Creatives in Practice: Chuckie Online x Tazer Black

Speaking of pheromones, when’s the last time you guys have felt that? 👀

Tazer: The definition makes it seem as if it’s only the smell that attracts you to someone, but it’s a combination of things. I experienced a time when I looked at a girl and as I approached her, she smelt good to me. This made me want to talk to her. Yeah, so I mean, so when did that happen last, you know, honestly, yesterday.

As I approached her and she shook my hand, I didn’t want to let go. Obviously, as I got closer, I didn’t do too much. I just said “Give me the IG” and done.

Chuckie: Yeah, for me, I’d probably say as recent as maybe about a week and a half ago. There were a couple of things that got to me actually, well, the first thing was, and I talked about this before, but I’m very attracted to this, it was hearing this lady talk passionately about something. It was in extreme detail. And she was teaching me things. I started to find myself becoming very attracted to this woman. On top of that, it was the walk. There was a certain type of confidence in this walk. But again she spoke with such confidence in what she knew when she taught me and then from then I was like, “Yeah, this is me”. I can easily attach this to a song.

What made you feel that type of rhythm?

Tazer: Yeah. So funny. We have an episode we were talking about sex appeal.

Chuckie: You know when someone walks into a room, and there’s a certain level of eye contact, and it sounds mad because at the time, you don’t really realise what’s happening but you’re just enjoying it. And it’s only now if you ask me to explain it, it’s like, okay, I’m starting to understand why I’m just lost in the essence.

Tazer: You see when you say that, yeah, it reminds me… do you watch anime? (No). So there’s an episode where Goku reaches a certain level where he doesn’t think about his movement. It just happens to him. So his opponent threw a punch and he will just literally dodge it. I’ve always like, I don’t even know what’s going on around me. So you see what you’re saying in regards to the woman in question, you’re in such a vibe yet that you go left she goes left, you go right she goes right. Thinking about it. So when you say rhythm, I guess that I wouldn’t associate that with a song. There’s no song playing you just at the moment. In your head, this song will be playing, and it’s the same song that she’s listening to.

Chuckie: obviously she likes it. I love it.

Let’s wheel it up, all the way up! Chuckie, Tazer, give us 3 landing points as to where our audience might or should know to land when it comes to who you are, what you do and how you’ve contributed to the culture.

Chuckie: Oh, what where am I? Where are we right now?

Well, we’re in a studio complex, which is actually owned by someone I grew up with as well, his name is Nick. Nick is sick as well. This studio is a place where artists come in to record podcasts and you can even do photo shoots, which I just realised today! So seems like a creative space.

Some people would probably say I’m a podcaster but I’m a music man first. I grew up strongly around music, my dad was a DJ, so even though my life has kind of moved me in the direction of talking about music, culture and whatever else, being a podcaster, journalist etc. I think my DNA will always stem from music. And I’m here because of music, essentially.

How I’ve contributed to culture, to be honest with you, I feel like I have contributed to the culture in the sense of unpacking the culture to get what I’m saying. And I’ve had open honest conversations about the culture and, being from it, talking about my experiences in it has helped a lot of people and also made a lot of people kind of like, even start doing some of the things that I’ve been doing.

Whether it be recording a podcast, or whether it be having, you know, sparking conversations or debates or whatever it may be to get what I’m saying. And yeah, I feel like it’s a weird one for me because I’ve just sat and had conversations with my bregins, and people that are super interesting. And when I look back, I feel like if you’re writing a documentary, or you’re making a film, about a whole bunch of stuff that happened within our culture from the start all the way up to now, I think we got a place there.

Tazer: Hearing Chuckie explaining his has made me kind of realise mine. Mine is more, I’m a businessman first. But in saying that, I have different umbrellas. So I’d say I’m a podcaster and event organiser. One of the main reasons I did this event is cause  I like music. Or I love music, should I say. I don’t listen to all kinds of music though. I’m very particular about the music that I like, but the music that I like, I love, just as he says. And in that, I know, there are people that love the same genres that I do, but it’s not genres that are really said, what well, back then wasn’t really celebrated. So I felt like, well, let me find a space where we can listen to the music that we like, and not feel like we’re policed. Or it has to be gate kept.

We understand the music so we know what comes with it, so let me just find a space so people can come and entertain themselves. But in doing that, I realised how many people I’m touching as well because not everybody has a safe space where they can go and listen to the music that they listen to in their cars, or in the houses and all that stuff. In doing that, I enjoy that I like seeing people have a good time. And that’s the tagline: good people, good music, good lips.

So how have you guys found the business has changed, say from 10 years ago to now? Those two events?

Chuckie: I think one of them is what Tazer said in regard to venues. I feel like there are so many venues that we didn’t have access to, but there were a lot of venues that existed and now all of a sudden there’s a lack of them in London in particular. For me as well, I think having quite a long career as just being a DJ at one point, there were like, times where for example, where there was like a uni scene for example, so you will go to these like unique events or whatever, they’d be all over the place and then there was also a city scene. So it’s like, you know, you might be you could be DJing in multiple clubs within the city, wherever it’d be.

But all those venues are closed and shut down now, so what might be missing a little bit is just that place that people used to be able to go to on a regular basis, I feel like Faded is this one of the reasons why Faded has actually done so well!

It’s become a staple within the club scene where no matter where they are, you know that if it’s not this weekend or next weekend, they’re gonna provide a good party. That just doesn’t exist so much anymore. Before there used to be a go-to place on a Tuesday, that place on a Wednesday, etc, so when people come to the country now, they’ll be like, they might not have an idea of where to go and what to do.

Tazer: And that also answers the previous question in regards to my contribution, my contribution to the culture is providing a space where no matter where you are, what you decided to do, you know that if there’s a faded event on and there’s a particular vibe that you’re going for, we’re always going to deliver!

Fashion, name some artists within that rhythm n blues genre that had the coldest style in their time!

Tazer: Chris Brown for me, everything just drops on him. He could be wearing silver, yellow, gold and blue altogether and somehow he will even dye his hair just to match something he’s wearing and it will drop, I just don’t know how he does it but maybe it’s cause of his slender frame. His height and frame must make it possible.

Chuckie: She’s no longer living but Aaliyah for me. Oh, yeah, Aaliyah was the coldest dresser, also when you look at the fact that not only was she such a cold dresser when you look at some of the styles of what that people were doing afterwards? Yeah, some people dropped it well, but it still looked like they were trying to dress like her.

Tazer: I’m just gonna throw this out there, there’s only one artist right now that I look at and think whenever she wears an outfit, it looks cold. And she does r&b, Teen Taylor. You see a lot of girls try and a lot of those don’t say that they get it from her.

Chuckie: There’s a lot of people that dress a certain way to look good or whatever. No, I’ll go as far as saying this for me, I felt like the women dress better. I always looked at the women’s love and their style, but with the guys, the guys that I liked growing up fashion-wise, the fashion sense was purely based more hip hop, to be honest.

So even when I look at Jodeci for example. Yeah, like there’s obviously the stuff of them looking mad R&B, but the stuff that I liked from them is where it was just like a hoodie, and like baggy clothing and whatnot. I liked that flavour I’m saying, but I haven’t really wanted to dress like them like that. But as I got older, you know who is always wanting to be Joe.

Tazer: That’s just him wearing a suit. It’s not super relaxed. That was not the essence of how I described earlier and even looked at how other girls are dressing and you can see Aaliyah or Destiny’s Child blueprint. Joe is not the blueprint of a suit. It’s just Joe looking smart.

Chuckie: I hear that still, but to me, I look at Joe as like I do see Joe as a Playboy because now it’s like even though he’s wearing a suit it’s a bit more than that. It’s like what he sort of represents at the same time as a grown R&B head too.

No disrespect to some of the guys, you still see them trying to keep up this young thing but it should get to a point where it’s like nah this is how I’m stepping up on this grown folk ting! Joe’s almost taken a light essence of the early 80s, maybe even like 70’s where they were dressed a certain way and it was a lot to do with looking sharp for a woman. Even Steven Harvey mentioned it so well, he says when I was young and we put on our shoes we’d shine our shoes when we put on our clothes and whatever, we put on our cologne… we’re this on so women see we look good. “Aww, you smell nice!”. We’ve got to a point now where men are getting dressed for the mandem. 

I don’t dress for the mandem but a lot of men do things for the benefit of approval from other men.

I feel like there was a section on R&B heads, maybe I’m one of them, where I never felt like I wanted to dress like Ginuwine for example. But I wanted to be a little bit more say, for example, Method Man. He’s with the R&B chick, you get what I’m saying? That kind of that was me. So I’m already an R&B head just rocking with a Hip Hop flow – you get me?