Brandon Corlew - The Self-Taught Artist from Nashville

Creativity doesn’t always come from classrooms — sometimes it grows from curiosity, passion, and persistence.

In this episode of Flow with Floyd, Floyd sits down with Nashville native Brandon “Sunni” Corlew, a talented artist and dancer whose journey shows how powerful self-belief and dedication can be.

From an early age, Brandon displayed a natural gift for drawing. While many students were just learning basic shapes in kindergarten, he was already creating full figures and detailed designs. Raised by a single mother and without consistent access to formal art or dance training, Brandon embraced a different path — becoming self-taught and learning through exploration.

Through determination and creativity, he developed his own artistic voice and style.

In this conversation, we discuss:

🎨 Discovering creativity at a young age
💡 Growing as a self-taught artist
🕺 The connection between art, dance, and personal identity
🔥 Turning passion into purpose

This episode reminds us that sometimes the greatest teacher is the willingness to keep creating and trusting your gifts.

If you’ve ever wondered whether your talent is enough to make an impact, this conversation will inspire you to keep going.

📲 Connect with Brandon “Sunni” Corlew:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/prisma.stains?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet&igsh=ZDNlZDc0MzIxNw==

Transcript

Floyd (00:01)
Greetings kings and queens. Welcome back to another thought-provoking episode of Flow with Floyd, where we empower and encourage you to recognize and walk within your own greatness. If this is your first time, welcome to the Flow. Here we have real conversational relationships, personal growth, and living life with intent. Our vibe is simple. We keep it real. We keep it inspiring. And most of all, we keep it flowing. To the Flow with Floyd family.

Thank you for your continued support and encouragement these past few years. Let's keep growing together.

For today's episode, I want to start off with a question. What does it look like when raw talent meets relentless belief? I want you to imagine being a kid in kindergarten while other kids are drawing stick figures you're sketching full-bodied detailed designs in entire worlds just from your imagination. No form of training, no expensive art classes, just vision, curiosity.

and the determination to create.

Well, today's guests turned that early spark into a movement. Born and raised right here in Nashville, Tennessee, Brandon Corlew grew up learning how to create without limits. Raised by a single mother without consistent access to formal art classes, schools, he taught himself. Studied in inspiration wherever he could find it.

from television and video games to the cultural influence of networks like MTV and BET. He absorbed creativity from every corner of his environment. What started as an interest in tattoo art involved into something bigger. But this conversation isn't just about art.

It's about what happens when you refuse to let your circumstances define your creativity. It's about self-taught discipline, cultural expression, and building a name for yourself in a city that's full of talent. Now if you wonder what it takes to turn imagination into identity, then this episode is for you. So grab your favorite drink, sit back, relax, chill.

and let's follow the flow.

Floyd (03:04)
Hey, Brandon, welcome to Flow with Floyd. Man, I'm really glad to, I'm glad you're here. I'm glad you was able to make it. And I'm looking forward to having a great conversation.

Brandon (Sunni) (03:08)
Thank you.

Same, same, glad to be here.

Floyd (03:17)
Before we get into the extra question, I want to give our listeners a little context of how we got to where we are. For those who don't know, I drive Lyft. You know, if you don't know what Lyft is, the ride share app. And I picked up Brandon one day and dropped him off, very small talk, no real conversations. It was intended, I guess that's the way the flow was going.

but then dropped them off. Never thought I'd see them again. Two days later, I get a request from the same young man, but it's at a different address. But we was familiar with each other from that one encounter. So this time the conversation was a little more open. We was able to talk about what interests us, what inspires us, and how do we navigate what we're looking for to do in life in our current circumstances.

So as I dropped him off the second time, I went home and I started just thinking, I'm thinking about what am I going to do for the next podcast episode? And I'm just thinking and I'm playing around and doing all this other stuff. Then it hit me. I was told to brain brand and own. At first I didn't pay attention but then I got a louder tone that said brain brand and own. And I sent him a text message, inviting him to the show and he accepted.

But what's so unique about the situation is that Nashville is a big city. The chances of you picking up the same person is very rare, especially within a two-day period. it's something special. And as I look back and I think about all these things, I realize some things from... ⁓ Brandon is a young man. He's in what, 29?

Brandon (Sunni) (05:05)
29

Floyd (05:06)
29, what generation are you?

Brandon (Sunni) (05:11)
believe that that would be... I like to say I'm a millennial. I grew up with the internet, without the internet. Some would say I'm Gen Z. I like to say I'm right there in that millennial age. I was born in 96 and even though I only had about four years in those 90s period, I still had that early 2000s where the internet and just all the things that make modern...

things what they are. didn't have those things. you know, working at a school with high schoolers, I definitely can see the difference, but I can also see, you know, where I can relate to them because I'm still young, but you know, I'm old enough to be some of their uncles. So.

Floyd (05:54)
Well, I mean,

you know, with you being 30 and I'm 56, there's obviously I'm from Gen X, you know, the greatest generation that ever walked the face of this earth.

because we were the four parents of the internet. I remember we had to type in programs in order to get the computer to work the way we wanted. So we are the forefathers of the internet. But what's interesting and I want people to take from this little segment that we're talking about is that there's a 26 year age difference between us.

Brandon (Sunni) (06:07)
yeah.

Mm-hmm.

Floyd (06:29)
And most of the time is a clash between generations because the younger generation feels the older generation don't know anything and vice versa. But here it is, you have two men from two different generations, two different paths in life. He inspired me. He made me want to get up and do a lot of things that I've been thinking about doing. So my point is that you can learn from someone younger. Don't just dismiss them because of their age, because you never know what they experience.

Brandon (Sunni) (07:01)
Hell yeah, I think with me being who I am, I relate so much to people older than me and younger than me, but people will say I have an old soul. know, with the music I listen to, some of the things that I do, how I like to just lounge around and just kind of be alone. That might not be a quality of somebody older, but I can definitely relate to a lot of older people as far as just some of the emotional and just...

how they think. I grew up around a lot of older people, know, with my grannies, aunties. I did have a lot of uncles, but I had a lot of aunties, lot of, you know, my, my grannies was around my mom. So my, my granny was somebody that really kind of put me onto that old spirit and that old head and they said they would say with all the music, all the Bobby Baloo blends and the Tina Turner's and just, just all the old things and the, just, just the things that.

Floyd (07:47)
Mm-hmm.

Brandon (Sunni) (07:57)
I consider golden now, things that kind of shaped me to be who I am. I always say I love to be a student. And when I come across somebody that's older or more mature, I like to kind of sit and listen. So I was appreciative of our conversation. And going back to just us meeting, was just, when I requested the lift again on that Sunday, like you said, again, two different locations in Nashville.

You know, I live in South Nashville and I was coming from somewhere totally in the opposite direction of that. So it was a sign and I'm glad that you invited me and I'm excited to see like where this relationship goes beyond this podcast episode.

Floyd (08:39)
yeah, it's definitely gonna do what we're do, but like I told you earlier before we came on, we're gonna let God take control and we're gonna flow with it. Alright, so we're gonna do that. Hey, gotta follow the flow.

Brandon (Sunni) (08:45)
Absolutely, let it flow.

Absolutely.

Floyd (08:52)
⁓ For the first segment, I want to give our listeners an opportunity to know you beyond the artist. So for people who are just being introduced to you, what you want people to know about who Brandon is and what he stands for.

Brandon (Sunni) (09:11)
All right,

so Brandon stands for a lot of things. I go by Sunni as well. Some people know me as Sunni. If you met me in a creative space or somewhere where I was dancing, you probably met me as Sunni. But people that knew me as Brandon, that know me as Brandon, ⁓ they know me as somebody that's silly. I'm a big brother. I'm a son. I'm a grandson. I'm just...

I've always just been who I am. You know, from the time I was younger, I was always the same guy. I love sports, but I also love to sit in and watch videos about how to make things. I love to sit around and play video games, and I also love to be outside. Brandon is somebody that's inspired and, you know, he's finding himself again. And he didn't lose himself, but, you know, Brandon has many forms. And I think I'm getting toward one of those forms that I've been working toward for a long time.

I'm a teacher by day, creative by afternoon and night. ⁓ I love to bridge the gap between cultures, age. I stand very strong in my blackness and my manhood and my queerness and who I am. And those things are like who shaped me and who I am today. So if I want people to know anything about me and who I am, just know that I am.

somebody who doesn't take myself too serious, but I do like to see things in a way that are pleasing to me. You know, I like what I like. I want what I want. You can find me watching old nostalgic videos. You can also find me reading a book, listening to some true crime. Yeah, that's my thing. I'm just a simple guy. That's what I always say. I'm just a simple guy doing the things that I love.

Floyd (11:03)
I mean for a simple guy, I I was looking over your bio and I was doing my little trolling of your own social media and I found this article where you started a dance group at League of Academy.

Brandon (Sunni) (11:20)
Yes

Floyd (11:20)
And I was like,

got a dance group and then y'all won some type of award. I I apologize for not able to recall it right now. take us through that experience. First of all, what was the idea behind it? What was your goal, your intentions and how did you get people to buy into you what you were selling?

Brandon (Sunni) (11:44)
I want to first say shout out to my Brick Church Diamonds. That was the very first dance team I ever had at a school I worked at before going to the school that I'm at now. Those were my first initial babies, my Brick Church Diamonds. Shout out to y'all. They're like ninth and 10th graders, some eighth graders, so they may not even hear this podcast episode, but if they do, shout out to all of y'all, my Diamonds. But to present day with the high school that I'm at.

That was in middle school, the Diamonds. Now I'm at a high school. And it's crazy you bring that up because the day you picked me up, I was actually going out to celebrate our Black History Month production that we put on. And I was just going out just to basically just celebrate all the hard work that I had put in, they had put in, they did a hell of a job. ⁓ So I love that you brought that up. I didn't expect to even talk about that. ⁓ But...

The principal at the time, she brought it up because she knew that I had a dance team at the previous school that I was at. ⁓ And I had mentioned it when I first got there, because I was new to the school. It was a totally different environment. But I knew that I didn't want to let go of some of the things that I had started at the old school. And so it may have been like December-ish, maybe November of that school year where she came to me and was like, hey, Coraloo, would you like to...

How would you feel about having a dance team? Shout out to Ms. Genevieve. Shout out to Ms. Genevieve, because she's the person that put the spark there. ⁓ And I told her, of course, I would love to do it, but at the school that I'm at, was totally different people, culturally. I went to a school I thought that was mostly Black students. So it was easier to kind of mold and pull and kind of like...

be like more natural in some of the things I wanted to see. But at this school, ⁓ it's mostly like Hispanic and Latino people, which I love. And I was looking forward to that. ⁓ And I wanted to bring the dance team just because one, there wasn't one there. ⁓ And then two, I knew that some of the students, some of the black students there needed something that they wanted to kind of commit to. Because I would hear around that we don't have any any dance teams. We really have like a way to like really move outside of cheer.

And so with that in mind, I basically was like, let's do it. And when they told me it was a go, I set up my laptop, made a little spreadsheet with some names to come in. ⁓ That first lunch, maybe one or two people came to me and one signed up. And I was kind of like, all right, I don't know how this is gonna work. These kids are not ready to jam. I don't know what I'm gonna do. And then that next lunch, everybody started to pour in.

And from there, we did a Black History Month performance, maybe about a month and a half, two months of just us practicing in my classroom, just making it work with what I had. And here we are, a year later, and we're still making it move. Definitely so. They are one of the things that I'm most proud of being at that school, because they put in a lot of hard work. They listened to me.

Floyd (14:47)
Okay.

Brandon (Sunni) (15:01)
complain and yell and praise them and scream and holler and flip all over the place. But it's awesome. I really love that, being at that school.

Floyd (15:11)
⁓ man, that's awesome. Anytime you can get the youth excited about something, that's a powerful message because they're going to realize that and they're going to understand that years later, they're going to look back on the situation with you and say, he taught me this dance move. Remember we used to do this in Mr. Corlew's class. There's so much going on. And I do applaud you for A, being a teacher.

and be for then taking that step out to teach people to dance because dance is an expression. It's just like your artwork is an expression. And from what I've seen of your art collection, which is wonderful, and I did tell you that in the car, I get that you expressing from your soul. ⁓

Brandon (Sunni) (15:52)
Thank you.

Yes.

Floyd (15:59)
We hear a lot of time about R &B's, rap artists, singers, artists who say they're so loud or who write songs to sell.

But there's no more memory. Memory was talking about the difference between the music today and nowadays. mean, today and back in my day. Okay. So we're talking about the soul aspect because they was doing music. Yeah, they wanted to sell records. I mean, who doesn't? But it was more or less, it's a soulful sound that was coming off. And a lot of days, a lot of people would sell out in order to make that dollar. Now you as a starting ⁓ creator, I'm just going to call you a creator.

Brandon (Sunni) (16:17)
Yeah. Yeah, yeah.

Floyd (16:40)
Okay? How do you balance to doing what sales or doing what your soul tells you?

Brandon (Sunni) (16:48)
You know, for a long time, ⁓ I actually really struggled with that. ⁓ I've been an artist pretty much my whole life. ⁓ And I've always just drawn for myself. You know, just had sketchbooks that I would, you know, just kind of draw in, know, painting here and there. And it really wasn't until high school that, like, the idea of selling art really came to me. ⁓ A family would...

be like, ⁓ Brandon, can you draw this for me? I'll pay you. And I wasn't used to selling anything. So that was the beginning of, ⁓ OK, I need to be good in order to sell something. And that might sound like, yeah, that's the way. That's the plan. Do it. If you're good at it, make the money. But it comes with that expectation that you put on yourself. Me being young in high school and getting those offers from some family,

Floyd (17:41)
All right.

Brandon (Sunni) (17:45)
And although it was family, it was still like that pressure. It's like, I'm an artist, but I've never really drawn for anybody else. And that being like for them to buy, but also for them to, you know, just look at and receive. I would always draw things because I liked it. And so as I got older and got into college and people really did like to buy art, ⁓ I found myself drawing things that...

I guess you could say I was drawing things in a way that was more grand with the intention to sell it. And not even more grand, like big canvases and like long, just, you know, amazing pieces, but just things that were trendy or things, celebrities for one, that was my main thing. I love to draw people and I knew drawing celebrities, you you could make a little money off of that. But then when things don't sell, you start to think to yourself, ⁓ shit, like,

Floyd (18:21)
Okay.

Brandon (Sunni) (18:41)
Am I as good as I think I am? And for a long time, ⁓ I sort of battled with that. And not so much to where I was trying to push things out to sell, but it was more so like, is this just a hobby of mine? Is this something that I want to make a career out of? I knew that I wanted to go to school for art, but when it came to selling things and making money off of it, I didn't know if I wanted that to.

to value me. That was what I looked at is if I can't sell this, then you know, am I, am I that good? But you know, when you become an adult and you start to really look at yourself from an outside view and just think about like what all you've done, I'd kind of ditch that idea ⁓ for a couple years and then this was just drawn for myself. And then I moved out back to Atlanta where I went to school and

Art sort of became something I kind of needed to survive on. When the job wasn't paying everything, I was literally just trying to sell, trying to sell as much as I could. And when that wasn't happening, the doubt starts to come in and then it kind of slows you down from the craft and you start to separate yourself from it, or at least I did. And it took me a while to get away from that too. That was around like 2019. I would say like 2018, 2019. That was sort of that era of.

It's not working. ⁓ COVID hit. There was nothing to do. I was gaming. But then I started to pick up the pencil again and draw. I didn't really care if people wanted to buy the art anymore. You know, like the world was a bit more different. And even before COVID came, I sort of was already kind of just like, honestly, just like, I don't even care. You know, I'm doing this for me. And now present day,

It's very much, it's all for me. I don't really draw for other people. If they like what I put out and like what I produce and wanna buy it, I love that, from you and for me. Here, take this. I receive a little something for it. ⁓ But even now, sometimes the idea of selling art feels a little surface sometimes. ⁓ Some people just wanna buy the piece just to say, I collect art, I'm gonna just buy this, but it's like, do you like this piece?

you know, for you to want to sell it. And I will hope that people that do buy art keep that in mind, but to answer the question more directly, I had to really put on for myself and not for other people. You know, I draw this because I like to see it. You know, it's like my favorite colors, which is orange. You I like that because it looks beautiful. It makes me feel beautiful. It makes me feel the way when I look at my art, I feel that way. And if people don't see that or can't see it,

I'll put my hands up because it's like, you know, it wasn't necessarily for anybody else, but I'm drawing so that people can see it and if they like it, that's, I love it. So, yeah.

Floyd (21:45)
Okay, yeah.

That's pretty much where it's at. I mean, you do what you love to do and then somehow everything's falling into place. When I started this podcast, educating and inspiring people is something I've always done. And as I did the podcast and I'm looking at the potential that you can make from being a podcaster and all this other stuff, if you try to reach those metrics,

it's gonna take away, it's gonna devalue what you're actually doing. So I realized that, you know, yes, I want the stats, yes, I want everything that comes along with it, but at the same time, if people can be inspired by a word that I talk about or a story that I tell, or even a guest ⁓ host, I've done what I'm supposed to do and what I like to do and everything else will follow itself into place. know, we can't sell our souls or sell our souls out just to make a dollar because...

at the end of the day, years from now, we don't know someone generations from now. Someone might pick up this episode. We both didn't go and someone might pick up this episode and just like get inspired from that. And that in itself is the reason why I do what I do. And a lot of ways when you put things on canvas, when you start talking about podcasting, you're motivating people, what you're doing, you're almost at the point of immorality.

Brandon (Sunni) (22:55)
Right.

Floyd (23:09)
⁓ Is that the right word? Yeah. You're immortal because it's always going to be there. that, that, that, yeah. And that, yeah, you have to leave your mark on this world. We all require a legacy, you know, but we all have to start somewhere, you know? ⁓ For instance, you started a single mother and I know she did the best she can.

Brandon (Sunni) (23:18)
always going to be there. Leave your mark.

Floyd (23:34)
But I grew up with a single mother as well. She wanted the best for us, but there was some things that she couldn't do for us that we wanted to have done. And I'm pretty sure it's the same situation with you. But what I want to ask you is that you didn't have any form of training for art or even dancing.

Brandon (Sunni) (23:34)
Mm-hmm.

Floyd (23:54)
Now, when you look back on your childhood and your growing up and experiences you had, how did those circumstances shape not only your creativity, but your resilience to keep moving forward?

Brandon (Sunni) (24:05)
Mmm.

Well, my mom was a beautiful person inside and out. My mom is no longer here with us. And a lot of the things that she taught me or said to me really stick with me. And when I think about when I was younger and just all the things that I could do and then I think about the things that I wasn't able to do, ⁓ it really did shape me because I had to sort of rely on myself.

You know, we didn't always have cable. ⁓ but when I got a chance to see it, you know, and look at, at the MTV's and the Disney channels and the BET's and all that, it always left an impression on me, you know, good or bad, you know, I was too young to be watching MTV at times, but you know, I did it anyway. You know, we, we always did things like, I, like I say now, like I do things because I like it. And when it came to dancing, especially, ⁓

I've always just kind of just had like a natural little groove to me. And I didn't really know what a formal class was until about like maybe like middle school-ish when I heard about it. And I remember bringing it up to my mom that I wanted to do that or at least wanted to go to a studio, not really knowing what the idea or the concept of a studio was. I just heard it in school one day. I was like, I want to go to a studio.

I remember her saying, you know, I don't have money for a studio. ⁓

And I didn't... I was just like, like, okay, like, what do you mean you don't have money for a studio? Again, not knowing what studio fully means. ⁓ And I had to really learn to appreciate the things that I had in front of me. You know, before YouTube and, you know, social media was really around, you know, watching music videos and catching those videos in the barbershop, getting my haircut and seeing those things, like...

I try my best to try to mimic those. Usher was one of my favorite singers and artists and dancers growing up. He was just smooth. He always had those tuxedos on and the tie kind of undone. And I knew that I wanted to do something like that. But ⁓ I'm still young, not really knowing that people like that are making a lot of money and traveling and doing these things like in California and New York.

I want to dance. And when I realized I wouldn't be able to take some of those more formal trainings, I really did have to, like I said, just look into myself and be inspired by what was around me. And luckily I was able to turn those small little pieces of exposure that I would get in and internalize it and kind of spread it out. ⁓ But I'm very appreciative of what my mom was able to do.

and what she was able to provide for me, ⁓ even if it wasn't exactly what I wanted it to be. Some of the experiences that I got to be a part of and do really did kind of like help push those goals and like those boundaries for myself. ⁓ You know, even now, like I don't always take class, but that's just because I didn't grow up taking class all the time and I can go and do it now I'm an adult, but.

Floyd (27:21)
Okay.

Brandon (Sunni) (27:32)
I've been so just relying on my own creativity and just what I like to put out. I've kind of been so self-sufficient for years. Sometimes reluctancy to even look into taking a class or a drawing course. like, I've been doing it for, you know, I'm on for so long. What's the point of getting some help? But that's a part of just the growth that I'm experiencing now. It's like you can't push yourself further. You can't keep it going. So.

⁓ I'm appreciative of just my independence because of what I wasn't able to get ⁓ But I do still seek You know, it's a little bit of extras here and there but shout out to my mom for making me, you know the strong, know young black man I am cuz Couldn't take the classes but best believe I was looking it up You know that following week on YouTube to see if I could find it and learn the steps for free if I could so Yeah, that's That's how it is

Floyd (28:27)
Yeah, mean, there's a lot to be said about

creativity. mean, you think about my generation growing up in the 70s. And if you want to learn how to dance, you learn how to dance from your sisters, your older sisters and brothers, your cousins, as well as aunts and uncles. And if your grandmother's sad sitting up, she'll go here and dance for you as well. But our primary outlet was the Soul Train.

Brandon (Sunni) (28:44)
Mm-hmm.

Okay.

yeah, I love

Soul Train.

Floyd (28:54)
And that was it.

If you want to learn how to dance, had to watch Soul Train, which came on one Sunday. But other than that, you had to be out there. I look at lot of athletes today, young athletes, even from age five on up, they have football camps that they can go to that's accessible. When I was growing up playing football...

We didn't have camps and if they did have camps, we couldn't afford them. So what we did as a neighborhood, got up, we started playing Sandlot football. We started playing baseball in the streets. We just sitting everything that we can do is be creative in order to, to feel that desire that we have within us, you know, and we look at and we look back and on sometime we're like whatever, just being a childhood, you know, that's the thing. But one thing about it was building discipline that we need, you know, to take along this journey because discipline, discipline will take you far more than what your talent is.

Brandon (Sunni) (29:26)
Mm-hmm.

Yes

Floyd (29:40)
can take you. And people need to understand that there is somebody out there that's more eloquently spoken than I am, that has a better mind, that's just better. And I can accept that. But I have to do what I need to do, and I need to have that discipline to always want to get better. Maybe you talk about you could take classes. Man, everything that I want to do, everything I try to do nowadays,

I'm going look it up, I'm going read about it, I'm going to learn as much as I can because I've realized that I don't know everything and when I realize I don't know everything it makes me want to be a student for life and that's what I want to keep learning and then I take what I've learned and I apply it to whatever it is that I'm doing. You know, so people need to start taking that but everything starts with discipline. You can want the rewards all you want. You can want the money, you can want the fame, you can want whatever it is but if you don't have that discipline you're not going to get there.

Brandon (Sunni) (30:07)
Mm-hmm.

Yes.

Floyd (30:33)
no matter how creative you may be, you know? So, as I say, hey, God's gonna do what God's gonna do. So, we're just gonna let him go on with that, you know? Now, you're still in that influential range, you know, a generation. Have people started calling you Unc yet?

Brandon (Sunni) (30:55)
Oh, one of my students actually called me Unc last week and I just looked at him and I said, I'm gonna let you have that this time. Cause you called me off guard with that. Cause he said it so swiftly and then looked over and kind of walked away. I have heard the Unc term. I have, but I'm also a real uncle. So it doesn't always bother me, but I know what y'all trying to say with that Unc word, little children.

Floyd (31:16)
Alright.

Man, that unguerri,

I remember when I first heard it. But you know the word that really got to me was OG. And I'm like, I'm like, how did I go from being, you know, young to OG? It seemed like it just happened overnight, you know.

Brandon (Sunni) (31:27)
OG.

Yeah.

Floyd (31:35)
And

I realize that it is a term of endearment, because they realize that that person has experienced something. They might not know exactly what we've been through or what we're even trying to get to in life, but they know they've been through some things, whatever. And we talk about discipline. Let's say the same student that calls you unk, he knows about your artistry. And he comes up to you and he tells you, I want to do something.

Okay, let's just go and say, he want to be an artist or he want to be a dancer. But he said, but I don't have access to, you know, formal training. You know, my mother can't afford to buy canvases for me to paint on. You know, but you know he's gifted because he's seen it. And then over time, you know, his mother's telling him, you need to focus on your studies. You need to focus on this. But all he could think about is that gift that God gave him.

Brandon (Sunni) (32:11)
Mm-hmm.

Floyd (32:33)
What encouragement would you give him for him to A, overcome the resources and B, having that discipline to believe in your gift?

Brandon (Sunni) (32:47)
I would first ask like how bad do you want it? You know, how bad do you want it? Because all it takes is just you wanting to do it. And I say progress, like you know, you don't see big progress overnight. Some people do, some people may see sharp growth that fast, but progress doesn't happen that fast, you know? And I would say first start at

Like I said, that question of how bad do you want it? And if you want it like that, you're going to do what you can to reach that and to go toward that goal. And if that means going into your art teacher and asking for that non-bought 12 pieces of just blank paper and you start sketching on that, that's a start. You know, if you can't afford a studio, man, our phones are, we have access to so many things. And especially now.

It is there are so many dance classes recorded. There are so many people teaching technique, people teaching how to properly move, how to break, isolate, you know how to do hip hop. Do some research. You know, first and foremost, first and foremost, do some research ⁓ and I know like all of that is easier said than done, but that goes back to the questions like how bad do you want it? And I would also tell him, you know, are you gonna?

be disciplined and kind of work toward this, or are you gonna let your circumstances, you know, basically get the best of you? And growing up in a single household, I had to make sure that I didn't let my circumstances, you know, be exactly who I am. They shaped me, but I didn't want to be, I wouldn't want him or I didn't want myself to be somebody that, just because I didn't have the most money to do this, that just means I can't do it.

⁓ I would want him to also know It all starts inside and it really starts with that soul That we all have you know, does your soul want it? Don't do it because you see somebody else doing it Don't do it because you think it'll make you a lot of money Don't do it because somebody said that you're good at it. So you should do it because I heard that a lot too do it because you want to and

Floyd (34:56)
Mm-hmm.

Brandon (Sunni) (35:13)
and let your circumstances and let the lack of things that you don't have, you know, really push you and project you even faster and further. ⁓ My mama used to always say, you the sky is limit. And I never knew what that means. The sky is the limit. The sky is the limit. And she would say that all the time. And as I got older, I realized like, you you're right. The limit is there if I put it there. And don't limit yourself to what you think you can't do. You know, keep going.

I tell my dancers this and I tell people that I'll teach or work with, I always say do everything with intention. Do it on purpose. So I live by that. Do it with intention. Do it like you mean it. Put your back into it. A great rapper once said, put your back into it.

Floyd (35:51)
Mmm. Yeah. Yeah.

Okay. Back into... Oh, well, see, you went there. You went there, but that's okay, As soon as you

said that, I thought about the song. I was like, But I said, let me calm down. I ain't gonna go there, but I...

Brandon (Sunni) (36:13)
yeah. ⁓

Floyd (36:19)
That doesn't,

that yeah, yeah, that's cool. Yeah, I mean, I agree with you, know, the thing I would tell people is...

If you can do it for the rest of your life and not make money from it, would you be content? Would you be happy? Whatever it may be. Because we all have a purpose. We all have a purpose that we're supposed to live out. And no one, mom and dad, sister, brother, aunt, uncle, teacher, dad's coach, nobody tell us what our purpose is. That is something that we need to discover on our own.

Brandon (Sunni) (36:59)
Mm-hmm.

Floyd (36:59)
and we need to discover

it through experiences. Now, just because, you know, you heard it, oh, you good at this, so you should do this, but I can't stand doing it.

Just because I'm talented at something doesn't mean anything, you know? And I'm telling you, because it's like, you just do, and, ⁓ no, you just can't force a child or anybody into doing something they want to do, but they have to discover that purpose for themselves. And then what they need to discover is like, ask, the questions you asked was, how bad do you want it?

Brandon (Sunni) (37:09)
Man.

That is a word.

you

Floyd (37:34)
I will, if I was given the advice and there's nothing wrong with your advice because it all works hand in hand. My question is, your why?

Brandon (Sunni) (37:42)
Mmm.

Floyd (37:43)
Why do you want it? Why do you want to do these things? Because every give, every telling that we're supposed to, that we have in us, that God gave us, was not for us to keep and to hold up. It's for the share with the world, to give to other people. And if that's not your reason behind anything that you're doing, you're not gonna be successful. You know?

Brandon (Sunni) (38:09)
yeah, you know, I wish I

heard that when I was younger, just like, what is your why? We asked that at my school a lot, like, what is your why? What is the purpose? And I wish that I had been asked that question when people were telling me, you should do this, like, you should go to school for art, you should, you you're so good, you should, you should. And I don't think anybody ever asked me why. And I don't know if I would have really been able to answer that question, you know, back in high school when I was getting serious about it.

Floyd (38:31)
Mm-hmm.

And the reason why you probably couldn't, because I couldn't answer that question back then when I was growing up either, is because we have tests. We have aptitude tests. We have rather exams. We have people in our ear telling us, oh, you're good at this, so this is what you should lean towards. Nobody is asking us, what do you want to do? Up until we get a certain age, then once we get a certain age, they stop that, oh, what do you want to be in life? They start saying, this is what you need to do. You need to get your job, get an education.

buy house and live the old American dream. And so we've been conditioned into that. So when someone asks us why we're doing what we're doing, we can't answer that question because nobody ever asked us. Now, unfortunately, that question is out there. Like, you need to know your why. You know your why. And if you can't answer the why, you need to find out.

Brandon (Sunni) (39:22)
Yeah

Yes.

Floyd (39:31)
But then that also do a lot of self-evaluation. You know, we got to be able to be honest and look at ourselves. I'm pretty sure there are times that you want to quit, you want to give in, or you want to give up and throw the towel in. We all go through those things. But then there was also a time that you had to look deep within yourself. And you had to understand or you had to realize that, why am I here, number one? Why am I in this position? Now that could be because of circumstances. That's out of your control.

Brandon (Sunni) (39:32)
Yeah.

yeah.

Floyd (40:01)
But then if you look at the circumstances that will be within your control, and I guarantee you majority of the time that we struggle is because we're not paying attention to what we can control. We're too worried about what we can't control.

I can't, you can't control whether somebody buys your paint. I can't control whether somebody's gonna listen to my podcast. All I can do is do what I can do, what I can control and let the chips fall where they may. But then that's it. And this is why I'm doing things, you know? So, I mean, there's so much wisdom and information out there that can be disseminated between people if we just sit down and if we just talk. And we just have open dialogue about some serious issues.

Brandon (Sunni) (40:28)
and fulfill your why.

Floyd (40:44)
you know, that's going to help us get to the next level. Like I told you earlier, you know, talking to you that time in the car, you inspired me. You know, and I thought about it. I just kept thinking, I'm like, okay, this young man inspired me to do better, to become a little bit more creative and things of that nature. So I do, I do, you know, want to again, thank you for that because you don't know how that's going to affect my future.

Brandon (Sunni) (41:14)
Amen.

Floyd (41:15)
Alright,

now speaking of the future, let's say five years from now, on today's date five years from now, you and I sit down and we start talking again. What you will have hoped to achieve and where would you honestly want yourself to be? Not so much financially and economically strong, but where you want to be as a person.

Brandon (Sunni) (41:24)
Mm-hmm.

If I had to go into my little time machine, I'm over here. Do y'all can't see I'm tickling my brain If I had to Where I would like to see myself in five years, it's hard to say because All the things that I enjoy the things that I like to do are just taking me in so many different directions You know so many different directions

If I had to say anything, would say I would, I want to at least have one solo art show under my belt. Solo art show, just a collection of all things, you know, Brandon Corlew. ⁓ and if I can't, if, if that is not, you know, in the cards, I just hope that I'm happy and confident in who I am and what I'm doing, you know, God willing that I'm still drawing in.

painting and dancing. I hope that those things are still happening. I hope that they're happening on a bigger scale. By that time I'll be 35, which is weird to say out loud, because I actually have not thought past the fact that I'll be 30 this year. Shout out to all my Virgos out there. yeah, man, in five years, I hope for...

just joy and just thankfulness and I want to be content with what I see around me. know, whether that be canvases of completed art, half completed art, whether that be, you know, I know next week I have a rehearsal for, you know, this artist who was up and coming. I just hope that my creative endeavors and all of my passions just lead me to

like where I belong, wherever that is. If that's still teaching, if that's still dancing, if that's still creating and drawing, who knows? I might have a podcast in five years talking about how to make the perfect spaghetti recipes. You never know, you never know where things will lead you. So five years from now, I hope for just, like I said, just happiness and joy for myself and also

Floyd (43:49)
Okay.

Yeah

Brandon (Sunni) (44:05)
Just in the world in general, I think we're in a weird time and there's not a lot of joy happening for everybody. And so I hope five years from now, what's happening outside is influencing me to be who I want to be and who I can be. And not that those things determine my growth and my progress, but ⁓ just being selfless, I hope that.

A lot of people in five years from now get to see some of the things that they want to see happen.

Floyd (44:40)
Yeah, most definitely. Like you said, we just have to stay the course, you know, it's a journey. And what people don't understand is a journey is not always going to be smooth. You're to have twists and turns, you're to have ups and downs, you're going to have cracks, you're going to have bridges that are thrown out, you're going to be, you're going to get off on the wrong exit. And that wrong exit might take you years for you to get back on path. Just the whole thing is that if you don't quit, know, quitting, quitting, quitting what you love to do is

Brandon (Sunni) (44:51)
Mmm.

Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Floyd (45:11)
destructive. Now, you know, they say sometimes winners never quit and quitters never win. That's not true. Winners are successful people. have a strategy behind when they quit. But if it's something that they believe in, if it's something that they called for, if it's that purpose, if there's something that they can answer that why for, then there's no quitting. Because everything that you spoke of, what you're doing, you're speaking things into existence.

Brandon (Sunni) (45:41)
Mm-hmm.

Floyd (45:41)
Every time we talk about that, you know, and we need to understand that. So five years from now, what you spoke tonight, more than likely will happen because you spoke if, if, but see, then the whole thing about it, it happened if you pay attention to it because some things don't come in the form in which we want them to come. So we dismiss it. We block that blessing. But then we have to be able to look at it. But we have to have the

Brandon (Sunni) (45:51)
Yes

Mm-hmm

Floyd (46:12)
discernment in order to be able to look at a situation say, it might not be the way I wanted it, but I can see so many similarities from it. So maybe this is what I need because the universal God, the creator, whatever you want to refer to him as, okay, he's going to give you everything that you need. You already have it within you. You just have to look inside. Like I said, self-evaluation is another thing. You you have to look at yourself.

You have to set your situation where you are and where you're trying to get to. If you're five years, if you want to graduate from a school, then you have to speak that into existence. Not saying, I hope to be this. No, I am going to go do this because there's power within a tongue and we need to start utilizing that. But that's going on a totally different tangent that, you know.

Brandon (Sunni) (46:42)
Yes.

Yes.

Hey, the people need to know, they're listening, Floyd.

Floyd (47:06)
Yeah,

mean, I hope so, because I hope, you know, the one thing I do like about my podcast is that I don't think, again, I don't think I know everything, but I have a unique way of putting words together. But then the reason why I do this, a part of the reason why other than my inspiration of motivating other people is because it helps me walk and talk through issues that I'm currently dealing with.

You know, just because I'm on this podcast does not mean my life is perfect. Does not mean that I have money flowing in. It just means that I'm doing what I love to do, you know, and I just have to keep going towards that because that's what's important to me. Now, again, it all depends on what you want. The main thing that I take away from our conversation tonight is.

Brandon (Sunni) (47:39)
Mm-hmm.

Floyd (47:56)
Creativity is king. You know, even if there's lack of resources, being financial or being access to schools or being no have access to studios, the main thing is about being creative. Because if you look at how mankind has developed over these generations and the things in which we develop, all of that came from a single thought. At some point in time, it came from somebody's mind.

And they did not have the resource. did not have, and some of them didn't even have the knowledge of how it would work, but they had to figure out a way, how it would work based upon trial and error. So they don't look, they look at the circumstance, okay, this is the problem, this is this, so this is the solution that I'm going to give. This is what I'm going to do. And once you make that commitment, then you have to have that discipline to follow through with it. You know, ⁓

Brandon (Sunni) (48:26)
Yes.

Floyd (48:54)
And I see that again, I saw that in your drawing because the discipline it takes to be that.

tedious to make sure everything is just so perfect the way it's supposed to be. That takes one hell of a lot of discipline. And the same thing, I'm pretty sure with your dancing. You've got to get up. You can't just sit around and you can't come up with a routine in your head without getting up and doing it. Whatever's in your mind, you're going to make it. Yeah. And that's the way life goes. We sit up and say, I wish I could do this. I wish I could do that. If you want to do it, then get up and do it.

Brandon (Sunni) (49:06)
Mmm.

yeah.

It don't work like that ⁓

Floyd (49:34)
You know, and then that's the word I'm getting from you that anything that you want in this world, can be yours if you get up and do it. And don't allow anything in your circumstance, your past, your present, or your future, stop you from doing what you've been called to do. So I'm going leave you with, let you have the final word. ⁓ Anything that you want to leave our listeners with, just feel free. This is your moment to shine.

Brandon (Sunni) (49:34)
Get up and do it.

Absolutely.

All right, I just want to first express my gratitude to you Floyd for inviting me again, know, to the podcast. I was telling my friend ⁓ when I got the Lyft request, the Lyft ride again and it was you and we were talking about creativity and I told him, was just like, what are the odds of this man also being a creative in some way, you know, whether that be an artist himself, poet.

podcasters, just anything and I vividly remember saying podcaster. And lo and behold, that was your jam. So I wanna thank you again and just give you all of my, all your flowers. If nobody's given them to you yet, here are all your flowers for just sticking to it and being disciplined and wanting to like put people like me, you know, up and coming people like on a platform like this,

Five years from now, this podcast could be something really big. And I want to just tell the people, just be on the lookout for me. You'll see me around and you will totally hear about me and hear from me. And if you don't learn anything from me, ⁓ I want it to be clear that I'm not, I'm just getting started.

I've been doing a lot of the things I've been doing for my whole life, but I was doing them through a lens of, you know, is this gonna work? And right now I've been seeing things a bit more clearly and realizing that like a lot of the things that I've done and that I'm gonna do and wanna do, you know, they're not gonna happen on accident. You know, it's gonna happen on purpose. You know, I'm gonna do the things with intention so that I can set myself up to see and to really just believe in what I can.

can put out there into the world. I do want to ask you though, know, just to turn the tables for a second, five years from now, where do you see Floyd? What does Floyd look like? Who is he? What are the things that are going be like for Floyd? What would you like to see five years from now?

Floyd (52:26)
Hmm.

I think five years from now... ⁓

I want to continue and I want to grow as an influencer for people to achieve greatness. Instead of having these podcasts that are so focused on ⁓ things that are funny, arguments, fights, and things that really don't matter, I just want to be recognized or have the podcast recognized as...

a go-to podcast for people to listen to because like I said, we're going to keep it real and whatever God has in store for Floyd Floyd or my life, it's going to be wonderful. So I'm looking for five years from now. I honestly can see myself being an effective life coach or life strategist as I call myself, just to get, just to help people get through it.

through whatever it is that they're going through. I want to influence the world. I don't leave my mark. I do want to leave a legacy because, my uncle told me one time in 1984, he said, there's one thing in this world that I don't ever want to happen. And he said, I do not wish to be forgotten. And if you think about that, you kind of think that's kind of vain. But then if you really sit down and you think about it, if I'm gonna sit down and I'm gonna spend seven to 80 years of my life.

pouring into people. I don't want them to forget me. I don't want them to, you know, and I don't want to get to the point where, you know, they, they awards and all, all that stuff really don't matter because that's manmade. The type of influence that I want to have is people with it within their soul, because as you, you know, you probably didn't notice, but now you know that I am a minister and people ask me what church do I preach at? And I say, I don't preach at a church, but I do have a platform.

that influences people. It might not always, and I'm not going to read scripture and do all that other type stuff, but everything that I talk about, everything I try to strive towards people is to start looking at yourself for greatness. Because once you can see yourself and recognize that you have greatness within you, you have no choice but to turn to the creator of all things and give him the respect, the glory and everything like that there.

And that's what I want to see. I want to see people. ⁓

giving glory to God for everything that they have. Regardless of how big or how small, this is what God has for me, this is what God, then being you glorified. I wanna see, I wanna be in a position where I can help people that are financially, that's on drugs, that are just needing so many help. And so ⁓ I just wanna help them. And like I said, in five years from now, I think that...

Brandon (Sunni) (55:15)
Amen.

Floyd (55:32)
The way it feels to me that God is moving, but he's also putting pieces of the puzzle together. Now, how to end a product looking, the output, I'm not quite sure. But whatever it is, it's gonna be a memorable time. ⁓ So that's what I'm looking forward to.

Brandon (Sunni) (55:40)
Yes.

Mm-hmm.

Absolutely and in five years we'll still be connected and we'll come across each other again, maybe do a Five-year reunion episode. I'm not I'm not saying they can happen but just in case you know Don't forget about it when you get big Floyd, but ⁓ yeah absolutely

Floyd (56:05)
Yeah.

No, that's gonna be the same thing with you. You're gonna blow up and then

you're gonna, then I'm have to ⁓ pull it out. And I'm saying, remember this, before you became rich and famous, you remember this? So I'ma make sure I hold on to this episode here because like I said, it's been inspiring. It's been, I've had fun sitting down and talking to you for hours and all that good stuff there.

Brandon (Sunni) (56:19)
Yeah

Absolutely. Yeah.

Floyd (56:35)
Like I told you before, I love your vibe, I love your energy, I love what you bring to the table and I wish you nothing but ultimate success in whatever endeavor you choose and if by any chance that you need any type of assistance, you know, from the Flow with Floor community, we would definitely keep you in mind. Now, once we do everything, I'm going to put your links.

and information on how people can contact you. And I'm also going to create you a little smaller video that's going to do things because the main thing is like you share such powerful and inspiring words that now it's our job or my job is to prepare it to be disseminated throughout the people that's going to benefit from it, you know? And that's what I do. And I hope that everyone is listening right now. And even if you listen four or five months from now, a year from now.

Brandon (Sunni) (57:00)
Mm-hmm.

yes.

Floyd (57:26)
You have to look this young man up because he's young, he's rising. And he's in Nashville. Now, Nashville, everybody think Nashville is just for music. Nashville is what I love about Nashville is it's a creative city. Everywhere you go, there's nothing but you see creators. And the vibe is just so real. So we as black men or black people, we need to start gathering together, collaborating.

and showing that I can see us five years from now. You talk about five years from now, I can see us doing a, you doing, I'm doing a live podcast as one of your art shows up in Nashville where you showcasing different talent and we're doing all these things. There's a lot of things that can work because like I said, our meeting was not coincidental. I don't believe in coincidences.

it was spirit led and it's going to be spirit driven. So whatever it's supposed to do, it's going to be what it's supposed to be and I'm not going to block it. I'm not going to do anything to disrupt it. I'm just going to go with the flow That's right.

Brandon (Sunni) (58:13)
Yes it was

Let it flow. Let

it flow. Absolutely. And I always say, I'll leave everybody with this quote, because this is sort of how I describe myself. Two things. First one, everything you can imagine is real. Everything that you can imagine is real. And the second quote is, and like the waves, he couldn't be stopped. And I want people to think about that.

Be like the waves, you you can't, nobody can stop those waves. Be like the waves, you you can't be stopped. And once I told myself that I was, I was like the wave, I've been like a tsunami coming through here, so I wanna keep that momentum going.

Floyd (59:07)
Okay, sounds good to me. All right, well sir, you take care of yourself and again, it's been a pleasure having you on the Flow with Floyd show.

Brandon (Sunni) (59:10)
Absolutely.

Absolutely.