Creative Genius (A Conversation With Charlamagne Tha God)
THE EXPERIENCE
This is my second time covering a Creative Collective event and also my second time being astonished by the amount of positive, creative energy resonating in one space. December 13th, The Creative Collective NYC presented Creative Genius their end of the year event which was a conversation with New York Times bestseller and host of “The Breakfast Club” Charlamagne Tha God. Kéla Waler, the Emmy Nominated TV Host/ Producer acted as the moderator for this event and I must say that both her and Charlamagne did an amazing job. Ms. Walker has a more personable approach to interviewing, which gives off the impression that she is friends with the interviewee. This is pleasant to watch because it allows for the audience to feel like they are somewhat involved in a conversation that two friends could have any day, rather than two celebrities conversing distantly about information they should never have access to. This made space for less fake interactions and more laughter and agreeance with every "jewel" Charlamagne dropped". As for Charlamagne, he was just an overall intelligent guy. He took his time responding to each question, he gave hugs to all of his fans/supporter and tried being as transparent with the audience as possible. You can tell his experience as an interviewer has definitely prepared him in several ways for interviews. Lastly, Charlamagne is not an a**hole in person. I know he usually gets a bad rap for his bluntness, but honestly, when you actually experience him in person, you just take it for truth and not "a**holery."
“Always remember if you can’t be happy for someone else’s success you won’t be blessed with any of your own.”
– Charlamagne Tha God
CHARLAMAGNE THA GOD
Charlamagne Tha God ended off the night by participating in an interview with the amazing Kéla Walker. The driving force the conversation was his New York Times bestseller "Black Privilege: Opportunity Comes to Those Who Create It". If you haven't already read "Black Privilege:...", I would suggest that you add it to your bookshelf today! Some would assume that Charlamagne's prosperous career as a radio personality is the reason for his book's success, but I instead think the book's success has a lot to do with its parallel to his character. The book is a bold, lone soldier attacking a long existing issue in the world, racial discrimination. Charlamagne, the radio personality has been that bold individual for years and definitely does not shy away from it in his book. He cleverly uses personal experiences that later evolve into a proclamation of five parts, as his "weapon" of choice hoping to partially reverse the psychological damage that racial discrimination has done to the Black community. "Dropping jewel after jewel", as Ms. Walker would put it, Charlamagne may be inspiring a generation of young black individuals to live every day with a new view of their place in the world, one that concludes that they too have privilege.
Alley (Powered by Verizon)
It was great seeing the Creative Collective team and Alley which is powered by Verizon, collaborate on an event of this magnitude. I'm sure the behind the scenes, brainstorming process did not take much effort being that both groups are working toward a similar goal of "bridging the gap between start-up businesses and corporations". Constructed spaces like this one allows for networking among multiple communities, moving this generation of young entrepreneurs one step closer to creating next-level ecosystems. They are also a lot of fun as you can tell from the images above.
FOR MORE INFORMATION PLEASE VISIT THE CREATIVE COLLECTIVE NYC'S WEB SITE AT: