In Black America; Dr. Tracy Randall

From the University of Texas at Austin, KUT Radio, this is In Black America. There are so many lessons, but the one that I can honestly say is return every phone call and return every e-mail. Because you never know who is going to be the next best thing or who you can help, you know, in a certain way. Because there's a lot of people, especially young people who have a misconception of what the music business is about. And there's a lot of dreams being sold, a lot of hope being sold, but no truth being sold. You know, so if I could say anything and then do your research, especially when you're an entertainer, you should have a working knowledge of everything that a manager does, everything that a CPA does, everything that a record company does. You should have a working knowledge of what mechanical royals are.

You should have a work, I'm not saying you represent those things, but you should have a working knowledge of them so that in the event someone is not doing things to your liking. You would at least be able to express and explain to them why you don't like those things instead of them assuming that you're a temperamental artist. Dr. Tracy Randall Ph.D. Entertainment Attorney, Grammy-nominated songwriter, producer, record label owner, and gospel recording artist. Randall is the founder, president, and CEO of Original Man Entertainment Group. President and CEO of Lavish Records, LLC, and Senior Managing Partner, Randall and Associates, LLC. In 2006, Randall was diagnosed with leukemia and after aggressive rounds of chemo and radiation therapy, his doctors gave up, and in February 2007, told him to go home and get his affairs in order, but Randall wasn't having it. With the pods of attitude and his faith in alternative treatment, he's beating the odds. On his newly released single entitled Be Free, Randall speaks about his mental state and the struggle with bipolar disorder.

I'm Johnny Ohenstein Jr. and welcome to another edition of In Black America. On this week's program, Dr. Tracy Randall Ph.D., gospel recording artist, singer, songwriter, and producer, and cancer survivor, in Black America. You got me here for a reason. Is in your plans. I believe. Follow your path and I'll be alright. Is in your head. I believe. You are my safety. You are my strength. My everything. I believe. Good or bad times do it all. You've answered my call. When I was down and out, you lifted me up and I thank you Lord. That when I need it, when it met the most, never let me fall. I believe, I believe, I believe. I believe. I believe. I believe. I believe. I believe.

I was diagnosed with Acute and I have some great news for you. Acute lymphocytic leukemia. And 2007, February of 2007, they gave me three to six months to live. And in 2013, I went into remission. But as you know, well, you may not know, they give you a five-year time span before you can say that, hey, it's never coming back. We hope that I have a higher rate that it won't come back. But in June of 2015, I had a ringing in my ears. And I just assumed that it was like a cold or something because I travel so much. And then the ringing would not leave. It was like, like, consistent, like, really heavy in my head.

And I said, well, no, I need to go to the ER. By the time I got into the ER, they immediately put me into blood transfusions and all those other things. My white blood cell count was only six. And in any living being, it should be no more than 200. As the cancer survivor, Dr. Tracy Randall has a renewed faith. His plea to God, not to heal his body, but to give him the courage and strength to endure the depression he continues to plague him. Born and raised in Lake Charles, Louisiana, Randall has nine other brothers and sisters. He grew up listening to Stevie Wonder, Gladys Knight, Mahalia Jackson, and Donnie Hathaway. As a teenager, he was in various singing groups, but eventually he was always kicked out. However, music did help him stay out of trouble. When he graduated high school at the age of 16, he intended to pursue an engineering degree, but that didn't work out the way he had planned. So he's changed his major to business and graduated in three years. He then went on to earn a PhD in long degree, all at the same time.

In 1999, he started lavish records. Randall has done a lot of work behind the scenes in the music industry before stepping out to do his own thing. Recently, Randall has released his third CD entitled No Judgment. I'm the eighth child of 10, so I learned how to eat fast and hit hard. And, you know, being a 70s baby, of course, dealing with what's going on today, you know, the race relations, the relationships of black and white and also within our own ethnicity, lighter skin versus brown skin versus dark skin. So it's still transpiring. So that's what it was like growing up. I was reading that you was trying to run away from your gift. Yeah, man, I never thought of myself as a singer. I've always known to be a songwriter, and that's where my gift did.

And I wanted to be an electrical engineer engineer, but the tables were turned. I had taken a course called Thermal Dynamics and the professor put an A meaning angstrom and then the formula was from the from the left of the board to the right of the board. And tears fell down my face. I changed my major business. And what made you go on to obtain a law degree? Well, I never wanted to be an attorney. What happened is I finished undergrad. I was only 19 years old. And no one was going to give me a job. So the only thing I could do, I took the elephant immediately and did the GMAT. And I entered a PhD JD PhD program at UCLA. So that was the main reason as to why I became an attorney. But hindsight is 2020. I had signed with deaf jam records and deaf jam well island and merged universal. And I had written all of these songs and they were trying to retain publishing, which I didn't have a co-publishing agreement.

And then they were trying to release me from the agreement and they still owed me. So it was great that I was an attorney. So I was able to negotiate both the settlement and my publishing rights and all of the other great things. And so now I'm looking, well, I've been the fighter for the underdog because I've been there where they are, what, you know, what they're going through. So it actually worked for the better. Was there any challenges you faced being so young while you were in undergrad? You know, there were a lot of challenges. One, I couldn't go places that 18 year olds could go and I ran track. So my mom would have to sign a release almost every time we traveled. And I guess the other students didn't realize what my coach realized it. And then when they started saying things like, oh, he's got can't be our age. And then, you know, eventually a lot of them became big brothers and big sisters to me. So I would say I was able to overcome the challenges and the fact that I was kind of street smart along with books and so it actually helped me.

In 2006, you were hit with some health challenges. Tell us about that. Yeah, I was diagnosed with acute and I have some great news for you, acute lymphocytic leukemia. And 2007, February 2007, they gave me three to six months to live. And in 2013, I went into remission. But as you know, well, you may not know, they give you a five year time span before you can say that, hey, it's never coming back. Hopefully they have a higher rate that it won't come back. But in June of 2015, I had a ringing in my ears. And I just assumed that it was like a cold or something because I travel so much. And then the ringing would not leave. It was like like consistent, like really heavy in my head. And I said, well, no, I need to go to the ER. By the time I got into the ER, they immediately put me into blood transfusions and all those other things. My white blood cell count was only six.

And in any living being, it should be no more than 200. And you know, I had tumors in my head. Tumors in my lungs still, they removed one in my head through my nasal cavity. And still the others in my lungs. But three weeks ago, well, let's back up. I opted out of chemo this time. And I started doing this treatment called blood oxymidation and immune therapy and cryogenic freezing. A lot of things that were less intrusive to the body. And three weeks ago, I got my NED report, no existence of the disease. So I no longer take the nuclear pill. Yeah, I run probably 18 miles a week. I have really changed my mental state and mental, whatever it was, I no longer thought about the cancer. I thought about life. So it was a blessing to see that I was able to see beyond the illness and see the true meaning of life. And you know, a lot of times I still have a fever.

And still a lot of things going on. But hopefully I'll stay healthy for five years. And we'll be talking five years from now about, you know, what happened. So doing that process and continuing on, I assume that you have to have a somewhat of a regimented schedule. Yes, what transpired with me, they had placed me on steroids. And I would, I had always been 150 pounds, except when I was first diagnosed, I dropped down to 110 pounds and I'm six feet tall. So the second go around, they started putting me on steroids. And so I had blown up to 210 pounds. And I became depressed. I mean, when I say really depressed, I was, I couldn't like depressed. I couldn't go out of bed. But thinking about the depression, I was like, you know, this has to happen to me all the time, even growing up. I would, I would isolate myself and then I would come out the room a couple of days later. And I'm just excited about the world about life.

And so I went to see a therapist and, and of course, as I got your center, they diagnosed with bipolar. So dealing with the cancer, dealing with the bipolar was a task because the bipolar disease to me was worse than the cancer. Because I knew that to the end Thursday, I was going to treatment with the bipolar. I never knew when I was going to be depressed or when I was going to be bouncing off the walls, buying everything. So it was a difficult balance. But the regimen went for me. I started walking probably two miles a day. I started doing that. And then I started only walking on Tuesday, well Monday, Wednesday and Friday. What I would do, I would jog one mile and walk two miles on each occasion. And then eventually I would push myself to jogging to walking to, and I did that for a couple of months. And I was dropping a pound a week. And I was feeling good. I felt I loved the way I was looking.

So I started moving around people started seeing me. And then eventually, where I am now, I jog six miles three times a day. I'm 160 pounds. I'm back in a 34-way. And people are like, what happened? So that's the regimen. I never ate red meat or pork. But my calorie count, I only do 2000 calories a day. So that's my regimen. Tell us about your new CD. And no judgment. No judgment came from just how religious people are the whole. I'm not just saying Christian, you know, Catholic, Islam. There's just sort of judgment that happens. It's almost naturally because of the way they were programmed if I could use that word. And what no judgment is about is I kept it honest. I kept it real about, you know, drinking the use of drug, the womanizing, you know, just all of that stuff.

So I just laid it all on the table. And it was an honest account of my life. And I just want people to stop looking at the surface of someone and, you know, give somebody a chance, you know, because you never know. You're probably the only God someone will ever see during that times, man. And if you're mean and judgmental and angry and bitter and jaded, they're not going to want more God because I don't want to know that God is just for every, you know, so that's what no judgment is about. And tell us about that first single off of it. Well, be free. And that is that record is probably the best song that I'm saying. And the best lyric and production that I've ever done in a while. I mean, if you could tell the production on this is whole different than the vocals on this and it's so different because I actually want to go to vocal coach and learn piano. I just, you know, I did a lot of things that were were different because I've taken the art series. But be free. It's about the depression of me hearing the voices and telling me, you know, that you don't know God. He doesn't love you.

I'm questioning why I'm going through certain things and others aren't. And they're committing crimes every day. But I'm finally free from those type of thoughts, the thought process. And, you know, mental illness is a huge thing within I'm within the black community. And it's thought of as as you're crazy. You know, so I wanted to dispel that stigma and be the first person to say that I am suffering from mental illness. But I'm still OK. And I'm taking medication. And you can still live a fruitful life. You have to go through therapy. You have to find those triggers in your life that will make you be angry and interact in a certain way. And so that's what be free. It's about early morning, pain keeps me in the bed. I can barely.

Voice is telling me I should be dead. I focus on you. Part of me gave up. Part of me is too strong. I know I can do it. In my mind is out asking myself, how I will I get through. I won't be free free from this hurting brain, this hurting brain. This hurting pain. I won't be free free from this hurting brain. This hurting pain, this hurting pain. And sorrow keeps bringing me down Lord help me turn this around I will be free, free I'm this heard in pain This heard in pain This heard in pain

Hang on me on this medication Trying to heal my bedroom It's taboo to talk about depression So the Lord I talk to you Part of me gave up Part of me is this wrong I know I can do it In my mind there's out Asking myself how Lord how we love each other This heard in pain This heard in pain I'm this heard in pain This heard in pain This heard in pain Drowning in sorrow keeps bringing me down Lord help me turn this around I will be free, free I'm this heard in pain This heard in pain

This heard in pain Why gospel music as an art form for you Oversecret music Well me personally I don't think there's a difference But the thing is except for I look up and caring on There's a lot of records that really Minish the people about day-to-day life And the music moves them Especially when they go on through a heartbreak Or a hard time You know they hear that love song about You know encouraging and all those other things With me I would probably consider myself an inspirational Tell the good news kind of guy Because my soul purpose is not to save anyone Because that's God's job My soul purpose is to show people who I am To tell my testimony And to encourage them not to frighten them into God And so that's my approach To gospel music, to inspirational music So I guess the real reason I chose gospel music Inspirational music is because

I wanted to inspire, to motivate, to share good news To share that there is promise in God And there is nothing that's surprised with him When did you come up with the concept for original man entertainment? Well a long time ago I'm a huge history guy I had read a book Then visible man and a few others And they talked about the original man being the original man As far as African people, out my people And that's where original man came from My company cannot be duplicated What we offer is different than most management company The entertainment company And we really care about the talent that we represent About the people that we come in contact with Every email I receive If I don't know the person, I still respond to them If I receive dates, whatever it is And we never requested it We respond to it because I feel that the original man Comes from an original art, a caring heart

The original man, everyone else derived from us So therefore we have to be a depiction of what Originality is And I think that we're a kind people I think that we're a loving people So that's where original man came from Is it difficult to explain to some of your clients That are two distinct functions in entertainment business There's the show, and then there's the business Like show business Well, the thing is, even if they have a CPA or whatever Financial Elijah We give our clients books And there's in our agreement There's a mandatory financial courses There's a mandatory psychologist you must see Because you would be surprised At the things that a lot of these kids go through Not only internally, but through the people, the family And all these other things Especially when they go from being impoverished to being millionaires overnight So that in itself can be very difficult

And trust me It can be because I was young And it happened for me and I went but wow And so I guess living through it I'm able to kind of motivate them into a different path How do you divide up your day? You said you're teaching law in Columbia But you got all these other titles You know, I have an amazing staff And I tell you, I've had people that's been with me for 17, sometimes 20 years And that's how I manage And also, I'm a stickler for time My day, actually my life, I try to plan it out I'll sketch it out for the next three years Four years, because I base it upon the Olympics And you know, seeking new talent I know that we're going to have Through the summertime, March through the summer You know, we are in the draft And then we're negotiating agreements And hopefully those people play during the preseason So that the contract was

So during that time span, I'm working Also, I'm really pulled back I no longer do the 90-hour weeks I actually work probably 10 hours a week now I mean, literally 10 hours a week I no longer push beyond the load I no longer take things home My oldest son just graduated from a LSU He's in graduate program at Princeton My daughter, she's a sophomore at Spellman No, she's a junior, you know Yeah, a junior at Spellman And my youngest is 13 And I've had some regrets Because my oldest and I were very close But we don't know one another sometimes, you know So I'm never going to do that again I'm like backtracking So as a parent, that's a very difficult pill to swallow And an honest pill to swallow And I'm learning You know, I'm learning to stop doing certain things And it probably the only reason Why I'm teaching is so that I don't feel bored

Or are antiquated or something like that But you know, so that's it When you look at the state of affairs here in America Does it frighten you a bit And have you had conversations Particularly with your 13-year-old About some of the things that are happening Some of the things he may see on television Well, the thing about it When the initial transition of Trump Until the White House And they were talking about sending or deporting certain individuals Or race of people back to their home country And my 13-year-old son, his name is Agent, will we call him Chief You know, he came home in tears Because he has a lot of friends who are in high school with him Which are not immigrants But in his mind He knew that they were Latina or Latino And that's all he could, you know, he didn't know the difference

With regards to immigration So I had to sit down and really explain things And because he was actually afraid that his classmates Were going to be deported The issue now for us is the police brutality That is the biggest issue in our household When you're having to tell your son If you're ever stopped by the police Put your hands on the steering wheel Do not move If they ask you for something Tell them to get it And, you know, things of that nature And it's paralyzing Because you're always thinking, you know, man I hope Jalen doesn't get into anything Or I hope and pray that, you know, the one messes with cheese You know, there's all sorts of things And even with my daughter You know, there have been debts that we cannot explain For African American women or Black women

And so, in the midst of that We don't want to frighten our children But we want to teach them to be able to make the right choices And the key word is when they say you have the right to remain silent You use that silence as your tool Do not, I mean, there's no need for you to try to explain all this other stuff Because your trial is not there on the street You go through the process And daddy will make sure the rest is taken care of But don't try to disrupt the situation Don't be so passive But the key to it is getting through the process So that you can see a judge I wonder, wonder, wonder

Do you feel closer to dawn But standing on me I wonder, wonder You know your seed And my seed All the very same thing I wonder, wonder Babish recording honors and cancer survival, Dr. Tracy Randall If you have questions, comments, or suggestions That's your future in Black America programs Email us at in Black America at kut.org Also let us know what radio station you heard us over Remember to like us on Facebook and to follow us on Twitter The views and opinions expressed on this program are not necessarily those of this station or of the University of Texas at Austin You can get previous programs online at kut.org Until we have the opportunity again for technical producer David Alvarez I'm John L. Hanson, Jr. Thank you for joining us today Please join us again next week

You know your seed And my seed All the very same thing You don't know what I've been through It's like I'm also playground Begling my pose Begling my pose CD copies of this program are available and may be purchased by writing in Black America CDs KUT Radio One University Station Austin, Texas 78712 That's in Black America CDs KUT Radio One University Station Austin, Texas 78712 KUT Radio This has been a production of KUT Radio