Tell us about your upbringing. How did you get to where you are today?
I was born in Shreveport, Louisiana where my grandmother Nellie was a poet which is what initially sparked my interest in poetry and songwriting and my mother Esther was a Gospel music singer. When we moved to L.A. she took me to a live concert call Wattstax featuring Isaac Hayes, Richard Pryor and Confunction. Wattstax was a benefit concert organized by Stax Records to commemorate the seventh anniversary of the 1965 riots in the African-American community of Watts, Los Angeles.The concert took place at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on August 20, 1972. The concert’s performers included all of Stax’s prominent artists at the time. The genres of the songs performed included soul, gospel, R&B, blues, funk, and jazz. Three other live events that followed “Duke Ellington We Love You Madly”, Elton John Live at Dodgers Stadium and Aretha Franklin’s live recording of “Amazing Grace”, the greatest Gospel Music album and documentary of all time. These four events affected my life like the first 5 steps of a child.
How did you get into the entertainment business?
Believe or not I went to school for Law Enforcement because I was into martial arts and wanted to start my own body guard service for the stars. Also I was an amateur photographer and what I thought was a side hobby I wrote poetry and co-wrote a song called Some time Soon and signed a publishing deal with Gwen Gordy who was the sister of Motown Records founder Berry Gordy. I started writing songs for Aretha Franklin’s publishing company. She introduced me to my idol Stevie Wonder and the rest is a book too long for this article.
What is your favorite project you have ever worked on?
My favorite project is always the next project. It’s like asking who is my favorite child. They are all unique with a personality and life of their own that excites me. Nevertheless, if I had to choose just one it would be a benefit concert that I co-produced with my father called “God is Love” at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles featuring Aretha Franklin, Barry White & The Love Unlimited Orchestra, Shalamar, Stephanie Mills, BIlly Davis and Marlyn McCoo, Brock Peters and Rev. James Cleveland and the Southern California Community Choir.
That project was the result of a previous catastrophe…let me explain. I had formed an event production group made up of celebrity kids called CAFE’ RAES Production. Our first endeavor was to produce a concert/party using artists that we didn’t have to pay….our parents. Naively we rented an event space that held about 150 people. We hand-made some hard to believe flyers and passed them out in local night clubs in L.A. The flyer read “Aretha Franklin, Billy Preston and Rev. James Cleveland in concert $5”. When we arrived there was a throng of hopeful fans 5 blocks down Highland Avenue. To say the least we didn’t understand the star power of our parents and weren’t prepared. No cashier. No Deejay. No Sound system. All that we had was our supportive parents who were true super-stars and professionals that were standing on a tiny desk top stage with an upright piano singing “Yesterday I Sang a Love Song, But today I sang the Blues”. The event was featured in Jet Magazine. True story.
How did you find your passion? Do you have any advice for someone else trying to find their passion?
I would ask my Godmother (Aretha) what she thought of my poetry and she’d encourage me to write lyrics. She’d ask “who are your favorite poets and songwriters?”. I’d refer to poets Nikki Giovanni and Ephram Tyler. And songwriters Elton John & Bernnie Taupin, Linda Creed and Stevie Wonder.
My advice is to allow the gift to come organically. Don’t force the divine. It’s like finding love that was there all the time. One day you wake up and discover you can’t stop thinking about someone or something…better yet you can’t breathe or live without it. The art of love is passion’s fruit.
How do you achieve higher consciousness?
I first deny myself. I inhale the positive and exhale the negative. I humbly confess that there is something greater than me, Jesus. I meditate and accept that my mere existence and movement is created by a life giving force. Some call it “the universe”. I call HIM by name, Yahweh.
Why is gratitude so important?
To me having an attitude of gratitude makes room for more blessings.If you’re not grateful for the little, why should you be entitled or granted more.
Who inspires you?
My children Christian, Stedman, English, Asa and Priestly, their mother Yvonne and my grands and Spiritual Walkers. They know who they are.
One’s reality is achieved through the thoughts one believes in their head. How do you take a thought and manifest it into your dreams?
I believe you have to submit yourself to receive the gift (vision). Carnal thoughts are limited to physicality. Spiritual thoughts (seeds) are boundless. Irrigate your thoughts with a little faith and perseverance and some time later you will harvest flowers.
Everyone has a past…sometimes, it can be quite dark. How would you suggest letting go of your past so that you can achieve great results for the future?
Darkness has no fellowship with light. The unforgiven past hinders the future. The light is at the end of the tunnel in front, not behind you. We tend to get in our own way of progress by not forgiving. There is a guilt mechanism built in each human that stymies our growth towards the future. I suggest that openly asking others to forgive you puts the onus of forgiveness on them. You are now conscientiously free to forge the future without the weight of shame.
What is the best way of connecting with someone?
Be of service and humble yourself. Listen twice as much as you speak.
What projects are you working on now?
The greatest show on earth is coming soon!!!
What does beauty mean to you?
The journey of life may not be pretty but if you learn how to admit your shortcomings and look beyond others who have faults and see their needs, you will see the beauty.
How would you describe success?
Master the art of living.
Where can we find you?
“Somewhere over the rainbow way up high”…. and @fatcatslive
