Brandon Leake - The Slam Poet Who Won "America's Got Talent"

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The Game of Thrones season
finales ain't got nothing on

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this.
Welcome to I Think Therefore I

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Slam, the podcast bringing you
the best slam poetry and spoken

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word artist from Australia and
beyond.

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My name is Andrew Rogerson, but
I'm going to turn into John

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Bernthal for a second because
let me tell you something.

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When you create seasonal content
like I do, you are always

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looking for an absolute barn
burner of a guest for your

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season finale.
And my goodness, I have found a

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barn burner of a guest for
everyone today.

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In his very own words, my guest
today is the Season 15 winner of

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America's Got Talent.
He's a seven time Telly Award

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winner, a Sovas Award winner,
and an Emmy Award winner.

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He's been a poetic performer,
keynote speaker and workshop

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leader for over a decade,
travelling locations such as New

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Zealand, Canada, Mexico, South
Africa, and 42 U.S. states.

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He's collaborated with companies
such as Meta, CBS, California

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Hospital Association, Good
Morning America, the Golden

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State Warriors, the Sacramento
Kings, and many others.

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His use of personal narrative
with his gifting in poetic prose

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allows him to speak not merely
to crowds but to their inner

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being, to connect one soul to
another, to connect people to an

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intrinsic sense of communal
humanity that is severely

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lacking in our world.
He's a visionary whose words,

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but most importantly, whose
actions, reflect his love of

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Christ, people, and the world.
Brandon League.

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Welcome to the show my friend.
Oh absolutely hate BIOS but it's

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good.
Why do you think we hate BIOS?

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Is it just?
Is it just awkward to hear about

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yourself and your achievements?
I think so.

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I think also it's just one of
those things where like I used

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to be an an A high school
English teacher.

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Do you guys call it secondary
school there or high school?

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High school's fine, yeah.
Yeah.

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And I've been to enough
professional development things

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where, like the keynote speaker
is pretty much just talking to

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sell their book.
And they're hoping that

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everybody there is like, well,
man, be so impressed by my bio

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that you'll come and buy the
book afterward.

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And I'm like, no, I came here to
do the work, get the bio out the

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way so that way I could just
like, come up here and come talk

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to these people.
That's what I would like to go

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do.
Yeah, and everything else from

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there is a bonus, I guess.
Like, if you did not know I want

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America's Got Talent, I would
hope that what I give you, you

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would still be able to be like,
man, that guy's really good.

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And then in the aftermath, be
like, yo, that makes sense.

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Like that boy was nice.
Yeah, yeah.

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You're not just a buy on the
page, you're jumping off the

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page as a as a full person.
But no, I'm excited to be here,

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man.
I look forward to actually

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getting the chance to meet you
in person.

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Oh, for sure.
Now you've been on Ellen, you've

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been on Kelly Clarkson.
So what exactly inspired you to

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come and be a part of this
little this little slam poetry

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podcast happening here today?
I'm in to.

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Be be honest, you shot the
invite.

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And I have a love for spoken
word, man, like spoken word has

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been such a great home for me.
I, I care a lot about the

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community of people who are
actively trying to make spoken

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word, not just a like an art
form that people can find home

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at.
But I'm really interested in

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it's viability for people to
find a career in, for those who

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just want to write poetry for
the sake of being able to be

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heard, for sharing their
feelings and having catharsis,

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go share.
Go do what you do.

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Don't pursue.
Like the same thing I'm chasing

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after.
But for those who want to be

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able to make spoken words,
something where it could be a

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halftime performance at the
Super Bowl and people not be

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like, why is poetry at the Super
Bowl or like at the Grammys?

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It's not one of the awards that
happens off camera, but it

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happens during the main time.
I'm really interested in that.

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And in order to do that, we have
to support those who are doing

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the work.
And you are doing the work, good

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Sir.
So I want to support you in

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doing the good work.
Oh, thank you, Brandon.

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That's very humbling.
And look, you know, there are,

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there are many eyes on you
because you're very much leading

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the way with showing, you know,
where, where slam poetry can

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really pop up on the, the world
stage, I suppose.

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I appreciate that trying man.
Good stuff.

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Well, you've come with three of
your finest pieces to showcase

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to us today, so we'd love to
dive into piece #1 if you wanted

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to give us any like preamble to
get us all hyped up for it,

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you're welcome to.
Or you can just dive right in,

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man.
I'll leave it up to you.

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Yeah, so this first one is kind
of the introduction poem I do at

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a lot of schools for students to
have an understanding of who I

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am.
For all of your audience who may

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not know me, this is like the
best way to get to know me in

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about like 4 minutes.
So this poem is entitled Steps.

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So here we go, Steps to being
Brandon Leek 1.

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You must first be named Brandon
Leek and then two.

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You must be born on May 4th 1992
with an extremely lard head.

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Sorry about that mom 3.
Be born to a mother who has a

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heart of gold and just pray that
he has the Midas touch Four.

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Be born and raised in Southside
Stockton in a cave full of hard

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rocks that when pressed, become
gems. 5 Be born of brown skin.

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This excessive amount of melanin
will surely dictate much of your

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future.
Be sure to remember these steps.

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6 Be born with all of your limbs
and then remove one.

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My fault.
No, just remove your father.

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No surprises here.
If we're back to step 57.

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Have abandonment issues.
These will surely rear their

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ugly heads later. 8 Cling to
your mother.

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She is the only form of
consistency that you have ever

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known.
Be sure to push all other men in

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her life away.
She she does not leave you just

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like your father did.
Refer back to step 69.

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Go to middle school, get
yourself a girlfriend.

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And you know that girl we were
just talking about like 5

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seconds ago didn't work out.
But here's what we'll do is that

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Brandon just hand out to heart
to girls in a desperate attempt

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to not feel so lonely anymore
for back to step 711.

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Repeat step 10 continuously well
pray for brighter days to cast

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large shadows for your fears to
hide in 13.

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Were masked to make you far more
tolerable to the world 14.

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Don't forget to have real
complicated relationship with

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your stepfather.
Argue with him repeatedly until

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these this become your only form
of expression 15.

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Bucket little dude, I thought I
told you real men don't get

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depression. 16 Dream of doing
what no one in your family has

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ever done before and then go do
it. 17 Go off to college try try

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to reinvent yourself to be the
cool guy you always hope to

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being when you were in high
school. 18 Understand that there

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is no escaping reality.
You are who you always have been

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no matter the location. 19 Face
loneliness.

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But if I'm being honest, I don't
like hiding behind metaphors

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anymore, so I'm going to be
real.

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When I was four years old, my 8
1/2 month old sister, Danielle

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Marie Gibson, she died in the
car next to me due to heart

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failure.
So death is not something I

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adopted, but more so grew myself
into.

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And I can't help but think that
my roots still last 6 feet deep

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alongside her.
In the my my my senior year of

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high school, my grandfather, he
died of lung and liver cancer.

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Rushing to the hospital next to
his wife of 50 years in a

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graduation ceremony with one
seat left empty, never left me

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feeling so numb inside.
And then my best friend, my

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brother Bernard Daniels, my
freshman year of college, he

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drowned in a levy two blocks
behind our old neighborhood,

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running away from a rival gang,
and I was 200 miles too far

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north to ever tell my brother
goodbye. 20I attended 18

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funerals by the time I hit my
18th birthday. 21 I wake up in

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the morning and I look myself in
the mirror and I see a

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reflection of a stranger, this
guy who I know resides inside.

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But I'm too afraid.
I'm too scared and I'm far too

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fearful to finally show the
world who I actually AM.

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22232425 There are no more
steps, just a lot of questions

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like who is Brandon week
anyways?

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Lovely.
Thank you for introducing us to

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yourself, Brandon.
You know, through the form that

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you found such such strength in
that was, that was wonderful.

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Thank you, I appreciate it.
Now, of course, you know, a lot

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of us would have known you from
your time when America's Got

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Talent, but I'm sure like many,
you know, success stories, there

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would have been a story before
that story.

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So that's what I want to dive
into right now.

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Brandon, what is your origin
story of, I guess starting to

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share this work of yours in a in
a public forum I suppose.

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Yeah, so I used to write poems
in middle School for Girls who

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were cute.
Like, that's like where the

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journey really started back in
like the mid 2000s.

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You know, nuance is not
something that teenagers did

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well.
And so I didn't share them.

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And I stopped because I was
playing basketball and

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basketball was my, my key focus.
It was everything to me.

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And so I didn't really do much
of it in high school except for

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at my small group at church.
There's a woman by the name of

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Blair Wingo who was a part of
this movement called Passion for

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Christ Movement.
And I saw a poem of hers and it

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really, it really touched me.
And so I wrote a poem to share

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at A at an event.
And I opened up for this

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Christian rapper at our church.
And I was like, oh, man, you

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know, this will be cool.
And so I shared the poem.

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People were like, oh, man, you
did such a great job, blah,

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blah, blah, blah.
And I'm like, yeah, yeah, I'm

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never doing that again.
And then I went off to college

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and my best friend passed away.
And for me, basketball was the

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place I took all my pain.
I was able to put a physical

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address on it and say, Oh yeah,
I could dribble this away.

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I could physical this away.
I could I could do all these

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things and make it feel less.
And nothing helped it feel less

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until I started writing.
And there is an open mic that

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was happening at the school
because of poet by the name of

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Michael Bourne, who became like,
my poetry muse for a long time.

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He was coming to campus.
And I just sat down and I said,

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hey, oh God, man, if you really
got something for me with this

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art, give me something to share.
And I wrote a poem for my boy.

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Bernard sent me like 15 minutes,
and it just all fell out of me.

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And then when I went and shared
it, I got this, like, standing

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ovation.
And that was the first time I

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felt like genuinely validated
for like me as a person, not

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just what I do.
And so like, that's what started

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the art.
What continued it was after

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after that I played one more
year.

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College basketball felt like God
was calling me to leave ball

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aside.
So I left it alone and then

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started a collective of artists
on campus entitled Call to Move.

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So we were the weirdos on campus
who did art and we would do

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these open mics.
And the first open mic that I

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that we hosted had about like 12
people and like 6 or seven of

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them were performers.
So it wasn't like we had like a

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gang of people like just big
killing there.

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It was like, no, there's like us
performers, the lady, the two

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people who are working at this
coffee shop, and then like 3

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randoms who weren't here for the
event but they just came and got

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coffee.
By the time that I finished my

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senior year and we are hosting
our last open mic, we were

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having events with like over 150
people.

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There.
Wow, magic.

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It was in that moment that I
realized on my Oh Man art is a

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bridge.
Like, it connects one soul to

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the next and allows for us to be
able to see people in a way that

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we may not be able to see them
otherwise.

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Saw people because I went to a
very white college.

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It was also a Christian School.
And so they have bad, like these

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very strict conservative
viewpoints.

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And so like, you know, I was
able to talk about black issues

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that in regular conversation,
these folks would never be

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willing to hear.
But within the form of art they

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were.
They were able to somehow digest

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it in a more palatable way.
Like that's, that's like the

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journey before the AGT before
like becoming a real slam poet

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in Sacramento and you know,
going to I Whips and doing the

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world poetry slam thing before
tours and all the stuff.

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It was just a kid who was
mourning the loss of his friend,

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who then started a community of
other people who were mourning

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whatever they were feeling.
Wow, fantastic.

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And and what does what does
called to move, you know this

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group or organization that you
started?

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What does that look like
nowadays?

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00:13:16,360 --> 00:13:19,400
Man I wish it looked like me and
a bunch of artists doing really

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00:13:19,400 --> 00:13:25,400
cool stuff but it don't.
It's AI love poets.

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Poets are super fickle and don't
show up on time, so.

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Reputation.
I called the move as an

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organization that I currently
run pretty much Dolo, and it's a

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nonprofit where we do literacy
based workshops around the

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country.
And so we go to schools and we

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run workshops with students to
do social emotional learning

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through artistic creation.
And so students learn different

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literary devices and different
poetic forms while working on

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poems that are actively about
the dreams they would like to

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00:14:01,720 --> 00:14:04,760
chase.
And so I've done it as far as

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New Zealand and as close as two
blocks from my house.

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So Australian schools, if you
would like me to come, holla at

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00:14:13,680 --> 00:14:16,080
your boy.
There it is.

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00:14:16,080 --> 00:14:18,720
There it is.
As someone who you know, I'm,

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I'm running a little mini
workshop in a high school for

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the first time later this year
and I have no idea what I'm

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00:14:24,120 --> 00:14:26,160
doing.
So I could certainly take some

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00:14:26,160 --> 00:14:30,080
pointers from, from an
organization like like yours,

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00:14:30,080 --> 00:14:32,600
because I mean, what a great
opportunity.

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00:14:32,840 --> 00:14:35,960
I'm sure you get all types in
terms of you get those who

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00:14:35,960 --> 00:14:40,080
really take hold of what you're
doing and others who, who maybe

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start off not being interested
and then they end up loving it

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or whatever.
Have you seen, you know, what's

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00:14:45,600 --> 00:14:48,880
it like when you see a young
person in the classroom really

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00:14:48,880 --> 00:14:51,840
grasp onto what you're what
you're getting across?

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00:14:53,120 --> 00:14:55,280
Yeah, man.
So I'm developing something now

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of a after school program for
the really passionate ones,

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because when I go to a school I
it's not like they just give me

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the really passionate kids who
want to do it.

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00:15:03,680 --> 00:15:05,920
No, I'm with every student.
That's it.

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And I love that because what I
want them to.

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I don't care if students become
the next great poet, the next

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great writer.
I care that they learn the skill

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sets so they can emotionally
express themselves in ways that

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they don't have the capacity to
do currently.

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00:15:21,360 --> 00:15:24,800
You and I both know we've all
had thoughts that if we were to

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share them out loud, we would
lose our jobs, We would lose

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friendships and people we care
about.

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And it's like, yeah, I, I hold
those in.

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And as adults, we figure out
healthy ways to get those out.

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But teenagers don't always have
the capacity for that.

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So teaching them tools and
mechanisms.

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00:15:43,440 --> 00:15:47,680
I love seeing the light bulb go
off for a student who was like,

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00:15:47,960 --> 00:15:50,240
poetry, what, what am I going to
do with poetry?

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00:15:50,440 --> 00:15:53,400
And then they hear me and
they're like, that's poetry.

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00:15:54,960 --> 00:15:58,040
That's what that can be.
And then it all clicks and

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00:15:58,040 --> 00:16:01,800
they're like, oh, I want that.
And it, it also brings me a lot

283
00:16:01,800 --> 00:16:04,440
of joy to see a student who's
like, man, poetry ain't for me.

284
00:16:04,440 --> 00:16:07,760
But like, you know, you were
saying some real stuff up there.

285
00:16:07,760 --> 00:16:10,200
So I appreciate it.
And I'm like, yeah, the dog.

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00:16:10,200 --> 00:16:13,200
Like poetry wasn't for me.
If if I came to my high school,

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00:16:13,200 --> 00:16:16,360
when I was in high school, I
would have been you trying to

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00:16:16,360 --> 00:16:19,920
fit in with my basketball
teammates, Like this dude was

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00:16:19,920 --> 00:16:21,840
weird.
And then I would have went home

290
00:16:21,840 --> 00:16:28,600
and been like.
Yeah, I think it's it's always

291
00:16:28,600 --> 00:16:31,240
interesting when you yeah, you
see a little bit of yourself in

292
00:16:31,240 --> 00:16:34,240
the in the next generation and
you go what what would have been

293
00:16:34,240 --> 00:16:37,920
the approach or the words that I
would have needed to really

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00:16:37,920 --> 00:16:40,560
grasp the vision or, or whatever
of, of what you're trying to get

295
00:16:40,560 --> 00:16:42,800
across?
Brandon, I want to talk a little

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00:16:42,800 --> 00:16:47,160
bit about, you know, zooming in
on your victory on America's Got

297
00:16:47,160 --> 00:16:50,240
Talent.
So obviously season 15 was a

298
00:16:50,240 --> 00:16:52,640
weird season.
It was the COVID season.

299
00:16:52,640 --> 00:16:56,920
It was, you know, no studio
audience, a little bit, a little

300
00:16:56,920 --> 00:17:02,360
bit eerie, but you came on with
your audition and you you really

301
00:17:02,360 --> 00:17:04,760
made an impression on on the
judges.

302
00:17:05,000 --> 00:17:09,640
So how he was there, Sophia was
there, Simon was there and how

303
00:17:09,640 --> 00:17:11,560
he ended up giving you the
Golden buzzer.

304
00:17:12,440 --> 00:17:17,160
I just want to know, like, what
was going through your mind when

305
00:17:17,160 --> 00:17:20,200
you got that initial golden
buzzer and how, how did that

306
00:17:20,200 --> 00:17:23,200
moment, I don't know, change the
trajectory of everything for

307
00:17:23,200 --> 00:17:25,040
you?
So there's a lot going into that

308
00:17:25,040 --> 00:17:27,119
day.
At the time I had just

309
00:17:27,119 --> 00:17:30,560
transitioned to a new job.
I was working as an academic

310
00:17:30,560 --> 00:17:34,520
advisor at a Community College,
so A2 year school.

311
00:17:34,680 --> 00:17:37,960
I knew that I had this audition
and as originally scheduled for

312
00:17:37,960 --> 00:17:41,920
Monday and I remember sitting in
the office of my Co workers and

313
00:17:41,920 --> 00:17:45,240
COVID was in Italy.
It wasn't in the US at the time.

314
00:17:45,240 --> 00:17:48,040
And we were like, oh man, well,
it ain't going to make it all

315
00:17:48,040 --> 00:17:49,680
the way over here.
You know what I mean?

316
00:17:49,680 --> 00:17:52,160
Like it's we're all the way in
California.

317
00:17:52,160 --> 00:17:55,240
We're going to be just fine.
I'm like, it may hit East Coast,

318
00:17:55,240 --> 00:17:58,680
but we'll be good.
And then I got a phone call at

319
00:17:58,680 --> 00:18:03,160
like 334 o'clock and it was my
producer on the show and he

320
00:18:03,160 --> 00:18:05,680
said, Brandon, we have COVID
concerns.

321
00:18:06,360 --> 00:18:09,000
If you want to be on the show,
you need to be here in LA

322
00:18:09,000 --> 00:18:12,560
tomorrow at 8:00 AM or else you
can't be on the show.

323
00:18:13,120 --> 00:18:15,760
Now for those who don't
understand, I don't know how big

324
00:18:15,760 --> 00:18:18,960
Australia is to drive all the
way across Australia.

325
00:18:19,240 --> 00:18:23,000
Have you ever done it?
No, but it's it's a big deal and

326
00:18:23,000 --> 00:18:25,320
you want to make sure you know
what you're doing or you'll die

327
00:18:25,320 --> 00:18:27,960
in the Outback.
So yeah, it's a big ordeal.

328
00:18:28,280 --> 00:18:33,480
To get from California from top
to bottom, driving at like 80

329
00:18:33,480 --> 00:18:38,800
miles an hour would take you
about 16 hours to drive, right?

330
00:18:39,000 --> 00:18:44,200
And so I live about 7 hours from
LA where they were filming.

331
00:18:44,640 --> 00:18:50,400
And my daughter had just been
born like 13 days before I got

332
00:18:50,400 --> 00:18:52,800
that phone call.
So my wife was still very

333
00:18:52,800 --> 00:18:57,240
postpartum, still healing.
And I, it was like my second day

334
00:18:57,240 --> 00:19:00,440
back at work.
And so I told, I called my wife

335
00:19:00,440 --> 00:19:02,560
and I'm like, hey, this is what
they're talking about.

336
00:19:02,920 --> 00:19:05,280
Said I tell them no.
And you know, just stay home.

337
00:19:05,280 --> 00:19:07,400
She's like, this is a once in a
lifetime opportunity.

338
00:19:07,400 --> 00:19:11,400
You really need to go.
So I came home, I watched.

339
00:19:11,920 --> 00:19:14,280
I watched the baby let my wife
get a nap.

340
00:19:14,920 --> 00:19:17,360
She didn't wake up until like
9:30 PM.

341
00:19:17,880 --> 00:19:20,440
And she's like, Brandy, you were
supposed to leave at like 7.

342
00:19:20,600 --> 00:19:22,760
I'm like, you needed the rest.
It's OK.

343
00:19:22,760 --> 00:19:24,960
Like your mom's going to be here
in like 10 minutes.

344
00:19:25,200 --> 00:19:26,600
Soon as she's here, I'll tap
out.

345
00:19:27,160 --> 00:19:30,560
And so I hop in my car and then
I leave at like 10.

346
00:19:30,680 --> 00:19:35,840
And then I take my drive out to
Socal and there's this mountain

347
00:19:35,840 --> 00:19:38,000
range that you have to drive
through to get to the actual

348
00:19:38,000 --> 00:19:41,040
audition.
And my car dies on the freeway.

349
00:19:43,560 --> 00:19:48,960
And I just sit there and I'm
like, Lord, just let me get

350
00:19:48,960 --> 00:19:53,920
there.
Like just let me get there and

351
00:19:53,920 --> 00:19:56,320
we'll take care of the rest.
I just need to get there.

352
00:19:57,400 --> 00:20:00,800
I sit on that side of the road
for like an hour and then my car

353
00:20:00,800 --> 00:20:05,280
starts and then hit the downhill
and I'm like, cool, like this

354
00:20:05,280 --> 00:20:07,160
should this should be fine.
I should be able to make it.

355
00:20:07,480 --> 00:20:11,320
I get to the hotel like 6:30 in
the morning and sleep for like

356
00:20:11,320 --> 00:20:15,000
30 minutes in the car, and I
don't end up performing until

357
00:20:15,000 --> 00:20:19,680
like 5:00 PM.
So it was a long day.

358
00:20:20,360 --> 00:20:21,680
And then I got that Golden
Buzzer.

359
00:20:21,680 --> 00:20:24,200
And to be honest with you,
getting the Golden Buzzer felt

360
00:20:24,200 --> 00:20:30,120
better than winning.
And it was because of how

361
00:20:30,120 --> 00:20:34,880
unprecedented it was at the
time, like, no poet had ever

362
00:20:34,880 --> 00:20:39,120
been on the show yet alone
gotten a Golden buzzer.

363
00:20:39,560 --> 00:20:43,560
And so it was like, and also at
that stage of the show, there's

364
00:20:43,560 --> 00:20:46,520
no guarantee that I would even
make television, right?

365
00:20:46,520 --> 00:20:49,400
So it was like, oh, yeah, like,
even if I'm good enough, they

366
00:20:49,400 --> 00:20:53,880
could move me on and then behind
the scenes, cut me off the show.

367
00:20:54,280 --> 00:20:58,360
And then I still not make it.
So like, only way to guarantee

368
00:20:58,360 --> 00:21:01,840
that I get seen is getting this
golden buzzer.

369
00:21:02,920 --> 00:21:08,520
And so getting the golden buzzer
was, it was significantly life

370
00:21:08,520 --> 00:21:10,760
changing.
And then after winning the show,

371
00:21:11,240 --> 00:21:14,760
I like to phrase it like this,
winning the show didn't change

372
00:21:14,760 --> 00:21:19,600
anything about me because I
already had a really hard sense

373
00:21:19,600 --> 00:21:22,040
of urgency.
I treated poetry like sport.

374
00:21:22,400 --> 00:21:25,480
I gave it everything I had.
It just gave people a bigger

375
00:21:25,480 --> 00:21:27,600
window to see all the stuff I
was doing.

376
00:21:28,240 --> 00:21:31,360
Yeah, for sure.
And so a lot more eyes were

377
00:21:31,360 --> 00:21:33,720
like, oh man, like Brandon works
really hard.

378
00:21:33,720 --> 00:21:35,400
Brandon's doing a lot of stuff
with schools.

379
00:21:35,520 --> 00:21:36,920
Wait.
Oh, Brandon reached out to us

380
00:21:36,920 --> 00:21:38,800
like 2 years ago to do work with
our school.

381
00:21:38,800 --> 00:21:41,320
Why did we say no?
Oh, we didn't know him.

382
00:21:41,320 --> 00:21:42,120
All right.
Cool.

383
00:21:42,120 --> 00:21:45,320
So yeah, bring Brandon in.
We're looking for a speaker and

384
00:21:45,320 --> 00:21:49,320
we haven't had spoken word ever.
Meta, you want to bring Brandon

385
00:21:49,320 --> 00:21:50,000
in?
Cool.

386
00:21:50,000 --> 00:21:53,600
Let's do the whole thing.
I won an Emmy with the Golden

387
00:21:53,600 --> 00:21:57,520
State Warriors and it was
because I did a poem that was

388
00:21:57,520 --> 00:22:01,320
the opening track for their
games for the 75th year

389
00:22:01,320 --> 00:22:03,320
anniversary of the Warriors
existed.

390
00:22:03,920 --> 00:22:09,600
And so they were like, Hey, we
want spoken word to highlight

391
00:22:09,840 --> 00:22:12,760
like our team.
And so I'm like, cool, I got

392
00:22:12,760 --> 00:22:14,280
you.
And so like they gave me the

393
00:22:14,280 --> 00:22:17,440
theme, the plot, the the
characters they wanted to be

394
00:22:17,440 --> 00:22:21,880
woven into the story and then
boom, that that's what happens.

395
00:22:22,280 --> 00:22:26,640
It didn't change a lot about who
I was as a person it, but it did

396
00:22:26,640 --> 00:22:29,160
change the circumstances that I
got the chance to have

397
00:22:29,160 --> 00:22:32,080
opportunities for.
Man, I love that there's so much

398
00:22:32,080 --> 00:22:34,680
like additional drama to the
story.

399
00:22:34,680 --> 00:22:38,000
It just adds to it so much.
I can, I can see that that that

400
00:22:38,000 --> 00:22:41,120
moment meant so much to you.
And look, I'll be, I'll be

401
00:22:41,120 --> 00:22:44,920
honest, Brandon, I can be quite
cynical about like reality TV,

402
00:22:44,920 --> 00:22:48,080
you know what I mean?
I've had friends who've been on

403
00:22:48,080 --> 00:22:51,520
the the local version of like
the voice and beauty and the

404
00:22:51,520 --> 00:22:55,000
geek and things like this.
And so, you know, I understand

405
00:22:55,000 --> 00:22:58,840
that there that there are
elements of it that are, you

406
00:22:58,840 --> 00:23:00,800
know, for lack of a better word,
manufactured.

407
00:23:00,800 --> 00:23:04,480
But when I saw the footage of
you getting the Golden buzzer

408
00:23:04,480 --> 00:23:07,440
and winning, and this was, you
know, I, I said to you before

409
00:23:07,440 --> 00:23:08,880
the interview, this is five
years ago.

410
00:23:08,880 --> 00:23:11,400
My dad's just sending me a clip
saying, hey, have you heard of

411
00:23:11,400 --> 00:23:14,080
this guy?
He just won America's Got Talent

412
00:23:14,080 --> 00:23:15,720
as a slam poet.
You should, you should check out

413
00:23:15,720 --> 00:23:18,080
this Brandon guy.
I was like, OK, the piece that

414
00:23:18,080 --> 00:23:21,960
you shared in your, in your
audition was, was very, a very

415
00:23:21,960 --> 00:23:24,840
moving piece about your, your
late sister.

416
00:23:24,840 --> 00:23:28,320
And I know that seemed to have a
genuine effect on Sophia, who,

417
00:23:28,320 --> 00:23:30,800
who seemed to have had some
personal loss of her own.

418
00:23:31,240 --> 00:23:35,000
And even even, you know, the
great Simon Cowell, who has this

419
00:23:35,240 --> 00:23:37,880
reputation and as you know, the
ultimate hard ass.

420
00:23:37,880 --> 00:23:41,360
I, I, and I think he said
something like he didn't even

421
00:23:41,360 --> 00:23:44,000
want to necessarily give a, a
judgement of the performance.

422
00:23:44,000 --> 00:23:46,760
He just wanted to thank you for
performing.

423
00:23:46,760 --> 00:23:50,880
And I thought that that was
quite a very, a very real and,

424
00:23:50,880 --> 00:23:54,920
and genuine moment, you know, in
a, in a type of television that

425
00:23:54,920 --> 00:23:59,400
that can sometimes come across
very, very differently if you're

426
00:23:59,400 --> 00:24:02,400
comfortable talking about it.
Brandon, you know, like I said,

427
00:24:02,400 --> 00:24:05,600
you, you shared this piece about
losing your, your late sister

428
00:24:05,600 --> 00:24:07,560
and you, and you've had some,
some loss in your life.

429
00:24:08,560 --> 00:24:12,280
How has those those losses kind
of shaped the way that you use

430
00:24:12,280 --> 00:24:17,440
poetry as, I guess, a tool for
healing for both yourself and

431
00:24:17,440 --> 00:24:19,120
and the wider world?
Yeah.

432
00:24:19,120 --> 00:24:23,360
So I'll speak to the particular
reason why I did that on the

433
00:24:23,360 --> 00:24:26,440
show as well as like the general
use of like those types of

434
00:24:26,440 --> 00:24:29,080
things and speaking to like
general audiences.

435
00:24:29,200 --> 00:24:32,680
So for general audiences, man,
like, well, actually the show 1

436
00:24:32,680 --> 00:24:36,040
leads into the general audience.
I used that poem because I asked

437
00:24:36,040 --> 00:24:41,720
myself, what is an emotion that
everybody can relate to?

438
00:24:42,280 --> 00:24:46,560
That like is a universal thing
that no matter who I'm talking

439
00:24:46,560 --> 00:24:50,160
to, if I were to mention this,
they would be able to, whether

440
00:24:50,600 --> 00:24:55,720
it be their sister or brother or
their auntie or uncle or their

441
00:24:55,720 --> 00:24:59,240
mom or dad, grandma, grandpa,
relative, cousin, sibling,

442
00:24:59,240 --> 00:25:02,560
whatever.
When people heard my poem about

443
00:25:02,560 --> 00:25:05,480
my sister, they didn't hear a
poem about my sister.

444
00:25:05,480 --> 00:25:06,960
They heard a poem about
somebody.

445
00:25:06,960 --> 00:25:08,240
They left.
Yeah.

446
00:25:09,720 --> 00:25:15,320
They place it became a universal
stamp of like, oh, I see this

447
00:25:15,320 --> 00:25:17,480
person and what you're talking
about.

448
00:25:18,440 --> 00:25:21,520
And that was the powerful nature
of those poems.

449
00:25:21,840 --> 00:25:25,520
And so when I'm talking about it
to a general audience, the

450
00:25:25,520 --> 00:25:28,840
purpose of these poems is to
kind of make sure that people

451
00:25:28,840 --> 00:25:32,000
don't feel as alone.
Because what what will happen is

452
00:25:32,000 --> 00:25:36,960
people will live on islands that
are so close to another island,

453
00:25:36,960 --> 00:25:39,400
but they don't realize the other
islands right there.

454
00:25:40,160 --> 00:25:42,480
Wow, yeah.
It's like, oh man, like a few

455
00:25:42,480 --> 00:25:46,800
feet of bridge can really make
you feel less lonely, but many

456
00:25:46,800 --> 00:25:48,920
people don't.
Many people fear building the

457
00:25:48,920 --> 00:25:53,520
bridge out of a fear of not
being accepted, out of ignorance

458
00:25:53,520 --> 00:25:55,440
that they don't know the other
person's that close.

459
00:25:55,760 --> 00:25:59,040
And it's like, Oh no, as I
mentioned earlier, art being a

460
00:25:59,040 --> 00:26:04,160
bridge, art connects people and
it allows people to see oh man,

461
00:26:04,160 --> 00:26:07,280
like because during some of my
sets, I'll even ask you like,

462
00:26:07,280 --> 00:26:09,720
how many of you all can relate
to something I just said?

463
00:26:10,560 --> 00:26:14,120
And then tons of hands will go
up and I'm like, how many of you

464
00:26:14,120 --> 00:26:16,280
felt alone in what you were
experiencing?

465
00:26:16,840 --> 00:26:19,640
And those same hands will go up.
And I'm like, you now can

466
00:26:19,640 --> 00:26:24,240
understand that you are not
going through this by yourself.

467
00:26:25,040 --> 00:26:28,640
So when you walk out of here, if
you feel like you have no one,

468
00:26:29,040 --> 00:26:32,680
go find someone.
And I promise you, you will have

469
00:26:32,680 --> 00:26:35,200
someone.
So yeah, man, like that's that's

470
00:26:35,200 --> 00:26:40,160
the intention behind the art is
to build bridges between.

471
00:26:40,960 --> 00:26:42,920
That is so beautiful and
profound, Brandon.

472
00:26:42,920 --> 00:26:46,440
I really appreciate you giving
giving language to that.

473
00:26:46,960 --> 00:26:49,560
And I think you're right.
I think something about

474
00:26:50,880 --> 00:26:54,600
something about the human
experience, you know, can very

475
00:26:54,600 --> 00:27:00,280
easily lead us to isolation,
individualism, thinking that,

476
00:27:00,960 --> 00:27:04,160
you know, the pain or whatever
that we experience is so

477
00:27:05,240 --> 00:27:07,280
singular and unique to
ourselves.

478
00:27:07,280 --> 00:27:10,520
And it's we.
And I think we, we need help.

479
00:27:10,520 --> 00:27:12,920
Like we need help through,
through art and through

480
00:27:12,920 --> 00:27:17,840
community to break down those,
those illusions and those lies.

481
00:27:17,840 --> 00:27:21,760
Do you know what I mean?
So I, I think so many people are

482
00:27:21,760 --> 00:27:25,680
appreciative that you've used
your, your experiences in that

483
00:27:25,680 --> 00:27:29,240
area to break down those, those
barriers with people.

484
00:27:29,320 --> 00:27:29,600
Yeah.
I.

485
00:27:30,000 --> 00:27:32,800
Appreciate the compliment.
Appreciate the compliment.

486
00:27:33,160 --> 00:27:37,080
I want to touch on, I guess what
everything that happened after,

487
00:27:37,160 --> 00:27:41,320
you know, your, your victory.
So in terms of I, I guess the,

488
00:27:41,320 --> 00:27:44,760
the, the fame side of thing, I,
I don't really have another word

489
00:27:44,760 --> 00:27:49,880
for it, but I'm just curious,
you know, what parts of, of fame

490
00:27:49,880 --> 00:27:52,840
or greater exposure or whatever
you want to call it, what parts

491
00:27:52,840 --> 00:27:55,920
of it have been kind of
unexpected or challenging?

492
00:27:55,920 --> 00:28:00,000
You know, especially coming from
the poetry world where you know,

493
00:28:00,000 --> 00:28:04,320
it can be, you know, it can be
quite insular and quite, quite

494
00:28:04,320 --> 00:28:05,880
small.
I don't know what's it been

495
00:28:05,880 --> 00:28:08,760
like.
I'll start with the funny stuff

496
00:28:08,760 --> 00:28:10,400
and then I'll get into the
deeper stuff.

497
00:28:10,640 --> 00:28:12,840
Sure.
Poets think that, like, I got

498
00:28:13,040 --> 00:28:16,360
like carte blanche to like
Denzel Washington and stuff.

499
00:28:16,360 --> 00:28:21,000
Now you don't.
And they're like, no, heavens

500
00:28:21,000 --> 00:28:22,560
no.
They're like, oh man, you know,

501
00:28:22,560 --> 00:28:26,680
like, oh, Brandon, you know, you
want to like, you know, call

502
00:28:26,680 --> 00:28:29,880
Hollywood, get them to put, you
know, put you in these movies

503
00:28:29,880 --> 00:28:33,000
and stuff like that.
And I'm like, what do you think

504
00:28:33,000 --> 00:28:38,160
I am?
Who do you think like?

505
00:28:38,520 --> 00:28:41,200
Like, what do you think I am
after winning the show?

506
00:28:41,200 --> 00:28:44,240
No, I don't have that
opportunity to just look on the

507
00:28:44,240 --> 00:28:47,080
phone and be like, hey,
Spielberg, dawg, you think I

508
00:28:47,080 --> 00:28:51,880
should be the next leading actor
in this big no.

509
00:28:52,920 --> 00:28:55,880
And so it it's always really
funny because I'll talk to

510
00:28:55,880 --> 00:28:58,480
police and I'll be like, oh,
man, you know, like you

511
00:28:58,480 --> 00:29:01,320
Hollywood now.
And I'm like, my bills don't say

512
00:29:01,320 --> 00:29:06,160
that like these about this
mortgage payment, you know,

513
00:29:06,160 --> 00:29:09,960
this, this net 30 waiting for
the school to send me the check

514
00:29:10,280 --> 00:29:12,360
in 30 days.
Don't say that to me.

515
00:29:12,360 --> 00:29:15,320
I'm like, am I living
comfortably by all means?

516
00:29:15,320 --> 00:29:19,720
But I'm like, is it like what
people really thought it was

517
00:29:19,720 --> 00:29:22,080
absolutely not.
So that's probably the funniest

518
00:29:22,080 --> 00:29:23,440
part.
I didn't have any cousins or

519
00:29:23,440 --> 00:29:25,880
nothing pop out the woodwork
like, Oh, let me get a dollar.

520
00:29:26,040 --> 00:29:28,240
No, like I didn't have that
issue.

521
00:29:28,240 --> 00:29:32,400
I had a bunch of poets who were
like, oh man, you famous.

522
00:29:32,400 --> 00:29:35,760
I'm like, yeah, I guess so.
I don't.

523
00:29:35,840 --> 00:29:37,120
I don't.
I don't feel that.

524
00:29:37,120 --> 00:29:40,360
But the hardest part that I
think many people just don't

525
00:29:40,360 --> 00:29:43,960
understand is that it's really
hollow, though a phrase that a

526
00:29:43,960 --> 00:29:47,120
rapper named Lecrae said is if
you live by their acceptance,

527
00:29:47,120 --> 00:29:51,080
you'll die by their rejection.
And that's really what it

528
00:29:51,080 --> 00:29:53,920
became.
I was like, oh man, I felt this

529
00:29:53,920 --> 00:29:57,880
immense weight and pressure to
have to carry spoken word on my

530
00:29:57,880 --> 00:30:03,360
back, to have to go be like, oh
man, I have to run this baton as

531
00:30:03,360 --> 00:30:07,320
far as I possibly can.
And I wanted to, and I still do.

532
00:30:07,960 --> 00:30:11,200
I want to get spoken words so
close to the finish line.

533
00:30:11,480 --> 00:30:13,640
Like I want to get it there so
that way it could be as

534
00:30:13,640 --> 00:30:18,600
respected as hip hop, respected
as film and respected as jazz

535
00:30:18,600 --> 00:30:21,440
and all these other art forms.
I want people to finally, I

536
00:30:21,440 --> 00:30:24,080
don't want poets to be at a
venue and be like, oh man, you

537
00:30:24,080 --> 00:30:26,960
know, like $50 was a great
payout.

538
00:30:27,000 --> 00:30:29,640
Poets to be able to be like, Oh
no, you know, we're negotiating

539
00:30:29,640 --> 00:30:32,440
5 figures, 6 figure deals on a
consistent basis.

540
00:30:32,440 --> 00:30:34,880
I want poets to be able to make
a living off the art.

541
00:30:35,520 --> 00:30:39,400
And I was sitting in the parking
lot of a hotel getting ready to

542
00:30:39,400 --> 00:30:42,000
go do the Ellen Show for the
first time where I had like a

543
00:30:42,000 --> 00:30:47,280
real emotional breakdown.
And I was like, I, I just felt

544
00:30:47,280 --> 00:30:51,200
this pain in my, in my chest
from all of this weight that I

545
00:30:51,200 --> 00:30:54,000
felt I'd been carrying.
And honestly, I just, I kind of

546
00:30:54,000 --> 00:30:56,160
sat back and I prayed.
I was like, Yo, God, like, what

547
00:30:56,160 --> 00:30:57,520
is happening right now?
And he was like.

548
00:30:59,480 --> 00:31:07,240
I have a journey for you.
That is for you and the journey

549
00:31:07,240 --> 00:31:10,800
I have you on is not backpacking
a culture.

550
00:31:11,560 --> 00:31:15,000
You have a role in it.
You get the chance to do your

551
00:31:15,000 --> 00:31:19,880
part, but you're not the main
character, you're not the lead.

552
00:31:20,400 --> 00:31:22,600
You don't have to go save the
day.

553
00:31:23,440 --> 00:31:27,600
You get the chance to just go be
Brandon, 'cause I wanted, I

554
00:31:27,600 --> 00:31:30,600
wanted all of it.
I wanted poets to respect me.

555
00:31:30,960 --> 00:31:35,280
And as anybody who's ever done
art knows, not every if

556
00:31:35,280 --> 00:31:37,200
everybody likes you, nobody
likes you.

557
00:31:38,880 --> 00:31:41,880
And so I'm like, man, I want.
I want the OG's to respect my

558
00:31:41,880 --> 00:31:43,560
craft.
I want the new people to look up

559
00:31:43,560 --> 00:31:45,320
to me.
I want my current peers to be

560
00:31:45,320 --> 00:31:48,480
like, man, he's nice.
I want Hollywood to see me and

561
00:31:48,480 --> 00:31:51,000
say, oh, he's investable.
I want him to come and be a part

562
00:31:51,000 --> 00:31:52,240
of all the stuff that we're
doing.

563
00:31:53,040 --> 00:31:56,080
I want these doors and all these
things to open up as I was.

564
00:31:56,080 --> 00:31:59,400
I was getting bits and pieces of
it, but I wasn't getting the

565
00:31:59,400 --> 00:32:01,960
whole pie.
And I'm like, oh, man, like

566
00:32:01,960 --> 00:32:05,120
what's wrong?
And the reality was I wasn't

567
00:32:05,120 --> 00:32:07,680
giving enough energy or
attention to anything.

568
00:32:08,480 --> 00:32:12,840
And all the things that I was
really chasing after were all

569
00:32:12,840 --> 00:32:17,360
just empty shells of just
seeking external validation for

570
00:32:17,360 --> 00:32:21,280
something that is, I didn't show
up to poetry to get validated

571
00:32:21,280 --> 00:32:24,520
from other people.
Started to poetry, 'cause I

572
00:32:24,520 --> 00:32:27,640
wanted to be heard and be I
wanted to be heard and be

573
00:32:27,640 --> 00:32:30,800
healed.
And I lost the plot somewhere in

574
00:32:30,800 --> 00:32:36,040
the middle of it being about
scores, people liking it and

575
00:32:36,040 --> 00:32:41,000
people complimenting my work.
And it's like, Oh yeah, that

576
00:32:41,000 --> 00:32:44,080
don't matter.
That don't really I got to say

577
00:32:44,080 --> 00:32:46,000
Brandon, I think.
That's one of the best

578
00:32:46,760 --> 00:32:50,520
breakdowns of I guess, Yeah,
that experience of coming to

579
00:32:50,520 --> 00:32:54,600
terms of, yeah, like I said,
increase notoriety.

580
00:32:54,600 --> 00:32:57,680
But what does that even mean?
You know, and maybe it not being

581
00:32:57,680 --> 00:33:00,400
what you thought it would be
like the same way you were

582
00:33:00,400 --> 00:33:03,080
talking about how it's kind of
cringey when you hear your bio.

583
00:33:03,080 --> 00:33:06,800
Like, I'm sure like so many
artists, you, you just kind of

584
00:33:06,800 --> 00:33:09,560
want to be in the trenches doing
the work.

585
00:33:09,640 --> 00:33:11,920
It's the it's the other external
stuff.

586
00:33:11,920 --> 00:33:16,160
It's, it's the puff pieces or
whatever that tend to, to get in

587
00:33:16,160 --> 00:33:18,880
the way and that get us, you
know, maybe navel gazing a

588
00:33:18,880 --> 00:33:21,880
little bit too much or maybe
judging our work a little bit

589
00:33:21,880 --> 00:33:25,320
too much or, or like you said,
looking for external validation,

590
00:33:25,320 --> 00:33:29,120
which is so fickle.
I mean, you know, I'm sure

591
00:33:29,120 --> 00:33:30,920
winning America's Got Talent was
great.

592
00:33:31,520 --> 00:33:34,880
You know, we all know that the
show kicks on to a new season

593
00:33:34,880 --> 00:33:37,960
like the the next the next year.
Like it just kind of keeps

594
00:33:37,960 --> 00:33:39,920
going.
The the wheel keeps turning, I

595
00:33:39,920 --> 00:33:41,920
suppose.
Doesn't mean that it didn't mean

596
00:33:41,920 --> 00:33:43,280
anything.
You know, it doesn't mean that

597
00:33:43,280 --> 00:33:44,960
it's not a a big part of your
life.

598
00:33:45,320 --> 00:33:50,840
But I think it messes with a lot
of people in terms of, yeah,

599
00:33:50,840 --> 00:33:54,160
just how fickle that whole that
whole thing can be.

600
00:33:54,680 --> 00:33:59,160
I used to think that like doing
SLAM and stuff would be

601
00:33:59,160 --> 00:34:03,480
something that like a tool that
I could use to like dominate

602
00:34:03,480 --> 00:34:05,840
other people and show how good I
was at something.

603
00:34:06,120 --> 00:34:10,000
And I kind of had some
experiences where I had to eat

604
00:34:10,000 --> 00:34:12,440
some humble pie.
It was a really great experience

605
00:34:12,440 --> 00:34:14,600
because it taught me that no, I
actually don't want that.

606
00:34:14,600 --> 00:34:17,840
I actually want to be like, I
don't want to be the guy.

607
00:34:18,080 --> 00:34:22,000
I want to be part of the
tapestry of like whatever's

608
00:34:22,000 --> 00:34:26,239
happening in my city in like
SLAM or my country or the world.

609
00:34:26,239 --> 00:34:28,480
Like that's why I do this.
This is why I'm connecting with

610
00:34:28,480 --> 00:34:30,400
people from all over the
country.

611
00:34:30,400 --> 00:34:35,639
So I appreciate it that the soul
of an artist goes through trials

612
00:34:35,639 --> 00:34:39,560
when it's, when it gets, when it
gets exposed to all this stuff.

613
00:34:39,560 --> 00:34:43,719
And I, I appreciate you being so
transparent about how you've

614
00:34:43,719 --> 00:34:48,280
handled it, how you've, you've
stayed true to yourself, to, to

615
00:34:48,280 --> 00:34:51,840
your faith and to what's really
important to you through that.

616
00:34:51,840 --> 00:34:55,600
So thank you, no problems.
I want to know.

617
00:34:55,600 --> 00:35:00,160
Brandon, what do you believe
poetry can do that other forms

618
00:35:00,160 --> 00:35:03,200
of communication can't?
I know you said that you, your

619
00:35:03,200 --> 00:35:07,800
vision is to see it achieve the
same level of of recognition as,

620
00:35:07,800 --> 00:35:11,760
as as music, as as film, as, as
other forms of art.

621
00:35:12,120 --> 00:35:15,880
What do you think positions
poetry, performance poetry

622
00:35:16,440 --> 00:35:19,800
uniquely in that space?
I think the beauty of poetry.

623
00:35:19,800 --> 00:35:22,080
Is that it could be in any space
at any time.

624
00:35:23,160 --> 00:35:24,720
I think that's.
Something that most.

625
00:35:24,720 --> 00:35:29,000
Art forms can't do right.
Like poetry can be in a venue of

626
00:35:29,000 --> 00:35:32,680
five people and be just as
effective as a venue of tent

627
00:35:32,680 --> 00:35:34,920
out.
Like comedy can't do that.

628
00:35:34,960 --> 00:35:37,720
Like if you have three people in
a room and you have a comedian,

629
00:35:37,720 --> 00:35:39,800
it's hard, right?
It's hard when one of them is

630
00:35:39,800 --> 00:35:42,280
heckling you.
You know what I mean?

631
00:35:42,520 --> 00:35:44,640
Because the.
Whole concept of comedy is you

632
00:35:44,640 --> 00:35:47,920
get the chance to get this full
group involved in this laughter

633
00:35:48,400 --> 00:35:53,120
and then they all they all buy
into the bit and it's easier

634
00:35:53,120 --> 00:35:56,160
with more people.
With music.

635
00:35:56,400 --> 00:35:59,000
Like you can you can rock a
crowd with a few people in the

636
00:35:59,000 --> 00:36:03,360
room, but we all know it feel
different when the concerts full

637
00:36:03,680 --> 00:36:05,480
versus when the concerts have
empty.

638
00:36:06,080 --> 00:36:09,160
And with the film, you have so
many, there's so many barriers

639
00:36:09,160 --> 00:36:13,640
to entry with like money,
finance, editing, skill set and

640
00:36:13,640 --> 00:36:18,040
all this other stuff.
The cool part about spoken word?

641
00:36:18,040 --> 00:36:21,640
Is spoken word could be a film,
spoken word could be a full

642
00:36:21,640 --> 00:36:23,560
concert, spoken word could be a
play.

643
00:36:23,560 --> 00:36:28,080
Spoken word could just be me, no
microphone standing on the side

644
00:36:28,080 --> 00:36:32,440
of the street corner.
And my goal for spoken word is

645
00:36:32,440 --> 00:36:37,080
to get it to take the next leap
where it's not abandoning all

646
00:36:37,080 --> 00:36:42,040
the things we do currently.
It's just adding on like I want

647
00:36:42,040 --> 00:36:44,680
to do.
I have a slam that I'm going to

648
00:36:44,680 --> 00:36:47,440
do next year sometime.
I don't know when, but I'm going

649
00:36:47,440 --> 00:36:51,320
to put up a good prize for it.
It's going to be called set wars

650
00:36:51,760 --> 00:36:55,200
and I'm going to pick 8 poets
and I'm going to be like, hey,

651
00:36:55,880 --> 00:36:59,600
you're going to be competing
against each other with a 15

652
00:36:59,600 --> 00:37:02,200
minute set each.
You get the chance.

653
00:37:02,280 --> 00:37:05,440
There's no prop fouls.
You get the chance to put on

654
00:37:05,440 --> 00:37:09,520
stage whatever you want.
We'll have a bunch of different

655
00:37:09,520 --> 00:37:13,480
stuff available for you to pick.
You set the stage, utilize your

656
00:37:13,480 --> 00:37:16,880
spoken word poetry and
accompaniment with this, with

657
00:37:16,880 --> 00:37:19,680
this set piece to be able to
bring this thing to life as

658
00:37:19,680 --> 00:37:22,320
beautifully as you can.
Because I think that it can be

659
00:37:22,320 --> 00:37:24,200
that.
Because I think that that's

660
00:37:24,200 --> 00:37:26,520
another iteration of what spoken
word can be.

661
00:37:27,720 --> 00:37:31,240
I have a short film called
Complexity in which a lot of the

662
00:37:31,240 --> 00:37:34,600
dialogue is cut out and replaced
with spoken word poetry.

663
00:37:34,880 --> 00:37:38,280
And we won like 62 awards around
the world with it, right?

664
00:37:38,440 --> 00:37:41,560
And I'm like, Oh yeah.
Like spoken word translates

665
00:37:42,240 --> 00:37:45,400
everywhere like.
It's an art.

666
00:37:45,400 --> 00:37:51,000
Form that translates everywhere
your favorite artists love

667
00:37:51,000 --> 00:37:55,080
spoken word they steal from
spoken word they just.

668
00:37:55,080 --> 00:37:56,880
Don't do it, because they don't.
Pay their bills.

669
00:37:57,400 --> 00:37:58,560
Wow.
Yeah, no.

670
00:37:58,560 --> 00:37:59,800
Thanks.
Thanks for that summary.

671
00:37:59,800 --> 00:38:03,160
And that that's, you know, that
event that you're putting

672
00:38:03,160 --> 00:38:06,880
together it, it kind of Harkins
back to something that that I

673
00:38:06,880 --> 00:38:11,760
think Def Jam kind of used to do
a little bit a little bit like

674
00:38:11,760 --> 00:38:14,000
that.
I don't think they're they're

675
00:38:14,000 --> 00:38:16,920
around doing that so much.
But yeah, I think you're right.

676
00:38:16,920 --> 00:38:19,960
I think when it's firing on all
cylinders, it can be just as

677
00:38:19,960 --> 00:38:23,840
compelling, if not more
compelling than the other, you

678
00:38:23,840 --> 00:38:25,960
know, art forms that are that
are so revered.

679
00:38:25,960 --> 00:38:29,040
So it's great to to see that
you're developing some ideas

680
00:38:29,120 --> 00:38:31,160
around that.
And this is a.

681
00:38:31,160 --> 00:38:37,000
Plug and I'm unashamed of it.
Like February 7th of 2026.

682
00:38:37,080 --> 00:38:41,440
I am doing but what I feel to be
probably my most adventurous

683
00:38:41,440 --> 00:38:43,480
piece of work.
It is myself.

684
00:38:43,720 --> 00:38:47,880
It is a 70 piece orchestra.
It is a nine person band.

685
00:38:48,120 --> 00:38:51,880
No, it's a ten person band, a
nine person choir and 40 dancers

686
00:38:52,560 --> 00:38:55,000
for an album that I am going to
be releasing.

687
00:38:55,400 --> 00:39:00,720
And it is a spoken word album
with like 4 tracks of music,

688
00:39:01,280 --> 00:39:04,320
live performances, features, the
whole 9.

689
00:39:04,560 --> 00:39:07,840
And I was explaining this to one
of my friends, Sir Dominique out

690
00:39:07,840 --> 00:39:10,400
of Lancaster, Still,
Pennsylvania.

691
00:39:10,800 --> 00:39:13,920
And he's an awesome poet.
And he was like, bro, this is

692
00:39:13,920 --> 00:39:18,680
for a poetry show, an orchestra,
pan choir, these dancers, all

693
00:39:18,680 --> 00:39:20,680
these features.
He's like, you sure this is a

694
00:39:20,680 --> 00:39:21,800
poetry show?
And I'm like.

695
00:39:23,160 --> 00:39:25,520
Why can't?
It be a poetry show, that's it.

696
00:39:25,640 --> 00:39:26,120
Yeah.
Like.

697
00:39:27,000 --> 00:39:27,760
Poetry.
Can.

698
00:39:27,760 --> 00:39:32,520
Do all of this.
Like if we if.

699
00:39:32,520 --> 00:39:35,600
We're we're creative enough to
pin these things.

700
00:39:35,960 --> 00:39:40,040
We could also be creative enough
to say, oh, what I pinned is not

701
00:39:40,320 --> 00:39:43,120
finished work.
It is the finished writing.

702
00:39:43,440 --> 00:39:47,000
Now how do I set the stage for
it to be received as best as it

703
00:39:47,000 --> 00:39:48,880
can?
Because the script is finished

704
00:39:48,880 --> 00:39:51,080
work.
You then got to go film it.

705
00:39:51,760 --> 00:39:52,800
That's it.
So it's.

706
00:39:52,840 --> 00:39:54,840
Only stage one.
Yeah, you feel me?

707
00:39:54,840 --> 00:39:57,000
So I'm like.
I think a lot of Pulitzers are

708
00:39:57,080 --> 00:39:59,960
have mastered Stage 1.
And now it's like, all right,

709
00:39:59,960 --> 00:40:00,840
cool.
Stage 2.

710
00:40:01,160 --> 00:40:04,840
What what, what is stage 2 now?
And we get the chance to set the

711
00:40:04,840 --> 00:40:09,160
stage for Stage 2 because if we
were able to do something like

712
00:40:09,160 --> 00:40:12,160
that, like, like, I love
Kendrick Lamar.

713
00:40:12,160 --> 00:40:15,320
He's my favorite artist.
Kendrick take a lot from spoken

714
00:40:15,320 --> 00:40:16,800
word.
Oh yeah.

715
00:40:18,040 --> 00:40:20,040
He does.
And it's beautiful.

716
00:40:20,280 --> 00:40:25,640
And like his Super Bowl said, I
could imagine, I know several

717
00:40:25,640 --> 00:40:28,560
poets, if I were to piece them
together, could make a set.

718
00:40:29,000 --> 00:40:32,360
It's compelling because it'd be
like, oh, yeah, dog, like we

719
00:40:32,360 --> 00:40:34,760
thought it out.
We have the black revolutionary,

720
00:40:34,760 --> 00:40:36,720
a black chakra up there doing
this thing.

721
00:40:36,720 --> 00:40:38,320
Hey, love.
It's the chance to go hit her

722
00:40:38,320 --> 00:40:41,240
spot doing the love piece and
all these different, all these

723
00:40:41,240 --> 00:40:43,600
different people getting the
chance to collectively add to

724
00:40:43,600 --> 00:40:45,520
it.
It's like, oh, yeah, like we

725
00:40:45,520 --> 00:40:48,680
have it.
We just like many poets would

726
00:40:48,680 --> 00:40:51,160
just be like, oh, yeah, man,
just give me a mic and a stage.

727
00:40:51,160 --> 00:40:53,440
And it's like, well, people
won't pay.

728
00:40:53,880 --> 00:40:56,600
I could won't pay you $2,000,000
for that unfortunately at this

729
00:40:56,600 --> 00:40:58,520
point.
But if?

730
00:40:58,520 --> 00:41:01,920
We can, if we can design.
It, well, it can look gorgeous.

731
00:41:03,480 --> 00:41:04,880
I can see it in my mind,
Brandon.

732
00:41:04,880 --> 00:41:06,720
You're painting such a
compelling picture.

733
00:41:07,080 --> 00:41:08,480
It's exciting.
I'm getting excited.

734
00:41:10,000 --> 00:41:11,640
I've thought about it a lot
like.

735
00:41:11,880 --> 00:41:14,320
This show that I'm about to do,
we're going to have like

736
00:41:14,520 --> 00:41:17,480
there's, by the way, did you
know I have a nationally

737
00:41:17,480 --> 00:41:20,280
televised TV show?
I don't think I did tell.

738
00:41:20,280 --> 00:41:22,160
Us more so, yeah, it's called
family.

739
00:41:22,160 --> 00:41:24,240
Affair.
It's an hour long televised

740
00:41:24,240 --> 00:41:28,960
special of eight of my poems.
So if you go to The CW or

741
00:41:29,040 --> 00:41:32,080
actually I, I don't know.
If it's available in.

742
00:41:32,080 --> 00:41:34,680
Australia, I would imagine so I
will find it.

743
00:41:34,680 --> 00:41:40,840
If not then I have it illegally
downloaded on my YouTube page so

744
00:41:40,840 --> 00:41:43,560
I will gladly send it your way
so you can check it out.

745
00:41:44,040 --> 00:41:47,440
But yeah, like I have an
animated poem on there.

746
00:41:47,560 --> 00:41:50,960
I have of like poems that I
performed on stage, poems I

747
00:41:50,960 --> 00:41:54,360
performed in like set stages,
poems I performed in my living

748
00:41:54,360 --> 00:41:58,040
room, like all into this
beautiful amalgamation of a set.

749
00:41:58,720 --> 00:42:01,560
So I'll send it to you.
But like, but yeah, yeah.

750
00:42:01,560 --> 00:42:03,680
Like we're going to keep pushing
these boundaries.

751
00:42:04,000 --> 00:42:05,520
Like that's the goal.
Yeah.

752
00:42:05,520 --> 00:42:07,400
So you you've been.
There, you've been there on the

753
00:42:07,400 --> 00:42:12,480
bleeding edge of of, yes, really
seeing what it can do with, I

754
00:42:12,480 --> 00:42:15,160
guess a production budget behind
it and the right people.

755
00:42:15,160 --> 00:42:18,960
So yeah, of course a Super Bowl
show or whatever it ends up

756
00:42:18,960 --> 00:42:20,800
being is is the logical next
step.

757
00:42:20,800 --> 00:42:22,600
I love it.
Yeah, man, my next step is

758
00:42:22,600 --> 00:42:24,160
hopefully.
Just performing at the Grammys,

759
00:42:24,160 --> 00:42:28,120
man, if we can get a spoken word
performance at the Grammys and

760
00:42:28,120 --> 00:42:32,360
really make it shine and have
people being like, oh, yo, like

761
00:42:32,360 --> 00:42:36,320
a poetry performance went like
that viral like it would be, it

762
00:42:36,320 --> 00:42:38,720
would be killer.
Well, they've got the category.

763
00:42:38,720 --> 00:42:42,280
Now, so it's it's just the
logical next step is to to get a

764
00:42:42,280 --> 00:42:44,000
performance in there.
Yeah, absolutely.

765
00:42:46,000 --> 00:42:50,440
I think we're ready for piece #2
Brandon I got.

766
00:42:50,440 --> 00:42:52,200
You so this is a.
New one actually.

767
00:42:53,200 --> 00:42:56,520
So forgive me, I will be
reading, but are you a father?

768
00:42:57,280 --> 00:42:59,560
I'm not, no.
OK.

769
00:42:59,880 --> 00:43:03,520
To all my.
Parents out there, you'll be

770
00:43:03,520 --> 00:43:08,760
able to resonate.
I have three children, 5 year

771
00:43:08,760 --> 00:43:10,920
old, 3 year old and eight-month
old.

772
00:43:11,120 --> 00:43:15,200
So here we go.
My kids asked.

773
00:43:15,520 --> 00:43:19,800
Daddy, can you play with me?
And immediately, a litany of

774
00:43:19,800 --> 00:43:24,880
things I could be doing instead
sprinted across my mind, said

775
00:43:24,880 --> 00:43:27,280
no.
And to be honest, I don't know

776
00:43:27,280 --> 00:43:31,040
what I did out.
Maybe it was the dishes.

777
00:43:31,040 --> 00:43:33,120
That the sink had been
babysitting for so long.

778
00:43:34,280 --> 00:43:37,080
Maybe it was the e-mail I swore
I would send last week.

779
00:43:37,080 --> 00:43:40,960
Maybe it was the orphan clothes
I left on my chair just waiting

780
00:43:40,960 --> 00:43:45,000
for a home to hang at.
To be truthful, I have no clue

781
00:43:45,000 --> 00:43:47,400
what I did and I think that's
the problem.

782
00:43:50,040 --> 00:43:55,280
Don't know what I did.
But I know what I didn't do, and

783
00:43:55,280 --> 00:43:59,360
it's killing me to think that if
this was my last shot, my last

784
00:43:59,360 --> 00:44:03,200
opportunity, that I may have
owned it away for something that

785
00:44:03,200 --> 00:44:06,040
I don't even remember.
And it is.

786
00:44:07,120 --> 00:44:10,680
And is it practical to always
play on the ground with your

787
00:44:10,680 --> 00:44:11,720
children?
No.

788
00:44:12,040 --> 00:44:13,680
We're adults.
We have things,

789
00:44:13,680 --> 00:44:16,640
responsibilities.
And is it good for your mental

790
00:44:16,640 --> 00:44:20,040
health to subject yourself to
the crazed whim of a 5 year old

791
00:44:20,040 --> 00:44:23,840
tyrant and her three-year old
assistant as you navigate the

792
00:44:23,840 --> 00:44:27,200
complex legislation of
underwater mermaid dog men that

793
00:44:27,200 --> 00:44:29,480
they just made-up?
No.

794
00:44:31,520 --> 00:44:34,080
Is this back pain and.
Memories worth it?

795
00:44:34,520 --> 00:44:36,760
Yes.
Is the stretching of my

796
00:44:36,760 --> 00:44:40,440
imagination to a place it long
since abandoned for more

797
00:44:40,840 --> 00:44:43,880
practical things worth it?
Yes.

798
00:44:44,120 --> 00:44:47,920
Being a daddy is what I always
wanted, and when my kids asked

799
00:44:47,920 --> 00:44:51,920
me to play, I can't always say
yes, but I always regret saying

800
00:44:51,960 --> 00:44:53,880
that.
Questioning.

801
00:44:53,880 --> 00:44:56,320
If I'm missing.
Out on the last time for the

802
00:44:56,440 --> 00:44:58,840
first time.
So when my children wake up

803
00:44:58,840 --> 00:45:02,280
tomorrow, before they venture
out to the big world of

804
00:45:02,320 --> 00:45:05,320
intergalactic tea parties and
monster trucks that have real

805
00:45:05,320 --> 00:45:09,160
monsters for drivers, I'll do my
bath stretches before they wake

806
00:45:09,160 --> 00:45:12,520
up.
I have the ibuprofen next to a

807
00:45:12,520 --> 00:45:17,320
large glass of water for the
mental wear on standby, and I'll

808
00:45:17,320 --> 00:45:22,400
be ready to answer the question.
I've waited a lifetime, Daddy.

809
00:45:22,400 --> 00:45:29,520
Will you play with me?
Oh wow.

810
00:45:29,920 --> 00:45:33,320
What a wonderful window into,
yeah, the life of a parent.

811
00:45:33,320 --> 00:45:37,240
So, yeah, three kids under 6.
That's, that's a big job, my

812
00:45:37,240 --> 00:45:42,520
friend.
Love it.

813
00:45:43,400 --> 00:45:47,840
Brandon, I'd love to touch on
the topic of, of faith if we

814
00:45:47,840 --> 00:45:49,880
could.
I know that you've been, you've

815
00:45:49,880 --> 00:45:54,200
been very open about your own
faith really, really since day

816
00:45:54,200 --> 00:45:57,080
one and, and in all kind of
public forums that you find

817
00:45:57,080 --> 00:46:00,600
yourself in.
I'm always curious, how does

818
00:46:00,600 --> 00:46:05,760
kind of, I guess creativity and
spirituality intersect in your

819
00:46:05,760 --> 00:46:08,360
life directly tied to each
other?

820
00:46:08,480 --> 00:46:12,600
Like this gift that I have is
because I come from a creative

821
00:46:12,600 --> 00:46:15,600
God, right?
Like I get the privilege to just

822
00:46:15,600 --> 00:46:21,560
tap into a small piece of that
divinity and spoken word as how

823
00:46:21,560 --> 00:46:26,000
would I phrase it?
Yes, I mean spoken word.

824
00:46:26,000 --> 00:46:28,720
Is filled with a bunch of people
who have been immensely hurt by

825
00:46:28,720 --> 00:46:31,360
the church, who will want
nothing to do with Christianity

826
00:46:32,880 --> 00:46:38,080
and have rightful frustration
with a myriad of different

827
00:46:38,240 --> 00:46:42,440
hypocrisies and past judgments
and all those things.

828
00:46:42,800 --> 00:46:47,240
Spoken word actually helped me
better understand my faith in a

829
00:46:47,240 --> 00:46:53,200
very real way that allowed me to
understand how to carry it as a

830
00:46:53,200 --> 00:46:58,120
sword to protect and care versus
as something to chop down,

831
00:46:58,720 --> 00:47:02,840
right?
Like coming from, you know, very

832
00:47:03,040 --> 00:47:06,880
standard Christian background,
showing up to a slam.

833
00:47:07,160 --> 00:47:11,200
And by the way, apologies for
the curtness of some of this

834
00:47:11,520 --> 00:47:17,680
like coming to a slam like with
like a large populace of LGBTQIA

835
00:47:17,680 --> 00:47:22,440
community people, right?
I was like, oh man, like.

836
00:47:22,840 --> 00:47:25,520
What do I do here?
How do I respond to this?

837
00:47:25,520 --> 00:47:28,320
How do I do this right?
Like they're not going to want

838
00:47:28,320 --> 00:47:30,800
to hear what I have to say.
Like they're not going to want

839
00:47:30,800 --> 00:47:32,080
to.
They're going to think that I'm

840
00:47:32,080 --> 00:47:35,040
going to be judging them and
then stepping into the space.

841
00:47:35,040 --> 00:47:39,960
And it was like, oh, Brandon, if
you listen to what your mom told

842
00:47:39,960 --> 00:47:43,440
you, you got two eyes, 2 ears
and one mouth for a reason.

843
00:47:43,440 --> 00:47:46,080
You should listen and watch
twice as much as you speak.

844
00:47:47,120 --> 00:47:50,320
You may get the chance to learn
something about how Love

845
00:47:50,480 --> 00:47:53,160
Actually functions and how you
can love these people.

846
00:47:54,200 --> 00:47:56,840
Because these people aren't your
enemy.

847
00:47:57,280 --> 00:48:00,440
These people are people.
These are people that God still

848
00:48:00,640 --> 00:48:05,560
actively loves, who God actively
cares for, who longs and desires

849
00:48:05,560 --> 00:48:08,440
for relationship with, and if
you.

850
00:48:08,440 --> 00:48:10,640
Get close enough to.
Them you'll get the chance to

851
00:48:10,640 --> 00:48:13,920
see parts of God that you don't
see anywhere else inside of

852
00:48:13,920 --> 00:48:17,200
these people right.
Like I love the church.

853
00:48:17,240 --> 00:48:20,960
The church is God's pride.
I fully believe that man do I

854
00:48:21,080 --> 00:48:25,920
have I seen a far better and
concerned effort for the needy

855
00:48:25,920 --> 00:48:29,240
and the downtrodden out of a
poetry community and out of

856
00:48:29,240 --> 00:48:32,960
left-leaning spaces then I do a
lot of conservative right wing

857
00:48:32,960 --> 00:48:35,760
churches.
There's no shortage of news

858
00:48:36,040 --> 00:48:38,960
cycle around the world about
our, you know, our current

859
00:48:38,960 --> 00:48:41,400
administration and the people
who put him into office.

860
00:48:42,480 --> 00:48:46,560
And it it makes me sad to think
that the people who pick up this

861
00:48:46,560 --> 00:48:52,160
book, who would read, you know,
a red letter passage of Jesus

862
00:48:52,160 --> 00:48:56,600
talking about like, Oh yeah,
like, you know, you cared for me

863
00:48:56,600 --> 00:48:58,720
when you fed the homeless.
You care for me when you took

864
00:48:58,720 --> 00:49:02,440
care of the orphan, the widow,
the, the one who had no place to

865
00:49:02,440 --> 00:49:05,320
go.
And then they would be like, you

866
00:49:05,320 --> 00:49:09,200
know what, fam?
Kick them all out to pour them

867
00:49:09,200 --> 00:49:10,280
all.
Get them all out of here.

868
00:49:10,280 --> 00:49:12,280
I'm like, I just don't know.
What God you looking at?

869
00:49:13,480 --> 00:49:17,040
And it was it was the poetry
community that gave me a a my

870
00:49:17,040 --> 00:49:22,440
first glimpse, a love like that.
I will forever be grateful for

871
00:49:22,440 --> 00:49:26,960
spoken word for allowing me to
be able to see the gospel

872
00:49:26,960 --> 00:49:29,800
through the lens that it was
supposed to be seen through, at

873
00:49:29,800 --> 00:49:31,280
least in my opinion.
Wow.

874
00:49:31,360 --> 00:49:33,560
I just want to let.
That hang in the air for a SEC.

875
00:49:37,840 --> 00:49:39,640
Yeah, no, that, that's.
Wonderful.

876
00:49:39,640 --> 00:49:42,440
Brandon, I I appreciate you you
breaking that down for us.

877
00:49:42,880 --> 00:49:46,280
And again, it comes back to what
you were saying about art and

878
00:49:46,280 --> 00:49:52,200
poetry's wonderful, you know,
spiritual divine power to

879
00:49:52,200 --> 00:49:58,360
breakdown barriers and to help
us see, yeah, that that people

880
00:49:58,360 --> 00:50:01,720
who are different from us are
not different from us, that kind

881
00:50:01,720 --> 00:50:03,760
of thing.
And that, you know, we have the

882
00:50:03,760 --> 00:50:07,560
privilege, you know, of, of
walking around the world and

883
00:50:07,560 --> 00:50:13,280
seeing the kaleidoscope of
creation in people in nature,

884
00:50:13,480 --> 00:50:15,920
You know, just the, the, the
diversity of everything.

885
00:50:15,920 --> 00:50:20,520
Like it's just it's so wonderful
to to be a part of.

886
00:50:21,000 --> 00:50:23,920
I want to, I want to dive into,
you mentioned this film

887
00:50:23,920 --> 00:50:27,600
complexity a little bit earlier.
Can you tell us a little bit

888
00:50:27,600 --> 00:50:31,080
more about what this film is
about because it kind of touches

889
00:50:31,080 --> 00:50:33,720
on on some of these themes that
you've just given voice to.

890
00:50:33,960 --> 00:50:35,280
Yeah.
So complexity is a.

891
00:50:35,280 --> 00:50:37,760
Film about the complex
relationship between the black

892
00:50:37,760 --> 00:50:39,440
community and the Christian
religion.

893
00:50:39,960 --> 00:50:42,560
It's displayed through a young
black boy whose father gets

894
00:50:42,560 --> 00:50:46,680
killed in a traffic stop, and
then seven years later he goes

895
00:50:46,680 --> 00:50:49,920
to a new church and two rows in
front of him is the police

896
00:50:49,920 --> 00:50:54,320
officer who killed his father.
And it's the week long journey.

897
00:50:54,320 --> 00:50:56,080
Of what he will do come next
Sunday.

898
00:50:56,520 --> 00:51:02,480
And so that the film was written
by me, inspired not by my life

899
00:51:02,480 --> 00:51:06,200
circumstance, but through a
myriad of different happenings

900
00:51:06,200 --> 00:51:09,520
that were going on during COVID.
All of the black bodies being

901
00:51:09,520 --> 00:51:14,880
killed by police and a myriad of
conversations that I was having

902
00:51:14,880 --> 00:51:20,120
with friends of mine who are
deconstructing based around this

903
00:51:20,120 --> 00:51:25,920
connection, this it's not
intrinsic, this external belief

904
00:51:26,120 --> 00:51:31,280
within the United States of
America that God and country

905
00:51:31,600 --> 00:51:36,720
have to be directly that, oh
man, you can't be a good

906
00:51:36,720 --> 00:51:39,720
American.
You can't be a good Christian

907
00:51:39,720 --> 00:51:44,120
without being a solid American.
And it's like, that's the

908
00:51:44,120 --> 00:51:47,160
dangerous thought pattern that
led people to thinking that you

909
00:51:47,160 --> 00:51:50,640
could enslave folk.
And then Dr. the Bible to

910
00:51:50,680 --> 00:51:53,160
justify.
That's the dangerous thought

911
00:51:53,160 --> 00:51:56,720
pattern that led to people
thinking, oh, yeah, we could

912
00:51:56,720 --> 00:52:00,480
kill off all of these native
folk, but since they're not like

913
00:52:00,480 --> 00:52:05,480
us, you know, it doesn't matter.
And it's like, no, no, no, no,

914
00:52:05,480 --> 00:52:09,720
no, no, no, no, no.
This is all antithetical to the

915
00:52:09,720 --> 00:52:12,800
gospel.
If you look at what Jesus does,

916
00:52:13,520 --> 00:52:17,360
Jesus goes into places and his
harshest criticisms are for

917
00:52:17,360 --> 00:52:21,720
leadership and the church.
Those are the people he holds

918
00:52:21,720 --> 00:52:24,920
most accountable.
So when we look at these

919
00:52:24,920 --> 00:52:30,120
situations, the least of us are
the ones who will be first, and

920
00:52:30,120 --> 00:52:32,920
the ones who are first will
become the least of us.

921
00:52:33,320 --> 00:52:36,560
So let us make sure that we act
according and the title of the

922
00:52:36,560 --> 00:52:38,800
film.
Complexity is, is so fitting.

923
00:52:38,800 --> 00:52:41,880
Like you said, you've just
broken down like a series of

924
00:52:41,880 --> 00:52:47,520
really, really complex, you
know, socio political, religious

925
00:52:47,520 --> 00:52:51,480
relationships that are very much
in the air in in the US, but

926
00:52:51,480 --> 00:52:53,160
also in other places of the
world.

927
00:52:53,160 --> 00:52:58,440
And you, yeah, you have to kind
of find your way through that,

928
00:52:58,440 --> 00:53:01,880
that swamp if you like.
And yeah, you mentioned that,

929
00:53:02,560 --> 00:53:05,880
but some people their way
through it is that kind of step

930
00:53:05,880 --> 00:53:07,920
away from everything and go,
well, I don't want to be a part

931
00:53:07,920 --> 00:53:10,680
of this system or whatever.
And others, others are looking

932
00:53:10,680 --> 00:53:14,200
for, I guess, a compassionate
way through where they they want

933
00:53:14,200 --> 00:53:17,080
to hold on to their their faith
and their values.

934
00:53:17,320 --> 00:53:19,480
But there.
But there's a lot of, yeah,

935
00:53:19,480 --> 00:53:22,360
there's a lot of stuff to work
through, a lot of baggage, I

936
00:53:22,360 --> 00:53:24,720
suppose.
And this is completely.

937
00:53:24,720 --> 00:53:27,920
Unrelated, are there like a is?
There.

938
00:53:28,600 --> 00:53:32,440
A large population of black
people in Australia on a on.

939
00:53:32,960 --> 00:53:36,400
AI guess on a percentage level,
no, I mean, you know, we, we

940
00:53:36,400 --> 00:53:40,360
have a very, very large amount
of, of, of immigrants in

941
00:53:40,360 --> 00:53:42,240
Australia from various parts of
the world.

942
00:53:42,800 --> 00:53:47,600
We Australia naturally has its
own indigenous population and we

943
00:53:47,880 --> 00:53:52,360
have our own complexities of
stuff that we're working out,

944
00:53:52,360 --> 00:53:55,880
you know, in terms of stolen
land, etcetera.

945
00:53:55,880 --> 00:53:59,240
And just, you know, I guess
acknowledgement of that and, and

946
00:53:59,240 --> 00:54:03,320
just the relationship with
Indigenous Australians.

947
00:54:03,320 --> 00:54:07,120
So yeah, I guess Australia has
their own things that that we're

948
00:54:07,120 --> 00:54:09,760
working through in this space.
It just looks a little bit

949
00:54:09,760 --> 00:54:10,440
different.
Yeah.

950
00:54:10,440 --> 00:54:15,360
The main reason I ask is just.
Because forgive the terminology,

951
00:54:15,400 --> 00:54:18,080
most neat girls I know don't do
spiders and y'all got hella

952
00:54:18,080 --> 00:54:24,920
though I watched the video and
like y'all had spiders in the

953
00:54:24,920 --> 00:54:27,600
toilets who were like hiding
underneath the lips and I'm like

954
00:54:27,600 --> 00:54:31,440
Nah dawg.
I'm like I don't need to be pre.

955
00:54:31,440 --> 00:54:35,200
Flushing before I show up and
arrive to the place I'm in a

956
00:54:35,200 --> 00:54:37,160
rush.
I got to get to the bathroom.

957
00:54:37,680 --> 00:54:42,760
And so because I genuinely like
I I I only know one person who

958
00:54:42,760 --> 00:54:45,480
lives in Australia and I
remember asking I was like, yo,

959
00:54:45,480 --> 00:54:47,760
our Kangaroos really like that
comment.

960
00:54:47,800 --> 00:54:51,920
He's like, I mean, I.
Mean look, it really depends

961
00:54:52,240 --> 00:54:54,960
where where you live.
You know, if you're, if you're

962
00:54:54,960 --> 00:54:58,400
living right in the centre of
Melbourne, then maybe not so

963
00:54:58,400 --> 00:55:00,720
many spiders or Kangaroos.
But yeah, as soon as you get to

964
00:55:00,720 --> 00:55:04,560
the suburban fringe or anywhere
in the rural areas, yeah, you,

965
00:55:04,560 --> 00:55:07,520
you'll see some stuff.
I mean, you know, we, we

966
00:55:07,520 --> 00:55:10,720
exaggerate for effect sometimes
with our, with our wildlife and

967
00:55:10,720 --> 00:55:11,960
whatever.
But yeah, they're, they're

968
00:55:11,960 --> 00:55:13,440
around, you know, they're
around.

969
00:55:13,440 --> 00:55:16,560
Hey, hey, man, it's.
Y'all y'all y'all racing with

970
00:55:16,560 --> 00:55:20,880
Florida, I know that much.
Yeah, that's it.

971
00:55:21,280 --> 00:55:22,800
That's it.
Gators and everything.

972
00:55:22,800 --> 00:55:24,960
Yeah.
No, thank you for for taking us

973
00:55:25,200 --> 00:55:27,720
through that, Brandon.
And I'll, I'll leave a link to,

974
00:55:28,280 --> 00:55:31,040
to the complexity film, the
YouTube link in the episode

975
00:55:31,040 --> 00:55:34,160
description for anyone who wants
to, to figure it out and, and

976
00:55:34,160 --> 00:55:36,840
dive a little bit deeper.
Just briefly, Brandon, I want to

977
00:55:36,840 --> 00:55:39,760
know in your role as a father,
you know, we said three kids

978
00:55:39,760 --> 00:55:45,240
under 6, You know, how do you
hope to pass on the values and

979
00:55:45,240 --> 00:55:48,840
the creativity that have defined
your work to the next

980
00:55:48,840 --> 00:55:53,520
generation?
I heard a very powerful quote.

981
00:55:53,560 --> 00:55:58,120
From Donald Glover, yeah.
His quote was.

982
00:55:58,120 --> 00:56:02,160
Jaden Smith is like the first
free black kid.

983
00:56:03,600 --> 00:56:06,920
Wow, that is a quote.
And I was like.

984
00:56:07,480 --> 00:56:11,360
And he was like Jaden Smith
could pick anything.

985
00:56:11,840 --> 00:56:14,840
He could do anything.
There is no limits or

986
00:56:14,840 --> 00:56:17,280
restrictions on Jaden's
creativity.

987
00:56:17,800 --> 00:56:24,400
Jaden did, did music, had a
like, he was able to do it all,

988
00:56:24,440 --> 00:56:29,840
and was able to do it also under
the protection of his last name

989
00:56:29,840 --> 00:56:35,480
in a way that no other black kid
had the privilege, at least

990
00:56:35,480 --> 00:56:37,640
within the context of what
Donald Blever was referring to.

991
00:56:37,680 --> 00:56:43,560
I want my kids to have a similar
concept while also still having

992
00:56:43,560 --> 00:56:47,200
a very grounded perception of
the world.

993
00:56:48,000 --> 00:56:51,080
Like I don't want my kids to be
spoiled just because I'm

994
00:56:51,080 --> 00:56:54,520
financially doing better than my
family has ever done before.

995
00:56:54,520 --> 00:56:57,720
I don't want them to be like,
oh, Dad's going to get me this

996
00:56:57,720 --> 00:57:01,160
or Dad's going to get me that.
Be like, Nah, go mow that lawn,

997
00:57:01,160 --> 00:57:03,760
go get your chores done and go
earn your paychecks.

998
00:57:03,760 --> 00:57:06,000
That way you can go get your
stuff that you would like to go

999
00:57:06,000 --> 00:57:08,200
get.
But also I want my kids to be

1000
00:57:08,200 --> 00:57:13,640
able to like sail and it not be
so detrimental.

1001
00:57:13,880 --> 00:57:19,200
Like I remember my fear failure.
A lot of it was knowing I was

1002
00:57:19,200 --> 00:57:21,480
going to be the first kid to
graduate from College in my

1003
00:57:21,480 --> 00:57:27,520
household, knowing that, oh,
man, if I don't win this show

1004
00:57:28,080 --> 00:57:30,760
and going right back to the
regular job market.

1005
00:57:31,720 --> 00:57:34,360
And there's no guarantee that
any of this will have done

1006
00:57:34,360 --> 00:57:38,480
anything for me.
And I want my kids to know what

1007
00:57:38,480 --> 00:57:42,280
the pressure feels like, but to
not, but to only carry it if

1008
00:57:42,280 --> 00:57:44,240
they want to.
Yeah.

1009
00:57:44,280 --> 00:57:47,360
Well said.
Just reflecting on that Jaden

1010
00:57:47,360 --> 00:57:51,000
Smith thing, I suppose, you
know, it's not just the, the

1011
00:57:51,000 --> 00:57:54,640
freedom of of choice in that
respect, but also, I think we

1012
00:57:54,640 --> 00:57:58,760
all remember that he, he really,
like, tried some weird stuff,

1013
00:57:58,760 --> 00:58:01,120
you know, like he would, he
would put out, you know,

1014
00:58:01,520 --> 00:58:05,040
completely unedited thoughts
that were either genius or

1015
00:58:05,040 --> 00:58:06,120
madness.
I don't know.

1016
00:58:06,160 --> 00:58:07,560
We're still trying to figure it
out.

1017
00:58:07,880 --> 00:58:10,920
So he could even afford to be
cringy in that respect.

1018
00:58:10,920 --> 00:58:12,200
And it would.
It would be.

1019
00:58:12,240 --> 00:58:13,880
Yeah.
Like you said, it would be OK.

1020
00:58:14,080 --> 00:58:17,720
He was kind of under, I guess,
like you said, the protection of

1021
00:58:17,720 --> 00:58:22,320
the success of both of, of his
parents, you know, and, and

1022
00:58:22,320 --> 00:58:25,920
obviously, you know, Willow's
gone, gone on to to make waves

1023
00:58:25,920 --> 00:58:30,400
in in music as well.
Gee, that's, that's, that's

1024
00:58:30,400 --> 00:58:32,480
really, yeah, that's really got
me thinking.

1025
00:58:32,480 --> 00:58:35,720
And it's cool that you've you've
used that as, as a platform to

1026
00:58:35,720 --> 00:58:38,440
be like, OK, well, this is going
to be my approach with with my

1027
00:58:38,440 --> 00:58:41,320
kids.
And you know, I, I appreciate

1028
00:58:41,320 --> 00:58:45,520
the not letting them get
spoiled, but giving them a good

1029
00:58:46,280 --> 00:58:50,840
grounded, loving experience of
the world with, with a, with an

1030
00:58:50,840 --> 00:58:53,720
unconditional loving safety net.
I guess that's, that's all we

1031
00:58:53,720 --> 00:58:56,000
could ever ask for, you know?
Oh yeah.

1032
00:58:56,280 --> 00:58:59,320
Do you?
I'm assuming I I just like the

1033
00:58:59,320 --> 00:59:01,640
language varies.
Do do you know the duplexes?

1034
00:59:02,600 --> 00:59:05,400
It's a type of.
House, is that right?

1035
00:59:05,400 --> 00:59:07,800
Like it's like a.
It's like a house that's like

1036
00:59:07,960 --> 00:59:10,240
essentially 2 houses attached to
each other.

1037
00:59:10,240 --> 00:59:13,680
So like they have a shared wall
and it's like 2 houses.

1038
00:59:14,280 --> 00:59:17,080
So like one of my goals is to
buy a duplex in the next couple

1039
00:59:17,080 --> 00:59:21,200
of years and like rent it out.
But the main reason is because I

1040
00:59:21,200 --> 00:59:25,240
want to own it for my children.
So that way when they become

1041
00:59:25,240 --> 00:59:28,840
adults they will always have a
home and ability to stay at my

1042
00:59:28,840 --> 00:59:31,840
house as long as they're willing
to either be in school or

1043
00:59:31,840 --> 00:59:33,840
working.
Got to be one of the two right?

1044
00:59:33,840 --> 00:59:37,360
Can't just be bumming it at the
at dad's crib and not actively

1045
00:59:37,360 --> 00:59:40,040
doing something.
But like if they want their

1046
00:59:40,040 --> 00:59:42,440
slice of independence and
they're like, oh man, like

1047
00:59:42,440 --> 00:59:44,800
what's the job market look like
with AI?

1048
00:59:45,240 --> 00:59:50,440
And like, what does an entry
level position look like when we

1049
00:59:50,440 --> 00:59:53,400
have people who are working at
fast food restaurants, not

1050
00:59:53,400 --> 00:59:56,240
because it's their first job,
but because it's the only job

1051
00:59:56,240 --> 00:59:59,760
they can get right?
It's like Yo, how do how do I

1052
00:59:59,760 --> 01:00:02,800
create something that my
children can feel safe to be

1053
01:00:02,800 --> 01:00:06,640
able to explore and try one of
the minimal things I can do?

1054
01:00:07,360 --> 01:00:10,920
Because you can have this place
you can go live at, you can be

1055
01:00:10,920 --> 01:00:14,360
straight, be safe, not have to
worry about rent or mortgage for

1056
01:00:14,360 --> 01:00:19,040
like a year or two.
Go try, go do your thing sock

1057
01:00:19,160 --> 01:00:20,840
puzzle it.
Do what daddy did.

1058
01:00:20,840 --> 01:00:24,560
Daddy did poetry was making
$60.00 a show.

1059
01:00:24,600 --> 01:00:29,320
It was buying ramen like was
eating bad right.

1060
01:00:29,320 --> 01:00:35,200
Go live the life of the of the
poor entrepreneur or go get the

1061
01:00:35,200 --> 01:00:37,920
regular job, go to college, go
do whatever you'd like to do,

1062
01:00:37,920 --> 01:00:39,560
but know that you have something
here.

1063
01:00:41,400 --> 01:00:44,040
And that's an that's a blessing
that not many people will get

1064
01:00:44,040 --> 01:00:47,040
the chance to pass on.
And I realize it's a privilege,

1065
01:00:47,040 --> 01:00:49,200
but it's a privilege that I'm
working my ass off to try to

1066
01:00:49,200 --> 01:00:51,880
make sure I can have for them.
And you're right, like.

1067
01:00:51,880 --> 01:00:54,720
Once I think one of the big
modern struggles is with

1068
01:00:54,720 --> 01:00:57,920
housing, you know, because but
if you've if you've got that

1069
01:00:57,920 --> 01:01:01,320
covered, it just opens up so
much more opportunity.

1070
01:01:01,320 --> 01:01:04,160
You know, I think I think there
are so many, so many people are

1071
01:01:04,160 --> 01:01:06,000
struggling, you know, myself
included.

1072
01:01:06,000 --> 01:01:08,520
And, you know, so many dreams
are kind of withering on the

1073
01:01:08,520 --> 01:01:12,800
vine because people need to do
so much to keep a roof over

1074
01:01:12,800 --> 01:01:15,280
their head.
So I think that the strategy,

1075
01:01:15,280 --> 01:01:17,720
for lack of a better word, that
you've got there is is perfect.

1076
01:01:17,800 --> 01:01:20,280
You know, in terms of saying,
hey, here's a place.

1077
01:01:20,440 --> 01:01:24,480
It's not like you said, it's not
it's not just something that you

1078
01:01:24,480 --> 01:01:28,200
can have with without the
condition of like work or study,

1079
01:01:28,200 --> 01:01:30,200
Like that's that's a reasonable
expectation.

1080
01:01:30,360 --> 01:01:34,480
But to set that up, I think that
speaks volumes about, I guess.

1081
01:01:34,480 --> 01:01:35,880
Yeah.
The relationship that you want

1082
01:01:35,880 --> 01:01:39,720
to have with your kids and the
kind of yeah, the the way you

1083
01:01:39,720 --> 01:01:41,760
want to set them up in life.
So I really like that.

1084
01:01:41,840 --> 01:01:43,880
It's good.
Take a lot of that from

1085
01:01:43,880 --> 01:01:46,160
Hispanic.
Culture and I'm not Hispanic in

1086
01:01:46,160 --> 01:01:50,520
any respect, but like I've seen
Hispanic, I've seen Hispanic

1087
01:01:50,520 --> 01:01:54,600
households have 3 to 4
generations of family in them

1088
01:01:54,840 --> 01:01:58,400
like great grandma, grandma, mom
and dad kids.

1089
01:01:58,720 --> 01:02:01,480
And it's like are they all
living on top of each other?

1090
01:02:01,640 --> 01:02:05,600
Yes, but they have like 7 people
working in that house and like

1091
01:02:05,600 --> 01:02:07,600
at least two of them own a
business.

1092
01:02:08,080 --> 01:02:11,280
Everybody's, everybody's all
pulling into the same thing.

1093
01:02:11,600 --> 01:02:14,920
And then by the time that a kid,
by the time that like, you know,

1094
01:02:14,920 --> 01:02:20,040
great grandma passes, you know,
the, the, the mom and dad are

1095
01:02:20,040 --> 01:02:23,880
now have these kids who are able
to now make the decision, do I

1096
01:02:23,880 --> 01:02:26,200
want to come back here or do I
want to go elsewhere?

1097
01:02:26,400 --> 01:02:32,120
But also the children feel a
freedom to say I want to go back

1098
01:02:32,120 --> 01:02:35,680
home to mom and dad and it not
feel like failure because I

1099
01:02:35,680 --> 01:02:38,240
don't want my kids to feel like,
oh man, I failed because I got

1100
01:02:38,240 --> 01:02:42,200
to come back because like, Oh
my, I, I, I don't know if I

1101
01:02:42,200 --> 01:02:44,120
mentioned this to you if I was
talking to somebody else

1102
01:02:44,120 --> 01:02:47,600
earlier, but like, after
graduating from college, my life

1103
01:02:47,600 --> 01:02:49,720
went to complete shit.
But.

1104
01:02:51,640 --> 01:02:53,080
It went to.
Complete shit.

1105
01:02:53,720 --> 01:02:56,760
I I had bought it a Gator ring
for a woman who I've been dating

1106
01:02:56,760 --> 01:02:59,800
for nearly three years.
We broke up over Stipe.

1107
01:03:01,840 --> 01:03:05,960
I got a brand new job.
Lost it two days into having the

1108
01:03:05,960 --> 01:03:08,760
job because I broke some rule
that they didn't tell me was a

1109
01:03:08,760 --> 01:03:12,200
rule after me and the girl after
me and the girl who I was dating

1110
01:03:12,200 --> 01:03:14,480
broke up.
I ended up losing the second job

1111
01:03:14,480 --> 01:03:17,080
that I just got.
This all happened in like 4

1112
01:03:17,080 --> 01:03:22,160
weeks after graduating college
and then I ended up having to

1113
01:03:22,160 --> 01:03:25,560
move back home and share a
bedroom with my 8 year old

1114
01:03:25,560 --> 01:03:28,320
little brother.
And I remember just thinking

1115
01:03:29,400 --> 01:03:32,640
damn I'm a failure.
Like how do you fail this hard

1116
01:03:32,640 --> 01:03:34,960
Brandon?
Like how do you fail this hard?

1117
01:03:35,600 --> 01:03:39,560
And my mom sat me down and said
Brandon you did not fail.

1118
01:03:40,640 --> 01:03:45,280
You're here and I will always be
here.

1119
01:03:45,280 --> 01:03:49,120
Sorry, you don't fail as long as
you got us.

1120
01:03:51,320 --> 01:03:52,680
As well, I'm going to hold that
same.

1121
01:03:52,680 --> 01:03:54,800
Principle.
Wow, beautiful.

1122
01:03:54,800 --> 01:03:55,760
I like it.
I like it.

1123
01:03:56,520 --> 01:03:59,280
Brandon, are there any, are
there any topics or are there

1124
01:03:59,280 --> 01:04:02,840
any themes that you're currently
exploring in your work or maybe

1125
01:04:02,840 --> 01:04:06,920
you want to explore that might
surprise your audience?

1126
01:04:06,920 --> 01:04:10,520
Is there are there any kind of
untapped areas that you'd want

1127
01:04:10,520 --> 01:04:15,080
to explore Comedy.
Hey, yeah.

1128
01:04:16,040 --> 01:04:18,720
Yeah, man, I think too many.
Poets are too serious and they

1129
01:04:18,720 --> 01:04:20,440
don't.
They don't like to let people

1130
01:04:20,440 --> 01:04:22,800
laugh.
I'm like, Nah, man, if you're

1131
01:04:22,800 --> 01:04:25,120
going to be a compelling
storyteller, you got to figure

1132
01:04:25,120 --> 01:04:27,760
out a way to get people to have
some levity during the show.

1133
01:04:28,360 --> 01:04:30,600
Yeah, come on, I've been to.
I've been to far too.

1134
01:04:30,600 --> 01:04:33,840
Many poetry slams where people
came in feeling great and left

1135
01:04:33,840 --> 01:04:35,200
depressed.
I'm like, Nah, dog.

1136
01:04:36,640 --> 01:04:37,840
Like we should be.
We should be.

1137
01:04:37,840 --> 01:04:41,440
Having some people leaving here
lighter by the time that we're

1138
01:04:41,440 --> 01:04:43,960
done with all this.
So, you know, I'm writing a lot

1139
01:04:43,960 --> 01:04:46,600
of I'm writing a lot of funny
stuff at this moment in time

1140
01:04:47,040 --> 01:04:49,080
because yeah, like I'm, I've
always been really self

1141
01:04:49,080 --> 01:04:50,560
reflective.
Self reflective.

1142
01:04:51,080 --> 01:04:54,520
But now I'm I'm allowing myself
to take a step out of the self

1143
01:04:54,520 --> 01:04:58,240
reflective nature to be able to
say, yeah, I've lived a whole

1144
01:04:58,240 --> 01:05:02,720
life and in this whole life have
been some hilarious moments.

1145
01:05:03,440 --> 01:05:06,120
Let's talk about it.
Let's talk about the moment

1146
01:05:06,120 --> 01:05:08,760
where I was trying to spit game
at this senior as a freshman and

1147
01:05:08,760 --> 01:05:12,440
then I fell off of the ledge of
this sidewalk and busted my lip

1148
01:05:12,440 --> 01:05:15,120
in front of her.
Great content.

1149
01:05:15,560 --> 01:05:18,600
Let's talk about the time where
I was at the grocery store.

1150
01:05:19,320 --> 01:05:22,600
I saw this girl who I thought
was cute, and then I flashed her

1151
01:05:22,600 --> 01:05:28,240
a smile.
And then she was like, And I

1152
01:05:28,240 --> 01:05:31,520
realized that I had, like, a
whole thing of, like, cilantro

1153
01:05:31,520 --> 01:05:35,240
stuck in between my teeth.
When I got back to the car, I'm

1154
01:05:35,240 --> 01:05:37,200
like, that was it.
That was it.

1155
01:05:39,800 --> 01:05:42,520
So yeah, comedy.
Comedy is the next frontier.

1156
01:05:44,080 --> 01:05:47,720
That's so exciting, Brandon.
And I think, you know, I think

1157
01:05:47,760 --> 01:05:51,960
as poets, you know, our, our
strength is often in giving

1158
01:05:51,960 --> 01:05:54,080
language to the minutiae of
life.

1159
01:05:54,080 --> 01:05:57,560
And that's, that's comedy there.
There's so much overlap there in

1160
01:05:57,560 --> 01:06:01,320
terms of, of those, those little
moments, those little moments

1161
01:06:01,320 --> 01:06:04,720
of, of facepalming or, or
whatever the the case may be.

1162
01:06:05,480 --> 01:06:08,960
And I agree, I think when we go
to a night, yeah, there's lots

1163
01:06:08,960 --> 01:06:11,200
we can do to look after each
other and make sure that we

1164
01:06:11,200 --> 01:06:14,360
leave, not that we leave
lighter.

1165
01:06:14,360 --> 01:06:16,960
You know, we can, we can share
some of the heavy stuff, but we

1166
01:06:16,960 --> 01:06:19,960
should be like focused on on,
yeah, looking after each other,

1167
01:06:19,960 --> 01:06:21,560
making sure people don't feel
alone.

1168
01:06:21,560 --> 01:06:25,560
And, you know, communal laughter
is just it's the best.

1169
01:06:25,640 --> 01:06:27,400
It's the best thing.
You know, it's the best thing.

1170
01:06:27,400 --> 01:06:30,480
I love going to comedy shows.
So very excited to see what you

1171
01:06:30,480 --> 01:06:34,080
get up to in that space as we
kind of come to, I don't know,

1172
01:06:34,080 --> 01:06:35,760
the pointy end of our time
together.

1173
01:06:35,760 --> 01:06:39,680
Brandon, what's next for you in
202526?

1174
01:06:39,680 --> 01:06:42,560
You've shared some really,
really big stuff in terms of

1175
01:06:43,360 --> 01:06:46,600
this new show with, with
orchestra and dancers.

1176
01:06:46,680 --> 01:06:50,320
I know that when we first
touched base, you, you were

1177
01:06:50,320 --> 01:06:53,640
showing some real enthusiasm for
coming and touring Australia and

1178
01:06:53,640 --> 01:06:56,320
you were, you're actually asking
for my help with that, which

1179
01:06:56,320 --> 01:06:59,440
surprised me because I'm, I'm,
I'm not a, I'm not a tour

1180
01:06:59,440 --> 01:07:02,920
manager by by any stretch of the
imagination, but I was very

1181
01:07:02,920 --> 01:07:05,560
humbled.
Is there, is there anything else

1182
01:07:05,560 --> 01:07:08,800
that that you're up to in your,
in your creative work?

1183
01:07:09,320 --> 01:07:12,040
I'm a I'm I'm becoming.
A film maker at this point.

1184
01:07:14,000 --> 01:07:17,920
So I've been writing a lot of.
Scripts and this next year is

1185
01:07:17,920 --> 01:07:20,720
really going to be so like in
two weeks I'm I'm going to be

1186
01:07:20,720 --> 01:07:23,160
helping my best friend film his
full length movie.

1187
01:07:24,080 --> 01:07:26,000
So like we're going to be doing
that in two weeks.

1188
01:07:26,880 --> 01:07:30,280
I'm excited for that.
I'm writing two full length

1189
01:07:30,280 --> 01:07:32,600
movies myself, currently the
full length version of

1190
01:07:32,600 --> 01:07:36,680
Complexity, as well as another
film which is a thriller movie

1191
01:07:36,760 --> 01:07:40,600
called Amyla Rate, which is a
synonym for grace.

1192
01:07:41,680 --> 01:07:46,520
So I'm doing those and I have a
bunch of shorts that I'm filming

1193
01:07:46,520 --> 01:07:49,920
on my own, like while I'm out
here at Indianapolis doing this

1194
01:07:49,920 --> 01:07:52,120
youth conference.
When I'm not doing that, I'm

1195
01:07:52,120 --> 01:07:54,760
actually filming all of these
shorts in these hotels because I

1196
01:07:54,760 --> 01:07:57,720
don't have family with me and I
have a an abundance of free

1197
01:07:57,720 --> 01:08:01,320
time.
So yeah, like that.

1198
01:08:01,600 --> 01:08:05,360
But the main thing is just
getting this show together for

1199
01:08:05,360 --> 01:08:09,240
February 7th like for sure.
Like when I.

1200
01:08:09,240 --> 01:08:11,320
Tell you people.
Don't understand the level of

1201
01:08:11,320 --> 01:08:13,320
work and energy I'm putting into
this.

1202
01:08:13,320 --> 01:08:16,160
Like I am the full creative
director for the show.

1203
01:08:16,160 --> 01:08:19,680
So like I have come up with, I'm
coming out with all of the

1204
01:08:19,680 --> 01:08:22,120
outfits that people will be
wearing.

1205
01:08:22,720 --> 01:08:27,840
I am coming up with all of the
set design that we will be

1206
01:08:27,840 --> 01:08:30,720
running with and doing.
I am hiring all of the people

1207
01:08:30,720 --> 01:08:32,439
who will be filling in their
roles.

1208
01:08:32,640 --> 01:08:36,800
I am immensely busy.
I'm also doing all, I'm not

1209
01:08:36,800 --> 01:08:40,040
doing the music, but I am
managing the the creation of all

1210
01:08:40,040 --> 01:08:42,880
of this music that is going in
the backdrop of all this.

1211
01:08:42,880 --> 01:08:47,960
We're even flying to Budapest to
go record with a Symphony, to

1212
01:08:47,960 --> 01:08:50,319
have tracks.
That way I could travel with it

1213
01:08:50,319 --> 01:08:53,080
without having to have a full
orchestra with me every time.

1214
01:08:53,359 --> 01:08:57,040
I am immensely busy just getting
this thing off the ground.

1215
01:08:57,279 --> 01:09:00,880
And yes, I want to come to
Australia.

1216
01:09:01,080 --> 01:09:04,520
I would like to bring myself and
my whole family for like a week

1217
01:09:04,520 --> 01:09:08,000
or two and do as much poetry as
I possibly could.

1218
01:09:08,000 --> 01:09:12,200
So poetry venue, people who are
listening, holla at me.

1219
01:09:12,200 --> 01:09:17,160
Schools who are listening for
both primary, secondary and

1220
01:09:17,359 --> 01:09:20,920
college, holla at me.
I would love to come on out,

1221
01:09:20,920 --> 01:09:23,920
come spend some time with you
guys, come do the Dang thing.

1222
01:09:24,200 --> 01:09:27,359
I will be in Thailand in
October, can't come then, but I

1223
01:09:27,359 --> 01:09:31,479
can come any other time that is
not in February because I'm

1224
01:09:31,479 --> 01:09:34,200
going to be doing this show in
February.

1225
01:09:34,680 --> 01:09:36,920
So if y'all are interested,
Holla at the Kid.

1226
01:09:36,920 --> 01:09:39,080
I would love to come out there.
It is the call out's.

1227
01:09:39,080 --> 01:09:42,319
Been sent Yeah we we would love
to to have you mate I mean we've

1228
01:09:43,040 --> 01:09:47,520
I know Australia's recently you
know hosted Rudy Francisco I

1229
01:09:47,520 --> 01:09:51,520
know we've hosted Neil Hillborn
in the past so yeah there's a

1230
01:09:51,520 --> 01:09:54,000
real rupee car sold out the
Sydney.

1231
01:09:54,040 --> 01:09:56,440
Opera House.
Yeah, that's right.

1232
01:09:56,440 --> 01:09:57,000
That's.
Right.

1233
01:09:57,120 --> 01:10:00,160
I've reached out to, I've
reached out to Rupee to see if

1234
01:10:00,240 --> 01:10:02,640
she wants to come on the show,
but I haven't heard back.

1235
01:10:02,880 --> 01:10:04,600
But that's fine.
This is what you got to do.

1236
01:10:06,480 --> 01:10:08,600
Excellent.
We're going to, for the last

1237
01:10:08,600 --> 01:10:13,400
time this season.
We're going to dive into the the

1238
01:10:13,400 --> 01:10:16,000
overarching metaphor that we've
been talking about this season,

1239
01:10:16,000 --> 01:10:20,280
which is Brandon, if your
creative work was an instrument

1240
01:10:20,280 --> 01:10:24,480
in like an orchestra, a creative
orchestra, do you know what kind

1241
01:10:24,480 --> 01:10:27,200
of instruments it would be?
I'm going to get really

1242
01:10:27,200 --> 01:10:32,080
abstract.
It would be the wand in the hand

1243
01:10:32,280 --> 01:10:37,160
of the conductor.
So like my work is.

1244
01:10:37,160 --> 01:10:41,160
Kind of like a universal
movement that gets the chance to

1245
01:10:41,160 --> 01:10:45,440
highlight and display the
plethora of beauty within spoken

1246
01:10:45,440 --> 01:10:47,480
word.
Like I have hard hitting bars

1247
01:10:47,480 --> 01:10:50,880
like Black Chakra.
Wonderful storytelling, like

1248
01:10:50,880 --> 01:10:55,240
somebody like OB W have deeply
intrinsic and personal

1249
01:10:55,240 --> 01:10:58,840
storytelling like K Love.
And so like the things that I do

1250
01:10:58,840 --> 01:11:02,320
well, there are people who
specialize and like are salute

1251
01:11:02,480 --> 01:11:06,400
animals at the things that I do
well and like that's their like

1252
01:11:06,400 --> 01:11:08,520
specialty.
So like if you would find

1253
01:11:08,520 --> 01:11:12,080
yourself enjoying an aspect of
who I am and that's something

1254
01:11:12,080 --> 01:11:14,320
that you like, you can go find
more of it.

1255
01:11:14,400 --> 01:11:17,960
So like I can conduct you to a
lot of different spaces of

1256
01:11:17,960 --> 01:11:20,840
spoken word to find home and you
know.

1257
01:11:22,480 --> 01:11:25,440
There's a bit of word play there
in terms of conducting, you

1258
01:11:25,440 --> 01:11:28,880
know, like electricity, like
joining things together and

1259
01:11:28,880 --> 01:11:33,160
being a channel for everything.
So I know some of my guests have

1260
01:11:33,160 --> 01:11:35,800
have fancied themselves as the
conductor themself.

1261
01:11:35,800 --> 01:11:39,000
You're the first person who said
that you are, you are the wand,

1262
01:11:39,000 --> 01:11:41,560
you are the tool doing the
conducting.

1263
01:11:41,560 --> 01:11:46,000
So thank you for putting the
cherry on top of our our

1264
01:11:46,000 --> 01:11:49,040
creative orchestra.
And I always like to compile all

1265
01:11:49,040 --> 01:11:51,040
the different instruments that
everyone said throughout the

1266
01:11:51,040 --> 01:11:54,160
season and say, hey, this is
this is our creative orchestra,

1267
01:11:54,160 --> 01:11:55,880
This is what we do.
We've got piano, we've got

1268
01:11:55,880 --> 01:11:57,640
drums, we've got everything we
need.

1269
01:11:57,640 --> 01:12:02,960
So I look forward to that.
Now, Brandon, you have been left

1270
01:12:03,040 --> 01:12:06,520
a question, a bonus question
from my previous guest.

1271
01:12:06,520 --> 01:12:11,320
So this question comes from
Megan J Riddle, who asks if you

1272
01:12:11,320 --> 01:12:16,920
could take spoken word somewhere
weird and crazy where people

1273
01:12:16,920 --> 01:12:21,440
wouldn't expect it to be.
For example, in space, what

1274
01:12:21,440 --> 01:12:23,840
would that look like?
Where would you like to take

1275
01:12:23,840 --> 01:12:25,520
spoken word?
We've talked about the Grammys.

1276
01:12:25,520 --> 01:12:28,360
We've talked about Super Bowl.
Is there anywhere else that you

1277
01:12:28,360 --> 01:12:31,720
would like to take spoken word
into the frontier?

1278
01:12:31,720 --> 01:12:33,760
It'd be a.
You'd have to.

1279
01:12:33,760 --> 01:12:37,920
Be a really good an interactive
poet.

1280
01:12:38,760 --> 01:12:44,680
But Carnival in Rio de Janeiro.
You'd have to be somebody.

1281
01:12:44,680 --> 01:12:47,160
Who could really compel an
audience, get people to like,

1282
01:12:47,160 --> 01:12:51,560
talk back, inner inner, inner
engage, you know, do all the

1283
01:12:51,560 --> 01:12:54,240
work.
But like, I think a spoken word

1284
01:12:54,240 --> 01:12:58,160
poet in the middle of Carnival,
spin the piece on top of that

1285
01:12:58,160 --> 01:13:02,560
stage would be really dope.
So yeah, I would say Carnival

1286
01:13:02,560 --> 01:13:06,360
would be like a very unique
space that I don't know fucking

1287
01:13:06,360 --> 01:13:10,160
word has ever touched that it it
would be super compelling.

1288
01:13:10,160 --> 01:13:12,960
Oh, that'd be so good.
But, but you're right, like

1289
01:13:12,960 --> 01:13:16,280
you'd have your work cut out for
you in amongst all the all the

1290
01:13:16,280 --> 01:13:20,200
colour and all the noise and all
the everything that goes on for

1291
01:13:20,200 --> 01:13:25,680
that, for that celebration.
You know, that would be, yeah,

1292
01:13:25,680 --> 01:13:27,560
that'd be really, really neat to
see.

1293
01:13:27,560 --> 01:13:30,120
So, you know, we're, we're
talking about Grammys, we're

1294
01:13:30,120 --> 01:13:33,520
talking about Super Bowl, we're
talking about Carnival.

1295
01:13:33,560 --> 01:13:35,880
You know, let's, let's get it
out everywhere, everywhere we

1296
01:13:35,880 --> 01:13:40,200
can.
Now, Brandon, if if people want

1297
01:13:40,200 --> 01:13:43,640
to follow all these amazing
things that you're up to see

1298
01:13:43,640 --> 01:13:47,560
some more of your work and just,
yeah, keep up to date with with

1299
01:13:47,560 --> 01:13:50,520
what's happening.
Where's the best places for for

1300
01:13:50,520 --> 01:13:58,720
them to go to do that?
Www.brandonleakeleake.com would

1301
01:13:58,720 --> 01:14:01,720
be the best place to go.
You can get to my Instagram, my

1302
01:14:01,720 --> 01:14:06,760
YouTube, if you still, Facebook,
Facebook and all the stuff

1303
01:14:06,760 --> 01:14:09,080
there.
All of the updates regarding my

1304
01:14:09,080 --> 01:14:13,560
show will be going onto those
social platforms as well as my

1305
01:14:13,560 --> 01:14:16,000
website.
If you're like, hey, I love what

1306
01:14:16,000 --> 01:14:17,800
you're doing.
I want to support and donate.

1307
01:14:17,800 --> 01:14:21,200
I actually have a fundraiser
currently through my website for

1308
01:14:21,200 --> 01:14:24,360
people to be able to donate to
help pay for this show because

1309
01:14:24,360 --> 01:14:28,560
this show is not cheap.
This show is expensive.

1310
01:14:28,600 --> 01:14:30,680
It's got a lot of people mate.
Wow.

1311
01:14:31,440 --> 01:14:34,080
And so and I'm paying.
Everybody, nobody's working for

1312
01:14:34,080 --> 01:14:36,600
free.
We're making sure that if I get

1313
01:14:36,600 --> 01:14:39,720
paid as an artist, every artist
on the car gets paid.

1314
01:14:39,720 --> 01:14:43,200
That is my fundamental belief.
So that would be the best spot

1315
01:14:43,200 --> 01:14:47,160
to go to if you want to see like
continuous daily content.

1316
01:14:47,160 --> 01:14:50,240
For me, Instagram and YouTube
are like the places I post most

1317
01:14:50,240 --> 01:14:52,920
frequently.
I don't like TikTok, but you'll

1318
01:14:52,920 --> 01:14:55,240
see me post there.
But it's it's just not for me.

1319
01:14:55,440 --> 01:14:56,640
Yeah, for sure.
No, I.

1320
01:14:56,840 --> 01:15:01,400
I agree, and we'll have links to
all of those in the in the show

1321
01:15:01,400 --> 01:15:03,520
description.
Do you have more merch on the

1322
01:15:03,520 --> 01:15:04,680
way?
I really have.

1323
01:15:04,760 --> 01:15:07,680
I really love your merch line,
but I think it's been out of

1324
01:15:07,680 --> 01:15:09,040
stock for a little bit.
Do you have some more on the

1325
01:15:09,040 --> 01:15:10,360
way?
Oh yeah.

1326
01:15:10,360 --> 01:15:12,640
So I only do.
Merch when I get ready to tour.

1327
01:15:12,760 --> 01:15:16,160
I don't like to have merch on
hand traditionally, but no, I

1328
01:15:16,840 --> 01:15:22,880
have an entire new run of I made
AI made a knit jersey.

1329
01:15:23,000 --> 01:15:28,200
I have 5 T-shirts, I have 3
hoodies, A Letterman jacket and

1330
01:15:28,200 --> 01:15:32,480
a corduroy jacket that are all
getting produced currently.

1331
01:15:32,880 --> 01:15:35,600
And so they're currently in
manufacturing and then getting

1332
01:15:35,600 --> 01:15:38,200
shipped to me.
Also have like 4 different hats

1333
01:15:38,200 --> 01:15:39,600
that are getting produced as
well.

1334
01:15:39,840 --> 01:15:43,560
So yeah, merch will be coming.
Everything that is, by the way,

1335
01:15:44,720 --> 01:15:50,560
if by the way, if you donate 100
American to the fundraiser, you

1336
01:15:50,560 --> 01:15:54,160
get a free ticket to the show,
yes.

1337
01:15:54,160 --> 01:15:56,120
So like.
If you're like, hey.

1338
01:15:56,120 --> 01:16:00,320
Fam, I've been looking for an
excuse to go to America and go

1339
01:16:00,320 --> 01:16:03,520
to a state that is not
completely screwed by its

1340
01:16:03,520 --> 01:16:07,480
federal government.
You can come to California and

1341
01:16:07,480 --> 01:16:11,520
come enjoy this show on February
7th and then watch American

1342
01:16:11,520 --> 01:16:16,320
Football because I know you guys
have football as well as rugby

1343
01:16:16,320 --> 01:16:18,680
and all the other stuff at the
show.

1344
01:16:18,880 --> 01:16:22,000
I'll be selling all the merch
and whatever does not get sold

1345
01:16:22,000 --> 01:16:25,760
at the show, I will put the
remainder of it for sale online

1346
01:16:25,760 --> 01:16:26,960
for people to be able to
purchase.

1347
01:16:27,200 --> 01:16:30,880
And then if people create enough
of the enough of a demand, I

1348
01:16:30,880 --> 01:16:34,600
will restock for when we take
this on tour.

1349
01:16:34,800 --> 01:16:38,480
Because what people don't know
is that we already have 10 shows

1350
01:16:38,480 --> 01:16:41,120
booked for the tour to take
this.

1351
01:16:42,280 --> 01:16:46,240
It's the show is called In Real
Life with the orchestra and all

1352
01:16:46,240 --> 01:16:48,000
that.
We're going to take that show on

1353
01:16:48,000 --> 01:16:52,320
the road and I have 10 shows
booked currently and I'm trying

1354
01:16:52,320 --> 01:16:56,320
to add 40 more shows.
This sounds amazing, Brandon.

1355
01:16:56,440 --> 01:16:58,440
I'm I'm so excited.
Sounds like it's going to be a a

1356
01:16:58,440 --> 01:17:02,160
real watershed 2026 for you and
this show.

1357
01:17:02,160 --> 01:17:05,440
So yeah, looking looking forward
to the new merch line as well.

1358
01:17:06,080 --> 01:17:07,560
Hey, I'm about to reach out to
the Sydney.

1359
01:17:07,560 --> 01:17:10,160
Opera House.
And if I do, you better have

1360
01:17:10,160 --> 01:17:12,160
three good poems to open up the
show.

1361
01:17:12,160 --> 01:17:15,400
Brother, I'm going to let you
know you're the only poet I know

1362
01:17:15,560 --> 01:17:18,600
in Australia.
So I'm about to get 4 poets to

1363
01:17:18,600 --> 01:17:22,880
come open the show and you are
one of the four, all right?

1364
01:17:22,960 --> 01:17:25,120
All right, my work's.
Cut out for me, I'll, I'll get

1365
01:17:25,120 --> 01:17:27,720
I'll get to writing some new
stuff in the off season.

1366
01:17:28,480 --> 01:17:30,040
I'm like, I'm just letting you
know.

1367
01:17:31,000 --> 01:17:35,360
If if it if it shakes out
because your guys's rainy season

1368
01:17:35,360 --> 01:17:38,960
is when right now.
Yeah.

1369
01:17:40,200 --> 01:17:41,400
So yeah.
Like our summer?

1370
01:17:41,400 --> 01:17:43,880
So.
Like I will be coming in like

1371
01:17:43,880 --> 01:17:48,360
November of next year if this
thing shakes out and you better

1372
01:17:48,360 --> 01:17:52,120
be ready to come spit some bars.
I'm just letting you know, All

1373
01:17:52,120 --> 01:17:53,320
right, mate, I'm ready.
I'm.

1374
01:17:53,320 --> 01:17:54,520
Ready.
I'll take you out to your word.

1375
01:17:54,520 --> 01:17:57,560
I'll take you out to your word.
Brandon, you're going to leave

1376
01:17:57,560 --> 01:18:00,000
us with a third and final piece
in just a second.

1377
01:18:00,000 --> 01:18:04,960
I just want to take 60 seconds
to wrap up season 2 of I think

1378
01:18:04,960 --> 01:18:07,800
therefore I slam.
It's been incredible.

1379
01:18:07,800 --> 01:18:11,200
We've really taken things to a
new level with all the, the, the

1380
01:18:11,200 --> 01:18:16,360
video episodes with kind of the
new format with huge

1381
01:18:16,360 --> 01:18:18,440
international and national
guests.

1382
01:18:18,520 --> 01:18:20,760
I, I just want to thank every
single guest that's come on.

1383
01:18:20,760 --> 01:18:24,440
This season has been so generous
with their time and their work.

1384
01:18:25,080 --> 01:18:28,120
I really want to thank Joseph,
my video editor.

1385
01:18:28,120 --> 01:18:31,600
You've been amazing.
I want to thank my patrons over

1386
01:18:31,600 --> 01:18:34,000
on Patreon.
Make sure you check that out

1387
01:18:34,000 --> 01:18:36,400
where you can support the show
directly and get a whole bunch

1388
01:18:36,400 --> 01:18:39,360
of cool bonus content.
The best place to keep track of

1389
01:18:39,360 --> 01:18:42,240
the show during the offseason is
Instagram.

1390
01:18:42,520 --> 01:18:44,960
I think, therefore I slam
podcast.

1391
01:18:45,600 --> 01:18:47,880
I'll be doing updates there.
Like I said, check out the

1392
01:18:47,880 --> 01:18:51,160
Patreon, check out the merch
store as well so you can Rep the

1393
01:18:51,160 --> 01:18:55,400
show wherever you go.
Season 3, I've already planning

1394
01:18:55,400 --> 01:18:58,160
for it.
And yeah, some of the guests

1395
01:18:58,160 --> 01:19:00,560
that I've got lined up I'm super
excited for.

1396
01:19:00,560 --> 01:19:03,840
So I just want to thank everyone
who's tuned in, who's told

1397
01:19:04,120 --> 01:19:07,280
someone about the show, who's
subscribed on YouTube, on

1398
01:19:07,280 --> 01:19:10,480
Spotify, on Apple Podcast.
Keep up the great work.

1399
01:19:11,280 --> 01:19:13,800
This is growing into something
like really special.

1400
01:19:13,800 --> 01:19:16,720
And yeah, I just, I really want
to keep it going.

1401
01:19:17,600 --> 01:19:20,600
Cool.
Brandon, are you going to finish

1402
01:19:20,600 --> 01:19:22,760
us off with one last piece
today?

1403
01:19:23,160 --> 01:19:26,120
Dreams are defined.
As a succession of images,

1404
01:19:26,120 --> 01:19:28,640
thoughts or emotions that flood
through the mind while one is

1405
01:19:28,640 --> 01:19:32,360
sleeping and are also often
times forgotten like 5 minutes

1406
01:19:32,360 --> 01:19:36,360
after we wake up in the morning.
But dreams are also the

1407
01:19:36,360 --> 01:19:39,480
aspirations we carry inside of
our hearts, just hoping one day

1408
01:19:39,480 --> 01:19:44,080
they may finally come true.
And I find it so sad that as

1409
01:19:44,080 --> 01:19:46,960
we've grown older, we've lost
sight at how beautiful dreaming

1410
01:19:46,960 --> 01:19:49,400
truly is.
It's almost as if somewhere

1411
01:19:49,400 --> 01:19:52,440
along the path, we fall into a
trap that tells us that dreams

1412
01:19:52,440 --> 01:19:57,360
aren't real.
I remember being a little clean.

1413
01:19:58,160 --> 01:20:00,680
At this imagination that ran
rampant, the way I could turn my

1414
01:20:00,680 --> 01:20:04,560
driveway to the NBA, how I would
let these shots spray and my

1415
01:20:04,560 --> 01:20:07,080
imagination would always put 3
seconds left on the clock.

1416
01:20:07,080 --> 01:20:09,320
And I have the rocks.
So y'all go ahead and count with

1417
01:20:09,320 --> 01:20:14,880
ME3. 21 brick but.
See, here's the beautiful.

1418
01:20:14,880 --> 01:20:18,400
Part about dreaming is you could
just reimagine the whole thing.

1419
01:20:18,400 --> 01:20:26,080
So countdown again with ME3213.
This is the dream of every

1420
01:20:26,080 --> 01:20:28,400
single kid on my block.
And what I'm trying to tell

1421
01:20:28,400 --> 01:20:31,440
y'all is as a child, I believe I
could be anything that I wanted

1422
01:20:31,440 --> 01:20:33,840
to be.
And I bet that you all did too.

1423
01:20:33,840 --> 01:20:35,480
No matter what that dream may
have been.

1424
01:20:35,480 --> 01:20:38,160
As children, we all created more
space in our lives for our

1425
01:20:38,160 --> 01:20:40,320
imagination than we did our
limitations.

1426
01:20:40,320 --> 01:20:45,440
But now, now that we've grown
older, we let that subtle voice

1427
01:20:45,440 --> 01:20:47,720
in the back of our minds tell us
the dreams aren't real.

1428
01:20:48,680 --> 01:20:51,480
We we wake up in the morning
just praying if it's change and

1429
01:20:51,480 --> 01:20:53,520
things remain the same.
And that can make it seem like

1430
01:20:53,520 --> 01:20:57,040
dreams aren't real.
We we get up and we put our

1431
01:20:57,040 --> 01:20:59,840
souls to the ground and we just
feel like it's making

1432
01:20:59,840 --> 01:21:01,640
everything.
It takes everything to make our

1433
01:21:01,640 --> 01:21:04,840
heart pound and that can make it
feel like dreams aren't real.

1434
01:21:06,600 --> 01:21:09,960
But I.
Guess my question to you would.

1435
01:21:09,960 --> 01:21:12,080
Be would you want it any other
way?

1436
01:21:13,680 --> 01:21:16,760
At the end of the day, would you
want the world to bend to your

1437
01:21:16,760 --> 01:21:20,040
whim, or would you want to go
and chase after the thing that

1438
01:21:20,040 --> 01:21:23,320
makes your heart activate the
moment that you get out of that

1439
01:21:23,360 --> 01:21:25,280
bed?
Because what I'm telling you

1440
01:21:25,280 --> 01:21:30,440
right now is that yes, dreams
may be difficult, but on the

1441
01:21:30,440 --> 01:21:33,920
other side of all of that work,
of all of that effort is the

1442
01:21:33,920 --> 01:21:39,280
pride in knowing that you were
enough stride and you achieved

1443
01:21:39,280 --> 01:21:43,880
and you attained something so
beautiful, something so grand.

1444
01:21:44,200 --> 01:21:47,120
And it's not about the stage it
was done on.

1445
01:21:47,120 --> 01:21:49,600
It's about the fact that it was
authentically you.

1446
01:21:50,840 --> 01:21:52,000
So to my.
People.

1447
01:21:52,680 --> 01:21:55,080
My friends, my neighbors, my
kinfolk.

1448
01:21:55,680 --> 01:21:58,440
People pray.
That you look in the.

1449
01:21:58,440 --> 01:22:02,480
Mirror and recognize that you
were enough before the dream

1450
01:22:02,480 --> 01:22:06,120
ever arrived, because the dream
was meant to serve you, not the

1451
01:22:06,200 --> 01:22:11,720
other way around.
So today I will say that dreams

1452
01:22:11,720 --> 01:22:14,880
are only real when you put
accents behind.

1453
01:22:15,920 --> 01:22:19,440
And what will you do?
What that dream of yours?

1454
01:22:23,120 --> 01:22:26,800
Wow, the dreams.
Were meant to serve you, not the

1455
01:22:26,800 --> 01:22:31,840
other way around Brandon I
really appreciate how you've

1456
01:22:31,840 --> 01:22:34,560
kept it so real today.
You've given us a real insight

1457
01:22:34,560 --> 01:22:40,400
into, you know, what it means to
to have such a, a transcended

1458
01:22:40,400 --> 01:22:44,200
experience as, you know, winning
America's Got Talent, but also,

1459
01:22:44,440 --> 01:22:48,000
you know, staying real and
feeding that experience and,

1460
01:22:48,000 --> 01:22:51,560
and, and how it's changed your
life back into the, the causes

1461
01:22:51,560 --> 01:22:55,360
and the people and the dreams
that you believe in.

1462
01:22:55,920 --> 01:22:59,720
So it's been a pleasure.
Brandon Leake, thank you so much

1463
01:22:59,720 --> 01:23:04,000
for thinking with us and
slamming with us today anytime.

1464
01:23:04,440 --> 01:23:07,760
Anytime.
And we'll see y'all.

1465
01:23:08,040 --> 01:23:10,560
In 2026, let's go.