Nov. 21, 2022
Behind The Scenes With Malik Yoba
Malik Yoba (Cool Runnings, NY Undercover) and Voyage CEO Nat Mundel have an unexpected, wide-ranging conversation about creativity, openness to experience, and how Malik (in some ways like his character Reggie in Red Meat Village) is a renaissance...
Malik Yoba (Cool Runnings, NY Undercover) and Voyage CEO Nat Mundel have an unexpected, wide-ranging conversation about creativity, openness to experience, and how Malik (in some ways like his character Reggie in Red Meat Village) is a renaissance man, much more than just an accomplished actor, Malik is involved a wide range of entrepreneurial pursuits and creative endeavors. An accomplished musician as well, Malik shares how he came up with the song for Cool Runnings (and the opening theme for Red Meat Village).
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Hey, this is Nat Mundel.
I'm the founder of Voyage and I'm super
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excited to introduce our listeners today to
Malik Yoba, who plays Reggie in our
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contemporary noir, very cool scripted podcast
series called Red Meat Village. You probably
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know Malik from his performances in Cool
Runnings, New York Undercover and more recently
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The Last O g among many other
credits over thirty forty year acting career.
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So, Malik, thanks so much
for joining us. Really appreciate it.
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Good here many background, Well,
the podcast listeners are going to have to
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imagine that. So, yes,
there is a there is a golf course
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behind me and as I, as
I disclosed to Malik somewhat embarrassingly, I
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am not a golfer. Well,
Malik and I were just getting acquainted and
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we learned, uh, you know, Malik, that you've got a passionate
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interest in voiceover work. Was this
your first scripted podcast series? And are
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you a big listener of podcasts?
I do listen. Yeah, I listened
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like Sam Harris and um uh Christia
Tipic, I'm like really cerebral when it
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comes back. And I listened a
lot of like educational podcasts like spiritual or
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personal development. On writing. I
listened to drink Champs that not you know
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that hip hop. But this is
the first scripted one that I've done.
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Um. Yeah, I've done an
audio book, two audio books. Um,
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some other voices that we work with
brands and not enough cartoons and characters
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and all that kind of stuff.
Yeah, well, right on. We're
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so thrilled you accepted the role of
this character Reggie who. Um, you
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know he's kind of a renaissance man. He's a champion boxer. Uh and
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this part time private detective. It's
an interesting combo. Um, he's really
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well my character to development, what's
happen? It's like my character the rest
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of development. He was a party
planner and and and a private private eye.
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Yeah. So what were your reactions
when you first read the script and
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about the character, Like what attracted
you to it? Um? Well,
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number one, my agent Sherry.
Every time she called with any opportunity to
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do voice work, I'm always saying
cool. And then she said, hey,
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it's really cool. I have some
other clients of doing it. Um.
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To be honest with you, I
didn't really read it before. I
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gotta be and then I read it
when I did it with Dan. But
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once I did it, I just
thought it was cool. Like I skimmed
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it. She told me what it
was. I had no idea it was.
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For me. It was sort of
like, um, let me just
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jump into this thing called Read and
Meat Village and see what it is.
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So it's kind of fun to discover
along the way that set in Brooklyn that
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the character is. Um. Yes, it was a lot of fun,
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man. You know, I call
right away it said, I want to
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do one of these ones a week. And even though it's it's it's rooted
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in US, even though it's contemporary
story, it's rooted in noir. Have
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you done noir before? And and
how has it played into your performance?
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No? I haven't. I mean
I did grow up listening to the shadow.
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Is that that should have been from
like the fifties whenever that originally started.
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I think basically anything that came out
of the fifties that had to do
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with crime and stuff as by nature, right right? Yeah? Yeah?
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So was that cool for you to
jump into that? Yeah? Yeah,
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it's you know, it's funny because
I'm a writer as well, and I
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um, in some ways you guys
after my own heart, because um,
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I was touring with shows in the
black community. Like so Tyler Perry's whole
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career was based on those storing plays
that was like most mainstream media and Hollywood
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wasn't aware of. But it's very, very lucrative and very popular. So
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I was doing those for like tennimal
fifteen years and TV. But I had
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this idea to sort of start a
play on radio at episode and then in
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order to see what happens, you
had to come to and see if it
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toe the rest of your kind of
thing. So this kind of reminds me
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of that. You know, you
can sort of create these worlds that people
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can enter into, get emotionally invested
into, and in this case, right
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they can become film or they can
become a live action a theater production or
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whatever. So absolutely, yeah,
yeah, we're sorry to say that again.
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No, it's because that you're chapping
into my interests, that's all.
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That's cool. Yeah, we we
one of the primary reasons we we built
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out this podcast unit was to do
just that. You know, we got
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a lot of film and television projects, um and in some cases these podcasts
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that we're doing, like you know, they strategically aligned for sure, because
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as you know, it's like the
hot new way that Hollywood is discovering.
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Ip um. But uh, but
in some cases we're doing like these prequel
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you know, sort of side story
things that introduce a character, and then
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our television show that we're also out
pitching just expands on that universe. Right,
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So yeah, we we think that's
a really cool UM model. UM
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all right, So you know,
you were, of course in New York
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Undercover and you've done work in the
crime space for quite a while. Where
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do you think Reggie and Tony fit
into that history of PI? You know,
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private investigator duos, Like what makes
them unique? What do they call?
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What are they similar to? Um? Well, I mean I think
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UM one is sent in Brooke and
it does tappen too a little bit about
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New York under Cover origins. At
this point, this would be number nineteen.
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Wow, I just did a film
for Netflix, Got a Good Nurse,
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where I was Please Captain Sheriff.
Actually, so that that was eighteen.
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This is nineteen some law enforcement related
character. But um, I always
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liked the buddy cop kind of genre, right, you know how they are
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each other's foiled kind of thing even
as they go after crime. The banter
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between them the ship talking in the
case. Um, this like sort of
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that they have around this eaic contest
that you know, uptfullly win. Um,
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I like it. It's short.
Yeah, well you clearly have this,
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you know, sort of well regarded
history of dramatic performances and a lot
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of your work. But you know
a lot of people you know, may
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not know your comedy work as as
especially as recently. Um, you know,
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but you've really pulled together some incredible
comedic performances and cool runnings and arrested
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development and you know, so these
two characters, you know, and they're
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also in that Origin of War,
there's some there's some banter there, and
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we're able to draw in some of
that comedy as long as then your producer
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was lacking even though like I had
half of the script on one side of
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the screen the other half I could
see him, so I kind of see
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him my perpery and whenever its head, it is that kind of an audience
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of one. So I think I
nailed it. But a yeah, what
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I want to do more for sure? Yeah? Very cool. So you
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know, on that note, what's
next for you? What are you working
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on? What do you want your
fans to know about what's coming up,
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well that good nurse film. Um, I'm actually sitting here editing. Between
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this interview, I'll go back to
a doc series I created called The Real
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Estate Mixtape, which is actually a
docu series on my journey in real estate
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development, which is another thing I
do. So I'm finding the storytelling aspects
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of all these different businesses. I
mean, so, whether it's real estate,
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um, I've joined it, gotten
into Canada space, whether it's scripted
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one hour's comedies, half hours,
I'm just being really really productive, especially
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over the last couple of years that
the world is kind of slow down.
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You're officially a Zoolander Slashy. You
know the movie Zoolander, the Slashy Awards,
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it was like actor slash actor.
Yeah, man, I mean you
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know. I mean, look,
if you're building the platform, look if
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you're if you're only an actor,
you're always waiting on a job. Oh
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yeah, you have a good time. Well, good for you for you've
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made a career where you're not waiting
too long, you know, over over
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that period. Such an extraordinary career
you've had so far. But yeah,
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I mean I'm a I'm a Slashy
I'm a producer slash golfer. Right,
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we just learned that. I thought
I'm not a I'm a producer slash live
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on a golf course golfer, But
don't golf slash heat. Just you know,
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just find as many ways to be
created and tell the kind of stories
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I want to tell. I've really
gotten a lot deeper into directing, writing
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and directing and yeah, being just
being a storyteller holding a whole vision.
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So that's that's you know, It's
just one of those things like when I
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pursued when I decided to leave my
career as a youth worker. That was
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my job running a group called a
City Kids Foundation before I did Cool Running
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Um, it was a moment where
I had to decide. After I did
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Cool Runnings, I went back to
the organization. We had a Saturday morning
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show with the Muppets I was writing
music for, and I decided I was
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only going to make money of my
art. And along the way, I've
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always had different entrepreneurial interest restaurants to
the marketing company music tech, um.
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But now it's just really um a
lot of development that the world will see
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eventually when I leased it onto the
world. But it's awesome, man.
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Well, one of our we have
we have these four fundamental core values that
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sort of under play everything we do
at the company, and one of them
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is be creative. And I think, you know, that's sort of the
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obvious one for Voyage, which is
like we're in a creative industry. But
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I think creativity is so much more
than just the the production of art for
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example, it's you know, there's
creative problem solving, there's innovation as creativity.
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So you know, I'm a big
believer in in everyone finding a way
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to constantly creatively express and so like
I'm a musician, so I try to,
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you know, creatively express that way. I creatively express in a lot
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of my business pursuits and try to
do things differently and stuff. But it's
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always wonderful to hear about another another
soul out there that just can't help themselves
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but produce creative work. Well,
you know, I just wrote a song
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for you for Dage Me Village that
was like a little improv and like we
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got to use that. I won't
even take the copyright on that, you
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guys and ask cap writer since ninety
one musicians, well I get it,
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no, And it's funny because I
think that especially for listeners, any creatives
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out there, especially young people,
Like if I would have known that business
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was creative it was, if it
was presented as creativity, then it would
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have been a different journey for me
as a kid. I'm glad I always
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have an entreceneurial spirit and like the
point, you can't help but not be
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creative if you're a creative being,
and I think the misnomer of our entertainment
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industry is a lot of times people
aren't creative and then that visionary and you
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see things, particularly if you're just
an active I've been on shows where I've
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come up with complete marketing campaign for
the show and before we even shot a
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pilot, just based on what I
saw on the script, I understood all
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the touch points and strategy to build
around the storyline and the characters you presented
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to the exaction. It can make
people uncomfortable because in some case they want
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you to be in your position,
but you're I'm a boss. When that
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signs tigned in front of the check, I understand that position. When I
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signed the back of the check,
I understand that position. And sometimes folks,
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you know, UH don't want you
to do those things you could just
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in their eye, just the actor, but exactly point yeah, exactly.
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And the industry is as as you've
you know, indicated to our listeners,
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loves to pigeonhole, right, and
then loves hierarchy and loves power dynamics.
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It's long standing tradition, I mean, and and we endeavor to sort of
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be the antithesis of that. And
I strive as the the owner and and
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CEO of the company to keep the
company as flat as possible, right where
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ideas and great great ideas come from
anywhere, no hierarchy, correct, yeah,
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like exactly, And so everyone is
involved at the company in our strategic
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planning, and everybody there's no We
try to prevent silimization as much as possible,
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and of course that's a challenge when
you're also very operational and trying to
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execute on very specific deliverables, like
you need people to still do their jobs
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right, like the Caddyshack line.
The world needs ditch diggers too, right,
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But but we try to bring the
ditch digger into all of the creative
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conversations. You know, can you
a little bit of your journey, because
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as you know, you're a bit
of a a unicorn in net respect to
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lead a creative business. And as
you define this flat to allow for creativity
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to come from anywhere, what motivated
that for you? You know, it's
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it's it's multifaceted number one. You
know, the smart part of me wants
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to answer that with we think there's
a better way of doing things, or
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at least a different way, and
that that different, friendly, open source
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approach creates a context in which better
creativity can emerge. Right, That's the
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smart answer. And then the other
answer, which is a little bit of
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a window into me, like I
have a little bit of a middle finger
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to you know, closed circuits,
right and to you know, sort of
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old boys clubs. And that goes
long, I mean frankly long standing back
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to when you know, I was
in high school. I was never unpopular,
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but I was like always one step
removed from the popular group, like
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the really the big sort of crowd
that was like the epicenter of everything.
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And and I never, you know, I never liked that. I always
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was really a big fan of inclusion
an accessibility. And so when I see,
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you know, an industry that has
for so long been about exclusion and
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non accessibility, I have a little
bit of an attitude problem with that,
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and that attitude problem, you know, coupled together with the belief that you
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know there there ought to be a
different way of doing things, just drives
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me. You know, do you
do you know you're doing right now?
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It's a little question. You are
affirming what I preach every single that.
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The reason why I created the Real
Estate Mixtape is because I'm both in the
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real estate development business. I'm in
the film business, and I was doing
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the show Godfriended Me, and I
was playing a real estate developer, and
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I live here in Brooklyn, and
I thought about the amount of productions in
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this neighborhood. Godfriended Me shot two
minutes down the block to the film studio,
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signed the studio for me, and
I thought about how many people walked
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by film sets all day long,
especially in this neighborhood and construction site.
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I have no idea how to get
nis to either business, and I'm in
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both, and I love working with
young people, and so I decided to
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film my journey pursuing my first development
deal in the city. I took seven
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young people that I randomly selected from
around the city and took them on a
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journey over six weeks across the state
of New York to give them access to
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the process. So now created is
a lane for content and alane for real
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estate deals and inclusion right. And
so recently we screened the first two episodes
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in a location abandoned rail station that's
being renovated by a woman, young black
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woman in the Bronx who's under resourced
and under network but has this property.
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And we did an equity craft funding
opportunity while screening the first two episodes,
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and she's in and so is that
location. So it was a full circle
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way of using art, creativity,
content, community organizing, you know,
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economic development all at one. So
when you say what you're saying, I
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appreciate that because I have a bit
of a middle finger up too. And
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I've been in the game, you
know, thirty years. I've spent the
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last few days, you know,
doing press for Cool Running because making Box
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Player team is now back. I
got a call today from the guy that
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cast me in my very first film
in nineteen eighty nine, Danny Reggie Life,
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to ask me if I wanted to
go Shakespeare with him up in the
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Berkshires this summer. And it's interesting
because I feel like everything's kind of come
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in full circle for me, especially
like in this week. And so to
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hear you say what you said,
that speaks to me. And as an
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entrepreneur, I'm gonna offer you something
I would love to help you build your
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business. I have. I'm connected
for a lot of creatives, particularly folks
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that look like me. So what
I sent you is a Jamaican story and
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they're Jamaicans that look like you that
people don't know about. Most people think
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that most Jamaicans look like me.
But intent who's Jamaican intentionally made a diverse
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Jamaican cas and like I said,
he did it twenty years ago, but
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I read it yesterday or two days
ago, and I was like, bro,
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we have to mount this. And
so please take a listen to that
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or read it and see if that
piques your interest. But perhaps we could
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collaborate and that could be that other
arm here in New York that can help
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feed you some opportunities that we could
build together. I love it, man,
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and and I'm a yes to that
for sure. And I think Dan
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has your email, so we won't
have the published here, but but important,
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it is important. I think for
listen is like you know, I'm
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moved different, like when I did
the movie Why Did I Get Married?
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As a for instance, and this
is for the creatives that are listening.
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We were feeling. I don't know
if you see that movie with Tyler Perry.
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I played Janet Jackson's husband in that
film, and as a scene right
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before my character is about to get
killed and the Rock actually comes in as
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a new lover. That's another.
But we're filming the scene and holding was
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in an advertising I didn't realize it
was an ages get the time. So
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I'm standing in the building as we're
waiting to shoot and I said, so
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what is this place? And someone
said it's ANETTI. I said, well,
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there's checks in here and I'm going
to get them. When Tyler's ready
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called me and I started snooping around
the office. There's a meeting going on
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where the agency is pitching a brand
to be the agency of Rector. I
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happen to know a little something about
that business. They invited me to shit
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down. I contributed to the meetings
and it turns into years of doing business
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with that company, creating content for
a bunch of brands and so for particularly
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people who think in one's way,
and they're only actors. I think that
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it's okay to be a little disruptive
sometimes, even when you're on a set
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filming another movie. Yeah, you
know there's a balance there, of course.
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Um but yeah, I mean,
I a couple of stories come to
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mind. These are funny stories.
I don't think I've ever told them publicly,
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but um, one was actually I'll
I was thinking about this one story,
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but this is a better one.
This is the more pivotal one.
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So I you know, I came
to the entertainment business a little older.
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I had had already had a different
career, you know. So I was
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approaching thirty years old when I really
you know, I'd sort of come up
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through the camera department a little bit
for a couple of years. But then
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I was like, I need to
move over to the producing side, and
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so I moved to LA I got
a job as an assistant at a production
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company. So I was like a
thirty year old assistant, right, And
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in my second week on the job, you know, I was stepping fetching
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it whatever I was getting, I
don't know. I was walking down the
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hall. And this was a TV
commercial production company, largely Brandon entertainment and
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TV commercials, and so they repped
directors. And I was walking by this
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director's office, this big like really
you know, heyday, big time TV
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commercial director, and his door was
wide open, and he goes, I
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need a screenwriter. He was really
frustrated, and I walked. I took
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like four more steps past the office, and I was like, should I
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or shouldn't I? And I said
certainly I should. So I ambled into
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his office and I said, Hey, Tom, I can write, and
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He's like, okay, then write
this. And I wrote his pitch for
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him, and he won that gig, right, and you know, a
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production gig, and that gave birth
really to you know, that moment of
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being willing to stick my neck out
gave birth to me getting into business for
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myself, right, and then the
other story which came later. So now
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I'm about five years into running the
original Voyage, and the original Voyage was
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a Creative Services secret weapon, like
companies like Jerry Bruckheimer would hire us to
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help them develop their TV show pitches
and then put together these really great pitch
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decks for him and stuff. About
five years into building that, I got
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a call from this restaurant consultant who
had been hired by an ad agency to
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find the restaurant's new agency. And
I had a conversation with him and I'm
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like, well, we're not really
an agency, and he's like, well
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you should. He was this really
wonderful old man named Ray Cohen. And
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Ray Cohens goes, he goes,
well, just you know, meet me
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down at the restaurant tomorrow, right, And I'm like, okay, what's
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the address? And so I meet
him down there. Never been to it.
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It's this chain called Island's Restaurants.
There's like sixty of them, right,
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It's a ligit chain. And I
walked in there and I, you
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know, I basically I didn't know, you know, much about anything,
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and I just laid it out.
I said, this place I think is
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a you know, a bit of
a disaster in today's world, Like it
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needs a complete, you know,
do over and rebranding and rethinking of everything.
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And so I didn't have anything to
lose because I wasn't in the ad
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agency business anyway. So he said, okay. He's like, all right,
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Nat, well, you know,
I'm bit these other two big agencies
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and I'm looking for a small upstart, you know, and and uh,
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and I'd like to include you.
And I said, well, I'm sorry,
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you know, I really appreciate that, but we're not an agency.
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And he's like, okay, so
tomorrow call me and let me know that
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you're in. And I'm like,
but we're not an age. He's like,
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tomorrow, call me. And that's
when I got the window. I
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was like, oh, this is
a guy who's trying to throw me a
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bone, right, And so what
I did is I was ill, you
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know, I sorry to be so
long winded with this, but great story.
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So I go, who do I
know in the agency world? And
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I had met this guy in New
York at a wedding and I remember he
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worked at an ad agency, and
so I call him up and I said,
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hey, remember me and he's like
yeah. I'm like, what are
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you up to. He's like,
well, we left the you know,
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Chris and I my my my creative
director partner. We left the agency.
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We started our little you know shop
here in New York. And I was
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like, you want to go in
on a on an agency of record deal,
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and so we did a deal over
the phone, like just handshake,
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right, And it comes to my
attention that these two creative directors. So
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this is Islands for everyone. If
you don't know what that is a burger
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chain, right, it's casual dining, burger restaurant, sixty stores. It
326
00:24:17.359 --> 00:24:22.039
comes to light that Chris and Greg
their nicknames at the agency were burgers and
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fries because they they ran h Burger, they ran Wendy's, right, they
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ran all the big fast food chains
for as creative directors. And so,
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you know, fast forward a month
and a half later, we won the
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account and all of a sudden we
were an agency and uh, you know,
331
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so when opportunity calls, like you
got to pay attention to it.
332
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You got to be open and innovative
and h yeah that you know, that
333
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was a it was a little blip
on the voyage radar because you know,
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frankly, the recession hit the next
year and the agency went under. But
335
00:25:00.200 --> 00:25:04.559
but yeah, I think more to
the point is you listen into that voice
336
00:25:04.599 --> 00:25:07.759
that said no, no, no, no, don't take a fifth step.
337
00:25:08.279 --> 00:25:14.519
That's right, yeah, yeah,
and know that you're deserving. As
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00:25:14.599 --> 00:25:17.440
we're talking, it hit me.
Yes, I talked to Dan and said,
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hey, Dan, I have this
this script, but hearing your story
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as a fellow entrepreneur. In my
spirit, I was like, I need
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to tell this man, I can
handle we can build your business. We
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00:25:27.240 --> 00:25:30.599
can help you do that. I
know a lot of folks, and you
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know, it's a space of it. So if you're away, yeah,
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that's very that's very sweet and clearly
genuine offer. And I'll follow up with
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00:25:40.359 --> 00:25:44.720
you on that. And yeah,
I mean if you could imagine what you
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know, there's the business we're building, and there's what the business does,
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but the underpinning of what we're actually
up to is like we're trying to create
348
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this like imagine this like heart centered, like lighthouse out there in the dark,
349
00:26:00.039 --> 00:26:03.599
lashing its lights, you know,
saying like hey it's okay, we're
350
00:26:03.640 --> 00:26:07.079
here, we can do this.
We're you know, come, it's safe
351
00:26:07.079 --> 00:26:11.200
here. It's nurturing, right,
and to be that beacon of what's possible,
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00:26:11.359 --> 00:26:15.039
And that's really the game we love
to play. So it seems like
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00:26:15.400 --> 00:26:21.559
it seems like that's a you know, embedded in your soul longstanding. Rather
354
00:26:21.799 --> 00:26:26.960
listen, man, I'm gonna be
really transparent. I had quadruple bypassed heart
355
00:26:27.039 --> 00:26:33.000
surgery. In argument. Oh my
gosh, well we're so glad you're here,
356
00:26:33.039 --> 00:26:37.519
man. Yeah, I did not
realize that I had blocked artery with
357
00:26:37.640 --> 00:26:42.759
a fit lifestyle and you know,
good health, eating and working out.
358
00:26:42.799 --> 00:26:49.640
But it's a genetic predisposition to gift
from the answer, and so use it's
359
00:26:49.680 --> 00:26:55.400
true, and it's a real existential
time for me. And you know,
360
00:26:56.200 --> 00:27:02.200
I'm resisting the status quo right now
that I'm expected, oh, just getting
361
00:27:02.240 --> 00:27:07.119
another series. I've been in the
series leading fourteen series and whether it's been
362
00:27:07.559 --> 00:27:11.559
six episodes, the pilot, ten
episode, twenty shows get canceled. I
363
00:27:11.599 --> 00:27:15.079
don't own any of that ip and
so I'm at a place in my life
364
00:27:15.119 --> 00:27:19.240
where I'm a boss. I can't
and I'm still getting hey, can you
365
00:27:19.279 --> 00:27:22.599
come read so this? You know, recovering on the s W Show.
366
00:27:23.160 --> 00:27:27.359
Right, that's the reality, folks, if you're an actor, Like look
367
00:27:27.440 --> 00:27:33.400
up the credit on IMDb. How
much I've done since nineteen ninety three,
368
00:27:33.880 --> 00:27:37.799
thirty years in this business, and
it's still can you sing for your supper?
369
00:27:38.519 --> 00:27:41.400
You know, I do get a
you know, a fair amount of
370
00:27:41.039 --> 00:27:45.559
offers, but you know it's still
contingent on someone else saying yes, And
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00:27:47.079 --> 00:27:51.160
I like, like you, there's
so many creatives out here right this this
372
00:27:51.240 --> 00:27:55.319
guy David Herron who wrote this play. I have a friend in Jamaica that
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sent me to play six months ago. I was only able to get to
374
00:27:59.359 --> 00:28:03.200
it two days ago, and I
finally read it and I was like,
375
00:28:03.319 --> 00:28:08.519
Jesus Christ is fucking hilarious. This
is genius. You know, it's hitting
376
00:28:08.559 --> 00:28:12.319
all the emotions for me. I
couldn't wait to finish reading it. I'm
377
00:28:12.359 --> 00:28:15.160
on page thirty five, was one
hundred page play, and I had to
378
00:28:15.240 --> 00:28:18.880
call him just to let him know, just to give him that little shot
379
00:28:18.880 --> 00:28:22.920
in his arm to say, you
have some fire here. I can't wait
380
00:28:22.960 --> 00:28:27.279
to finish. And he immediately called
the friends in Jamaica and so for him
381
00:28:29.160 --> 00:28:32.680
to have Malik Yo. But you
know, CO signed his work, which
382
00:28:32.839 --> 00:28:36.599
he didn't eat my pop. He's
already had success with it, but he's
383
00:28:36.640 --> 00:28:38.839
been trying to get to the next
level. And there's a good people like
384
00:28:38.880 --> 00:28:45.000
that that I know. I have
as much satisfaction. You're a musician,
385
00:28:45.039 --> 00:28:48.279
I'm a musician. I know what
it's like to transcend when you're performing,
386
00:28:48.319 --> 00:28:52.160
and you know that what that feels
like. You get to the same place
387
00:28:52.559 --> 00:28:56.519
performing as an actor. There are
these transcendental or transcendent moments you can have
388
00:28:57.200 --> 00:29:02.920
when you give yourself over to this
spirit of creativity and arrive at these places
389
00:29:02.960 --> 00:29:04.640
that people go, oh, my
fucking god, what was that? I
390
00:29:04.640 --> 00:29:11.480
don't know. Yeah, I get
the same pleasure from watching a David having
391
00:29:11.599 --> 00:29:15.519
success with his play or any other
creatives that I know that are out there.
392
00:29:15.559 --> 00:29:18.880
So I really love what you're doing. Um. I could feel your
393
00:29:18.960 --> 00:29:22.480
energy and your sincere. I felt
it with Dan as well. And you
394
00:29:22.519 --> 00:29:26.279
know, like I said, um, you guys have my contact and I'd
395
00:29:26.279 --> 00:29:30.319
love to play. Yeah, awesome, can't wait. Well, you guys
396
00:29:30.319 --> 00:29:33.200
heard it here this Uh, this
was a conversation that started one way and
397
00:29:33.319 --> 00:29:37.839
ended another. And isn't that?
Isn't that, in some respects just the
398
00:29:38.359 --> 00:29:44.960
wonderful way life goes. So here
we are, Uh you can um find
399
00:29:45.079 --> 00:29:49.359
Red Meat Village. Remember that's the
show we were talking about. Yeah,
400
00:29:49.359 --> 00:29:53.160
you heard it here the soundtrack.
You heard a sneak feature back here.
401
00:29:56.119 --> 00:29:59.279
You know I wrote the tool the
stool running too. By the way,
402
00:29:59.720 --> 00:30:03.519
did you really help people to day? You know they can't believe Jimmy Cole.
403
00:30:03.599 --> 00:30:04.920
We have a Bob Slay team.
We have the one they re done,
404
00:30:04.920 --> 00:30:12.799
the one Junior and Jimmy Kuns print
to Olympic Facy Jimmica. I wrote
405
00:30:12.799 --> 00:30:18.640
that for my audition and so,
oh my god, ope call and they
406
00:30:18.720 --> 00:30:26.759
said, um, your tracks are
you Runner rate Celebrate and every Jamaica of
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00:30:26.839 --> 00:30:29.559
the song in their heartstop pulled it
out. It ended up in a movie.
408
00:30:29.640 --> 00:30:33.279
Oh my god, that's amazing.
That's amazing. Well, I can't
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00:30:33.279 --> 00:30:37.279
wait for Red Meat Village to come
out. Listeners, thank you so much
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00:30:37.319 --> 00:30:40.799
for tuning in with us. You
can find it on Apple Podcasts, Spotify
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00:30:40.960 --> 00:30:45.839
or anywhere you listen to podcasts.
And huge shout out and big gratitude to
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00:30:45.000 --> 00:30:49.960
Malik Yoba for joining us today.
Thank you so much, Malik for your
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00:30:51.000 --> 00:30:56.319
time and generosity of spirit. Yeah. This is Nat Moundel signing off
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Hey, this is Nat Mundel.
I'm the founder of Voyage and I'm super
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excited to introduce our listeners today to
Malik Yoba, who plays Reggie in our
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00:00:11.320 --> 00:00:19.559
contemporary noir, very cool scripted podcast
series called Red Meat Village. You probably
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00:00:19.640 --> 00:00:25.399
know Malik from his performances in Cool
Runnings, New York Undercover and more recently
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The Last O g among many other
credits over thirty forty year acting career.
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So, Malik, thanks so much
for joining us. Really appreciate it.
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Good here many background, Well,
the podcast listeners are going to have to
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imagine that. So, yes,
there is a there is a golf course
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behind me and as I, as
I disclosed to Malik somewhat embarrassingly, I
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am not a golfer. Well,
Malik and I were just getting acquainted and
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we learned, uh, you know, Malik, that you've got a passionate
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interest in voiceover work. Was this
your first scripted podcast series? And are
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you a big listener of podcasts?
I do listen. Yeah, I listened
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like Sam Harris and um uh Christia
Tipic, I'm like really cerebral when it
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comes back. And I listened a
lot of like educational podcasts like spiritual or
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personal development. On writing. I
listened to drink Champs that not you know
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that hip hop. But this is
the first scripted one that I've done.
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Um. Yeah, I've done an
audio book, two audio books. Um,
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some other voices that we work with
brands and not enough cartoons and characters
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and all that kind of stuff.
Yeah, well, right on. We're
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so thrilled you accepted the role of
this character Reggie who. Um, you
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know he's kind of a renaissance man. He's a champion boxer. Uh and
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this part time private detective. It's
an interesting combo. Um, he's really
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well my character to development, what's
happen? It's like my character the rest
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of development. He was a party
planner and and and a private private eye.
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Yeah. So what were your reactions
when you first read the script and
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about the character, Like what attracted
you to it? Um? Well,
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number one, my agent Sherry.
Every time she called with any opportunity to
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do voice work, I'm always saying
cool. And then she said, hey,
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it's really cool. I have some
other clients of doing it. Um.
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To be honest with you, I
didn't really read it before. I
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gotta be and then I read it
when I did it with Dan. But
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once I did it, I just
thought it was cool. Like I skimmed
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it. She told me what it
was. I had no idea it was.
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For me. It was sort of
like, um, let me just
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jump into this thing called Read and
Meat Village and see what it is.
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So it's kind of fun to discover
along the way that set in Brooklyn that
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the character is. Um. Yes, it was a lot of fun,
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man. You know, I call
right away it said, I want to
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do one of these ones a week. And even though it's it's it's rooted
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in US, even though it's contemporary
story, it's rooted in noir. Have
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you done noir before? And and
how has it played into your performance?
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No? I haven't. I mean
I did grow up listening to the shadow.
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Is that that should have been from
like the fifties whenever that originally started.
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I think basically anything that came out
of the fifties that had to do
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with crime and stuff as by nature, right right? Yeah? Yeah?
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So was that cool for you to
jump into that? Yeah? Yeah,
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it's you know, it's funny because
I'm a writer as well, and I
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um, in some ways you guys
after my own heart, because um,
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I was touring with shows in the
black community. Like so Tyler Perry's whole
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career was based on those storing plays
that was like most mainstream media and Hollywood
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wasn't aware of. But it's very, very lucrative and very popular. So
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I was doing those for like tennimal
fifteen years and TV. But I had
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this idea to sort of start a
play on radio at episode and then in
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order to see what happens, you
had to come to and see if it
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toe the rest of your kind of
thing. So this kind of reminds me
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of that. You know, you
can sort of create these worlds that people
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can enter into, get emotionally invested
into, and in this case, right
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they can become film or they can
become a live action a theater production or
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whatever. So absolutely, yeah,
yeah, we're sorry to say that again.
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No, it's because that you're chapping
into my interests, that's all.
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That's cool. Yeah, we we
one of the primary reasons we we built
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out this podcast unit was to do
just that. You know, we got
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a lot of film and television projects, um and in some cases these podcasts
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that we're doing, like you know, they strategically aligned for sure, because
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as you know, it's like the
hot new way that Hollywood is discovering.
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Ip um. But uh, but
in some cases we're doing like these prequel
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you know, sort of side story
things that introduce a character, and then
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our television show that we're also out
pitching just expands on that universe. Right,
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So yeah, we we think that's
a really cool UM model. UM
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all right, So you know,
you were, of course in New York
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Undercover and you've done work in the
crime space for quite a while. Where
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do you think Reggie and Tony fit
into that history of PI? You know,
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private investigator duos, Like what makes
them unique? What do they call?
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What are they similar to? Um? Well, I mean I think
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UM one is sent in Brooke and
it does tappen too a little bit about
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New York under Cover origins. At
this point, this would be number nineteen.
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Wow, I just did a film
for Netflix, Got a Good Nurse,
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where I was Please Captain Sheriff.
Actually, so that that was eighteen.
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This is nineteen some law enforcement related
character. But um, I always
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liked the buddy cop kind of genre, right, you know how they are
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each other's foiled kind of thing even
as they go after crime. The banter
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between them the ship talking in the
case. Um, this like sort of
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that they have around this eaic contest
that you know, uptfullly win. Um,
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I like it. It's short.
Yeah, well you clearly have this,
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you know, sort of well regarded
history of dramatic performances and a lot
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of your work. But you know
a lot of people you know, may
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not know your comedy work as as
especially as recently. Um, you know,
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but you've really pulled together some incredible
comedic performances and cool runnings and arrested
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development and you know, so these
two characters, you know, and they're
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also in that Origin of War,
there's some there's some banter there, and
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we're able to draw in some of
that comedy as long as then your producer
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was lacking even though like I had
half of the script on one side of
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the screen the other half I could
see him, so I kind of see
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him my perpery and whenever its head, it is that kind of an audience
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of one. So I think I
nailed it. But a yeah, what
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I want to do more for sure? Yeah? Very cool. So you
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know, on that note, what's
next for you? What are you working
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on? What do you want your
fans to know about what's coming up,
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well that good nurse film. Um, I'm actually sitting here editing. Between
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this interview, I'll go back to
a doc series I created called The Real
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Estate Mixtape, which is actually a
docu series on my journey in real estate
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development, which is another thing I
do. So I'm finding the storytelling aspects
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of all these different businesses. I
mean, so, whether it's real estate,
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um, I've joined it, gotten
into Canada space, whether it's scripted
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one hour's comedies, half hours,
I'm just being really really productive, especially
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over the last couple of years that
the world is kind of slow down.
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You're officially a Zoolander Slashy. You
know the movie Zoolander, the Slashy Awards,
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it was like actor slash actor.
Yeah, man, I mean you
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know. I mean, look,
if you're building the platform, look if
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you're if you're only an actor,
you're always waiting on a job. Oh
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yeah, you have a good time. Well, good for you for you've
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made a career where you're not waiting
too long, you know, over over
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that period. Such an extraordinary career
you've had so far. But yeah,
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I mean I'm a I'm a Slashy
I'm a producer slash golfer. Right,
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we just learned that. I thought
I'm not a I'm a producer slash live
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on a golf course golfer, But
don't golf slash heat. Just you know,
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just find as many ways to be
created and tell the kind of stories
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I want to tell. I've really
gotten a lot deeper into directing, writing
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and directing and yeah, being just
being a storyteller holding a whole vision.
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So that's that's you know, It's
just one of those things like when I
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pursued when I decided to leave my
career as a youth worker. That was
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my job running a group called a
City Kids Foundation before I did Cool Running
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Um, it was a moment where
I had to decide. After I did
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Cool Runnings, I went back to
the organization. We had a Saturday morning
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show with the Muppets I was writing
music for, and I decided I was
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only going to make money of my
art. And along the way, I've
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always had different entrepreneurial interest restaurants to
the marketing company music tech, um.
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But now it's just really um a
lot of development that the world will see
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eventually when I leased it onto the
world. But it's awesome, man.
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Well, one of our we have
we have these four fundamental core values that
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sort of under play everything we do
at the company, and one of them
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is be creative. And I think, you know, that's sort of the
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obvious one for Voyage, which is
like we're in a creative industry. But
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I think creativity is so much more
than just the the production of art for
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example, it's you know, there's
creative problem solving, there's innovation as creativity.
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So you know, I'm a big
believer in in everyone finding a way
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to constantly creatively express and so like
I'm a musician, so I try to,
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you know, creatively express that way. I creatively express in a lot
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of my business pursuits and try to
do things differently and stuff. But it's
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always wonderful to hear about another another
soul out there that just can't help themselves
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but produce creative work. Well,
you know, I just wrote a song
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for you for Dage Me Village that
was like a little improv and like we
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got to use that. I won't
even take the copyright on that, you
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00:10:54.799 --> 00:11:01.360
guys and ask cap writer since ninety
one musicians, well I get it,
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no, And it's funny because I
think that especially for listeners, any creatives
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out there, especially young people,
Like if I would have known that business
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was creative it was, if it
was presented as creativity, then it would
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have been a different journey for me
as a kid. I'm glad I always
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have an entreceneurial spirit and like the
point, you can't help but not be
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creative if you're a creative being,
and I think the misnomer of our entertainment
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industry is a lot of times people
aren't creative and then that visionary and you
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see things, particularly if you're just
an active I've been on shows where I've
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come up with complete marketing campaign for
the show and before we even shot a
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00:11:45.240 --> 00:11:48.960
pilot, just based on what I
saw on the script, I understood all
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00:11:48.960 --> 00:11:52.799
the touch points and strategy to build
around the storyline and the characters you presented
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to the exaction. It can make
people uncomfortable because in some case they want
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you to be in your position,
but you're I'm a boss. When that
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00:12:03.799 --> 00:12:07.440
signs tigned in front of the check, I understand that position. When I
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signed the back of the check,
I understand that position. And sometimes folks,
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you know, UH don't want you
to do those things you could just
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00:12:16.480 --> 00:12:22.000
in their eye, just the actor, but exactly point yeah, exactly.
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And the industry is as as you've
you know, indicated to our listeners,
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loves to pigeonhole, right, and
then loves hierarchy and loves power dynamics.
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It's long standing tradition, I mean, and and we endeavor to sort of
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be the antithesis of that. And
I strive as the the owner and and
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CEO of the company to keep the
company as flat as possible, right where
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ideas and great great ideas come from
anywhere, no hierarchy, correct, yeah,
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like exactly, And so everyone is
involved at the company in our strategic
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planning, and everybody there's no We
try to prevent silimization as much as possible,
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00:13:03.919 --> 00:13:09.159
and of course that's a challenge when
you're also very operational and trying to
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00:13:09.200 --> 00:13:13.240
execute on very specific deliverables, like
you need people to still do their jobs
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00:13:13.360 --> 00:13:16.120
right, like the Caddyshack line.
The world needs ditch diggers too, right,
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But but we try to bring the
ditch digger into all of the creative
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conversations. You know, can you
a little bit of your journey, because
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as you know, you're a bit
of a a unicorn in net respect to
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lead a creative business. And as
you define this flat to allow for creativity
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to come from anywhere, what motivated
that for you? You know, it's
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it's it's multifaceted number one. You
know, the smart part of me wants
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to answer that with we think there's
a better way of doing things, or
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00:13:54.000 --> 00:13:58.679
at least a different way, and
that that different, friendly, open source
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approach creates a context in which better
creativity can emerge. Right, That's the
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00:14:05.360 --> 00:14:09.840
smart answer. And then the other
answer, which is a little bit of
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a window into me, like I
have a little bit of a middle finger
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to you know, closed circuits,
right and to you know, sort of
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old boys clubs. And that goes
long, I mean frankly long standing back
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to when you know, I was
in high school. I was never unpopular,
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00:14:24.360 --> 00:14:28.240
but I was like always one step
removed from the popular group, like
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the really the big sort of crowd
that was like the epicenter of everything.
190
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And and I never, you know, I never liked that. I always
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was really a big fan of inclusion
an accessibility. And so when I see,
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you know, an industry that has
for so long been about exclusion and
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non accessibility, I have a little
bit of an attitude problem with that,
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and that attitude problem, you know, coupled together with the belief that you
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know there there ought to be a
different way of doing things, just drives
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me. You know, do you
do you know you're doing right now?
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It's a little question. You are
affirming what I preach every single that.
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The reason why I created the Real
Estate Mixtape is because I'm both in the
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real estate development business. I'm in
the film business, and I was doing
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the show Godfriended Me, and I
was playing a real estate developer, and
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I live here in Brooklyn, and
I thought about the amount of productions in
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this neighborhood. Godfriended Me shot two
minutes down the block to the film studio,
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signed the studio for me, and
I thought about how many people walked
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by film sets all day long,
especially in this neighborhood and construction site.
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I have no idea how to get
nis to either business, and I'm in
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both, and I love working with
young people, and so I decided to
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film my journey pursuing my first development
deal in the city. I took seven
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young people that I randomly selected from
around the city and took them on a
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journey over six weeks across the state
of New York to give them access to
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the process. So now created is
a lane for content and alane for real
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estate deals and inclusion right. And
so recently we screened the first two episodes
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in a location abandoned rail station that's
being renovated by a woman, young black
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woman in the Bronx who's under resourced
and under network but has this property.
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And we did an equity craft funding
opportunity while screening the first two episodes,
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and she's in and so is that
location. So it was a full circle
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way of using art, creativity,
content, community organizing, you know,
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economic development all at one. So
when you say what you're saying, I
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appreciate that because I have a bit
of a middle finger up too. And
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I've been in the game, you
know, thirty years. I've spent the
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last few days, you know,
doing press for Cool Running because making Box
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Player team is now back. I
got a call today from the guy that
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cast me in my very first film
in nineteen eighty nine, Danny Reggie Life,
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to ask me if I wanted to
go Shakespeare with him up in the
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Berkshires this summer. And it's interesting
because I feel like everything's kind of come
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in full circle for me, especially
like in this week. And so to
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hear you say what you said,
that speaks to me. And as an
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entrepreneur, I'm gonna offer you something
I would love to help you build your
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business. I have. I'm connected
for a lot of creatives, particularly folks
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that look like me. So what
I sent you is a Jamaican story and
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they're Jamaicans that look like you that
people don't know about. Most people think
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that most Jamaicans look like me.
But intent who's Jamaican intentionally made a diverse
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Jamaican cas and like I said,
he did it twenty years ago, but
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I read it yesterday or two days
ago, and I was like, bro,
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we have to mount this. And
so please take a listen to that
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or read it and see if that
piques your interest. But perhaps we could
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collaborate and that could be that other
arm here in New York that can help
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feed you some opportunities that we could
build together. I love it, man,
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and and I'm a yes to that
for sure. And I think Dan
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has your email, so we won't
have the published here, but but important,
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it is important. I think for
listen is like you know, I'm
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moved different, like when I did
the movie Why Did I Get Married?
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As a for instance, and this
is for the creatives that are listening.
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We were feeling. I don't know
if you see that movie with Tyler Perry.
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I played Janet Jackson's husband in that
film, and as a scene right
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before my character is about to get
killed and the Rock actually comes in as
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a new lover. That's another.
But we're filming the scene and holding was
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in an advertising I didn't realize it
was an ages get the time. So
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I'm standing in the building as we're
waiting to shoot and I said, so
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what is this place? And someone
said it's ANETTI. I said, well,
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there's checks in here and I'm going
to get them. When Tyler's ready
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called me and I started snooping around
the office. There's a meeting going on
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where the agency is pitching a brand
to be the agency of Rector. I
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happen to know a little something about
that business. They invited me to shit
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down. I contributed to the meetings
and it turns into years of doing business
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with that company, creating content for
a bunch of brands and so for particularly
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people who think in one's way,
and they're only actors. I think that
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it's okay to be a little disruptive
sometimes, even when you're on a set
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filming another movie. Yeah, you
know there's a balance there, of course.
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Um but yeah, I mean,
I a couple of stories come to
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mind. These are funny stories.
I don't think I've ever told them publicly,
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but um, one was actually I'll
I was thinking about this one story,
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but this is a better one.
This is the more pivotal one.
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So I you know, I came
to the entertainment business a little older.
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I had had already had a different
career, you know. So I was
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approaching thirty years old when I really
you know, I'd sort of come up
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through the camera department a little bit
for a couple of years. But then
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I was like, I need to
move over to the producing side, and
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so I moved to LA I got
a job as an assistant at a production
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company. So I was like a
thirty year old assistant, right, And
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in my second week on the job, you know, I was stepping fetching
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it whatever I was getting, I
don't know. I was walking down the
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hall. And this was a TV
commercial production company, largely Brandon entertainment and
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TV commercials, and so they repped
directors. And I was walking by this
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director's office, this big like really
you know, heyday, big time TV
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commercial director, and his door was
wide open, and he goes, I
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need a screenwriter. He was really
frustrated, and I walked. I took
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like four more steps past the office, and I was like, should I
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or shouldn't I? And I said
certainly I should. So I ambled into
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his office and I said, Hey, Tom, I can write, and
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He's like, okay, then write
this. And I wrote his pitch for
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him, and he won that gig, right, and you know, a
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production gig, and that gave birth
really to you know, that moment of
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being willing to stick my neck out
gave birth to me getting into business for
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myself, right, and then the
other story which came later. So now
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I'm about five years into running the
original Voyage, and the original Voyage was
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a Creative Services secret weapon, like
companies like Jerry Bruckheimer would hire us to
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help them develop their TV show pitches
and then put together these really great pitch
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decks for him and stuff. About
five years into building that, I got
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a call from this restaurant consultant who
had been hired by an ad agency to
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find the restaurant's new agency. And
I had a conversation with him and I'm
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like, well, we're not really
an agency, and he's like, well
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you should. He was this really
wonderful old man named Ray Cohen. And
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Ray Cohens goes, he goes,
well, just you know, meet me
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down at the restaurant tomorrow, right, And I'm like, okay, what's
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the address? And so I meet
him down there. Never been to it.
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It's this chain called Island's Restaurants.
There's like sixty of them, right,
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It's a ligit chain. And I
walked in there and I, you
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know, I basically I didn't know, you know, much about anything,
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and I just laid it out.
I said, this place I think is
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a you know, a bit of
a disaster in today's world, Like it
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needs a complete, you know,
do over and rebranding and rethinking of everything.
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And so I didn't have anything to
lose because I wasn't in the ad
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agency business anyway. So he said, okay. He's like, all right,
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Nat, well, you know,
I'm bit these other two big agencies
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and I'm looking for a small upstart, you know, and and uh,
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and I'd like to include you.
And I said, well, I'm sorry,
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you know, I really appreciate that, but we're not an agency.
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And he's like, okay, so
tomorrow call me and let me know that
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you're in. And I'm like,
but we're not an age. He's like,
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tomorrow, call me. And that's
when I got the window. I
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was like, oh, this is
a guy who's trying to throw me a
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bone, right, And so what
I did is I was ill, you
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know, I sorry to be so
long winded with this, but great story.
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So I go, who do I
know in the agency world? And
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I had met this guy in New
York at a wedding and I remember he
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worked at an ad agency, and
so I call him up and I said,
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hey, remember me and he's like
yeah. I'm like, what are
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you up to. He's like,
well, we left the you know,
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Chris and I my my my creative
director partner. We left the agency.
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We started our little you know shop
here in New York. And I was
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like, you want to go in
on a on an agency of record deal,
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and so we did a deal over
the phone, like just handshake,
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right, And it comes to my
attention that these two creative directors. So
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this is Islands for everyone. If
you don't know what that is a burger
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chain, right, it's casual dining, burger restaurant, sixty stores. It
326
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comes to light that Chris and Greg
their nicknames at the agency were burgers and
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fries because they they ran h Burger, they ran Wendy's, right, they
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ran all the big fast food chains
for as creative directors. And so,
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you know, fast forward a month
and a half later, we won the
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account and all of a sudden we
were an agency and uh, you know,
331
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so when opportunity calls, like you
got to pay attention to it.
332
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You got to be open and innovative
and h yeah that you know, that
333
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was a it was a little blip
on the voyage radar because you know,
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frankly, the recession hit the next
year and the agency went under. But
335
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but yeah, I think more to
the point is you listen into that voice
336
00:25:04.599 --> 00:25:07.759
that said no, no, no, no, don't take a fifth step.
337
00:25:08.279 --> 00:25:14.519
That's right, yeah, yeah,
and know that you're deserving. As
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00:25:14.599 --> 00:25:17.440
we're talking, it hit me.
Yes, I talked to Dan and said,
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hey, Dan, I have this
this script, but hearing your story
340
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as a fellow entrepreneur. In my
spirit, I was like, I need
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to tell this man, I can
handle we can build your business. We
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00:25:27.240 --> 00:25:30.599
can help you do that. I
know a lot of folks, and you
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know, it's a space of it. So if you're away, yeah,
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that's very that's very sweet and clearly
genuine offer. And I'll follow up with
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you on that. And yeah,
I mean if you could imagine what you
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know, there's the business we're building, and there's what the business does,
347
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but the underpinning of what we're actually
up to is like we're trying to create
348
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this like imagine this like heart centered, like lighthouse out there in the dark,
349
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lashing its lights, you know,
saying like hey it's okay, we're
350
00:26:03.640 --> 00:26:07.079
here, we can do this.
We're you know, come, it's safe
351
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here. It's nurturing, right,
and to be that beacon of what's possible,
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And that's really the game we love
to play. So it seems like
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it seems like that's a you know, embedded in your soul longstanding. Rather
354
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listen, man, I'm gonna be
really transparent. I had quadruple bypassed heart
355
00:26:27.039 --> 00:26:33.000
surgery. In argument. Oh my
gosh, well we're so glad you're here,
356
00:26:33.039 --> 00:26:37.519
man. Yeah, I did not
realize that I had blocked artery with
357
00:26:37.640 --> 00:26:42.759
a fit lifestyle and you know,
good health, eating and working out.
358
00:26:42.799 --> 00:26:49.640
But it's a genetic predisposition to gift
from the answer, and so use it's
359
00:26:49.680 --> 00:26:55.400
true, and it's a real existential
time for me. And you know,
360
00:26:56.200 --> 00:27:02.200
I'm resisting the status quo right now
that I'm expected, oh, just getting
361
00:27:02.240 --> 00:27:07.119
another series. I've been in the
series leading fourteen series and whether it's been
362
00:27:07.559 --> 00:27:11.559
six episodes, the pilot, ten
episode, twenty shows get canceled. I
363
00:27:11.599 --> 00:27:15.079
don't own any of that ip and
so I'm at a place in my life
364
00:27:15.119 --> 00:27:19.240
where I'm a boss. I can't
and I'm still getting hey, can you
365
00:27:19.279 --> 00:27:22.599
come read so this? You know, recovering on the s W Show.
366
00:27:23.160 --> 00:27:27.359
Right, that's the reality, folks, if you're an actor, Like look
367
00:27:27.440 --> 00:27:33.400
up the credit on IMDb. How
much I've done since nineteen ninety three,
368
00:27:33.880 --> 00:27:37.799
thirty years in this business, and
it's still can you sing for your supper?
369
00:27:38.519 --> 00:27:41.400
You know, I do get a
you know, a fair amount of
370
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offers, but you know it's still
contingent on someone else saying yes, And
371
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I like, like you, there's
so many creatives out here right this this
372
00:27:51.240 --> 00:27:55.319
guy David Herron who wrote this play. I have a friend in Jamaica that
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sent me to play six months ago. I was only able to get to
374
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it two days ago, and I
finally read it and I was like,
375
00:28:03.319 --> 00:28:08.519
Jesus Christ is fucking hilarious. This
is genius. You know, it's hitting
376
00:28:08.559 --> 00:28:12.319
all the emotions for me. I
couldn't wait to finish reading it. I'm
377
00:28:12.359 --> 00:28:15.160
on page thirty five, was one
hundred page play, and I had to
378
00:28:15.240 --> 00:28:18.880
call him just to let him know, just to give him that little shot
379
00:28:18.880 --> 00:28:22.920
in his arm to say, you
have some fire here. I can't wait
380
00:28:22.960 --> 00:28:27.279
to finish. And he immediately called
the friends in Jamaica and so for him
381
00:28:29.160 --> 00:28:32.680
to have Malik Yo. But you
know, CO signed his work, which
382
00:28:32.839 --> 00:28:36.599
he didn't eat my pop. He's
already had success with it, but he's
383
00:28:36.640 --> 00:28:38.839
been trying to get to the next
level. And there's a good people like
384
00:28:38.880 --> 00:28:45.000
that that I know. I have
as much satisfaction. You're a musician,
385
00:28:45.039 --> 00:28:48.279
I'm a musician. I know what
it's like to transcend when you're performing,
386
00:28:48.319 --> 00:28:52.160
and you know that what that feels
like. You get to the same place
387
00:28:52.559 --> 00:28:56.519
performing as an actor. There are
these transcendental or transcendent moments you can have
388
00:28:57.200 --> 00:29:02.920
when you give yourself over to this
spirit of creativity and arrive at these places
389
00:29:02.960 --> 00:29:04.640
that people go, oh, my
fucking god, what was that? I
390
00:29:04.640 --> 00:29:11.480
don't know. Yeah, I get
the same pleasure from watching a David having
391
00:29:11.599 --> 00:29:15.519
success with his play or any other
creatives that I know that are out there.
392
00:29:15.559 --> 00:29:18.880
So I really love what you're doing. Um. I could feel your
393
00:29:18.960 --> 00:29:22.480
energy and your sincere. I felt
it with Dan as well. And you
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00:29:22.519 --> 00:29:26.279
know, like I said, um, you guys have my contact and I'd
395
00:29:26.279 --> 00:29:30.319
love to play. Yeah, awesome, can't wait. Well, you guys
396
00:29:30.319 --> 00:29:33.200
heard it here this Uh, this
was a conversation that started one way and
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00:29:33.319 --> 00:29:37.839
ended another. And isn't that?
Isn't that, in some respects just the
398
00:29:38.359 --> 00:29:44.960
wonderful way life goes. So here
we are, Uh you can um find
399
00:29:45.079 --> 00:29:49.359
Red Meat Village. Remember that's the
show we were talking about. Yeah,
400
00:29:49.359 --> 00:29:53.160
you heard it here the soundtrack.
You heard a sneak feature back here.
401
00:29:56.119 --> 00:29:59.279
You know I wrote the tool the
stool running too. By the way,
402
00:29:59.720 --> 00:30:03.519
did you really help people to day? You know they can't believe Jimmy Cole.
403
00:30:03.599 --> 00:30:04.920
We have a Bob Slay team.
We have the one they re done,
404
00:30:04.920 --> 00:30:12.799
the one Junior and Jimmy Kuns print
to Olympic Facy Jimmica. I wrote
405
00:30:12.799 --> 00:30:18.640
that for my audition and so,
oh my god, ope call and they
406
00:30:18.720 --> 00:30:26.759
said, um, your tracks are
you Runner rate Celebrate and every Jamaica of
407
00:30:26.839 --> 00:30:29.559
the song in their heartstop pulled it
out. It ended up in a movie.
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00:30:29.640 --> 00:30:33.279
Oh my god, that's amazing.
That's amazing. Well, I can't
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00:30:33.279 --> 00:30:37.279
wait for Red Meat Village to come
out. Listeners, thank you so much
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00:30:37.319 --> 00:30:40.799
for tuning in with us. You
can find it on Apple Podcasts, Spotify
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00:30:40.960 --> 00:30:45.839
or anywhere you listen to podcasts.
And huge shout out and big gratitude to
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00:30:45.000 --> 00:30:49.960
Malik Yoba for joining us today.
Thank you so much, Malik for your
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00:30:51.000 --> 00:30:56.319
time and generosity of spirit. Yeah. This is Nat Moundel signing off
