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Tyrese and the children of Grace Street Elementary, Watts, CA
Talk It Out with Jodi Leib
Interview Produced by Bryan Howard
Special Thanks to: J. Knox and Eve Greene
and Operation Hope
Taped in October 2003
Jodi: I'm here at the Grace Street Elementary School in Watts, CA to
talk it out with Tyrese as he does some charity work with the kids at the
school. It's beautiful what you're doing! Can you tell me about your
project here?
Tyrese: The concept, the theme is Banking On Our Future. We're
banking on the kids future. We're trying to instill in the kids things
that possibly what their parents are not instilling in them, which is how to
maintain your money and how to make use of your money in the best manner
possible. These are the future CEOs of the country in every world.
I'm the CEO of three different companies myself. The experience of meeting
the kids was big for me, but the experience of meeting the teachers was even
bigger for me because I was able to tell them, "You were once small.
You were once a kid with a short attention span, who didn't focus, just hyper
trying to flirt and do all of the wrong things in school, and you were caught up
in all of the wrong things." I just recognized the tolerance and the
patience that a lot of teachers have and I just wanted to encourage them and
recharge their batteries to go out and keep on being the best teachers that they
know how to be towards kids. Because just like me, this is the elementary
school I went to, and my teacher didn't even remember me, which is fine, because
she deals with a lot of kids, but it never amazes me how teachers...you just
never know who you're teaching. You know what I mean? You never know
who the future of who your students are going to be. There's going to be
two things that can happen. They're going to come back and they're going
to appreciate you for being the teacher who kept them after school trying to
actually go out of your way to mentor them and show them just life skills, or
they'll come back and say, "I hate you, because you made my elementary
experience the worst experience ever." So, I just wanted to recharge
the batteries of the teachers and just encourage them to have more patience and
a higher tolerance for the hyper and big energy that the kids are giving them,
and just realize that what they're here to do is much bigger than
themselves. They're doing God's work. Show one, teach one.
Jodi: How did you come to decide this is what you wanted to do with your
time?
Tyrese: I didn't really come to it myself. It was a seed that God planted
in me. To be honest, although this is a very luxurious truck we're in with
a bunch of suede around, I won't be remembered for this truck. I just
won't. When it's all said and done, when they stop calling Tyrese's name,
on whatever level, I want them to remember that while I had it, I made a
difference in other people's lives other than my own. Because I'm
comfortable, I love my life, why not try and make a difference in someone else's
life? When I was in elementary, if a star like myself would have came to
the school, it would have touched my life forever. It would be something I
would never, ever, ever forget. You know? The first celebrity I ever
met was Ton Loc. It changed my life. Wow! Ton Loc was in
Watts. As much as these teachers can go in front of the class and
say, "Tyrese went to this school!" They're not going to
believe the teachers until Tyrese actually comes to the school. So, I'm
here. I know the effect that I have on people. I've been to plenty
of schools, and I know how much of a difference I can make, and why not want to
do something like that with your life?
Jodi: That's so beautiful! If you can share your knowledge with the
rock-n-roll and the hip-hop and the music community, what would be some words of
wisdom you can offer adults out there also struggling to make it, starving young
artists, people who don't maybe know their financing ABCs as well.
Tyrese: The best advise I can give to anybody who is looking to do
anything with their life is make sure you surround yourself with people who do
what you're trying to do. The day that you decide you don't want to do it
anymore, you'll always be encouraged because somebody is on your level.
They're on the same page as you. It's one thing to struggle alone, it's
another thing to have a partner and struggle, because you're able to help each
other and encourage each other to keep it going, because there's a much bigger
picture out there and you just need to stay together and work hard at it. Lawyers shouldn't hang out with doctors. Doctors should hang out with
singers, because they're in two different zones. They've got to hang
around people that when they go to lunch they can let each other in on stories
and help them out and give them short cuts. Musicians should hang out with
musicians.
Jodi: I do and that's why I'm an artist and I
interview other artists. We share the same philosophies. Like you, I
am attracted to people who are also trying to benefit the world. That's
why I Talk It Out with musicians so that you can share with the people what
you're up to here. It's a way to view all these different amazing artists
doing all these really cool things in the world and
to keep that communication open with the public.
Tyrese: Right.
Jodi: It's important what artists do. We're proving that. It's
great and I thank you for it. Last question, was there a transition in
your life that you made that turned you from what you called a "bad
kid", someone who was really hyper to walking in the face of God?
Tyrese: That turnaround actually came from people always telling me
what I can't have and what I'm not going
to be. So as negative as that may seem, I think most people are inspired
by what people tell them they can't have, because they want to prove them
wrong. And that was me. I proved a whole lot of people wrong.
I'm Tyrese. I'm a household name and it didn't come overnight. Most
people never seen me getting here. Through God's seed that he passed on to
me, I've been able to go after just that, it's something I never seen, I never
asked for.
Jodi: I think what's great is that people saw you on MTV, they saw your
face first. They came to know you visually and got your spirit and then
they came to know you as a mature musician and artist. That's so
cool. Thanks a lot for Talking It Out. It was a pleasure meeting
you.
Tyrese: Thank you.
Back to www.jodileib.com
Talk It Out with Jodi Leib's Tyrese Interview was taped in
October 2003. Talk It Out (c) Jodi Leib, 2003. Reprint by Permission at talkitout@jodileib.com.
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