In this episode of Odejuma, Harry chats with musician and advocate 2AM Ricky to dive into the connections between artistry and social impact. He opens up about the profound loss that has shaped his creative journey, shares the story behind his name, and discusses the freedom he feels in crossing genre boundaries, explaining how this contributes to his work. He also discusses the health challenges he has faced, the essential need for representation in reproductive health, and his goal of creating safe and nurturing spaces for children.

A central part of their conversation revolves around House of Move, 2AM Ricky’s initiative aimed at supporting BIPOC queer and trans creatives, along with the mentorship that has guided him along the way. Through his honest and vulnerable storytelling, Ricky highlights how music can be a powerful tool for healing, empowerment, and community transformation. This episode celebrates Black queer voices, the impact of advocacy, and emphasizes the importance of inclusive stories in driving social change.

For more about 2AM Ricky: https://2amricky.com/

Watch the MOVE music video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-wABeALW9es

For more information on Harry, visit: https://www.harryitie.com/

Hi, my name is Harry, and welcome to Odejuma.

Odejuma recognizes the magic of storytelling.

From personal experiences to stories of adventure, from tales of resilience to finding joy in the simple things, this story seeks to inspire, entertain, and educate.

Because there is power in the stories of everyday people.

And these stories are worth telling.

Hey, y'.

All.

Welcome to another episode of Audio Drama.

I'm pretty excited to be speaking with my guest today.

He's a amazing musician, singer, songwriter, rapper, everything all in between.

And right Now I have 2am Ricky.

How are you doing?

I'm doing good.

How you doing, friend?

I'm doing really good.

I'm very excited to speak with you.

I kind of like got into your music, like this year when TDLR dropped, and so I kind of like being very curious to talk to you about what that journey was like.

I, you know, after I heard the song, obviously went back to listen to the whole discography, and I think it's like, you have a very rich and very great discography.

I'm like, you know, he should be everywhere.

You know, everybody should be singing the music.

And so, yeah, I'm very.

I'm just very curious about, you know, your journey with music.

How did you get started?

For folks who.

And I'll be familiar with you and your work can give us a little bit of a background on that journey.

Yeah, so I have been writing music and wanting to do what I do now, literally as long as I can remember.

I originally gra.

I graduated early at 16.

So I'm from Winston Salem, North Carolina, and when I went to college, I went to a hbcu, shout out to nccu.

And it was a very rich music culture.

So battle rapping cyphers, we had 9th wonder as a professor, and so I was able to really get engulfed in, like, the history of hip hop and the history of music and how storytelling is, like, can be vital in bridging that gap.

And so my first real leap of faith into music was creating a mixtape that, as you listen, it explored the story of what happened to him from my perspective.

But my engineer was also able to get recordings of KYA and allow him to narrate it.

And from releasing Hiatus, which was the mixtape from then, I've just continued on this journey of storytelling, of advocacy through my music and seeing the power of how it's healed people, how it's connected people, and how it's also brought awareness to conversations that seem a little taboo.

Yeah, And I'm really sorry about, you know, the loss of your friend.

How did that experience shape you just as a person in general, to lose someone, you know, really close and dear to you?

It was very difficult.

The way Kya passed was very traumatic.

He was mortared in his dorm room.

But Kya was also very supportive of my career.

He's very supportive of my transition.

He was always manifesting that, you know, you're going to be this artist and you're going to do all these things and you're going to live in your truth and you're going to teach other people how to be authentically themselves and.

And you not really gonna give a damn.

And at that point, I didn't really see that for myself.

That wasn't me and my personality, but he did.

And so in his passing, I've been very intentional of making sure that I reach all of those milestones, not only for myself, but for him as well.

Awesome.

That's beautiful to hear.

And you're doing that, like, with.

I see your work on social media.

Like, you're very involved in community, but you're also really, like, putting out, like, really great music as well.

So I'm very sure, like, he'll be very proud of the work that you're doing.

I'm very curious about, like, the name 2am Rick.

What's the story behind that?

So it is a double meaning.

And around 2am was the last time that I heard from Hezekiah the day that he passed.

And the day that he passed was the only time in our friendship we had never seen each other or talked to each other.

His number, he was a football player, was 22.

And so everybody called us twins.

So I was two.

My other reading was I was raised by my grandparents, and my grandma used to say, the only thing open at 2 in the morning is minds and legs.

So when people encounter me, I either want to open up your mind and make you think, or I want to open up your legs and make you move to the music.

Don't get your mind cluttered.

I was like, okay, where are we heading with this?

Where is this going?

Yeah, okay, cool, cool, cool, cool.

I love that.

I really love that.

And I feel like your music is very genre bending.

Do you ascribe?

Are you, like, stuck on, like, okay, this is the genre of music I'm doing, or is it very expansive?

How would you describe like your sound.

Creatively, my sound is definitely very expansive.

I would say that it is a perfect blend of soul, funk, and alternative hip hop.

I try to lean more of a feeling that I give people than try to box myself into a genre, because I don't really fit into one or the other.

Do you feel like people are.

There is a reflecting just on a general perspective.

There's a need for people to fit, you know, people's music into a particular box or so do you.

Do you feel that you encounter that as you have been exploring your music so far?

How do you deal with that expectation?

I think that although there are people who feel like, you know, people should only fit into one genre, people should only stay in one style.

We saw just all the chaos that happened with Beyonce trying to just go into different acts.

Right.

But I think that at its core, music is a form of communication.

That's what it's always been.

And so, yes, genres are good when you're trying to make a playlist or you're trying to give an award or something like that.

But overall, I think that people should be able to be fluid in their sound and in their feeling.

Okay, Okay.

I can respect that.

You do a lot of community work, and you're also doing music as well.

Do you feel like sometimes you have to sacrifice one for the other, or have you figured out.

Have you figured out a perfect way to blend both of that work?

In general, there are times that it's difficult because people are always quick to be like, oh, he's just a rapper.

He's just a, you know, entertainer.

And they only want to hear you when you got a mic in your hand.

But I think that for me to show up as 2:00am Ricky, it would be impossible for me to do that without being an advocate because of the support system and the fan base that I do have.

My advocacy comes from wanting to speak up for the people who support me, who often don't get to speak up for themselves.

And so I try to utilize my platform to bridge the intersection of what entertainment and advocacy looks like, but also to make sure that a lot of underrepresented voices and stories can be heard, whether it's through song or me just going on stage and behind the scenes, kind of sparking conversations that are intentional.

Okay.

Okay.

That's real.

I think a weird that you do that, I think, is with, like, your household.

Move.

Yes.

Work.

Can you talk about that for our listeners a little bit?

What is House of Move about?

Yes.

So House of Move is the inaugural Songwriting camp that I'm doing through the Move initiative.

So last year I released Move.

It went number three on the iTunes electronic charts which made me the first black trans man to ever top itunes charts.

And as much as that was a historical moment, I also experienced a lot of the erasure of the influence of black artists, the influence of trans artists into music and music culture.

And so I wanted to create the music the MOVE initiative so that those bipoc, queer and trans creative can not only feel supported musically with opportunities, with networking spaces, but also holistically.

How are you taking care of your mental health?

How are you receiving resources and making sure that they're very much more well rounded.

So House of Move is a three day sync songwriting camp that I'm doing with Blaze Unlimited Creative Agency where, where the select group of talented artists will come in.

They'll work with Grammy winning engineers, producers, they'll cook up records for SYNC placements, They'll have master classes by leading experts.

So we have the Recording Academy coming and Diane Durrett, we have Tammy Latrell and Mezzo Agency.

We have music supervisors from lvrn and Tyler Perry studios and all these different places.

And overall they're also going to be able to be provided a resource directory.

So how can I find people who can help me get my wellness in check?

How can I find access to prep resources?

How can I find mental health professionals that are catered to our community?

That's real.

It feels like you are bringing everybody along with you as you are going through this journey.

That's pretty cool to witness.

Do you feel like there are folks like when you were starting out your journey musically that also were there and helping guide you through to be able to find your space in the music seen, whether like artists or producers or people in the industry in general that you would say were very pivotal in that journey for you?

Yes.

So my mentor is actually Cece Peniston.

So shout out to cece.

Yes.

He has been pivotal in helping me navigate and helping me understand my place in the industry and honestly owning my power.

I think that's one of the biggest thing that she always preaches to me is that like there's a power in what you carry and who you are and your influence and your reach and in your power to touch others and inspire others.

And when you're able to hone that power, you're able to pour that back into other people.

So cece is definitely very pivotal in my career, in my personal life and I just love her so much.

Yeah.

And the single with CeCe Penniston was like, you know, kind of like your breakout single, if.

If I must say, um, how did that collaboration come about?

So the record with CeCe Peniston, which is called what yout on.

If y' all have not heard it, make sure y' all go check it out.

And at that time, I was a young artist trying to navigate my space in the industry, but also navigate what does it look like to be a trans artist in urban music, Specifically a trans man in a time and culture where there also wasn't a lot of representation for us.

So I was a lot of people's first introduction that trans men do exist.

Fortunately, I went through a space of navigating music execs who weren't accepting and who weren't understanding.

And so what you want was a record that I did in a one take, almost kind of like, I want to say like a F you, but kind of like, this is who I am, this is what I represent.

And you can't take the queerness out of the artist.

You can't.

It's just not going to happen.

And I did the record in a one take.

I walked out the booth and those execs, jaws dropped, and they called CeCe Peniston, trying to give my record to CeCe.

And she heard the first 30 seconds and was like, I love it.

I want it.

And I had no idea who was on the phone.

And I was like, I don't know who that is, but you can't have it.

And she's.

That is interesting.

And she's.

She looked at me on the.

Through the FaceTime and was like, you don't know.

And I was like, oh, my God.

But from that moment, she one respected that.

She said, it takes a lot of bravery to speak up for yourself in that space and to be bold enough to own that.

And from there, she was like, from that point, I don't want to take that from you, but I want to work on this with you.

And we've had a beautiful relationship and friendship ever since.

She literally calls me nephew.

That's my favorite auntie.

That is awesome.

And that's pretty awesome.

And, you know, shout out to CeCe Penniston and just, you know, the icon that she is, which is.

Which has me a little bit curious also about, like, your creative process.

So you did that song in one take.

When you hear a beat, when someone gives you, like, you know, a piece of track, how do you write?

What's your Writing your creative process.

Like, do you need to go be in Zenwood for a while?

Do you need to, you know, go out, take like a two day hiatus?

Like, what, what does that look like for you, your creative process?

Yeah, so I, I feel like there are lots of great beats and lots of great production, but not every production gives you a feeling, right?

And I feel like people, that little flutter, that little thing that makes people like, ooh, you know what I'm saying?

When they hear that beat and when they hear that cadence, that's what I look for.

And so I will spend honestly searching through, searching through beats to.

Through production, even creating my own production until I get that feeling.

And once I get that, it's more so just flowing through melodies, flowing through sounds.

I'll have eight tracks of Mushmouth.

It might not make sense, but I'm able to go back and build off of what does that feel?

What story do I hear or what words do I hear when I hear that?

When I'm writing, because I do a lot of vocal arrangement and songwriting for other artists as well.

And so when I'm working with other artists, I like to just have conversations with them.

I don't want them to go in and feel like I gotta, I gotta come up with the first, the strongest first bar.

We just take the artistry out and put the human in the seat and tell me about your day.

Tell me what you're thinking about.

Tell me who pissed you off today.

Did that boy not.

Oh, what'd he say?

You know what I mean?

Like, pull the real things that you are really dealing with that you feel like the world doesn't need to know.

Because that's going to be the thing that we're going to write about today.

Okay.

You should host a masterclass.

2026.

Coming.

They're coming.

Okay.

Okay.

Shout out to that.

And speaking of, another song that I really like is Move, which is a popular.

Obviously one of your popular songs already.

Love the video of the vibe of Move.

How did Move come about?

Yeah, so Move features the amazing Godzina.

Shout out to Godzina.

She's a amazing outfit artist from Miami, Florida.

Move came about because Z and I were in the, in the studio one day.

Coincidentally, she walked in and I was in the booth and I was working on it.

But Move was a record that also, again, I was in a time and space where I was coming off of the high of having what you want.

But I also was going through a low pace where I had developed uterine cancer and I Think that being a trans man.

Thank you.

I think being a trans man, navigating a reproductive health issue was very challenging because I dealt with a lot of people who didn't know how to care for me and weren't educated that I was able to even have this diagnosis right.

So when I create, when I wrote Move, it was honestly a song of inspiration to myself because I was in a low point where I was tired of life and I was tired of music.

But there was something about the art, there was something about my gift that still made me want to get up and move in the morning.

It was something that still made me feel a spark and feel alive.

And so Move was that song of reminder of motivation for myself that despite what I was physically experiencing, something inside of me still came alive.

It still made pretty girls want to dance.

It still made people.

When I showed up as Ricky, it showed up in my light and in my art.

No one saw that I was sick and honestly, no one knew until I was done with recovery.

How was that process like for you though?

Just dealing with navigating something so challenging and still having to show up and put on a brave face and do the work.

What did that.

What was that process like for you?

It was hard.

That was definitely one of the loneliest periods of my life that I went through.

It was very difficult.

I was afraid for my life.

I'm afraid for my health.

I'm dealing with.

So you're almost 10 years in the game.

When you're going through these things and you're getting tested because of my testosterone levels and how things show up chemically because of the chemical imbalance.

When you're playing with something like that, like uterine cancer, it's almost like a Russian roulette because some things don't show up on tests because of my.

My testosterone levels.

So they could tell you how sick and tell me how that I was sick, but they were having a hard time saying, hey, it stays 2, 3, 4, it's this, this, this and this until things are escalating.

So I think that it made me one, get close to God.

I'm definitely a very spiritual person.

I pray a lot.

And it made me do some self reflection of what's really important, what really matters to you.

And if you were to leave this world today, what are people going to remember?

And I think that was the biggest reason why, outside of, honestly, shame, because again, I'm a Trans man.

So I don't want to hear that something's happening with a part of my body that I don't really want or need.

But.

Yeah, but to also see that I might not have had the support that I needed personally to privately take care of that, but I had a lot of support for the impact that I was making musically.

And so if I was to have left this earth, I wanted every fan, every person who was moved by what you on, who was moved by move and all these other records that I have released to leave and have a sense of joy if something would have happened to me.

Yeah, yeah, that's real.

That's real.

And that's what, that's what happened.

You know, you, you're, you're, you made an impact.

You are making an impact.

Um, and so that's a, that's a good thing.

And I'm, I'm a little bit curious if you want to.

Like, you just talked about something that we're talking about.

Reproductive healthcare.

Um, a lot of times there's an erasure of the experiences of like trans folks and trans men, specifically through that process.

You know, how do you want us to even, not even in, yes, the larger public, but even in queer spaces, how do you want us to have these conversations?

Because it's a very, it's very important to have.

Because healthcare, reproductive, reproductive health is healthcare, you know.

And so how do you, how would you recommend that we approach these conversations in general?

I think one, starting with making sure that they're all faces of representation at the table.

Right.

A lot of times I do a lot of work and I'll go into HIV spaces, but I'll only see msm, which are men who have sex with men.

Right.

But then that doesn't cover someone like me who is a trans man, but I date women, but I'm still accessible to hiv.

I still need prep, so I still should be involved in these conversations and spaces.

When we look at reproductive health or reproductive justice, we had the whole debate of, you know, people can have periods and things of that nature.

There were conversations of how does that connect with CIS women and trans women?

But nobody thought about the fact that AFAB people exist.

So trans men, non binary people, our NBC, like siblings, we also should deserve a seat at that table.

And I think that a lot of times within community, it's so easy for us to be comfortable within our own communal boxes, to not really feel comfortable expanding or be comfortable even asking the questions.

Right.

I think that intentional conversations and intentional questions will take us A long way.

I think that also making sure that when people are doing things like sharing resources, sharing marketing materials, going into a doctor's office, making sure that there's all forms of representation.

When I was sick, one of the most difficult things that I experienced was walking into a OB GYN and them telling me that I didn't belong to be there.

Wow.

And having to explain to them, yes, I do, and you might want to get me in the back because we got a problem.

But them not even understanding that trans people belong because in every picture, in every room, it was only women.

Yeah.

It wasn't even diverse marketing for anyone to see a reflection of themselves when they walked into the room.

Yeah, yeah.

That's real.

That's real.

And I feel like, you know, for folks who are listening, and I think that we can start with, like, local organizations in our localities.

Right.

Encourage them to be more inclusive in how they have these conversations and how they market these services not just to one particular group or for everybody, so everybody can feel included.

Yeah.

I really appreciate you bringing light and just talking a little bit more about.

About, you know, reproductive care and productive justice and access for everyone.

So thank you for that.

I want to talk about, you know, let's go back to, like, the song that.

That I discovered you with tdlr.

Can we just talk about that for a bit?

That's a beautiful.

That is a really beautiful song.

Like, I love that song so much.

I feel like when Spotify rap comes out, I'm sure it will be somewhere.

It'll be somewhere there.

But talk to me about the song, the inspiration of the song, just a little bit into your creative process for that brunch for that particular song.

TDLR is so special.

It is fun.

It's the first record that y' all have heard that I did co production on.

Most times, y' all never hear my production.

So shout out to Clayco me.

Clayco Magic Monroe.

The three of us collaborated on that record together with TDLR is a lead single off of my new upcoming album.

It's called Don't Forget to Call.

So y' all will get that next year.

Make sure y' all look out for that.

And I wanted a record that felt like freaknik but modern.

So it was actually inspired about the story of how my parents met.

Right.

My dad was a security guard at a club.

His homeboy was trying to holler at my mama's best friend.

And my mama was just loudmouth in the car.

And the story cracks me up.

My dad is going to curse me out when he.

When he sees this interview because he's always like, don't tell people that.

So more that love story.

It's.

It's a modern day love story.

Okay.

Yeah.

So that's what I wanted.

I wanted something that felt authentic.

I wanted something that felt like a modern day freaknik.

But because of the theme of the album and how the album is very much so, diving into my own stuff, I wanted y' all to know, well, how the hell did I get here?

She brought her ass and got on.

The floor.

And you might as well too.

I feel like we've been in this last year has been hard.

Like everybody has been stressed.

It's so much sadness going on in the world.

It's so much violence going on in the world.

I think that we just needed something that felt refreshing, that reminded us to live, to laugh and to dance a little bit.

And that's what I feel like TDLR gives everyone.

Yeah, it's.

It's the perfect song to dance to, to vibe to.

Great job with the song.

We're gonna get a music video for the song.

I know there's another single out now that we're gonna talk about as well, but is there a chance for a music video for the song?

There will be visuals for the records on the album.

Okay.

Okay.

So we're expecting a visual.

A whole visual project.

I copy in the album.

Okay, cool.

Okay.

We're working on an actual visual mini documenting that we're turning into a visual album.

Okay.

Okay, cool.

And the knitted single Love ain't Rational, another beautiful song by the way.

I love a nice chill.

You know, a song like.

I don't want to be very imaginative, but it's the kind of song where if your life was a movie and you were like maybe driving down of the highway or something, that's a song that's playing.

Or you just get back from work and you're trying to have like a self care day and you light a candle.

I feel like that's the song feels like a very chill self care Roses.

It's.

I don't know how to explain it, but that's how I feel when I hear the song.

It's such a beautiful chill vibe.

So it's like about love and rational a little bit.

And the inspiration behind that one as well.

Shout out to Ari Lachelle.

My girl Ari Lachelle is on Loving Rational with me.

Loving Rational is honestly one of my favorite records on the entire album.

I'm not gonna lie.

It was a beautiful record.

To write.

I think that you all get a sense of my vulnerability in the lyrics.

Right.

I think that you're able to also kind of hear a more intimate side of me and a more intimate perspective to how I view life, how I view love.

And loving.

Rational was inspired by the contradictions of love that we all experience, the nuances that we all have to go through, whether it's healthy relationships or unhealthy relationships.

Whereas somebody we ain't got no business being with, but we're going to do anything for them, and we're going to stick beside them, whether it's friends, platonic relationships that.

You know what I mean, that they just.

There's a strain on it, but for whatever way, it still feels like a good balance to you.

I wanted to flow and explore those nuances and have a conversation with myself.

Self.

Love was definitely a way that you can view it with people that I've loved in my life, the previous women who I may have dated or encountered, and even with people who honestly are deep fans of me.

Right.

It's a love letter to y', all quite transparently, that, you know, there are times where I would.

I would rather be able to be my authentic self with them.

I would rather always be able to give and pour.

Respond to every DM and call everybody that tries to Instagram call me, which is weird, but.

But I don't always have that capacity to.

Yeah.

And my.

And it's not rational, but y' all love me anyways.

And I love y', all, too.

Yeah.

It's such a beautiful song.

It really is.

And, folks, if you're listed, I'm gonna link the music in the description so you can check it out.

Um, but, yeah, shout out to you for that.

And I'm curious, are you.

Would you call yourself a lover boy?

And is that like.

Cause I feel like that's the vibe I'm starting to get from.

From what you're saying.

Would you guys have a lover boy?

I am a lover boy.

I make music for the lonely and the lovers.

Okay.

A lot of the people, y' all will see me say, listen, if you lonely, or when you come to my shows, we call it the lonely experience.

And I play on that because I feel like although there are a lot of lovers in the world and everybody wants to be a lover boy, I feel like we all are lonely somewhere.

And I think that that loneliness is honestly the piece that connects us all.

Not love.

You find.

You get.

You get trauma bonded to people because of your loneliness, not because of Your love.

You make friends with people when you're in a low place because of your loneliness, not because of love.

And so I try to connect to the lonely and love them through it.

Okay, okay.

That's real.

That's real.

I'm waiting for that masterclass link.

Cause it's like.

It's like there's a master class on life and masterclass on music.

Either way, you know, Toya and Ricky got.

You know, class, class of 20, 26.

Shout out to that.

What.

What is the thing that you want people to experience and feel when they hear your music?

When anybody puts on a record or sees a music video or sees you perform live, what is the experience you want them to have?

When people encounter me, whether it's musically, whether it's seeing us perform live, I want people to walk away one wanting to have a conversation.

I want whatever you see, whatever you hear, whatever you feel to make you do a little bit of self reflection.

I think that's my.

My ultimate goal.

I think that I want people to be inspired to be their most authentic self, and I want them to be inspired to explore the conversations that they need to be able to get there.

That's real.

That's real.

Thank you for sharing that.

We do have, like, a fun rapid fire piece of the podcast where we ask, like, some rapid fire questions to get to know you a little bit.

So the first one is, what are the top three songs on your playlist right now?

The top three songs on my playlist right now is she Lives in My Life by Outkast.

Okay.

She Lives in My Life by Outkast is number one.

I have been listening to myself.

Love Ain't Rational is number two.

As you should.

As I should.

Ooh.

What is my number three?

I've been listening to Lockdown by Anderson Paak because what's going on in the world has been inspiring me that maybe we need to go back to that time.

So I've been listening.

Okay.

Okay, cool.

Who are the three artists that you would want to collaborate with?

Three artists that I want to collaborate with.

I want to collaborate with Dawn Richards.

Dawn is amazing.

I love her now.

So me and dawn have got to work together at some point in life.

I think that anyone who hears me, they hear.

And I would love to work with Anderson Paak.

That's another person that I definitely love.

His aura, his energy, his vibe.

He makes me want to go get a bobwhip and just, you know, mount a little bit on stage.

Yeah, it's about to be in Minneapolis.

DJ in next month or so.

I'm excited to go for that show and it's going to be like a good time for sure.

So excited to see see him through that.

If you could headline any stage in the world, any festival or big like concert, what stage would you want to headline?

I want to headline.

I know I can't headlining it because it's his festival, so he's always going to be his headliner.

I would love to co headline.

Kent Flogno.

I love Tyler, the creator.

I love him so, so much.

I think that from his branding to his music to his authenticity to his business acumen is very inspiring.

So I would love to do Camp Flauna.

Okay.

Okay, cool.

If there are like three TV shows right now currently airing that you would want your song to be on the soundtrack, what shows would that be?

Ooh, I had three shows because I just got a recent placement.

So if y' all have not already, go check out the latest episode of Love after lockup.

You'll see her, myself, and Brianna Shoko with Karma.

Three shows I could get my music on.

I would say, gosh, I got a lot of placements.

That's a good question.

That's a great question.

Because I got a lot of placements.

Black Orphan, because I'm watching that show right now.

I don't know why.

Love island, because I'm so tired of hearing about it.

But I can't break my social addiction like everybody else in the world right now.

That's real.

And I would love to do music for an animated series, so I would love to do a cartoon.

Okay.

Okay, cool.

I don't really care what it is.

I just.

I love cartoons.

I would love to do a soundtrack for an animated series.

Okay.

Okay, cool.

What is your self care practice?

So you've been working all week.

You want to just chill out and unwind?

What you gonna do?

Ooh.

So self care practices.

1.

I love tea and meditation.

I have like a routine of like, I don't talk to the world before a certain amount of time.

The only person who can get through to me is my mama and she know called me at 9:30.

That's real.

Okay.

But I also enjoy working out.

I think that working out is relaxing.

I love video games.

So I will sit on my couch and I will play the Sims or whatever random game makes me feel like.

I cannot have to think about anything and just press buttons.

Yeah.

And also nature.

So I will go out, sit outside and I would touch Some grass.

I'm real country like that.

Shout out to that.

I think people need to touch grass right now.

With the way the world is going, we need to go out more and just engage with each other a little bit.

Yeah.

Our final rapid fire question is what is your guilty pleasure?

My guilty pleasure is I am addicted to sneakers.

Entire wall of sneakers.

I am the ultimate sneaker head.

I'm addicted to sneakers.

I am a lover of goldfish.

I know that that sounds so random, but I'm like a four year old toddler.

I love goldfish.

You have any like your apartment in your house or something?

Do you have like a aquarium with some goldfish in there or.

No, no, not like the fish, like the actual snack.

Like a four.

That's.

Oh, this and that.

I'm addicted to goldfish, friend.

Y' all ever want to give me snacks, send me some goldfish.

Okay.

Okay.

Those are good snacks though.

Goldfish is a good snack.

So I'm not even mad at it at all.

The cheddar blast, please.

Come on.

Yeah, yeah, that's real.

Okay, cool.

So we know what to get you for a gift or for like a self care package.

Goldfish.

If y' all listening, Pepper's farm sponsor.

Me, shout out to that.

It's been such a great culture with you just learning about like, you know, your journey and everything that you've, you know, you've been, you've been able to accomplish and that you want to accomplish.

But you know, as we wrap up, I want to find out like what in like 10, 15 years from now, where do you want 2am Ricky to be and to have achieved like music?

So when I see myself 10 years from now, I see myself being a mogul within the industry.

I don't want to just only stay within a box of music.

I want to expand the MOVE initiative to be able to be a global thing that can help artists around the world.

I want to expand my advocacy and be able to partner.

Like right now I work with city of Atlanta.

I work with state representative Park Cannon.

I'm on the board for the recording Anatomy.

So I want to really expand what does diversity and equity look like for entertainment and how can people really authentically take that same practice and apply it into health, into repro health, into mental health, into all these spaces and the same impact that I have on stage, I really want to intentionally make that behind the scenes.

I want to see differences in policies.

I want to see free and affordable healthcare for entertainers.

I want to see us getting equitable pay My long term Joel, though, beyond that is I actually want to open group homes, which sounds random for someone who's an entertainer, but I lived in a group home.

I was bounced around as a child, and I had a period of living in a group home, and it was one of the most traumatic experiences I've ever had.

They were formatted similar to a jail, and I was the only black child in my home or in my village for about six months.

And at the time, my lyrics would be used as contraband.

So the same way a person would work into somebody's cell.

If you're in prison and you tear your own part and take your things, they would do that to me at 10, 11, 12 years old and rip up my.

And so experiencing that, experiencing that at this time, if you open, you can't open no windows, you can't open no doors.

You can't.

You can't live right.

It was traumatizing.

It definitely gave a sense of ptsd, and I don't want any other child to experience that.

So my goal is to be able to take all the knowledge, all the philanthropy, all the acumen, and then be able to open group homes that these children are not only able to live and thrive, but they're able to have their gifts and their talents and their crafts nourished.

So if you're interested in, there's a facility there and professionals and experts, they're prepared to help you hone those skills.

If you're a computer science person, there are people who are there to hone those skills so that by the time that they reach 18 and they're ready to age out, they don't end up in a situation where most of my peers ended up in, where there was no one for them, there was nowhere for them to go.

They have the skills, the resources and the network to help them get those letters of recommendation, to help them figure out, how do we get into college, and if college is not something for them, how do we jumpstart a career so that we don't feel like we're walking backwards?

Yeah.

Yeah.

And thank you for sharing that.

That's like, really that, you know, that that would be a very great initiative.

Just a little bit curious about, like, how having that experience, how has that, like, shaped you just as a person now?

Because you know that that must have been hard.

It was definitely very hard.

As a person, I think that it's made me be very sheltered.

I think people are always surprised when they meet me in person because I tell people all the time, 2am Ricky is a job like the liveliness that y' all will see on stage.

It switches off when I. I take that inner back off.

And I'm very to myself.

I'm very kind of like an introverted or extroverted introvert when, like, forced to be extroverted.

But I'm very, very close.

I'll sit in the corner, mind my business, and have a ball.

And so I think that it's made it so.

Personally, I'm very reserved.

Yeah.

And I think parts of my personality that might have been damaged or forced to be withheld during that time is the parts that y' all get to see when 2A and Ricky comes live.

Okay.

Okay, cool.

Thank you for sharing that.

I really appreciate you opening up like that and sharing for young, black, queer folks who want to go into music and, you know, do what you're doing.

Do you have, like, any advice for them?

My biggest piece of advice that I would give anyone is no one can believe in yourself more than you believe in you.

And a no from the world means nothing unless it's a no from God.

And if he gives you the gift, he probably ain't gonna say no to you because he gave it to you for a reason.

So reminding yourself of that and not allowing hurdles and obstacles and stigma and chaos to knock you off course is going to be vital to being successful.

The hardest part of my job is not having people want to like my music.

It's not finding someone to listen to my music.

It's being able to keep my whole mind, body, and spirit and stay true to myself despite the things that happen behind the scenes within the world and within entertainment.

That's real.

Thank you so much for sharing and for being open.

I'm pretty excited about the future.

The album is coming next year.

You say yes?

Yes.

So it's called don't forget to call.

And also I am.

Y' all actually will be getting my phone number.

So y' all look out.

Cause I'm dropping my number to y' all next week.

Y' all gonna get it.

Y' all can text me, you can call me, and I'm gonna call you back.

So don't say nothing crazy.

If you do, I'm gonna call.

I'm gonna answer and say, friend.

Yeah.

So expecting the album.

Any other major projects are going to drop before the album.

Anything that.

Any stops, Any tour stops that we can look out for?

Yes.

So this weekend, which it'll be passed by the time they'll see this, but this weekend I will be in Memphis, Tennessee, for the Southern Trans Celebration.

They have Trans Pride in Memphis going on.

So I'll be out there with We Care Tennessee.

And then October 11th.

All right, 5pm because we coming out at 5:20, so don't y' all be late.

On October 11th, myself, my band, the Break of Dawn, we will be at Atlanta Pride main stage.

Pull up to Piedmont Park.

We have a phenomenal set for y'.

All.

We got 30 minutes of going crazy.

I don't know if you saw my recent post that I put up on Instagram, but I actually showed a teaser of us running through sound check for the show.

And that alone is something you might want to see.

Make sure y' all are at Atlanta.

I'm telling y', all, pull up at 5.

Cause I know y' all gotta, you know, get your snacks, get your tent, put up all those things.

Just go ahead and get cozy, pull up a chair, bring your friends, and we're gonna have a great time.

Awesome.

Thank you to am, Ricky and for folks who are listening.

Appreciate you staying on and here and hanging out with us today.

I'm gonna share the links to check out to Enrique's music videos.

Spotify, Apple Music in the description, so click it.

It's like a really great stuff.

I'm very appreciative.

Until I see you next time, Odej.