DreamChaser Chronicles #3: Chick-Fil-A to Soldout Crowds
People have asked me did I feel like I deserved to be in the company of some of the TedX Memphis Speakers. The most politically correct response is, "No, I am just happy to be here, blah and blah!" However, I grew up learning from the most politically incorrect person of the early 2000s. In honor the 10th anniversary of me witnessing Kanye West say on live TV that "George Bush doesn't care about black people," I answer that question in the only honest way I can think of right now. FUCK. YES. I deserved to be there. (Deep in my head, well not that deep, I thought to myself: do THEY deserve to be in the same company as ME?). The TedxMemphis organizers did not have a slot for for a weaklink, and if they did, I sure in the hell wasn't it.
It goes way deeper than what many of you may have witnessed in the last year or two. Yes, I have done some amazing things. But people don't ever really know the back story; they just see you accomplishing amazing things and say, "he came out of nowhere." Nope, I came out a neighborhood filled with violence, I came out of an abusive home, and I came out with my soul and dreams intact. Before anyone knew me as Marco Pavé, before I became CEO of of my own label, I had become master of my own fate, in the rough and tough streets and an abusive home in North Memphis, in the 3rd grade.
Geoff Calkins from the Commercial Appeal asked me, "How many people know what they wanted to do in the 3rd grade?" I said "not many that I know, but I was serious as a heart attack." However, it took about 14 years for the plaque to build up in universe and show people just how serious this heart attack was. Along that 14-year stretch I avoided some circumstances that could have literally killed me. I've had friends to die, friends to be locked away for 55 year sentences, I was nearly shot in the face--all the typical "hoodlum" shit. My saving grace was my music. I kept that so tight to my heart and soul, even when I was being bullied at home or at school. I kept it close when my dad called me worthless and compared me to the neighborhood crackheads. I kept it close from dead-end soul-sucking job to dead-end soul-sucking job.
One of these jobs was one I got in 2012 at Chick-Fil-A on the University of Memphis campus. That shit was TURRIBLE. College students and their entitled attitudes will drive you up a wall. And on top of that the job was temporary, I only had employment when school was in, so on ANY break, I was not getting a check for however long the break lasted. But since I was brainwashed and felt like I needed a job to be a man, even if every day they made sure to remind me that I wasn't one because of the low wages and the way that I was treated, I still kept that job so i could make sure that I brought home $350 every two weeks--like a boss!
I don't even really remember what happened between me and Chick-Fil-A. Maybe we had a long conversation one night about how things weren't working out. Maybe I sent a text and told her (I assume it's a she because it's called Chick-Fil-A) that it's over with a few emojis. Maybe I wrote a letter and left it on her door. Either way, we broke up. So, I went back to being single (jobless). I had been in abusive relationship after abusive relationship. Kroger, McDonald's, Williams-Sonoma, Vista Inn (the place that gave me the fucking bed bugs from this post), Central Defense (yes, a 120-pound security guard), and too many more to name. They all hated me and I hated them I'm not sure why we stayed together, but we did for at least 6 months to a year at a time.
Then one day in 2013, the moment I had a 2-month-old baby boy in the world at all times, I decided to listen to my 3rd grade self and become the full time rapper that I always planned to be.
To skip past all the BULLSHIT I was told after I made that decision, I am going to fast forward to 2015. I have this amazing website that you are currently visiting. I just got married to the most brilliant woman on the planet. I just launched my own company and became my own boss (so I guess I prefer masturbating to abusive relationships), I launched a scholarship to support high school seniors pursuing the arts. I was selected as a fellow to teach Hip-Hop and music business in the city schools. I've been invited to lecture at four major colleges and universities. And, of course, I was an inaugural Tedx Memphis speaker. So, FUCK. YES. I deserved to be there. I deserve to be here.
It didn't hit me until a few minutes after I went on to speak that three years ago, I was working at the Chick-Fil-A across the walkway from the Rose Theatre and now I was delivering a Ted talk there. The difference time and believing in your damn self makes!
I will save the details of my talk because the video is about to drop and probably go viral :)
Just know that I will forever be an activist for the arts so artists won't have to go through so many abusive relationships with women like Chick-Fil-A.
Keep DreamChasing!
Marco Pavé takes Chicago.
One thing I have learned as an artist is how to properly use social media. I can't tell the number of times I have been in a new city starting out not knowing anyone then by hour one having a list full of people to contact and connect with.
This week I made made the journey that many of my ancestors embarked on over 100 years ago during the Great Migration. While driving up i-57 north, I could feel the energy of all the men, women, and children alike who hurried to Chicago and other northern cities to escape the oppression of the Jim Crow South. I also saw not a got dam thing for 8 hours traveling through the Land of Lincoln.
Chicago is a great city, my people are roaming all about the streets of Chicago. I look at faces that feel and look so familiar I almost forget that I am 500 miles away. In all honesty I was a bit scared to travel to Chicago the first time, with all the news that they report, I thought I would be shot as soon as we rode into town. Obviously that did not happen, and No I did not just stay in the "good" parts of the city. I made my way to the South Side of Chicago to meet the first person that my trusty twitter account led me to. Mr. Scott Steward, a professor of entrepreneurship at Chicago State University. I ran across his twitter page when I was searching "Chicago Hip-Hop." I reached out to him trying to link up, and without hesitation he greeted me and sent me a DM, "come down to my office, i'll be here all day."
I nervously make my way into building 815, which is US Bank, I was greeted by the most friendly security guards I had ever seen. I found the floor that Scott was on and walked into the hall where his office was. There was a large group high school aged kids all working on computers, they paid me no mind and continued to do their work. Scott greeted me, "What's up man, have a seat in my office, there are some others in the office as well, introduce yourself." There was 3 other young ladies in his office all sitting around talking about what seemed to be some issues that are affecting the black community, and yes it was. I introduced myself an we all immediately hit it off when they realized i was in town to connect and network and I was a social activist. Scott made his way back into his office and formally introduced all of us and told them why I was in town. It was really like a divine moment when we all started talking and realized that we were all fighting for the same things in our respective cities. Moments ago they were all strangers, now we are all connecting and discussing ways we can all improve the black communities all around the world. Thank god for social media.
The next day, I connected with an amazing photographer by the name of Juan GarciaQuintero from Columbia, South America. He is a photographer and videographer in and around Chicago. I stumbled upon his twitter after a search for bloggers in the Chicago Area. We connected and he shot me a DM with his number and within 20 minutes we had a photo setup.
Juan's work is amazing, it was mind blowing how we went from a twitter dm to taking some of the most amazing photos I have ever been apart of!
Warm up shot!
Getting a feel for each other.
Testing.... Shadows
City shots, lets explore.
I don't know where I am going, but it looks like it.
DUH!
If I caption this, i'll go to jail.
Where can I go to escape the oppression?
We found us a rooftop!
Standing tall.
Do black lives matter up here?
Dreams been bigger than life!
If I jump, I'll fly!
Follow your light
Reaching for headspace!
Unbothered, like a black girl.
A dreamers reflections.
This time last year, I was walking around in LA for the first time, getting ready to embark on a journey to change my life and the music scene that I left behind in Memphis.
At that point, no one had reached out to me at these legendary Memphis recording studios to work with me. But the moment many industry folk from Memphis realized that I was "leaving" for to record on LA, the speculations started. "You can record your project here in Memphis." "Aw, he think he famous now." "He only care about his self, he ain't about helping Memphis."
I weathered the storm, I never left my city to forget about it. I left my city to study other cities, and figure out how to better my city.
We have a MAJOR problem of not realizing our young talent until they leave the city to find other opportunities. A wise (Wo)man will never turn down an opportunity at the expense of their future.
We need more opportunities that are HERE!
The art and culture scene in Memphis is a multi-million dollar industry. The bulk of that money goes to non-profits that pay thier staff, to find artists to pay. Moral to that story, MANY artists, especially artist of color, get left out of these conversations. I am here to take charge of the conversation and put it in OUR hands, THE ARTISTS.
I created “Books on Beale,” a benefit concert that promotes literacy in Memphis and surrounding areas.
The Marco Pavé Library
I created “Books on Beale,” a benefit concert that promotes literacy in Memphis and surrounding areas. 2013’s concert featured over a dozen local acts and brought together over $20,000 in resources. For my efforts, I had the library at Crosstown Arts’ Storybooth, which encourages literacy and academic success for at-risk students in the North Memphis community, named for me.
