 World of Esports, a show devoted to all things esports. I'm your host, Catherine Norr. Today, we are celebrating the one-year anniversary of the wide world of esports. Here to celebrate with us is journalist and influencer Hip Hop Gamer. Welcome, Hip Hop Gamer. No stranger to danger, number one journalist. Quickly, I changed the game up. You already know what it is, baby. Think, Tech, Hawaii. We out here, your Catherine. I told you before, your hair is looking amazing. We out here about to have some fun. God bless. Thanks for having me. Let's get it. All right. Fantastic. So, what led you to connect Hip Hop and Gaming? Well, honestly, it all started with my grandmoms. You know what I'm saying? So, rest in peace. My grandmother, she took me out to play video games when I was four years old. So, I've been playing video games all my life. But she didn't just use it as a tool to get me out of her hair like I was bald or something like that. My grandmoms was a gamer as well. So, when she taught me about games, she also taught me about life. And she also taught me about having a passion for life and doing amazing things. So, when you're playing video games, you got different levels, objectives, challenges, all of that. It's the same thing in life. So, between God, you know, allowing me to be able to, you know, go to church, follow Jesus Christ, and my grandmother putting that structure there, then playing games with me and teaching me video games, it shaped my life. And fast forward from four to 14, that's when I started making music. I've always been a fan of Hip Hop. But at the age of 14, I started creating music. And all of that led to Hip Hop Gaming becoming now a reality. So, talk. All right, fantastic. So, grandma gamers are the best. And yes, all. Fear can't exist. The moment you have fear, you already lowest pack up, you don't belong. My name is Gerard Williams, aka Hip Hop Gamer. People know who I am because video games and Hip Hop, I bridge the worlds together. One thing I was able to build with Hot 97 is allowing them to trust me to do what I know how to do. Back in the day, with all black people giving you gaming news, so when I broke into the industry in 2008, it changed the industry, period. My grandmother, she's the one who taught me how to play video games when I was four years old. My grandmothers made sure I had the games because she wanted to use that as a tool to keep me off the street. Nothing can stop me. Simply from my understanding of how video games work, gaming is all I really knew. In life, you got different levels and challenges. In video games, you do too. Take that mentality and approach life the same way. It's a way to prepare you for life's challenges by the way you understand the way challenges are in video games. Oh, Hip Hop Gamer, did you learn about life's challenges through video games? Yeah, actually, one of my favorite games, like overall, is Final Fantasy 7. And when this game came out, it was 1997, and it was so prominent because Nintendo 64, they were supposed to have the game, but they stayed with cartridges, whereas PlayStation went moved on to CDs, and it was a good fit for the development with Square Enix. So, well, Square saw it at the time. So what happened is, when you played Final Fantasy 7, you could change the names of the main characters. So because you could change the names, it made you feel like you was in a game. So there was moments in a game when I played where it actually brought me closer to my family. You can't think that that would happen because it's just a video game, but it's moments like that that made me realize that it's not just a video game. There's a lot of information in a lot of these stories when you're playing a game that brought me closer to my family. So like my brother, there's this guy called Barry, he has a gun arm in the game. And certain things that you go through, it may be realized, Joe, like there's some issues that I have with my brother. And we got closer because of things that I learned from playing the game. So that's just one example. And competitively, in just in real life, just being a competitor, my God brother challenged me, the Super Mario Brothers. And when I tell you, I did not die. Now, one time, yo, Catherine, let me tell you, I'm playing the game, right? And he said he could beat me. So I said, I go first. He said, nah, you go first, you think you nice. I went and I never died. I skipped all the worlds, like in everything with when you go above, I think in level two, one, you could go above and skip all the worlds. I beat the game in like five or seven minutes. And that gave me a different level of a competitive spirit through video games. So, yeah. Right. So I love humble beginnings. And I understand that you got your start in the mailroom. Tell us about that. Yeah. So what's crazy is, so shout to my uncle Clayton. When I got out of high school, I went to college for a year. But when I went to college, I went to college to be a computer programmer. And my passion wasn't in programming, but my passion was in, you know, tech and computers, but programming wasn't it for me. And my grandmother, it was just getting rough in the house. You know what I'm saying? We didn't have much. So I had to, you know, drop out of college so I could make money. You know what I'm saying? So, so my uncle Clayton, he worked at a Deco. And a Deco is a staffing agency to, you know, get you a job. So I got a job. And when I got my job, it was in the mailroom. Now, what's so crazy about this, me being a music artist, it's in the mailroom for a universal music group. Crazy. So I'm up here working at a universal music group, Def Jam, Interscope Records, you know, I'm around all these different people. And that was a journey there because when you're working in the mailroom, a lot of times people, you know, they kind of treat you like you're nothing. You know what I'm saying? Because you're in the mailroom, so you're considered, you know, the bottom. So, you know, in the process of doing that, I learned a lot about myself. So even though it was humble beginnings, I wouldn't be who I am today if I didn't have those experiences. So over time, I built a lot of great relationships. And what's so funny is now through those relationships that I built in the mailroom, I still have those same relationships now as a gaming media personality, hip hop gamer. And I do business with some of them now. So it's really, really interesting. But I love the mailroom, though. Don't get it twisted. I'm happy doing what I'm doing now. But I was also happy then. I love the mailroom. I enjoyed it for the time that I was there. But it was very, very interesting having that experience to see how it led me to here. Well, you know, it's a great way to meet people and develop skills. And I always tell people as an attorney that the way I learned everything was through waitressing at restaurants. So I mean, I totally get that. And it reminds me of the movie A Secret, The Secret to My Success with Michael J. Paul. So, but anyway, so how important is branding yourself? Oh, Brandon is everything. Brandon is everything. Like, I'm gonna tell you something very seriously. So I'll give you an example, right? If you ever seen that movie, What's Love Gotta Do With It? You know what I'm saying? With Tina Turner and stuff like that. At the end of the movie, Cheeto, you can have everything, but I want to keep my name. You can have everything, but I want to keep my name because your name is everything. Your name is your brand. Your name is the lifeblood of whatever success you're looking to achieve. So branding yourself is perfect. For example, like in the gaming industry, I'm the only person that introduced a championship belt as a gaming journalist. Now, you know, I got the championship chain. Like, you know what I'm saying? Like, right here in just my style and my energy, I never tried to fit in. I was always hip hop gamer. You have hip hop gamer, then you have everybody else. And the importance of that is that you showcase that you have something that nobody else has. And that right there has an exclusive value to it. And that right there will never change. It only adds value based on what you do and how you carry yourself. So branding is everything because, for example, let's say me and you working together, Kat, on a project or whatever it is, simply because of who you are and simply because of who I am, people may want to invest or people may want to help or connect you with the right person simply because of who you are and what your brand represents. And Gary Vee talks about this a lot. You could be the smartest person in the room. You could be the person that bring you the most money, but if you don't have kindness within who you are, if you are a type of person that is just completely selfish in every area of your life, then I don't want to work with you. I don't care how good your skill set is, I don't want to work with you. Period. So brand is everything. And I'll end it with this, character is your currency. I'll say it again, character is your currency. When you understand the true value of what your character is, do you understand the importance of your brand? Yeah. And I like your reference to Gary Vee. I think Gary Vaynerchuk has so much to say. And he has a lot of great books for people who are looking to improve in their life. So tell us who worked in that hot 97? So that right there was crazy. So I'm gonna tell you how that all came about. So a hot 97, right? When I was working in the mailroom, this is another thing that brings you back to the mailroom. So I'm in the mailroom, right? And shout to my man, Davey D. Davey D, I used to deliver mail to him. And he was like, yo, let me talk to you for a second. He was like, look, you got to get out of here. Like straight up, he's like, yo, you're too good, you're too talented, you got to get out of here. And hot 97 could definitely use you, because they got competition from Power 105 right now, but you're bringing something that nobody else has. Like you are the gatekeeper, not I wouldn't say gatekeeper, but you are the bridge between hip hop and gaming and all the entertainment. You know what I'm saying? You got to get out of here. So what happened is there was this video game that Facebook was putting together and it was called Gig It. And Neo was like the face of this game. The game was horrible. And then I told him, I was like, yo, this game is not good. The gaming industry, one thing about it, you got to respect the dollar. So it's not like, you know, movies or music or I can listen to your music for free. I don't have to buy anything, but with gaming, you got to spend, you got to respect the dollar. So I was telling them, you can't buy your way to success in this industry. The moment we see that you fake is over, like you can't do that. So I'm on the red carpet, right? And the hot 97 is there. So Ebro, Peter Rosenberg, Laura Stiles, everybody's walking the red carpet. So I interviewed Peter Rosenberg, and this was crazy because it was around the time that Peter Rosenberg and Nicki Minaj was having their differences based on some of the Nicki Minaj songs that was coming out. So we did a great interview. It was short, but it was a great interview. And I was like, yo, we should definitely continue conversations because, you know, y'all don't have gaming on your platform. Why not? So long story short, had a meeting with Hot 97, and they had some changes internally. And that led me to some of the people that was in control of the content, the digital content that was being made on the platform. So they allowed me to contribute to put content there. And then that led me to being a full brand partner in the first ever digital personality on Hot 97, bringing gaming and hip hop together on the biggest platform for hip hop. Crazy. And did you have the opportunity to interview celebrities in that role? Yeah, well, to be honest, and just to let everybody know, I was already interviewing celebrities before Hot 97. Like, see, the thing that I want people to understand is that any, I never had a job in the gaming industry at all, none of that. Like everything was based off my own energy independently. So before Hot 97, before all of that, like I already was doing like major, you know, interviews, because I want to give a big shout out to my home girl, Kim, Kim Walters. But I already had interviews lined up with people like Kevin Hart and stuff like that way before, you know, like the Hot 97 stuff even came into play. You understand what I'm saying? I had Denzel Washington on the show, Ryan Reynolds, all of them and stuff like that, like before the Hot 97 stuff and everything like that. So when I got discovered from the movie industry, the movie industry was trying to find out newer ways that they could market their movies in the gaming space. So hip hop gamers, so they reached out to me and I started building that. And that's one of the things that I leveraged when I was speaking to Hot 97. I was like, yo, look, a lot of stuff that you're doing, I already do, but I do on a different level on a different scale where more people involved. So we could take this to a whole other level and make it a good business deal as well. And we did that. So, you know, it wasn't because of Hot 97, but through Hot 97, I was able to get even bigger. So that right there played a huge deal. Like for example, I was on a New York post when I did the interview with Scarlett Johansson. That was mind blowing. So yeah. You know, so I think that people in esports and gaming industry need to pay a lot of attention to you because I think you bring a lot to the table in authenticity and, you know, to help them with their brands. And thinking of that, what are you doing with Logitech G? Okay, so that's a great question, Kat. So with Logitech, one of the reasons why we got together is because shout to my man, YouJesh. YouJesh was talking about doing more community things. You know what I'm saying? Like he didn't want like the next 10, 15 years of his life to just be about selling products. And that's it. And you work for a company. He really wanted to do things that was more meaningful and important in the community. So I say, yo, I got my partners over here, my man, Tavon Skinner, and he has Craft Keeper's Inc. We came together to form gaming and guidance. So literally what my grandma gave me is what we're giving back to the community, not just kids, but just people of all ages. So we utilize gaming as a way to break down barriers to bring people together, to open up the door to have a conversation, even uncomfortable conversations. Like, for example, I had like kids from the hood talk to cops that they didn't like. And I'm like, if we're going to get this done, if we're going to get this fixed, we need to have real conversations. Because if we don't have love, it's over. We got to get to that point where we got love from one another, period, by any means. So I take this serious. Like, you know, I genuinely care about people. Kat, this is my first time meeting you and talking to you. And I love you. Like, I mean that. Like, you don't say I come from that because that's the key to all of this, you know what I'm saying? So with Logitech G, I say we can take the G brand, which means gaming, but it also in the hood, it means gangster, you know what I'm saying? Or some other stuff. So let's take this and turn it into a positive thing where helping people, that's gangster, looking out for your family, that's gangster, you know, educating people, putting them on a right path, that's gangster. So we did that since 2017. So that's how the relationship with Logitech G came together and they support me in a big way. I support them and his family, man. So that right there is a beautiful thing. And just to add to that with Logitech G, with any company and any brand, a lot of the stuff that you're starting to see today, a lot of stuff stems from me. It's just that when I was coming up in 2008, that was my first E3, my first year professionally in journalism and stuff. It wasn't cool to support me. It wasn't cool to, you know, champion like this black guy, why he talked like that, why he looked like that, he don't belong here. I done had everything done told to me, like, like for real, you know what I'm saying? So I had to break down a lot of barriers so that now it's okay to support that. So a lot of stuff stems from me. But sadly, it took somebody to die to make it happen. Because when you look at what happened to George Floyd, RIP, and so many, you know, people that have died in that manner, now everybody wants support because they see that. And I feel like it's sad, but it's all about moving forward. So we have what we have now. Let's build on it and make it right for everyone. Right. And I understand that you are about giving back. And so tell us about gaming and guidance. Gaming and guidance is one of the best things that ever happened to me, like period. And the reason why I give you this one story that happened in gaming and guidance. So there was a gentleman, his name is Kenny. And Kenny's son, Matthew, he's a gamer, but he has muscular dystrophy and he also lost his right hand. Right. So, you know, Logitech and Xbox, they came together and they created the Xbox Adaptive Controller and they've been working heavy in the accessibility world for a long time to include everybody in what we love to do, you know, in terms of gaming. So we surprised him, came to his house, right. We gave him some of the latest Logitech headsets. We had a real conversation, you know, with the family, spoke with them, like really had like real heart to heart conversations and inspired him. And his father told me that that was the first time he smiled in over two years. And we got this on Channel 12 news in the Bronx. It was powerful. We presented him with the Xbox Adaptive Controller so he could be able to play games again. And he said to himself that this is amazing, not just for him, but people like him. So when moments like that happen, that's everything. You understand what I'm saying? So that's what we do at Gaming and Guidance. We look to make a real impact, not because it looks good in the papers, you know what I'm saying? But I don't know what it's like to not have. But I don't know what it's like to not have a right hand and be in those situations. So yo, you know, the tears came down, man. That was a beautiful moment and that's gonna make you feel whole for real. So I thank God for that opportunity. So are you still recording music? Oh, of course. I make songs, you know, for video games now. So there's a song that I wrote for Deathloop that's coming out later on this year for the PlayStation. Hopefully I could get it into the game. What I can say is that certain people heard it and loved it. So I'm thanked God for that. But I also did the song for Twist and Metal, you know, for David Jaffe's game Shout Out to Him. I did the song for Watch Dogs 2. I did a song for Chartered, Halo. Like I do this life for real. So it was, you know, it's very exciting. But my name is Hip Hop. I come from that, you know what I mean? So I write music all the time and currently writing a new song for my son. So he can have something that can become a legacy a part of his life, a song dedicated to him. So yeah, I do this real talk. And so I know you're in New York City and New York experienced a horrible health crisis in 2020. What would be there then? Yo, I'm going to tell you something right now. Like historically, I've never seen New York empty ever in my life. Like Times Square, you could hear a pin drop. Like it was empty, never seen it in my life. It was one of those moments where if you ever watched that movie I Am Legend, you know, Will Smith, it felt like that. Like it was really crazy. I will say this, even though the pandemic is a sad situation, there's, I'm always, you know, positive in every situation. I'm always optimistic and I always put my faith in God. And although a lot of bad things happen and a lot of people lost their lives, there was also a lot of good things that came out of this pandemic as well. So one thing I would say is a lot of reflection took place during that time. And that's important because I feel like, not feel like the truth is people treat each other horrible, man. Like there's so much hate in the world. It is disgusting. Look, it takes a lot to bother me. Because I'm always good for the most part. It takes a lot to bother me. But if there's anything that'll make me sad is just seeing how people treat people. Just the instant hate. Like, man, that's the thing that hurts me, like if anything else. But one thing I would say is even in hate, I focus on the love. So what I did was for me personally was figure out how can I be even more valuable and impactful to other people in their life? You know what I mean? Who can I talk to? Who can I call? What video can I make that could be impactful? So I'll give you an example of what I mean. This happened recently, but it still relates to the pandemic on how I came out of this. I got into a Lyft car recently. And I said, you know, with my energy, I'm like, yo, what's going on? How you doing? Thanks for picking me up. And the driver started crying, Catherine. I said, I just said, what's up to him? Show them love. He started crying. And when he was crying, he was talking about how he had like 10 or 15 people today, and no one even said hi to him. They'll get in, they'll just slam the door, say, go here, go there. Just don't even acknowledge him as a human. And he does this on a regular basis, and he gets treated like that on a regular basis. And he started crying just because someone said hi to him. Oh man, that broke me. That was crazy. So when that happened, we started talking about video games, homelessness, God, family, like all these other things. And he got my number, I got his number. And it's moments like that when you realize that, you know, you never know what people are going through. So instead of being so judgmental, I just try to figure out how can I be the light to somebody else's day? How can I inspire somebody else's life? And that right there is the beauty of what I tried to find during this pandemic, it just during life in itself. And I hope that was good enough to help other people to be inspired as well. So, you know, I think you have a lot of good points. I think the pandemic really made people focus on what was important. And, you know, but it also really brought gaming and eSports to the center stage, because with traditional sports shutdown, how do you think that it really impacted eSports and gaming and what you're doing? Oh, it definitely hit the fast forward button, like period, because like these things was happening anyway, like it was climbing and growing anyway, like gaining overall is bigger than music and movies combined. So eSports, it was growing anyway. But when the pandemic hit, it was sunny. It was like Sunday Hedgehog met eSports and just threw the trajectory we're out of this world. So one thing I will say now, and this is the this is the double edge sword, don't get into eSports just because it's popular now, because what you're doing is you're going to try to buy your way to success and you're going to fall flat on your face. That's one. I encourage anyone, if you love eSports genuinely or you genuinely want to learn about it and be a part of it, like take time out to talk to people, take time out to learn it, study it. Don't try to this isn't a rush job. You know what I'm saying? It took a lot to get eSports where where it's at today. You know, if you want to talk about the 80s, you know, when Walt today, when eSports started back then, all the way to now, you know, do your homework, do your research. So when you do spend money and you do invest, it could be a genuine investment and investment in the right people in the right organizations so we can take it to the next level correctly and organically, instead of trying to treat this like the stock market and try to get a quick fix on some eSports popularity. If you're going to be here, be here all the way across the board. If you're going to be here just because you're trying to get something for yourself for a short monetary gain, then honestly, we don't need you here. Just keep it in real. Was there wise words then? So what's next for you? Oh, well, one of the biggest things for me is I have a major project called Goat of the Game that I'm working on. And there's another project that I'm working on, too, that I can't speak on too much right now. But let's just say you're going to see gaming in a whole new light when it comes to content creation. You've never seen it quite like how I'm going to be bringing it, and it's never been done before, what you're going to see. So I'm very excited about that. So between those two projects and other projects, that's what I'm really excited for. The next way, you see so many people are content creators, right? Anybody can stream now. Anybody can do all these things. When I see too many people doing the same thing, I leave and I go somewhere else and do something different. So the next thing that I'm a part of is going to be something that's going to once again lead others into the next generation of what gaming content creation will be. So Hip Hop Gamer, it was great to have you on the show. How can people find you? Google me, Hip Hop Gamer. Just Google me and everything will pop up and everything is Hip Hop Gamer across the board. I love y'all. Think Tech Hawaii. Thank you for having me. Yo, Ken, you dope. You are dope, yo. Dope questions. All of that. You are great hosts. I love it. Thank you for having me. It was an honor. Seriously. Having you and thank you to the audience for joining us today. Make sure to tune in next week. My guest is Dianne Johnson, co-founder of BeatBotted. See you then. Aloha.