New Interview with SelfMadeSilu @SelfMadeSilu
Hi, I’m doing business “SelfMadeSilu” and I’m from Albany, GA. I am currently serving in the U.S. Army starting in 2014 and has done operations in multiple war zones including Syria and Iraq. I represent anything that can be considered prosperity, positives vibes, respect, and humbleness. I don’t represent a hood or group but a mindset of the law of principles and the sensitive ambitious people.
My original business name was “S.I.L.U.” which stands for (S)tephanie (I) (L)ove Yo(u) which my mother’s name. I decided to change it to have a better way of popping up on everyone search engine first. I decided to dedicate my motives to my mother for what she’s sacrificed to take of me.
2. Talk to us about what inspired you to get into the music business?
What inspired me to get into the music business was being able to lift my voice in the military when calling cadence. It definitely gave me the ability to create my own cadency of lyrics and voice inflection, my love for poetry, and being around all my family members and one of them either would sing or freestyle. I want to share my soul driven lyricism to the community to show people it’s ok to be yourself and not fit in with the crowd. I’ve always been different in a way from every crowd. I never wanted to fit in with anyone what so ever.
3. Thinking back to your childhood, what was it like growing up in your city?
Growing up in Albany, Georgia was both fun and later realize that life wasn’t what it seems. As a kid you think you got it all figured out until reality hit you. As a kid growing up there was very mediocre considering the highness of the crime rate and low based Success Level. Reality kind of hit me as a kid when I used to catch my mother crying from not being able to make the bill payments and not being able to give us what we wanted all of the time. As a kid seeing my mother starve herself trying to feed me – which is what I lectured on my song ‘P.T.S.D.’ – and my brothers and sisters really takes a toll on a child’s mind. That’s a lot to take in as an adolescent. I remember days that I only got to eat at school and still reported to football practice. It really felt like my stomach was touching my back.We were born right in middle of gang and drug affiliation. The violence of that is either going to humble you or you’re going to end up 6ft under or in concreted confinement. Most of us just wanted to be part of something considering the absence of particular people. Some of us did things to make sure their families were fed. I personally feel that anyone that’s a product of that type of environment is poisoned mentally to continuously be malice towards people that’s around them. In my song ‘Section 8 Boi’ I lectured that “I was playing 2k with the same person that kicked my door and left it empty.” Thats very true. There are more robberies and burglaries in poverty dominate neighborhoods than middle/upper class communities. I had to leave because I noticed that you can let someone bite your hand off and they will try to get more out of you. I had to get out of there and have no plans to return.
4. Who would you say inspired you in the music business and why?
I say that the military and my mother are what inspires me to do what he do and stay positive. The military considering that they encourage leadership, character, and responsibility, including their rhythmic way of having voice inflection when marching. My mother inspires me because she has always been by his side.
5. What music are you currently promoting today?
Well I currently release a single month just to give my true fans something to rock to and also to show people that I can make hits that people can relate to. I’m pushing all songs but single that I’m giving my uppermost focus and investing into is my single ‘Mixed In My Thoughts’
6. Since you’ve been in this business how has your music evolved throughout the years?
Actually I started doing music back in 2012-2014 but I stopped because I didn’t have the funds and I felt like I was trying to fit in with the wave instead creating a wave. I literally took 5 yrs off from doing music until I felt more mature and original in my lyrics. I decided to to start back doing music when I was in the middle no where in Syria waiting for conflict with the enemy and taunting other countries to start with us. I don’t know what it is. I’m thinking it was God, Allah, Muhammad…whoever it was instilled me with a gift during that stressful moment of my life and I wanted to pursue into showing the maturity of my lyricism and voice. I will forever be original.
7. What is the biggest lesson you’ve learned in this music business?
The biggest lesson that I learned is that you can’t pay for streams and likes and expect to true feedback and royalty collections.
I did business with @viralexecs which end of being a fraud digital marketer
I did business with DJ Spinrilla which is another scammer. All of his stuff is fake and he takes your money and doesn’t do anything to show for it but ask for more money. I got all my money back from him though. Thank God.
I really don’t understand how people feed off aspiring artist when they know for a fact most of us trying to avoid being mixed in violence.
8. Do you have a project you are currently promoting? If so what is it called and where can our readers find it?
I released my Album called ‘Mixed In Emotions’ on New Years Day 2019. On any project that I release I always want to show my diversity of making any type of song theme. My singles will always have somewhat of then same theme to it, but will always be different in its own way.
My singles will be fierce, painful, and optimistic. I like to show the pain then end it with overcoming from it mostly. You can go stream it which will be blessing to me and I will gladly appreciate it and dishonor any boasting that received from it. Your acknowledgement is what matters.
9. Break down your definition of Grynd?
“Grynd” to me is having consistent “un-frictioning” focus towards life to achieve success from your goals. Meaning that whatever is blocking you, slowing you down, from doubt, self-doubt etc you stopping that friction by applying pressure with your work ethic by going against the grain that life brings.
10. What else are you looking to accomplish besides the music business in the future?
The content of my grind is to create business opportunities to put my family in place for success. If they don’t take it serious that’s on them. I won’t be giving out no hand-outs. They can go in any corner and hate me. I don’t care. Why would I give you money when it’ll be better to show you a way to get it?
11. Where can fans find you on the internet in the future?
Fans can find me On IG & Twitter @SelfMadeSilu
And my website:
https://www.selfmadesilu.com/
They both have all my contact info if anyone needs to contact personally
12. Any Shout outs?
Shout Out To My Mother, my Grandmother, My Engineer Badd Guyy, my young cousin BDP Darrio, and to other artist such as Juno Carter, TheMorningAfter, TheRealBlo, OffiIcialTonio, and MegoDaDon, also to all the people that’s out there pursuing some type action to gain any type of valuable end return.
Shout Out To My Friends Bryce, Devon, Ray Ray Lewis, Marcus Oval, Chad, and Ronnie Wilson
Shout out to all of the CEOs that I studied like Birdman, Pierre Thomas, and Coach K for giving me the idea of long term consistency.
Shout out to the artist like Derez Deshon, Kwony Cash, Slim Dunkin, Lil Wayne, Drake, Bryson Tiller, Plies, Rick Ross, Gucci Mane & PeeWee Longway for giving me the idea of being original will get me further long term than trying to be part of the wave.
Entrepreneur
Award Winning Entrepreneur Mama Sue Taylor Talks Being A Cannabis Pioneer & Resource For The Elderly Community
Sue Taylor “Mama Sue”, is a pioneer in the space of wellness and cannabis. Breaking barriers as the first black woman to open and operate a dispensary in Berkeley, California, she has been featured in Forbes, CNN, ABC7, Black Enterprise, MSN and several other publications sharing her incredible journey through cannabis. As she is one of the most influential women in cannabis she continues to utilize her platform to debunk any negativity surrounding the healing plant. As a mother, grandmother, entrepreneur, and advocate, Sue Taylor has made it her mission to be a resource to the elderly community through her Mama Sue Wellness tinctures and series of educational events.
I had the pleasure and honor of speaking with Sue after she was presented the Lifetime Achievement Award from Grammy Award Winning singer Erykah Badu at the 2024 Women in Cannabis Awards. Check it out below.
Sue Taylor Interview
What does it mean to you being a cannabis advocate and how did you get your start in the cannabis industry?
Sue Taylor: If someone had told me 17 years ago that I would be working in the cannabis industry I would have never believed them. I did not choose this, it chose me. My son lured me into the business by convincing me that this is a way for me to have my spiritual wellness center that I have always wanted and that intrigued me. I saw that it was needed because of how I took care of my body when I began to age and I knew the pharmaceutical approach wasn’t working way back then. As I said yes to work with Cannabis, I was actually scared and frightened by it due to the movie Reefer Madness. People in my generation were always told weed was a drug and it was always black people or hispanics and the weed devil and a lot of craziness.
This deterred my generation from cannabis because we simply do not break rules and it was deemed federally illegal. As an African American woman you know there is a stigma around us. I am already judged for being a black woman and I don’t want to be judged again! Being black I am judged everyday even still to this day, so to be taking on something that is extremely stigmatized was scary. But when my son told me I could have my Sue Taylor Wellness facility, I said okay let’s give it a try. Even though I was scared, I knew it was something I had to do to improve the quality of my life. If your dream doesn’t scare you a little bit your dream is not big enough. I was so scared but I was not willing to give up, which has allowed me to live my dream in real time.
Not only are you a cannabis advocate but you are also a pioneer. Can you share with me your vision for your Farmacy dispensary as you are the first and only black woman to own and operate a dispensary in Berkeley?
ST: The journey to opening Farmacy Berkeley was not an easy one. It took us 17 years to get things going. However, I was granted a permit to open Farmacy Berkeley because I had a special niche. Mine was geared to the needs of seniors. I also did my own lobbying to the city council and the mayor. I did it because we really didn’t have the money to do it and we are not equity people. We used our family’s money to get things accomplished. I had another key component Brittany that I want to share. When I went in, they could see that I genuinely cared for humankind. It wasn’t about me. And it really wasn’t just about cannabis. I just saw cannabis as one tool to help people. My pioneer work has helped with the stigma that surrounds cannabis. Recently I received the Lifetime Achievement at the Women in Cannabis Awards for my advocacy work and have also received an advocacy award from Oaksterdam University.
I have been very successful at helping to eliminate the stigma because I don’t fit the mold. I’m a former Catholic school principal. I am also a commissioner on aging. I was the commissioner on aging for Alameda County, where Farmacy Berkeley is located. On top of that, I am certified by the state of California to teach the cannabis program to nurses and help them obtain credits toward the yearly certifications that they need. I’ve had that certification for five years or more. It’s amazing to do that. It has been quite a journey for me. I have also been successful simply because I genuinely care.
When we opened up Farmacy Berkeley, we were open for one month, then the pandemic stopped everything. They sent all seniors home because people were afraid I was going to get covid. So we went away from it and then came back. But before I really got into business, I was teaching seniors. I had a community room where I would educate seniors free of charge, just come in and talk. I even did meditation classes. I did a lot of things there as well. Then that all stopped because of the pandemic. But I want you to be clear on this, we were opened up after we got the license.
How did Cannabis change your life?
ST: When I saw the way cannabis was positively impacting the lives of everyone around me that I was working with, that’s when I became open to cannabis. When I started off, I would not touch it, I was simply just doing the work. But after time, people kept coming to me saying that they were no longer using canes, wheelchairs or medication anymore. Seeing the progress in those people, I began to change my mind and became open to cannabis to help with pain or to help me sleep.
I started to think “maybe my son was right this whole time”. I thought he was on drugs, but when I found out what he was doing things changed. He was attending Oaksterdam University learning the entrepreneur side of cannabis. 17 years ago, there were only dispensaries for medical patients and only three in the Berkeley area making the rules a lot stricter. Its incredible how much growth there has been in the industry and the opportunities it’s presenting in helping others, especially seniors. I continued to do the work, myself along with the many hardworking individuals in the cannabis industry see the benefits of being in the business.
What is your mission for helping the elderly connect to cannabis as you have your Mama Sue Wellness products that are specifically geared toward seniors?
ST: Those products were made with love for a group of people that most people have forgotten about. This means everything to me to be able to have wellness products that cater to my demographic.
Seniors mostly come to cannabis for two reasons, because they can’t sleep or they’re in pain. Thats what each tincture was crafted to help with, we have a sleep tincture made with high CBN and CBD and an extra strength tincture which is high-CBD to help with aches and pain. And we have more products coming very soon. These were made with seniors in mind, but I think I might have more young people using the Mama Sue products for sleep and anxiety because the relief tincture, you could use that during the day and still function. They won’t get you high.
What has it been like working with Glass House Brands?
ST: I’ve been a part of Glass House, for a little over 4 years. What many people don’t know is that in the process of building Farmacy Berkeley, we ran out of money. That is when Kyle, Graham and the Glass House team came in, we became partners and they put up the remainder of the money to help build out the dispensary to my specifications. Glass House also helped me develop my tincture products that I’ve always wanted, Mama Sue Wellness. They aligned with my values and are doing things right, that’s why I chose them.
I’m grateful to be part of the Glass House team, they really support my mission in helping change the stigma around cannabis. As a Brand Ambassador we work together to put together these educational events, I travel to our different dispensaries where I get to speak and answer questions for local seniors one on one.
You mentioned your Mama Sue products and how they’re kind of more so geared toward the senior community. What do you feel like is the most important thing about wellness when it comes to cannabis and debunking these misconceptions?
ST: To begin, it depends on the group of people you are talking to. For instance, when me and my fellow cannabis advocates needed to get something done as a cannabis group going up against the city and state, they would always suggest sending me to speak on the group’s behalf. They thought it was like some magic or something, but let me tell you what it was, Brittany. I looked at the cannabis industry and I looked at most of the people who were in that industry at that time. They looked like stoners. I did not. And I was not. And I made a conscious decision that every time I was representing cannabis, I would look like a lawyer. And that’s who they met. They said, oh, you are in the wrong place, lady. I said, no, I’m here for cannabis. I didn’t fit the mold. Brittany, when they looked at me, I didn’t fit their perception of what people who used cannabis look like. Does that make sense?
I know that recently you and Dreka Gates got a chance to connect, can you share the synergy and connection you two ladies share?
ST: It was amazing. It was one of my most amazing ‘Plants Over Pills’ interviews because we connected on so many levels, so many levels. I’ve never met a young person like that, that’s spiritually evolved like her, because she’s young, you know she’s young, she’s only 37. And we just talked like we knew each other. Wait till you see the interview, it’s on the Glass House YouTube channel. I’ve never conducted an interview like that before. The camera crew was saying, oh my God, they were amazed at how easily we connected, and we just kept talking and talking. We connected on such a high level, we’re both spiritual people, we’ve been through a lot, we believe in plant medicine for healing, and she’s now even opening her first dispensary in Mississippi. Dreka talks about all the challenges she went through to secure the permit. We had trouble in California and we’re the most progressive state there is, I can’t imagine Mississippi. We bonded over all of that, opening our first dispensary and our vision to expanding that into our wellness facilities.
What has been your experience with pills versus plants for healing?
ST: They tried to give me a pill during the pandemic. I’m a spiritual person, and I had anxiety and was having difficult nights of sleep, had so much fear, all that kind of stuff. So, I went to my doctor and she prescribed me pills. I said, you know, I’m not a pill taker. But for some reason she insisted that I just take it. So I took the pills home, I looked it up and researched them before I popped anything. You know what it said on the bottle, they were to help with schizophrenia. Schizophrenia! I called her immediately and relayed my findings to her. You know what her response to me was? Why are you questioning me? You are not a doctor. She said, I give that to all my patients that have anxiety. You know what my response to her was? “I am not all your patients, and I don’t take a pill for anything. You know that I don’t take a pill to manage my health so why would you give me something for schizophrenics? I am not schizophrenic.” So that was it. I had to start looking out for my own health, and wellbeing.
I always make this disclaimer, pills have their place. Pharmaceuticals are not bad. They are not bad for people who need them. Pharmaceutical drugs were made for temporary use. If you get into a car accident or going into operation for eight hours, yes pills are helpful. But most people are using pharmaceuticals just to manage their day to day lives. Like with high blood pressure, with high cholesterol, with even anxiety.You start taking pills for an operation, then you have high blood pressure, then 10, 15 years later, you’re still on those same pills and more. That’s not okay. We have to stay educated about our health and thankfully, our younger generation are getting better at understanding that. The younger generation just doesn’t take what people tell them. You guys research everything. I have three sons so I’m surrounded by all the young people all the time and they keep me sharp.
I just met another guy, he’s gonna open up a wellness facility because everybody is seeing the light, popping a pill is not going to get you healthy. If anything, it’s gonna deteriorate your body because it’s all about the money. Pharmaceutical approach to healthcare. They give politicians money so they continue to push pills on us. We have to look beyond. We have to think for ourselves and find more natural ways to heal and care for bodies, mind and spirit.
Brittany, as I look at your beautiful face today, with that beautiful skin, that beautiful complexion, you have to go within and do what’s best for Brittany. I don’t care what the doctors try to tell you. Trust yourself first, always.
To learn more about Mama Sue Taylor and her journey through cannabis, follow her on Instagram at @suetaylorwellness.
Not everyone can be a winner. Detroit native and hip-hop sensation 42 Dugg is back with a fiery new single, Win Wit Us. The track, a precursor to his highly anticipated album 4eva Us, Neva Them, showcases Dugg’s signature style and lyrical prowess. In the brand new single, produced by FLEXONTHEBEAT, TyMaz, and Marshak, Dugg calls out those who try to ride his wave without putting in the work, cementing his stance in the rap game. The release is accompanied by an official music video directed by Counter Point, where Dugg and his crew dominate the streets and clubs of Detroit, visually reinforcing his message of loyalty and resilience. Dugg raps in the hard-hitting track:
All of sudden they wanna win wit us / But ain’t spin with us.
Dugg previously teased this new era of his music with a trailer featuring Hill Harper, further building anticipation among his fans. “Win Wit Us” follows a series of recent hits including Wock N Red, SpinDatBac, and Go Again. Earlier this year, Dugg made a triumphant return to the stage with a sold-out “Welcome Home” show at Detroit’s Little Caesars Arena, featuring appearances by superstars like Meek Mill, Yo Gotti, Lil Baby, and more. Notably, the event saw Dugg unite Detroit’s rival hip-hop factions, Doughboyz Cashout and Team Eastside, in a historic move to end the city’s East-West beef. Fans can expect even more groundbreaking music from Dugg as he gears up for his upcoming album. Don’t miss out on the latest single available for streaming here and watch the music video below. Link up with 42 Dugg on Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.
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