Ep. 17 The Kenlo Show | Brotha Taaj: Reclaiming Our Spaces,

From growing up surrounded by Afro-Caribbean and West African rhythms in Boston to arriving at Temple University at 18, Brotha Taaj joins The Kenlo Show to break down his evolution as a DJ, curator, and community leader. In this episode, we dive into how he went from throwing sweaty basement house parties on Diamond Street to masterminding the iconic All Love Block Party and Black Soul Summer. Taaj challenges the modern state of deejaying, breaks down the tactical power of economic coalitions, and shares how foundational Kwanzaa principles of collective responsibility guide his mission to build independent black platforms that transcend systemic limitations.

Episode Chapters & Timestamps
00:05 — The People's Platform: Introducing curator and community leader Brotha Taaj
 
00:58 — Roots & Rhythm: Navigating Boston’s Afro-Caribbean and West African musical foundations
 
02:28 — Moving to North Philly: Arriving at Temple University and bridging the campus-neighborhood divide


03:54 — Going Against the Grain: Fighting early battles to cultivate an entrepreneurial culture in the city
 
06:26 — Stepping on Toes: Spotting wack frat parties and birthing the identity of DJ Taaj


07:21 — The First Gig: Turning a dirty Diamond Street basement into a high-energy house party


09:04 — The Kelly Street Block Party: Reclaiming traditional block spaces with mutual community respect
 
11:44 — Navigating the System: Witnessing food deserts and building a purposeful platform


12:54 — Running From the Precinct: Wild freshman year memories with his roommate Melvin


14:32 — So Far Out Entertainment: Launching multi-floor independent black events on Cecil B. Moore
 
16:50 — Dodging State Troopers: Surviving the chaotic logistics of under-21 party promotions


18:02 — Vocalizing Resistance: Using music curation to combat structural inequality and white fragility
 
21:00 — Creating Beyond Destruction: Cultivating collective consciousness instead of generic playlists
 
23:26 — Checkers vs. Chess: Why modern social media DJs need to respect technical fundamentals and techniques
 TXT
26:09 — Subconscious Mantras: Drowning out degrading Top 40 loops for deep black dance music


29:33 — The Chamber 205 Competition: Producing large-scale DJ battles at Franklin Music Hall
 
33:00 — The Masterclass: When legendary DJ Damage stepped into a Temple dorm to teach him the craft


36:33 — Rapid Fire Game: Snapper dishes, Matt Law set preferences, and the truth about Asher Roth
 
40:43 — The Two-Suitcase Bet: Defeating severe post-college depression by driving back to Philly
 
47:01 — 91 Republic: Fighting corporate venue takeovers by anchoring local independent networks
 
51:01 — The First All Love: Honoring the legacy of the late Chynna Rogers and collaborative sponsors


53:16 — The Price of Free: Transitioning to ticketed models to ensure independent self-sustenance
 
54:50 — Tax Lady Realities: Crucial advice on LLC structures, W2s, and accounting reserves


56:00 — Sourcing Balance: Partnering with DJ Nash to introduce Black Soul Summer at Sunflower Philly


58:42 — Power Ecosystems: How structural coalitions give independent curators corporate leverage


01:01:09 — Instilling the Principles: How clinical counselor parents embedded Kwanzaa logic into his life
 
01:05:01 — Reclaiming Knowledge of Self: Dismantling systemic educational gaslighting as a collective
 
01:09:37 — Flipping the Floss: Confronting the real-world debt-to-income and credit crises in our culture


01:11:46 — Keeping the Cup Full: Overcoming self-isolation through rigorous self-love regimens
 
01:15:44 — The True Headline: Constructing an outdoor blueprint that makes black folks less reliant on the system
 
01:19:27 — Build the Block Game: Crafting the ultimate Philly after-dark festival line
 
01:22:34 — Outro: Gathering at the West Philly Container Village for the 9th Annual All Love Block Party
 
Follow The Kenlo Show on IG: https://www.instagram.com/thekenloshow/ 
Follow Brotha Taaj on IG: https://www.instagram.com/brothataaj/
Follow Kenlo on IG: https://www.instagram.com/yogirlkenlo_/ 
Follow Black Clover Studios: https://www.instagram.com/blackcloverstudios.inc/

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:05

Hey everybody, it's your girl Ken Lope back at it again, and welcome back to the People's Platform for the Creative Community. And we have a special guest tonight. We have my man, our man, brother Todd.

SPEAKER_02 0:16

What's up, yo?

SPEAKER_00 0:17

What's up, Brother Taj?

SPEAKER_02 0:19

Yo, I'm so happy to be here. It's like uh just this is not our first time doing a demo show, but you know, to see you in this setup over here, it's all fly. You got your crew taking care of things. I'm just really happy to be here with you.

SPEAKER_00 0:33

Thank you. I'm happy that you're here.

SPEAKER_02 0:35

Thanks for having me.

SPEAKER_00 0:36

Neil, since then I've learned so much about you. You know, we've we talked about all love. You know, we've grown as a person, yeah, as a as a curator, as a community leader, because I I call you a community leader too, by the way. You know, thank you. So we're gonna get right into it. Boom. Because you know we got a couple stacks for you.

SPEAKER_02 0:53

I see, I like that.

SPEAKER_00 0:55

So I found out that you have a barbed um Barbados background.

SPEAKER_02 0:58

Oh wow, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:00

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 1:01

Yeah, let's get right into it.

SPEAKER_00 1:02

And you also were born, yeah. I didn't know you was that guy. Didn't know. Okay, you have sounds of West Indian, Caribbean, and West African culture. So would you say that the sound that you grew up on is what you bring back into the community of Philly when you do, you know, your music?

SPEAKER_02 1:19

People always ask me the difference between like Philly and Boston, and then they'd be surprised because Boston's where I'm from, my family all up there. Uh, we just came back from Boston with BAM's Fest, Boston Art Music Soul Fest. So people always ask me, like, oh, I thought there was no black people in Boston. And there's like some truth to that. You know, you go up there, it is uh very different in some ways.

SPEAKER_00 1:40

Yeah, I hear it's very different out there.

SPEAKER_02 1:42

But what also is different is that there is a huge like Afro-Caribbean like population up there. So everybody now just got hit to Cape Verdians because they they were winning in the in FIFA, like you know, there's a lot of African like West African culture up there, but also West Indian Caribbean culture. So I never heard like club music until I came to Philly. I was 18 years old. Wow. Like our party music was definitely like dance hall, Soka, reggae, compa, so like just that vibe. So when I came to Philly, like I already I wanted to get hip to all the new sounds, but then I also was like, okay, we need some of this too. So there's always like a general mix of what I've learned here versus what I experienced growing up.

SPEAKER_00 2:28

So, how was it growing up in Boston and realizing that a lot of your community in Boston couldn't relate to you?

SPEAKER_02 2:35

Um I I I can't say that my people in Boston didn't relate to me. It was definitely different in the sense that where I grew up versus where I went to school, like those were two very different places. So I did have to kind of like figure out life a little bit in that middle space of like the inner city of Boston versus like the suburbs where I went to school. And you know, I'm very grateful for my experience on both sides, but it definitely like helped shape me to like when I came to Philly to be able to handle everything. Hey, you know, my business and kind of entrepreneurial mindset kind of kicked off as soon as I got here. But then I also was always connected to people in the community and in the streets to be. I don't want to use that phrase lightly because we know you know it just streets me here in Philly. But I've always been like a person who's like connected with my community, like the neighborhoods I lived in and um different community organizations and just trying to be supportive. Uh and a lot of that came from my experience in Boston because yeah, you know, my family was always talking about you know the power of like collective responsibilities. And then when I went to school, they was talking about getting money, you know. And I'm not saying I'm getting money, but like just having that kind of dynamic, you know, definitely helped give me perspective on multiple angles.

SPEAKER_00 3:54

I like that. Now you've always been a person that goes against the green, like everything you said, everything you do. Oh, like you don't take no as an answer when it comes to your cred. Now it was very much different in Boston than it is in Philly. You know how we come in in Philly, we gonna hustle. Now tell me how it felt coming from an environment that wasn't so welcoming to what you were trying to do, to an environment that was welcoming.

SPEAKER_02 4:19

You know, it's funny, like Philly has always shown me a lot of love, and I'm like thankful for my time and experience here, but I wouldn't necessarily like uh, I've definitely had to like fight a lot of battles here. Um and over the course of time, like I've definitely had to, I was joking the other day, you know, I've hey I've pissed some people off in the process, uh, whether deservingly or not. Um you know, uh my experience in Boston was definitely they they have they have a little further to go in terms of uh the amount of people who are executing and creating, you know, I think it's growing there, but Philly definitely has more of an entrepreneurial culture. Yes. So in a sense, it was easier for me to create something like the all-love block party or Black Souls Summer here. Um but in doing those, you know what I mean? I definitely uh, you know, had to knock on some doors and um at times like not take no as an answer. Uh to push the envelope forward.

SPEAKER_00 5:24

And you were young doing this, you was a good 18. You came to Philly, came to Temple. Now tell us about your big dog tube, you know. So when you came to Temple, how was your experience when you started DJing? Um what did you learn about yourself within that process?

SPEAKER_02 5:43

Yeah, when I first got to Temple, I saw a couple things. Um, you know, one at the time, like Temple, now it's the area has kind of changed, but it was still very much like Temple in the middle of North Philly, right? Um, so you just had that, hey, every block was an opening to like just the outside world. So it was very connected to it. And at that time, too, like after you could only stay on campus two years. So then after that, you had to find like alternative housing, aka moving into the neighborhood for most people. And so like uh I quickly like connected with the disconnect between like what was happening on Temple's campus versus the neighborhood around us. But even early on, like my freshman year, we when we were trying to go out like on a Friday night, because we're just freshmen trying to get drunk, like you could go to like the white frat party, or you could go to the black frat party. Exactly, exactly. And to be honest, yo, both of them was they was both kind of whack, you know what I'm saying? Yeah, they just like you know, the drinks was flowing and whatever, but like the music just wasn't always good, and so like that's where you know DJ Taj just kind of birthed out. Like, I'm like, yo, y'all not even playing none of this dance hall, reggae, so like let me just start doing something to kind of switch up this vibe a little bit. And even then, as a freshman, you know, I maybe stepped on a couple toes of people who I got, you know, we have great mutual respect for now. Right, yeah, absolutely. Maybe wasn't always uh like that at first.

SPEAKER_00 7:13

Now, how was your first party DJing? Now you because we know you, Taj, we know you. You don't you don't mess around. You know you wanna do something, you're gonna do it. So how was your first party when you DJ'd?

SPEAKER_02 7:23

Y'all, to be honest with you, it was in my homie King Spy's basement.

SPEAKER_00 7:26

Really?

SPEAKER_02 7:27

Yeah, I uh that was like the first party I like I threw.

SPEAKER_00 7:32

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 7:33

The first event I DJ'd. That's a little gray area right there, but I do like clearly remember the first event I ever threw, and this was when we were 18 years old. And it was at King Spy's uh apartment. He lived on Diamond Street, 18th and Diamond. And he had this like first floor, and then this big ass empty basement. So yeah, we turned like we just started throwing house parties there. Um people like Silo were a part of this, and uh a couple other folks uh who we still kick it with to this day, but uh it was automatically different, like from the first one. People was like, Oh, I like this, you know? And I've never had like the biggest events or the ones that make the most money or whatever, but very consistently like people have you know felt like some difference in the intention behind them since that very first one.

SPEAKER_01 8:34

I loved it.

SPEAKER_02 8:34

And that little dirty ass basement was sweaty as all hell, and we I don't know what you know nothing.

SPEAKER_00 8:41

Y'all did the stuff, you had parties, everybody came back, and you brother Taj today. You know you have brother Taj, we know you have all love. And speaking of which, we're gonna get there. Okay, so you had a black party on Cristo. They brought out, you know, about 300 to 400 people, brought out a crowd, and you had the neighbors now. How was that experience for you? Did you know, like, right then and there, this is what I need to be doing for the community?

SPEAKER_02 9:05

Uh, like I was saying earlier, like, you know, like at the time, like temple students was doing like wild stuff in the neighborhood. Some folks, some folks in the neighborhood was robbing temple students, you know what I mean, breaking into their cribs. There was definitely like a divide there between us, like essentially gentrifying their community because these are people who've lived there for generations, and then you got this school here where people are traveling, even myself from all over.

SPEAKER_01 9:34

Right.

SPEAKER_02 9:34

And they just there to kind of party. And so instead of just kind of putting that look onto the neighbors, like, oh, there's how North Felly people act, or whatever, anything like that. I quickly realize I'm like, nah, you know, like we are here in their space. And so we need to like show these people who were invading their space that like we're here respectfully. And even if we do have some kind of party vibe, like it's not to disrespect the neighborhood, it's actually to uh uh uh like acknowledge the culture of Philly block parties and to like give some respect and to give them reason to come out and bring their grills out. So, you know, that block party experience was mine. Like, I felt like I kind of yeah, owed something to the community to show them that like temple students, like had it was a lot of us that actually cared about being here and we understood the dynamic of how temple really impacted uh, you know, you know, it's crazy. But that fresh grocer that's over there, I remember yeah, that wasn't even there when I was a freshman in college. That didn't come around until like 2010, and so that area heavily was what they call a food desert, you know what I'm saying? But you got this 200 million dollar plus campus, like right smack dab in the middle of it, and all these people who were paying, you know, 30,000, 40,000 a year to be there. Okay, and so you know, I kind of understood why my mother was getting robbed, you know what I mean? Like I got it, you know, like I just didn't really question that much. And you know, that first block party, a lot of neighbors, some of the older ones, they some were very in support, others was calling the cops on me when I started to tell them we was, you know, they didn't want it to happen. Uh but once it did happen, like even the people who was kind of looking out their window, like they came out afterwards and like thanked us and gave respect because they understood that, like, yo, we could have this common space that's you know free and fun. And that's what's carried on. That that first block party, I'm pretty sure, was in 2011. 2011. That's yeah, yeah, whatever year it is now.

SPEAKER_00 11:44

You should be very proud of yourself, Taj. We're in 2026, so keep that in mind. Boom. Oh, I'm very proud. Now, tell us how you met Melvin. How did you how did you a Melanie? How did you and Mel get connected?

SPEAKER_02 11:55

Yo, Melvin was my I don't know, excuse my language, he's my nut ass freshman year roommate. And I only say that because we just came from just two different dynamics. So we automatically were like cool, but I was like, you know, Mel's from like Maryland somewhere, you know, where it's all like really.

SPEAKER_00 12:12

Oh, so y'all came from two different areas that came to Philly.

SPEAKER_02 12:14

Yeah, you know, I'm coming from the city, and so I was very uh, I was a little more rugged than so. We never like fought. Mel is since to from the day I met him to this day, one of the kindest people I've ever met.

SPEAKER_00 12:28

Yeah, he's very Mel, you're very kind. We love you.

SPEAKER_02 12:31

So he has dealt with a lot of my uh ups and downs. I'll just say that. But we've been connected since fresh. We were fresh me and roommates, and then you know, we've lived together a few other times after that. Um he still watches my dog to this day. Oh, and they're like best friends. So y'all are best friends, it's okay. We can stay best friend, y'all. Yeah, yeah, yeah. We can do that. Um, so definitely very grateful for him, but I only call it Nutty because you know, that freshman year, we was we were doing a lot of drinking and a lot of dumb stuff, you know.

SPEAKER_00 13:03

It's freshman year, have fun.

SPEAKER_02 13:04

So we was like, I'm like, all right, I don't like can I trust this dude? Yeah, I thought I'll tell you real quick, because this is a chemo show.

SPEAKER_00 13:12

Yeah, tell me.

SPEAKER_02 13:14

So for whatever reason, like my parents was like, for this is freshman year where everyone moves in, like the you know, that week of Labor Day weekend or something. But there was this option to drop you off early. So my moms was like, Oh, we doing that. I think they just had some trip coming up, but I think moms was like, Oh, we can go early. All right, what like let's get you going. So I was at the campus like two weeks early before any of the other freshmen or people got there, right? Um, there was like football players, any like the sports players who were, you know, getting ready. But I lived in that room for like at least 10 days by myself before Mel even came. Uh so he got there, let's just say, like on a Thursday or something, and then school is gonna start on that Monday. Uh long story short, like that Friday night, he was getting a call at like 2, 3 a.m. to come pick me up from the local precinct. I didn't get like arrested, arrested, but I kind of got into it with the cops because they was just kind of being whatever. But sure enough, he just like showed up and I was like, yo, this is gonna be like not a good relationship. But he so you already like premeditated, like, oh, this is I thought I messed it up from the beginning, but you know, he's always shown me love from him very day one.

SPEAKER_00 14:31

I love that, and together y'all build so far out entertainment. Now, how did y'all come together and build that? I don't know how you know that lock in, Todd.

SPEAKER_02 14:43

Yo, that's uh damn. Yeah, that's uh so like I said, Mel was still kind of figuring out his you know college life, you know, while I was kind of like, all right, I'm doing something already. So I was kind of always dragging him into things like you come and help me with this. But yeah, So Far Out Entertainment, that was the hair logo. Shout outs to the Neptunes. Uh yeah, it kind of spoke to that like whole dynamic I was talking about earlier, where like the events at the time were pretty like separated pretty much by race, to be honest with you, which I don't got I don't got a ton of problems.

SPEAKER_00 15:24

It was still like that. Like, all right, I was in high school in what 2010, 2011. So when my cousin was going, I used to go see her, but you can clearly see the difference. Like, I'm like, okay, it's all of us black students here. It's looking like higher learning, basically.

SPEAKER_02 15:37

And we need that, we need our space, but at the same time, me, I was thinking just like economically, I'm like, oh, well, let me just create some stuff that's like still centered here, right? But anybody could show up to. And so that's where So Far Out Entertainment came. And yeah, probably like my by like my first semester of sophomore year, we were throwing like bigger events on Temple's campus and at actual venues, and yeah, we got in trouble a couple of times, which kind of led to the end of it. So tell us about that.

SPEAKER_00 16:11

What was the trouble?

SPEAKER_02 16:12

Yeah, one time it's called uh uh shoutouts to Uddy. He he still owns this place today. It's called Oh my gosh, what is he what is it called today? But it's on like 17th and Cecil Bmore. It used to be called Patterson's Palace.

SPEAKER_00 16:24

Patterson's Palace.

SPEAKER_02 16:26

It's right there right now. I don't forget what it's they call it now. Uh but anyway, he was a promoter at the time. There was an owner. Whatever happened with the owner, the building was getting ready to get sold. He ended up taking ownership of it. So shoutouts to Uddy because he's kept that space, a black-owned event space on Cecil B more that's got all these different multi-floors and spaces in it. It's really nice, you should go support him. Uh, but we were kind of young compared to the people who were throwing events there at the time. They were juniors or seniors, or at college, you know, I graduated because it was this big ass space. Uh, but like by sophomore year, I was already like, nah, we're doing stuff here. Uh, so the first one we did there, I think it was very successful. And then we tried to do another one, and somebody called the police, and like 40 state troopers, cars showed up, and then they wrote like hundreds of people to underage whatever's luckily, somehow I was able to get me and my people out the back door, and it just we got out. But a lot of people was mad at us for a little bit after that because I mean it's not my fault you was underage drinking. I just I'm just here playing the music, you know what I'm saying? Like, I'm just trying to make sure you know everybody's got the vibe.

SPEAKER_01 17:40

But that's it.

SPEAKER_02 17:42

Yeah, you know, we we have one or two scenarios like that where we was getting after it well before 21, and that was, I think, is illegal still.

SPEAKER_00 17:52

It's all but you had fun though, that's all that matters. There was an article being a white in Philly, even though they was talking about our folks in North Philly, and you wasn't having it. So tell us about how you felt and what did you do to go against it?

SPEAKER_02 18:09

I'm not really sure what I did. You're gonna have to remind me on that.

SPEAKER_00 18:12

No, I'm saying, like, with it, so you saw it and you saw the disrespect that they talked about.

SPEAKER_02 18:17

Yeah, it was some article that the Philly Inquirer had published where they were just talking about like the white experience in Philadelphia. I'm like, my first question is just like, though, like, I got into it with some white, like, I don't do the Instagram like comment beef, but I got into it with some some white lady on the gram the other like other week. It was a post about like uh convenience stores and um you know the damage that they have on communities, and that's a whole nother conversation that we didn't get into look it up. But she was basically commenting, like, yeah, like something about her moving here. And I'm like, Well, why did you move here? You didn't know that y'all come here and that's a choice. You didn't know that this was the vibe, and so that whole article was just really like trying to validate some like white fragility of you know, where nowadays I don't even think it matters. Philly does seem to be less black than it was at a certain point. Um, yeah, but uh I I can't really remember the circumstances around it. I know I was just very vocal and making it clear that yes, you were vocal.

SPEAKER_00 19:25

Come on, come on, brother Taj. You were vocal and you used your music as a statement. Come on, like let the people know how you combated it. It's me.

SPEAKER_02 19:34

This was like 10 years ago, okay.

SPEAKER_00 19:36

10 years ago, you still made a statement though. You see what you do here in 2026? You used your music knowing, yeah. You stuck on next with your music, and now for 10 plus years, we're going to hear Black Purdies, babe. Okay, yeah, so be real about what you did 10 years ago, and how did you use your music to make a statement and also let white people know this is actually our land. Come on, Taj.

SPEAKER_02 20:04

I am totally blanking on this. No, for real. Like you come up, like because yo, you're bringing up some rep so far out entertainment and women.

SPEAKER_00 20:13

Expand on it.

SPEAKER_02 20:18

I'm trying to just think about like where I was at the time, like when that happened.

SPEAKER_00 20:22

Don't be worried about where you was, baby. What did you do?

SPEAKER_02 20:25

Do you know?

SPEAKER_00 20:26

Do I know?

SPEAKER_02 20:27

I don't know, because whatever this research is.

SPEAKER_00 20:32

The parties are not just parties anymore. From the time you started to the time that we're about to do all of July 18th. So, what did you do? And how did you use music to make a statement and show people we are more than what these white people say in real filly?

SPEAKER_02 20:48

I see what you mean.

SPEAKER_00 20:50

Um, don't be shy. Come on.

SPEAKER_02 20:54

If you're referring to a specific example, okay. I mean, I don't know. It's like the music to me is like, yo, there's a lot of DJs out here who really take the music very seriously. That's always kind of been like a tool, right?

SPEAKER_00 21:09

Okay. It was it a tool for you specifically?

SPEAKER_02 21:11

Yeah, like even becoming a DJ, it wasn't because I was like had this like love for music and I wanted to do this. I I realized that there was there was a it was an imbalance in the energy flow with people coming together. And I was like, okay, yo, I can use this music to kind of shift that up a little bit. And so, I mean, even before that article, but even with more influence around it, I just tried to make it clear to people that, like, yo, like, yeah, I want you to come shake some ass at this event. But that's not what this is about. You know what I'm saying? Like, yo, like talk to somebody else, like connect with other people, like, you know, uh get involved in something, you know, whether that's like community oriented or just like doing what you're supposed to do. Like, it was just always meant to be like uh, you know, parties have always just hey, they make a couple of Bucks, but like the point is to like give people like a feeling of belonging, you know. Let know that like this is our space. Um and yeah, you just like don't really gotta like a lot of noise from other people or just like even within our own communities, like you gotta drown some of that shit out. And what I always say is like you gotta create beyond their power to destroy.

SPEAKER_00 22:25

Say that again.

SPEAKER_02 22:26

You gotta create beyond their power to destroy.

SPEAKER_00 22:29

I love that.

SPEAKER_02 22:29

And we know that the powers that be, whatever that may be in different scenarios, like they they be on it, you know, like they really be working. And um, I think a lot of folks miss the point about what the inverse looks like, you know, about what being proactive and just trying to use whatever platform you have to yeah, share your art or your creativity. But let's go a level deeper than that. You know what I'm saying? How are we, you know, uplifting like collective consciousness in some kind of way?

SPEAKER_00 23:04

Absolutely. See, there you go. I wasn't talking about consciousness.

SPEAKER_02 23:08

I thought you were about to say like I did something over, or maybe I did.

SPEAKER_01 23:12

Oh, I ain't gonna do now.

SPEAKER_00 23:16

You said that DJing is a tool. Now, would you say you're passionate? Now, if you're not passionate, what brings you, what always brings you back to the turntables?

SPEAKER_02 23:26

Oh, yeah, it's tough sometimes. Like I have a real relationship with DJing.

SPEAKER_00 23:31

Like, tell us about that.

SPEAKER_02 23:32

I don't really uh, like I said, like it's probably something I should should. And there were times in my DJ career where I did take it really seriously, but again, like it was always just like an avenue to something a little bit deeper. So that's always where my mind and focus is. Uh, there's a lot of DJs out here. Um, I didn't say there's a lot of good DJs out here. There is a lot of good ones. There is a shout out to the Chamber 205. We just had our DJ competition, Don Will. Uh, but uh the state of DJing right now is getting real weird. I just think you gotta weird.

SPEAKER_00 24:09

Oh dear, wow.

SPEAKER_02 24:10

Oh see, she acted surprised, but you already knew. I think you do, because I think I don't want to get up here and sound like some salty old head, but I will for just a moment. Okay. I just feel like when I when I started DJing, there was still like uh an extreme importance around like learning the fundamentals and the technique, learning how to transition, learn how to blend like beat matching songs, like understanding like a flow of a night.

SPEAKER_00 24:39

Okay, yes, yes, okay.

SPEAKER_02 24:41

DJing is a little more like chess than checkers, you know what I'm saying? I get that right. Uh you want to build a night in anticipation of you know, going through some different flows, but having some consistency and continuity throughout it. And nowadays there's just a lot of obviously info like focus on social media and likes there. So you have people who are popular versus people uh uh who got cool YouTube video transitions and stuff, and then you hear the people DJ in person, and it's just like what am I missing here? Right. Um, and it's not because I have this like crazy high expectation of you being perfect, I think DJing is the coolest thing because you can mix it however you want. So for me, like I think there's an emphasis on the DJs that to hold to be more accountable and actually not just you know learning enough so that you can go play song to song with your friends out at this at the club, but actually taking some time to actually learn the craft and and yes, you know, develop in those ways. I think a lot of people kind of skip some phases and go from like, oh, I just started DJing to oh now I'm throwing my own event, which I think is great, but like learn how to really DJ. Um, yo, DJs, where your headphones, you know what I mean? Like just I could go down that line like a whole bunch. The point being that the music is like it's a tool that I think is being heavily misused by a lot of people. I'm sorry, I just think I don't mean to like call out like certain specific artists, but I think there's just certain songs that these DJs play every single event that are just like, oh man, so degrading to our like culture and and like our prosperity or lack thereof. Not because we can't have fun and like listen to different things that say whatever, but I feel like sometimes people just like underestimate the the subconscious effect that these songs and like we get deep into it, like chants, mantras, whatever you want to call it, spirituals, you know what I'm saying? Right? Yes, like when you hear how we sing certain songs, when they come on in the club, like it it almost starts to give.

SPEAKER_00 27:08

Yeah, it's done something to us, it's supposed to be a spiritual thing.

SPEAKER_02 27:12

Um, I think in many cases it's all good and fun. Um, but I think that the music that we heavily rely on is actually it's just reinforcing some things that when you actually look at the culture, it's like, oh, well, maybe there is some kind of connection between these two. I don't know. So I just try to put a little less emphasis there. When you come to Black Soul Summer events, yo, we're not playing that like top 40 hip-hop rap stuff. Like, hey, you might hear some remixes of it, some edits, and like you're gonna get familiar like with the vibes, but we're constantly trying to like expose black folks to uh the the plethora of black dance music, not because I'm trying to be a music educator, but again because I'm trying to help people open up their systems a little bit. Right when you can't have fun at a party until this particular song is played, you you you dampen in your own experience. You know what I'm saying? A DJ is supposed to, when you go when you pay money to go out to an event with a professional DJ, they're supposed to like put you onto some stuff that you're not hip to. Not just because they want you to know the song, but because that's the part of the experience of you learning and being open to something new. And that's what I think is a very simple concept of how you can impact people on a dance floor. You come to Black Soul Summer, you could be there for three, four hours, and people are gonna be dancing the whole time, but you're not gonna necessarily be hearing that same kind of playlist that I talk about sometimes. We're allowing people to have fun with stuff that they're not even fully familiar with.

SPEAKER_01 28:55

Exactly.

SPEAKER_02 28:56

And although it's just dancing in that moment, I do believe that it has an impact more on their experience outside of that room. They are a little more open to just receiving good things that should be coming their way without you having to have this wall or defense up like you already know what's good for you. Because we all we all know.

SPEAKER_00 29:17

We know we don't want to own that person that likes to be on the wall and know what's good for them. Okay, so thank you, Tosh, for expanding because you need to know that you are that guy. Don't forget that, okay? When it comes to DJing. And speaking of which, I saw you did a competition.

SPEAKER_02 29:33

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 29:33

Now, did you feel like Q from Juice when you did it?

SPEAKER_02 29:36

Oh, I wasn't actually in it. So, Sync Production Group in Black Soul Summer, we uh helped the Chamber 215 as their event producers create the Chamber 215 event. It was really awesome. We had two events. The first one was a preliminary with 14 DJs who came out. Wow, that's amazing. We all got to compete, and then we boiled that down to four. Okay. There was like a whole voting system with judges, and then the crowd got to participate. Um, and then we had the finale at Franklin Music Hall this past Friday, where the top four competed, and then DJ Donwill was chosen as the winner uh in the end. So shoutouts to him and congratulations. Let's do it. Um and I I will I want to go back for a second. I'll come back to the chamber 215. That like um when we talk about like knowing it all sometimes, like that attitude of like, oh, I know what the DJ should be playing. I'm not saying this as totality, right? It's it's a reflection of you and other spaces in your life. The more you know, the more you realize you don't know. That's at least been my experience.

SPEAKER_00 30:49

You know what my dad used to say you're so smart, you stupid.

SPEAKER_02 30:51

So I'm saying it'd be like it, like the more we learn, the more we're learning, we should be learning things that or learning of things that we do not know about. Exactly, you know. Um, and I think a lot of people get stuck in this. Oh, I'm 25, I'm 30, I know who I am and all my likes and dislikes. And I'm not saying you don't have that, you do have an identity, but I think sometimes we get a little like locked into that. And so sometimes folks when they want to be requesting songs in the million. It's like, what do you like? What do you think we doing?

SPEAKER_01 31:29

Right.

SPEAKER_02 31:29

So to just bring that back to the chamber 215, like um, you know, like DJ battles, especially in this city, like that's it could kind of be like a controversial thing. There are some that exist, but you don't really see them on any kind of scale because there's a lot of competition, there's a lot, or or I should say there's a lot of egos. Competition is okay, but ego is what makes competition not great. Um, competition should make people better. And so I think there were a lot of folks who initially were like, you know, they saw it, but they just felt like they knew, you know, what this was gonna be or whatever. And in the end, I think they feel like they missed out a little bit. You know, Don Will, he walked. I think, oh yeah, I could say this because it happened. Don Will walked away with two two G's. Nice, nice plaque. He got consultation from this like professional DJ group, and so there were a lot of folks that we had to, you know, talk through, at least initially, to like let them know what our idea was, what we were doing. And that's part of the process when you're starting something new. But um if anything, there was a lot of people who kind of had these preconceived notions about what it may or may not be. Uh, but now they know. They know. They at least will they, you know, so going into next year, uh expect that event to just get bigger and better.

SPEAKER_00 32:48

It's going to get bigger and better, Taj. You know this. You know this. What do you mean, DJ Damage? Because DJ Damage told you how to DJ freshman year. He saw your situation, was like, ah, I don't know about that, brother.

SPEAKER_02 33:01

No, he definitely got me right. Yeah, how was that experience? He got me right pretty quick. Like uh, um, like I said, I got that equipment, like my first couple of months being at Temple. And DJ damage at the time. He was on the radio, like he was doing the clubs in Philly, like he was already one of the bigger, if not, yeah, you know, the Diamond Cuts was around too at the time, a couple other folks, but he was like one of the biggest DJs in the city already. Um, and he went to Temple. And wow. I mean, again, this was over 16 years ago. But I'm trying to remember who actually connected us because some it was a common friend that we had. I'm gonna remember who this person was, but they they basically said, hey, like, I know DJ Damage, and either she had told me, told her, told him about me, or or he had asked her about me, or one of the other, because I'd already been doing a couple of events. Um, and yeah, we ended up connecting. He came to my dorm. Melvin was there, sitting right next to me, right? And I had this little board that I just didn't even know, I had no idea what I was doing, really. Like, I just had all the music, I had the equipment, I was just like rocking. I already did a couple parties just like that. And he came through, he did, and it was just funny, I'll never forget this. Like, he was like, What is this? And I told him what it was called or whatever, and he was like, he was like, Oh, let me master this real quick. And he just got on there and he just started doing shit like this with his hands, and it just started making noises and sounds that I had never heard before. I was like, yo, like what is what is even going on here? And he did, yo, he kicked it with me for like a couple hours that day, and he was just like taking me through some like real basic uh techniques to just like you know, take it from playing songs to actually DJing. Uh and yeah, I mean, fast forward, I just saw him not too long ago up here at Roots Picnic, but you know, DJ Damage, he's come and played the all of block party.

SPEAKER_00 35:12

Yes, yes.

SPEAKER_02 35:13

He actually did the last one that we had at Sunflower Philly, he was there for that. And you know, we still keep in touch lightly, but you know, he's he's a DJ rock star, you know, and I've just been blessed by a lot of old, oh, you know, uh older DJs, more experienced DJs in my time who've you know shown me a lot of love, and um he was definitely one of the first to like really put me on the how to get it get right.

SPEAKER_00 35:40

You like that now. From that experience, man, do you do try those different techniques that he did teach you? Like, did you like was you like a young boy that was like, I don't know about that though?

SPEAKER_02 35:50

All the basic stuff I took, DJ Damage because he can really like scratch, okay. Like he can do all types of crazy stuff, make that shit, make all types of different noises and things that I I've not gotten to that level. No, I wish I did. If I had started practicing like that part for real, for real, uh uh all those years ago. I probably who knows where I might have been right now, but again, I was always kind of like respecting the craft and like making sure I knew how to like hold down the fundamentals. But like once I knew that part, I was like, all right, well, there's still a bigger mission here. Yeah, you know, I don't think I've got so much time for all this stuff, you know.

SPEAKER_00 36:28

But we're gonna get there, Taj. Come on. Like, come on, Taj. You about to get into a game. We're gonna let you chill for a little bit.

SPEAKER_02 36:36

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 36:36

We're gonna get into a game. It's called first thought, okay? I'm gonna ask you questions.

SPEAKER_02 36:40

Oh man, first. First one be crazy sometimes.

SPEAKER_00 36:45

Boom. Just just sit back.

unknown 36:46

Just be cute.

SPEAKER_02 36:47

Filter it.

SPEAKER_00 36:48

Boom. Boston or Philly, best crowd. And it gotta be raping higher. That's a tough one.

SPEAKER_02 36:58

Philly.

SPEAKER_00 36:58

Philly, cool. Okay. Beijing roots, best Caribbean dish, no debate.

SPEAKER_02 37:07

I mean, you gotta get like some like some fish fresh, like fresh out the joint. Like, I'm probably gonna go. I'm always a snapper person. Like, I just that's just what I go for. Okay. The rice and peas, you gotta have it.

SPEAKER_00 37:18

I like that. Reggae dance hall or hip hop to open the set.

SPEAKER_02 37:23

Oh, I would go reggae every time. When it's appropriate, you gotta just why not?

unknown 37:28

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 37:28

You always get back to the hip hop.

SPEAKER_00 37:30

Ooh. DJ damage, DJ Sega, Sega, or Matthew Law on the ones and twos.

SPEAKER_02 37:36

Whoa.

SPEAKER_00 37:36

Whoa. Whoa, my boy.

SPEAKER_02 37:43

Um, all right. Well, if I had to choose based on just like my current preference of how I like to party. Like if I was in a dance, like a dance space, I'd probably say Matt Law. I think DJ Sega has his specialty, which is essentially playing the music he's produced, which is legendary, but it's his music for the most part that he's gonna play. DJ Damage, amazing DJ technically, and more technical than the other two, but he's still, I think, a little more in the hip-hop space. Yeah, which I still love and appreciate, but Matt Law got that mix.

SPEAKER_00 38:14

Okay, okay. Carlisle, because I messed up the first time, okay. Carlisle Monument or Bouvier, favorite temple block.

SPEAKER_02 38:23

Oh, the monument.

SPEAKER_00 38:24

And Bouvier, I heard, you know, we had to hear wrecking them at the so you sure? Now think about this. Think about what you finna say.

SPEAKER_02 38:31

This is true.

SPEAKER_00 38:32

Think about what you about to say.

SPEAKER_02 38:33

She actually went by a different name at the time. Uh that block party was set up to be the best one ever. So think about it, but it got rained out.

SPEAKER_00 38:45

Ooh.

SPEAKER_02 38:46

So, you know, if it was supposed to be from 12 to 8, I think it was around like 3:30. It was around like 3:30 where the rain just came down so bad. Like, we we had to cut it. Like, it just wasn't gonna work. So the monument one was crazy.

SPEAKER_00 39:01

The monument was crazy, okay. All right. Two suitcases and a rental were worth it, yes or no?

SPEAKER_02 39:13

I don't know, you know, like I would say yes. That's how I came back to Philly. I had graduated and then I went home for a little bit, and I was doing stuff up there corporate career-wise, and you know, in the community. But it just still wasn't really working out my situation. Mel was here, uh, the homie Shaq was here, all my homies was here. Like, I still had homies in Boston, but like the people I felt like I could do some business with were here. Uh so yeah, I packed, I only had two suitcases worth of shit in that rental car, and I drove back here and I was like, you know what? I'm staying. And then we just figured it out.

SPEAKER_00 39:55

Summer or fall?

SPEAKER_02 40:00

I'm gonna go summer.

SPEAKER_00 40:01

Summer? Okay. Asher Roth underrated or exactly rated? Wait, hold on, what are my options? So is Asher Roth, is Asher Roth underrated or exactly rated?

SPEAKER_02 40:15

Underrated.

SPEAKER_00 40:15

Underrated?

SPEAKER_02 40:16

It's crazy to say, but he's really one of the like better, like, like more uh intuitive, like real skilled hip-hop lyricist, I I believe. I don't know if he's ever people know him for that like cheesy stuff that he became extremely popular for, but that man can really spit and um like speak to people.

SPEAKER_00 40:41

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 40:59

I would say ticketed event at this point because I realize that doing free stuff, although I would like to have that be provided, there is a res we have collective responsibility. Yeah, and so we have to, instead of us spending our money with every other type of person on this earth possible besides us, no, we actually need to bring it in. We be funding here. And that's not the main funding option. We're still gonna work some other things. But by people having a buy-in to the event, that helps us ensure that really no matter what, we're always gonna be able to have this event. As soon as we gotta rely on X, Y, and Z corporate sponsor, PWI institution to fund this for us, they change their mind like the win.

SPEAKER_00 41:45

Yes, they do. Okay. The artist you booked early who blew up the biggest? The artist you booked early who blew up the biggest.

SPEAKER_02 41:57

That's an interesting question. Damn, there's been a there's been a lot. Um Well again, the tearwack example doesn't really get to that's pretty much the one, but that that didn't even happen because she didn't get to perform that day. So I don't know if if that one technically counts, but um they were already big before we booked them. But I'd probably say the the biggest act I've worked with for real, for real, is probably DJ Active. Like if you're talking about Philadelphia, like that man be traveling all over the world with some of literally the biggest artists ever who consider him like literal family. Um so shout outs to him. I know he gets his respect, but like sometimes I feel like Philly doesn't like like we do, it's like, oh DJ Active, like respect OG, but it's like nah, like what he's doing is really amazing. And like it's that type of thing where it's like, oh, he's like the only person on this earth who has those, that network of relationships like that. So I got a lot of respect for him.

SPEAKER_00 43:05

That's dope. That's dope. One word for Black Soul Summer.

SPEAKER_02 43:11

Power.

SPEAKER_00 43:12

Come on. I like that.

SPEAKER_02 43:15

We gotta take that back a little bit, you know. We've given so much away. We've given so much away. And I got some, you know, thoughts about you know how we reflect on our struggle as a people. We do a lot of finger pointing outward, um, and we really need to hold that mirror up. Uh not to say, oh, this is all our fault, or you know, that there isn't some blame to place elsewhere. But like, where's the responsibility and how we correct this? And Black Soul Summer was really just like it in many different ways, it it's had some, it's had multiple initiatives, but it was really to like remind. Event organizers who are literally bringing people together that, like, yo, you need to reclaim some more ownership of your process behind that. Because it is very powerful having that ability to bring people together. But if you sell if you're using platforms that are just selling off your data to the next PWI, that's having an inverse effect on our, you know, larger uh independent black industries as a whole.

unknown 44:27

Cool.

SPEAKER_00 44:28

That's the end of the game. We loved your answers, by the way.

SPEAKER_02 44:31

They weren't really one-word answers.

SPEAKER_00 44:33

It's okay. You love it. I thought I had to elaborate. Yeah, we love your liberation.

SPEAKER_02 44:37

Because some of those you were gonna get me in trouble with that DJ one. Edit that one out. Yeah, I know. That was a little tough.

SPEAKER_00 44:43

That was a little tougher, I know.

SPEAKER_02 44:44

That was gonna get me caught up.

SPEAKER_00 44:47

So we're gonna talk about the two suitcases. Okay. You coming back to Philly.

SPEAKER_02 44:51

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 44:51

Okay, and that was from 2014 to 2016. Yeah. What were you betting on in that moment?

SPEAKER_02 44:58

Uh, just that, like, I kind of saw in Boston that my option was really like only the corporate route, which was like cool, but it was like, nah, like, what am I about to do? Like this for the rest of my life. Um, I had a lot of faith in a little cocky, like myself. I just knew, like, oh, I'm gonna make something happen. And to this day, like, what that something is, is in the eyes of the beholder, I guess. Some days I could be probably a little more appreciative of what I have been able to accomplish. Yes. Um, and not always kind of looking down the road to the next thing. But in that moment, I knew like I was kind of in a desperate place, battling like some depression, and not even some, like some severe. Like, I was doing some real bad drinking uh post-college. Uh just trying to figure out that world. You know, I'm living home with my parents, going to this convention center that I work at, you know, every day, driving through feet of snow. Um, I was doing okay, like I guess circumstance-wise, but I wasn't, I was really unhappy. Yeah, I feel like just because I didn't feel like I could uh like create at the way I wanted to. And so, yeah, coming back to Philly, it wasn't really even a question.

SPEAKER_00 46:24

Like, you were just betting on yourself and your power, like, you know, your credit and just getting back to yourself.

SPEAKER_02 46:30

I basically told Mel, I was like, yo, if I move back, like we gotta start a business. And he was like, all right, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 46:36

And look at y'all, see?

SPEAKER_02 46:38

And then I did it, and then he was like, I like knocked on his door one day. I'm like, I'm here. And sure enough, like, you know, this we we had a few initially that didn't work out. Uh and we had to pivot and take breaks at times. Um, but we've stayed pretty connected through all of it, and yeah, there's a lot to be proud of all these years later.

SPEAKER_00 47:01

Yes. Okay. You and Melvin started 91 Republic, okay, to keep the soul for out mission going, but connect artists across the cities. Now, why did Philly have to be the home base?

SPEAKER_02 47:17

It was the home base because I already knew a lot of artists. Like a part of my DJ career at the time that I really took a lot of pride in was I would DJ for a lot of artists, their shows and stuff. And at the time in Philly, you know, there was local shows going on all the time, and like good ones, not like respectfully, there's some showcases we can walk into now where you might be one of few people, right? And there'd be, and everybody else be the artists or something. Right. Yeah. You know, like, um, which is still cool. I still respect that. Like, I we gotta work our way up. But at the time in Philly, you know, 2009 or 2013, you know, even beyond that, like there was a lot of there was a lot more independent music venues, yeah. And there were a lot more like organizers who would throw in like actual, like decent shows. So you could go to a random show Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday night of the week, um, and actually feel like you were at a concert, like for a local concert. Um you know, we kind of got away from that as of I think recently. A lot of the times we want to go to show, you gotta go to a live nation venue. Yeah. Which I don't even need to spend the time listing all those, but really what you start to look around is like most of these music venues in Philadelphia now are not independently owned anymore. They're owned by corporate entities that are not from Philly. So they not, they might have a black person in a space or two, but generally speaking, you're dealing with corporate entities that are really trying to not necessarily cultivate local culture and talent. They're trying to bring whatever's gonna make them the most money.

SPEAKER_00 48:54

Yeah, I was about to say, yeah, so it's all about the money for them, other than it is, and it's like they that's I mean, hey, it's America.

SPEAKER_02 49:02

But you know, this was the birthplace because I had already worked with like a whole bunch of artists on the like show side of it. So I toured with one or two artists, not like anything major, but like just doing some shows within a several shows in a small amount of time, and um yeah, the 91 Republic thing. It didn't last long, maybe a little over a year, but we were trying to build more of a bridge between a group that was going to produce local shows and have touring talent be a part of those experiences, so it still felt like he was getting this homegrown thing, but it was still professional, um, but also managing artists as well during that process. So there was too many things going on and managing artists, shoutouts to all the people who do that. That I don't think I'll ever do that again, unless somebody like really begged me and I like loved them, but I can't think of an example.

SPEAKER_00 50:06

Nobody? You sure?

SPEAKER_02 50:08

Just maybe one.

SPEAKER_00 50:09

Maybe one.

SPEAKER_02 50:10

Okay, yo, Neptune 21. If you asked me to manage you, I would highly consider it. But I don't think she would. She she needs somebody like who is in there already. You know what I mean? She needs like an official drone, you know.

SPEAKER_00 50:24

I see what you're saying. But if it was a yeah, you should be like, you know, wow, let's do this, let's get you in this room. Like, yeah, you still got it, you still got it.

SPEAKER_02 50:32

Otherwise, it's enough tough. Yeah.

unknown 50:36

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 50:36

Love y'all, but nah.

SPEAKER_00 50:38

Okay, so you had the first all up block parking in 2017 on 17th from Randolph, and you had the names of Asher Ross, Michael Christmas, Marcella Cruz, and the late China Rogers. Shout out to China and Rest in Peace, my love. And they all came and killed it. Now this started as a free festival, but it felt like a real one. Now, when you saw what was actually going on in front of you and seeing what you built, what was that experience like?

SPEAKER_02 51:02

Yeah, it was definitely different. And yeah, shout out to China Rogers. I mean, um amazing. I just went to this uh we had an event, United We Heel uh film festival that we partnered with, and they had a pre-concert where uh Jungle Pussy was one of the performers. I don't know if y'all know her.

SPEAKER_00 51:20

She's dope, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 51:22

That was my first time seeing her perform live, but she performed a song that she did with uh Chyna Rogers, you know, obviously back back some time ago. And you know, she gave just praise to her. And yeah, um there's this video that we have of her, and she's like doing a drop for the block party. And she was just so like hyped to be there and like just supportive. And we we really didn't even know each other at the time. Um, that was like really our first time like connected for real. Uh so I think about that and just like all the people who've like been a part of this experience over this last uh eight year, eight or nine years. Um yeah, the first one, like, you know, Melvin and I, we knew kind of how to throw the block parties. We had the event management space together, and we knew the local like community. There was a lot of people on that lineup. Marcella Cruz, she came down from Boston. Um, but then Asher was, you know, really supposed to, he was the host. And he wanted to invite some of his homies. So Michael Christmas coming down from Boston, uh uh Chuck English being there. Like that was really a collaborative effort to you know give the city like a block party experience in Philly that felt like a day in the backyard, but also like uh like uh like a like a real thing. Yeah, you know what I mean? It was crazy is groups like GoPuff, like that the app we all use now. It wasn't even an app at the time. Like that was well, I mean they had just launched it, you know what I'm saying? Like, so they were brand new, not even a year in. They were one of our sponsors. Uh there was a lot going on that day, you know.

SPEAKER_00 53:09

But um did it feel like old times though?

SPEAKER_02 53:12

Like when you had your first, like very first block party before it became all love, like how Yeah, it was hot as shit, and people was just like we couldn't even breathe out there, but it it did feel like uh, you know, what I had done at Temple, but it we know we had taken a step further with it, um, and just incorporated more people and um you know the free element too obviously gives people a level of inspiration to attend, but then they also feel like, oh, this is cool because it's free and all this stuff is happening because they got a really cool show for free. Right um, and we kept it for free as long as we could, but again, as you mature just economic-wise, like you gotta uh you gotta understand the implications of what free has. They don't mean less money from hey, I ain't getting hey, I am I am not getting rich out here off of this. I just want to make that very clear. That is not the case. I promise you. Ask the tax lady. But what people may perceive as like some kind of profit to me or whatever the organization um for charging a ticket for the event. The the again it's it goes more to the self-sustenance of the event experience, so that you know, the whole point of Black Soul Summer All Love Block Party is that we can do this for each other no matter what.

SPEAKER_01 54:38

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 54:38

Um so I know that was a workaround, but uh I'm just grateful for it all. Shout out to the Tex Lady So yo yo, if you were doing yo, if you were doing business out here, I don't care, you collecting any anybody, anybody hit you with the WG, yo, make sure you got an LLC or whatever it is, yo, get a tax person. I'm gonna try. It will come for you. Make sure your taxes are you, yo. And don't think that because they paid you in full on that invoice, that that's all your bread. It's coming to your pocket initially, but you need to have a separate account where you take a nice little chunk. And it's a chunk, it's not even like a little slither, you know what I'm saying? Like you better get used to that process. And every time they pay that invoice in full to you, and you feeling real good because your business has, you know, received uh uh it's not a debit, that's a that's a deposit. We love that. Make sure you cut out that, I think about 30%. I'm talking about you gotta get that tax lady.

SPEAKER_00 55:51

Oh, get that text lady, y'all. We need therapy and our text is done correctly.

SPEAKER_02 55:57

Boom. Agreed.

SPEAKER_00 55:58

Blake So Summer. Yes, so Blake So started Blake So Summer started with DJ Nedge. Shout out to my girl, DJ Nage. I didn't know that. Okay. And as you say, like certain videos didn't represent us, you know, our people. So how was it hard to say that out loud? I'm sure it wasn't a gintage. We always do for the people. But was it was it somewhat hard to say that out loud?

SPEAKER_02 56:22

Uh so you're talking about the place Sunflower Philly, and Mel at the time, he was like the executive director there or something. So they were doing all these events, but I quickly realized, like, yo, you got this spot in North Philly, and these events, they play in hip-hop and things like that. But when I show up here, I'm looking around and I'm like, oh shit, this is very black around here, you know. And I'm not expecting it to be all black, but I'm just saying that there was a clear, uh, I think uh that area was changing pretty quickly, and like, you know, people who were part of the gentrification process were finding their home there at Sunflower Philly, which was cool. But I was like, nah, I need give me like six dates on the calendar for across the summer, and I'm gonna connect with other black organizers, and we're gonna host and have events here.

SPEAKER_01 57:09

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 57:10

Um, to you know, bring some balance to our our our population, attendance and population here, right? Um, and so Nash happened to be one of those people who I reached out to, and you know, she was doing international bounce, which has yeah, been around for a minute now. I remember she's celebrating, she gotta be close to coming up on 10 because this was before. Am I tripping? When was the first one? But this is the Dream Teen Festival that we created there, and that's the first one that we had at uh Sunflower, Sun Sunflower at the Philly at the time. Um, and then yeah, you know, after we had you know Dream Teen Fest, we had already had the Olive Block Party there for a couple of years. Um, you know, there was some other event organizers stocked up. Um Sibby Liv, uh, who had an event there, uh Bobby Flowers had an event there. You know, we we tried as much as we could to connect with whoever was creating space somewhere else. We were like, nah, come do a special event here. Um and in the process of that, it was it just became clear to me. I'm like, okay, well, I should, you know, really look to make Black Soul Summer um, you know, something that people can connect with all throughout the year or all throughout the summer at the time. But more importantly, instead of just like, oh, here's three festivals that you can go party and shake your ass at, it was no, it was an economic move. I'm getting on some game here right now. Yo, collaborations are the easiest way to get bread, bro. Like, it's not even really like a question. People just think they could just go make money, like, do you and make your money, but like, oh, like you realize that hey, your business needs other parts of your ecosystem. And then if you put those other pieces in place, you'll make more money.

SPEAKER_00 58:57

But hey, somebody else look at my ecosystem. I love y'all.

SPEAKER_02 59:00

See, in the midst of you making more money, guess what? Somebody else makes more money too, and that's what throws some people off sometimes. They're like, oh my god, like, oh, you get to get a little better too. For some reason, with black folks, we can get a little sour there.

SPEAKER_00 59:16

Yep. Talk about it.

SPEAKER_02 59:18

Come on, which is just kind of confusing to me because you would think, like, oh, well, this person helped me. It would only make sense that we need to help, yeah. Gonna be some exchange here of some sort. Um, so really, with that ecosystem, we really wanted people to uh have events that they could attend, but more so it gave us more negotiating and uh negotiating power and leverage with any corporate sponsors we were dealing with. Because if we weren't just acting as an individual in this one brand with me and my homies, we were acting as this like coalition of actual event organizers who represent different spaces, different communities, different age groups, but we're all bought in on this one concept and we're presenting this to you as a unit. So, no, you're not just gonna be writing your little check for this and your little check for that. Now we need that big ass check that's gonna be split amongst us. And so that was really some of the early concepts of Black Soul Summer and how we were able to, you know, launch the event because you know, we were really invested into the collaborative effort, and we still are to this day. It just looks a little different, more so based around the platform, where we're making sure that people are really having uh not just full ownership over their data and their customer and supporter data, but uh that they're retaining more of their actual funds that they generate as opposed to paying out these fees astronomically to I'm just gonna keep saying PWIs because we we that's mostly what it is.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:52

It's okay. Now, you see how you broke that process down, we talk about economic growth, we talk about you know collective responsibility and how we need to come together. Now, how did you develop that way of thinking and put it into your business? Like, who taught you this? And we talk about your dad a lot. If he was the reason, talk about that.

SPEAKER_02 1:01:10

Yeah, like I had a real interesting like upbringing. My mom and dad, they were uh like uh uh psychological clinicians in spaces. My dad was more in the like Islamic, like the minister side, my mom more in the uh like clinical hospital space, prison space, like she jumped around a little bit.

SPEAKER_01 1:01:34

Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_02 1:01:35

Um, but then they were also uh like uh relationship counselors together.

SPEAKER_01 1:01:40

Really?

SPEAKER_02 1:01:41

Yeah. Um so they would have they couple, they counseled, you know, individuals, couples, families, and they would have these like group sessions as well. Um so although they had that uh like clinical experience, they were also just very rooted in like their uh like spiritual practice as well, and how that those two things were connected in in developing your relationship with yourself um and with others. Uh so you know Kwanza was like a thing in my house, like they were definitely celebrating Kwanzaa, like yeah, they still wrote out the Christmas tree line, got a couple gifts, but like Kwanza was the thing where it was like I that was the one where it was like, oh, we're going to this, we're going to that, we're going to this. Okay. You know, it's seven days long, and it's like there's a different event each day. And so when you when you go through some of the principles of Kwanzaa, um, you know, some very like key elements there, and it's like, I'm not asking but anybody like from a religious standpoint or even like cultural standpoint to like celebrate Kwanzaa. I'm saying, yo, bruh had a point in terms of some of those uh uh uh principles that he felt like we really needed to embody a little bit more. So it obviously starts out with umoja unity, which we talk about how black people need to come together all the time. Um what really resonated for me was like the the uh collective work and responsibility, cooperative economics, like those are things that have been kind of instilled in me since a youngin'. Um and I've always kind of like operated in that space of just like all right, like people go around saying like me and I a lot. And that's probably the right way to refer to yourself, or whatever your pronouns are. But me, I say we a lot. We um that's kind of like on some spiritual ancestral side where I feel like the ancestors are you know behind me and with me. And so, like when I'm saying we, like I'm I'm talking about people who ain't even here no more, but who's still with me. But then I'm also talking about like yo, like the moves that I make are not for me, like we're just moving for us, like as a group. So, you know, that foundation, I'm very blessed to have the parents that I did. Um but I must have got, they always say, like, I must have chosen them for a reason, you know. Like I came here to like do something that would open folks' eyes a little bit more to the pivot that we would have to make socially and culturally and psychologically, uh in my belief to improve our relationships within ourselves but also with each other, that would then allow us to progress socioeconomically in this country and world.

SPEAKER_00 1:04:47

Oh, this car, this card is expensive. Oh, okay. Okay, all right, so Black Soul Summer, as we know, yes, know it reclaims black outdoor event spaces, okay? So what are we reclaiming from or who? And you can get deep with it.

SPEAKER_02 1:05:06

Uh well, we gotta be realistic that a lot of the spaces that we use or have access to in Philadelphia are not black owned.

SPEAKER_01 1:05:12

Right.

SPEAKER_02 1:05:12

And then when you even talk about black owned, like there's layers to that, you know what I mean? I always try to say, black, we saying the phrase black owned is not enough. We gotta we gotta, it's gotta be black on black or black owned, you know? Which to some people is like, okay, we what does that even mean? You're just saying the same word over and over. No, what it means is that a lot of the times even the businesses that we do own are still heavily reliant on PWIs to or not even, I won't even say PWIs because I think we also have a lot of Asian influence um in the ownership of the foundation or manufacturing and distribution of the businesses that we tend to, and we have all different types of businesses as black people, but we want to go a little bit further into understanding. And like, you know, there's layers to that ownership and what is says on the front door. Hey, who owns the actual building? Who owns the land underneath it? Just questions that we gotta ask a little bit more. So I'm sorry, what was your original question?

SPEAKER_00 1:06:16

Hold on. What are we reclaiming? Like from what or from who? And what do you feel like I taking back?

SPEAKER_02 1:06:24

Or what you're taking back. The reclaiming is is a little more on the it's kind of hard to like get people to believe something that they can't like physically see or trust. But black people, we got a lot of faith in stuff. We do. And I ain't even trying to go down that path. But we do have a lot of faith in things that we can't see. So it's always wondering to me like why this one can't be something that we can get a little bit more behind. Um but the the the reclaiming is a little bit more of our like knowledge of self. Yes. That's the that's the part we gotta reclaim first. We our our whole concept of who we are, what year it is, a lot of these things have really uh been thrown off and intentionally miseducated to us and to other people. Um my dad would say that other people like actually know more about us than we really know about our own history, um, and that's why they're so uh eager to make sure that we don't have access to things that would allow us to really learn more about that. Um but we have really fallen a long way in terms of systems and structures that we've had pre-years of even enslavement that were self-sustaining and independent. And if you bring it back to this day, it'd be like, oh, that was so long ago. It's like, no, other cultures of people right here in this country who came here much later, actually, in many cases, than black people did. No, they might not have all the same history and all the crap that we got going on, Jim Crow and all that. Um, we can get to that, but it's like, no, other people are creating more independent systems of economic structure here. Yes. Um, and so reclaiming is just to know like what we're actually capable of. That, oh, we don't need this entity in order for our things to be successful. We should know more about what we've created in the past to know that we're able to create pretty much anything that we want as long as we work together and treat each other as our greatest resource, which we've been heavily, you know, uh uh groomed to be at odds with each other for whatever different reason. So we got to reclaim that knowledge itself, and in doing so, hey, maybe we can start to reclaim some of our love for real, for real, for each other.

SPEAKER_01 1:09:00

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 1:09:01

Not just because we're cool and our hair is so nice and our clothes are fly. People, they we we kind of start to fetish ourselves too sometimes, you know. We like the we like the we also contribute to like, oh, we love the entertainment factor of black people, but we way deeper than that in many cases. So we can really start to love each other from one another. That's when we can start to get back to again this economic battle that I don't think a lot of people really understand how deep it really goes. And I know we all I know we whatever we are on time, but I gotta speak on that for a second. You know, I see people like, you know, you go to like certain venues or whatever that might frequent with like black folks, and they'll, you know, they they'll be there and they'll they'll they'll just be flossing, you know. And I'm like, y'all be fly, y'all pull up with your nice car, your chains, whatever you get, nice little bag. But when we really start to look at the black ex uh socioeconomic structure in America, we struggle in many financial categories.

SPEAKER_00 1:10:09

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 1:10:10

I I don't know how many I should list right now, but you know, let's just say things like debt to income ratio, uh, credit score, just some minor things that actually play a big role in actually you owning any kind of real estate or anything else of value in this country. Um and so I get that yes, there are some of us who actually are making money, but what we don't understand is that, like, yo, you can only make so much money as an individual. And if your money is all tied up into systems that are owned by other people, then you're you're really compromised in the long run. Versus taking the time to be a little more honest that we this this rebuild is gonna take some tough conversations with people to understand that hey, just trying to be a capitalist and make as much bread as you can is not what's gonna help us collectively. Right.

SPEAKER_00 1:11:08

Oh, yeah, you woke that up. See, that's what we needed. Yeah, that's what we needed, though. Yeah. Okay. You pour a lot into the city constantly. Don't don't shy away from that because you like to be a little too humble for me. So don't shy away from that.

SPEAKER_02 1:11:23

I'm gonna work on work on it.

SPEAKER_00 1:11:25

Now, who pours into you? How do you keep your cup full?

SPEAKER_02 1:11:30

Oh, y'all went into that was a question. I say bring out the juicy ones.

SPEAKER_00 1:11:34

Yeah, damn. Yeah, who pours into you, Saj?

SPEAKER_02 1:11:38

Yo, shout outs to my sister. Um, yeah, her name's Sandra. Hey girl, then no, hey Sandra, she's a she's an all-love block party girl. She didn't come this past year, but she'll be back again. Um Sandra just went through like an emergency life-threatening surgery. It's been probably like six weeks ago now. Now she's finally back home. But she was out of her house for almost six weeks between the hospital rehab space. And I think she'd be okay with me sharing that because you know, life happens. Um, that said, man, I definitely had some moments where I was thinking about her and I was just like, damn, you know, she's really been like, you know, besides my dad at the, you know, when he was here, like she'd been like my biggest fan for 35 years. Um so she always calling me every day and just want to know what's going on, and just like, I don't know, she never, like, she maybe she's been annoyed with me, but she never really been like mad at me, you know? Like she just kind of, and if she ever was mad at me, she was like not the next day, you know?

SPEAKER_00 1:12:39

Like she loves you, Taj. That's because I'm the youngest. I got a little brother, I give it all.

SPEAKER_02 1:12:48

So yeah, you know, like I don't necessarily like seek a lot of and that's why we said earlier, like, oh, sometimes a little too humble. Like, I don't necessarily seek like a lot of outside validation. Although you do want certain validation from people that you care about. So sometimes there's you know, people might be a little closer to you who maybe aren't validating, and so that might sting a little bit more. Um but I don't really seek outside validation, like you know, uh the greatest way I've been able to like, you know, um like pour into myself has been like my own self-discipline. Okay, the more self-disciplined I am, like the more at peace and happier I am.

SPEAKER_00 1:13:45

You don't like you don't want to go with a a massage or nothing?

SPEAKER_02 1:13:48

No, no, no, that goes in care days. That's that should be that's part of the self-discipline.

SPEAKER_00 1:13:53

Well that right, like oh you discipline yourself and taking care of yourself as well.

SPEAKER_02 1:13:56

Well, that should be a part of it. Yes, you know, my part of the self-discipline is also maintaining some self-love routine and regimen when I'm not being as disciplined, right? I'll just, you know, I I stray away from now, I'll be eating now, I'll be just working straight, like, not you know, maybe self-isolating sometimes from people.

SPEAKER_00 1:14:19

Um Wow, I thought it was just me as a creative. I do that, I believe.

SPEAKER_02 1:14:23

That's why I like sticking. It's not routine, is one word. Um, but as an entrepreneur, your roots, you know, you although as regimen as your routine might want to be, it because you every day could be a little different depending on the work, um, especially when you're on the go. And so uh the self-discipline really comes in where it's like, hey, no matter what's going on around, I'm still doing these things. Uh and hey, I mean, uh praise and appreciation is is always really welcome, but I can't even receive that when I'm not like feeling good internally. People give me compliments sometimes, and it's it is, it's kind of like if I'm not feeling good on the inside and somebody's telling me how they feel, you can't breathe it.

SPEAKER_00 1:15:11

I feel you.

SPEAKER_02 1:15:12

It'd be tough. It does, and then sometimes be like, oh, he's an asshole because he didn't like it. And I'm like, nah, I didn't mean it like that. I'm just like I'm actually like a little nervous here. Not nervous, I don't know what the feeling actually comes over, but there's been people who pull me aside and like really, you know, express their gratitude in different ways. And um I try to get better at receiving that, but it's like not something I can, it's through my self-discipline, which includes my self-love practice, that then I'm allowed to like really receive those things.

SPEAKER_00 1:15:44

Okay, make sure you get your massages, Taj.

SPEAKER_02 1:15:47

You deserve.

SPEAKER_00 1:15:48

So when they tell the story of Brother Taj, right? Which and what you built in Philly, long after the music stops, what do you want the headline to be?

SPEAKER_02 1:15:57

You know, I was just talking to somebody about this earlier where they was, it was a friend of mine, they was just saying, like, hey, well, hey, you've already kind of accomplished like they were like, Oh, what do you want from this? And then I'm like, they're like, oh, haven't you kind of done that already? And it's again, it's it's sometimes about the scale. Um, but like for me, it's like when I leave here, whatever that day is, like, I really hope that I created something that helps other black folks not just get money, but really address that internal relationship with themselves, the relationship with their people and their community around them. And I think Black Soul Summer would exist as that to some degree, but it gotta get bigger. You know what I mean? We need we got people in Boston, we got people in Nashville. We got people in Atlanta, but I just want to see, you know, uh I was here thinking, like, yo, would I want to be like a millionaire someday? Sure. I mean, you want to have some bread, so you can you need money to create, you know, like that definitely definitely costs that. But like, that's not even really my goal.

SPEAKER_00 1:17:10

The goal, right? Okay.

SPEAKER_02 1:17:12

Um, like, if I was in a space where I left this earth and and black folks was a little less reliant on the system, you know, I would consider that like, you know, what I came here to do.

SPEAKER_00 1:17:28

Yeah. Honestly, you know, my all love drop, we be promoting that joint like it's 923. That joint gonna do what one thing. So, yeah, Taj, you did a lot. I want you to know that.

SPEAKER_02 1:17:40

Yeah, I mean, all of Black Party is in it.

SPEAKER_00 1:17:43

You see, like, you see, I've seen how much you grow, you see how much I've grown. You remember, I was I was the quiet journalist. I just be like, all right, I'm about to do an article for all love, and I'm gonna just show brother Taj real quick.

SPEAKER_02 1:17:53

Yo, no, but I thought Kim Lob like hated me at first, which I think you did.

SPEAKER_00 1:17:57

Everybody did, everybody did, everybody thought I hated them, and everybody thought I hated them. I don't hate showing.

SPEAKER_02 1:18:04

She would pull up sometimes and be like, Yeah, what's up? I'm gonna get it. And then I'm gonna try to like talk to you a little bit on the side, but yeah. I'd be like, What are you talking about?

SPEAKER_00 1:18:17

And then I have a whole article, the heart, the article be positive and shit.

SPEAKER_02 1:18:22

Yeah, one day one day you just showed up and you was I don't know, you just wasn't like that that one day. And I was like, oh, I really like her.

SPEAKER_00 1:18:31

I might have been going through a time.

SPEAKER_02 1:18:32

Yeah, uh-huh.

SPEAKER_00 1:18:34

I might have been going through a time, but I apologize for that because accountability is key.

SPEAKER_02 1:18:39

One day you showed up and you was actually happy to see me. And I was like, oh, like because I couldn't really leave.

SPEAKER_00 1:18:46

I was beefing the people I didn't need to beef with for no reason. I was young, so young, so tender.

SPEAKER_02 1:18:52

I was thinking about when we first met. Yeah, that was it was a while ago.

SPEAKER_00 1:18:55

And I think that's like the bird for me. I be like, I'm a little shy, so I gotta be me first. No shade, no shade, y'all. I'm really nice, but here we are. Taj is here, Ken Louis's here, boom.

SPEAKER_02 1:19:06

See, you still doing that?

SPEAKER_00 1:19:08

What?

SPEAKER_02 1:19:09

Yeah, no, I'm trying to get I'm doing better.

SPEAKER_00 1:19:12

Okay, I'm not doing better, baby. I'm doing better, okay. Yo, I'm just you know, I'm I'm gonna see that lady too. I'm gonna call her lady like this. We're trying to do better, y'all. I'm not like that no more, but we're gonna get into a game. Yeah, you're gonna you want to just be here, okay? Oh build the block, huh? Okay, that's what it's called. Okay, oh well. So Taj, boom. This is how this is gonna go. Imagine, think. Use your thinking kit, like you always do.

SPEAKER_02 1:19:41

So on.

SPEAKER_00 1:19:42

You throw in an ultimate Philly block party, and you can only pick one in each matchup, alright? Boom. So we're gonna start. Headliner, DJ Sega versus Matthew Law.

SPEAKER_02 1:19:55

It depends on the time frame. Because DJ Sega back in the day on them block parties was going crazy. Crazy? Okay. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Probably Sega. Sega, okay. Food drug.

SPEAKER_00 1:20:04

Ooh. Cheesesteaks versus Caribbean jerk or the jerk.

SPEAKER_02 1:20:12

I don't know, because like the Caribbean jerk, like you need that like fork and all that. But like, you know, so sometimes that could be a little more messy. You kind of have to like sit down. You know what I mean? That cheesesteak joint, you could just kind of like go with you just by so you know. If I was in the block party, I don't know. I might go that way. But if I was getting ready to exit out the block party, I'm like heading back home. And I seen the trucks was right, I'm going with Kribian Jordan. Yeah, yeah. Pack that drone up.

SPEAKER_00 1:20:36

Time slot. Golden hours set versus after dark set. After dark. After dark, okay. I could I'm gonna test them today, you know, because we had that drone lit at Silk City that one night, you know? After dark. Vibe, house and dance versus Philly Club.

SPEAKER_02 1:20:52

Oh, oh, that's the the Philly Club is tough. I'm sorry. I really do like I love me some house music.

SPEAKER_00 1:20:58

I'm about to say, mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_02 1:21:00

I'm gonna go Philly, Jersey, Baltimore. We would have to do that. Okay, all right. I'm gonna give you that. Yeah, you're right. I'm gonna give you that to balance that out.

SPEAKER_00 1:21:06

Okay. Add on live art wall versus vendor marketplace.

SPEAKER_02 1:21:10

Vendor marketplace. Yeah, mm-hmm. Damn. Oh, that's tough. Damn.

SPEAKER_00 1:21:16

That's a toughie. I'm not gonna be a little vendor.

SPEAKER_02 1:21:20

I'd probably say live artwall just because vendor markets do happen a little more frequently. Yeah, okay. Something different happens with that live art wall where just people I don't know. Last people last time people was really just chilling over there, just like sitting next to them, taking their pictures. Like, I think it brings out uh the commerce is very important, but it's also, you know, like spiritual connection to people.

SPEAKER_00 1:21:45

Okay, location closed off street block versus parkour open green. Street street, yeah. I agree. Crowd, hometown North Philadelphians or First Timers Discovering?

SPEAKER_02 1:21:58

Come on, North Philadelphia. North Philadelphia, exactly. First timers is cool, but they'll y'all can still come too, but y'all not the focus.

SPEAKER_00 1:22:08

Okay, okay. That's the end of that, bro.

SPEAKER_02 1:22:13

I thought you was gonna ask me who I would book for the all up block party. But I'm just gonna throw that answer out there. You already on it.

SPEAKER_00 1:22:20

Thank you. But yo, Maxwell, if you watch this, you was just in Philly, bring, come back and I would that would be amazing. Yeah, let's call them. You had a couple of things.

SPEAKER_02 1:22:34

You know, that calls a little pricey. It was a little pricey. But yeah, um, you know, I really appreciate you having me come through all the block parties July 18th. It's at the West Philly Container Village, 52nd in Parkside. We're back for our second year there. But this is our ninth annual before we plan for our 10th year celebration. That'll be next year in 27. But oh man, I mean, between Almost Famous, the venue space itself, all the amazing DJs and performing acts that we got coming out, uh, I'm really excited about this year. And um, you know, we always like to get the word out a little bit more, but I feel like the right people really know about it.

SPEAKER_00 1:23:18

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:23:18

Um, and I'm glad we got the chance to talk before stand. And I'm gonna actually do the interview. I feel like the last year or two, you've been like, yo, you need to come by and do an interview with me.

SPEAKER_00 1:23:27

Yes, we love, let me tell you, okay. Let me because I'm gonna do my spill. When it comes to all love block party, your ass needs to be there. Why? Okay, before we get into the food, because y'all know I'm fan. So, for one, the host is always great, the DJs is always great. You're gonna shake your ass to the time you get up in there, to the time you leave, okay? And they're gonna make sure you got lights when you leave, they're gonna make sure you got fans when you hide, they're gonna make sure the water is there, they're gonna make sure you have art. And just in case you don't want dance, maybe you want to skin. And then you're gonna have a vendor market in the back. Cause you want a shirt, you need some perfume to squirt, okay? You need a little watch to make sure you stay alert. So look, if you're gonna put a little bag at it again, take your ass to all little blockboard, because it's gonna do what one thing.

SPEAKER_02 1:24:10

Yeah, I honestly could not have said that any better. I we did get that on camera. We're really gonna have to clip that one. I'm gonna have to have to borrow that. I just could use it, I could use that clip right there because that was that was pretty fire. Listen, but you know, all love is really about uh, you know, it's all live, it's all local, it's all love. And again, it's just getting back to that original concept of you know, North Philly versus the temple students. It was like, yo, this is all love here. Like, we don't need to uh you know have these walls of separation. And when you do come, like it's very melanated out there, but you will see all different types of folks, and you know, we just try to do our best to keep something consistent for the community that gives people uh uh some sense of belonging. And no, you don't gotta go somewhere else to get that, you can get it right in your backyard. Fix.

SPEAKER_00 1:25:05

Well, thank you for being here, brother Taj. You know I love when you hear, you know we love you, Dion.

SPEAKER_02 1:25:10

Okay, love you too, yo.

SPEAKER_00 1:25:11

What can they find you with? Wow, let them know.

SPEAKER_02 1:25:14

Uh my IIG is Brother Taj. You know, I got a couple hot takes for you, some couple uh couple workout videos, maybe. But uh Black Soul Summer is really what you want to follow. That's where you go get all the updates of not just the events that we do internally, but also there's I mean, the other day I think there was like 50 events listed on there over the next like two, three months. So you have all different types of organizers, actually in multiple locations now, who are putting their events up there and making sure that you, you know, use a black-owned ticketing platform to support a black-owned organizer who's keeping all their data, keeping their funds, and also keeping your data protected and safe. So you're not getting them random scam calls that none of y'all like. Um, but yeah, Black Soul Summer, you can also follow the all love block party. We try to keep the spelling very simple for everyone. So it all is spelled as it sounds. And yeah, July 18th, we'll be back out there again. And um, you know, when you come to this event, it is about having fun and and and having a great time and shaking some ass and supporting vendors and seeing some art. Uh, but it's really about you know connecting with the the space and people around you on a more intimate level, and we hope we can just uh continue to provide that for as long as uh our higher power allows.

SPEAKER_00 1:26:34

Y'all know I'm gonna be there. Y'all know where to follow me. It's your girl Ken Lil' Bat, get it again. And I'm gonna see y'all soon, so I'm gonna get on that get cute.

SPEAKER_02 1:26:44

Thank you.