long as I do. Why would I want to live in any other place for as long as I am? I wish I could spend six months in Toronto, maybe six to eight months. Right now I'm spending like ten months, which is too many. And like obviously, like we said, saying it's his goal, so you always want to come home. But like, there's also so many other places that I'd like to see and visit and experience. Like I told you, experiences are one of my favorite hobbies. So, top two places you'd like to visit, like all expenses paid, like top two places, South Africa or like a place in the southern part of Africa, sub-Saharan, and then one more. Let's just say Brussels. Brussels. Yeah, just because like they have I've never been to that part of the world, they have their own way, unique way of doing things. And I also meant, I mean, I just mentioned Japan and Korea, so I didn't want to just go there again. Although those are places that I would like to visit as well. In terms of top two, probably Japan would be in that. I actually had tickets to Japan before Corona. That is crazy. Yeah, and they cancel obviously they got cancelled.
SPEAKER_00I mean, obviously.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, obviously. Everything got cancelled, everything got cancelled. You know what I'm saying? So they were funding me and I just use them to fly home.
SPEAKER_00Yo, that's crazy.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, yeah, but I still have it on the list of places I'd love to travel to.
SPEAKER_00Okay, perfect, perfect. So, last thing before we go out of here, right? Anything of inspiration you'd like to recommend, whether it's a book, it's a movie, it's see something that was powerful to you.
SPEAKER_03MPR Podcast Better Daily. Good podcast. You know, self-help in terms of whether it be podcasts or videos, Malcolm Gladwell does a lot of really good amazing space and that work.
SPEAKER_00You ever read Outliers before?
SPEAKER_03Yes, yes, great book. That's actually a book I could recommend as well. I am personally not reading a bunch of self-help right now because I'm I'm trying to like develop of my uh my life in general, yeah. But I would start there and go from there. Also, V Sauce, which is like more like scientific information, I really like, but they also go like from the personal aspect of things that's a YouTube channel. Neil deGrasse Tyson's podcast is a great podcast, not just for science, but for life in general. Okay, yeah. For me personally, like the idea of self-help or improvement or whatever the case may be is a personal journey for everybody. You may be missing certain aspects of your life that can't be helped by Malcolm Gladwell. Like you might be, you might you might you might got some issues that you know one specific self-help, self-help individual can't necessarily speak to. And so the idea of self-awareness and self-actualization is actually equally about finding those things that are flaws for you and improving upon them. Whether it be increasing empathy or increasing thankfulness and gratitude, or increasing your capacity to output work, or increase your capacity to imagine, whatever the case may be, right? These are all aspects. But if you don't have self-awareness, you're not even gonna know where to begin. And so that's why I always encourage people to develop a sense of self and understand where your place is in the community that you exist in, what you mean to others, and what you can bring to the table whenever you meet someone new, whether it be a perspective or something that you've experienced that you feel like would be of value to them. That is how you truly become a more self-aware and self-actualized individual.
SPEAKER_00Anything else you'd like to say to the people?
SPEAKER_03Thank you for having me. This has been a wonderful experience. It's been it's always great to talk to you, but like in a podcast setting and really just like document the gems is a great feeling. And so thank you for having me on. It's been a wonderful conversation, I thoroughly enjoyed. And I look forward to continuing our mindful collaboration of everything that we embark upon.
SPEAKER_00Man, the pleasure is definitely mine. Like I tell you, anytime I'm doing anything, to have you involved in the early stages is always an impeccable idea, man.
SPEAKER_03You know what I'm saying?
SPEAKER_00And you bring a lot of great perspective because I have access to you all the time. Yeah, like I know the type of perspective and the springboard that you have for me and many other people as well. So I think it was super important to get you on the platform to create this space so the conversations that we do have, other people can also benefit from us helping each other because that's the idea. Like exactly each one, teach one, and we just continue building and building and building. Precisely. So we're now at the end of the episode, man. Thanks for tuning in for the Renaissance Reflections Conversations with Judas. Looking forward to seeing you on the next one. Until next time, continue elevating. We're out of here.
SPEAKER_04Peace. Millionaires, huge estates, tax free savings, IRAs on paper, a simple wage. But they got business and business pays. And global wage sits at a dollar. You avoid jail it to crummy's white collar, you avoid jail it's a crumb is white collar. Pity that I can't.