EP7: Lesson Learned By Being a A Trailblazer in Hip-Hop With Tandy Weems

Episode Transcription

• Episode 7: Transcription

  Intro: Are you ready to change your habits, sculpt your destiny, and light up your path to greatness? Welcome to the epicenter of transformation. This is Mick Unplugged. We'll help you identify your because so you can create a routine that's not just productive, but powerful. You'll embrace the art of evolution, adapt strategies to stay ahead of the game, and take a step toward the extraordinary.
  
  So let's unleash your potential. Now here's Mick.
  
  Mick Hunt: Alright. Everybody, Welcome to another exciting edition of Mick unplugged. And I have to tell you, I am truly, truly excited about today's guest today. We're talking about hip hop. When I say we're talking about hip hop, we are talking to the most respected professional and thought leader in the hip hop industry.
  
  With over 25 years in the game, working with the likes of the notorious B I G, Wu Tang, Mary J Blige. I could keep going method, man. I could keep going red, man. I could keep going Mike Tyson. Ladies and gentlemen, we're talking no other than the queen, the o g, the original Brooklyn's finest, Ms.
  
  Tammy Wink. Tammy, how are you doing today?
  
  Tandy Weems: Wow. That was a great introduction.
  
  Mick Hunt: It is all the truth. It is
  
  Tandy Weems: all the truth. I'm doing just fine. Thank you so much for having me on your show today.
  
  Mick Hunt: Sandy, this is an honor. I have been a fan and follower of yours for many, many years. Like most of us grew up on hip hop. Hip hop is my jam. And I know a little bit of your backstory, and I can't wait for this audience to hear it.
  
  All the things that you're doing, totally amazing. So truly honored and blessed to have you here on the show today. Thank you.
  
  Tandy Weems: Thank you. Thank you so much.
  
  Mick Hunt: Yes. Yes. Yes. And in the essence of Mick unplugged, right, Tandy, I like to challenge people to look deeper than their why. Like, to me, your why is superficial.
  
  Everyone knows your why. Like, my why are my kids? My why is my mom. My wife's. But why?
  
  Right? And so we get our listeners to focus on there because, right, if why is the question, because is your answer, because is your reason. And I know you. Right? Hip hop wasn't always mainstream.
  
  Hip hop was not always easy. Right? Tell me about your because and what what your because is and then how that has resonated in your career.
  
  Tandy Weems: My because for hip hop is because we were able to be our best selves at that time. There was nothing like being around, young people with brilliant ideas, and we knew there was no limit to those ideas.
  
  Mick Hunt: Right.
  
  Tandy Weems: We supported each other. And because we supported each other, we created a worldwide $1,000,000,000,000 industry without a dime.
  
  Mick Hunt: Say that one more time. What kind of industry?
  
  Tandy Weems: A worldwide $1,000,000,000,000 industry without a single dime. All we used was our genius, our togetherness, our unity, and our best selves.
  
  Mick Hunt: You you got me going to church right now, miss Sandy. You know it. Right?
  
  Tandy Weems: You know?
  
  Mick Hunt: I was looking I was looking for a collection plate to my right. I was I was looking in my pocket getting ready to put something in there. Get it ready to put. That's amazing. And I know that that road is not always easy.
  
  Right. And, and one of the things that I love about you and when I read about you, you talk about reeducating. Right?
  
  Tandy Weems: Yes.
  
  Mick Hunt: Talk about reeducating. Can you dive a little bit deeper into that piece for me?
  
  Tandy Weems: Absolutely. Right now, a lot of our young people and a lot of us that's been in hip hop for a long time need to be reeducated and re reminded exactly what the culture of hip hop is. We hear all about the music of hip hop. But hip hop is not just a music genre. Hip hop is a culture.
  
  Mick Hunt: Right.
  
  Tandy Weems: And what we're seeing now is because we have taken the music away from the culture, the foundation, its roots. Hip hop is not only the 5 elements, dance, DJ, MCing, you know, art, but the most important is knowledge.
  
  Mick Hunt: Up here. That's right.
  
  Tandy Weems: Knowledge. So if your music or your art don't possess knowledge, it's not hip hop. As defined by those that created it, the African Americans that created it, and the communities that shaped it.
  
  Mick Hunt: Right.
  
  Tandy Weems: It's not intelligent to market death, destruction, and gun violence, and drugs, and crime to your community. So that's not hip hop.
  
  Mick Hunt: That's not hip hop.
  
  Tandy Weems: Right. And we need to stop calling that hip hop because we are doing a disservice to ourselves and to the word and the culture of hip hop.
  
  Mick Hunt: That's right. And I'm not going to speak for the queen. So what I'm about to say next to the words of Mick and Mick only there's a lot of garbage out there right now. Don't call this garbage hip hop. That is not the essence or the core of what hip hop was founded for.
  
  Right, miss Dandy?
  
  Tandy Weems: Absa that's again, that brings us back to your first question, the reeducation. You know, money has corrupted just about everything in our society, has it not?
  
  Mick Hunt: Right.
  
  Tandy Weems: But it's also corrupted hip hop. It also corrupted the the culture. In searching for money and fame, we've forgotten what hip hop is. You know, what it what it can do. Years ago, it it it transformed not only our community, but the communities all over the world.
  
  Marketing, management, fashion
  
  Mick Hunt: Right.
  
  Tandy Weems: Newspapers. We had our own media. We had our own artists, our own booking agents. We were this close, African Americans in this country, to creating another upper middle class. It's by hip hop.
  
  Mick Hunt: Right, Right.
  
  Tandy Weems: So we all need to remember what that culture did for us and let it do the same for this generation. And we haven't done that. We haven't passed on the benefits of hip hop. We haven't passed on the lessons we learned when Biggie and Tupac was murdered.
  
  Mick Hunt: Right.
  
  Tandy Weems: Right. And Jam Master Jay. You name it. Very, very few. So now here we are, my children, watching not 3 or 4 rappers being killed like we did back then.
  
  5, 6, 7, and 8 a month. And 10 times that many young black males going to prison Right. Try to emulate this energy that's going out.
  
  Mick Hunt: Correct.
  
  Tandy Weems: Music is an energy.
  
  Mick Hunt: You know, you just brought up something with the emulation. One of the things that I always teach people and tell people is to be yourself because everyone else has already taken. Right? I can't there's there's not another Tandy out there. Right?
  
  There's not another Mick, like be yourself because everyone else has taken and you've worked with a lot of great artists and a lot of great influencers in the hip hop community. What are the top 2 or 3 traits that they all have in common? Like, if you had to think back to a biggie, if you had to think back to a young method, man, right? That hungry, like what are the traits that they all had in common?
  
  Tandy Weems: They didn't strive to be famous. They strive to be excellent. Excellent in their writing. Excellent when they out. Excellent when they took that stage.
  
  Excellent in the culture. It wasn't about being famous and making money. That came later on. Yeah. Yeah.
  
  That was the infiltration.
  
  Mick Hunt: Right.
  
  Tandy Weems: We changed the mindset. But they strive to be mob deep. The goal was to put out the best album with the best lyrics. That was the competition.
  
  Mick Hunt: Right. Right.
  
  Tandy Weems: And they took their time and put out their best work, main source. Yeah. There's so many. KRS 1, public enemy.
  
  Mick Hunt: Yep. You know
  
  Tandy Weems: what I'm saying? KRS 1 taught everybody about black history that we did not even know.
  
  Mick Hunt: Right. Right.
  
  Tandy Weems: KU Mode.
  
  Mick Hunt: Yep.
  
  Tandy Weems: Poor righteous teachers. Mhmm. They had prayers. I can go on and on.
  
  Mick Hunt: If we're
  
  Tandy Weems: not careful, we'll never see that type of genius again.
  
  Mick Hunt: And we're close to not seeing it. I don't know if you've listened to a lot of music today, miss Tandy, but
  
  Tandy Weems: Yes.
  
  Mick Hunt: I can't do it. I can't do it.
  
  Tandy Weems: That's why we need the world hip hop awards.
  
  Mick Hunt: So let's go there. Let's talk about this, the world hip hop awards. Talk about that vision. Talk about where that came from. Where do you want it to go?
  
  Like I'm so enamored about hearing about the world hip hop award.
  
  Tandy Weems: Now the crazy thing about the World Hip Hop Awards, I wrote this show when I was working for Biggie. Really? I wrote this show when I was working for Biggie. I dreamed the show when I was working for Biggie. And I got up that next morning when I got behind my desk and just wrote it on a piece of paper, and I protected it, copyrighted, and forgot all about it for over 10 years.
  
  Mick Hunt: Wow.
  
  Tandy Weems: Well over 10 years.
  
  Mick Hunt: Wow.
  
  Tandy Weems: That Will did not win an award that year. And she said, begging for acknowledgment or even asking diminishes dignity, and it diminishes power. And we are a dignified people, so let's do us differently. Mhmm. When she said that I gotta chill and I remembered the World Hip Hop Awards, because at the same time, everybody was screaming that we needed to have our own award show.
  
  Mick Hunt: Right.
  
  Tandy Weems: And that's what I remember that show. I ran to my desk, McNelly, knocking down furniture.
  
  Mick Hunt: Go get them, mister Dick.
  
  Tandy Weems: This show up, pulling it up, and, of course, everything had expired. And and I just did all the work, got it back together, got the logo, did built it so that they would come. Took it to the next level. And the World Hip Hop Award is what everyone was saying that they want and what the culture need. It's the 1st hip hop award show where we'll see hip hop artists gathered from all over the world on one stage with iconic and inspirational hip hop artists here in America, doing their own style of hip hop, Right.
  
  Their own language, their own unique interpretation
  
  Mick Hunt: There it is.
  
  Tandy Weems: Of the music and the culture. And one thing that I'm really proud of with the platform is we'll be able to highlight under the title of knowledge, amazing people doing amazing things for their community, for the planet, for the world. And this is gonna be streamed all over the world.
  
  Mick Hunt: Love it.
  
  Tandy Weems: It's the platform we must have in order to that appear the 2 S's of hip hop that honors family, culture, education, excellence, and having fun.
  
  Mick Hunt: There we go. I love it. And having fun. So do we have a date chosen for this year yet for 2024?
  
  Tandy Weems: No, actually we don't. We're looking to do it in 2024 in September. September. We're still trying to get funded. We're trying to get Dave Chappelle and Queen Latifah to be a part of this event.
  
  There's no better dream team hosting the both of them. You know? Yeah. And I'm and I'm still pushing for that. You know what I'm saying?
  
  Right. For the first time. But if not, it may be the first time in Dubai.
  
  Mick Hunt: No. We're gonna make it happen this year.
  
  Tandy Weems: I hope so. It'll be a shame if the first one is overseas.
  
  Mick Hunt: Whatever I can do to help, you know, I'm gonna help. You know, whatever the troops we need to rally, we'll rally the troops. It's gonna happen. Everyone listening, 2024 World Hip Hop Awards, this September, we need to make that happen.
  
  Tandy Weems: Absolutely. We need we wanna do it in Vegas at the beautiful sphere. It would be a total different experience.
  
  Mick Hunt: That's right.
  
  Tandy Weems: Total different experience. We've never seen anything like this on the stage. It's the most revolutionary, event produced in hip hop thus far.
  
  Mick Hunt: Can't wait. And I'm gonna be there too. I'm gonna be there too. So You
  
  Tandy Weems: better. Front row. I got you.
  
  Mick Hunt: Here we go. Here we go. So, miss Sandy, you talked about some of the traits that some of the best that you work with have.
  
  Tandy Weems: Yes.
  
  Mick Hunt: And we know when we see the best, there's probably 99% that never make it. Right. What are some of the things that you saw or have seen in artists where it's like, nah, you're not there. What are those bad habits? But those that don't make it happen.
  
  Tandy Weems: They don't respect the art. They see it as a means, like I said, to make money or to get famous. They don't study the craft, like right now, some of the artists. What they've done with hip hop, or what they call hip hop, they've slowed down the beat to a crawl. They've taken all the soul out of the music.
  
  So it's anybody's game. Wow. So back in the day, you you you when it came to producers doing beats, they did their best beats. They studied different old school artists, Gap band. James Brown is the most sampled artist in hip hop.
  
  Mick Hunt: That's right.
  
  Tandy Weems: You know what I'm saying? So we we had the most amazing beats and amazing producers. They don't study the craft. It's all about making money, being famous. To me, it all sounds pretty much the same, looks the same.
  
  Garbage. You know?
  
  Mick Hunt: I said it. Tammy didn't say that either.
  
  Tandy Weems: I didn't say it. You said it. I said it.
  
  Mick Hunt: But you know, what you just said also plays out in other industries and walks of life too. If you're a salesperson and you're not working on your craft, you're never gonna be the top salesperson. If you're a leader, if you're a manager and you're not honing in on your skills, if you're not doing the things behind the scenes when people aren't paying attention,
  
  Tandy Weems: you're
  
  Mick Hunt: never gonna be there. If you're an athlete and you're not working hard and you're not training when people aren't paying attention, you're never gonna be the best. That was one in I have my pen and paper right here. So I just wrote that down. You've gotta work on your skill and hone your craft because you're never gonna be the best.
  
  You're never gonna be a biggie or a method man who relentlessly work at being the best at every little thing that they did.
  
  Tandy Weems: Absolutely. If you
  
  Mick Hunt: have that in you, you're not gonna make
  
  Tandy Weems: Absolutely. A lot of the artists, today, if you make it, it probably just end up being an artist that they'll give you your name, They'll give you your image. They'll give you your clothing. They'll give you your lyrics. Just a puppet making money for the machine.
  
  Mick Hunt: Right. Right. You know
  
  Tandy Weems: what I'm saying? And then you'll always be off balance because you know, if you don't do say or whatever the is told you onto the next. Yep. So in order to be an artist, a true artist, you gotta study the craft. You gotta study those that went before you that you and you could tell those that have done that.
  
  You know what I'm saying? That really respect what they're trying to do. And that's what we wanna do with the girl's hip hop was reeducate, reintroduce the culture, not just hip hop as a music genre.
  
  Mick Hunt: Right.
  
  Tandy Weems: We need to bring the music back into the culture, back to its roots, to inspire a new renaissance in the music and the culture.
  
  Mick Hunt: There we go. There we go. Worldwide.
  
  Tandy Weems: Worldwide. That's right. Worldwide. Okay.
  
  Mick Hunt: That's right. So let's talk about you were asking you a question, miss Tammy. What was that defining moment in your life that took you from here? And for those that are listening, I'm using like a little bar. Those that took you from here to here.
  
  Do you remember that, that moment in your life when you were like, I'm going to be great. What was that like for you?
  
  Tandy Weems: In in hip hop? Yes. When, when Mark Pitts, who's now, CEO of RCA, Records, hired me to work with him at Bystorm Entertainment. And out of nowhere, I was working for him, Biggie Smalls, Changing Faces, and Faith Evans. And just before that, I was working with Angelo Ellerbe.
  
  I knew nothing about PR, but he saw something in me that I didn't see. So that's the that's the I know he calls me in his office, and he goes, I have a client, and I want and he's throwing a party. Mhmm. I'm like, okay. Who was the client?
  
  Mark Pitts. He was throwing Biggie Small's Platinum party.
  
  Mick Hunt: Okay.
  
  Tandy Weems: So I was fortunate enough out of nowhere I was the executive, you know, for that party. And Mark hired me to work for them after I threw that party. It was a huge success.
  
  Mick Hunt: Mhmm. It
  
  Tandy Weems: was huge. So once that happened, I knew, all right, I'm here. Now what am I gonna do? 10 minutes. Do what I wanna do is the best word.
  
  Mick Hunt: There it is. Mhmm. There it is. So if you could describe yourself in 5 words, what would those 5 words or those 5 adjectives be?
  
  Tandy Weems: Passionate, honest, dedicated, spiritual, and a go getter.
  
  Mick Hunt: Mhmm. That's what I'm talking about. That's what I'm talking about. Those are the key success factors right there. So being a go getter, how has that taken you to new Heights in your career?
  
  Tandy Weems: Combining all of those.
  
  Mick Hunt: Okay.
  
  Tandy Weems: Because there's different ways you could get there.
  
  Mick Hunt: You
  
  Tandy Weems: know, and you have to choose the way you want to get there.
  
  Mick Hunt: That's right. You
  
  Tandy Weems: know, and one thing that I've all fortunate to do in working for a lot of CEOs, and I was fortunate to be the right hand to a lot of made men as they call it in the industry. And like I said, you just wanna study your craft. I taught myself with the help of a lawyer, entertainment lawyer, Stuart Levy, who's now ahead of a a major entertainment law firm now, how to read and write contracts.
  
  Mick Hunt: Okay.
  
  Tandy Weems: So I can read and interpret and compose contracts just like a lawyer. Wow. So that made me really, really essential to a lot of people in the industry. I've got so good at it. McDonald's selling legal documents.
  
  Okay. I will get a producer and a artist. They go tell me tell me what the deal is.
  
  Mick Hunt: See, that's that movie. Right?
  
  Tandy Weems: Minutes, and I'll come back with a 12 page contract. You know?
  
  Mick Hunt: See? That's that. Go get it.
  
  Tandy Weems: Study. Yeah. I studied my craft. I studied marketing. I studied management.
  
  I studied branding, legal, and made sure that I understood all those areas of the business so that I would be essential. And then I genuinely care about people. So it was easy to bond with artists and make sure they were taken care of properly, and didn't take care of the business as well. So I was always known as someone that if I do the job, don't worry about it. It's gonna get done.
  
  It's gonna be done properly. Paper gonna be where it's supposed to be.
  
  Mick Hunt: There you go. So I
  
  Tandy Weems: was always the buffer between sometimes my guy and the record label. So I can go in a room with the guys and talk that lingo, put on the heels in a briefcase, and go to the record label. Yes, so there that that was really the the the way that I decided to do it and keep my integrity in doing it.
  
  Mick Hunt: It was
  
  Tandy Weems: never for sale. It was never changed.
  
  Mick Hunt: That's it. That's it. I'm going to unpack something that you just said. You talked about making yourself essential in today's world where AI is almost taking over. Some people are starting to realize they were not as essential as they thought they were.
  
  I think the key to success in today's world is what you just said. You've got to make sure that you are essential, that you are relevant and that you've got a game plan. Mhmm. If you don't do that, I will never say technology or AI will replace you, but you're gonna make it easy for somebody to control it.
  
  Tandy Weems: Exactly.
  
  Mick Hunt: It's not easier for someone to control it. What do you think about that as far as how do you make yourself essential in your life and then in your career?
  
  Tandy Weems: Well, you have to have a combination of both. You know, you have to understand what exactly happening with new technology, understand the benefits and the limits to it. Right. They can talk about AI all they want, but I know one thing, human consciousness, they will never be able to recreate that.
  
  Mick Hunt: They don't.
  
  Tandy Weems: They don't fool you.
  
  Mick Hunt: That's right.
  
  Tandy Weems: You know what I'm saying? That they can, and that's what they're really trying to do. You know what I'm saying?
  
  Intro: That's right.
  
  Tandy Weems: I think people are planning on it or want to do some really evil things that they wanna blame on a
  
  Mick Hunt: Absolutely.
  
  Tandy Weems: You understand what I'm saying? No. No. Because you still gotta program that machine. It's just a machine.
  
  Mick Hunt: There you go.
  
  Tandy Weems: Filled with with with information you put in it.
  
  Mick Hunt: That's it.
  
  Tandy Weems: So I think that we should never ever get to the point that we give up our intelligence, our gift, our genius, and think that something someone else created that don't even possess that
  
  Mick Hunt: That's right.
  
  Tandy Weems: Can create something better than you.
  
  Intro: Amen.
  
  Tandy Weems: Nobody creates better than the god. You know what I'm saying?
  
  Mick Hunt: That's right. So I
  
  Tandy Weems: think that with that understanding, continue to grow your own inner self. Grow your skills. Because you can use AI, which I do, for looking at grandma when I'm writing a letter. That's what I use it for. But do I let it do my thinking for me?
  
  Absolutely not. Do I let it do my creating for me? Absolutely not.
  
  Mick Hunt: That's right.
  
  Tandy Weems: Stay your authentic self. Stay your genius self. Nothing is better than that.
  
  Mick Hunt: That's right. Because the 5th part of hip hop is what? Knowledge?
  
  Tandy Weems: Absolutely. They're gonna lose this. That's good.
  
  Mick Hunt: All right, miss Sandy, 2 things. I'm gonna get you out of here. Number 1, what is your most proudest moment in hip hop for hip hop? Like if you were to look back at the 20 plus years, and I know you started when you were 1 years old in hip hop. So
  
  Tandy Weems: the 20 plus years that you Yeah. I was like barely 2. Yep. Barely
  
  Mick Hunt: 2. Exactly. Exactly. What what's the one moment that you're proud of?
  
  Tandy Weems: The Biggie Platinum party.
  
  Mick Hunt: Okay.
  
  Tandy Weems: When I was on that stage with them and and, everybody was at that party. Diddy, Mary j Blige, Wendy Winnie, everybody that was anybody in the game was at that party. Okay. And, watching Biggie put on that crown and and and be celebrated that way. And then working with my idol, Mike Tyson.
  
  And, that was yeah. That was bestowed upon me by Jimmy, Jimmy Henchman. I worked as his right hand woman at his company, Czar Entertainment. He put me in charge of that account, working with Mike Tyson, Mary Benaree, who was at the time called the hip hop violinist. And Mike was my hero.
  
  Mick Hunt: There you go.
  
  Tandy Weems: Still is. Those are the most cynical yes. Those are the moments that were really the greatest. There's so, so many more, but those are the ones that come to mind right now
  
  Mick Hunt: We're with
  
  Tandy Weems: Biggie and Mike Tyson. Yeah.
  
  Mick Hunt: Okay. Alright. And for the listeners out there and those that are watching, what's one thing you want the world to know about the World Hip Hop Awards and how they can help? What's the one thing?
  
  Tandy Weems: The World Hip Hop Awards is frugal. It's for us, by us. And if we want to save our communities, save our culture, and stop the killing of all these young black men that are emulating things that they shouldn't emulate, then you need to support the World Hip Hop Awards. Not just the community, but the celebrities and all the brands that hip hop created and supported and the black community created and supported. They need to support the World Hip Hop Awards.
  
  And I'm not for banning any type of music. I really am not. But what I am for is bringing balance back to hip hop.
  
  Mick Hunt: There we go.
  
  Tandy Weems: Too much of anything is not good.
  
  Mick Hunt: That's right.
  
  Tandy Weems: That's right. Too
  
  Mick Hunt: much of anything is not good.
  
  Tandy Weems: It's not good. We got too much of not good. That's right. That's right.
  
  Mick Hunt: That's right. Well, that is awesome. So, miss Tandy, where can we go to to find you to follow you? Where can we go to support the 2024 World Hip Hop Awards? Where can we find you?
  
  Tandy Weems: We definitely want artists all over the world to nominate, artists that they would like to see on the world hip hop awards on our website at www.worldhiphopawards.com, As well as supporters, tag Kuey Latifah, tag Dave Chappelle, and tell them you want them on. This is the tag your favorite hip hop artist, and tell them to get on over here and make this happen. And it's for brands that they're interested in partnering with us, and we definitely need funding, and we do need partnerships. They can reach that at info at worldhiphopawards dotcom, and you can find me, Tandy, at worldhiphopawards.com as well.
  
  Mick Hunt: I love it. Ladies and gentlemen, the OG, Brooklyn's finest, miss Tandy Weems. Tandy, thank you so much for being on the show today.
  
  Tandy Weems: Thank you. I really appreciate it. I am humble. Thank you so much.
  
  Mick Hunt: There you go. You got it. And as always, your Because is your superpower. Unleash it. Until next time, make unplugged.
  
  Intro: Thanks for listening to Mick Unplugged. We hope this episode helps you take the next step toward the extraordinary and launches a revolution in your life. Don't forget to rate and review the podcast and be sure to check us out on YouTube at Mick Unplugged. Remember, stay empowered, stay inspired, and stay unplugged.