S3. E2. | #TRIBEGOALS WITH DJ/PRODUCER + FOUNDER OF CLUB QUARANTINE D-NICE
On today’s episode of #TRIBEGOALS, I catch up with D-Nice in between soundchecks for his performance with Mary J Blige at the Apollo Theater. When we think back to the dark days of the pandemic there were a number of constants that we looked forward to, thanking our healthcare workers at 7pm, embracing hobbies that we didn’t know that we had and heading to the biggest global couch party that happened every night for hours on end with Club Quarantine! In those moments we could connect with friends, enjoy amazing music and see some of the biggest celebs in the room from Michelle Obama, Rihanna, Madonna, Nile Rodgers and more!
D-Nice rocked it out and shared his sense and need for a community with us while we navigated those uncertain times. 20 months later, he’s still keeping us connected virtually and in person. As the cover of our OCT ISSUE #70, we talk about his legendary career that started as a founding member of Boogie Down Productions with the late Scott La Rock and KRS-One, we talk about how he came up with Club Quarantine and its evolution from being the party to attend, as an amplifier for initiatives he is passionate about to taking it on the road to the Hollywood Bowl and what he has in store for the Club Quarantine Fest taking place in 2022 in LA. We also talk about the brand, how he picks his projects, the full circle moments that music has created in his life and maintaining the power of connection within this community.
Read the latest issue of Athleisure Mag.
Featured #TRIBEGOALS Podcast
S3. E1. | #TRIBEGOALS WITH LEGENDARY HIP-HOP MEMBER OF CYPRESS HILL + CANNABIS ENTREPRENEUR, BREAL
Before we kick off the 3rd season of #TRIBEGOALS, my name is Paul Farkas, Co-Founder, Publisher and celebrity photographer of Athleisure Media! To kick off the latest episode of #TRIBEGOALS, I’m taking over today’s show where I catch up with Hip-Hop and cannabis legend B-Real in Bringing the Smoke, who is also the 69th cover of Athleisure Mag.
We chat about the iconic Cypress Hill sound; writing Dr. Greenthumb; his new solo album 'Tell You Somethin,' produced by Scott Storch; being an artist, advocate & activist for cannabis legalization; expanding his Dr. Greenthumb's dispensaries in CA and across legal US States; edibles & culinary; working out on the road & more.
It's a great chat, you're in for a treat, now is a good time to grab those earmuffs for the kids due to explicit content.
#TRIBEGOALS is hosted by Kimmie Smith and is Executive Produced by Paul Farkas and Kimmie Smith. Our theme music Rough and Deep is performed by JGRLNG.
Read the latest issue of Athleisure Mag.
Featured #TRIBEGOALS Podcast
9DRIP | B-REAL
BRINGING THE SMOKE WITH B-REAL
For our cover story this month we caught up with B-Real, from the ground-breaking hip hop group, Cypress Hill. Legendary for his pioneering music and being an ambassador and activist for the use and legalization for cannabis, we delve into the iconic sound of Cypress Hill; his new solo album ‘Tell You Somethin,’ produced with Scott Storch; the magic behind his cult hit ‘Dr. Greenthumb;’ the history of Insane OG and creating and expanding his industry-leading Dr. Greenthumb's Cannabis Dispensaries; creating Phuncky Feel Tips; his G Pen and Stündenglass Gravity Hookah collabs; cannabis and culinary; working out on the road and more!
ATHLEISURE MAG: Looking back on all the times we listened to Cypress Hill, and it’s amazing to think, we’ve had all these different emotions – happy, sad, parties, chilling, raging it’s just crazy – how is it to produce music to hit all those different vibes?
B-REAL: I mean, it’s pretty natural cuz we were pretty much just going by what we were feeling and we were experiencing. So there were times we were joyful, happy, clowning around like young men and stuff like that. Other times we were frustrated, angry - so I think we captured all those type of emotions and being that we’re stoners we also caught that laid back stoner vibe, so I think it was really organic as we were being who we were and we just happened to capture the vibe of regular kids growing up in Los Angeles, and sort of being the bullhorn for these different vibes and situations and scenarios that we were living through that others were living the same thing and could relate to. So I think that’s why its had an impact the way that it did and everybody had some sort of feeling for we were doing and I think that was the connection that we touched on those connections that anyone has been through.
AM: So you’re going on tour with all of these festivals, how is it performing live in these post Covid times?
B: It’s interesting, different because of the protocols and stuff like that. You’ve got to be safe and responsible and also accountable. And at the same time, it’s great, you’re back in front of a crowd and you’re getting a connection, getting a reaction from the music and the energy and all of that stuff and people have so much of that energy built up from the last 2½ years and they try to find any way to letting it go and blowing off some of that steam, so I think that this was helpful toward people trying to get that. At the same being an honest person that gives a shit about people, it’s also kind of scary because we’re going to some of these places where we don’t know what the venue policy is and how protected are the people, that is the one thing that concerns me. But in terms of getting out there and playing in front of people, and seeing that happiness, that crazy unbridled energy – it’s definitely a great feeling.
AM: So you have this new solo album ‘Tell You Somethin,’ produced by Scott Storch, with great featured artists, like Ty Dolla $ign, Rick Ross, Krayzie Bone, Berner and more, what went into the album and what made the sound and vibes about it?
B: Well you know originally I wasn’t planning to do a solo album. I had so much on my plate with my projects with Berner, because him and I are constantly putting out albums together; Cypress Hill obviously ‘cause we’re working on our next album - our last album in fact; and I also had Prophets of Rage going; as well as the group that I have with Xzibit and the other cat named Demrick named the Serial Killers. So I just had so much on my plate, I didn’t think that trying to fit in another project was going to be conducive to my schedule and what not. But we were doing one of my Smokebox interviews, it’s an interview in a CadIllac, in one of my low rider cars, and us smoking out and boxing out the car, just having the car, just having a conversation, not necessarily an interview. But Scott Storch was down at my studio for this - and as many artists do - we were like ‘oh we should do something.’ And we’ve known each other a long time, and our lineage dates back to Philly, way back when he was an intern at Ruffhouse Music which was the label which we were first signed to. So we go way back, and we talked about it. When artists do that sometimes you know they have full intention of working together, and other times they’re full of shit! And Scott was not full of shit, he hit me up and said ‘hey man why don’t you come down and lets vibe out,’ and all of the sessions that we had were vibe outs. He would never have one beat ready, like a folder, that’s how it is these days, producers will give you folders with beats and then you pick’em. With Scott and I, I went to his house, everyday we would have a session and we vibed out, smoked out, and thought OK if we were here what would the vibe be like and he would sort of tinker with stuff, and then we would get ideas from that and then we would just build each song based on the vibe and the idea and what not. So it was really organic the way it came out man - every song was written and produced from scratch. And I haven’t had a chance to work on an album exactly like that in a long time. You know the last Cypress Hill album ‘Elephants On Acid’ was sort of like that. We’ve always worked like that, like never really worked like take these beats and go from that, a couple times we might have done that, but primarily our vibe is let’s go to the studio and create from scratch and see what the vibe is and so it was refreshing to get back to that sort of thing in a world of folder transfers and file transfers, and shit like that. You know it just felt good to be in the studio and being produced by the producer. It's a very different sound for me in terms what people are used to hearing me on as it relates to hard core hip hop with Cypress Hill and Serial Killers and stuff like that. The stuff I do with Berner is close to what I’ve done with Scott, but this is a venture out of my own. So, we felt really good about it. It took a while to put this album out because I have so much shit going on, but I was very, very excited to put it out and glad when it finally came out, I thought it never would and shit it took so long.
AM: Yeah sometimes it feels like life goes so fast, and sometimes it’s like paint drying right?
B: Yeah, because when we were working on this album I had all this other stuff scheduled out, and it pretty much had to wait before I knocked all of that schedule down, before I could actually put it out there. I don’t like to shortchange or shortcut anything I’m working on so I didn’t want to bring something in the middle and cut that project in half. I’ve done that and it's sad when you’ve got a good project going on and you cut it cuz you’ve got to rush something else out because you have a fucking timeline. So I just threw that out the window, and I’m going to finsh all of my obligations, and then put this out so I can give the particular attention I can give it for this particular piece. So I did that and right now I’ve had these Cypress Hill shows, so I haven’t had time to do my own shows, but I know that will come over time, and as the album is building some momentum and the songs are building momentum, when it’s the right time, I’ll go out and do some shows and what not.
AM: So you had some great collabs with it and around 4/20 this year. You gave out a download to Mother Mary, and then did some NFTs around it. How is it to be in the intersection between music, cannabis and technology?
B: Well it’s cool. You know the position that we’re in, in terms of all 3 of those platforms. We're just trying to stay ahead and keep pace with what we want to do, in terms of our growth in the cannabis industry, and maintain our position in the music industry, and forge forward in technology cuz that’s where it’s all going. Technology has a lot to do with both worlds right now. And you know we've got a pretty fucking cool and efficient team so we’ve been managing to stay ahead.
AM: Back in ‘91 you dropped ‘Stoned Is The Way of the Walk,’ on your debut album Cypress Hill – had never heard something like that before – and then Black Sunday with ‘Hits From The Bong, ‘Legalize it,’ ‘I Want to Get High..’ what was the process in putting out those benefits to cannabis in the liner notes and starting to champion use and legalization of cannabis from all the way back then?
B: Well you know on our first album we were putting out our vibe: this is who we are, this is what we believe in, and we believed strongly in cannabis legalization and all that stuff so the first album was sort of the set up with ‘Stoned Is The Way of the Walk’ and ‘Light Another.’ And as we start gaining momentum groups like NORML started getting wind of who we are and offered us spokeswork and being ambassadors to the movement, and that led to meeting up with High Times and doing the High Times cover and creating a long lasting friendship with my man Steve Bloom, and getting information, and eventually we would meet Jack Herer, who opened our eyes to everything, and because of the things we learned from him, and him being our mentor in the cannabis world, we took information from his book ‘Emperor Wears No Clothes,’ and applied some of that information in our liner notes on that album. So he was a big influence on us and his knowledge was basically what carried us trough and took us to the next steps of being advocates and activists. So we were much more educated about what we were talking about and what we were trying to accomplish in terms of turning people on to it. So we owe a whole lot to Jack Herer, yeah, so it was basically his knowledge that inspired us to put that sort of information on the Black Sunday album.
AM: So on the 4th album you dropped ‘Dr. Greenthumb’ and it became a huge underground concert anthem with your community. What was it like to go in that morning to write the lyrics so quickly, and from an entrepreneurship lesson what it means to stay true to your vision when partners or labels might try to steer that off course?
B: Well that song was destiny when I look at it now. You know at the time I thought well this is a great beat and some things just.. so I had written a sketch for a radio show that we were doing previously to making that album. Bobo and myself were working at 92.3 The Beat, and we wrote this sketch, and it was basically an infomercial type sketch which obviously makes the album, we eventually make that the intro for the song. But when I got to the studio and I heard that beat. Boom the theme Dr. Greenthumb just hit me and I started writing right away, I think it was like 10 in the morning I got to the studio. and Muggs knew I that was going to the love that beat, so he left the reels up and gave the engineer instruction to play me that song immediately when I walked in. So I started working on it before anyone got there, I was probably done writing it in 45min and done dropping it in 1 hour 30 min, or something like 1 hour 15min. And I remember specifically Sony hearing that and thinking it was great, but they wanted me to change the lyrics and make it not about weed and make it more like ‘Insane in the Brain.’ And I said, no we already got an Insane In The Brain, this song is what it is and we’re not going to change it. And they were like ‘alright, well I don’t think we’re going to get much radio on it, it’s a great song, but radio still isn’t playing weed songs.’ And I said well, you know I guess that is just a chance we’ll have to take. And the record company didn’t know the song was going to be a cult anthem or one of those underground anthems, they had no clue and thought it would be just a waste of a song. And it became one of our biggest singles in Europe, and then it trickled down here to the States. It never really caught on the radio, but when we played this song live, it would give the same energy off as an Insane In The Brain. Like people would just go nuts for it. It became one of our main anthems. And fast forward to now, California is now a medical state, now I that thought would be a cool brand name for me to come into the cannabis market. Which was my intention all along. And I thought to myself if Cypress isn’t going to come into it right now, then I’ll come into it as Dr. Greenthumb, and because of the music and the familiarlity of our fans as cannabis users, it was sort of a no brainer. It sort of took us a while to get momentum, because we’ve always been in cultivation, and the cannabis stuff, and but now we had brand to put what we were producing behind and that’s where it all started from - that song, bringing it into the cannabis industry, and making it my brand.
AM: You’re dropping Dr. Greenthumb dispensaries all over California, tell us about the team behind it, the mouth watering flavors, and especially the journey behind the potent and tasty Insane OG?
B: I think our team’s been together since ‘94-95. My partner Kenji Fujishima and I, we sort of started off together in the cannabis lane, learning how to grow and stuff like that. Me being on the road all the time, I couldn’t put as much time into the grow out as he did. So he became our master cultivator. Now for a couple years we sort of separated, and I started doing Jet Fuel with another partner, but that eventually went away as we had creative differences of where I thought the brand needed to go and things like that. They went and did their own thing. And Kenji and I fortunately had been partners in BREAL TV forever, since we started the platform, with livestreaming and doing some of the first podcasts before they were called podcasts. Kenji and I have had a long history. So when we both were free from obligations we had had with other people, we decided let’s partner back up, make the Greenthumb brand bigger, and call our strain brand Insane as a tribute to Cypress Hill and what not. So we’ve been together cultivating probably 25 years or so and we were maybe one of the first 6-7 guys in Southern California that had the OG Kush cut, which was to become one of the biggest strains in Southern California, and maybe even the world for a time, because it was so sought out and highly touted as the best cannabis in the world, up until maybe 10 years ago where all the exotic flavor blasts started happening, OG was the premier flower, and we were one of the ones that had it, and Kenji being one of the best at it, he produced some of the best Kush in Southern California for a long time, so our reputations as cultivators and ambassadors were constantly on the rise. So we’ve just been putting it together, piecing our team together little by little, getting the right guys that can represent, our company, our brand, our strains. So far we’ve accomplished Phase 1, and we’re rolling up to Phase 2.
AM: It’s a Big Phase 1! Congrats on everything. How many dispensaries do you have now in Californina?
B: Right now we have 7, we just opened in San Diego and we’re looking at a few other spots now. But the main objective is that after we get the spots that we feel are most important here in California, the next step is getting into the other cannabis friendly states, like Michigan, Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Colorado, Nevada, Oklahoma - everywhere that we can possibly plant a flag, we feel we’re going to do great. So locking down California is Phase 1, Phase 2 is now going into the different states that we can plant that flag and give that California experience.
AM: New York is stubbornly turning around. East Coast definitely needs some West Coast Love. Eventually we’ll be there..
B: Yeah I mean frankly it surprises me, you know, being New York has been in the forefront of so many things, in terms of entertainment, fashion, culinary - mostly everything - and for it to be one of the last on the cannabis train, that’s just crazy, especially when you think about it that High Times was based out of NY, and they do a lot of cannabis events, Central Park even, I remember doing those small clubs at Wetlands and stuff like that, so it’s a trip that NY is so far behind, when you’d think they’re so progressive they’d be in front of it. Even in California, to have Colorado legalize before us, that was crazy. But it all eventually comes around, because I think you know, the powers that be that run the state see the revenue stream that cannabis creates, and they’re waiting to see how the other states do, and how they work it and if it’s successful, and how they can implement it without upsetting their conservative voters or religious voters.
AM: Tell us about the Phuncky Feel Tips, how long did it take from coming up with it to putting it out there.
B: Phuncky Feel Tips, I created maybe 3-4 years before they actually came out. I was doing a deal with Roor.de for a licensing deal to create two lines of glass with Cypress Hill, one being an expensive collection line and the other one being a more affordable line. And as we’re doing that, I happened to be in Amsterdam and we were on tour, and were rolling in front our hotel, or maybe Greenhouse, I can’t exactly remember that part.. but we were rolling up, and I love smoking joints with the tip, but those paper tips were killing me, for me I looked at them in frustration, and I said why the fuck hasn’t anyone ever made any glass tips for joints or blunts. And I thought OK when I get home I’m going to call my glassblower friends that I know and make prototypes and try to put these out. Being that I was already doing a deal with Roor, I presented to them as we’re already doing this bong deal. And at first - they were reluctant as never doing something like that or if people would buy them. I said I didn’t care if people would buy them, I want to do them, and I know that people will buy them, and I knew from my experience once we made my first prototype, because I made a prototype from a different glassblower, and then I presented it. So I had at least a few weeks of R&D with it, and I was like I need to make more prototypes, because I’m not smoking another joint without one of these, and I knew if that happened to me then it was going to happen to others. So I had the prototypes made and I sent them to him in Germany. They made their prototypes, which were better than the ones I had made, and we agreed those were going to be the ones that went to market. And we put them out and it was slow going at first. It was a new product, and people were like what the fuck were these. How do you use them, how do you roll with them, how do you stick your joint in them? And people didn’t get you put them in the joint, not in that you put the joint in the tips. But once they caught! And I mean they went – you know! And now there is a collector community that collects all our custom color coordinated tips like baseball cards - I never thought that would be happening. I thought we’d sell some tips and people would have a different smoking experience, but they went beyond that. And that was great. And now to see people that have knocked off the product, and see them everywhere now, even though it’s kind of shitty, that people knocked our idea off and put it in their products. It goes to show you we’re ahead of the game. And we still make these tips and we’re ahead of everyone at that. It shows you my theory that once people smoke with a smoking tip they weren’t going to go back. Now these days people are spoiled.. your average smoker that isn’t necessary educated about the tips, they’ll smoke those paper tips because that’s all they know - but once they get a hold of a Phuncky Feel Tip it’s over! I remember when it first started catching, there were certain glassblowers like ‘oh man, you didn’t create that, it’s been in the market forever.’ And I was like ‘OK find one, show me one, I issue a challenge to any of you motherfuckers, that is not wood, that’s not plastic that predates my tip..' And not one of them could do it, and they were just mad because someone that didn’t blow glass created something they could’ve easily done. And then after the fact that I’ve brought it out, you’d have all these guys went and made some tips because of me, because some were glassblowers and they could do that, but I've never gone after them, whatever they do, people are going to put it on my back anyway and will say that’s B-Real's idea, that’s the Phuncky Feel tip, and I never took too much offense to it, I just say I’ve had a great idea, here it is!
AM: Speaking of glass we saw the Dr. Greenthumb’s x Stündenglass Gravity Hookah on your IG because we check it out. It looks so elegant and smooth. Tell us about that partnership and what it’s like to use that.
B: Oh man, Seth Rogan was the first guy that they filmed with it and he blew it up and I think that they realized they had something there. And I think their idea was to get it in the hands of real celebrities that smoke weed and have influence. And I think they were working with G Pen, and I was working with G Pen on some of our Dr. Greenthumb's X G Pen collaborative products, like the Dash and the Connect and the Roam and while we were talking about that they were like what about doing a collaboration with Stünden. And I was ‘like yeah sure, send me over a sample of the product and let us fuck with it, and see.’ And if I like ‘I’m definitely down, but if I don’t like it I’m not gonna do it because I’m not going to put my name on shit that I would not use.’ So they send it over, and we immediately start fucking with it, but we’re not fucking it with flower, because you know I stopped hitting glass bongs a long time ago, just because I feel like at some point the hit gets stale, and I don’t want a stale hit ever, so I stick to smoking the joints. So what we did was we took one the connects that we have and we adapted it on to the Stünden because they had an adapter for that. We were using the Stünden for concentrate as opposed to flower, it was so awesome, that actually became part of our Dr. Greenthumb podcast where there’s a portion of the show, it was so awesome, and actually became part of our Dr. Greenthumb podcast where there’s a portion of the show where the last half hour where we take questions and comments and shoutouts from the fans, and a lot times they’ll be like we want 3 flips from B-Real, meaning they want me to hit that Stündenglass and take 3 hits of the glass and that became a thing, and when we started highlighting that type of shit on our podcast people started running to our dispensaries to buy those Stündenglass, we could not keep them in fucking stock. People use it with flower, I’ve seen Wiz Khalifa use it with the flower, but for us we use it for the concentrate, and it fucking works amazing. If anybody was going to do it, I would recommend to do it with the concentrate, do it with the connect, and it’s lovely. Bobo, he hit the first record with them, he hit 10 flips. One of our other guys did 15 flips and one of our other co-hosts did 20 flips and stuff like that. It’s devastating, but it’s a cool experience, people love that shit and they love seeing people testing their metal trying to do like 10-20 flips. I’m good at 3.
AM: Yeah 3 looks like a good start, definitely!
B: 3 is a good start..
AM: We cover a lot in food, from clean eating and meal prep, to fine dining and splurges. We loved the show Bong Appétit on Viceland that you hosted in ‘19, it was groundbreaking. What’s your take of cooking with cannabis, and edibles in general.
B: I think it's awesome. Because it gives people that may be a little intimidated by smoking it, a chance to have the experience through culinary. A lot of the people that aren’t educated in the cannabis world, that maybe are curious, it was the perfect show for them as they can find ways to infuse. You can infuse any meal, you can infuse any dessert, any app, and that show was sort of like a guideline to doing that. Since then there have been like 3 other shows that have knocked that show off that are doing relatively the same thing. But I think shows like that is important, whether it’s us doing it, whether its Kelis doing it, or whoever else - it’s educating people, and showing people a different way. Because not everybody wants to smoke, it's kind of loud when you're smoking joints or blunts or bongs, Its loud, bongs. Its loud, and some people are more lowkey than that and so you have a significant amount of people would rather do edibles and this is one way they can create their own edibles if they have any culinary skills, or at least to know they can find it somewhere, that there are meal prep places that can infuse food whether its CBD full spectrum or just THC. So I think shows like that are important, the lifetime that they last on the air that’s subjective. I think we got caught up with Vice while they were in a transitional period. I think that they needed more room for their news platform and what not. So Bong Appetit didn’t get brought back, but it was great while it lasted. I had fun with Vanessa and Miguel, they’re great people. Vanessa sometimes comes and co-hosts on Dr. Greenthumb podcasts and all that stuff, so we still stay in contact. And we’re constantly talking about maybe creating another show somewhere down the line, but more I think dinner party conversational style rather than competitive cooking and stuff like that. That was fun to see people doing that. but I think there is a bit of conversation to be had and a little bit more education to be spilled out there if you would do a dinner party style, but we’re working on it..
AM: In the age of Covid and smoking, and vaping, it’s more important than ever to elevate your workout and wellness game, what kinds of things are you doing to workout - are you hitting the gym, doing stuff at home, or doing more adventure fitness outside?
B: That’s a part of my culture, it’s a part of me. I’ve made that to be part of my daily ritual. Like I pray everyday, I work out. Like I smoke everyday, I workout. Because realistically doing what we do in terms of performances, it's always a high energy show and we’re always trying to give 110%. And so you got to stay in shape for that. And just trying to stay in shape for ourselves, for our families, trying to be as healthy as possible - maintaining a proper diet and workout schedule and stuff like that to keep healthy and fit, and to put the right fuel in our system - and the fact of smoking cannabis the way we do, is also therapeutic and healing benefit from that. So you know, I think that’s one of the reasons we’re still able to do it on the level we do, performing at a festival, a small club or an arena, of whatever - we're always ready for it. Because we always maintain to keep busy, to keep active. Now in our fucking 50s, we’re watching what we put in our bodies, sure we still have a good time and splurge now and then. But we’ve always been guys in terms of Cypress Hill that were into sports and competing, like we’d play a lot basketball and football back in the day. Sen Dog and Muggs played a lot of baseball; Muggs and I trained in martial arts and boxing, so we’re constantly finding ways to keep busy, training and keep ourself active – besides from performing on the stage because that’s a workout itself – but we workout to do that just like an athlete works out to play their perspective sport. So we feel like that is really important. And what I’m glad to see is a lot of golden era rappers, start to get in the gym, take care of themselves, investing the time and energy and putting it back in their bodies. I see Method Man’s fucking workout grind, crazy. Jim Jones always had a crazy workout grind. Action Bronson, I gotta tip my hat to my bro, because he’s working his ass off these days. It’s great to see guys like that taking care of themselves like that man. And us, at Cypress Hill, we’ve always maintained to do that, it’s part of our culture, it’s who we are. When we are on the road, we’ll all meet up at the gym and get our pre-show workout or day-off workout, and then back on the grind. We don’t stop, it’s important to us. We wanna be fit, we don’t want to be those dudes that are huffing and puffing and can’t complete the show, you know!
AM: It’s been real fun to catch up today! Is there any news or teasers on the upcoming Cypress Hill album?
B: Yeah, we’ll be popping that off in March of next year. We have one of the singles from that album coming out pretty soon. We released ‘Champion Sound’ early for the MLB video game, but there’s another one coming called ‘Open Your Mind,’ and we look forward to people hearing that, and I believe we are going to make the video to that pretty soon cause its going to be the lead single and what not. There's much more music ahead of me, I have so much more coming out in the next year and a half it’s crazy, but you know it’s all paced.
AM: Well that’s great – Congrats again on everything! The entrepreneurship lessons for people that you give - of just being yourself, doing something different, working in a big market, doing what you love - those are huge lessons for everybody!
B: Yeah I mean the one thing that anyone should take away from this is you get what you put into it. If you go halfway, all you’re going to do is go halfway. If you put it all in, and go all in, and dedicate yourself to it, you can get wherever you want to go! Obviously, you’ve got to have talent, and a little bit of luck, and a whole lot of faith, that you will do it - but you have to put the work behind it, and when it’s the time, you meet the right people, the doors open up, you go through that door, and it’s all about what you do from there. You know you can take yourself as far as you want to go. So I would just say to anyone, believe in yourself, believe in what you’re trying to do, and go at it 110%!”
IG @breal
PHOTOGRAPHY CREDITS | Front Cover, PG 18, 21, 30/Insane OG BTS | PG 16, 22, 33 + Back Cover Eitan Miskevich | PG 24 G Pen | PG 27 Pedro Garcia | PG 28 Kenji Fujishima | PG 30 Insane Cookies/Justin Mcivor |
Read the SEP ISSUE #69 of Athleisure Mag and see Bringing the Smoke with B-Real in mag.
Featured
GOVERNORS BALL
Governors Ball celebrated its 10th Anniversary this year with a 3-Day Festival at Citi Field in Queens, New York. The show marked that live music was back and many artists were thrilled to be on stage for high energy, intimate connection and to delight their fans. Here are some of our favorite highlights from the festival - indeed everyone rejoiced amidst the exhilarating performances and anthems of this big lineup.
IG @govballnyc
PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY | PG 156, 158, 168 Getty Selects | PG 160 - 167 + 170 Taylor Hill |
Read the SEP ISSUE #69 of Athleisure Mag and see Governors Ball in mag.
Featured
ELECTRIC ZOO
EZOO is one of our favorite NYC Festivals and this Labor Day on Randall’s Island Park, EZOO 2021 delivered another brilliant experience of top loved electronic acts, cool stages and tasty food/drink vendors as the US begins to re-open. With big sounds, cool vibes and sunshine abound, here are some of our favorite artists from this year’s event. Minds blown again – EZOO keeps proving it’s definitely a can’t miss event!
PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY Alive Coverage
Read the SEP ISSUE #69 of Athleisure Mag and see Electric Zoo in mag.
Featured
9PLAYLIST | DWAYNE JOHNSON
9PLAYLIST | ADAM LEVINE
Read the AUG ISSUE #68 of Athleisure Mag and see 9PLAYLIST | Adam Levine in mag.
Featured
STAYING CONNECTED WITH TYLER RICH
For many of us, this summer has been one that we have enjoyed adding events to our schedule, being out and about with friends and family! We caught up with country music's singer/songwriter Tyler Rich who stayed connected with his fans during quarantine with his virtual shows and who is in prep to hit the road with his Two Thousand Miles headline tour as well as touring with Chris Lane's Fill Them Boots Tour this fall!
We talk about how he got into the industry, how he navigated quarantine as an artist, we chat about songs that he created we're fans of, being a sports fan, how he stays fit and other projects that he is working on.
ATHLEISURE MAG: What was the moment that you fell in love with music?
TYLER RICH: When I was 8 years old, my cousin took me to see George Strait in concert in Sacramento. I always loved music as a kid, but it was seeing it performed live, that sparked the fire that it was what I needed to do with my life! Also, it doesn’t hurt when your first concert was the King of Country Music himself.
AM: Where do you get inspiration as a songwriter for your songs and what’s your process like?
TR: It comes from all around me really. My wife is my forever muse, and she makes it easy for me. But, a lot of the time I pick up ideas from conversations my friend’s and I are having, digging into their lives for some content. I joke with my wife that I wish we fought more -- strictly for the writing content that would come out of it. I can only write so many happy love songs about her ha ha!
AM: How do you define your sound?
TR: My music is energetic, fun, upbeat, and hopefully uplifting for those that listen. My version of country embodies the sounds of California and Tennessee, all at the same time.
AM: We have talked with a number of artists who prior to COVID-19 were focused on making music and juggling their touring schedules to adjusting to what we all experienced in 2020. How was the last year for you and how did you approach your music?
TR: I spent the year really diving in on what I wanted the next chapter of my music to sound like, how to do some recording from home and figuring out ways to connect with my fans on a deeper level. We had all the down time in the world to spend nights on IG live chatting with fans and creating lasting relationships. It was really amazing to have so much more time than a quick handshake at a meet and greet.
AM: Many artists and creatives found that during 2020, they wanted to maintain their connection with fans virtually. What did you do during that time?
TR: I created a virtual tour called “The Distance,” a play on lyrics in my song “The Difference.” This consisted of Tuesday nights “Tyler & Friends Sing Behind the Scene,” where I invited songwriter friends of mine to come on and tell the stories behind hits they wrote for other artists and then perform them online. I would also cover one of their hits, and play a song the two of us had written together. Friday nights were “Feels Like Home” where I just hung out for an hour playing new songs I’d written that week and getting fan feedback, since we didn’t have a stage to do that like usual. We wrapped up with my wife Sabina and I hosting “Leave Her Wild Sunday Brunch.” Since we couldn’t be drinking mimosas on rooftops, I had to do something to make her happy ha ha. We treated this like a variety show, opening with good news in the world, playing drinking trivia with surprise celebrity guests, and closing each show with an artist performing their current single. It was so much fun! And, as I think about all these now, I'm realizing how much I miss it all.
AM: In terms of how you connected with your fans over the past few months, with all of us re-entering the world again, how important is it to you to still embrace levels of the connections that you were able to have with your fans virtually while going back to in-person interactions?
TR: I would say my inbox for direct messages was at an all-time high during quarantine, and I did my best to respond to all of them. I still try to be as reachable as possible for fans that want to chat, whether it’s about music or just life in general. I have no career without these amazing people, so building relationships with them is special for me as well.
AM: On Two Thousand Miles, we really enjoyed 11:11 what is the inspiration behind this song?
TR: Thank you! “11:11” is one of the few songs on the album I didn’t write, but it’s from some of my favorite writers in Nashville, including the late Andrew Dorff. The first time I heard it when it was pitched to me, I was floored. The emotion behind it, the desperation and heartbreak in the lyric, and melody all drew me in. I knew I needed to cut it right away.
AM: Also on that album is Billie Jean, for the longest time my favorite cover version has been Chris Cornell’s but I truly enjoyed your take on the song. With it being such an iconic song, how do you approach making it your own while still paying homage to Michael Jackson's original?
TR: That’s a massive compliment thank you! His version is incredible. It’s terrifying to do a cover of the “King” of pop, when the brutal Wild West of the internet is ready to rip you apart, but I tried my hardest to make it “me,” yet true to the song as much as possible. I think the most important part of covering something and making it your own, is keeping the vocal melody the same. The music and production can change, but if the melody and lyric change, then you're altering the recognizable part of othe song to fans. I always felt it was such a dark, dirty, blues bar kind of story, that was in a pop song’s body, so I brought a little grit to it.
AM: "Better Than You’re Used To" is such a beautiful song and really makes me think of past relationships as well as my current one. What is the inspiration behind it?
TR: I love that it connects with you that way! My little sister was going through the heartbreak of the century. In a conversation we were having she said “I feel like I’m putting so much in, and getting nothing back.” I told her she needed someone to love her better than she was used to, it rang right when I said it. So, I wrote it down to revisit in the studio one day. The day we wrote the song, I took the inspiration from that, and mixed it with the state I met my wife in. She was sad, feeling defeated, and had given up on love. She just needed someone to love her the way she needed. The song really came out pretty quick, the most honest ones do!
AM: With the vaccines and things opening up again, I see that you have quite the schedule coming up. You’re headlining a tour with Shy Carter and you will also be on Chris Lane’s tour this fall, what are you looking forward to as you get back on the road?
TR: I’m really looking forward to seeing all the fans that we’ve only virtually been able to connect with, but in person! Meet and greets will be so much sweeter, and it’s gonna feel like seeing old friends I bet. I’ve released a lot of new music since the pandemic, and seeing everyone singing new songs, is always the best.
AM: When it comes to performing, do you have pre and post rituals/routines that you do to prepare pre-show or to come down from the energy post-show?
TR: Pre-show is all about connecting with my band. Spending time together, some shots, and building that bond we have all the way up until we are on stage. We always play the best shows when we are having a great time right before running up there to start. After show is all about solo time. Spending 5-10 minutes alone. Cooling down my voice, and taking some mental health time to appreciate what I just got to do, make some notes of what to work on, and then disconnect myself from that so I don’t think about it for the rest of the night.
AM: Looking at your IG, we love seeing you and your wife Sabina. How did you guys meet?
TR: We met at Stagecoach Music Festival in Indio, CA in 2016. Just a traditional “hey what’s your name” meeting, nothing involving any dating apps or social media ha. We were all in from that first hello pretty quickly.
AM: My boyfriend and I have been dating for 11 years and we are also co-founders of Athleisure Media as well as other ventures. What is your advice to power house couples in terms of supporting one another in their separate and/or join endeavors and balancing the hectic schedules that exist?
TR: That’s amazing! Congrats, I love that. I can just say from personal experience, the more you try and compete with someone’s passion, or life outside of you, the more people pull away from each other. Lift your partner up, celebrate their wins, push them hard toward their goals, and be their rock. You have to love all of the person you are with, not just part of them, and their careers and passions make up most of who they are, so love that side of them, and I promise your relationship will be so healthy!
AM: What are you working on currently and will you be collaborating with anyone that you’re able to share?
TR: I’m working on what will be following up "Better Than You’re Used To” so heading into the studio to cut a couple new songs this month and have a couple collaboration ideas coming up that I’m hoping come to fruition this fall!
AM: With a full summer ahead are there any projects whether musically or outside of it that you can talk about?
TR: I’m taking a trip to Sweden in mid-September for a media tour and possibly some shows. I’m ecstatic for this trip, and hoping Covid doesn’t halt the plans! Other exciting stuff in the works that involves TV, but I can’t quite talk about it yet, soon though!
AM: When you’re not performing on stage, how do you take time for yourself?
TR: I’m such an introvert when I’m at home. I’m the definition of an extrovert as soon as we are traveling, but other than that, I’m quiet, at home, doing anything but music. I love going to movies, the zoo or a museum alone to walk around and take everything in at my own pace, just disconnect for a couple hours. Alone time is so important, and really sets me up to not be so anxious when surround by so many people every weekend on the road.
AM: What are your go-to workouts to stay fit?
TR: I love my Peloton at home. It’s become part of my weekly routine for sure. Sometimes getting workouts in, can be not as frequent as we’d like on the road so I try to be as active as possible when there is time -- using my jump rope between reps to keep my heart rate up and making each workout count a little more. I also enjoy going for a few-mile run in the cities we are playing through the downtown, a city park or wherever I can.
AM: We know you’re a sports fan from your love with the 49ers and the Warriors - what are you looking forward to next season now that we can resume going to games?
TR: I’m literally counting down the minutes to go to a 49ers game! Being in the stadium is one of my happiest places in the world, surrounded by all the fans, my friends from back home, and watching the guys play. It’s just right around the corner!
AM: Tell me about Rich Rescues and why this is so important to you.
TR: My biggest passion outside of music is for animals. My rescue pup, Abby, has been with me for almost 16 years, and I wish I could rescue all the dogs and cats in the world, though my schedule just doesn’t allow it. So, on the road I visit a couple rescues a week in the cities we are in and promote the animals needing home to my fan’s in that town. Our success rate is almost 100% of finding homes for the animals we have promoted online through Rich Rescues on Instagram and the in-person visits. I wish I could do even more, but know we’re still just getting started.
IG @TylerRich
PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY | Tyler Rich
Read the AUG ISSUE #68 of Athleisure Mag and see Staying Connected with Tyler Rich in mag.
Featured
GET HYPED WITH WILL SPARKS
It's always fun to check in with those that we enjoy listening to their songs when we're working out, getting work done or simply passing the time. As we begin to add more events to our schedules from music festivals, concerts of our favorite artists and those that we can still enjoy virtually, it's exciting to see how we're continuing to transition into a new normal about the past 18 months that we have navigated.
We caught up with EDM DJ/Producer, Will Sparks to talk about the Melbourne Bounce, how he connected with music and made it his career, his upcoming EP and more.
ATHLEISURE MAG: When did you first fall in love with music?
WILL SPARKS: I became properly obsessed with heavy metal at around 14, then Dance music at 16.
AM: When did you realize that you wanted to produce/DJ?
WS: Back then, many songs were unattainable. I was so fixated on the Melbourne Underground sound, that I figured, if I can't have them, then i'll make my own.
As a DJ, experimenting on my friend's set of decks. After a while I finally beat matched and transitioned a song perfectly. That's when I knew.
AM: You’re known for pioneering the “Melbourne Bounce” sound. Can you tell us more about what this is?
WS: Melbourne had it's own nightlife community. It was a family. There were so many clubs, none which tried to compete. The DJ's made their own music, unique to them. The sound was like nothing else in the world, ahead of it's time. The guys I look up to Kalus, Orkestrated, Stevie Mink, Joel Fletcher, Chardy & Heath Renata just to name a few. They influenced me to how I approached my sound. They were the real creators and pioneers of the original Melbourne underground. You can identify it as a 'kick & low bass, driving leads and large builds' but you have to hear to fall in love with it. I was in love with it - but I also had my own taste and swing on what it then evolved toward. I was placed in the perfect timing when the Melbourne sound became global and tracks i was making were getting played by the biggest DJs in the world.
AM: What’s it like when you are producing? How do you approach creating and ultimately creating a new sound? Where does your inspiration come from?
WS: What’s it like? There isn't a better feeling in the world when you're onto something you're absolutely loving.
I tend to blur out anything else that's going on, i don't listen to any music. I have my original hero's & always reminisce on my favourite records. This allows me to always create something that no one else is doing because it organically comes directly from within. People are so distracted by 'whats working' and therefore make what everyone else is making.
AM: We all have our COVID stories in terms of what we did while we had quite a lot of time to focus on various areas of our lives, what did you do during this time musically as well as staying in contact with your fans?
WS: I made an EP. I changed my sound completely. It was grounding having so much time instead of being away constantly. I always respond to as many fans as i can on Instagram but in terms of live streams, I like to keep them at a low. As I said, I don't really listen to any one else's music, so my sets are very unique and mostly full of ID's. I'd rather save it for the live shows to come.
AM: You released “Nothing More, Nothing Less” via Armada Music – tell us about this EP and what we can expect from it?
WS: As I said, I changed my sound. You would call it very techno inspired. I love the genre, but I also love being different to the genre, but I also love being different to the pack. If you like getting hyped, than expect some energy.
AM: Do you have any projects that you’re working on that you can share with us?
WS: So many, it's an endless roll out of records when you make music every day. It's too bad releases have to be a minimum of 4 weeks apart. If you see my catalogue you'd notice I don't collaborate much. I've decided to change that.
AM: What’s your schedule look like in terms of hitting the road as there’s nothing like being able to play live with an audience?
WS: I'm in Australia. It's never a certainty of what's ahead. I am so over it. shows come up and are then ruined by lockdowns. I just hope the whole world is back to normality as a whole ASAP.
AM: When you’re not making music, clearly you’re in great shape, what are you go-to workouts that you enjoy doing?
WS: Lifting heavy & eating like a freak. To be honest, I've had some injuries lately due to working out too much! I have too much time on my hands these days. My go to work outs are strength training but I tend to enjoy the odd HIIT.
IG: @Will_Sparks
PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY | Will Sparks
Read the AUG ISSUE #68 of Athleisure Mag and see Get Hyped with Will Sparks in mag.
Featured
PHOTO CREDIT | Governors Ball/@ALIVECOVERAGE
GET READY FOR GOVERNORS BALL
As we continue to get back into our previous flow, we’re adding a number of things to our calendar such as Governors Ball which takes place Sep 24th - Sep 26th at Citi Field in Queens, NYC and they’re celebrating their 10 year anniversary! Although getting a 3 day ticket is no longer available, you can still get GA single-day tickets for Fri. and Sun. This year, it’s bound to be a great music festival as some of the highlights for Fri includes performances by Billie Eilish, Portugal The Man and Leon Bridges. For Sun, Post Malone, 21 Savage and Burna Boy will be among those hitting the stage! You can also purchase the After Dark shows as well! For those attending, make sure you download the app so that you can be looped into stage times of your favorite artists. In addition, you can find out the COVID-19 protocol health policy that will take place during the festival.
While enjoying your favorite artists, we like that there is a sense of what it’s like to enjoy your favorite eateries in NYC! We’ve been obsessed with Taqueria Diana, DŌ Cookie Dough Confections and Sweet Chick for years and these are just a few of the eateries that will be on-site during this festival. Whether you’re looking for vegan, vegetarian, savory, sweet, beers, etc - you’re bound to find the flavor that you’re looking for. You can skip the lines by ordering on-site via Grubhub to pick up your order at their locker station!
Read the latest issue of Athleisure Mag.
Featured
FESTIVAL SEASON 2021 | ELECTRIC ZOO SUPERNATURALS
We always love when we head back to the grounds of a festival! It’s the music, hanging out in the media tents, catching the vibes and more. Although last year, Electric Zoo didn’t have an in-person festival, we’re excited about this year’s! Electric Zoo will take place from Sep 3rd - 5th with a number of our favorite acts (a number of them have been covers or inclusions in Athleisure Mag - Steve Aoki, Valentino Khan, Kaskade, RIOT TEN)! We look forward to a great 3 days!
Featured
FESTICAL SEASON 2021 | PINKNIC
Sept 4th and 5th brings Pinknic to Governors Island! We’re excited that our NOV ISSUE cover in 2020 was SOFI TUKKER and that they will be rocking out here! If you have yet to get your tickets, you should definitely make sure that you do as this music festival is the perfect blend to mix music, rose and more together!
Featured
9PLAYLIST | TYLER RICH
Read the JUL ISSUE #67 of Athleisure Mag and see 9PLAYLIST | TYLER RICH in mag.
9PLAYLIST 9MIX 9ACOUSTIC | OMI
9DRIP | RIOT TEN
Read the JUN ISSUE #66 of Athleisure Mag and see 9DRIP | Riot Ten in mag.
Featured
9PLAYLIST | STEELE JOHNSON
Read the JUN ISSUE #66 of Athleisure Mag and see 9PLAYLIST | Steele Johnson in mag.
Featured
9LIST ROUTIN3S | TYLER RICH
Read the JUN ISSUE #66 of Athleisure Mag and see 9LIST ROUTIN3S | Tyler Rich in mag.
Featured
BINGELY STREAMING
BLACKOUT
QCode
Spotify
Last Season, QCode's BLACKOUT, an apocalyptic thriller, introduced us to a small-town radio DJ, Simon Itani (Academy Award winner Rami Malek of Mr. Robot, Bohemian Rhapsody and The Little Things) fights for his family and community when the power grid is shut down nationwide bringing on a devolving modern civilization.
In season 2 which started a few weeks ago, it picks up after Simon's family escapes. As they wait out what took place, their paths cross with an old family friend Wren (played by Aja Naomi King of How to Get Away with Murder, The Upside and Sylvie's Love). In the safehouse that she found them at, she tells Simon and his family what she experienced in Boston when the power grid went down and how she got out of Boston. As she talks about her life prior to the chaos and after, we are left wondering if she can be trusted and what can they find out about the origins of this blackout and who profits from the wide sweeping chain of events that took place.
EDITH!
QCode + Crooked Media
iHeart Radio
Edith! is a scripted political satire podcast by QCode and Crooked Media reimagines history starring Rosamund Pike (Gone Girl, I Care a Lot and Jack Reacher) as Edith Wilson, the second wife to President Woodrow Wilson explores the untold true-ish story of America's secret First Female President.
We get introduced to Edith's life prior to her husband suffering a massive, paralyzing stroke in the White House. Telling no one, she does the unthinkable. For nearly a year, after the end of World War I, she acts as the de facto unelected President. She signed issue orders as her husband, fired people as him and caused international incidents in his name. A number of historians believe she took on this role near the end of his presidency.
While all of these activities are going on, enemies that are external and internal get closer to finding out her most guarded secret. In this limited series, we learn about how the events took place, the role that she played and her thoughts of doing so.
MARY J BLIGE'S MY LIFE
Amazon Original Documentary
Amazon Prime Video
With 13 albums, Mary J Blige notes that her second album, My Life, is her most important one. This documentary talks about the importance of this album which allowed her to speak to her fans as well as to survive what was happening around her. This 17 track album was a lyrical therapy for her and was mainly produced by P. Diddy and Chucky Thompson.
The documentary, Mary J Blige’s My Life, explores the making of the album and allows her to get candid with members of her family, collaborators, record execs (Andre Harrell, Jimmy Iovine) actors (Tyler Perry, Taraji P. Henson) and fellow artists (Method Man, Nas, Alicia Keys) as they talk about her transition from the projects to the upper echelon of the music industry. Mary also talks frankly about her struggles on camera.
Viewers are left thinking about how she was able to be involved in the shift of R&B as well as to buck the notion of what an artist of the genre was perceived to be. We also get an insider view on the obstacles that took place between her first album, What's the 411 and how that affected her as she was in the process of creating My Life.
Read the JUN ISSUE #67 of Athleisure Mag and see Bingely Streaming in mag.
Featured
