And I thought about somethin' else. Lol. That wisdom regarding how to treat others, how to conduct yourself professionally, and acknowledging the gatekeeper, and the Golden Rule being everywhere-proof, people seeing through fake. All that is wise as heck. Everything that was said resonated with me.

Also, when you say that the auxiliary keys are just as important as the main parts, I agree with y'all 100%. I liken music to a pyramid........ _Every block in the pyramid is important!_ I bet _nobody_ saw that one coming. 😏 On some Prince of Egypt, "Look at your life through heaven's eyes" type stuff. Lol. "Does it think it's more important than the stones that form the base?" 🤣🤣🤣 Jokes aside, music is like a pyramid. Each block in the pyramid plays a different role, but we need 'em all. The foundation of the pyramid is the rhythm section: Drums and Bass primarily. We already know why we need them; a strong foundation is the key to the building itself. The apex of the pyramid (the blocks near the top, and the top block itself) are the choir, lead singers, lead players such as lead guitar, aux, horns, and other instruments that take the "high road," as I call it. These blocks are the attention grabbers and main message carriers. They reach high, and make the pyramid look interesting when you see it from a distance. And then people gravitate to the whole pyramid because the top blocks make it look cool. The middle blocks of the pyramid (harmonic meats) is our pianos, organs, rhythm guitar, or whatever else can provide the meats. These blocks bridge the gap between the foundation and the apex; they transfer the strength of the foundation, and give the apex its height. When you both talked about the presence of the aux missing being tantamount to any of the "main" stuff missing, I was like, "PREACH!!!" You told not a single lie. 💯💯💯

My other comment got deleted......smh Either way, AWESOME INTERVIEW!!!!! BOTH of y'all deserve the utmost props for this masterpiece of an interview! Ms. Natalie Ragins was already incredible as it was. I just found out about her this week, and that's because I live under the _biggest_ rock. But I heard her play, and she's incredibly awesome. The #fistbump jam she did gave me some ideas to build on (I play 2.5 instruments: bass, drums, and guitar is my 0.5 because I need to get that locked in more). She's like the key whisperer. The moment you see that 'fro and/or Sunday hat coming your way, your keyboard is not yours anymore. Lol. You gotta give that Nord to her and buy a new one from GC, because that keyboard will be like Mjonir from Thor from that point forward. 🤣🤣🤣🤣 And your interviewing ability _amplified_ that............ Your questions, tone, approach, and everything was just the chef's kiss. And not only did you give her an avenue to tell her story and share her knowledge and wisdom, but you also _amplified_ it with the questions you asked, as well as your massive amounts of wisdom! You put forth observations that gave _her_ deeper perspective on _her own story!!!!!_ And she was like, "😮😮😮........I NEVER thought of it that way! You're 100% correct!" (Not to take anything away from her, of course. She's still goated, or Greatest Of All Time-ed. Not to be confused with the goats that Jesus doesn't like, to be clear.) That key being a symbol of responsibility part is a perfect example of this, and that's not the only one! That's wisdom you can't buy. Very awesome job! That's like being able to give the Avatar a new perspective. Keep in mind she already has the combined knowledge of the past Avatars of the keys. 🤣🤣🤣 I don't know the sports equivalent unfortunately. Either way, very incredible job! And I wish the best to both of y'all going forward.

This is GREAT!!! Thnx 4 this interview 👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾

👍for this one

Great info from the Maestro Cedric Thompson! Awesomeness!!

Main takeaways - Learn your craft and learn the business sude of music as well. Don't neglect that. - Leave your ego at the door. Don't expect the big bucks if you don't have the resume. - You need to be a people's person. - Have tough skin. - Have good time management. - Be integral with finances because you are not working with your own money, you are working with the artist's hard earn money.

Meat Da’ GREAT🏆🔥🔥🔥🔥

1:08:37 I had to timestamp this one

Love this! Inspiring!

Great interview. Thanks for sharing.

I absolutely love how Darwin Hobbs is so very intelligent, talented and inspirational. His music has helped me through so many tough times. I can't wait for another Darwin Hobbs album! ❤

Great interview! ❤

A powerful part 2, for this conversation! Overall, so many gems to internalize and apply from the convo too. 💡🎯

Darwin is underrated frfr #513

Tuned in, for the conversation! 🧨👊🏿.

another great show, thanks!

Great interview 👍🏾

Thanks for doing this awesome podcast

Very informative

Warren G Bennis said it best when differentiating leaders from managers: Leaders are people who do the right thing; managers are people who do things right. The manager accepts the status quo; the leader challenges it. Success in management requires learning as fast as the world is changing. Becoming a leader is synonymous with becoming yourself.

Amazing!

Dope podcast love this!

Love This Guy Cedric Thompson

May💜 God💛 Be ❤️With💚 Everyone💙 Always❤️ Much💚 Love💛 Blessings 💛Always ☺️ 🎇 🌈 🌐 💯 💯✌️💛💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜

Peace💚 and 💙Blessings💜 Too 💛My❤️ Brothers 💙May💜 God💛 Bless 💚Everyone 💜Always 💜May❤️ God 💚Bless 💙Everyone💜 Richly 💚with 💙everything💜 they💜 need❤️ Always💜 Much 💛Love💜 Blessings 💙Always ☺️ 🎇 🌈 🌐 💯✌️💛💙💚❤️💚💚💚💚💚💚

Keep it Up, i support what you are doing with this channel. welldone, stay encouraged.

Great interview! I also can remember when Meat encouraged me to keep pushing when I asked him how to get there🎷💯 and I got there and still pushing! Thanks Meat👍🏾 Definitely subscribing to this channel

Very nice. Thanks

Love it❤ so proud 😊

Absolutely love it!!! Great interview! So proud of you Meat!!!

Can't wait to listen to this! Childhood friend to big time star!

Love it! Great interview!

@MusicallyHitched Great interview with Natalie Ragins! I love watching her play! 1st time I hear her play was at The House Of Hope Atlanta, where the pastor is Pastor E. Dewey Smith, Jr. back in October 2017! She's my favorite musician! 🎼🎵🎶🎹🎹🎶🎵🎼

Good Stuff Zack and Christal Keep up the good work!!!

I love this woman so much! She is incomparable, She has taught me so much but by watching the moves she makes. She is one of my mentors in this game for sure

Super Dope!!!!!!

Loved this!!

hi nice sharing