The Moth - The Moth Radio Hour: Don't Stop the Music

Episode Date: April 11, 2023

In this hour, Motown, hip hop, folk and pop. Stories of the indelible impact of music on both its creators and listeners. This hour is hosted by The Moth's Senior Director Jenifer Hixson. The Moth Radio Hour is produced by The Moth and Jay Allison of Atlantic Public Media. Hosted by: Jenifer Hixon Storytellers: David Montgomery gets immersed in Spice World. Cal Street describes her time as part of The Velvelettes. Dawn Smith grows up in a cult that forbids music. Jin Au-Yeung's lyricism connects him to Barack Obama.

Attention Houston! You have listened to our podcast and our radio hour, but did you know the Moth has live storytelling events at Wearhouse Live? The Moth has opened Mike's storytelling competitions called Story Slams that are open to anyone with a five-minute story to share on the night's theme. Upcoming themes include love hurts, stakes, clean, and pride. GoodLamoth.org forward slash Houston to experience a live show near you. That's from PRX. This is the Moth Radio Hour, I'm Jennifer Hickson. In the mortal words of Chuck Berry, Rollover Beethoven, in this hour we'll hear stories about music from both musicians and diehard fans.

All kinds of music, Motown, Folk, and Hip Hop, and our first story, which falls squarely into the category of pop. We first met David Montgomery at our Pittsburgh Storieslam where we partner with Public Radio Station, WESA. Eventually, we developed this story with him and started taking him on the road. He's traveled quite a bit with us around the United States, but he was especially thrilled when he got to tell the story in London, England.

Because, in a way, that's where this whole thing started. Here's David Montgomery, live in London, England, because in a way, that's where this whole thing started. Here's David Montgomery, live in London. So I have a theory that there's a special place in heaven for those who grow up gay in a small backwoods town. I grew up extremely gay outside of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. If you've never been, it's pretty much the Manhattan of West Virginia. That makes any sense. So things were not easy for me. When I was 12 years old, my huge family and I, my six brothers and sisters, and my mother and me, we all sat

down to dinner. And my sister said something about a Melissa et cetera song, because it was the 90s, and that's what people talked about at dinner back then. And my mother turned to her and snapped and she said, I wouldn't listen to her music, she's a dike. She's better off dead, do not bring her music into this house. And my emotional growth is stunted by five seconds of dialogue from the one woman who's supposed to love me unconditionally. I'm a child at this point. And by the transit of property, my own

mother had just said that I was better off dead and it made me hate myself, which made it so easy for other people to hate me. I remember I would sit alone in my room at night and cry to myself thinking, is this what my whole life is going to be like? Just sitting here, never connecting with anybody, while the world outside rages on and laughs and has fun without me. I was worthless to myself. When I was 14 years old, I had a deeply meaningful experience, something so real, so raw, almost divine, that I knew it was going to shape who I was to become for the rest of my life. I saw the Spice Girls on MTV. I looked at the television at first in disgust.

These five British women, not terribly older than me, running and screaming around this super fancy hotel. Who do they think they are? And my disgust turned into awe around the time sporty spice stood that backflip off the buffet. When I realized this is what I want to do metaphorically, I wanted to have a voice. I wanted to be loud and brash and in your face and not care what people thought about me.

I wanted to be loud and brash and in your face and not care what people thought about me. I wanted to be spicy. Now, I promised you outside of the Spice Girls, I have impeccable taste in music. I'm always about two drinks away from a Joni Mitchell tattoo in any given moment. And as a music person, I have this theory that if something gets to your adolescence, no matter how popular it is,

it always holds this little special place in your heart. And if something gets to your adolescence, no matter how popular it is, it always holds this like little special place in your heart. And if something traumatic happens to you during your fragile adolescence, then that tiny poppy thing becomes a huge obsession later on in life. An obsession sometimes so big that every now and then you have to take a step out of the real world and step into spice world for a while instead. Flash forward to 2007. I am now an adult. I'm a grown man.

I'm finished with school. I went to school for elementary education to be a school teacher. I moved to Philadelphia. And I was doing something within my field. It was called curriculum development, which is just as much fun as it sounds. It's basically you take a teaching job and you take all of the fun and amazing, wonderful, inspiring parts of it out of the job.

And then you replace it with like paperwork and emails and meetings that should have been emails, but you keep the low pay. And I was feeling so squashed by the heavy weight of adult life. My boss hated me. I was making no money at all. And I was having a hard time meeting friends in this big new city that I'm living in. Suddenly, I'm that teenager again alone in my room, never connecting while the world

outside rages on without me. But one glorious day, I am at my work station, and a colleague comes over to inform me, it was just announced via Global News Network that the Spice Girls are embarking on a worldwide reunion tour with only eight shows across the globe. And the question on everyone's lips, of course, was which of the three American shows was I most definitely going to be going to. Now full disclosure, I've always jokingly referred to my savings account as my Spice Girls reunion tour fund.

And it became a reality that day. When like a crazy person, I bought tickets to all three of the American shows. I went and I asked my boss, who hated me, for an unpaid week off and she gave me a soft no. And I went back to my desk and I look at, I've still got on my screen, the Spice Girls reunion tour map.

And suddenly, it's got a lot more than eight blue dots all over it. And a split second later, it's got even more blue dots. This tour is expanding rapidly. It looked like one of those time-lapse Ebola outbreak maps. If we do nothing in five months' time, the Spice Girls will have infected the entire United States. We will all become victims of girl power. And I know that my boss told me no, but like some out-of-body experience, my hand, independent of my body. like some out-of-body experience, my hand, independent of my body.

Kept clicking, purchased ticket. Purchased ticket, purchased ticket. Over and over again. I was like a zombie, but instead of mindlessly instinctively feasting on human flesh, I was mindlessly, instinctively buying tickets to no less than 22 spiceice Girls Conscious. 22. Thank you.

I'm obviously not big on sports references. My nickname in high school was Spaggot. But in a matter of minutes, I just became the equivalent of a Spice Girls season ticket holder. Now I've got to talk to my boss again. This is going to go great. So I walked in and said, hey, remember that week that I wanted off? It sort of needs to be a little bit more like four to six months off instead.

And she gave me a harder know this time around. And I went back to my desk and I was feeling so deflated and so defeated. And I thought to myself, David Montgomery, you are not being very spicy right now. What would Ginger spice do? No, I'm sure you know, but for the uninitiated, she left the group at the height of their fame and in a rush of inspiration, I walked out of my job that day,

becoming the first adult in world history to leave their big boy job to follow the spice girls around. I mean, I really want to be a teacher, but I really, really, really want to zig-zag, ah. I was now broke as a joke, but goddamn it was I being spicy. I went on that tour across America and I was everywhere. LA, Vegas, New York, Chicago, and just for the bragging rights, I had a little YouTube show documenting my experience in Spice World.

And it was kind of a hit making me pretty notorious in the spice community Which is an actual thing I had people at every show and every airport coming up and asking for pictures with me I had people quoting me I had a tagline at the end of every episode where I'd say remember it's a spice world We're just living in it And strangers are saying my dumb words to me on the street. I mean, it's always nice to meet a fan. But I had a bittersweet encounter with one on the road in New Jersey. This teenage boy came up to me, obviously gay, comes up to me after the show

and he tells me a very familiar story. He tells me how he had to see the concert by himself because he doesn't have any friends. And he told me how he couldn't even get a ride to the show from his mother because she believed that driving her son to a Spice Girls concert would make him gay. And that is how it happens for all you parents out there. He told me, I wish that I could be like you. I wish that I could just do something that made me so happy and not care what anybody thought about me and just live. And I didn't know what to say to him. I wanted to tell him that it gets better,

but I don't know that it does. I mean, look at me at that moment. I was still nobody. And my money was dwindling away. At the end of this tour, I might very well be homeless. But I'm definitely going to go back to being plain old, unspecial next to nothing me. But the tour marched on.

I was still recognized everywhere. Even the spice girls recognized me at this point. I mean, granted, I was one of very few adult men with a bleach blonde posh spice haircut in the front row every night. But I'll take it. And then there was a moment that has defined my life at this point.

Victoria Beckham, posh spice, the laziest spice girl. My favorite spice girl. She was doing them signing the morning of their show in Chicago and she was promoting her designer women's fashion line. And you were only guaranteed to meet her at the event. If you had a receipt for like $500 worth of merchandise from it. I didn't have that my tour budget per se. I was mostly living off of like hotel coffee

and airplane peanuts at that point. But I pressed my luck and I went to the event anyway. And I was extremely discouraged to find that hundreds, even thousands of people would eventually get to cut in front of me if they had the receipts for this stuff. And before I know it, the event's nearly over. And I'm dead last in line despite being the first person there. And this guy comes up to me and goes, excuse me,

did you already go through the line once and you're trying to meet her again? And I said, no, I've been here since 4 a.m. and I don't think I'm going to get to meet her because I don't have any money and he goes, you're kidding me, follow me. And we walk and we talk. And he takes me down some service hallways

and some pop-up quarters and he explains that he is their tour photographer. And he has recognized me from seeing me every single night and he wants his photo op of poshbice with her number one fan. He pushes me in front of her and she squeals, oh my god, it's you! Not only was she not afraid of me, she was excited that I was there. Now, at these events, she sits at a little table. She does not stand up for anyone or anything.

If you want to get a picture with her, you have to lean across the table, and they take a polaroid from the side, real personal, like, she asked me how many shows I was seeing and did not believe me until I pulled out the evidence of the 22 ticket stubs and when she saw it she got up out of her seat, grabbed me by the hand, pulled me to the red carpet and said you are fabulous, we've going to get some pictures. My presence has just moved the laziest spice girl to get up out of her seat and do something. What power do these hands hold in Spice World?

So we go back to her little table and I ask her to sign a CD very specifically and I dictated the following words to her. Dear David, you're really thin, you should eat something. Love Victoria Beckham. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry.

I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry.

I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. wouldn't get a picture of her looking happy. And at that moment, it started to click.

Maybe I'm not better off dead. Maybe I'm OK. Maybe special even. But all good things must come to an end. And in February of 2008, the spice girls called it quits again. My walk about was over. Now what?

The tour was definitively over and the reviews were in. I'm not doing bad at all. I waited a long time for that good feeling about myself to go away and I'm so happy to report that it never did because I learned so much about the world and my little walk about. I gained perspective. I've repaired my relationship with my mom. I realized that back then, she was a young single mom with seven kids. Of course, she was frustrated and angry and acted out about things.

She's since realized that I'm a human being with feelings and worth, no matter who I fall in love with. I learned that the world was never hating me while I couldn't connect. The world was waiting for me to find my voice and good luck getting me to shut up now. And there is one more little thing that I learned about the world was waiting for me to find my voice and good luck getting me to shut up now. And there is one more little thing that I learned about the world that I think I probably knew all along.

It's a spice world. We're just living in it. Thank you so much. Thank you. That was David Montgomery, live at a mock show Show at Nion Chapel in London, England. The country where it all began for the Spice Girls. When we first met David, he was a teacher to some of the luckiest first graders in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

He's since moved to Los Angeles where he's officially a writer, comedian, and actor. Check out his website at themoth.org to catch up with what he's doing now and to see pictures of him on his spice girl walk about, including the one of him with an uncharacteristically smiling posh spice. I recently got some answers from David via telephone. I asked him about the YouTube show he mentions and if I'd be able to find it. You cannot find it, unfortunately. I had to take them all down whenever the tour ended because I needed to sort of like regain some kind of professional footing and I needed to get back into teaching. And I applied for a job actually at the school that I student taught at, you know, a few years before that. And I called and talked to the administrator and she said we have a new principal who is a former nun.

And now I was really worried, you know, I've got to put the gay away and I've got to really hide everything, because it might be a homophobic environment. I don't know. And yeah, so I took everything down and I went in and I nailed this interview when I sat down and talked to her. Like she said, man, your resume speaks for itself and everybody's going on about what a great inspiring teacher you are. I'm very excited. She said, there's an interesting thing here as well. I have to ask, if you have any interest or ability, there's an opening in the music department. And I said, oh, no, I wish, but I can't even sing on key in the shower. And she goes, really, all that time with the Spice Girls. And you can't even sing.

She knew the whole time. She knew the whole time. The main thing I wanted to know from David was if the Spice Girls announced a reunion tour tomorrow, would he do it all again? You know what? At this point in my life, I'm an older man. Everything is... everything's good to go. I think I fixed that part of myself. I think I'm... I'll just watch from a... from a far. If they come to LA, I'll obviously go and see them. But outside of that, I think that chapter has closed.

So finally, I asked David, what's your favorite part of sharing the story with audiences around the country and around the world? I think the coolest thing about, I think storytelling in general is whenever you have a story that's funny and sad and uplifting and depressing and all these things, people take away what they connect with the most. And I've had people come up crying to me saying, you know, like my daughter came out to me two years ago, and I haven't spoken to her since, and I'm calling her tonight because of you. And I've had other people come up and say, oh my God, I took

a picture with you 10 years ago in Chicago because I loved your YouTube show. And just, I don't know, it's the weirdest thing in the world, the different things that people take away from it and what it means to them. I think has been such an exciting, fun ride with the store in particular. So I got a lot of favorites, I guess. ["When You're Feeling," by David Montgomery That was the Spice Girls number one fan, David Montgomery.

When we return, a little girl develops her beautiful voice singing in church and then takes it to Motown. And another story about an organization where secular music is for Vivian when the Moth Radio Hour continues. The Moth Radio Hour is produced by Atlantic Public Media in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, and presented by PRX. This is the Moth Radio Hour from PRX. I'm Jennifer Hickson, and in this hour we're talking about music. This next story was told in Kalamazoo, where we partnered with Michigan Public Radio.

If you don't know the VELVILET by name, I'm pretty sure you've heard them over the years. Here's a little to jog your memory. Now, before you listen to Cal Street Story, I wanted to find a term for you, because you don't hear it much anymore. Cal Street mentions a record hop. These were concerts held at schools and colleges. Bands would perform, kids would dance.

Sometimes they're called sock hops, because the school would ask the kids to remove their shoes so the gymnasium floor wouldn't get damaged. And now here is Cal Street, live at the mall. Applause Where should I start? My life has been a just the roller coaster of, let me start. We're in the studio, Motowns Studio A. The recording studio where all of those hit records that you hear from the Motown sound were produced.

And we're listening to songs from other artists, but we're also listening to songs that we recorded. And when I say we, I mean the Vivalvallettes. Thank you. Thank you. I was still in high school, so all I could do was release songs, and I could only do record hops on the weekend, because my parents were promised by Mr. Barry Gordy that they would not interfere with me in my school day. So anyway, they were listening to the song that put us on the map, Needle and a Haystack. And thank you.

We weren't on the A list of entertainers because we were the last girl group to come in there. But we were competing with the Marvelettes, the Supreme, and Martha and the Van Dellis. And the Velvallettes were the last girl group to come through there. Anyway, the success of Needle and Haystack prompted a call from Dick Clark. Dick Clark wanted the Velvallettes because our record was a hit before the Supreme's word that I love go. But he wanted the Velvulettes and the Supreme's to join the Dick Clark Caravan Astyrs tour, which we did. So right out of high school I was two weeks out of high school and I'm flying to Chicago to be in a

Dick Clark Caravan of stars tour. And my parents were asking me, but what are you going to do about school? How long are you going to be gone? You're supposed to go to college. You're supposed to do this. I said, I don't know, but I'm going on the caravan of stars to I'm going to be going to make

between 500 and 1,000 bucks a week at the age of 16 or 17. And you're going to ask me something like that. So it was a very, very fun to as a matter of fact. Diana Ross's mother was our chaperone and Diana Ross was my roommate. For two years, two summers, we did two Dick Clark care of Anastars, who was in, she was my roommate. And she was a very nice lady. I don't care what people say about her.

She was very nice to me. And she treated me like I was her little sister. She really did. We used to stand in the mirror in our underwear and decide and argue, friendly argument, though, about who was the skinniest. She said, you skinnier than me. I said, no, I'm not. No, you are much more skinnier than me.

So we would do that and just have a ball. And those were a lot of the positive, that's part of some, the positive experiences that I had besides singing on stage. Now get it up here talking on stage, believe me or not. Believe it or not, I'm kind of nervous. It's easier for me to sing to you than it is for me to just talk to you. Anyway, at any rate, as time went on,

the Vellvolec had another head he was really saying something and that took us back out on the second day Clark tour with the Supremes and several other groups from across the country. The second tour included the zombies from England. You remember that? No one told me about her. The way she was. Okay, that was the group from England that we was on our tour and the lead singer had

a crush on me. He did. His name was Colin Blumstone. And he had a crush on me. And he would call my home in Kalamazoo, my mother, and father would say, who is that Colin? I can't even understand what he's saying. He's Colin Blumstone. And I'm calling from England, and my parents, their ears were not, they're not, weren't ready for that. So anyway, I cultivated, we cultivated a lot of friendships, I cultivated a lot of friendships.

I happen to be the youngest member of the group. I auditioned for the Vivalvoleets and I was 14 years old, ninth grade. So that was quite a big responsibility when they nominated me. They were elected. Whatever you want to say it, they said, you are our lead singer. And so I'm looking around and I'm saying, yeah, but I'm only 14 and the ninth grade. They said, that's OK. You've demonstrated you can lead.

But that's because my father was a Baptist preacher. OK. My father was a Baptist preacher. My mother was a nurse attendant. And they raised seven children. And I'm the middle child and the middle girl of the whole kittenitten Kaboodle. And my dad noticed that I love singing at a young age.

So he would, and he had his own church for a while, and he would tell me, Cal, and you're going to have to lead the congregation while I'm milled at my older sister, played the piano, and lead them in song for devotion, service, and whatever. I said, what's all that? And he was like, well, you can do it. I want you to read from the hymnal. And he was right. I, he says, just let the Lord lead you.

And he'll show you how to sing it. And that, that's what happened. And so at a young age, say eight and nine years old, I was leading the congregation in church singing, Motown Records of Mr. Gordy, they knew that story because my dad told them when he and my brother took us there to audition in a terrible winter snow storm, it took us five hours to drive to Detroit. And it was treacherous, very treacherous. But so that early development of leading a group really helped me become an effective

lead singer for the Valvelettes. So and I would find out years later in Beverly Hills, California, when we received the Lifetime Achievement Award for the Heroes and Legends that Mr. Gordy, he admitted to us on stage that it had not been for the success of Needle and the Haystack. He couldn't have made payroll that month. And how do you think that made us feel? Not only were we proud to be a part of the Motown Legacy, but we were proud to be a part of the Motown legacy, but we were proud to be

that important and we were proud to be able to say we helped Motown stay together. Thank you so much. That was Cal Street's life in her hometown of Kalamazoo, Michigan. Thank you, Cal and the Velvillettes for keeping the lights on at Motown Records. What a legacy! Some of the Velvillettes' most popular popular songs are needle in a haystack. He was really saying something and these things will keep me loving you. Next up, a slam story from Boston, Massachusetts, where we partner with WBUR. As you listen, you may wonder, where's the music part?

Well, stay tuned, you'll hear it. Here's Don Smith, live at the moment. A fun characteristic, all cults share, is that they resist that label, cults share is that they resist that label, cult. Even now, 15 years since the cult fell apart, my parents will still give me a list of reasons why the group that they started in the early 70s was not a cult. So fine, it wasn't a cult.

What it was was a non-denominational evangelical fundamentalist religious fringe group, the members of which did not really integrate into society. But it was Nicole, you guys, because we had mainstream religious beliefs like, God is all powerful, God is all-knowing, and women can't wear nail polish. The leader of the not-cult was my grandfather, George Giptakis, and he could do whatever he wanted. He decided who married who, he had controlled the money, he decided where people lived. We lived in California, we didn't have a television,

we couldn't listen to secular music. We could listen to select Christian artists, not Amy Grant. She was far too female and independent. Christian music was fine, and Rush Limbaugh was always a good option. But it wasn't a quote you guys, because women could go to the beach just like anybody. As long as we were fully clothed, because in case you didn't know if there's one thing that

throws a wrench in the will of God, it's a woman in a one piece. When I was five years old my mom was trying to get this hairdresser to join our group, and so she sent me to get a haircut. I told the hairdresser that my secret hero was Mary Lou Retten, the gymnast. She cut my hair just like hers, and I was in heaven. My parents were appalled. Short hair was God's plan for men. At five years old, I had already transgressed against Almighty God

and his plan for my life. But there was in my life times when the real world did shine through. My big break came when I was 11 years old. My parents were going to an all day elders and their wives' church meeting. And my sister and I were going to be at home alone, cleaning the house.

My job was to take all their books from their bookcase, take them out, dust the shelves, put all the books back. This was the day I discovered that my dad had a secret. I took all his bibles from his lower shelf, and as I was dusting the shelf, I felt something pushed way back under the bookcase out of view. I pulled it out, and I opened up this oddly shaped box. Inside was Bob Dylan's complete collection of vinyl records.

This was a total no-no, okay, except for maybe his three-year Jesus period, this music was totally off limits. You see, before my dad found Jesus, he was a surfer hippie with a pretty great taste in music. And he had given it all up for Christ. Everything except for Bob Dylan. Whose music he kept hidden from view,

a secret that he couldn't enjoy listening to, but he also could not bear to throw it away. And so I started from the beginning. I put that first record in, and I sat down, and I started listening to this amazing revolutionary music that I'd never heard before.

I started from the beginning and I listened to everything and then I started over. I forgot about my chores and about the cult and about getting in trouble. I forgot about all the rules. I was totally swept away. I heard Lay-Lady Lay and Maggie's farm and the times they are changing. And then it was night and my parents burst into their bedroom like

what is going on? What is this music coming from? My dad looked so guilty. It was the best thing ever. I was in the middle of all of his records, and there were these photographs of Dylan and this catalog of lyrics. I did not get in trouble that night. And shortly after that, my parents decided to let my sister Nile listen to a very select group of secular musicians. It was our first taste of the real world,

a world that wasn't quite as demonic as we had been taught. When I was 23 years old, I left the cult. It was the hardest decision I ever made and also the biggest break of my life. Woo! Thank you. I will always be thankful for the day that I found my dad's secret stash of music,

because it helped me see who my dad might have been before the cult, but most of all, it was the day that I started my own personal revolution. Thank you so much. Don Smith is a writer, director, and producer. Her comedy series, Paid For Buy, spoofs the political campaign industry she's worked in for years. Don says she left the cult and never looked back. She loves taking her kids to concerts, and when she plays Dylan,

she turns the volume up high. She said, making ads about getting out to vote and marriage equality has been a way for me to put messages into the world in direct contradiction to what I was raised to believe. I can't undo the hurt my grandparents caused, but I can shine my own light. Alright, Don, shine on. And there's no time to let it's naming. Next up, our final story about a young hip-hop artist from Miami, Florida.

All the times they are a change in. The Moth Radio Hour is produced by Atlantic Public Media in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, and presented by the Public Radio exchange, PRX.org. You're listening to the Moth radio hour from PRX. I'm Jennifer Hickson. This time we're hearing stories about music. Our final story is by musician Jin Aoyang, or as he's also known, MC Jin. Jin pitched us his story via our pitch line.

Note you, listener, can also pitch us there. Just go to the moth.org and follow all the directions right there on the site. Here's a bit of Jin's pitch. I was born and raised in Miami. I got in a hip hop when I was about 12 years old. By the time I was 21, I saw my first record deal with a major record label. Oh, a small fact. I am Chinese. And little did I know, this would be crucial to not only my success,

but also to my pitfalls. Being supposedly the first Chinese rapper to ever sign a major record deal. We liked what we heard, gave him a call, and then Jin developed this story with one of our directors. Eventually, he told it for us in Miami at a show where we partner with Public Radio Station WLRM. Here's Jin Al Young live at the Moth in Miami, Florida. the moth in Miami Florida. In the year 2000, I was a senior, not too far from here, in the city of North Miami Beach, shiny about it, which is where I was born and raised. As well, if you remember that year, it was the year of probably one of the most memorable

elections this country experienced, and you guys were responsible for it. The recount, bush versus goa. And at the time, there were more important things on my mind than the well-being of this country, like being a rap star. So I graduated and I moved to New York City, being of this country, like being a rap star. So I graduated and I moved to New York City, the birthplace, the mecca of hip hop.

And I ended up on this TV show, one on six in park where they have a freestyle battle once a week called freestyle Friday. And I won seven weeks in a row and I ended up landing a record deal with rough riders. Yes, home of some of my childhood heroes, eaves, wispies, DMX. Little did I know at the time. This was a monumentous happening, you know, because I was the first of my kind that the label had signed, and essentially the first of my kind that I think hip-hop had really been exposed

to, and when I say my kind, I mean Chinese. And I can prove I'm Chinese, I do speak it, right? Pay attention. Joe Meacau, which is a very traditional Chinese greeting. It means, what's up, dog? Another question I would get asked often was, how does it feel, especially in interviews? How does it feel to be referred to as the Chinese Eminem? And I would think, I guess it's better

than being referred to as the yellow Eminem. Then another thing that kind of caught me off guard was the notion that, Jin, there's 1.3 billion Chinese people. You're destined for success. And the 20-something-year-old me was very logical. And this matter, and I was like, yeah, yeah they are gonna buy my album. Two copies each. So at this time I'm traveling the world, I'm touring, I'm living it up. 2004 comes around and these elections they keep following me around. The whole music industry wanted to vote that year

apparently. I remember Diddy, Diddy, Puff Daddy, Sean Combs. I don't know what he's going by currently, but he had the shirt on. Voter die, voter die. I didn't vote. My album did come out that year in 2004. And it was also kind of the moment that I realized this childhood dream was slowly transforming into a adultish nightmare. Apparently those 1.3 billion Chinese people aren't all rap fans. And of the ones that are, they were in all Jin fans. So when my album sales came in,

that's pretty much when they stopped comparing me to Eminem. I'm sure he was glad to, because I know he was tired of being referred to as the white Jin. So, yeah. But this moment in time for me also really sent me into a very menacing spiral. As much as I wanted to put on this facade, like I was doing fine, I wasn't. I was bitter, I was frustrated, I was discouraged, I was cynical. Financially I was doing like horrible. I went from living with my family. This is a New York in a two-story house, two-family house, to downsizing, to renting a basement

of someone else's home where my family of four was all living. At one point, I was disclosed to going down to Best Buy and seeing if they're hiring. You know, the thought of once upon a time being on TV to now having to pedal them, like it was gut-wrenching. And nonetheless, I tried to put on this facade like I was okay. And I think that made it even worse. Then 2008 came around. and I keep telling you, these elections, they keep following me around.

I was 26 at the time, and for the first time, maybe because of just this feeling of dread and despair, it forced me to seek something that was outside of myself, something outside of my own ambitions and my own desires. So I remember watching this speech, the Democratic National Convention speech of one Senator Barack Obama, and the main themes were hope, change. And even though he was talking to the whole country, I felt like he was talking to me, like he was saying, Jen, yes, you can.

I lifted me up that moment. And then when I started reading more about him, watching his interviews, and I knew that, you know, he was an outcast fan. I was like, yo, I'm voting for him. And I registered and I hit the ground running. This is my first time participating in the election process, guys. I was passing out stickers on the streets of New York City. I had a clipboard.

Excuse me, sir. Have you registered the vote? Man, have you registered the vote? I even did it in China time. Wait, 10 more on that, like I'm new with Taopiwa. Sometimes I had to stop them in a more unorthodox way. Chomaco! That means what's up, dog, by the way. I don't know if you guys were paying attention earlier. But it was such a exciting process. Because that was part of something

that was so driven by community. I think leading up to that I don't think I looked at anything other than just what am I doing? How am I doing? So in the midst of all that it dawned on me, well I don't not go back to what I do best. So I went to the studio and I wrote a song, you know, kind of like an unofficial campaign song and it's called Letter to Obama. And the opening line is like this, dear Obama, come on. First off, this is such an honor.

I'm a supporter. I just wanted to say, I truly believe in your bipartisan waste. There's more, but I'll stop there. And... I put it on the most important place. My space, yes. We all had a MySpace page at one point, don't lie. But one day, I log onto my MySpace page at one point, don't lie. But one day, I log onto MySpace page, right? And I'm noticing, wow, so many people are listening

to this song and, you know, it was definitely feeling the love and, you know, kind of that community aspect once again. And I log onto Barack Obama's MySpace page. I look at his top friend and lo and behold, there he was and all his glory. Me! Ha! and low and behold, there he was and all his glory. Me! Oh! At that moment!

At that moment, I'm like, I mean, I felt like I was at the Grammys. All right? And I'm basking in it. I log into my inbox, you know, and a message stood out. From Barack Obama's Myspace page. So I'm like, wait a minute. I click on it, very short, sweet to the point. Jin, just want to say thank you for your support.

Keep up the great work, right? But I took it all in. Oh my gosh. And I respond. Oh, thank you. And I tell you why, it just felt good to be appreciated, but more so, it felt good once again to know that I am part of something that's unfolding that is not only highly

historical, but just something magical. I see it as magical, right? So I respond, I say thank you, and I move on with life. Couple days go by. I get another message. Now this one, it basically asked me, Hey, Jin, from his page, is there a phone number we can reach you at? The first thought on my mind is, am I about to get a call from Obama? What's he going to call me about? He got

like an extra ticket to an outcast concert or something. I don't know. Who knows at this point? So yeah, I'm like, yeah, how come he had this number? And I get to call eventually from this unknown number. It was basically an invitation to attend an upcoming rally that was happening in New York City at Washington Square Park, not only attend, but perform my song. Yeah. And then, when I finished the song,

introduce Senator Obama on stage. Right? And the thing that stuck out to me the most was, there was so much healing at that point, even just that invitation, just inside me. So the day comes, a beautiful day in New York, and I remember just stepping out there, 10,000 plus people, and I was just one of a sea of people. Yeah, it just felt great.

So I do my song, right? The whole thing. Dear Obama, comma, yes. But I finished this song, I introduced him on stage and I'm watching this historical moment, not just in the history of this country and the elections, but this historical moment that I was being part of and just feeling, yeah, feeling like, you know, wow, this is something bigger than me.

As he's wrapping up, one of the campaign staff approaches me and says, make sure you stay close. We're going to bring him around. You know, you're going to have a moment with him. It's like, wow. It's too much. But I'm standing there. I mean, you hear people say, things started happening in slow motion, time froze. It was definitely one of those. I see him approaching me.

Now, that day, I had my then girlfriend at the time, Carol with me, and she was with me for basically this whole journey that you've heard me talk about. So it was special for her and me. And in my hand, I had this book, Dreams of My Father, that I was reading, which was his biography. And as he approaches us, extended hand, we shake. And he just gets straight to the point. It wasn't like a long conversation. But thank you for your efforts.

You know, thank you for what you're doing, great job, and I'm soaking it in, I'm soaking it in. And then he takes the book, and I had a marker with me, of course, and he signs it, right? Keep up the good work, to gin and carols. And the first thing on my mind is like, I've got a marryer. Ah.

Which I did. But I did. But I did. And he went on to become, you know, in 2008, the president of America. And I'd like to think, my little song had something to do with that. Hey, who knows? Maybe my song brought in that extra 1.3 billion votes that he needed. And not only that, but from that moment and that experience, I was able to really just pick up those shattered pieces and lift my head up and kind of see the light at the end

of the tunnel. And for the first time, I think I realized that while all along, I was just so focused on this experience being me, me, me, me. I realized that it wasn't about me. It was just so focused on this experience being me, me, me, me. I realized that it wasn't about me. It was about us. Thank you guys so much. That was Jin Ao Young, or as he's otherwise known, MC Jin. Jin continues to create and produce music here in the US as well as Hong Kong and China. To get a link to Jin's website visit themoth.org.

And you're listening to him right now. Remember Jin pitched us this story on our pitch line. Do you have a story to tell us? Maybe a time when music saved the day, you can pitch us your story by recording it right on our site or call 877-799-Moth. That's 877-799-6684. The best pitches are developed for Moth shows all around the country.

And the world, real. I don't know politics, that's no joke, but I do know that I get one vote. You wanna make it. the country and the show along with Kate Tellers and Maggie Sino. The rest of the most directorial staff includes Katherine Burns, Sarah Haberman, Sarah Austin, Janess, and Meg Bulls, production support from Timothy Looley. Most stories are true, is remembered and affirmed by the storytellers. Our theme music is by the Drift Other Music in this hour, from The Spice Girls, The Velvulettes, Bob Dylan, and MC Gin.

You can find links to all the music we use at our website. The Mothradio Hour is produced by me, Jay Allison, with Vicki Merrick at Atlantic Public Media in Woods Hole, Massachusetts. This hour is produced with funds from the National Endowment for the Arts. The Maw 3D Hour is presented by PRX. For more about our podcast for information on pitching, your own story, and everything else, go to our website, TheMaw.org. you