Harry Mack

This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed human. No gloss, no filter. Just stories. Spoken without fear. A person who is not generous cannot be an artist. The world will be at peace only when it is ruled by poets and philosophers. Listen to my weekly podcast, the Pooja Bhachow on the iHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Come for the honesty, stay for the fire. I'm Nora, and with me is Sarah Oda. Hello, welcome to our show. Hello. Our guest today is the incredible freestyle rapper who has gone viral for his off the top of the dome, rhymes, improvisation. He's truly one of the best out there, Harry Mack. He's built a massive global following through Omega and YouTube, doing freestyle sessions. You've seen him everywhere from the Venice boardwalk to Times Square, just going up to strangers and asking for words and making up rhymes in real time. What he does is seriously just phenomenal. It's unbelievable, actually. I'm personally a huge fan, if you can't tell. Yes. And his energy is very positive and contagious. And I felt like just doing that here in this room was super fun. It was so fun. And yeah, I second everything you said. Everything he does is kind of mind blowing. Yeah. Yeah. And his energy was so great. And he plays drums. But he has not played as much drums as he does, has done the freestyling thing. And so for this episode, we we definitely talked about him playing drums on a few songs or maybe at least one song, but he ended up playing on everything. Yeah. And that was super fun. Super fun. Yeah. Yeah, it was we did things a little differently because we were, you know, improvising a lot. We used words from our crew in the control room to kind of try and throw at him during some of the songs. You're going to hear about his background, how he sort of discovered this superpower that he has. You're going to hear about the amount of energy that it takes mentally and physically to just pull off what he does, especially when he's doing a show. And brain power, like the amount of brain power, like just to be a human dictionary all the time. Yeah. I mean, I didn't have the brain power to even trust myself to spit out words, random words while playing. Just in general. So I had to have a hat full of like written words. It's like he has the brain power. He has two brains. One is thinking of the rhymes while the other one's saying them. It's really wild. Anyway, in keeping with his style, we did all improvised songs. So yeah, stay tuned. It was really fun. Enjoy the episode with Harry Mack. So hey, thanks for coming. Oh, thank you so much for having me. It's so awesome to be here. It's great to meet you. Yeah, likewise. Yeah, it's funny. I mentioned that you're going to be on the show to a few people. And I mean, I've been getting a lot of big excitement from. Oh, really? From just anyone. Oh, awesome. Yeah. Awesome. Well, no, I'm it's it's a it's an honor to be here truly. I'm such a fan of you and your musicianship and your artistry. And I actually wasn't aware of your podcast until you reached out. And then I had the joy of checking some of it out. Oh, cool. And I love it. I listened to the episode that you did with Brian Blade. Oh, yeah. Are you a fan? You're a huge fan. Of course. Yeah, I got to see Brian Blade with Wayne Shorter when I was when I was young. That's amazing. Yeah, up in Portland, Oregon, where I'm from, my dad took me to see that show. And so I've been a huge fan of his since then. And that's so cool. Yeah. Yeah. He's in town right now playing. Oh, really? Yeah. Oh, amazing. I got to go check him out. I think he's playing at Dizzy's the next few nights. Awesome. No, he's so great. And I loved your guys's conversation. And yeah, and I checked out you and Logic as well. Oh, yeah. Cool. He's obviously so great. Yeah, he's great. Loved that. So it's fun for me because I don't ever play with rappers. Right. You know, it's like this is I'm glad you were into doing it. 100 percent. Yeah, I'm a big fan. What you do is insane. Oh, thank you. It's a little crazy. Yeah. Well, thank you. No, it's awesome. I'm happy to be here. Yeah. Well, I it's always fun to start with music. That's why I asked you to play for a minute. But you want to try a thing? Let's try a thing. A thing. So you freestyle. I freestyle. Yes. OK. And you're insane at it. Oh, thank you. Well, we'll see. We'll see. No, but what do you like to do? Do you have some beats you brought or? Yeah, I brought. So I'm open, you know, I'm an improviser, but I so I brought like some drum tracks that we can play off the phone. Or you're sitting at the drum. Or I'm sitting at the. It feels, you know, like because I'm sitting at the drums, it feels like I should play. So maybe you want. Yeah. OK. And I'm going to improvise my lyrics. So yeah. So I'll give you stuff. How do you know? I was like, I've seen you do it both ways where people say the thing during the track. Yeah. And then where people give you words before you start. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So I've done it both ways. OK. I don't know if there's one that you'd be more comfortable with or one that feels more exciting or fun for you. Well, when I was thinking about feeding you words while we were playing, I I was like, I don't know how he does it, because I can't even think of a word every every 12 bars. Yeah. I can't either. That's the funny thing when other rappers are like, OK, now you throw me words. I'm like, wow, this part's way harder to be than the actual rap. Yeah, I have some. I have a cheat. I have a cheat. Oh, you have a cheat sheet. Oh, perfect. Or I can just give you. Why don't we do the ones where I give them to you first? Yeah, let's do that. OK. Yeah. This is so new for me. So I love it. I had everyone in our control room right down some stuff. Oh, I love it. They're going to pull it out of a hat. I love this. This is awesome. OK. Commonplace. Commonplace. OK, so. Is it OK? Yeah, it's almost all OK. OK, cool. Yeah, because I feel like they were trying to like get the really complicated words. No, that's good. I like that. OK. Yeah, I like a challenge. OK, cool. Commonplace. Commonplace, which is like regular, normal, frequently occurring. Yes. OK. Commonplace. Commonplace. Extinguish. Extinguish. Yes, good. All right. Clarify. Clarify. These feel. OK, these are good. OK. Let's get two more. OK. Parachute. Parachute. Toe. That's mine. That's good. Finally, a one syllable word. I felt like it was called for. No, it was definitely called for. All right, so let me let me summarize. Let me see if I even remember them all. Commonplace, extinguish, clarify, parachute and toe. Those are the words. Do you mind if I play with you? I would love for you. Yes, I won't get fancy. No, please do your thing. This is I'll let you start. All right, let's see something simple on the drums, I think, so I can hopefully remember these words. Here we go. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Come on. One, two, one, two. Come on. Yeah. One, two, one, two. Yeah, one, two, one, two. Off the dome, we're gonna rock it for you. Listen. Kick your free styles out my face. Every instrumental track is about to get laced. I'm about to break you off with the taste. It's nothing new for me. Honestly, it's commonplace. This is regular. Got the flow, they beg it for it. They have to hear it. I let these lyrics emanate from my spirit. I do it better when I'm rhyming. Man, y'all know I embrace and to be real, I'm feeling quite calm in this place. So let's do it. We can bring it all together. Forming a bond, tough with the leather. Kick the lyrics that are clever. Rhymes they couldn't measure each and every time I bring this, lift you higher with the fire that could never be extinguished. Come on. Yeah. And y'all know I keep it clever. Compared to fire, extinguish your mind, Florida. I move like H2O, so peep the liquid. Flowing off the metal, I'm a hitch out with the sickness. We all up in it. I'm never timid. My flow within it. In the competition, I win it. Off the top of the dome when I'm pouring palms. I'm playing along with Nora Jones. I'm scared to pop it. We never stop it. We leave it with no option. I'm whipping up these rhyming concoctions. Doing it better off the top, though. And when I rhyme, they know I hit them with the high flow. They asking, yo, who is this hairy guy? I hopped on the podcast just to clarify. Just in case you didn't know, we gon' make it dope. Here's the rap clarification. Got y'all taking notes. So go ahead and write it down. Get ready for the realness. I put it in your nervous system. Quick to make you feel this. And they all dig Harry's creations. Afterwards, they be asking for my clarification. Well, if I'm honest, kinda hard to explain. Never be slipping when I be ripping. I go hard with the flames. Throwing it down, name is going around. Y'all know we be getting plenty loose. Take your wrist like I jump with the parachute. I said I leap and then the net will appear. 365, think about to sweat me all year. And when I rhyme the microphone, I be controlling. It got them panicking like a parachute with some holes in it. Y'all know I'm never timid when I get to rhyming. Constellation, all my stars are in the rhyme. 747 bars, I'm fly. Dropping all about the plane when I'm kicking these rhymes. And y'all know I'm improvising with flair. Improvising, so y'all know we build the plane in the air. Yes, and I be adding on. I love a tight rope walk. Plug it to the system, they're not shocked. I make it pop when I'm coming through the speakers. Get your lifted like reef on, spinning straight ether. I'm making y'all believe us when I spit the flow. When I rhyme, I make them feel it from the head to their toes. It's like that chop. When we rocking a beat from the top of the dome. All the way to their feet. Listen, and y'all know I kick explosive rhymes. Is he a rapper or a performer? I told the line, jazz musician was spitting. I be flipping off the top of this ill-free style. Shortly lasted two apocalypse. Norah Jones and Harry Magdor speed the ill collaboration. Right now with no procrastination. What? Yeah. Uh. Yeah. Uh. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Woo. I'm just crazy. A little warm up. That was awesome. Yeah. Oh, thank you. I remember them all. I think so. I think I heard all of them. Okay. We're getting a thumbs up. Yeah. I mean, even if you didn't, incredible. Oh, thank you. I mean, where did you come from? How did you do that? Yeah. I mean, I've been freestyling since I was, I think, 10 or 11 years old. Really? Yeah. I mean, trying to. Yeah. My first freestyles were not very great. What started it? I think, so for me, it was probably my first exposure to it was 106 in part. Freestyle Friday on BET. Okay. So it was like a freestyle battle show that would happen. And it was like every week, you know, the winner would come back on the show. And at the end of it all, like whoever won the whole thing would get a record deal. Oh, wow. Okay. Yeah. And so there was this incredible rapper and freestyler and now comedian and many other things named Jin, MC Jin, who like won the whole thing. And we were super into watching this and following along every week. We would go over to my friend Brady's house and, and, and watch freestyle Friday. And it was just mind blowing to us. I mean, so I was, you know, in sixth grade, I guess at this point. And it was just mind blowing to us that they were able to come up with this stuff in the moment without any planning. And it was so electric without like any special effects or it wasn't overproduced in any way. It was so raw with little slip ups and mistakes as a part of it, you know. Yeah. And it was just so exciting to us. So that was my, my first exposure. And then we started trying to do our own little freestyles, just, you know, little 12 year olds in Portland, Oregon, who were just, That sounds so fun. It was awesome. That was some of the best times. It was some of the best times to be a kid, you know, to be doing that with your friends. It was so amazing. Yeah. Some of the best times of my life for sure. A lot of laughing and like, Oh man. Yeah. I'm like, we weren't good at it, you know, but it didn't matter. It is so obsessed with trying anyway. Yeah. And I think that's such a beautiful thing too is like, I'm grateful that I started trying to figure out how to freestyle when I was so young because I didn't yet have all that like, you know, self critique and like inner judgment that gets in the way so often now. Like as an adult, like it's hard for me to learn new things now because I'm like, oh, that's not good. Yeah. You stop yourself from really diving into things. 100%. 100%. But back then we didn't care. This is awesome. You know, like. So cute. Yeah. I'm sure it wasn't good, but it was, but it was just filling us up with so much life and so much excitement. So we kept at it. And any of the friends you got into it with, you're still tight with? Yeah, I'm still, yeah. Do they do it or are they? Yeah. Yeah. I mean, yeah, my, one of my close friends Brady, who I grew up doing music with, we had a group together back then in sixth grade called State of Mind. Oh, fine. And he was the DJ and producer and I was the emcee. And yeah. Just the two of you? The two of us at first. And then when we got to high school, we kind of expanded the group because, you know, in high school, it was like all the local middle schools kind of joined together. The high school was a bigger school. So all of a sudden there were all these new kids that we met. And so then our friends, Jack and Alon joined the group as well. And so Alon was my partner in Rhyme. He was the other rapper in the group. And then Jack was another DJ and producer. So it was the four of us. That's great. Yeah. Yeah. And it was such an awesome time. And I learned so much. And those are some of my closest friends. Alon is no longer living rest in peace to him, but he's, yeah, but just was an amazing writer and freestyler. Oh, wow. Yeah. So you egged each other on? Oh, 100%. Yeah. Inspired and also kind of competitive sometimes? Yeah. Friendly competition. Yeah. And I was like, the funny thing is he would start almost every song. I'm such a bounce off others type of person. Yeah. You know? So I was never really like the initial concept or idea. That's why it's funny when you were reaching out like, oh, what do you want to do for the music when we're on the show? I'm always kind of like, oh, I don't know what, like what do you want to do? Yeah, I know. Or if you start something, then I'll know what to do. Yeah. You know? But it was the same way with, with Stay to Mind with my group back then. It was always Alon who, who, and he went by Mighty Misk as in Miscellaneous, M-I-S-C. And it was so great at coming up with ideas and concepts for songs. And so he would do his verse first and be like, yo, here's my verse. It's about this. And it was always so great. Yeah. And then it was easy for me because then I was like, okay, okay, I can add my two cents. You would take it and run with it probably. Exactly. Exactly. But I never wanted to, once I heard his part, I was like, this is so great. I mean, I have to bring it. You know? So it was that friendly competition of like, I never wanted to let the song down. Yeah. You know? Yeah. And it just elevates everything when you have someone like that who eggs you on and just gets it going. Yeah. Yeah. 100%. So I learned so much from him. And he was so ahead of his time too. Like back then I didn't understand what some of his lyrics were about. Really? But I was like, oh, but it sounded good. So I was like, oh, maybe this is just like some kind of like ear candy thing where you can't hear it. And it's like, oh, maybe this is just like a ear candy thing where it sounds good and it's sort of abstract and you're not necessarily supposed to understand. And then it's interesting. Since he passed, I went back and listened to a lot of the old music that we had done together. And it was like, wow, like now I feel like I get what he's talking about at 35. Yeah. Now I understand what he was writing when we were 15. It's kind of amazing. Yeah, that is, I feel like that happens with a lot of music that I didn't understand as a kid. Yeah. That I loved. Oh, same. Yeah. But I didn't get it at all. Right? You haven't lived just that life yet. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. Exactly. Yeah. I feel like rap especially, hip hop also, but like rap specifically, there's such a competitive nature to it. Yes. 100%. It's a whole other thing. Yeah. Yeah. It's unique, I think, to the genre. And I embrace it full on. It's really funny. Like if I'm talking to people and oh, yeah, I'm a rapper. It's like, oh, what do you rap about? It's like, oh, well, I basically rap about how I'm the shit and everybody else is worse than me. It sounds horrible, but maybe if you're not immersed in the genre, if you don't understand it, you might be like, okay, so you're just like a really arrogant person. Yeah, but that's not at all. It's not that though. I think, well, and obviously, taking the history into account too, it's like hip hop, even back in the big, like the origins, late 70s, early 80s, it was all about the battle. Even before there were rappers, it was like, you know, the B-Boy crews and the, you know, the B-Boys and B-Girls with break dancers, like going head to head on the linoleum, like who has the ill-ish style, you know, and then the DJ battles. And then of course, eventually the rap battles. And there's this braggadocious energy to the music that is, I think, really beautiful. And I think for me, it's like an expression of self-love and like self-empowerment. Positivity. Yeah. Yeah. And then shifting yourself up. And especially if you look at where hip hop comes from, you know, which is like some of the harshest environments, you know, like late 70s, like, you know, the ghettos of New York, the South Bronx. It's like, for a lot of people, it's like a battle to survive, you know. So like using the art form to bolster yourself up and lift yourself up and put yourself up high, I think is a beautiful thing. Yeah. It's sort of where all that comes from, probably. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, it's so funny though, to me, coming from a different world. Yeah. Wow. It's so different. Yeah. Can you imagine if you were singing, it's like, I'm the goat. You other singers are wet. Yeah, I know. It's so fun. Yeah. I'm like, maybe that would be fun. Well, it's also funny. Yeah. I mean, I think that would be awesome. I would love that. Yeah. I'm here for that. I'm here for that. But no, but I think it's, yeah, I think it's a cool thing. It's funny because people see my videos and often there's this sense of positivity and this feeling of positivity, you know, that gets pointed out quite a lot of people say, oh, I love your stuff because, you know, you're so positive. Oh, yeah, yeah. And I think that's awesome. And I do try to be really positive. I try to present, you know, something that feels hopeful and that feels uplifting, especially to the other people that are in the video that are like taking their time out to collaborate with me and give me these words and inspire my freestyle. And anytime I incorporate people, I'm trying to do it in a way that is positive. But it's kind of funny and ironic in a way because if you just read the transcription of my lyrics, it's like, you're so positive. And it's like, well, I said, like, I'm better than everybody and they all suck and they can never match me. You also said that. Yeah. Yeah, it's positive. Yeah, exactly. The feeling is positive, I think. Yeah. Your energy is positive. Thank you. Thank you. Yeah. No gloss, no filter, just stories, spoken without fear. The reaction is a disease and it should be looked upon as any other disease. How did you cope with a reckless father like me? Join me, Pooja Bhatt, as I sit down every week with directors, actors, musicians, technicians and beyond. You don't need to work with the biggest people and the biggest sound to have great music. I have gone through the Saab Siddhi Hachakar, reached the pinnacle, stung by the sneaker and I've fallen down again. I am not writing actively anymore and when I see my old work it kind of saddens me. I'm only as good as the last shot that I gave. Mom's gone but don't shut the theatre. The show must go on. Listen to my weekly podcast, the Pooja Bhatt Show on the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Come for the honesty, stay for the fire. Yeah. I don't know, should I sing first? Yeah, go for it. I don't know. Yeah. I don't know. We're gonna be sinking soon. We're gonna be sinking soon. So everybody hold your breath. And down and down we go. Yeah. Listen. Yeah. We're gonna be sinking soon. Unless we can channel the love. Unless we can find a way to finally rise up above. Everyone's stopping to judge. Nobody know what's real. Nobody taking the time. Nobody knowing the deal. Time for some conversation. Time for some people to listen. Time for us all to come together. We got a bond over vision. We got to find a way to stop the crash or stop the collision. Yeah. When I be rhyming, I go in your brain like a mental incision. No more division. When I be rapping, I'm bringing the people together. Just like we do with collaboration. Forming the bond of his leather. Hoping to elbow V.E. to channel the kindness. Lasting forever. We're gonna sink soon. Less we can overcome it. I know we feel the fear. Every time there's too much to stomach. I don't want to see us plummet to the bottom. So we do like Mac and Norah Jones and keep it locked and cool. We're gonna be sinking soon. We're gonna be sinking soon. So everybody hold your breath. Cause we're gonna be sinking soon. I didn't know. Oh my God. That was fun. That was super fun. That was fun. Come on. Yeah. I could see this all day. Yeah. Same here. It was cool too. Don't get the drum machine out. Please. Yeah. No. This is dope. I played with my fingers too. Cause I wanted to do something kind of, I don't know, something different. But that was amazing. And then I felt like on the first verse, I was just kind of rapping. And then, cause I'm just settling in. And then the second time around, I was like, oh yeah, we're going to be sinking soon. Like, let me talk about that. Yeah. Not as positive. Yeah. Which I love. And I think it's true. I think it's a really wild time that we're living through right now. So it's a good time to, let's try not to sink, you know. Yeah. I'm hoping not. Let's try to open our hearts. I don't want to float. Yeah. Yeah. That's awesome. That was cool. Yeah. That song is usually like a little swingy. I was like, it kind of feels good, like bordering it. I'm not sure. Yeah. Oh, it's perfect. I love that. Yeah. So the drums, have you always played? I've played the drums for basically as long as I've been trying to figure out how to freestyle. Okay. For as long as I've been loving hip hop. Like since middle school. Both, yeah. Like 10 or 11 years old, I think, for both. The drums for sure I started when I was 10 in fifth grade. My first instrument was the violin. Oh, fun. I was like, I'm not even having. Yeah. Which is a really hard instrument. Yeah. I just remembered like, yeah, because it took like a year to get a good sound. You know, that was the thing about the violin. It was like the barrier to entry is so difficult. It is. It really weeds out a lot of people. Yeah. You have to be patient. And I might have been particularly slow, but I just remember like the first time you take the bow to the string, it sounds horrible. Yeah. It's like I was trying to. It's like nails on a chalkboard. Yeah. Really awful. I was like, okay, well, eventually you might be able to produce a nice, nice sound, but I did enjoy playing the violin and then, but I think I always really wanted to play the drums. Yeah. And I had, I've always felt like I have this rhythm inside of me. Well, you have to do what you're doing. Yeah. Oh yeah. A freestyle is like a drum solo with words. Yeah. And when you get to those fast triplets and you're doing all that stuff, it's like, ah. Yeah. Well, and it's a huge cheat code too for me as a freestyler to have this background as a drummer. And the fact that I kind of started both at the same time, they've always sort of been interwoven for me and they've sort of informed each other in different ways. And yeah, I think, you know, because I played jazz for many years and gigged as a jazz drummer. Okay. Like straight ahead sort of. Yeah. Like straight ahead. Yeah. Lots. I mean, you know, like bar restaurant kind of gigs, freelancing, lots of like, like piano trio type stuff. Oh really? Yeah. Me too. Yeah. We share that in common. That's so cool. And so yeah, but you know, a jazz drummer or really a jazz musician of any kind, it's like we're improvising in rhythm, right? Yeah. And for you also in harmony and melody, but for the drums, it's like I'm trying to tell a story by improvising in rhythm. And so having that as sort of something that can underpin my freestyles is incredibly helpful because when I first started freestyling, it's like, it took a long time to be able to say something meaningful while I was improvising as a rapper. Yeah. At first it's really just about creating this rhythmic feel and like in many ways it's like, just don't stop. Don't stop moving your mouth. You know, if you can create some kind of rhythm, you'll find it eventually. And so I feel like jazz drumming and just drumming in general gave me that kind of just that rhythmic underpinning. You're just in the flow and you're just, you're like swimming in the current and you're not, you don't stop. Exactly. Right? Yeah. You just keep flowing and find it. If you don't, then you're not going to say anything. Exactly. So you might as well just keep going. 100%. Oh wow, that's cool. Yeah. And did you go to school for music? I did. Yeah. I went to, so I grew up in Portland, Oregon, and then I moved down to Los Angeles in 2008 and I studied, I was part of the jazz studies program at USC. Oh wow. Yeah. Did you finish? I did. Yeah, I did my undergrad there. Wow. So I graduated in 2012. I really did it. That's so cool. Yeah. Yeah, it was really cool. And were you freestyling all the while in LA? Yeah. That was, and gigging and like, and trying to figure it out. Yeah, 100%. I was kind of saying yes to everything, you know. But it's funny because as much as I was just like really focused on drums and I was practicing for, you know, several hours every day and I was doing all my ensembles and all the other coursework and stuff that I was doing there. As a drummer, it's like I was doing just as much work as a freestyler, but just in the dorm room with my friends. Really? Yeah. Like just hours, like literally like nightly. Wow. Because once they figured out, it was like I lived in a suite, so it was like there were three separate rooms, two to a room, so there were six of us in there and we all kind of like became friends freshman year while we were living there at USC. And none of them were musicians. I was the only musician there. Oh, they weren't in the music program. They weren't in the music program. One of them played guitar and they were somewhat musical, but I was the only person studying music. And but then as soon as they learned that I could freestyle, it was just like every night they'd be like, do this beat, like rap over this beat. That's so funny. Okay, let's go. And it just, yeah, it was awesome. And then they would challenge me and be like, do one about this, do one about that or like hold things up, you know. And I was just like, I love this. This is awesome. You must have been the main attraction at parties. Yes. For real. It was so dope. And actually it was really cool. So I went to, there's this really incredible Neo Soul group called Moonschild. I've heard them. They're great. And so I went to school with them, Amber Navrin and Andres Matz and Max Brick. That's a Moonschild. And we all went to school together. And so I had a band with some of them. I think all of them were part of it at one time or another as well as others. And so it was like a, it was my friends from the jazz program. And it was like a full band. Like we were really inspired by the roots, you know, and trying to do something similar. And so, and I was the front person as a rapper, but I would just improvise all of my parts. So we would have like a chorus that was pre-written and the music would be pre-composed. But then when it was time for the verses, it would just be like an open section. Like if I was doing a horn solo or something, but instead I was freestyling. And we became this really popular party band because it was so like interactive. So fun, yeah. I was like rapping about what was happening at the party. I'd be like, this guy's way too drunk over here, you know, wherever. And it was so dope. And, but, and it was a lot of fun. And at one point we were doing like three or four parties a week. And we were just like this super in demand USC band. That's so fun. Yeah, it was awesome. Sounds like you've had a good time. I've definitely had a good time. Yeah. Yeah. And I learned a ton doing that too. Just because, you know, previously, like with my group, State of Mind that I was mentioning before, it was always, we freestyled because we loved it. But for our records, we wrote all the parts, you know, and when we performed live, it was mostly like written material. And then the freestyle was like the spice on top. You might do like a five minute freestyle interlude at some point for fun. But then in college, it kind of like flipped where it was like, oh, no, I'm really just going to go out there with no plan. Yeah. Well, you probably got better and better at it, right? Totally. And so, yeah, it was like full immersion and Wow. I was just doing it as often as possible. But that's the best practice. Oh, yeah. 100%. Did you go to do now go to sleep? Like, are you able to turn off? Yeah. I know it's a good question. Yeah. No, I've wondered myself back in college. I didn't sleep that much and I don't know how I did that. Now I love sleep. Yeah. And I try to get it when I can. But, but yeah, it is a funny thing. Like when I wake up in the morning, it's a clear slate, you know, and there's no rhymes happening. But once I start, it kind of like it's like flipping a switch and then you can't turn it off till you go to sleep and reset. Because it does just kind of churn in the background. And like, especially when we go out and do, you know, I do videos where I'm like out in the street and I'm interacting with strangers and I'll ask them to like throw me words and suggestions, kind of like what we did at the beginning of the podcast. And I'll turn it into a freestyle. And after we do like a few hours of that out in the world, it's like it's hard for me to turn it off. You're just like vibrating. Yeah. Every one. Look, I'm like, that looks like a good group. They're like, we turned the cameras off. It's done, you know? Like, oh, OK, like we're like restaurant sign. I can't stop. What runs with that? What runs with that? Like, here's what I would say, you know, oh, I should incorporate that. Oh my God. When you're watching TV, like a TV show, can you just do it? Sometimes, yeah. Or like washing the dishes. Great time to freestyle in the shower. But then it becomes very repetitive because you're always doing the same thing. So how many times can you rhyme a shampoo? You know, I've already done that. It's like you've come up with like crazier and crazier options to rhyme about in the shower. You're like, this is really ill grout work. No gloss, no filter, just stories, spoken without fear. Addiction is a disease and it should be looked upon as any other disease. How did you cope with a reckless father like me? Join me, Pooja Bhatt, as I sit down every week with directors, actors, musicians, technicians and beyond. You don't need to work with the biggest people and the biggest sound to have great music. I have gone through this sub-CD hachakar. The reach, the pinnacle, stung by the sneer, I've fallen down again. Yeah, I am not writing actively anymore. And when I see my old work, it kind of saddens me. I'm only as good as the last shot that I gave. Mom's gone, but don't shut the theater. The show must go on. Listen to my weekly podcast, the Pooja Bhatt Show on the iHeart Radio app. Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Come for the honesty, stay for the fire. Like, yeah, so. Do you write more prepared stuff ever lately? Like, or are you pretty just focused on the freestyling? I'm very focused on the freestyling, but I do also write and I've been sort of experimenting and trying to find out what kind of like process feels good for me. Yeah, because to be honest, it's it's challenging for me, you know, to figure out how to be effective as a songwriter and how to be effective, like in a more traditional studio environment. Yeah, I'm such an improviser. And that's always what's drawn me to music, like from the very beginning. That's why you love jazz. That's why I love jazz. And I mean, I remember like I have all these early memories of music and they all involve improvisation. Like, I remember one time I have to ask my parents because I have no idea where we were, but we were at some kind of like almost in my memory, it's like a trade show type environment. But I don't know if that's accurate. But there was like a musician there with the piano and he saw me and I was like enamored with what he was doing. And he was like, oh, come sit up here. And he was like, you can play play any of the black notes, you know. And he played something in like, I guess, like E flat minor. Or he played something where you can't lose. Yeah, it's a pentatonic. You know, something where that pentatonic scale would work. And I was just a little kid, but I was like, OK. And he was playing a chord progression beneath me. And I just remember I started playing and I was like, I get I get it. It wire maybe it wired your whole path and changed your whole trajectory. I feel like it did because I definitely was blitzing out while I was doing it. And I was like, this is amazing. Somehow I'm like a good musician. Yeah, you're like, I'm really good. Are you getting this mom? Yeah, exactly. And I'm sure I luckily they didn't record it because it probably wasn't very good. But in my memory, in my memory, it was huge. And so. But anyway, bringing it back to to your question, I'm so I'm such an improviser through and through. And so sometimes it's hard for me to funnel that energy into something that needs to be kind of honed and refined. Well, you have a superpower. Oh, and it doesn't. And it sometimes when you have something like that, like it's a crazy. You worked on it. Yeah, it's a gift. But you've also like you've put in all the work. Yeah. And I mean, it's it's incredible. Oh, thank you. So so pivoting into something that is maybe more the norm. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, maybe maybe it would be fun, but maybe it doesn't have to happen. Exactly. And that's, you know, it's it's funny you say that because that has been sort of the I guess like the challenge for me since I started like really having success at this as an improviser and becoming known. It was like immediately because I kind of stumbled into it. You know, my my friend way back in December 2016, my friend, Jacob Mann, who's also a great jazz pianist and composer, and he had a big band at the time. And anyway, he did a big band record and he wanted to promote it. And so he like chopped the beat out of his. He sampled his big band recording and made a hip hop beat and had me freestyle over it and filmed it on his phone and posted it on YouTube. That was in 2016. And that was the first exposure to anybody outside of like my local community really that ever heard me freestyle. And the video like got a hundred thousand views or something like that. And I was like, this is amazing. This is amazing. We spent 20 minutes doing this. I didn't even think anything of it. What would happen if I really dove in? And so that was the catalyst for me to start making my own videos and really invest everything I have into growing this. But as soon as I started kind of having that success with the videos, it was like immediate where it was like, OK, cool, what are you going to do? Like, how are you going to pivot? Yeah, that was sort of the conversation around it. Other people. Yeah. Like in the comments or or even like when I start, I would, you know, because the video is kind of popped off, then I would get to connect with people in the music industry and managers and people at record labels and producers and stuff like that and just have meetings and conversations. But I always felt kind of uncomfortable because it was all about like, OK, well, how do we take this and make it next? Yeah. And how do we make it fit in with what is sort of the more traditional path kind of like, how do you you need an album, you know, and you need a big single? You don't anymore. Right. Like, yes, I don't need that. Yeah. Maybe. And but at the time, you know, I was younger and I was so kind of like, I didn't know anything and I still don't. I only know enough to know I don't know anything. But but back then, especially I was kind of impressionable and I was like, oh, I think I probably do need this. Yeah, probably. Right. They seem to know like, well, it also seems like a milestone that you want to hit at some point, probably. Yeah. Yeah. And part of me does want to, you know, make like a great album, you know, and and but but I do wrestle with that in my head. It's like, well, at this like you say, it's like, I have this thing that's special, that clearly has a lot of energy around it. And people enjoy it and I enjoy it and I've invested a lot of time in it. And maybe that's enough. Yeah. But you could make a great album and improvise. I think so. You just got to get some cool musicians that you love to play with and just bounce it around and record it. You know what I mean? Yes. Like you don't have to. But I get it. I get it. It's like you want to be part of my album. Heck, yeah. Of course. But, you know, I feel like also times are different and you don't need that anymore. Yeah. It's crazy. It's a different landscape. It's really different. And you've you've had to navigate it. When did you start putting videos out shortly after that? Like 2017? Yeah. 2017. Yeah. The beginning. It's funny. That video happened with my friend Jacob. And then I was just blown away because I wasn't a social media person like at all. And I didn't even have. I didn't know what having a YouTube channel or subscriber was. It just wasn't in my worldview at all. So I just remember I called him and I was like, can we get lunch? And we got together and I was like, what do you think I should do? Yeah. Yeah. Because he was already doing the YouTube thing and he's very funny as well. So he had lots of like kind of like comedic videos on his channel that had done well in addition to his music stuff. And so he was like, man, just make a YouTube channel and start making videos that seem cool to you of you freestyling and you'll be fine. You know, yeah, I think that people overthink it a lot. And they think it has to be like the ultimate video. Right. I think what people connect to is the human quality of it. Yes. And you already have what you're doing is amazing. So oh, thanks. You know what I mean? I feel like it's it's better that way. Totally. Yeah. I mean, and and if you know, the overthinking thing, you just end up never making anything in my experience. Yes. You know, it's like I just for years. And that was the whole thing is like I'd been freestyling and rapping and loving it and and for so long. And I had my group in high school and that was great. But that was that felt easy because I had my best friends with me. Yes, that's different. You know, it's different. And we were just hanging out. It was what we wanted to do anyway. You know, it's like, we don't want to do this homework. We want to go do this rap thing, you know? But then once I was kind of like out on my own and I didn't have my crew anymore and like my homies who I came up with doing it, I felt like, you know, nervous. I didn't know how to step into being like a solo artist and and how to like kind of pay my own way. And so I would just overthink myself out of ever doing anything, you know? And it took until my friend, Jake, was like, here, come do this thing. Just do it. It was a favor to him. Yeah, I didn't even do it for me. I just did it to I was like, oh, if this is going to help you out, sure. And that kind of opened my eyes to it. But yeah, totally. I mean, and that's one of the big things for me, too, is like. It's why sort of like revising things and like really like refining ideas can be challenging because sometimes I'm just like, I'm never going to finish it. You know, it's never going to be right. It's hard to focus on things for a long period of time. Oh, my God. For me, I've realized more and more I love playing music. But if I have to write something out or write a chart for something or learn something that's hard, yeah, it's hard for me to focus on it. Oh, my God. So, you know, even doing this podcast, like sometimes I get in my head about learning songs that somebody has picked or that I've picked for myself. And I put it off and I put it off and then I get nervous about being prepared. But then when I get in the room and you're playing music with someone, it feels like, oh, yeah, I know how to do this. Yes. You know, and it's easier when you're just doing it. Yes. So so getting psyched up for something musical or creative, I feel like is just sort of anti productive. I agree so much. It resonates so much. It's crazy. And I've been thinking about this a lot lately, too, because I do the same thing. I get really worked up in my head and I start getting nervous. And suddenly it's like, wait, I don't even know how to do this anymore. I know. It's me too. Why have they chosen me? Like, why have they chosen me for this opportunity? Like, I don't even know what this is. Yeah. And I think it's like the whole talking about it thing, you know? Yeah, don't talk about it. Just be about it. Yeah, exactly. It's like, I don't read, you know, people talking about music that much because I'd rather just listen to it. Yeah, there was this thing and I don't know if it was legit. I thought it was legit at the time, but it was like a list of kind of like rules to be a part of Thelonious Monks Band. Did you ever see this? No, no, I did see it. But yeah, tell it. So it had like various like, you know, his requirements basically. And it was like, I think it was written in all caps. I haven't looked at it in a long time. Hopefully it's real because it was great. But it was one of them was like, I think it said talking about music is like dancing about architecture. Yes. It was like, what's the point kind of, you know, like. I agree. Meanwhile, we're talking about it. Yeah, exactly. This is different. This is totally different. I feel comfortable here. I'm sitting at the drums. I feel good. No, and it has a place that I love talking with other musicians and talking with other creatives. It's different. It's different. If it's talking through like what I'm going to do, it's OK. So like what side of the stage do you want to stand on? Or like, so how are you going to intro this? And like, what's the transition from this song to this song? It's like, man, I don't even know if I know how to make music anymore. Yeah. And I asked Brian Blade once we were doing a song that was like five and then seven, I goes and I said, how do you count that? He goes, oh, I don't count. I was like, thank you, Brian Blade. Thank you. That's awesome. Giving me permission to not count. That's awesome. Yeah. That's so that's so great. Yeah. Yeah. 100 percent. And I always say to people like that's why I hated once the video started popping off, then I would get to go in studios with producers. And I was grateful for the opportunities and everybody was trying to help me and that's awesome. But it would just be like, OK, cool. Like, do you like this beat? It's like, yeah, I like it. Then it's just playing on loop and I'm sitting there like with my notes up on my phone with like a blinking cursor on a couch while they like are tweaking the beat a little bit or doing other things. And I just remember just sitting there like in a cloud of anxiety and just being like, I don't know how to rap. And then as soon and I just remember being like every time I get on a mic and start rapping, then I know how to rap. Yeah. But until then, I have no idea how to do it. Yeah. Do you know what I mean? It's muscle memory because you put in all the work, but like you can't think about it. 100 percent. And I follow and I bounce off the cues, you know, it's like when the beat drops and then I start going, oh, yeah. Then I'm like, OK, yeah, now I know what I'm doing and the body is a big part of it. You're a mirror to what's happening. And yeah, just like you're just dancing. Yeah, at that point. 100 percent. Yeah. But I've never been somebody that could just like look at a blank page and dream up something incredible and write it down. And and and but I have such an admiration for people who can do that. And yeah, but you do do that. You just don't put it on a page. Yes. That's true. It's the same thing. Yeah. That's the thing. Oh, yeah. Thank you. It really is. Thank you. That's awesome. And that you do it. Thank you. That makes you feel good. Yeah, for sure. That makes you feel good. Yeah. It's just though you're thinking about it. Yes. And everybody thinks about it differently. Yeah. No gloss. No filter. Just stories. Spoken without fear. Addiction is a disease and it should be looked upon as any other disease. How did you cope with a reckless father like me? Join me, Pooja Bhatt, as I sit down every week with directors, actors, musicians, technicians and beyond. You don't need to work with the biggest people in the biggest sound to have great music. I have gone through the sub-series. Reach the pinnacle. Stung by the snake and I've fallen down again. Yeah. I am not writing actively anymore. And when I see my old work, it kind of saddens me. I'm only as good as the last shot that I gave. Mom's gone, but don't shut the theater. The show must go on. Listen to my weekly podcast, the Pooja Bhatt Show on the iHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Come for the honesty. Stay for the fire. Ooh. Can we do something like that? Oh, jam. That's nice. Craniums. Y'all know what it is. Playing along. Here we go. Yeah. Yeah. He's not a human. Mac is an alien. Composing verses directly from my cranium. Y'all know I do it right from the mind. When I'm flipping right over the metal, you know I excite him with rhymes. Come on. Clever. I'm a last forever. Versus off the metal, best believe they sound clever. Yeah. Flowing the vines, so open up your heart to this. Mac and Norah Jones going hard for this. Listen. Helix. Yeah. We gon' make you feel this. Music in my jeans, written in my double helix. Spin it back a minute, what did he just say? I mean to say this rhythm, moving through my DNA. Yeah. Grip on the mic and then I own the zone. I got hip hop beats in my chromosomes. H. Mac, you gettin' loose. And y'all know I begin to rhyme me in the crowd. The double helix, how we in the twine. Yeah. Mute. Mute. Mute. Mute. Mute. M-O-O-T. Yeah. I'm a rocket on the true joint. They said Harry Mack is wag, that's a mute point. I'm a rake of death for everyone that's watching. Before you step to me, I'll better use caution. Yeah. For me it truly ain't nothing. Change the pronunciation, then I hit the mute button. Bring it back again and we turnin' it up. Hini mic that I gripped, y'all know I'm burnin' it up. I'm a kidditt poppin' off the top of this. No mute point, but laughed it. When I rhyme like this, wackness, it gets ejected. Ernest. Yeah, I burn this. I keep it honest and earnest. All competition, quickly gettin' sent away. Now novelists, they call me Ernest Hemingway. H-Mack, rough the men, oh, when I make the point. Combined with Norah Jones, cookin' up these crazy joints. Keep it earnest, man, I keep it up, then it. My name is cemented, I never signed a state in the pen. They all know it's up. We gon' keep it spannin' with the road cab. Flip it right over the men, oh, whenever we rhymin', we makin' them gold med. I come off the top of this, I rhyme through the pocket list. Once we get it started off the top of the brain, I feel like the rain on stoppin' this. Woo! Come on. Serotonin. We really zonin'. This style is the one that I'm ownin'. Boosin' up your dopamine and your serotonin. When I rhyme, I got the up, most inventive flows. Got your brain spittin' out them happy chemicals. Serotonin, if you postin' through your veins now, flipin' it over the metal, I change it. I'll never be breakin' the same style. I know we takin' beyond. H-Mack are goin' deep. Y'all know when to kinda lyrish, I never spit it cheap. I feel that rhymin' freak, serotonin, it's steady postin'. When he's rhymin', y'all know he goes and flows it deeper than the ocean. What? We gon' take it there, make him all the way. I do it off the metal, ain't no need to prepare. Get it crackin' like a snare, when I spit it absurd. Hey yo, don't worry, hit me with the least one more word. Clutter! Yeah! Cleverist, they heard her. Off the top, I serve your best belief. It's been a murder, my flow, it might disturb you. I've been clever with the wordplay. I've been spittin' lyrics in the utmost absurd way. Can't nobody quite do it like me. They might flow, but y'all know they not. Fluid like me. Said this is Mack and Norah Jones, and we slayin' the song. Ain't nothin' playin', I'm just playin' the longs. And I'm just playin' the longs. Yay! Oh my gosh, so fun. So fun. You did the fast one. Yeah! Yeah, that was so really, I'm so glad you did it. It was amazing. Yeah, a little double time, you know? Yeah, that's great. How many times a week do you do these videos at this point? Do you take breaks? Yeah. Do you bank them? Do you like... Kind of, we usually, it ebbs and flows, so we'll kind of try to batch. It usually ends up working like that, where we batch a lot of videos together. When the whole team is together, you know, my team is kind of semi-remote. We live in different places. Gotcha. And so, but we're all together, like when I'm on tour. And so, that's a good opportunity to try to film videos when we're in different cities and stuff. You just go out. Go out in the streets. Yeah, that's so fun. Yeah, it's the only thing with that is I have to just be mindful of like my voice and the whole... Because you're gonna play at night. Yeah, the vocal care element, which is... I would, I probably need to ask you about that, because that's been my biggest thing. Like my Achilles heel is my... Really? Yeah. You lose it a lot? I used to lose it a lot. And then I got really scared about that, because it's like a... Do you ever lose your voice while you're... Rarely. Yeah, that's awesome. But I... Well, I sing louder now, but I mean, I sing kind of quiet. Yeah. But I feel like I used to lose it if I was going to a bar and talking and... Totally. A lot. Yeah. Hanging out. Yes. In a loud restaurant and a bar. That's what really does it. Totally. I can't believe I used to do that as often as I did. I know. Now I hate it. I used to love it. I was like, I remember being in my 20s and being like, we would go out all the time. And I would just remember being like, wow, it's going to suck when I like turn 30 and I still really want to do this, but I can't because it's like kind of weird. Like because people will kind of judge me if I go out this way. And then it was like almost like as soon as I turned 30, I was like, oh yeah, I don't want to do that anymore. Yeah. And now when I'm in those environments, I'm like, why do we do this? Like why? I guess if you're going to dance, it makes sense. Yeah. But for anything else, I'm like, why? We're like here to catch up. Like I have, you're like my friend. I haven't seen you in a month, but you have to scream. Yeah. It's like, how are you? Yeah. We're like a first date or in a bar. Like I don't know how people do that. It's such an uphill battle. It's just so loud. Yeah. Like let's go to a cafe or something conducive to coffee shop. Yeah. Park is great. Um, but yeah, no, I used to, uh, I guess it started back in high school even like back when I was with my group, say to mine back then at some point I started losing my voice and I'm not trained as a vocalist at all. I'm a rapper. So I just, just completely self taught and never thought about that. And then, um, I really started to lose my voice a lot and that started to freak me out because it's just a mortifying feeling to be up on stage. And it's like, you know, it's obviously important to play the drums with good technique where you're going to be healthy and you're not going to like have back pain and shoulder pain and things like that. But it's not like if you drop the ball on your healthy technique, the drums just vanish. Yeah. And you're like, well, now I guess I don't have an instrument anymore. Yeah. And your super powers gone. Yeah. But with the voice, it's that. And the other thing is I really use my energy to like sell it. You know what I mean? Yeah. You have to put it behind it. Yes. Right. You can't just kind of whisper it. No. I wish that I could. Sometimes I'm jealous. I'm like, man, I feel like if I was like Snoop Dogg or something like that, like, you can just go up there with all the swag in the world and do his songs and it sounds almost exactly like the record and it's amazing, you know? Yeah. But I can't, Harry Mack doesn't do that. I go out there and I'm like, you're going to like, first of all, nobody knows the words to any of this because I'm making it up right now. And I'm going to make you feel this. Yeah. And if I feel like it's not, if I feel like we're not all there, I'm going to rise to the occasion and save the day, you know? And I use like kind of like muscle to do that. It is how I, you know, I use my voice. Yeah. But then, you know, sometimes I overdo it. And then once it goes away, it's very difficult to get it back. And then I feel very like, you know, it's kind of scary to be on stage and be like, well, what do we do now? That is scary. So then I got really serious about, you know, warming up and learning about. Yeah, so you do it. Okay. Now I do and how to breathe and also trying to pace myself and like, okay, you don't have to, you don't have to go, you don't have to save the day every time, you know? You can pick your moments. But yeah, that's, so when we're on tour, you know, you can pick your moments. So when we're on tour, you know, it's important that like we'll do the video shoots and stuff in the streets. Like if we have a stretch of days off, maybe, you know, we try to build that into the tour routing. Yeah. Not just doing them every show day. No. Okay. That's smart. Yeah. And I try not to do like back to back shows even. Really? Yeah. Yeah. For me, because I just. It's a lot of energy. It's a lot. Yeah. And mentally too. Because the whole, my show is almost entirely improvised. Yeah. And mentally it must be totally a drain. Yeah. So in other words, I'm just like, wow, that was everything I have. Like I need a day. So if you do like an hour and a half, two hour show. Yeah. We do an hour and a half. Hour and a half show. That's different from doing the videos. Oh yeah. Because it's just constant. Yes. And there's no break. Right. Okay. That's a lot. And I'm trying to like work the stage and, you know, there's a much more of a physical element versus just me standing in front of four people on the, on a street or whatever. Yeah. Yeah. That's a lot. Yeah. It's awesome. And I'm also really proud of the show because yeah, when I was like struggling with my voice and trying to figure out how to do that, I was like, I don't know if I can do an hour. Yeah. Because you hadn't done it. Yeah. Yeah. I had to like really build up to it. And, and so now I'm able to do it. And that makes me feel really, really proud. Cause I just, yeah, it was scary for a minute. I was like, man, maybe I'm going to be the guy who could have been such a great freestyle rapper and performer if only his voice could hold out. Oh my God. It's terrifying. Yeah. Yeah. I don't know what to do with that. Yeah. I am not writing actively anymore. And when I see my old work, it kind of saddens me. I'm only as good as the last shot that I gave. Mom's gone, but don't shut the theater. The show must go on. So what kind of places are you playing? We are playing like 1200 to 1700 cap rooms. Wow. That's amazing. Yeah. I would say. That's like a good size. It's great. That's maybe like the best size. I, yeah. So I don't know cause like the ambition in me is like, let's go harder. Let's go bigger if we can. Yeah. If I'm, if I'm. I just mean for like, to keep the intimacy. It's so nice. I agree. And, and like the other side of me, you know, like the ultra ambitious side is like the bigger, the better, and let's keep growing if we can. And then the other side of me is like, this feels kind of perfect. Yeah. And especially for what I do, you know, because it's all improvised, one of the biggest challenges was like figuring out how to even scale it up to even that size or even how do I do this on a stage in front of 500 people instead of on a corner where everybody can see everything that I'm referencing. That's true. Yeah. And so we basically like utilize technology and the screen behind me too. So there's like a QR code and people are able to like submit words and topics and I'm seeing them on screen for the first time. That's a lot easier for people. Yeah. And then we have camera feeds and stuff that can project to the screen. So if I'm like in the crowd rapping about what I can see in front of me, the whole room can see it and stuff like that. But, but yeah. So I, I don't know how, how big it scales. I have done like some festival performances in front of much bigger crowds and it was really exciting and fun and it worked. So I think it works, but I agree with you. I do love the like the 1500. It's kind of sounds nice for what you're doing. It's really nice. It's really nice. And I feel like I can feel everybody and sometimes when it gets bigger with you. Yes. Yeah. Sometimes when it's bigger, the people in back might be with you part of it, but they're kind of in and out and they're having fun and they're into it, but it's not in the same way as like having everybody really engaged. Yeah. It just becomes kind of like crowd. Yeah. So like there's me on stage and then there's crowd. And then at the back, they're like, oh yeah, he's on stage and then there's you and me and there's the beer stand and you know. Exactly. Exactly. Yeah. Yeah. But the smaller room it's like, oh, everybody here is, is contributing. Yeah. Is how it feels. Yeah. Yeah. We will play some more music. Let's do it. So I want to give you more words. I feel like. Yeah, let's do that. How does this, how should we do it? Oh my God. I don't even know this word. You guys. Oh, what is it? I fiduciary. Fiduciary. Do you know this word? Yeah. It's a financial term. I know it is the that I knew that, but I don't know what it is. I think like a fiduciary responsibility is like if the banks go under, you're still covered up to $200,000. Wow. I'm sorry. Did you study finance? No, I just. Or am I just really dumb? No, you're not dumb at all. It's a weird word. I think that's what it means. Have you had to learn, do you just go through the dictionary all the time? Like, is that part of your practice? Like, do you just know a lot of words that other people don't? The thing is, I get a lot of credit for having a big vocabulary and I don't think it's accurate. I don't think it's true. I just, I'm really, I feel, I say this humbly, like I have a good mastery of the words I do know. You know, it's kind of like some, you know how like some jazz players like from back in the day, like they didn't have a lot of chops, but they had full mastery of their chops. And that's why it was so great. Yeah, they did their thing. Yeah, they did their thing and they had a voice and it just, and it's beautiful. That's how I feel about my freestyle. People will be like, you know every word in the dictionary. Sounds like it. If you watch my videos though, I happen to know fiduciary. So it looks like I know, I like this. I got lucky. Have you gotten that one before? I don't think I've gotten that in a freestyle, which is amazing. It's rare that we get an unfreestyled word. Oh my God. Okay, I'm going to put some here. Should I call them out while we're doing it or do you want them before? I guess this time call them out while we do it. If I put them in, you can't see these, right? I can't see. Okay. If I put them in front of me, I can do it. I could not think of it on the spot. That's perfect. Plus I was going to suggest you leave them out of the hat so we don't forget what they are. Yeah. Okay. All right. And do you want to still play drums or would you rather do the loop? I'm totally happy how you are, but whatever you want, is it harder for you while you're playing or do you? It is harder to freestyle while I play. Okay. But it's like. It's so fun. Yeah. And the thing is it's in development. Like I'm really working on this right now. Oh, you are. So I was excited to do it here even though I feel like it's like a little early. I mean, I actually brought the drums out on tour last time and for a segment or two, and for a segment of the show, like in the middle, I would, I did a drum solo and then I would accompany myself on drums while rapping. Okay. But, but it's like, I feel like it's still in the early stages of development. But I also feel like it's really strange for me to sit at the drums and not play and like play a drum track off my phone. I get it. So on this podcast, I'm accompanying myself. Yes. Okay. I feel honored. Nora Jones will play. I'm gonna push you. You pushed me. I pushed you. Yeah. That's how we do this. All right. I've got some fun words here. Oh yeah. Okay. All right. You can't see these right? I can't. I can kind of see those ones upside down, but I'm not going to read them because I'm, okay. Because you're a pro. I'm the real deal. You are. Okay. All right. All right. I've got a lot of words here. We don't have to do them all. I just want to have them out in case. All right. Okay. This is going to be fun. All right. It's funny. She made all these flashcards and I made her put them on a sheet of paper because I was like, I'm not going to be picking flashcards out of a hat while I'm playing and she put them on a sheet of paper, but what did I do? I just pulled out all the flashcards. Yeah. Wow. You pulling words out of a hat while playing is like, that's too much. All right. That's like a circus act, I feel. And somebody will be juggling like burning the shed. Exactly. All right. All right. Let's do it. Who should I start it off? Yeah. Because I don't know what tempo you want to do. Right. True. True. I'm very limited. That way you can do anything you want. Okay. I can, even if you go fast, whatever. All right. Let's see. Fiduciary. Yeah. There ain't really nothing they can do to Harry. I'm getting paid y'all. No fiduciary. Y'all know I'm stretching with agility. I'm the bank with fiduciary responsibility. Y'all know I'm making all these rappers run away. If the banks go over, I still get my 200K. Yeah. Y'all know I'm ready to rock. Getting paid, but then we're going to invest it in stocks. Sandbox. Yeah. Y'all know they came to see the man rock. I'm about to get all the damn prize. Once I start rhyming, y'all, I can't stop. When I'm with Nora, I'm like a kid up in the sandbox. On the rail, we just out here having fun. I'm just playing along and getting the job done. I'm just laying the song and you know I'm winning every damn battle. I'm rhyming inside of my sandcastle. Yeah. We about to take it to the peak. They pay attention every time I speak. Y'all know they love it when Mack and Nora bust it on the jam. Take the microphone and crush it in the sand. Melancholy. Yeah. I'm about to do it off the melancholy. I lift you up if you feel melancholy. Y'all know I came through with the rap script. Guarantee to lift your mood if you feel his sadness. We about to flip your frown upside down. When we come through with the live rounds. I spit it off the tip of this. I know I'm that dude. Rainy days in Portland. Y'all that was the melancholy mood. Take it to Broadway. Okay. I'm a-spitted in a raw way. Theatrical lyrics. We taking it to Broadway. Y'all know I came through the slate. I rhyme on Broadway. But y'all know that Mack don't play. Listen. I'm doing it bigger than ever. They be yelling out my Mamma Mia. Mack's the strongest freer. When I rhyme that you know I drop the standards. Yeah. H-Mack coming with the stanzas. Look. We about to break it down. Theatrical lyrics. I come through with the crazy sound. They better respect it. They never reject it. They're about to deck it. They get in ejected. Y'all know that Mack is respected. Come on. Yeah. And I'm about to make the people go mad. Hey yo. Noreen hit me with the next mocap. Bodega. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Listen. I'm the type of rapper they would beg for. Catch me rhyming outside of your bodega. When I rhyme that you know I hit the truest target. On the West Coast we just call them supermarkets. H-Mack I'm the number one performer. Something like a bodega. Cause I get found on every corner. I'm always ready. Y'all know we out here to rip. I leave the bodega. You know I got my soda and chips. And my bottle of water for the proper hydration. Stepping in corrective Mack. That's a violation. Look. I let it flow. Y'all know I'm top choice. Leave my water and my tea from the bodega for my voice. Come on. Diagnostic. Uh-huh. And y'all know they couldn't stop this. Yeah. We can't do it with the hotness. I'm too sick for any diagnostics. Yeah. Y'all know they couldn't diagnose this. Dope-ness. Every time he flows it's ferocious. Preaching when I'm speaking but the neck is not a reverend. Every time I'm rhyming I'm gonna give y'all the medicine. Ivory. Who's as live as me? Noura Jones on the Ebony and Ivory. She been playing the keys. Every time that I rhyme y'all are slaying with ease. Uh-huh. My heart is sore while I came here. I'm the number one performer. I'm the number one performer. I'm the number one performer. I'm the number one performer. I'm the number one performer. I'm the number one performer. I'm the number one performer. I'm the number one performer. I'm the number one performer. I'm the number one performer. I'm the number one performer. I'm the number one performer. I'm the number one performer. I'm the number one performer. I'm the number one performer. I'm the number one performer. I'm the number one performer. I'm the number one performer. I'm the number one performer. I'm the number one performer. I'm the number one performer. I'm the number one performer. I'm the number one performer. I'm the number one performer. I'm the number one performer. I'm the number one performer. I'm the number one performer. I'm the number one performer. Give me one more. That was fun. That was fun. That was fun. That was fun. That was fun. That's hard to do. I like that. Hard to do it at the same time. At the same time, yeah. Yeah, it's a muscle memory, right? Yeah. Yeah. I'm really glad that we're doing this because this is such a cool opportunity for me to take this out of my practice room, you know? Yeah, that's cool. And to be in this environment. This is such a good environment for it. And I'm loving it. Good. I'm loving it, yeah. Do you get out of breath faster when you're playing at the same time? You know what's weird? I kind of get out of breath faster. Because there's the physicality of playing. I'm not playing that loud right now, obviously. So it's not that crazy. And also my drum parts are simple when I'm rapping because they have to be. Yeah, yeah. Totally. But I get, my voice gets weird. I get like more spit in my mouth. Oh really? Like you don't have the same sort of flow? Something like, I don't even know what it is. Yeah, but I've just noticed that I'll start my, I'm like, whoa, I need to like swallow or like breathe or like do something. I don't know what's happening. Because well, some people hold their breath when they play drums. Yes. You know? And I used to do that a ton. So maybe that's what it is. You're like, you can't because you're doing the thing. Yes. But you're also, that's like your muscle. I think so. And actually I think in a way that's one of the good things about rapping while I play is that it forces me to breathe while I play. And so, because I did use to, it was hard to, I remember for a while I was like practicing like breathing and rhythm, you know, while I play. Oh yeah. Trying to coordinate that. So that you wouldn't be like holding your breath. Yeah, yeah. That's so interesting. Yeah, but I'm so focused. I think that's why I hold the breath because I'm really focused on what I'm doing. But I think, you know, some of my favorite musicians are drummers who sing. Yes. You know? Because, and there's such a different thing. Even when I'm playing piano, if I were to just sing and not play. Yeah. I sing different. Yeah. Yeah, they're meshed. They're married in a way that I think is, it's actually my special thing, you know? Oh yeah. That's your superpower. And I can do it. I can play and I can sing and I can do them separately. But when I put them together, that's where they kind of come alive. Absolutely. So I... Oh, and you can tell just watching, you know, watching you and listening to your records. And it's just... Oh, thanks. Yeah, that's the magic. Well, I didn't mean to make you compliment me, but... No, I didn't feel obligated. That was my intention. I did not feel obligated. Yeah, but I do mean, I do mean like, it's probably going to open a new channel for you. Yeah. Where like, it becomes one in a way. Like, it already sounds like one to me. Oh, thank you. But like, just since you haven't done it that much, I mean, it'll be, you know, maybe that's like a whole other channel. I think so. And I really want that. Yeah. I was saying to my manager, Mikey, who's here, I was like, dude, I want to just go on and play drums for every thing we do on the podcast. I was like, because that what, it makes so much sense, you know, I'm here with you. You're such an amazing musician. You're going to be playing and singing and accompanying yourself. And it's like, it would just be so nice to be able to... And then there's not as much planning that's needed either. It's like, I can just kind of come in and get comfy at the drums and play. And so, yeah, this has been a goal of mine. So, you know, a step in the right direction. Check. There we go. Yeah, we did it. Well, this was so fun. So fun. Thank you for doing this. My absolute pleasure. Thank you so much for having me. It's been an honor. I could do it all day, but I don't want to be greedy. Me too. Yeah. We'll do it for my album. So we'll be in touch. Heck yeah. Call me anytime, anytime. I love to play. Yeah. It's like my favorite thing. Yes, me too. Me too. We don't have to rehearse even better. Your tongue, your speak my language. Come on. I'm so down. Yeah. That's why I booked so many gigs because I just want to go do it. You know? Yes. I love it. Well, thank you. Thank you, Nora. Yay. Yeah. Oh, that was so fun. That was amazing. He's incredible. Yeah. What a good dude too. Yeah. Just like, sweet heart. Yeah. And a good sport because I feel like we were really trying to stump him. You guys were. Yeah, but I didn't like that. I know. But he liked it. He said. But do you remember? I was like, I don't want to stump him. Yeah. This is mean. I mean, where did you use wine? Wine. Wine. For the rhyme. Wine. We're like fiduciary. That's a good one. I said, no, that's mean. I'm not giving him that word. He loved it. He's like, yeah, stump me. I know. Try to stump me. He's so funny. He can't be stumped. That was a joy. If you want to know what we played in this episode, well, we just played a bunch of random stuff. Improvise. The first song was freestyle number one. Second song. I did use part of one of my songs called sink and soon, but sink and soon was from an album I made called not too late in 2007, but we just took a snippet of it. Basically, it's all freestyle, the rest of it. But other than that second song, it's all freestyle. Special thanks to Harry Mack for joining us today. And we'll be back next week with Madison Cunningham. Nora Jones is playing along is a production of I heart podcasts. Visit Nora Jones channel and be sure to subscribe while you're there. I'm your host Nora Jones. This episode was recorded by Kyle Pass mixed by Jamie Landry. Additional recording by Matt Marinelli. Audio post production and mastering by Greg Tobler. Our work by Eliza Fry photography by Shervin Lenez produced by Nora Jones and Sarah Oda, executive producers Aaron Wong Kauffman and Jordan Runtog. Marketing lead Allison Cantor Graber.