Episode #43. We’re joined by the one and only Haas Rap Legend Ace Patterson AKA Call Me Ace. He shares with us his journey through Haas and how he rebooted his passion for rap music his last semester of Haas while recruiting for consulting. Ace pursued a corporate career post-MBA from Deloitte to Facebook to YouTube to hone his business acumen while concurrently launching a successful music career. Check out his music everywhere under his rap name Call Me Ace.
Episode Quotes:
“When you’re doing something that you love, you don’t even see really what you’re doing; you’re just doing it.”
“To help people live a rich life and not just a life full of riches.”
“Not being afraid to be wrong, not being afraid to be humbled, not being afraid of our own ignorances and prejudices, you know, understanding our implicit bias, understanding the things that we’ve learned over the years that could be wrong.”
“If we’re doing it for the right reasons, it’s going to produce the right outcomes.”
“How are you going to know if you’ve never tried it? If you end up being silent because you’re afraid, well, then you kind of look like the people that don’t care, to begin with, right? There’s a quote in the Bible that says, a foolish person and a wise person look the same when they’re not saying a word.”
"When you're doing something that you love, you don't even see really what you're doing; you're just doing it." Share on X "To help people live a rich life and not just a life full of riches." Share on X "Not being afraid to be wrong, not being afraid to be humbled, not being afraid of our own ignorances and prejudices, you know, understanding our implicit bias, understanding the things that we've learned over the years that could be… Share on X "If we're doing it for the right reasons, it's going to produce the right outcomes." Share on X "How are you going to know if you've never tried it? If you end up being silent because you're afraid, well, then you kind of look like the people that don't care, to begin with, right? There's a quote in the Bible that says, 'A foolish… Share on XShow Links:
Transcript:
[00:00:00] Sean: Welcome to the OneHaas alumni podcast. My name is Sean Lee, and today I’m joined by Ace Patterson of the full time MBA class of 2016. Now ACE is first and foremost, a hip-hop artist and Haas rap legend under the moniker Call Me ACE. Now, if you’re wondering what this amazing music you’ve been listening to this whole time is, it’s his music. We’re so honored to have him on the podcast today.
[00:00:37] And Ace, you’ve been an alum for what, about four years now, right?
[00:00:42] Ace: Dang, four years for like yesterday.
[00:00:45] Sean: So, let’s start off with giving our listeners a sense of your background. You know, where you’re from, what you did before Haas.
[00:00:54] Ace: Yeah. Ace Patterson grew up in Bridgeport, Connecticut. My family’s from Jamaica. I was the first one born in the US on my dad’s side. Went to school in New York. Did education nonprofit. After that for a couple of years, I went to business school, as you obviously know. And went after that into consulting. Did that for a bit, then went into consumer marketing on the operations side, did that for a little bit.
[00:01:25] And now I’m at YouTube, specifically in the partner development space, focused on music labels. And then simultaneously, I’m also a hip-hop artist, rap name Call Me Ace. And, I’ve been growing on that side simultaneously.
[00:01:40] I do have to ask, you know, during your time at Columbia for your undergrad, you studied anthropology. How’d you come to pick that degree?
[00:01:48] Ace: Man. The degree found me. You know, I thought I was going to go into economics. My grades and my wherewithal said otherwise. And so, I was looking for something, not mathematical, something that I could kind of leverage some of the other skills that I had. I found out that, you know, you could get good grades by just writing as opposed to taking tests that involve theories and such.
[00:02:17] So, at an anthropology class and an intro, and then one that was, I can’t even remember. It was so weird, but it was intriguingly weird. It was like, Oh, all we’re doing is talking about cultures and civilizations and nation-state boundaries and how they’re a construct and they’re not really real. I was like, Oh, this is the kind of material that’ll keep me engaged and you know, really being able to write about like almost anything. You know what I mean? That came of interest. Once I took this class where we got to watch anime all day and write about like Atira and stuff, and I was like, I grew up watching Dragon Ball Z, why would I not try to take this class and get this A, are you out of your mind? And then, I ended up graduating. Like I wrote this rap; I wrote this rap talking about like how weird supermarkets are. The fact that you go to a place and the fruit is already picked for you and it’s sitting outside.
[00:03:20] Like that’s not normal. You know what I mean? And I turned it into a rapid and ended up getting published in the Columbia University journal for anthropology, like, okay, let’s go. You know what I mean? So, that’s how I ended up graduating with a degree in anthropology. I was being enticed to use other gifts that I thought really didn’t have a place in the academic world and found out, well, I could actually do this. You know what I mean? Grow in that way.
[00:03:45] Sean: Have you always been involved in music and rapping growing up?
[00:03:49] Ace: Definitely like the creative arts for sure. I started off drawing. I could still draw and illustrate. Went into acting. My mom would have a sing, and me and my oldest sister and my younger brother, we were like a bootleg version of Boyz to Men and Jackson Five. We would do our thing.
[00:04:09] My oldest sister always had the lead role, and I had to work up a mean arrangement tune. But yeah, we would kill it. And then around like middle school, cause it wasn’t cool to win poetry awards, I became a rapper. But yeah, what was kind of interesting just seeing the route that I was going.
[00:04:29] My AP English class that I was taking in high school, my teacher who I loved, you know, she allowed me to make a song as my final paper for like an assignment and made a rap song about like Raskolnikov in Crime and Punishment. You know what I mean? And I got an A off of it. I was like, Oh, snap, like, yeah.
[00:04:53] I mean that kinda broke my sense of like what I can and can’t do in these kinds of institutions, you know? So even just thinking about, and the reason why that thought came to mind is because I was just talking about like the anthropology journal. Like I forgot I even did that, but that was just another example of being able to do that.
[00:05:09] And then, I also did something similar with Haas making the You Only Haas Once song with my classmate Boomi Kim. Shout outs to her. So, then, you know, I love Haas, you know what I mean? They were using it for admissions. I’m like, Oh, that’s dope. Right? Like, I didn’t think it would be like that, right? But you know, just finding those opportunities to really merge the thing that you love, it’s dope. It’s dope. And I feel like that helped me to really go through schools, go through my jobs and doing all this stuff.
[00:05:43] Sean: Yeah. I mean, to be able to express yourself on a medium that is natural to you, right? I mean, for example, I don’t think I’m a natural writer by any means. And I just happened to stumble on his podcasting platform. And it’s like, you know, talking to people, which is something I love doing. I love talking to people. And now hopefully I get to do this for a living, which would be amazing.
[00:06:09] Ace: Mm. Yep. It’s beautiful. I love it.
[00:06:13] Sean: The next thing I’m curious about is what made you go into consulting coming out of Haas?
[00:06:32] Ace: I was told that consulting is like an applied MBA. I was coming from nonprofit education. My boss was a former consultant and my boss’s boss worked in the finance institutions. And so, in order to like, get business skills, you know what I mean, to really grow a business acumen.
[00:06:56] Sean: Yeah.
[00:06:57] Ace: Going to business school is one thing. But then it’s like, okay, well, what am I going to do after it? Right. And so, going into consulting for me, it was just like, you know, I want to be able to get in like a really quick amount of time, those business skills that, you know, I may or may not have right now, but I just want to sharpen them.
[00:07:18] You know what I mean? I felt like business school, I was getting some dope knowledge for sure and met some dope people, but I still hadn’t really done anything. You know what I mean? From like the standpoint of like business. I had business skills that I obtained right from nonprofit, but like, okay, now it’s time to put them to the test.
[00:07:39] And I felt like consulting would be that space to really build that foundation for whatever other stuff I was going to do after that.
[00:07:48] Sean: That makes a lot of sense. I was just thinking, I mean, from our initial background research on you in preparation for this interview. We noticed that you served as the executive board member and cofounder and president of the Columbia University Society of Hip Hop. And you guys had over 50 successful events under your belt in under two years. I know that’s a student organization, but that’s still pretty major achievement to be able to pull that off in the time that you did. And, you know, on top of your long resume, I think you’re definitely not giving yourself enough credit for the business experience that you have, right?
[00:08:30] Ace: Dang, man. I didn’t feel like that at the time, but you’re right. You know, it’s always hard, right? Like, when you’re doing something that you love, you don’t even see really what you’re doing, you’re just doing it. Right. And, yeah, I can think back to those moments where it was like, hey, what are all the different groups on campus and who can we collaborate with, right? Like if they have events, are there events that we can join forces? You know what I mean? Because not only will, it’d be a cool opportunity to be like, yo, we got to work with these people, but then it also grew our reach, you know what I mean?
[00:09:07] And like now with the hat I’m on now. Yeah. I can look back and be like, Oh, that was a smart idea. But at the time I was just like, they’re cool. They think we’re cool. Let’s do some cool stuff together. Right? And, then before, you know, like the events that we would do that was just us have like hundreds of people coming in.
[00:09:22] That’s amazing. So right after Deloitte, you’ve since moved to Facebook. You worked there for a bit of marketing and now you’re at YouTube. Can you share with our listeners what the progression there was? How did all that happen?
[00:09:37] Ace: From Deloitte to Facebook; Facebook reached out to me about an opportunity to leverage the strategic and operations skills that I got from consulting and in my past experience in education, as well as the marketing. So, some of my latest opportunities at consulting was around marketing strategy for media and entertainment companies.
[00:10:03] And so, Facebook saw that, reached out to me about this opportunity, ended up being a good fit, was doing that for a couple of years and then YouTube. I met some folks through the grapevine and I also had awesome mentors who knew folks at Google and plugged me into some opportunities where it was like, Oh, Hey, you know, not only do you have these SNO skills, marketing skills, but you’re also in the music industry as well.
[00:10:34] Would you be interested in looking at this opportunity of like creator and artist development? And talk to the folks there got to learn a bit more about the work that they did. And I was like, this was pretty cool. And so, that’s how that happened. And yeah, it’s been three months.
[00:10:53] It’s been pretty cool. Like, I can’t complain.
[00:10:59] Sean: Has COVID affected your ability to make music or collaborate with people?
[00:11:05] Ace: Not, because, you know, I have a studio right behind me and you know, I think if anything being able to like, just make things happen, I feel like fortunately, we have the internet, you know, and so, just like even how we’re able to communicate now, I’m able to communicate with people that I want to collab with.
[00:11:28] Just last night I was talking to my producer, my engineer to fine tune something that we plan on rolling out soon. And it was, I mean, that’s how I’ve been doing it since 2016. So, I think the physical aspects, sure, like, being able to do shows. Yeah. But yeah, that’s okay.
[00:11:52] I know there’s so much to grieve about. I think the shows are, it’s sad for sure, but there are different ways to interact with folks. And I think that as we continue to explore and learn about those, I think it’s going to make the connection with the artist and the fan a lot stronger in my opinion, for those that use it correctly.
[00:12:20] The proximity is crazy now. Right? And, so all the more, okay, can’t go out on shows and like, have people touch your hand. Sure. But you know, there’s IG live, there’s YouTube, live streams. There’s all type of other companies where they have a system for like exclusive. I saw this app recently where it’s like a meet and greet app. Where it literally like times it’s like every five seconds, it switches from person to person whoever’s in the queue.
[00:12:50] And for better or for worse, I think that COVID and the situation that we’re in right now, it’s really forcing folks to either get even closer. Right? Because people are missing people. So, it’s like, you gotta get closer than you probably were before technologically speaking. Or, be super distant and almost like, face the consequences, I guess. Right. Hey, cause I don’t really see any, I don’t see us going backwards, you know?
[00:13:20] Sean: So up next, I do want to dig a little bit more into your music. Let’s first start with how Light Armor Music, your label, came to be.
[00:13:32] Ace: Yeah. So, Light Armor Music, I started it during my last semester of business school. And, if you think about how, like back in the day I was doing music, I was doing it from the perspective of like, I’m learning how to be an artist. I’m growing in my craft, I’m performing, I’m learning how to perform.
[00:13:53] I’m learning how to grow stage presence and all that stuff. And then I stopped rapping after I graduated college. I get back into rapping by the time I graduate business school and this time I have a different hat on instead of thinking about it from the standpoint of an artist, for me, getting back into music was like riding a bike.
[00:14:14] You know what I mean? I didn’t really feel like, I put in enough work back in the day that’s like restart. Wasn’t a difficult thing. What was going to be completely new to me was, Oh, how do I do this as a business? Cause now I have a business hat on. Now I’m fascinated by like, not just, Oh, I can make music, but Oh, I can develop a product now.
[00:14:35] How do I get this product out to the world? How can I market it? How can I distribute it? How can I get it into the hands of people? What are people using to even listen to the music? Right? There are all these different platforms. How can I consolidate and maximize the reach that I can have with this product that I know I can make without, you know, that much like effort?
[00:14:56] Right? And so that then became my desire is like, Oh, how can I do music business? And I didn’t go to, I went to a business school. I didn’t go to a music business program within the school, right? And so, a lot of the stuff that I was learning was just applying general business principles and then studying. Shout outs to one of the four principles at Berkeley Haas.
[00:15:20] Right. Student Always. And so, just cause I’m about to graduate doesn’t mean that I’ve stopped learning. And so, continuing to study and learn about the music business. What do you need? How do you structure all that kind of stuff? And that’s how I set up the record label, just to really, you know, and it was like the record label, trademarking, the name, you know, getting my publishing in order, like all that kind of stuff, all the paperwork that I had no idea you needed back in the day. I was like, okay, if I’m a really go out and do this, I’m going to do it like this.
[00:15:53] Sean: Right. So, how did the name Call Me Ace come about?
[00:15:57] Ace: Man, it homie, my homie. Shout out to Gary Pivot, man. I came back from Barcelona after studying abroad and that winter break right before I went into my last semester, we just had this long conversation just catching up. Cause it had been a minute and just kind of like, without even really thinking about it, it was just like, yo, can you rap, you know, like, is this something that you’d still be able to do?
[00:16:24] Ah, I meant like, yeah, I guess I could still rap. You know what I mean? Like I haven’t attempted to try, but I’m sure I could do it if I want. He was like, you should do it. And then I gave him like all these reasons as to why I don’t want to do it or why I don’t think it’d be a good idea to do it, or why all these different excuses as to why it’s just not a good idea.
[00:16:42] And he basically refuted every last one of them, even down to the name. I was like, I don’t have a rap name. And he was like, Oh, well, what’s your Instagram name said? And I went on Instagram and it said, Call Me Ace. It’s like, boom, that’s your rap name. Like, I had no excuses for him. So, I was like, all right, fine.
[00:16:57] Like would tell you like, we grew up together. You know what I mean? He’s like one of the few that can really like get into my head over some stuff like this, you know what I mean? So, I was like, I’m fine. Cause he was like, he saw my first rap, you know what I mean?
[00:17:11] Like he’s different. So yeah, that’s kinda how it went. It was low key, a joke in my mind, up to the point where I started putting out meat. I put out a couple songs on SoundCloud and started getting attention from my classmates, you know, they were like, Oh, this is actually good.
[00:17:32] This is actually good. You know? And then, me and Boomi, we made the YOHO song. And from that point I was like, you know, like maybe I could really do something. You know what I mean? Let me figure this out.
[00:17:47] Sean: We’ll definitely have to share that video link in the description. But you know, can you share with us, what are some topics that you talk about your music? What are some themes or motifs?
[00:18:00] Ace: Yeah. A few of the themes, you know, around perseverance. So, thinking about how I’ve gone from the inner city parts of Bridgeport, Connecticut to where I am now and everything in between in order to get to this point, the privileges that we have within the various communities that we’re in and how to leverage what we have, even when we’re in an unjust, in unequal environment, how can we be encouraged, be motivated, be empowered to move forward and make change, not just for yourself, but for those around you. I’m really about going against the social grain.
[00:18:40] And so, you know, really challenging and almost provoking folks at times to really reconsider a lot of the stuff that we see and are exposed to and what’s normal and what really is success and what should I actually be doing with my time, with my life? My goal is honestly, to create more access and opportunity for those that need it.
[00:19:03] To help people live a rich life and not just a life full of riches. And in any way that I could do that, you know what I mean? Across cultures, across these ethnicities, all that, that’s really in a nutshell what I do.
[00:19:16] Sean: Wow. That’s really powerful. I think that should be the quote of the interview, which is that people listening should help people live a rich life and not just a life full of riches.
[00:19:29] So, I want to take this opportunity to segue into an important conversation. This is us recording on Friday, May 29th. The week of George Floyd’s murder in Minnesota.
[00:20:15] Ace, I was wondering if you could share with our listeners and our Haas community, how we can stand up to become better allies? What are some actions and steps we can take so that we don’t just stand by you, but take action against the racial injustice that just needs to be eradicated in this country?
[00:20:35] Ace: Yeah. Now, it’s a real question and I think it really for those that are asking it, I imagine it’s coming from a good place and I know not everybody’s asking it. So, you know, there’s that too, but being an ally, I mean, first of all, it just means like, do you care?
[00:20:59] Do you care enough? Because you know, when I’m playing a video game and I know this is my partner, and I know that me and my partner have to finish this game together. If there’s people shooting at my partner, they’re shooting at my team and I try everything in my power to not have that power shoot at my team.
[00:21:25] It’s not, Oh, okay, well, dang. Like he died out, but I can still win it for us. It’s like, we’re in this together. In fact, if he loses her, she loses, we lose. And so, you know, to be an ally, I mean, you gotta care enough to even see it from that vantage point. I think as far as, you know, what are the things that we can do to build that comradery, to build that sense of team, you know, there’s various things from exposure, education, conversation, diversifying the rooms that we’re in. Not being afraid to be wrong, not being afraid to be humbled, not being afraid of our own ignorances and prejudices, you know, understanding our implicit bias, understanding the things that we’ve learned over the years that could be wrong.
[00:22:23] And, unlearning that. Like, it’s work, but I mean, you know, I can stay up making music till 2:00 AM because I love it. And because I understand that even when I’m exhausted that the outcome is going to be better, that I enjoy it, I can go run outside for four miles, five miles, be exhausted, barely breathe, but know that tomorrow it’s going to be worth it. And so, the work that we need to do to be teammates with each other, it’s not going to be easy. It’s not like it’s just a cute rosy road, no bumps in it or whatever, but we know that if we’re doing it for the right reasons, it’s going to produce the right outcomes. If we create those safe spaces for one another, in order to have that time to grow with each other, the outcome’s going to be better regardless of how bumpy it is in that moment. That’s for people that want to do it. There’s a lot of people that don’t want to do that work. There’s a lot of people that don’t care. There’s a lot of people that like to stay in their own sense of truth and understanding. And I mean, that’s a different conversation.
[00:23:38] So I don’t even want to talk about that. But for folks that, you know, want to be an ally, I mean, first of all, like there’s topics that I just am not knowledgeable enough to talk about. And if I am knowledgeable enough to talk about, and probably not even the right spokesperson to talk about certain things.
[00:23:55] And so, you know, even that, you know what I mean? It’s like sometimes our good intentions might not be the best moves, but I mean, again, that comes with the experience, right? So, again, like to be afraid, Oh, I don’t know. Should I say this? Should I not say this? I don’t know if it’s right or wrong.
[00:24:18] How are you going to know if you’ve never tried it? You know what I mean? And then if you end up being silent, cause you’re afraid, well, then you kind of look like the people that don’t care to begin with, right? There’s a quote in the Bible that says a foolish person and a wise person look the same when they’re not saying a word
[00:24:37] So, it’s just like, it’s very easy to look wise by not saying something, but you could easily just look like a fool too.
[00:24:47] Sean: I think people need to hear again, what you just quoted. That a foolish person and a wise person look the same if they don’t say a word.
[00:24:58] And even myself, I mean, I catch myself waking up at least once this week feeling a little helpless. Then I reminded myself, this isn’t about me. This isn’t about how or what I feel. I mean, my feelings won’t stop these murders.
[00:25:18] Like I need to do something, anything’s better than nothing. Even as you said, it may be misguided at first and maybe in the wrong direction. But, how can I be a change maker if I’m afraid to make mistakes and look like a fool, right? How can I learn to have constructive conversations around this if I’m afraid to speak up and ask questions even.
[00:25:41] Ace: A hundred percent, a hundred percent. And you, as well as I, in whatever situation I’m in, like we don’t know everything. Right. And so, it’s okay to recognize – like when someone’s family member dies, that they really love and all they want is for that person to come back. And, you might not have ever experienced the situation that they’ve been in.
[00:26:13] And you’re like, Oh man, I care. Right? So, what do I do? What do I say? What do I do? And maybe there is nothing that you can actually say. There probably isn’t something that you could say to make them feel better, but what is there? And you might not know, might be your first time ever encountering that.
[00:26:33] So, what do you do? Maybe it’s your close friend and you just want to show that friend, Hey, I love you and seeing you hurt makes me hurt. And I’m just trying to make you understand that that’s how I feel. Try something, try something. Maybe, you know, what love languages do you have, right?
[00:26:49] Maybe you’re a gift giver. Maybe give them a gift, handwritten note. I’m thinking about you, Hey, let’s go to the movies or something. Maybe it’s like, you know, quality time, maybe you just want to like spend time. Maybe you just want to hear them talk, hear them grieve or whatever. Maybe you want to do something for them.
[00:27:03] Like whatever the case is, right, there’s something if you truly care. But it comes from a place of care, it comes from a place of love. It comes from a place of empathy and they might, you know, there’s also the very fair chance that they are so hurt that they don’t even want to hear from you.
[00:27:18] And we have to be like mature enough to like, not take that offense. You know what I mean? And like in an offensive way and be like, Oh, then I’m just never in my life going to try to console another human being when they go through any loss because this one time that I tried with this person that I wanted to show my care for, they responded in a way that I don’t think they understood nor do I feel like they care about me.
[00:27:44] You know what I mean? Like it usually comes back to like, Oh, how we feel. And that, you know, we can keep going about that, but like, it’s how much do we care? Right. And if we’re all on the same team, we’re emotional human beings living this life together, you know, just let’s be on the same team because the worst thing you can do, again, is not even show me whose team you’re on.
[00:28:11] You know what I mean? I’m watching The Last Dance, you know, the Michael Jordan thing or whatever, and it’s like, you see the way that he’s communicating with his teammates and whether or not you agree with how he’s talking, like, I don’t like, you know, for a fact that the bulls are on the bull’s team, you know what I mean?
[00:28:33] And so it’s like when the stakes are high and people are emotional and people have different feelings about what’s going on in the game and this and that, and the third, that shouldn’t completely overcast. The fact that, Hey, we’re all on the same team. I mean, cause as soon as the chemistry is broken on the team, then, guess what?
[00:28:50] No one’s winning. No one’s winning. So, you know, we have to build up that sense of teammate-ship, if I could just make up a word, with each other, especially when it comes to this. Cause people are dying. I’ve been at Berkeley, mistaken for looking like a robber and was wrongfully detained by cops.
[00:29:11] And the only thing, you know, shout outs to Jesus Christ for the ultimate saving. But I literally was in front of a cop car with big white lights on and a person in the other side was my, if she said I looked like the robber, I was going to go to jail and it literally, she just had to say yes or no.
[00:29:32] And I don’t even know this woman. I can see this woman it’s pitch black. An hour before that I was at Haas. I was at the – what building is that? The Cheit building or whatever? Fourth floor, they had McKinsey there, Bain there. I’m trying to learn. I’m trying to become a consultant.
[00:29:49] This is my first semester. I’m trying to learn about these companies and what makes them different and this and that, Deloitte, they’re all this stuff. I’m in a whole business suit. I go back home. I changed my outfit. I put on a hoodie cause I’m cold. Cause you know how Berkeley gets at 8:00 PM.
[00:30:06] And I ride my bike over to my friend’s place, my Mexican friend and my Italian friends there and my friend from Turkey’s there.
[00:30:14] And you know, it’s this international group and I’m about to teach them how to play some spades. You know what I mean? Which apparently is more international of a game than I thought it was at the time. So, I was very excited. And then just so happened that I fit the description of a robber because I’m wearing a dark blue Berkeley hoodie in Berkeley.
[00:30:30] You know what I mean? Like, this is real, this is real. And it’s real for a lot of people, if you don’t understand it, that’s okay. But don’t try to downplay other people’s real lived situations that happen on a daily basis and have been happening. You know what I mean? Like Emmett Till is a real situation.
[00:30:53] Yeah, I mean, 1968, that’s a real period in time. You know what I mean? And George Floyd, this week, that was a real situation too. And so that’s all I’m saying.
[00:31:06] Sean: Thank you for sharing that Ace. I think it’s so important for people to just hear that, you know, other people’s lives and perspectives. What they have to go through and deal with every day, what you had to go through and will you still have to go through that you shouldn’t have to. You know, and just how easy it is for people to take action, right. Just to reach out, to show that they at least care you don’t take that first step. Just putting that first foot, you know, that one foot in front of the other and because you know, that’s the only way change is gonna happen. Right.
[00:32:00] So I’m just curious, do you have a favorite poet? You know, who’s your favorite poet? I should say, do you have a favorite rapper or a favorite song that inspires you?
[00:32:24] Ace: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Not including myself, right?
[00:32:27] Sean: No, you can include yourself.
[00:32:29] Ace: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Call Me Ace top five on everybody playlist now. I mean, one of the dopest books that I read, the first book I read in AP English called Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison. It was so powerful you and I didn’t realize just how dope it was until I actually started living life outside of my high school, like college onwards.
[00:32:58] Right? Like you have this protagonist that don’t even got a name. Oh, so deep. The protagonist don’t even got a name is going through life, being judged by his skin, being judged by his politics, being judged by his wealth, being judged by all these different things. And it’s trying to find the right community for him, and is getting played by everybody; getting played by the black man, getting played by the white man, getting played by the communist, getting played by everybody. And, ends up going in his basement. That’s how the book ends. It’s a while but like it really, the reason why it really affected me is because I remember thinking, you know, I gotta be this kind of person. I gotta look like this kind of way. Maybe I’ll be accepted by this group. I’ll be accepted.
[00:33:50] But I feel like I’ve been outcasted by more groups and I’ve been accepted, but you know what, that’s okay. When the time comes to go back out and to give what I’ve been given, this gift that I have, this life that I have, when it’s time to go out and give it, I pray that it’s received by the right people that need it.
[00:34:09] And so, you know, that book to this day is like the crux of how I look at all the things that I do in the way that I interact with everybody. And then the Bible, that book that got a lot of poems, that got a lot of Psalm, if we’re talking about that as well.
[00:34:29] Sean: Alright. Thank you so much Ace. We definitely have to give you a shout out for your music. On Spotify, Apple music, wherever the hell people listen to music, you know, we’re going to link it down in the description below, but make sure you look up ACE under Call Me Ace. His Twitter handle and Instagram is also just Call Me Ace, but add a legit to the back of it. Call me ACE legit.
[00:34:56] Right.
[00:34:57] Ace: You already know. I just I appreciate you, Sean, for everything that you’re doing. And then particularly, you know, again, like asking the question. I feel like people want to even ask the question, right. And so, thank you for just ensuring that the question could be asked, not just for you, because I feel like you, I feel like you know, right.
[00:35:25] But like, it’s not just for you, it’s for the people that need it. And so, you know, again, I’m just thankful that you have this platform that is not just, you know, Hey, let’s love Haas together, which we are doing, but it’s also one of service and for need for others. So, just thank you for the work that you’re doing for others.
[00:35:43] Sean: Thank you so much, Ace. What I can do is just continue to also support your music.
[00:35:50] That’s, it’s pretty much one of my missions now. It’s just to support Ace, wherever I can, because I’m just the biggest fan.
[00:36:00] Ace: Appreciate it. Hey, maybe in 2022. When we can have physical shows, I could see you at a show, but until then, I’ll see you on live.
[00:36:09] Sean: All right. Thank you so much.
[00:36:11] Ace: Yeah. Likewise.
[00:36:13] Sean: Now, I know you enjoyed the music we play for you today made by our very own Haasie, Call Me ACE. That first song and the intro was called Resume. The second jam was called Mr. U.N. The third was called Burnin’. And the last track here is titled Celebrate. You can find all his music for purchase on Apple iTunes, or stream it on your favorite music player, like Spotify or Tidal. So, make sure you go over there and give him a follow and support our fellow Haasie.
[00:36:43] Give Ace a follow-on social media as well @callmeacelegit so you’ll know when he’s in town for a show. And lastly, if you enjoyed our show today, please subscribe to us on your favorite podcast player and give us a rating and review. If you would like to hear about current student perspectives, please check out our sister podcast Here@Haas, or you can subscribe to our monthly podcast newsletter on onehaas.org. Until next time. Go bears.
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