ATHLEISURE LIST | SEASONED VEGAN

We're always on the lookout for great vegan bites and founder, Brenda "Chef B" Beener had always cooked for her family and when her husband went plant-based, that's when her vegan journey began. In 2010, she opened a 6-foot table inside of Lee Lee's Bakery in Harlem. She would later open Harlem's first full-service vegan restaurant with her son Aaron Beener in 2014 for 9 years before closing earlier this year, with the quick-service eatery that opened in the East Village on Aug 23rd. Fans of Seasoned Vegan have included Stevie Wonder, Danny Glover, Cory Booker, Colin Kaepernick and most recently in its newest location, Yara Shahidi has swung by.

The beauty of Seasoned Vegan is that dishes pull from the family's New Orleans roots. Clearly, the sandwiches are a great way to have a gratifying meal! The BBQ Craw is great with a unique protein made with burdock root. It was a fan favorite in Harlem and now that it’s made on the flattop grill, it’s even better. The new SV Nugget Sandwich came from customers constantly asking them to make a fried “chicken” sandwich. The tangy sauce on it is one of the items they stopped making during the pandemic shutdown so a lot of people are excited that it’s back! And lastly, the Craw Pretzel Boy Sandwich is a twist on their old Po Boy Sandwich - now served on a pretzel bun.

Their famous Seasoned Vegan Fries are also back (they were discontinued for a few years in Harlem and have returned) - they’re extra crispy shoestring fries with a delicious Cajun seasoning that’s a must try.

We're excited to share that the team at Seasoned Vegan has revealed in this eature for the first time, 2 fan favorites that are now available! In addition to enjoying their fries, another great side that is returning to the menu soon will be fan favorite - Seasoned Vegan Mac and "Cheese." Although it was not on the original menu at their new location, hands down it has been the most requested item! We're glad to hear that it's back! Another great item has made its way to the new location. Their Raw Kale Salad was at he original table at Lee Lee's Bakery and was never available at the Harlem location, so it's exciting to know that you can order it in their new home in the East Village!

You should definitely keep an eye out for additional items that will be added as there are savory as well as sweet items that are in the works! Whether you're popping in or checking out your IG, there's more to come for sure!

To complete your meal, Chef B's vegan cupcakes is an absolute home run!

SEASONED VEGAN

128 2nd Ave (near St Marks Pl)

NY, NY 10003

seasonedvegan.com

IG @seasonedvegan

PHOTOGRAPHY | Michael Tulipan

Read the OCT ISSUE #94 of Athleisure Mag and see ATHLEISURE LIST | Seasoned Vegan in mag.

OUR MUSIC OUR CULTURE | GREG HARRIS + ROCK & ROLL HALL OF FAME

Music has immense value, from enjoying the song, melody and instruments used, to the artists, performances and remixes there is a much larger scope in terms of what it means to the social fiber and how in many ways it serves as a mirror of who we are, where we want to be and how we are held accountable. It creates a series of feelings and memories that are enlightened and intertwined.

We had the pleasure of talking with the President and CEO of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, Greg Harris. In addition to their noted Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame Induction Ceremony which honors a class of musicians across rock & roll, they are known for the museum which is headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio.

We wanted to know more about the museum, how they connect with music enthusiasts around the world and how artists can become eligible for the honor. Greg also shares how he came to this role and how he continues to drive the importance of impact in music.

ATHLEISURE MAG: Before we delve into your work and role at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, I’d love to know about your background because I know you were the owner, partner and operator of the Philadelphia Record Exchange. When did you fall in love with music and what was your focus behind opening this retail store?

GREG HARRIS: You know, I grew up, per your readers loving both sports and music! I was fortunate to be raised to play various sports depending on the season with two brothers. On the music side, it just always spoke to me. We always had music in the house and in Philadelphia, the area where I grew up, new music and old music mixed together. So oldies and FM radio were all the same. I got involved a little bit with one of the local public radio stations when I was in high school. Then we had a club near us called City Gardens and it had every live band and we went there as soon as we were old enough to get in! We were there all the time! Then, I went to college in Philadelphia, I went to Temple University and one of my off-campus jobs to help pay for school was the record department of a used bookstore. That’s where the idea came from that the other clerk and I were friends and we realized that the store owner was making a lot more money than we were as the hourly employees!

So we quit and rented out a storefront about a half a block away and we opened our own store. That business has been a great success! I was involved for a couple of years and sold my half to some other people, but my original partner still has it. The Philadelphia Record Exchange has been around for 30 years and it’s an iconic place in the city. Every musician knows it, everybody that is into music when they are in Philly, they find their way to the store and that includes current artists like Kurt Vile and other folks back in the day, like Ahmir Khalib Thompson – Questlove.

I think an important thing to note in terms of looking at my career is that I found out pretty early on that I couldn’t play very well. I could play some guitar, but I was never that great. But I was always better at helping other people market and grow. So the store became that place. We would put concerts on, we’d shut the streets down and do block parties and promotions with artists and other musicians. We just loved helping them succeed and helping our customers find excitement and joy.

AM: It’s so funny, I grew up my dad was a huge record collector and he would slap my hands every time I would try to go to the stereo to play with the records and at my campus at Indiana University, we had 3 record shops near my campus, Tracks was my favorite one. There is something about a record, I love them and when you hear the sound that comes out and the needle hitting the vinyl – it’s an experience. When I read that about you, I thought that’s really cool!

GH: Those stores back then, that was kind of the social network. It's where you met like-minded people that loved the same music or liked similar music. It’s where you learned! You couldn’t Google everything so sometimes the customers taught you and you taught them!

AM: Especially if you were able to come up with crazy imports. I think there’s something about that social fiber when you don’t have that independent local record store. The guy that I would get my music from knew so many things about various artists and had stories to tell and I appreciated it. I don’t remember if they had block parties but it would have been amazing!

GH: I really want to celebrate my original partner, who still has it Jacy Webster and he has given such a gift to Philadelphia music lovers for the last 30+ years, it’s an amazing place!

AM: Another part of your background that’s interesting is I love your focus on curation. To know that you were at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum at Cooperstown where you focused on curation was really interesting. Can you tell us about what your role was there, what you did, and why curation was so important?

GH: My first significant museum position was at the National Baseball Hall of Fame. I was originally hired to be there Broadcast Media Archivist. My job was to curate the broadcast collection and that was recordings of All-Star games, World Series games, home movies, radio pieces – all the things where that exciting history of baseball is. In museums, they have to take their collections and tell stories with them. You want to tell the stories where you have impact to your visitors and to make those connections and that’s what we did in Cooperstown. You know, it’s an amazing museum. I started in that area, I was fortunate to be able to curate some exhibits and much like the record store, I got involved in business development and fundraising and things like sponsorship and inductee relations. It really helped to grow the business and as I advanced from the collections side of the house, I got more involved in business development and the growth of the enterprise. I spent 14 terrific years there and it was really hard to leave. It’s a wonderful museum. Anyone that has ever played catch in the backyard or Little League, should go to Cooperstown to experience it.

AM: What do you think is the connective tissue between baseball and music and how were you able to move onto the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame where you’re the President and CEO currently?

GH: They’re 2 great places and they’re both so much part of our culture. People have a deep love for both subjects. They make these pilgrimages to Cooperstown or the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. These music and sports evolve and they are the history of our culture – all the good and all the bad comes through and you can tell these stories. On some fronts, you can talk about exclusion and people not being included and you can tell about opportunity opening up. Sometimes it opens up in sport before it opens up to the wider society. These are really important pieces for all of us to learn from to think about and to grow from. Then on the other part from the business side, these museums operate in a very similar way. They each get hundreds of thousands of visitors a year.

We have inductees that are the best of the best individuals, we have broadcast properties, we have important digital engagement with our visitors, we have retail operations and we are places that kind of mean a lot to a lot of people. So they’re very similar from a business sense and it’s just the subject that’s a little bit different. But they are magical places where people learn about their history, themselves and it helps them to better understand the present.

AM: Well can you tell us about the history of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in terms of who founded it and what it’s mission is? I know a lot of people think about it in terms of the amazing induction ceremony, but there are a lot of things that it does.

GH: The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame started close to 40 years ago by a group of music industry professionals – the head of Atlantic Records, Ahmet Ertegun and the head of Rolling Stone Magazine, Jann Wenner and others. They conceived it as a special evening celebration for their industries’ best of the best. After doing that for a short period of time, the idea came up to want to build a museum. A bunch of cities looked at it New York, San Francisco, my hometown of Philadelphia – all made a play for it, but Cleveland really stepped up. Cleveland had a great story about rock & roll being important to the city and being an important place for artists who broke in – including David Bowie’s whose first shows in the US were in Cleveland, Jimi Hendrix when he came back from England – his first shows were there, Rush’s first shows were there. Also a DJ named Alan Freed was playing music in the early 50’s and inspiring young people – so they had this great story! But, they showed up and had a business plan. They said this is how we’re going to build it and how we’re going to fund it and this is what it is going to mean to the region. Long and short, 27 years ago we opened up in this I.M. Pei building on the shores of Lake Eerie in Ohio. Since opening our doors, over 13 million people have visited the museum and we’re at the height of our summer season now. We'll get thousands of people through everyday all summer long. Every one of those people who comes through the front door has a lifetime of memory connected to the subjects inside our museum. When they see it, they hear it or hear it through a band that plays on our stage, it inspires them and makes them think of the people they were with and the places that they were at, the greatest week of college, the time their heart was broken, the greatest road trip that they took and they might even hear a song that reminds them of their mom, dad or siblings.

AM: So when you say rock & roll, what genres comprise this very broad title?

GH: It’s a big title and quite frankly, our definition is a very big tent. Rock & roll is more about attitude and spirit then it is about a specific sound. We embrace in the 50’s Doo-Wop, Street Corner Harmony and RockabIlly; in the 60’s there’s Psychedelic, Soul music, Folk music; in the 70’s there’s Heavy Metal, Hip-Hop, Dance Music, Disco, Punk Rock – it’s all under the umbrella of rock & roll. Synth Pop and Industrial – we embrace it all! So for us, it’s all about attitude and spirit! There’s an attitude about Johnny Cash that he had to the music industry and when Ice Cube was inducted, a couple of years ago, In his induction speech, he said, “rock & roll is a spirit, rock & roll is an attitude.” You can find his full quote online. (Editor’s Note: When Ice Cube was inducted, he talked about whether a rap group was considered to be rock & roll. He said, “Now the question is, are we rock & roll? And I say you goddam right we rock & roll. Rock & roll is not an instrument, rock & roll is not even a style of music. Rock & roll is a spirit. It’s a spirit. It’s been going since the blues, jazz, bebop, soul R&B, rock & roll, heavy metal, punk rock and yes, hip-hop. And what connects us all is that spirit. That’s what connects us all, that spirit. Rock & roll is not conforming to the people who came before you, but creating your own path in music and in life. That is rock & roll, and that is us. So rock & roll is not conforming. Rock & roll is outside the box. And rock & roll is N.W.A. I want to thank everybody who helped induct us into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and I just want to tell the world – Damn, that shit was dope.”) That is what we embrace. It’s the voice of change, it’s always been the sound of young America and it continues to evolve and as a museum, we continue to evolve with it.

AM: So as music continues to evolve, you will always look for new forms and elements to add to what rock & roll is.

GH: We will and that’s kind of the wave right now. That’s why we have been inducting great Hip-Hop artists right alongside great Heavy Metal artists. In the last induction, it was LL Cool J, and it was Carole King, it was the Foo Fighters, Jay-Z and Tina Turner that were all inducted! To us, it’s a broad tent and everybody’s welcome!

AM: What are your 3 favorite rock genres that you love listening to?

GH: I look for stuff that’s a little harsher, a little stronger. I love old Blues, I love 60’s Soul like Memphis and I love Punk Rock! I like for it to have a little punch and a little attitude.

AM: I can see that!

GH: Yeah, that’s what I prefer.

AM: What is your day-to-day like in your role and what are the key projects that you’re focused on?

GH: My day-to-day role is 1 – to make sure that we have the greatest museum in the world, that every single visitor that comes through our doors leaves being transformed and impacted and that we have a great team that makes that happen. It’s about keeping our staff inspired and changing. We don’t believe in maintenance mode, we always want to be growing and reaching. To that end, we're working on an amazing expansion project at the museum. We’ll be breaking ground later on this year. We will be increasing the museum by about 50,000 sqft. It’s a great project and we’re very excited to be doing it. For that project, one of my biggest responsibilities is to work with a team and to raise the funds to be able to do that. We talked about how there have been 13 million visitors that have been through the museum for the past 27 years. We need to build something for the next 13 million visitors!

AM: What can guests expect when they do come to visit and then for those that aren't available to come in person, is there an online version where people can connect that way?

GH: Yeah, so I’ll back up a little bit to your question of what do we do. So, we have this great museum and then in addition to this great museum, we have this great digital outreach. So anybody in the world can connect with us and they can experience the Hall of Fame, but also if there are teachers out there, we have ready teaching materials that they can use for free. Pre COVID, we averaged 50 teachers a day using it, during COVID it was about 500 to 1,000 a day and we have reached over 1 million students last year with our online education programs. We would love it if teachers would use it and help spread the word! We’re not teaching kids how to play instruments or to write songs, we’re teaching them math, science, social justice all through the lens of rock & roll.

AM: That’s really cool! It’s a large job!

GH: Oh yeah. We have a really great team and we’re cranking through!

When someone walks onsite at the museum, the experience starts when you’re in the building. You’re going to hear music blasting from speakers, it might be a live band on stage outdoors or it might just be coming out of our PA speakers. In the museum, you can see the whole history of rock & roll – from Blues, gospel and country through the Beatles, Stones, Supremes, James Brown, Motown and all of that. On our 2nd floor, you can play on instruments and jam with your friends. If bands visit us and they want to jam with visitors – they can do that. On our 3rd floor, you can walk through our Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and see the greats of music where they are immortalized forever in our Hall of Fame and experience our immersive theater that has an amazing show that was edited with the great Jonathan Demme and it’s really the greatest moments from the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Inductions. So really, that’s some of the things you do and throughout it all, you’re reminded of times in your life that you listened to certain music, the greatest road trip, your Freshman year in college, who you hung out with and we bring all of those memories back and that’s the real power of our place.

AM: Going back to the expansion, what will that involve?

GH: We are keeping the whole I.M. Pei pyramid as is and that’s 128,000 sqft and we’re going to add another 50,000 sqft. You know the Pei Pyramid, the only other pyramid that he has done was at the Louvre which is truly the center of Europe’s great art as it’s the home of Mona Lisa. His only other pyramid is here in America at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and we’re the home of America’s great art rock and roll.

AM: That expansion is going to be huge as that’s 175,000 sqft!

GH: Pretty close give or take!

AM: That’s a lot of space.

GH: Well it’s a big subject!

AM: What are 3 of your favorite exhibits that are at the museum?

GH: I love the Garage Exhibit where visitors can come in and jam with each other it’s amazing.

We finished an exhibit that I liked a lot that I think is particularly interesting to your readers. That was an exhibit that we did about the greatest Halftime Show Performances in Super Bowl history. We had it at the museum when we hosted the NFL Draft in Cleveland. Then we worked with the NFL and we took it out to the Super Bowl in LA this year and we’re working with them again to take out to Phoenix for the next Super Bowl.

It shows performances and great moments by Prince when he did Purple Rain in the rain, Bruce Springsteen, The Rolling Stones, Stevie Wonder, Beyoncé – it’s just these iconic moments in American cultural history that happened at the Super Bowl Halftime performance it’s just a really great exhibit.

We have an exhibit which really is the legends of rock and each band has a focus area. That focus area could be David Bowie, Elton John, Michael Jackson – they all have an area that highlights their career. And that’s an exciting area to walk through and to be reminded of these individuals and their wider impact on our culture.

AM: What’s the process for acquiring items for the museum?

GH: We work directly with the inductees and pretty much everything we have at the museum has been donated by an inductee, a family member or the artist directly. We make sure to partner with them. They donate to us and occasionally it’s a loaned item if they still need it! We’ve had artifacts that are on exhibit that an artist needs back because they're touring so a guitar goes out to them and a label says, “currently on tour.”

AM: For those that are in town, how many live shows do you have a year?

GH: We have live music probably about 100 shows a year at the museum. This summer, every Thurs and Fri, we’ll have live music and some of the bands that are still coming this summer – Guided By Voices, Adrian Belew is playing and people can go to RockHall.com to check out what we have going on. There’s all different genres and one of the things that’s important to us is that we just don’t put up a party band that plays cover songs. We want original artists playing original music and we want to mix it up between the different genres whether it’s bands that are heavy metal, classic rock sounding or if they’re Hip-Hop. We love having all of them at the museum and they will be playing outdoors on our plaza.

AM: Like many, I am a fan of music. My great uncle was Joe Henderson a tenor saxophonist, I love various genres of music and here at Athleisure Mag as well as outside projects I have styled a number of known artists or have interviewed them. I know that our readers would love to know more about what goes into the induction of artists for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. What are the eligibility requirements?

GH: Artists have had to have made a record 25 years ago to make them eligible for consideration. And then, it’s really impact and influence. You look at did they take the art form in a new direction, did they push the envelope and that’s what they’re recognized for more than chart placement and sales. The process is, there is a ballot made for all those that were nominated. It then goes out to our voters and the largest voting body is all the other inductees. This year, Jay-Z is going to get a ballot, Bono gets a ballot, Smokey Robinson gets a ballot, Madonna gets a ballot, Bruce Springsteen and members of the Red Hot Chili Peppers – they all get ballots. So they vote and the top 5 vote getters are elected to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

AM: I like that the public is also allowed to join in the fun – why was this an element that has been added to the process?

GH: So the fan vote is interesting. During the year, we let fans in the museum voice who should be nominated. It’s always fun to hear that and to understand that. Then when the voting is underway with all of the inductees, we also do a public fan vote and part of it is engagement so that they can engage with us online and let us know who their favorites are. Then we take all the fan votes online and we aggregate them and they count as a composite ballot into the bigger vote. So what it is important for is to see who people are interested in and to understand what they are thinking about. Because the induction into the Hall of Fame is not a popularity contest, those that are in the industry and have made their living off of rock & roll, their votes are really what counts the most because they can judge the merits of their peers. If that wasn’t the case, whoever has the most social media followers would be elected and that doesn’t necessarily mean they they are the most impactful, it just means that they have great music and great followers. We need that impact.

AM: When the nominees are announced, I am sure there are a number of logistics to figure out from who will accept an award for the artist/group if they have passed away and who will perform if there are other artists that will do a tribute versus those that opt to play themselves. Can you tell us more about that?

GH: The show producers are amazing! It’s our Foundation President, Joel Peresman and our Foundation Chairman, John Sykes and they do an amazing job working to create a show that is dynamic and exciting and also appropriate for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. They have done a super job working with the show, the production design team and sometimes at its greatest when it’s an artist from yesterday that is being honored by an artists of today and when they perform together – when you have Stevie Wonder inducting Bill Withers and then they sing together and then John Legend comes out and performs with them – it’s amazing! When LL Cool J was inducted, LL was joined by Eminem and by JLo. Just an incredible combination. It’s a desire to allow some artists to pay tribute to those that have influenced them and it’s a chance for other artists to combine that they have meant a lot to. So it’s kind of a neat looking back and looking forward and making something that is even better for that moment in time at that event.

AM: As we’re based in NY, it’s always fun when the ceremony is in our backyard, but for the upcoming 2022 induction ceremony, it will be in LA this fall. Why is it being held there and what is behind the decision of the city that you opt to do it in?

GH: Well there are rock & roll fans everywhere and let’s face it, NY is a big center for music and LA is the home of much of the industry. So those 2 cities make a ton of sense and we also do it in Cleveland which is the home of the museum and the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. We’re working on a sequence where it goes on between those cities and we’re really excited and honored that Cleveland is in that cadence and we’re looking at how that pans out in future years. We’re really excited and thrilled to be going to LA as it hasn’t been there since 2013!

AM: Looking at this year’s inductees, I was excited about all the names but especially pleased to see that Pat Benatar, Duran Duran, Eminem, Lionel Richie and Dolly Parton are in this year’s group – what are you looking forward to this year?

GH: You know, they’re all terrific and they’re all deserving! I’m looking forward to just being surprised. Every year there are super highlights and it’s amazing as this honor isn't about haing 1 hit record or having a great soundtrack song or something like that. This is a lifetime award that is emblematic of excellence and forever they will be celebrated and enshrined at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. This is a really powerful moment for those artists and I can’t wait to hear their speeches and then to see them light up the room with their performances.

AM: I know we talked about the educational elements that the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame is involved in throughout the year. Are there other community programs that takes place throughout the year?

GH: We have a program called Toddler Rock where kids from First Start Programs come to the museum twice a week and we teach them for 15 weeks on rhyming, alliteration, and social skills with trained music therapists. It’s amazing. We have another program where anyone who lives in the city of Cleveland can come in for free admission all year long, everyday – whenever – just come on in! It’s a great community outreach for us and we love partnering with our conventions and business bureaus and other entities around town. When the city is bidding on and trying to attract the NBA All Star Game or the MLB All Star Game, we are in the mix. We are part of the hosting committee and we pledge to be a great partner and frequently they theme the event rock & roll because it is Cleveland. We love doing that and we think that if our reach can do well, then everyone can do well and we want to make that happen.

AM: In terms of the remainder of this year and looking forward to next year, what are you looking to do in terms of outreach and education on the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame?

GH: One, we need to execute on an amazing summer season which is what we are doing. We want to keep going with all of our educational initiatives. We have a traveling exhibitions program where certain exhibits once they are in Cleveland will go out to cities around the country. We're actively working on this building expansion project which is a significant endeavor for the museum and we’re very excited. We have been ramping up our digital presence and we have been adding a lot of Spanish language to what we are doing in our digital outreach. There is a massive group of people that love rock & roll that don’t speak English and we’re very excited to reach out to those audiences as well who do speak English.

IG @rockhall

PHOTOGRAPHY CREDITS | Rock & Roll Hall of Fame

Read the JUL ISSUE #79 of Athleisure Mag and see OUR MUSIC OUR CULTURE | Greg Harris + Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in mag.

COMMUNITY IS THE VIBE WITH D-NICE

As we embrace the reopenings that have taken place all over the world, we remember those days when we were in the thick of lockdown and we all found ways to maintain a sense of community and connection with others as we did it apart. For us and millions around the world, we found dance and music through a global couch party that had the biggest celebrities from Madonna, Michelle Obama, Nile Rodgers and more that popped in every night. We were all brought together by DJ D-Nice who created a daily (sometimes marathon sessions) IG Live event known as Club Quarantine!

Even though we're past those dark days of 2020, he continues to lead his virtual parties while also bringing the next phase with his Club Quarantine Live tour that took place to much success and we can't wait to see his Club Quarantine festival that will take place in LA in 2022! Before he brought us Club Quarantine, being a major event DJ for brands such as Hennessey, he is also an artist who has released solo projects and was a founding member of Boogie Down Productions with the legendary KRS-One and the late Scott La Rock.

We're pleased to have D-Nice as this month's cover and with a schedule that is constantly on the go, as we talked with him between soundchecks for his performance at YouTube's Advertising Week Show with Mary J. Blige at The Apollo Theater, he talks music; the creation of Club Quarantine and its continued evolution; the importance of musical accessibility; campaigns and how he continues to push his brand while being mindful of the community.

ATHLEISURE MAG: When did you fall in love with music?

D-NICE: I fell in love with music when I was around 6 or 7 years old. I remember where I grew up in the Bronx, my aunts – both of them used to collect a lot of records. It’s so crazy because the artists that they would collect would be Melba Moore and Diana Ross and like Earth, Wind and Fire and obviously, you know, that I'm not lying because that was the thing in like the 70’s.

So when you fast forward to like, Club Quarantine and I’m like hanging out in there in this virtual space with Earth, Wind and Fire and Melba Moore is in there, everyday – it’s kind of full circle to me from my childhood which makes this experience for me so incredible.

AM: For those who may not be familiar with your music career prior to Club Quarantine, can you tell us a bit about your background? You were one of the founding members of the Boogie Down Productions with KRS-One and the late Scott La Rock.

D: I grew up in the Bronx. One of my cousins worked as a security guard at a men’s shelter in the Bronx. He asked me to bring him some food and one night, I walked over to where he was working and he decided to introduce me to his friend that worked there as a social worker, which was DJ Scott La Rock. Scott La Rock introduced me to a homeless guy, which is the legendary KRS-One. From the first meeting, I was 15 and Scott looked at me and he must have felt this energy where he immediately said, “you’re going to be in this group.” That’s how I became part of the Boogie Down Productions crew.

AM: Think back to last year, which in many ways feels like 7 years ago, we were all in this gut-check moment. From a magazine perspective, we shot our last in-person cover 2 days prior to when NY went into lockdown. It was that moment of trying to figure out how we would still do what we do and to still produce everything – in a new way virtually; which we did and it was intensely challenging, but fun and full of artistic growth. So, to do Club Quarantine, how did this come about? It was like the musical and mental health that we so needed to get us through what we didn't even know how much time we'd be going through!

D: The thing about Club Quarantine that’s special is that it was birthed out of the same fear that everyone was experiencing! I was quarantined alone at home in Los Angeles. I was gearing up for a tour with Jill Scott. I was locked in for 10 dates on her tour and when we were forced to quarantine, what was difficult about it, which other people experienced as well, was that none of us were prepared for this – including myself! So, when the quarantine hit, I had to send back deposits because they were cancelling the festivals – they were cancelling Essence Fest, Miami Music Week where I had gigs there, I had SXSW gigs. So all of those gigs, I had to send the money back. I was sitting at home, stressed out, like everyone!

Because I had friends that worked with the former administration, they kept saying, this thing will go on for longer than 2 weeks, man. They said that I should prepare myself. I didn’t even understand how to prepare to not work for a year/year and a half. So that was difficult. CQ was birthed out of the sadness and having a desire to still be connected to people. When I started playing music, I wasn’t even DJing initially. I was just playing music and sharing stories and I started noticing the numbers that were rising on my account from one day being 240 people in there to the next day having 800 people in there. Then, the 3rd day, I did a marathon set with like 2,000 people. Initially, it was a very selfish thing, finding ways to stay connected, but by the 2nd day when I was reading the comments, I knew that it was actually helping people feel connected. I just wanted to continue to do it to keep people inspired.

AM: Speaking back to what we were talking about before with the music, I was born in 1979 and grew up with this music. When I listen to a lot of the songs, it reminds me of cleaning the house with my mom and sister before Soul Train came on. How is it to run the hottest global couch party that has ever existed?

D: Wow yeah, that’s literally it – the hot test global couch party! I mean there were times when I literally didn’t look at it that way. It was one of my buddies, Donnie Wahlberg, every day he would say to me, “dude, I don’t think you understand what’s happening.” I didn’t, because remember, I was home alone! I was playing music, I was at home. I wasn’t dancing with other family members, wasn’t dancing with my mom or kids and I wasn’t having parties on the other end. All I could do was just read comments. I would see hearts and that kept me going. But the other thing that kept me inspired was music! It was the love of music where I felt that I finally had the chance to play music the way that I wanted to hear it anyway from my club days. As a DJ, you kind of lean towards what the promoters wanted, what the fans wanted, but when the world stopped, the fans wanted and needed music that kept them inspired. It just so happened to be the music that I love. To have a chance to play David Bowie and mix David Bowie in with Madonna and all of a sudden, Madonna is in my IG Live. Then I could play a Stevie Wonder record and then throw in a JAY-Z and rock Rihanna and then all of a sudden, Rihanna is in there! There’s no better party then that! Everyone had a chance to feel the music and still be inspired and it was awesome. And it continues to be awesome!

AM: Which I think is awesome and I love the versatility of the music. I mean, I love all kinds of genres, my great uncle was the late tenor saxophonist Joe Henderson so I have my jazz elements that I love and I love EDM. I remember when you had David Bowie to Madonna and then you had Nile Rodgers that popped in which I had styled him a few years ago for a project which was awesome to see him come through.

D: I mean, Nile Rodgers, when he came in it was beautiful!

AM: I’ll never forget when I was in his apartment on the UWS and he was showing me his music sheets of his work with Madonna and he was like, "I did this and I did that." I just remember feeling that I was standing in the room of greatness at that moment.

D: Yes absolutely.

AM: The fact that we have actually been able to see how you have evolved CQ from the at home sessions to performing to major moments that you were part of from encouraging people to register to vote, having people vote, social justice movements and then moving that into bringing it live in person such as launching at the Hollywood Bowl and being on the tour for that too, what’s it like to evolve the brand?

D: I felt that it was my job to protect the brand. Protecting the brand meant not keeping the platform to myself and to include other people. It was about authenticity and making sure that what I did online translated well into the live space. My desire to play the Hollywood Bowl was birthed out of seeing so many people in there. Early on in the pandemic, I was trying to figure out what place that this would feel like and would make sense. I wanted to give everyone something to imagine and look forward to when the world opened up again. I just threw it out there and said, “one day, I’m going to play the Hollywood Bowl and be the first show!”

A year and a half later when I received the offer to play the Hollywood Bowl, I was excited! But it didn’t really hit me until the morning that I announced that the tickets were on sale on IG Live and I said, “I have something to share with everyone. My gosh, we got the Hollywood Bowl, tickets are on sale in one hour.” Within that first hour, we sold 10,000 tickets. It was very emotional. To know that something that I did just out of the love of music that started in my kitchen – literally in the kitchen, went on to become something where we sold out 15,000 people in the Hollywood Bowl in 3 days! It's a very humbling feeling and it's beautiful to know that people want to listen to music the way that I do. You have to want to be there to hear the music, the fans want to be there, the art ists want to be there – there were fans that bought tickets to all of the CQ Live shows and we kept it limited. Obviously, we’re still dealing with this pandemic so we didn’t want to be reckless by doing a full on tour. But for all of the shows, there are people like hundreds of people that attended all 3 of them. It’s something special that’s happening right now. The music is secondary when it comes to Club Quarantine. It wasn’t just about the music, it was about community. To me, that’s number one – about people staying connected. By the way, there’s some cool music being played right now and we’re going to dance together as well!

AM: It’s undeniable that live shows have an amazing vibe to them. What are your plans on the virtual side of things as we continue over the next few months, will this still be part of your portfolio or are you looking to segue completely to back where we were prior to 2020 where we could comfortably be together in person?

D: I want to continue to have the virtual space to be part of it. It’s an important element because not everyone can afford to travel to these cities, not everyone can afford to buy tickets. Let’s be realistic. People lost jobs and people are still trying to recover from that. To me, it would be a little bit unfair to just pull that away from everyone and I want to continue to share my love of music with people and to inspire community, so it’s important for me to do this for at least another 6 months or as long as social media will allow me to play. You know, things change, people are outside now so it may not be as exciting, but for me, it’s always important that whenever I return to Los Angeles, I need to play 1 or 2 sets to at least get it in. By the way, I’m not just doing it for the people, I happen to like playing music!

AM: You can tell!

D: Yes! I love playing music, so if I can share music when I log on and there are 30,000 - 50,000 people at the end of the set, that means there is still a need and desire to hear music that way. I just want to be able to fill that need and to continue to keep people inspired.

AM: I love music festivals and it was great to see that here in NY, Governors Ball and Electric Zoo came back. Do you envision CQ having a physical festival?

D: Oh no – it’s not even about envisioning it, it’s actually happening! It’s happening Aug of 2022. We’re literally in the planning stages right now, planning the artists that I want to perform with. That’s happening. August of 2022, the festival happens in Los Angeles.

AM: Earlier this year, you dropped “No Plans For Love” with Ne-Yo and Kent Jones. How was that working on this single and are you working on an album?

D: Releasing the single was fun. It was a different process because we were doing everything remotely with Kent and Ne-Yo was interesting. I wasn’t in the studio with Ne-Yo when he recorded his vocals. It was almost like, when he finished the demo of the song, by the time I heard it, they said Ne-Yo had cut the song. I listened to it and I was excited about it. That song did well, top 5 for R&B for the single. I’m deep on working on the album right now. It was important to me that when we put the record out, we had something to celebrate the 1 year anniversary of Club Quarantine and that’s why we didn’t have an album to follow it up. It was just about putting that single out for people to have a song that they would remember during the quarantine. I’m really happy that the single did well and I am looking forward to completing this project.

AM: You’ve amassed an amazing platform and I’m sure that you are constantly wading through offers of things that you want to do. What's your process in terms of thinking about brand synergies. I loved the Band-Aid campaign that you were part of. What are you thinking of when you know that the brands are interested in D-Nice?

D: Everything that I have done has been important for the synergy to be there. I have to be mindful of a couple of things right? 1. I’m not just a DJ that’s happening right now. I do have history and I have to be respectful of my history. Everything that I participate in, you want it to resonate with the younger generation, but I am respectful of the legacy that was already built and the people that listened to my music back in the day who are still jamming to my music right now. The first project that I worked on during the quarantine was the Apple commercial and that was great because it had Oprah and all of these celebrities in there.

The 2nd campaign I worked on was for Budweiser which was based on the old commercial of “What’s Up” and people checking in on each other. So it was me, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh and Candace Parker. That was great!

Then I did the Ford Commercial and what made that so authentically me was that, not only was I DJing in the commercial, did the voiceover for it, I was in it – but my record from back in the day was also a tie in. I thought it was an awesome thing for people to see the evolution of me being a recording artist in 1990 and here we are in 2021 with a commercial that’s updated but still using the essence of who I am which was great.

With Band-Aid, I thought it was awesome to be a person of color and never having Band-Aids that could match our skin tone! It was great to be part of that campaign and to be able to show! But on the other side for me, to see that Corporate America and these big brands actually trust me to be part of what they’re doing and I didn’t take that lightly either.

Throughout my career, what I did was to be able to sustain in terms of how dedicated I have been to do the right thing with people. To work with Michelle Obama and to raise awareness with voter rights and voter registration. Raising money for the Apollo Theater, Breast Cancer Awareness, raising 100s of thousands for HBCUs – it’s important to always use that platform to do some good. Even with those campaigns, I always have to be part of something that wouldn’t just be a good look for me, but to be a good look for people in general.

AM: What is the best piece of business advice that you have received?

D: Honestly, it wasn’t based on any advice that one person gave me, it was based on what I felt in my heart. In the beginning of quarantine, people were offering me millions of dollars and I didn’t accept any of it and it’s because it didn’t feel good to me. It's not that I didn't want to make money, let’s be honest, I am a business man and this is my business, I am an artist. But in that moment, in those very early weeks of the quarantine, to all of a sudden monetize something right before everyone’s eyes when it was something that people needed – it didn’t feel right to me and it didn’t sit well with me. I didn’t want that on my conscious. I wanted to do something that was truly about keeping people inspired and I remember that one of my DJ friends called and he’s a huge DJ, he’s globally known. He called me and said, “hey man, this is the first time that I could actually dance with my family and I appreciate you!” I’ll never forget conversations like that and there were multiple ones like that. I knew that this was something special and all I wanted to do was to play music.

Now, it did become a business months later. We can’t deny that! But even in terms of it being a business, it was important to do things that didn’t push success into anyone’s face. It wasn’t about the money. It wasn’t about diamonds and cars – it wasn't about buying things. It was about keeping people inspired.

AM: You recently became an investor at Maison Marcel. Why did you want to enter this space and will you do anything that is outfaced with the brand?

D: I invested in it because obviously, I’m a wine drinker and I have been looking to get into the space for years. Even before working with Maison Marcel, I was a brand ambassador for Hennessey for nearly a decade of being involved with them. The natural progression would be to own your spirits company or to one day own your wine company. When the opportunity presented itself to be a part of it, I jumped on it. I was first introduced to the brand by my buddy Hassan Smith, who works with John Legend. It wasn’t even about investing, it was, “hey, would you like a glass of wine.” I enjoyed it and he was like, “I invested in this.” Then 2 years later, I became an investor. I’m not sure what we will do in terms of forward facing involvement. I didn’t want to be a spokesperson because I didn’t want the brand to be about me. I enjoy my wine, so I am always going to talk about it. I enjoy the product – so we’ll see.

AM: How do you take time for yourself when you’re not in the midst of playing music, creating music building your brand and all of the things that you do?

D: Honestly, I have to figure that out! The one thing that I am doing is spending more time with my kids. Especially now that school is back. I have 2 daughters. One graduated from law school and I have a younger daughter she’s in the 4th grade so that’s important. Other than that, I enjoy – I mean people think that I’m exhausted. There are times that I am, but I don’t feel burnt out because I truly love what I do!

AM: Your impact on this global pandemic that you gave to people and the impact on the culture throughout your career has been immense! Over the past few months, you have received a number of accolades from Webby Artist of the Year, Shine A Light Award from BET Awards, NAACP Image Awards for Entertainer of the Year and an ASCAP Voice of the Culture Award – what do you want your legacy to be?

D: That’s a tough one. You know, when I think about it, I just want people to know that it’s ok to be a nice guy, no pun attended. It’s ok to be a good guy. What’s happened my entire life over my career was not solely based on talent. It was based on being kind to people and being there for people. So when you think about Club Quarantine, none of this happens overnight. You’re talking about 35 years of relationships in the music industry. Michelle Obama wasn’t on my IG because she heard that I was DJing. That was because I made a phone call and the only reason why I could make that phone call is because I have worked with them and I have been kind to people. In that moment, that was the first time that I recognized that

people came to something because I was doing it. For decades, I was always there doing things for them. To me, it was important that I make sure that I put kindness into everything that I am doing and with one another. Hopefully, that will be part of my legacy.

AM: For #TRIBEGOALS, we talk to trailblazers in the industry and ask them who are 3 people that have influenced you to be where you are today.

D: The 1st person would be Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. for obvious reasons. Obviously, he was Black and dealt with the plight of Black people, but it was also important for him to represent human beings period and that has always been an important part of growing up for me.

The 2nd person would be Stevie Wonder. His music, the storytelling in his music and the feeling in his music has always been an important part of my growing up and even including him in my sets now. Even knowing Stevie and having dinner with him, it's been one of the highlights of my career.

The third person would be, Barack Obama. From the moment that I met him, I'll share a story. One day I was DJing an event that he was hosting, he was still President at the time and we were on Martha's Vineyard. We were in a small tent, maybe 50 people people in total were attending. I was a guest and also DJing and there was this one moment, which was in his last year of his presidency, where I saw him sitting in a corner by himself, people were dancing and I looked over at him. I remember thinking that to see someone who probably had the weight of the world on his shoulders in that very moment, but he was still able to be present with his family and friends was inspiring to see that no matter how much work you have going on in your life, it’s still important to maintain that love and respect for your family and friends. I never forgot that moment and I’m truly inspired by Barack Obama!

IG @dnice

PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY | D-Nice

Read the OCT ISSUE #71 of Athleisure Mag and see Community is the Vibe with D-Nice in mag.

Hear DJ/Producer D-Nice on our show, #TRIBEGOALS - which is a part of Athleisure Studio, our multimedia companion podcast network! Subscribe to be notified when the episode drops. Listen on iHeartRadio, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, Google Podcasts or wherever you enjoy your podcasts.

2017 GLOBAL CITIZEN FESTIVAL

On Sept 23rd, the 2017 Global Citizen Festival came back for its 6th year on Central Park's Great Lawn in NYC. This event culminated Global Citizen Week, a series of more than 30 public, advocacy-driven events and digital activations that took place across NYC. Prior to this week, Global Citizens took 1.6 million actions over 2 months that secured 29 commitments, 55 announcements and 13 calls to action which totaled $3.2 billion to assist in affecting the lives of 221 million people. These efforts will continue to assist in holding governments and business accountable to deliver on their promises for years to come. The concert and summit like festival included world leaders, non-profit organizations, social conscious focused artists and Global Citizens that are intent on leading the world to Global Goals for Sustainable Development to end extreme poverty by 2030.

Over 60,000 attendees and millions watched live (via broadcasting partners at MSNBC, Youtube and Twitter) with performances by Stevie Wonder, Green Day, The Killers, The Lumineers, and featuring the Chainsmokers, with special guest performances by Pharrell Williams, Big Sean, Andra Day, and Alessia Cara.

| PHOTOGRAPHY Theo Wargo/Getty Images for Global Citizen - Model & Activist Joan Smalls |

Top Campaign Victories  

Economic Empowerment | Accenture, Citi, Ernst & Young, and Procter & Gamble each committed to source $100 million from women-owned businesses - a majority of whom will be based in the developing world. This amount totals $400 million will be delivered through Global Citizen's partners at WEConnect International which brings the amount to $1 billion committed on the Global Citizen stage from corporate entities towards women's economic empowerment in the past 12 months.

HIV/AIDS | Global Citizen partners Johnson & Johnson commits to accelerating the healthcare company’s HIV vaccine and announced that for the first time it is going into late-stage human clinical trials. It is the world’s first ever “global” vaccine, which means it can protect against all strains of HIV. In early-stage studies the vaccine has shown 100% success rate.

Famine | U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-Delaware), as a member of the Appropriations Committee announced that encouraged by Global Citizens taking over 60,000 actions, his colleagues in the Senate have proposed $311.5 million more in funds for International Disaster Assistance compared to last year.

Yazidi Justice | Three years since the genocide was committed by ISIS, UK Permanent Representative to the UN, Matthew Rycroft, announced that the UK led the UN Security Council to a unanimous vote this week on the decision to set up a UN Investigation Team to pursue justice for the Yazidis. The UN resolution on ISIS accountability was described as a “long overdue first step” by the UN Office for the High Commissioner on Human Rights. This comes after an 18 month campaign and over 100,000 actions taken by Global Citizens.
 

| PHOTOGRAPHY Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Global Citizen - Priyanka Chopra; Demi Lovato; Michelle Monaghan; Freida Pinto |

Top Accountability Updates

France | Thanks to Global Citizen’s two year long campaign, and nearly half a million actions, including those of Global Citizen and Global Partnership for Education Ambassador Rihanna, French President Emmanuel Macron announced that for the first time ever a G7 country — France — was to co-host the Global Partnership for Education replenishment with an African country — Senegal in order to raise $3.1 billion to provide 870 million children with vital education.

GHANA | President of Ghana, Nana Akufo-Addo, committed on the Festival stage to end child marriage. The newly elected President inherited the initiative to end child marriage in the country from his predecessor, so this stage moment provided confirmation that the new president has officially committed to continue with the National Strategic Framework on Ending Child Marriage in Ghana. As part of this announcement, the President also reaffirmed his pledge to provide universal free secondary education.

Famine | Executive Director of the World Food Program, David Beasley, confirmed that $575 million of $990 million committed by Congress in May — a commitment helped by 49,291 actions taken by Global Citizens — has been released to the WFP and others to immediately fight the famine. He then issued a powerful call to action to Global Citizens, revealing that after years of progress, the number of hungry people in the world is going up.

Partners of Global Citizen Week included: Gucci and CHIME FOR CHANGE, MSNBC & Comcast NBCUniversal, Live Nation, Johnson & Johnson, Citi, HP, Cadillac, T-Mobile, iHeartMedia, NYC Parks, lululemon, P&G, The New York City Mayor's Office for International Affairs, Bira 91, Universal Music Group, the Empire State Building, Forbes, Guardian US, Omaze, TOMS, and Tribeca Enterprises.

Partners of the 2017 Global Citizen Festival included: presenting partner GUCCI and CHIME FOR CHANGE, premier media partner MSNBC & Comcast NBCUniversal, entertainment partner Live Nation, global health partner Johnson & Johnson, and other major partners Citi, HP, Cadillac, T-Mobile, iHeartMedia, and NYC Parks.