“I love skateboarding, working with youth and I love music. Especially Caribbean and African music. The rhythms coming from Jamaica, Trinidad,  the Virgin Islands and music from all over Africa.. especially Nigeria, are way different than the sounds of mainstream music in America. There’s something dark about the tone of a lot of rap music these days, like low vibrational frequency. When I hear Reggae music or African pop music….there’s a certain happiness in a lot of the music, and you can really feel it.”

“I’m passionate about educating & working with kids, making sure they have a space to be creative, and to know they can take something fun that they love and turn it into a job or a hobby. I also believe we can learn a lot from being present with children, they end up teaching us while we’re teaching them.”

“I want to leave a legacy of positivity and creativity. I want  people look back and say I was someone who was down for the community, someone who was kind, caring, dependable, open minded and set a good example for my community. Some people have made assumptions based on the way I look, thinking I smoke ganja or drink etc, but I’ve never done any type of drugs, nor have I ever drank alcohol, and it’s not a big deal, I’m just not into it. I like to show people that you don’t need anything outside of yourself to have a good time, my happiness or “being high” comes from inside.”

“What’s been your greatest struggle in life and how has dealing with that changed you?”

“Honestly, I’m going to have to say the greatest struggle in my life has been just going through the process of being an adult, growing up and making sacrifices so that I’m able to live where I want to live and maintain a certain quality of life, culture, community, etc. I moved to the Bay Area, on my own in August of 2005, I’d have to say going through the ups and downs being out here on my own and learning to make it all work has definitely changed me in many ways, mainly I’m more mature and more patient and more grateful for the journey.”

“Who do you love most in the world and why?”

“I’d have to say my mom and dad for sure. Simply put, I am beyond grateful for the awesome parents I was blessed with, they are some of the most kind, loving, patient, respectful, talented and intuitive people I know! They really gave me the tools I needed to become who I am today. Shouts out to Don and Nancy Mercer you da realest fam! Hahaha.”