THE MELODY LINGERS ON (Documentary Film)

is there anyone in there?  hello? Is there anyone in there? Black Buddha, Popp Culture, upscale Fly By  Light! This one for you, This one for you! Uh oh! We're shooting a major video  for this song called unity the ultimate goal is for me to  always give back to where i'm from since music is my passion i created a song  for the foundation inspired by the foundation what else do you remember from the program so you  remember all the the writing workshops the poetry workshops you were an xm satell

ite radio with  us yeah but he put me in the rebel you shine joy yeah and then that's like what really  kicked it all you know what i'm saying remember the tracks that we was doing of the  first drive my father still played his music like well come in the house hey and  be playing but you shot like dad that 17 years ago so is the after party but  after the party we gonna change that party so everybody grab some party i like to welcome you  to the ramble party when i first got with ocu the progra

m was called revel you shine  it was a summer program at the time i was like oh i'd rather be kicking it i  ain't trying to wake up and go to no program rebel you shine was using arts hip-hop  music as a way to heal community and to teach young people about social justice and  ways they could be leaders to transform the world through their voices i gave it a shot and you know  we meditated on the first day and i actually fell in love with meditation i was like man it feel  good to kind of just b

e still for a minute and not really think about everything that's going on  around you rebel usually has so many activities going on and they spent time quality time quality  time there that i believe is just just everlasting on this very block right here is the house where  rebel you shine started for me 71 rhode island man i don't know if people still live here or not  but i spent a lot of days on this porch right here i just sit out here like dang man i got a safe  haven and it's right down t

he street from my house and um because everybody was grieving in their  own way you know my father just lost his son my mom lost his son we kind of knew what he was  into but we didn't know it would it would take them to that point so to have people that don't  know you and that won't judge you and you can go to them every day and talk about your feelings  because it was many nights where i didn't sleep or you know i didn't i thought it  was my fault you know what i mean i'm the baby of four wit

h my mom so me  my sister then my two oldest brothers and then my dad had my little brother  and little sister with my stepmom everybody made it out except for one of  my brothers he got killed in a drive-by my brother that got killed was such a good person  like if anybody was to speak of them they would say i can't believe that happened and my other  brother ended up going to jail for 13 years he was actually locked up when my brother  got killed his whole grieving had to go on while he was tr

ying to survive i  kind of deal with it by just music r-e-d-d-z so people know it's real i just really embraced my writing in the program  and i really had somebody i can go to because they became my big brother and my uncles and my  aunts and stuff like that so the program really saved my life in a sense emotionally  because it was during a time where i was numb i recall clearly and  most vividly the very first day i embraced marcus inside the confines of  revolution he was a natural leader he

was more polished and refined in confidence than  the others who were of his same generation and his pain was obvious to have those type of mentors  there and to be like yo it's okay it's okay to cry men cry for me to first learn that in the program  because i was like oh no i ain't crying ain't no sucker but it's like yo why you think you got  tear ducts men cry too you know i mean it's okay to get your emotions out so really  touching the side of of the human i was marcus and the other young p

eople that were with  him in the program they went through an intense process it was almost seven weeks of songwriting  learning about the music industry hip-hop uh and they were given the the goal the vision  that at the end of the summer we were going to record it all marcus went went full-on into that  journey and he wrote some of the most unbelievable unbelievable things that that i that i was reading  that at that time and as a young man you know he's always been so gifted he just took off

and because  of his brothers who also did a lot of hip hop and and did a lot of spoken word you know he was  able to pick up on that i mean because marcus was playing football and you know and i always  told them that you know what whatever you do don't quit you know if you start something  finish it after the program it was just like what's next i ended up on the radio  met jermaine dupri moved to atlanta how you feel about being down here and really  explaining the sound uh beyond just the dc

area you know what i'm saying how long have you been  down here for another question off and on legitly about three years off knowing like seven you  know what i'm saying i first came out here for a situation with jd all right when i was the bank's calling pops cause he laid on the  payments way laid on the paper i love atlanta man the sound i can mix my up northern dc with my new  york influence you know what i'm saying with that atlanta sound when i was young me my sister and  my two brothers

we was living with my dad in the shelter and um i was just like man i don't want to  live like this i don't want my family to have to live like this so i always had a dream to be like  rich just to take care of my family so when i got to atlanta i thought it was going to be like that  you know i was driving around in rose voices and lamborghinis and flying to houston and all that  and he called me and said dad we get ready to sign this deal once he you know a couple of hours  or several hours la

ter when he was in new york he said daddy sign this deal and then you know maybe  an hour 45 minutes later said dad it fell through but like i said when it ain't yours  and you're in a happy to be here type of state you kind of get lost in the in in  the non-reality the dream it's tears of joy and not that the fact that he signed that deal but  he was able to go through it and experience you know the the uh rejection  or you know that it just not happening and and i just told that you know life

sometimes not fair  i think i just was going through like a emotional spiritual type of warfare within myself because  in my heart it was just like this not true but my mom was like you need to get some money so came  back home and jess was like man i got to figure out who i am as a person because in order for me  to be a better father a better partner a better friend to the ones i love i got to figure out who  i am because i'm losing myself in this industry i was like man i gotta figure out wha

t  i'm gonna do i got a two-year-old daughter music is going great but it's  not like a regular nine to five it doesn't pay every week you  gotta wait for that big break i know the big brick is coming so what i  gotta do to stay uninterrupted in my universe so i started going back to  what the program taught me my sister actually found the program again  for me and she was like you know revel you shine coming back and i was like really  so i was like man i got to hit them up and see if i could w

ork with them because i know  a lot about the program i'm pretty sure it ain't too too much different than we was in there they  was like oh we definitely got to have you you the ambassador when you was 14. it would be crazy not  to bring you on the team so it was a it's actually an honor to actually have one of my mentors  still be there which is hardware hey marcus what's up bro how you doing it's just like this  is why we do the program to have people like you come back and say yo i'm doing t

his and i'm  doing good and the program saved my life and i want to be a part of saving somebody else's life  so it was definitely a magic moment when i first walked in the office and he seen me for the first  time after 14 years it's not very often that you work with somebody you know almost 12 13 years  earlier and then they come full circle again and uh you know are still talking about how  the seeds we planted back then are still reaping and growing fruits and trees and so that's  that's wha

t marcus marcus was a perfect example of what's possible it's gonna be my first time on  a retreat so i'm excited i'm open to everything something that i love to learn is just the  experience of what's going on right now at the same time i learned that you know it's  cool to transfer energy with another male figure because of course growing up to touch another man  like that would be look like crazy but the fact that he has energy that i don't possess and he  can transfer it to me and i have ene

rgy that he don't possess and i can transfer to him and still  be comfortable in something dope that's us pushing against like you know decades of stigma and  prejudice and bias right conditioning to say that it's not natural for you know man to  touch a man in this in this loving way and then we think about the violent world  we live in and how how we're so afraid of touch right yeah so it's kind of cool to  have a moment with us to build that right i think it's going to be dope being  out ther

e in the wilderness and nature i'm just there to you know guide the kids and the kids can teach me something in the  process this is going to be a first for me i think i can bring a lot of insight because  we come from the same place it's not too many differences within our houses when you come  from inner city neighborhood recently i have chosen a path of happiness because happiness is  not something that somebody else can give you it's a choice i don't care how bad your situation  is we all co

me from in other people as terrible situations i grew up with two parents that was  addicts me and my brother but the affirmation is basically speaking life into yourself waking up  in the morning and saying i am handsome i am happy i am creative i can't i don't how can i taking  those type of words out your vocabulary because those are words we was taught we was all born to  be kings we all can have as much royalty as we speak into our life we are one with the universe  if they broke all of us

down every particle in your body is the same particles that's floating up  there when you look at them stars we are stardust it's going to be dope to be able to work with the  kids and and expand on their creative ability for us painting drawing music and once you channel  it in the right place great things come from it because all of y'all are here for a reason right  now because you made the decision to keep living through the darkest times in your life what's it  mean to live my best life lik

e i mean it personal then i'd love to hear what that's rocking  with the similes and the metaphors y'all may say you're not right that's what it means for  you to live your best life what does that mean here's what i'm thinking think of that moment  where there is nothing all of us have had that moment where we like man tomorrow ain't even  worth it you heard your parents arguing they was about to get divorced my brother died rest in  peace you know i mean all of us had those moments sarah pushi

ng the paper all right  there you go you see ashley's ready my parents got their voice and i  felt like it was because of me so that's okay you said shy away from was real she needs to  get this out and that's why we're here for her can i speak now and this time i cried  this this is like not bad tim is happy too okay so my happiest moment is being here because  i got to open up to everybody and people were talking to me like say if i didn't feel like  like at home people would talk to me and co

me and talk to me and tell me that you'll be fine  you would make a lot of friends once you got here and i think her for actually talking  to me because it made me happy i started telling me about her and me telling her  about me and i really really feel good and i feel like i can tell everybody not on everybody but  most people that i know hear something about me and they show me that i don't  have to always hold things and and don't have to always be sad or i don't have  to only like hold stuf

f against people and i don't always have to be that one in the corner  just stand over there by myself and i can just be open to people so i'm very thankful that my  grandmother signed me up and pushing me just to come here because i'm very thankful for everybody  teaching me a lesson here today so thank you it's like i want you to feel the way i  feel i mean i want you to feel the way embrace cracked it like that and the flow is so real like  boom like that like yeah yeah sarah is right there a

nd she ain't hitting the trunk but guess what  we are one common unity that's one community i see a lot of strong kids in this program and i'm  very proud to be a part of it because i feel like day shrimp will give me strength when i go through  certain things and be like if they can deal with it and they they kids i should be able to deal  with them as an adult so they inspire me too growing up in the inner city i always felt like  i needed to be one way when i know i was always another way i'm

glad i grew up in that in that  sense because it made me tough it helped me survive these wars and these battles and the love  loss and the love gain you know what i mean but at heart i'm a i'm an earth being you know what  i mean i love being with the trees i love being with the plants i love being with people  that love being around the elements of the world you know what i mean because i think  that's what truly help you find who you are yeah the drums off you keep this count  they got to ca

tch you you know what i mean boom boom let that bring in your head  that's your come on this is why i think that fleetwood is my blood brother because  like i used to be nervous in front of people singing but he was like you got a little cyst  you got it i want you to feel the way i feel yeah yeah all you have to do  is just believe in yourself and then you'll do it and then he kept on  supporting me like it was good very good this is i feel like this is who i was meant to  be man you know i see

it's so funny because like the way you the way you grow yeah since i knew you  so different right no it's but it's not different it's just i see like i see barbara ross d in you  yeah i see i see tark in you i see matthew payne in here like those seeds go deep huh they plant  planet man this is my space right here bro i'm not right this was meant for me to come back bro like  we seen each other in 14 years man yeah i'm grown with a child man i was a little knucklehead  fat boy i can't believe y

ou found us together i was lucky y'all had to teach me how to  meditate i couldn't cross my legs at that time dinner is now let's eat all right and  then we do bonfire and then we do shopping fire has a lot of purifying energy real time  to to really let go and allow that fire to just burn away all that negativity all your  doubts all your fears allow that fire to move yeah an awesome continuing of the surprise for  you we got fleetwood perform for us first and we got some of our other facilitat

ors who want  to share and showcase their talents with you my real name is marcus my  spiritual name is fleetwood um i'll just tell y'all a little bit about me  because this program actually saved my life after my brother was murdered my other brother  was sentenced to 15 years in federal penitentiary my sister right here was a baby my little brother  was just being born and i walked into this man program right here and and i didn't think i  had anything left in my life i didn't feel like waking

up the next day suicide was real for  me and it's real for some of y'all in this room and this man right here grabbed me by the hand  and said you too crazy with the words to think about taking your life he saved my life so  again my king right here and it's okay to call your fellow brother king and your fellow  woman or queen there's nothing wrong with that we ain't no [ __ ] we ain't  no [ __ ] or none of that but i just i just want to ask my man  right here can he come give me some beat fina

lly i'm free your judgments of me if i believe what you see my don't hate me surprise it wasn't on the schedule so the  girls didn't know but i actually wrote a song called one common unity because we  are one common unity with one common goal marching down one road we're in the living circle  nothing that i'm saying ain't real nothing that i'm saying is not more  serious than the rap songs that we sing we sing those songs without even questioning  them our time together is important it was a le

arning experience it was challenging  got frustrated at times you know i never really dealt with 60 different personalities before i  thought it was going to be a walk in the park to be honest i'm like all right they're going to come  they're going to listen we're going to have fun they're going to get emotional but  you know it comes with the territory but gaining new brothers and sisters  you know and realizing that blood just don't make you family but comparisons and  relating to each other m

akes you familiar yo the facilitators we had a conversation about  y'all young boys man we really fell in love with y'all man over this past week bro and that's  from everybody that was in that dorm nobody was excluded we love all y'all equally all y'all  could have came to us couldn't be brothers but when it came down to really listening to us in  that dorm yeah y'all stepped up and really you know respected us as y'all picked on me so  god i appreciate that everybody around here marcus he's li

ke a really great girl great  working with him it's amazing experience you know we out here dying and bang please keep me in y'all you can't control other people's actions but you  can control how you react to people's actions and that's one thing that the program told  me and it actually helped with my attitude and you know how i'm more able to handle things as  an adult you know what i mean and it nourished my creative side and you can always have somewhere  to go without having to resort to a

nger you can go pick up a pen and write more you can draw  more you can do these type of things and it actually helped me with being a father how they  showed us how we can change our attitude with a countdown or breathing and stuff like  that so it helps me with my daughter so it's more than just me as a man it's me as a  father and now it's going to be me as a teacher here believe it or not this book was made  in the year 2002 by youth in our program such as marcus right here that you're going

  to hear from if it wasn't for this program man who knows why i may be locked up i may  be dead or i may just you know who knows that program has given him an outlook on life  that i don't think if he would have done anything outside of revel you shine could have given  him that centered piece that he has now he always wanted more he just didn't  want to just feel like he was trapped into having to sell drugs or try to make  it that way because he knew it wasn't no retirement benefit plan from

that it  either was jail institutions or death because i love it i wake up every day  and i think about it and i breathe it and i speak it and i dream about it so i love it first  my message is to show these kids that is more to life than than just trap and just hood you don't  have to be cool to sell drugs you know what i mean when he passed away that's when i started doing  poetry and rapping it's just that i feel like i was still closer to him that was my way of  coping with never seeing him

again was to do music because i know he loved music you know  and then i fell in love with it it was a bad thing because we lost him but if you think of it  spiritually wise and energy wise it woke me up and it put me on the path to be able to save the  whole family you know what i'm saying so that's how i got to look at it to be able to deal with it  like i just got to be grateful and thank him like because without you i wouldn't probably pursue  music without him i wouldn't have felt the pain

the music has stopped and the melody lingers on yeah man the reason why i got the gifts i  got is because he up there watching over me and sending his energy through me and  you know the god and the universe and all them is just working together to keep us on  the right path forever my big brother man my dad put me in the program just because he knew  my bro just died so he's like yo i know you're going to be out here this summer i need you to  be busy doing something that's a different thing ma

n just be like you like music man  these people could help you man yeah let's go yeah and it all worked out  like it all worked out real good one dark road we all are one people  only one on the globe as one common unity marching down one road the jobs in the  inner city ain't made for family building with all the schools shutting  down creating trapped out children all the guns in our neighborhoods  we living in a war zone till the government use these taxes to bring all  the troops home cause

we need one common unity only is it safe to say i'm afraid what the future holds  for my daughter cause we was programmed with the [ __ ] the schools taught us i'm just finding  truth in my late 20s and that's real obama said change but the unjust is black steel police  killing our kings and queens with no remorse while we waiting for white jesus on a golden  horse we hold their hands in a circle giving out forgiveness why the powers that be giving out  a hit list i mean it ain't the prezi for t

hey made our man a mascot 14 full of white players  cigars and ass scouts who became who they are are turning us to have-nots who are threatening  your life if you speak against this aspar i just want to know is there a rainbow at the end of this  thunderstorm is there potter go waiting there for me to count i paint times their net worth if i  need that amount cause i swear one common unity with one common goal one bright  light shining down one dark road stuck between a rock and a hard  place o

pen your eyes the only way out is up so you better fly to the  light we will see we will see as we rise high from the fire we are free we are free you and  me we're gonna be all right we're gonna be alright only one on the globe i'm a rich man if you listen  to this you a rich man too always remember don't let your possessions possess  you eternal life love peace one common unity understanding