Lizzy – 0:06 Introduction to Question

Hello everybody and welcome to Scene change. I'm Lizzy Muhammad Park, the Vice President of the National Federation of the Blind Performing Arts Division, and your host of the show. Today, we're going back to Georgia, this time in a totally different genre. We're gonna do a deep dive into a hip hop and r&b artists, specifically an Atlanta artists and producer named Question, but you might also recognize him from some of our NFB conventions, as Malik from CCB, or even AT guys. So as an artist, he began freestyling at the age of five, and making beats at the age of 12. He won over 20 Beat battles, and that awarded him trips to Grammy week, two years in a row. He also performed at South by Southwest in Austin. He will be releasing his debut album very soon, so stay tuned. Welcome to the show, Question.

Question

Hey, thank you guys so much for having me.

Lizzy – 1:20 – Question’s Background
So let's start off with sharing a little bit about your background. So you identify as blind

Question

Defiantly

Lizzy

You know, you grew up in Georgia in Atlanta, right?

Question

Yeah

Lizzy

So what was it like? Like, did you did you go to a blind school that were you mainstreamed? Where you rapping in the hallways like banging on lockers making beats? Like, what was it like?

Question

All of that actually. When I was young, I came up in the mainstream system. All through elementary school, I went to like a good elementary school. I was living close to East Atlanta. And I went to a real good elementary school, you know, had a lot of people there, people knew me. So I started making music started freestyling, out performing talent shows and that type of thing. And then we moved to where I stay at now where I've been at for a long time in East Point, which is like the home outcasts. And it's real close to where 2 Chainz came from. And I went to school over here and I did the same thing I used to like freestyle battle my friends and sometimes I'll battle rap some of the teachers. And we had like a production club over there after school where one of the teachers would bring his home studio system into class, and we got to make beats and make songs and record. And that put like a crazy spark in me, I was already starting to make my own beats, like right around that time. So it just gave me like outlet gave me a crazy place to share my talent with people that were right around my age close to me doing the same thing.

Lizzy

Wow. So you, did you start collaborating to with your, with your classmates? And you know, different things like that? Or would you guys was it that the teacher just taught each of you and that you kind of did your own individual thing?

Question

Oh, yeah, it was definitely collaborative within within setting on kind of weird, like, it took a minute for me to like really get close to people and like collab with them on a regular basis. But it was like every Wednesday after school, it was probably about 10 to 15 of us. And every week, we would come in and either start a new project or touch up a project. And we would do it collectively. So maybe some week we would make a slower beat. And then like a lot of the ladies would write like an r&b song or we might make like a faster beat and everybody jump on it and do some heightened music or something like that. Like, it was crazy. It was wow, it was like crazy collective. I need to see if I can find them files.

Lizzy 3:55 – How did he come up with the name ‘Question’

Wow, that would be so cool to hear something like that like back because so um, how you started rapping at five so where you always Question I know a lot of rappers they kind of have this evolution of rap names. So when and how did you choose the name that you have now?

Question

Yeah. Oh, I definitely went through that phase. I had a lot of different names a whole lot of AKAs you probably go hear someone come out on my mixtapes and that like I'm probably still gonna use them for real for real because all of that like I don't some of them kind of lame so I'm gonna hide them but a lot of from where you come up like it's all a part of you. Like everybody still has that like inner kid so I feel like it's cool if you can find a way to incorporate that because it's almost like you're a superhero to your young self. You can just like be like hey like, look what you made up when you was five and you get to do with something that you did when you was young. But, um, when I was in high school, I was under a different name as far as my production because I had a production team, where I was really just like, I've always been like very, like close, like, I've always been very oriented to my friends, like, I want to have my people with me wherever I'm doing. Like, even though it takes me a minute to get to people, I like to keep my people close, like having around me helped me stay grounded helped me stay focused. So I had a team going, but then when I started making moves on my own, like, no dis to anybody, but I just ended up being the one that was the most driven. And the most focused on making this work as a as a lifetime craft. Like, because that takes an insane amount of dedication. So during that period, I was just looking for a name that was like a household name, something that was on easy to stick, in peoples head something that people remember. And it was kind of like random, like, people be like, What are you doing? I'm like, i don't know question mark. Like, just like the day. But then I just started saying question, and it stuck. I was like, Yeah, people know that.

Lizzy – 6:01 When did Question know music was for him

That makes sense. That makes perfect sense. So when did you know because that, you know, you describe being really driven. Right? And you're right, like, you we find that happens a lot in groups, you know, and if you like, you know, read some of the biggest stars. A lot of them started off in groups, but they didn't they just what you described, they were the most driven person. So when did you know the music was it for you?

Question

Um, I think it's two different things. Like, first you find your love of something. And then you make a conscious decision to make that the rest of your life and sacrifice other things that you may have or could have at the opportunity of getting that thing that you crave. So I always knew that I love music from young, like, when I was a baby, I used to like make beats on my toys. And I used to, like, memorize songs. And I used to ask people to play my favorite artists like all the time, like, I was already soaking up a whole lot of the game and just studying and just paying attention. And then, um, yeah, prior, right, like, like, high school time, like, everybody was like, oh, like, you need to pick a career. And a lot of people were saying like, music is not a viable career. You need to go to college and get a good degree and credentials, and this and this and this. And like, no, no, this to that. Like, definitely you need that for a lot of things in society. But I just at that point, I was already making beats, I was already rapping a lot. And I was like, I definitely do this if I find I have to. But for now, like I really want to stick with music. I really want to make this rock. So like probably like senior year. Like, I just started going I'm a Leo too so I'll be stubborn. Why is he telling me I can't do what I want to do watch this. So I just started making it happen.

Lizzy

It is Leo season so this is gonna play in November. But right now as we record it it's Leo season. So it's funny that you said that.

Question

Yeah

Lizzy – 7:50 – How did Question teach himself how to play insturments

But you're also self taught, like you play different instruments. So which ones do you play? And how do you learn?

Question

Um, I started out with drums. I think I have like, I think my most significant knowledge in music comes from my love of drums, even like the way that I rap, the cadences that I incorporate into my music all come from a knowledge of percussion and different rhythms and different different ways that you move around the beat. So I started playing highlight percussion first, like djembe, and conga drums and these types of different things. Um, my mom like, she kept me around a lot of different culture, a lot of different music. So I would be like in the park with grown men playing in like drum circles, and doing like tribal rhythms and different rhythms and different cadences and different rudiments. And just like learning it naturally, they weren't really teaching me so much as I was able to like Intuit where I was supposed to fit, because I've always just been able to groove just because I had a natural love for what I'm doing. And at the time, it was funny because like, I would incorporate like hip hop beats over this like African tribal like rhythm, but then I went to this Youth Ensemble called YEA Freddie Hendrix Youth Ensemble, they like, um, they dance and sing and act. And they also have like a band. So I've kind of honed my skills playing drums there, there's this like Kid[U1] , who was older than me, he taught me like, a lot of the African rhythms and like real history behind the drums. So, um, that got me started. And then around that same period, I kind of had like a couple lessons on drum set, but me and the teacher just ended up like chilling and vibing and like sharing stories a lot because he was like, ended up telling my mom like, his kid picks up things like real fast like yeah, he has a gift, he's able to really to play drums at a level that a lot of people can't. So he just was more like, again, showing me things to hone my skills and helping me out. And then I started dabbling with the keyboard because the keyboard had a lot of drums that I was hearing in my favorite music. So as a drummer, I was trying to find like these program sounds. And so I found my way to keyboard and then that's how I started making beats. I started like, messing with the drums on there. And then I was like, Okay, well, like I got to make melodies too. I got to make this part a thing, I got to figure this out. So I just started messing with the piano, doing those simple things, little three note chords, like A minor, G major, F major, back to the A minor, just like little simple vibes. And then I just, like, figured out more from there. How do you transpose it? How do you add things? How do you invert things? And like, I'm still not the best piano player. I aspire to be like a jazz musician. But I'm not there yet. Still working at it.

Lizzy

That is so cool, I love it

Question

I dabbled in guitar, but I'm no, I'm no Jimi, man. I'm no, Jimi. I'm still working.

Lizzy

Wow. But you know, I like that you described even a little bit like about your piano journey, you know what I mean? I like that you really broke it down and really share with our listeners, how to pick up a new instrument, you don't have to go in, you know, with something really, really complex, you can start with, you know, some beats, you know, start just by picking it up pretty much. It sounds like you're just pretty fearless. You just kind of said, okay, like, you know, everybody's playing the part. Let me let me join in, you know, or, you know, and then that kind of started everything else, you know, and it's like, okay, well, let me start with a, you know, a couple of chords and then pick, you know, keep going from there. I like that. You broke that down that. Yeah, that makes a lot of sense.

Question

Don't overthink it. Like, a lot of our first beats were trash, like, but I didn't care because I was like, making the thing that was inside of my head to some capacity, and I was able to hear it. And also, like, when you're younger, like you don't have a lot of that societal anxiety, like problems like, Okay, people gonna judge this was this was that, like, you're able to have that carefree mentality. So definitely, like, Don't overthink it, like, just do what you feel you love. And if you need to do it in private until you get it to a place where you feel like you can share it, but we're people are gonna want to share it eventually.

Lizzy – 12:26 – How Question started his group, and collaborations with other artists

That's perfect. And I love that you just talked about sharing it because my next question is about the collaborations that you do with other blind artists. Can you tell us about the the group that you lead and how it got started?

Question

Yuh BNF game? Oh, I got a collective man called Blind N Famous. That's my family. My brothers. We've been working for like, three years, some of them I've been working with since high school though. My main brother Cue The Master. He's another artist out of Georgia. And he's a great songwriter. He has his own lane. He's definitely very unique. In a way that he approach his music. He does like trap music, trap, r&b and rap. And we've been working since high school because we both went to a school for the blind. That's another thing I didn't mention earlier. Like after I left middle school in East Point, I did go to a school for the blind for the rest of my high school career. But for my high school career, and I got to meet a lot of people down there that I ended up working with. So he and I kept in touch after we graduated, he was older, he graduated a couple years before me, but we just like, got closer then like making music. Um, and then after that, we just kept working. And over time, people were kind of just drawn to the vibe that we had going on. A lot of people appreciate the collaborations that he and I have done as a team. So they were like, What y'all got going like, what is this and then our brother Miguel Traffic, he did a song. And he said, like BNF we blind n famous, like he just said it in the intro. And I was like, bro, like, that's the move. We got to run with that. And so we put out a project. And then we started getting some attention. I did uh I think it was an event at South By. And, um, I met this internet producer, who was making a lot of ways called Cash Money AP, and he retweeted me, and that put me in touch with another blind producer. And so he joined up the collective and then he kind of introduced me to a few of different younger kids around his age that were moving. And so I was really able to take advice from them and really get plugged in with like a new current sound that's going on that i already listened to, but youth are always gonna have more of a hone ear than than you like people just have more time, more enthusiasm, like I wake up enthused every day but I wake up with more and more stress and like you just it piles up on your brain and when you don't have that and when you just like spend hours and hours and hours scouring for new music as a kid you have like Such a hype is such an energy. And that's like super inspiring to so they bring me like so much creativity.

Lizzy 15:08 – How to get involved with Question

Wow. And, and if there's another like, let's say somebody listening to this and you know, they're an aspiring artists, they want to get involved they want to connect with you, how would they go about that? Should they contact you? Who do they contact?

Question

Yeah, it's a real, it's a real selective process because, um, you know, it is a, it's a family dynamic. And I do as much as I can, individually and collectively for everybody, but we're definitely looking for versatility and diversity. So yeah, just, um, you know, link with me on Twitter or, you know, if, if you're listening to this, and you're blind, like, I'm around, I'm in the community, I'm around team talk, I come to conventions. I'm on Twitter, I'm in clubhouse, like, you could find me. And I'm definitely open to talking and collaborating. Even if, you know, it's not on the basis of the collective like, maybe I could put you in touch with someone from the collective. I had the awesome opportunity to do a song with Precious Perez, we just released something-

Lizzy

I heard that one

Question

Yeah, and that's my boy, Johnny. He's a part of BNF. He played guitar on there, he produced it completely. I just had a pleasure engineering it and kind of like executive producing it. But I was really able to sit back and let them work. So definitely always open to more collaborations.

Lizzy 16:27 – Soulful Cipher

Definitely. That sounds so good. And then you do other stuff in the community too. Can you tell us about soulfood cipher?

Question

Yeah, um, that's, that's my brother's two on Soulfood cipher[U2]  and the new organization report are two entities moving within the city of Atlanta to kind of change the rap on rap, which is basically meaning. A lot of people tend to have a negative connotation about rap lyrics and rap artists, because of the way that certain people are depicted. And, um, we really just want to make a positive influence and still be lit at the same time still, like give the kids and give everybody in the community a vibe at the same time. So what we do is we go to different places, and we freestyle, which is improv rap right off the top of our head, right on the spot. And we talk to people in the community and we freestyle with the community. And in certain cases, we teach the community we've had times where, um, some of our people are teachers, and they've gone into schools and led like eight week programs, where they work with the kids and that, you know, it enforces confidence. Um, it helps kids to think on their feet, helps you to learn how to express the ideas that are in your head at a much quicker rate, which is an invaluable skill. Like, you can't even imagine how much that can help like, that helps me to be as fluid out of a speaker as I am, like, freestyling gives me so much more confidence, and I practice daily. It's something I work on a lot.

Lizzy

Mmmhmm. I like what you said, though, about changing the way people think about rap. And that brings the mind one of your songs that I told you was one of my favorites. ‘Blessed’. Do you remember writing that one, spirit, I think he came out like what I think is supposed to be out, like, six months ago, something like that.

Question

Yeah

Lizzy

And it's a really positive message. And I really liked that because I was like, there's a lot of fun songs. There's a lot of you know, actually, it's really versatile music. Some of it, I think you have one called, I forget the exact title, but it's like, it's called, like, ‘Sad Song’ or something like that. 

Question

‘Going Out Sad’?

Lizzy

Yeah, that one, ‘Going Out sad’.

Question

I don’t even know my own titles.

Lizzy

But ‘Blessed’ was one

Question

‘Blessed’ was one for sure

Lizzy – 18:59 – Question’s inspiration for ‘Blessed’

You know, when I when I saw it, I was like, this is a good message. You know, it's really positive. And what was the inspiration while you were writing it?

Question

Um, I've been moving more into a focus mentality over the past year, I had a point in my life where I was like, super stressed out and like damn near depressed because of like, relationships and friendships and just like random just, you know, I go like, young people business. So I was like, Nah, like, this is not how I stand. This is not where I'm at is I need to be motivated. I got a lot of things going on around this time. Like, it's crazy because I was doing a lot of successful things. But my mentality wasn't allowing me to enjoy it to what I should have been. I would be moving around I'm flying performance. And the only joy that I would really have would be like that moment when I will be like on stage or whatever. And then I will just be back hyper focused on whatever the problem was. And I did, I was like, I can't live like that, like you're not supposed to do that. So I realized how much control you have over your life through your brain and the way that manifestation works in the way that you have to speak things into existence via thinking them into existence and acting as if, um, you know, things are happening. Um, so that's all impacted by your daily habits and your daily actions and your daily regimen. And one thing that is a part of a lot of people's daily regimen is the soundtrack to theirlife. So for me, this was a song to represent a change, like how I was feeling like, just kind of definitely giving thanks. Um, you know, I believe in God, I identify a lot with a higher power, and I have a strong faith. So it was just a song to really show appreciation for the opportunities I've already been given and the things that I'm on my way to being able to do, and making that tangible so that people can look back to it and really appreciate it and identify with it because a lot of times, some people might not know that it's okay to say that or, like you say, like, they have a certain mode of rap, or they have like, because like you say, I do have like some some lit songs and like vibey songs, and that's my whole point. I'm not trying to be like, one artists or one like, I'm not trying to have one perspective, only in my music. And some people may say that that's a contradiction, but I think every human has some contradictory actions. So my goal is to show that and to be as real about it as I can. So that's all I was just giving thanks.

Lizzy 21:51 – Battle of the beat makers 2019
I love that, it's necessary. It's part of how you feel, you know, so it's just so genuine. And I like what you said about contradiction. That's really true. It's just, it's just a part of who you are. Sometimes you're sad, sometimes you're lit sometimes, you just feel thankful, you know what I mean? So that's a really good way of describing it is speaking of, of, you know, some of your more positive things that you've done your successes, and you know, things like that, um, you competed in the 2019 battle of the beatmakers competition.

Question

Yeah

Lizzy

That was in Toronto. So I want to know about that, what was the application process? Like, what was it like for you? Were there like, tell us everything

Question

Yeah, It was blessed on honestly, to this day. I've had people from the blind community and people in the producer community, like still come to me and be like, Hey, I think I saw you on that battle. Um, I used to watch that battle when I was a kid. Like, I'm actually like, when I first went out to CCB, I was getting into beat battles, because this producer that I was working with, like rapping to his beats a lot back then he did the battle. So I looked that one up, and then I found that a lot of beat makers and that was where everybody was tuned into. So I watched it for years. And then when I came back home, I kind of took what I learned from there to start my beat battling journey. And because I had studied that I tied for first place in my first beat battle because I came in ready from studying them so fast forward like, I'm watching a battle with BNF we're talking about the host tricks on stage we're all like Oh man, like this dude is funny like he crazy like what if we get to meet him because we're all aspiring producers we all big each other up so we're all plugged into different things in the culture and that battles definitely really esteem really recognized. So it was really like a what if process the year before it was like, man, like, Yo, these people going crazy, like out of battle here, like how would I do against them? And then um, I took a trip to LA Um, thanks to some other things we had going on. And I went to this like Northern hospitality Toronto event out there. And I met my current manager, David, and we started really linking just like getting close. Like, you know, he started getting to know me figuring things out he actually like flew here within a week to just hear some music and just like get them get to know me like talk to me just to show that he was interested like, let me just fly here. No, no, no random talk like I'm here in your city. Like it's no I'm not gassing you. So that day, he called the the leader of the battle and he was like, Yo, there's this kid down in Atlanta. He's won over 20 Beat battles. And by the way, he's blind. Like, y'all need to be I need to mess with him. You need to rock with him. So I got to meet him talk to him. And then off the back of that they recommended me for a USA Today documentary that was really just following the culture of beat battles and kinda like how producers and battles worked and how they talk to each other, how they interact, how that whole scene was. But, um, I ended up not winning, I ended up making it to like the top 16 producers out of like 200 that signed up because like, first you had to go through this online vetting process where you go up against like three other people. And there's like judges that like rock to your beats, and I made it, I was like the best one out of my round for that. So that allowed me to be in the top 32, which all came in person, as well as like other people that were in a reserve just in case somebody didn't show up or got disqualified or anything. So they have like an extra 32 there chillin and vibing with us. Um, and so I made it to like the right before the semi finals. So like, it was, it was pretty fine. Like, I think I made it like the second day of battling. Um, so I did, I did well, I knocked some people out, I got knocked out. But ultimately, I got to network a lot. Um, some of the judges were Nipsey Hussle producers Mike & Keys, and they were fresh off of working on 'Victory Lap'. And unfortunately, fresh dealing with his passing. So it was quite a time to be able to sit down with them and network with them, I actually got to go to a couple meals, and really just talk music and talk about artists that they had coming up. Now they're like, blowing up, like, they were telling me about some you know, and smen[U3] o was like buzzing like he really going off crazy. Um, and I actually got to go to a studio with them and play some beats. So you know, the, the man Jared from USA Today, he's there filming everything. So he's like, Yo, we gonna have to turn this into a longer experience off of this um and we actually ended up traveling to a couple of more places after and filming some things about my journey. So we're hoping to tighten that up and get that out for y'all soon too.

Lizzy

Wow, that's gonna be so nice to see that.

Question

It’s crazy

Lizzy 27:01 – How accessible is the music business?

It really is. So we talked about all these different things that you've been able to accomplish, but I really want to know, and your opinion, how accessible is the music business? Like you seem to, you know, know, a good number of people, as far as networking goes, you know, you know, the performance side of it as a rapper, you know, the production side of as producer? How accessible is it though? Like, if someone wants to go and pick it up. What did they need to do? What do they need to know? What skills do they need?

Question

um, I would say on a scale of one to ten it at about a five. There's definitely ways to do things. And there's definitely a lot of things you can access with today's technology. Like, if you have an iPhone, voiceover comes pre installed, you can just, you know, engage that and go about checking your email, and using Twitter and using Facebook and even using Instagram to some degree. So when you start talking about promotion, and, you know, interacting with people on that online basis, those are a lot of the things but um, there's also a lot of visual elements as far as like, today, a lot of people just on the majority scale, because blind people are still quite a small percentage of the population listening to music. So a lot of people want to consume things with video, people want to see photos, they want to see what you're doing, they want to see different angles they want to see, like, um, you know, there's different graphics that you need to have different cover arts for releases and things like that. So, um, that's one thing where I definitely appreciate having people in my corner and having like, my mom working with me as management, as well as management, you know, helping me post up different things and, you know, working on logos and working on shooting videos, getting my ideas across to a director so that it doesn't like look weird, like, but that's also you know, I work with really awesome people like the videos I've done. The last one that I had up with my guy John, He, like he's, you know, he and I are close, and we communicate a lot like one on one. So I can try to put some, you know, I can't really see music video, so I might have some weird visual things that represent how I'm feeling but he could turn it into something real creative and real strange. Um, and then like, navigating as far as like networking in these pack like mixer events. I feel like um, if you have a certain level of confidence, maybe you can go around and do that by yourself. But like, I'm not to a point where I want to, like run through an event of 2 or 300 people with my cane and just be going to like, I feel like I'll be going to the same person over and over like, Yo, like, like, it's like a certain perception like you really want to make a certain impact which your first impression when you're meeting people and if you are no man like, I'd actually be curious about people's advice. Like, I know this might be a controversial hot take or some but you need to watch Around there by yourself. But personally, I feel like it's easy to have somebody with you and you can just kind of have them spot for you like, especially if you're in an event, and you come to that event, to seek out a certain person that you know is going to be there you come, you know, armed with information with details of how that person looks with details of how you can help that person how that person can help you, and really prepare yourself, for meeting that person. And I think it's a lot easier to accomplish that if you have somebody to help you seek that person out efficiently, quickly. But I think it could be done. I'm not saying you can't move, though[U4] , you know, say I like moving by myself sometimes. But it's a matter of professionalism and presenting yourself the right way and making that right first impression, and I don't want to mess that up.

Lizzy

Yeah that definitely makes sense. Okay, so I'm a break code. And instead of just asking you questions, we could just talk about this topics, I think it's interesting, that I think we could have, I think we could have a good conversation about it. So you're right. Like, it does take a certain level of confidence to do it. But you're also right, when you say like, it can be done, and it can be done professionally. So I feel like you described a situation where you're like, you go into a room, and there's we're gonna make it like, instead of saying even two we're just putting it on three, you know, so there's three people in this room.

Question

Yeah

Lizzy

wo we're just putting it on three, you know, so there's three people in this room. Yeah. And so it's like, so how do you navigate it? So there's a couple different ways of doing if you're looking for somebody specific, the first thing that you do is just connect with, you know, like, whoever, whoever you first connect with, or just be like, hey, you know, have you seen so and so, or blah, blah, blah? And they might be like, oh, yeah, you know, that they're right over there. You know what I mean? You know, I'll show you where they're where they are, or let me go grab them or like, whatever. That's one way to do it. And maybe, maybe they say no, so maybe they're like, oh, no, I haven't seen them. And I don't even know who you're talking about, you know, okay, so you can if you like that person, you can keep talking with them. And they might even introduce you to somebody else. You just ask that person like, Hey, I'm looking for so and so you know what I mean? Yeah, eventually, it's gonna get around to this person that, you know, like, hey, you know, like, like, you know, like, like this black guy. You're looking for you. I don't know what you want. But you know, what I mean?

Question

For sure, for sure.

Lizzy

I think that's, I think that's like one way to do it. But go ahead, go ahead.

Question

No, no, I was agree. I'm just agreeing.

Lizzy

Oh, yeah. No, no, I think I think that that's like one way to do it. And then another way to do it is usually when you have like a big event like this. There's also like somebody hosting it, you know, so you can either contact them beforehand, or maybe even contact them. Like, even like, when you walk in, maybe there's somebody you know, I don't know, if there's like somebody like at the door. I don't know how music event specifically work. But um, I know, like, for other stuff, there might be like a host stand, too. Usually there's two people, you know, but like, they're not really like doing anything, they're just gonna say hi. So, you know, you know, you just kind of say like, Hey, I'm looking for so and so. And they're like, you know, that's another way to find them. It's just, you know, with the host. Um, I think a lot of it, though, really? Yeah, yeah, I think a lot of it though, really, is, it's exactly what you said, like, you have to be willing to just let people know what you're looking for, let people know what you need. But it's also I can also see the benefits of, it's not like having a like a wingman. You know what I mean? Like, I can also do the benefit of having somebody there with you, because like, you're never just kind of like, you don't have to worry about is there going to be a point when the person I'm talking to is leaving, but I want to stay? And everybody else is in a conversation. Like these are just like the thoughts that people will have, right? Like, as a blind person, you're like, like, What if everybody else is talking? I'm standing there by myself, and I'm not getting anything out of it. You know what I mean?

Question

Yeah. And when you talk about the confidence, like, I honestly, like when I think about it from that perspective, I'm, like, excited to try this now and go somewhere, because like, I just have a lot of anxiety. I'm like, man, people don't want to be bothered, like everybody who's here is here for something. So like, I'm not going you know what I'm saying I'm taking you away. But like, you got to, you're here for something to and you're just as valuable. So like, why not?

Lizzy

Yeah, I you know what, though, I like that you, you're going in with that business mindset of everybody's here for something. So you figure out what they're here for? And figure out if you can help them and in the meantime, maybe they can help you. So yeah, I mean, maybe they can, you know, and I think other people too, when they're going into these situations. Some people they just go in, you know, for what they came for, they leave other people they want to, they just want to keep meeting people, they just want to keep connecting and keep you know what I mean? Like seeing, you know, and I don't know how specific these events are, but like if it's an event where it's a lot of hip hop people together, then I bet you know there's there's some situation where you can go off and do what you said before where you know, like you guys are often listening to beats together or even making beats together or planning whatever the case may be. If you if your vibe no if you don't vibe that you just gotta move on. That could be awkward, but like, but I don't think it's what you said in the beginning. Don't overthink it, you just step in and step in with something small. You know, I think that it's, it's easy to think about what could go wrong, because that's what society tells you is that if you're a blind person, as are, something's gonna go wrong. But honestly, things things usually don't go wrong. But it's getting over the anxiety. That's the hardest part. But once you're there-

Question

Even if it goes wrong, like there's a thing that we're conditioned to, like, really fear failure, but every time you fail, you learn something about like, Okay, this is what I don't need to do. Like, this is a thing to keep in mind. So okay, let me how do I reach the opposite of this? How do I flip this into the positive? Like, alright, I see what I didn't do. I'm about to do exactly what was right there. Like, everyone-

Lizzy

Yeah, go ahead say it

Question

that every time. Like, that's probably an exaggeration. But like, a lot of times, I'll walk away from something and I'm like, Ah, if I could only have like, three more minutes, I get it now. Like, get it now, man, like, but you got to just take that and come back. And then yeah, I wanted to say too like, speaking to what you said earlier, it definitely is about a lot more than just like, in my case, having somebody to guide me around. Because like, sometimes, as an artist, or as a creative, or as somebody in business, just culturally and socially, um, it's not always right for you to say certain things, you know, it's good to be able to have someone as a buffer for certain things, because, like, the way somebody may feel if it comes from you, which is like, I don't know, that might be like a tactic of some kind, but like, you know, you want to keep people happy. You want to keep them?

Lizzy

Yep

Question

Going with, you know, saying, like, keep it keep it moving, so.

Lizzy

I agree with that part. It's a good strategy to be like, you don't want to be there and be like, Yeah, I did. Like, I mean, maybe this is a certain kind of person. And that's, that's that I'm not gonna I'm not gonna judge them, you know, but like, the kind of person is like, you know, like, they'll come up to you and be like, I did this. I did this, I did that you need me for this. Like, you know, it's easier, not easier. But it depends on who you are.

Question

Time and place, you definitely know when its-

Lizzy

Exactly, you know, is, you know, it might look better if you have somebody else saying those things for you kind of like spitting out your resume for you instead of you doing it because it can come off a certain way. But like you said, it's kind of like, there are also ways that you can do it and not look a certain way. But yeah, no, that's definitely true. So definitely consider it and if you try it out, let us know how it goes. In the future, and you can report on it.

Question

And just to let y'all know, like, don't don't try to come from me, man. I travel a lot by myself on planes. And-

Lizzy

Of course, of course. Yeah, let everybody know.

Question

Don’t get it twisted

Lizzy

That's right. You went to CCB. You went to NFB Training Center too like-

Question

They're gonna try to be like you said, but the, you said, is love is love is love. I love it. I love everything that we got going still. Defiantly glad to be here.

Lizzy 38:23 – Question’s social medias

So just let everybody know how they can follow you. As far as you know, updates on your album, at least in the documentary. What's your Twitter? What's your everything?

Question

Yeah. Again, appreciate all you guys for taking the time to listen to us. Talk, talk, talk talk vibe up, please follow me at Question ATL (@Questionatl) on Twitter, on Instagram. My Facebook page is under question[U5] . You can also go to my YouTube question official. I'm dropping tunes there. And yeah, I'm active in some places. I'm also active in clubhouse, so you can find me let's talk.

Lizzy

Yes, I definitely recommend it. So our listeners find question ask him whatever you want to know. I definitely got a lot of positive vibes from this episode. Thank you so much for being here with us

Question

Yeah appreciate it. Much love to my bro Shane man, behind the scenes, big up bro for the [U6] recommendation

Lizzy

Yes yes

Lizzy

This is all thanks to Shane. So thank you so much, Shane. Thank you to all of our listeners for tuning in today. And we're gonna leave you with my personal favorite. It's called ‘I’, and Shane's gonna start playing that now, as we leave and vibe out. Thank you so much for listening. Thank you everybody who helped today, and it's been so much fun.