THE GRIND: TERRELL BLAIR

BRONX, NEW YORK | TERRELL BLAIR

INTERVIEW KIM “GOODLOOK” SEABROOK

“MY UPBRINGING AND THE TYPE OF INDIVIDUALS I GREW UP WITH INSTILLED IN ME A SPECIFIC TYPE OF MORALS WHICH HAS YET TO DO ME WRONG. I WAS TAUGHT TO BE SELF-MADE WHICH ALLOWED ME TO BECOME A LEADER AS WELL. BEING A BOSS WAS ALWAYS A GOAL FOR ME BUT BECOMING A GREAT LEADER WAS THE ULTIMATE GOAL.”

VALIDATED: WHAT IS YOUR FIRST MEMORY OF HIP HOP?

TERRELL BLAIR: MY FIRST MEMORY OF HIP HOP IS MID 80'S DJS BRINGING THEIR EQUIPMENT OUT AND HAVING PARK JAMS IN MY NEIGHBORHOOD, CYPRESS/BEEKMAN AVE, THE HEART OF THE SOUTH BRONX.

VALIDATED: YOU MENTIONED YOU WERE IN THE STREET LIFE AND IT LED YOU TO DO 5 YEARS IN JAIL. HOW DID YOU COME HOME AND TURN YOUR LIFE AROUND? 

TERRELL BLAIR: YES, I WAS A STREET PHARMACIST EARLY 90-93 (CRACK-COCAINE). I WAS ARRESTED JUNE 1993, 1ST TIME IN JAIL/PRISON, TOOK MY CASE TO TRIAL AND WAS SENTENCED TO 15 TO LIFE RUNNING CONCURRENT WITH 8/3RD TO 25 YEARS. FOUGHT MY CASE WHILE I WAS UPSTATE WITH A PAID LAWYER. I WAS FORTUNATE ENOUGH TO GET MY CASE APPEAL WHICH ALLOWED MY CASE TO GO IN FRONT OF A JUDGE AGAIN. MY CHARGE WAS REDUCED AND I WAS OFFERED 3 TO LIFE. AT THAT TIME I ALREADY HAD 5 YEARS ON MY BID. UPON GOING TO THE BOARD I WAS RELEASED IN 1998. AFTER MY RELEASE I WAS DETERMINED NOT TO RETURN. THE SKILLS I ACQUIRED IN PRISON WAS TRANSFORMED INTO LANDING ME A JOB AS A HIV/AIDS COUNSELOR AS WELL AS DELVED INTO THE MUSIC BUSINESS.

VALIDATED: HOW DID YOU THINK THAT BY CREATING “HOODLIFE MEDIA” IT WOULD HELP IN RAISING SELF AWARENESS FOR THE PEOPLE IN THE COMMUNITY?

TERRELL BLAIR: SO INITIALLY THE NAME OF THE COMPANY WAS “HOODLIFEMOVEMENT”, WHICH WAS ABBREVIATED FOR NEIGHBORHOODS AND THE GOAL WAS TO FOCUS ON INDIE/UNSIGNED RAPPERS IN DIFFERENT NEIGHBORHOODS THROUGHOUT STATES AND CITY THROUGHOUT THE WORLD. WITH THAT BEING SAID, BRINGING RAPPERS TOGETHER PER EACH HOOD. IN MY EYES AT THE TIME PART OF THAT GOAL WAS TO HELP FILL IN VOIDS REGARDING THINGS TO DO, INTENSIFY COMPETITION AMONGST RAPPERS IN DIFFERENT HOODS AND ULTIMATELY MINIMIZE THE POSSIBILITIES OF YOUNG ADULTS GETTING IN TROUBLE.

VALIDATED: YOU STARTED BY GOING TO DIFFERENT FREESTYLE BATTLES AND RECORDING THEM. WHAT WAS IT LIKE IN THAT ERA COMPARED TO SEEING BATTLES THESE DAYS?

TERRELL BLAIR: WELL QUICK CORRECTION, WE CREATED OUR OWN BATTLES IN OUR NEIGHBORHOOD IN A COMMUNITY CENTER ON CYPRESS AVE IN THE BRONX WITH RAPPERS FROM DIFFERENT NEIGHBORHOODS. THE DIFFERENCE WAS THAT WHEN WE STARTED RAPPERS CAME STRAIGHT FROM THE TOP FREESTYLING AND REALLY DIDN'T KNOW ABOUT THEIR OPPONENT. IN CURRENT TIMES BATTLE RAPPERS KNOW THEIR OPPONENT MONTHS PRIOR TO THEIR BATTLE AND HAVE A LOT OF TIME TO PREPARE.

VALIDATED: YOUR RECENT EVENTS WERE THE “MILITARY GRIND CONCERTS”, WHAT WAS THE INSPIRATION BEHIND THAT?

TERRELL BLAIR: MILITARYGRIND DERIVED FROM A STATEMENT I USED FREQUENTLY. SO AT THAT TIME OF THE CREATION OF THE SHOWS WE WENT FROM “HOODLIFEMOVEMENTSHOWS” TO “MILITARYGRINDCONCERTS” BECAUSE I WANTED TO OFFICIALLY MAINTAIN BRANDING MILITARYGRIND. OUR CONCEPT WAS AND IS TO FOCUS ON CREATING PARTNERSHIPS WITH RAPPERS THAT WE FELT CAN BRING A CROWD OUT AS WELL AS MAKE MONEY WITH THEM. SHOWCASES WE FELT AND STILL FEEL DIFFER IN THE SENSE THAT THEY ALLOW A LOT OF ARTISTS TO PERFORM THROUGHOUT THE NIGHT WITH NO INCENTIVE AND A SHORTER TIME FRAME ON THAT STAGE. MGC HAS BECOME A GO TO EVENT FOR SEMI ESTABLISHED RAPPERS/ARTISTS AS WELL. SO ULTIMATELY WE WANTED TO CREATE A PLATFORM AND MAINTAIN CONSISTENCY WHERE ARTISTS CAN DISPLAY THEIR SKILLS AS WELL AS BE SEEN BY TASTE MAKERS OF THE MUSIC INDUSTRY AMONGST A HOST OF GREAT THINGS WE HAVE BEEN KNOWN TO PROVIDE FOR RAPPERS/ARTISTS.

VALIDATED: WE RECENTLY INTERVIEWED JASON BOURNE WHO WAS A VERY DEAR FRIEND TO YOU BUT ALSO A SUPER DOPE HOST FOR “THE MILITARY GRIND CONCERTS”, WHAT DID HE MEAN TO YOU AND THE HIP-HOP CULTURE?

TERRELL BLAIR: JASON BOURNE PLAYED A MAJOR ROLE IN MY LIFE. HE NOT ONLY BECAME THE FACE OF “MILITARYGRINDCONCERTS”, HE ALSO BECAME A MAJOR FIGURE TO A WORLD OF UNSIGNED ARTIST THAT TOTALLY BELIEVED IN HIM AS WELL AS HIS VISION AND SINCERITY IN REGARDS TO THEIR MUSIC CAREERS. JASON BOURNE WAS A YOUNG BLACK MAN THAT MADE A STRONG MARK IN THE GAME DUE TO GENUINENESS, CONSISTENCY, AND CONTINUANCE TO BE THE VOICE PIECE OF THE UNSIGNED/INDIE ARTIST.

VALIDATED: SOMEONE ELSE WHO RECENTLY PASSED AWAY WAS FRED THE GODSON. WHAT WAS YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH HIM AND WHAT IMPACT DID YOU MAKE ON HIS CAREER AND VICE VERSA? 

TERRELL BLAIR: YES, ANOTHER GREAT INDIVIDUAL, FREDTHEGODSON. I MET FRED IN 2000/2001 VIA DUKE (LOOSEKANNONS), HE PULLED UP TO THE COMMUNITY CENTER ON CYPRESS AVE WHERE WE WERE CONDUCTING OUR HOODLIFE CYPHAS. AT FIRST I THOUGHT HE WAS THE TYPICAL YOUNG ARTIST THAT WAS SO-SO LYRICALLY AND ONCE HE BEGAN TO SPIT I IMMEDIATELY BECAME A FAN AS WELL AS A GOOD FRIEND THAT SUPPORTED HIS MUSIC CAREER UNTIL THE DAY HE DIED. FRED GRACED THE COVER OF A FEW OF MY DVDS (HOODLIFE CYPHAS AND CRACKDVDS VIA RAPCYPHERS AND INTERVIEWS), HE ALSO HEADLINED AND HOSTED OUR “MILITARYGRINDCONCERTS”. OVERALL IT WAS A TWO WAY STREET IN REGARDS TO BOTH OUR BRANDS REGARDING GROWTH, IF TIME ALLOWED AND WE NEEDED EACH OTHER REGARDING SPECIFIC THINGS IN OUR MUSIC CAREERS WE DID IT TO MAKE IT HAPPEN.

VALIDATED: HOW DO YOU MANAGE TO STAY RELEVANT THESE DAYS WITHOUT HAVING TO GIVE UP YOUR SOUL OR WHAT YOU TRULY BELIEVE IN?

TERRELL BLAIR: WELL MY UPBRINGING AND THE TYPE OF INDIVIDUALS I GREW UP WITH INSTILLED IN ME A SPECIFIC TYPE OF MORALS WHICH HAS YET TO DO ME WRONG. I WAS TAUGHT TO BE SELF-MADE WHICH ALLOWED ME TO BECOME A LEADER AS WELL. BEING A BOSS WAS ALWAYS A GOAL FOR ME BUT BECOMING A GREAT LEADER WAS THE ULTIMATE GOAL. ONCE I REALIZED THAT IT WAS EASY TO MAKE MONEY HONESTLY WITHOUT SELLING MY SOUL. THE PATH OF STAYING SUCKER FREE ALLOWED ME TO CREATE OPPORTUNITIES AND PLATFORMS FOR ARTISTS WITHOUT ME HAVING TO NEGATIVELY MANIPULATE THEM WHICH IN RETURN GAINED THEIR TRUST. OVERALL, I ALSO KEPT SINCERE, NON EGO BASED, AND NO “YES MEN/WOMEN” IN MY CIRCLE.

VALIDATED: NOT ONLY ARE YOU A BLACK OWNED BUSINESS, YOU ARE A BLACK MAN RUNNING A BUSINESS, WHAT ARE THE CHALLENGES THAT YOU FACE AND HOW DO YOU OVERCOME THEM?

TERRELL BLAIR: WELL AS A BLACK MAN RUNNING A COMPANY THAT CONSISTS OF YOUNG BLACK/BROWN MEN AND WOMEN AT TIMES IS A CHALLENGE BUT I CONTINUE TO MOVE FORWARD TO ENLIGHTEN AS WELL AS DEPROGRAM OUR PEOPLES TO BECOME A BIT EDUCATED AROUND THE IMPORTANCE OF SUPPORTING BLACK AND LATINO COMMUNITIES. REMEMBER WE HAVE BEEN BRAINWASHED IN A MYRIAD OF WAYS FOR YEARS.

VALIDATED: ANY INSPIRING WORDS FOR THOSE WHO ARE IN THE MUSIC BUSINESS WHETHER IN FRONT OF THE CAMERA OR BEHIND THE CAMERA?

TERRELL BLAIR: EDUCATION, PROPER COMMUNICATION/ETIQUETTE, AND CONSISTENCY ARE SOME GREAT TOOLS TO ABIDE BY IN THIS MUSIC INDUSTRY.

VALIDATED: HOW CAN THEY FIND YOU?

TERRELL BLAIR: MY EMAIL TERRELL.BLAIR@GMAIL.COM IS THE BEST TO GET IN CONTACT WITH ME. MY SOCIAL MEDIA HANDLES ARE @IAMTERRELLBLAIR @HLMMEDIADOTCOM @MILITARYGRINDCONCERTS