The Complexity of Toilet Paper
This is a podcast about the search for simplicity and making life less complicated. A show that dives into both the everyday moments, as well as life's big stuff where we overthink, hesitate, or just get stuck. Through honest conversations, unexpected insights, and a whole lot of potty humor, puns, and hearty laughs - we are here to help you ROLL with it and make life a little less complicated, one conversation at a time. So, come join us in the Stall! Toilet Papewr not provided...yet!
Disclaimer: This podcast is for entertainment, growth, and informational purposes only. Any opinions expressed are those of the hosts and guests and do not reflect the views of any organizations we may be affiliated with. We’re not your therapists, lawyers, doctors, or plumbers, just a few folks talking it out with a roll of humor and a splash of real life. Please don’t make any major life decisions while on the toilet… or at least, don’t blame us if you do.
Show Credits:
- Show open music by RYYZN
- Roll Up music by AberrantRealities
- Stall Bridge music by penguinmusic
The Complexity of Toilet Paper
Survival, Choice, and the Ordained Path
What does it mean to choose the harder path when everyone around you is telling you to go another way? Mal Jones, Florida's first hip hop artist to be recognized as a Master Folk Artist, takes us on an incredible journey through loss, music, and finding one's authentic voice.
Having lost his parents and brother at an early age, Mal found himself facing a crossroads that would define his entire artistic journey. While mainstream hip hop culture often rewards artists who embrace violence, misogyny, and drug references, Mal deliberately chose a different direction. "It's ordained," he explains, describing how his choice wasn't just a preference but a calling he was compelled to follow despite the financial sacrifices it entailed.
Mal, redefines complexity in a way that transforms how we might think about life's challenges. "Complexity is like an upgrade," he shares, "because once anything complex happens and you get through it, you're a more advanced, more advanced thinking human being." This profound perspective reframes our understanding of difficult situations as opportunities for growth rather than obstacles to overcome.
Among his many accolades and accomplishments, Mal's talent has taken him across the ocean to represent America at Shakespeare's 400th anniversary celebration in Bristol, England, where he performed "Hip Hop Shakes," bringing the Bard's words to life through freestyle rap.
He is Jacksonville, Florida's first Cultural Ambassador of the Arts who uses hip hop culture as his platform to bridge the gap between culture and education. His Lyricist Live show, which earned him a spot on the TEDx stage, was a fixture at Jacksonville's monthly Art Walk for 14 years, creating a safe space for artistic expression without the profanity and negativity often associated with rap culture.
For those feeling lost in life's complexities, Mal offers this wisdom: surround yourself with the right people—even if it's just one person who truly believes in you. "The road less traveled for someone like me is a peaceful road," he says, revealing how choosing authenticity over conformity ultimately led to greater simplicity and peace in his life.
Mal's sage advice for simplicity and un-complicating the grind of your mind includes:
- Get out in nature and off the Internet, every once in a while.
- Clean up the mess you made.
- Have fun with whatever you’re doing. Especially if what you’re doing started in your heart.
If you’re an Artist...
- Finished what you started.
- Always have a contractual agreement with whatever entity that is agreeing to pay you for your artist services.
- Always pay your taxes.
Links and Outreach
- Instagram
- @thelyricistlive
- @malsmind
- Email - maljones904@yahoo.com
- Support Mal's art - CashApp donor link: $Mal1976 (Jamal Jones)_
Sometimes, I wish we could go back to a time when things weren't so complicated. Welcome to the Complexity of Toilet Paper, the podcast that dives into the everyday moments where we overthink, hesitate or just get stuck. I'm overthinking. I'm over, I'm overthinking. Let's hear it for the toilet paper Through honest conversations, unexpected insights and a whole lot of humor. Your hosts, phyllis Martin, mark Pollack and Al Emmerich, are here to help you roll with it and make your life a little less complicated. One conversation at a time, that's right, dude. The beauty of this is its simplicity, speaking of which it's time to enter the stall, put the lid down or not, depending Get comfortable and roll with it. Oh worry, not, dear friend, it's really quite simple. This is the complexity of toilet paper.
Speaker 2:Well, hello my throne mates. How are you, oh throne mates, how are you, oh great.
Speaker 3:How are you?
Speaker 2:Very, very good. Do you find that in every aspect of your life now you find alliterations to toilets and bathrooms? I mean, is it just invading your life All?
Speaker 4:the time All, the time All the time, all the time.
Speaker 3:I find that people are now sending me memes and ideas and all things toilet paper, toilet bowls, toilet brushes, two ply, single ply, no ply, don't reply. All the plies, all the plies, all the plies, don't reply. All the plies, all the plies, all the plies, don't reply.
Speaker 4:I love that one. I'm fearful what I'm going to get for the holidays.
Speaker 3:moving forward, I have a feeling it's all going to be bathroom related, absolutely Without a doubt.
Speaker 2:Oh, you know it's coming. You know it's coming Instead of like carafts of wine, we're going to get packages of toilet paper. To carafes of wine, we're gonna get packages of toilet paper or a little cleaner. So you know, you know what I saw the other day? Oh, my gosh, no, I, just I, I didn't even think about this. So you know, the empty rolls, the paper rolls. I saw, uh, an art picture that was. It was somebody had made a dog strung together with string.
Speaker 3:And the toilet paper empty rolls, we're going to get toilet paper roll sculptures, I believe is what you're looking at. Hey, I'll take it.
Speaker 4:My studio is not that exciting, so I could use some toilet paper art.
Speaker 2:Well, listen, today we are going to bust open the throne and invite a guest into the stall, and the topic is choices. Invite a guest into the stall and the topic is choices. However, it's really, I think, a unique approach, and when you think about choices, that's where so much confusion, complication and complexity rolls into our lives. And I know today we're going to talk about music. Even the concept of music can be complicated because there's so many choices Like what is the thing, mark and Phyllis, that when it comes to choices, just on an everyday thing, always is complicated for you?
Speaker 2:So, I guess it yeah.
Speaker 3:So I'll jump in and it's not every day, but I literally was talking about this to somebody the other day. When Tim and I go to plan a vacation, the overload of choices and options, even if we narrow it down to place, becomes exhausting, because it's the never ending. Well, what about this? Well, what about this? It might be less expensive, it might be more expensive, maybe it should be this kind of a room, maybe it should be that kind of a room. What if we clicked over here? What if we? And it just is ridiculous, almost like buying a refrigerator, that there are so many choices. Eventually, I think, we just get worn down and pick something, and I we got to find a different way to, to to come to that, because it takes the fun out of it for a little while, and sometimes we end up doing nothing because we can't find our way out of the swirling and swilling of. Is it this, is it that? Is it over there? Is it over here? Really, we need somebody just to call and say this is where you're going.
Speaker 2:For me, it's always the death scroll of when I'm looking for a show on like Netflix or Amazon or whatever Hulu. I will literally spend my time looking at the trailers and an hour and a half has gone by and I haven't made a choice and I'm like what the hell just happened?
Speaker 4:You know what it is for me? I have this horrible FOMO, uh, fear of missing out, and so what I end up doing is, I know that choice is going to lead somewhere of vacations, Phyllis and I'm like, oh, this destination looks cool, but then there's this destination. So if I choose this destination, this is going to happen conversation around our guest choices and where his choice and his continued choice has led him as an artist and um, and the journey it's taken him on. So I'm I'm really excited because I I feel that when you make that choice, you're committing to it, and I think that's the scariest part.
Speaker 3:Well said.
Speaker 2:Well, mall Jones is our guest and he is going to join us in the stall. And you talk about an artist. He's not just any artist. He is Florida's first hip hop artist and he's actually officially recognized as a master folk artist. And you say, okay, well, what's unique about that? Well, it's his freestyle rap skills that make it so unique and that's what made him a first. He's got a lyricist live show. That's been part of an event called Jacksonville Art Walk for over a decade plus.
Speaker 2:And the cool thing is he represented America in Bristol, england, for Shakespeare's 400th anniversary. He took Shakespeare to the streets with hip hop shakes. We might even get a snippet of it. Or, if we can't hear the whole thing, maybe we can possibly drop it in the show notes or something like that notes or something like that. Either way, it is an incredible gift to have him in studio because he had a choice. He could have gone a different way with his music and he chose to go the way he's going to share. He went, and why. And it's going to make you drop your drawers. See what I did there. Drop your drawers. I like that did there. Drop your drawers we got it.
Speaker 4:I like that. Yeah, that's good. Yeah, that's real good.
Speaker 2:I don't believe either one of you.
Speaker 3:I think you're just placating me. It gets a C, solid C. I don't even get a full flush.
Speaker 4:Isn't that the shape of a toilet seat, a solid C.
Speaker 3:You did it. Indeed, it's an O.
Speaker 2:A toilet seat? No, it's an.
Speaker 3:O.
Speaker 4:It's a C, okay, oh no, okay, yes, I see it now, I see it, okay, I had to look at it from the other angle.
Speaker 2:All right, anyway, now that we've destroyed a great intro, let's break away for a moment and then reset. It is time to head into the stall with Maul Jones on the complexity of toilet paper.
Speaker 1:What the hell are you doing in the bathroom day and night, Wanted to get out of there. Give someone else a job. I'm overthinking. I'm overthinking.
Speaker 2:We are back in the stall. Thank you, mark Maul in the stall. I just realized that, maul, you are in a stall with two men and a woman. Women, woman, a woman, is that? Is that weird sounds?
Speaker 1:like a bro it's something it's.
Speaker 2:You know, if I I got news for you. If what we're going to talk about and unpack and discuss today gets discussed in a bathroom stall, I I want to be in that bathroom, I don't care who's in it, because we got cool stories and cool stuff to talk about.
Speaker 5:Man, you do not want to fall in a bathroom stall.
Speaker 4:No, you don't. I've got actually stories about that, but we're not going to talk about it on this program.
Speaker 1:Wait a minute, Mark. This guy just laid down a Dr Seuss and you did not jump on it.
Speaker 2:So well, first of all, let's do the informal formal hellos and a quick story. Okay, let's do it. Maul, this is Mark and Phyllis.
Speaker 5:Mark and Phyllis Hi Maul.
Speaker 3:Well, hello Maul. It's so great to have you in the stall. Oh really, come on Phil. Well, hello Mal.
Speaker 4:It's so great to have you in the stall.
Speaker 3:Oh really. Come on, Phil.
Speaker 1:It does make you tickled, doesn't it?
Speaker 3:Now I'm tickled, I know, I know.
Speaker 5:Yeah, thank you for having me, man.
Speaker 2:Well, mal, the reason you're on this show, my friend, we like to kind of start things off with what we call a value equation. Okay, off by uh, with what we call a value equation, uh, which is basically something I created, which is, it's a, it's a cipher for deciphering value. Wow, because I could think of a lot of things about you that I know personally. Mark has read, phyllis has read. There's a lot out there, but why this particular show? And and the word to me that most clearly defines why you're on this show, and also this value that you create, is bridge.
Speaker 2:And the reason I chose bridge is there are people who are fortunate enough to build one bridge, or two bridges, or three bridges in their lives, through work or through community. I don't know a whole lot of people who've built like five to seven bridges. You bridge culture with your art. You bridge art with your culture. You bridge education with your art and your culture. You challenge society norms through education, through your art and culture. You've chosen to bridge a challenge in the community by giving these young artists a voice when they perceive that they may not have one.
Speaker 2:So I put heart there and then the last thing is mind. I mean you, your art and your craft and and what you've done has also challenged the mind. I mean you, your art and your craft and and what you've done has also challenged the mind. And I'm sure we'll we'll hear some of the tougher side, but I've seen the positive side of all of that. And so you're a bridge, through your culture and art, to education.
Speaker 2:That's that's, that's just dripping into society and the youth through your heart and your mind, and the impact that that you're having is is you're putting. You're putting hip hop on a platform that a lot of people would be exposed to, that have never been exposed to. I mean your Shakespeare stuff is like I mean the thousands, and how many thousands of people have seen you at Art Walk, man? How many tens of thousands of people over the years have seen you at Porch Fest? And so I just see that you're this bridge to all of these different things. That's creating the motivation, the energy, the awareness, the excitement. You're providing hope, and I was like man, what a story there must be there when it comes to the challenges you faced in the successes. And so the crew and I were like dude, let's step into the stall for a short bit break apart some of these things and have a convo with the guy Maul.
Speaker 5:What's up, y'all, what's up, guys? I'm really excited, feel blessed to be on the show with you guys, to talk about what you guys talk about, because I'm all for the conversation. It's like literally the reason why I do this is I crave conversation. You know, I lost my both of my parents when I was very young. You know both of my parents when I was very young, you know so and my father is who, like, introduced me to the arts. So, not having them, but having those values that they instilled in me, like the arts and what, what I was able to do with it was kind of like them passing it off to me before they left, so I can have something to reach out to my community, to share, like in a, in a positive light. So it it's very, uh, rewarding to be able to do that. I mean not financially, but it's. It's not financially but it's spiritual. You know the way I do it and I guess the reason why I'm able to do it for so long and I spiritual, like release for that that affects other people in the community in a positive way. You know it.
Speaker 5:Yes, it's rap and it's very um, competitive and very um. Any type of title you can slap on it. It it's, it's adorned, but the titles I know and what it's used for and what I've actually been used for it's those titles aren't placed on what I do. Much you know, and it should be, but that's the industry that we're in, where it's it's commoditized. That's the industry that we're in, where it's commoditized. You know what I'm saying. It's like if you're not selling drugs and cursing and calling females bitches and hoes, you're not valuable. That's all I'm saying, because I guess it's how you see value in my way, of what I was taught from my parents and what they taught me about and what my brother taught me God bless the dead who introduced me to hip hop as a kid. The value he exposed to me was more so like what I'm doing versus what's considered value in this day and age.
Speaker 2:Well, and I think, man, of course this happens with some of the guests that come on Maul we unpack something and we're like, oh, let's do another show on that, right, right. First of all I want to say thank you for going there so deeply, so quickly. You know we kind of I didn't mean to man, I'm sorry about that.
Speaker 3:No. No apologies needed.
Speaker 2:This is the apology. Free zone man. This is a toilet stall.
Speaker 2:You can just put the shit away and wipe it off and start over and flush and we come back to it. Dude, we do, we do this the whole damn show. Yeah, I mean, why wouldn't you? You know, why wouldn't you? But anyway, no, you went deep and and and I think it's interesting, um, that we started there because we'd be curious to know the word complexity okay, like, not yet how it shows up in Maul's life, but just the word complexity. How do you define that? What does that mean to you?
Speaker 5:What complexity means to me? Yeah, it's like an upgrade, because once anything complex happens and you get through it, you're in a more advanced, you're in a more advanced thinking human being, and that's all I've ever dealt with. That's why I have all of these historical firsts. There's major storyline behind any of that, and I never were like hey, look at me, this is who I am. I never did any of that. I just kept going through the complexities of being the artist that I am and those things came out of it. So that's how I see the complexity that is.
Speaker 3:Oh my God, we could end the show right now.
Speaker 2:Mall. That is one of the freaking, most beautiful things I've ever fucking heard. Yeah, I mean, that is just like wow. I mean we don't try to sugarcoat the you know the candy here and it's all flowers and daisies. I mean we're trying to evolve this into something that gets real, but I don't think there's a whole lot of people I know of that would look at that through that lens right off the bat. Yeah, the bat, yeah. Well then, with with that backdrop, dare I, I ask to take us through? Things become complicated, right, and then they create complexity, yeah, and and then you navigate through it and and in your, your, your definition, you come through on the other side. So you've already painted some, some, some canvas for us, with the death of parents and and your brother and these other challenges. But when you think about the word complicated, like what is complicated, or what has been complicated, or what is complicated today in in Maul's life, like when you think about this mountain, that's complicated, right, that's creating complexity. What is it that's most in front of you today?
Speaker 5:Just because you know all that I've been through. I graduated high school and finished high school, through all this, you know, but after high school I wasn't really able to go to college. Like you mentioned, my father, my mother, my brother, but it's my sister, my grandmother, my grandfather too, it's literally all of them While you were in high school. Oh yeah, this was all high school, but some of it was before high school ended.
Speaker 2:Wow, you lost all of those people, yeah, all of those people.
Speaker 5:So that's why I'm saying I feel like I live the life at a point where it's a blessing just to be here, like that's the point of view I have, point of view I have. It's hard to look at what other people are doing and going through and them not being really happy about that, but they have all the things that I've lost.
Speaker 4:I have to say, from somebody who lost almost every family member parents, grandparents, a brother by the time I was 24, man, I definitely feel where you're coming from.
Speaker 5:Yeah, I know you do.
Speaker 4:It's very difficult to hear someone who has had opportunity and family to. You know, I don't know how many times I'd love to call my parents and ask them a question, but I celebrated 30 years since my dad's been gone two days ago and my mom's been gone 23, 24 years at this point, you know, and so, yeah, I feel you, man, it's difficult.
Speaker 5:But the thing is and I appreciate it, but I don't need a pat on the back because it's all made me a stronger person than the average person. I know I have a way tougher shell than the average person that can just figure out how to push your buttons. Push them and then you're done.
Speaker 4:I'm not that person. Yeah, you stood at the gates of hell already. Yeah, yeah, and you were able to to come back.
Speaker 5:Yeah, you know, I, I, it's always. But the thing it all goes down to why we're having this conversation I had music, I had hip hop music, I had that's the only equation that was there when nothing was there.
Speaker 4:And that's what I do today. How did the music uncomplicate things for you?
Speaker 5:I was able to do it well and other people agreed.
Speaker 4:Okay, but tell me more about. Tell us more about that. Like you were able to do it well, which is incredible, and you do that. Like you were able to do it well, which is incredible, and and you do. But but how did that provide clarity in your life where things didn't seem so complex, like what did the music do for you?
Speaker 5:it. It allowed me to tell my story in my way. That was where I could that. I can articulate it in my way. It doesn't belong or it could be taken by anyone else unless I give it to them, but everything else can. Yeah.
Speaker 2:So you, you, you had I mean, there's a whole power control dynamic there, right, you, you lost, you had no control over what you lost. But is it that you could control this? You could control your voice.
Speaker 5:No, not really. It was the fact that, um, like, like, we started with the complexity of learning how to do it, the, the, the complexity of actually not like taking the easy road with something that's very difficult if you want to be a certain type of artist. You know of a musician.
Speaker 4:There's so many types that you can just hey, I want to be a musician, oh, I'm a musician, but you made a choice, and your choice was I can go down this road like other hip hop artists and make money and fall into the trap of whatever that lifestyle is, or I can continue to complexify my life and make it hard by helping others. And you chose the hard path, and you chose the path that you even said had less financial value for you. How did you? How did you, when you were thinking about the complexity that your life was going to continue to take with that choice? How did you make that choice? What? What went through your head?
Speaker 5:you make that choice? What? What went through your head first of all? Um, it wasn't like all the way by my choice. It's ordained because I'm I'm not just a rapper's rapper. I worked a job for 25 years and got to retirement and that was on a rotating swing shift, all hours, no weekends off, for 25 years.
Speaker 5:When I'm telling you about complexity, I'm not just talking like talking points, true complexity where if you want to do this, you're going to have to go down to nothing to do it. You know you're going to have to and you're going to have to love it in that state or you can't have it. What I've said is ordained. I was able to set myself up in a way where I can monkey branch from one source of income to another in order to continue to do this. And I'm still doing it. You know it's. It's just like, uh, you know, not scared, not like oh my God, what am I going to do? Just knowing the what I'm ordained to do, just knowing what I'm ordained to do, my place in it. And you know, the complexity was the part before I actually get the recognition. You know, because you can't really do it for that. You got to really do it because it's in your heart and because I've done that and was able to do that. There are things that are the result of it, that are good things.
Speaker 3:Yeah, what I really hear Maul you saying is that you chose to take the proverbial road, less traveled, and some might say that that's the more difficult pathway. Probably true, but it's also the pathway to simplicity, and I think for you, not taking that road would have left an inauthentic mall and that would have just meant a lifetime of complexity.
Speaker 5:Right, yeah, absolutely right, like. And it's not just you know, I read books and read all these stories, and as a youth I had a family that was heavily engaged in the arts and were already doing things in the arts that no one else has done, just like I'm able to do now. It's something in me, it could be from my bloodline, my lineage, but it's something in us that always takes that route. But then we end up discovering new things in the arts and it's not disputable, it's, it's just facts the entrepreneur world.
Speaker 2:We talk a lot about the lack of focus that's given to the entrepreneur's mental health and mind state, right? Um, entrepreneurs, whether you're an artist or you're running a washer, dryer business or tech company, there's some inherent motivation to go build that you have to do. Some of it obviously is more intrinsic than others, but at the end of the day, the survival of the fittest is what wins the game. And so many people, myself included, will say you know, I never cashed a big bank account, you know this or that, but man, I've, I loved this thing because I just couldn't do anything else.
Speaker 2:I think that's a really great lift off, maybe, to another question, maul, which is the simplicity is in the obvious. You had no choice, right? But if you're sitting here talking to kids and you're you're talking to people, what are the lessons that you pass along, that you can pass along Because I could see somebody sitting here and going? I don't have that, man, right. I don't have that passion, I don't have that fire. Nothing's ordained in me. You know that, dude, we've. We run into people who are like man, I just don't know. So what is your advice to, to somebody, based on your experience, mall, who's trying to find simplicity in their life.
Speaker 5:Then you gotta have the right people around you. You know, I mean, it can be really hard with the wrong group of mindsets around you. What's simple for me, like you said, the road less traveled. There's less people there. There's less people to argue with there. There's less people to disagree with you with there. There's less people to argue with there. There's less people to disagree with you with there. There's less people that believe in you there.
Speaker 5:The road less traveled for someone like me is a peaceful road, because I'm an actual lion and you see what I'm saying. The peaceful road is, and you see what I'm saying. The peaceful road is yeah, you want to snap and bite at me until I do it back, and then it's like I'm the bad guy, but I just want to walk the peaceful road. It's hard, there's a lot of setbacks and pitfalls in it, but I don't have to like get in, get into it with anybody. I just have to figure out my own mental hurdles and and and hop over them and I feel like that's like a win, like okay, I didn't know how to do that at first, but now I know how to do it. I mean, it's always like a win in life, even if it's a little one, you know.
Speaker 2:So surrounding yourself with people makes perfect sense, but how have you been able to surround yourself with the right people? Maul, because the crowd that you used to hang with the people and the incursion of stress and just the violence I know you told me and shared I've shared multiple times you were around Like how do you do that? How have you done?
Speaker 5:that Because surrounding yourself with the right-minded people could be one person. Yeah, it can literally be one. It doesn't have to be a group. I prefer it be a shrunken group. But you see what I'm saying. It could be just one person that believes in you, that says, hey, man, that's great. What are you doing? What's going on? How do we do this or how do we do that? That versus one person doing that in a group of five people that aren't doing that isn't a good group, but that one person in your group is a great group, wow.
Speaker 2:Dude, these are value drops left and right. I mean you've just written half of our book for us. I mean you've just written half of our book for us, phil Mark. Before we move into the speed round and the roll up, any other thoughts you guys have or questions?
Speaker 4:No, I just for and I love this word what we're ordained to do, and try to hear that as clearly as possible, and when we hear it, surround ourselves with people.
Speaker 5:So I I appreciate those tips and those thoughts. It's all a learned experience. That's what I feel, bro, because something always you got good. It's like the whole analogy good soil, something's bound to grow. It might not grow this year, it might not grow the next year, but that seed might be down there, ready to do something miraculous, and you planted it. So you know, you know, you just keep going.
Speaker 3:Yeah, well. Well, two things actually come to mind for me, and one is validation, maul, that that your words and your presence are a gift to those who choose to listen and to you and be with you in in your space. And and the second is is just the knowing that you took when you decided to take a different pathway. What you probably didn't know is that there were sojourners and your people just waiting for you on on that pathway, and so you've you've connected with them. There are more to come, and it's just an amazing story and journey that you, that you're taking.
Speaker 5:Yeah, and you're going to have to walk that road by yourself for a long while. You might not see any friends for a while, you know you might not see any people on the road on the way.
Speaker 2:You know, what you just made me realize, phil and and maul, is that people myself and do this all the time we've had these conversations, mark and phil people confuse complicated with hard right. Shit's hard, hard things do not need to be complicated. I mean, I don't feel like that's rocket science, it's just sort of like you just cinched it up in these last few minutes right, absolutely, and I think that's the gift of simplicity and and, if I can if I can just no also say no, I feel like I'm gonna say it anyways.
Speaker 1:You need to stop asking if I could just say you're not it court.
Speaker 4:I yield to Mark your Honor, if I can. You know, this show, mal, for us has been something that we have felt ordained to do Right. The three of us came together with a feeling of, of a story. I feel very blessed because I've got two showmates, who, who are my people, who who are, who are lifting me up and and I I hope I get a chance to lift them up. And this show is exactly what you're speaking about. It's hard, it's time consuming, it doesn't pay any bills, it but it's.
Speaker 4:It's if we can help people unpack oh, that's a great, that's a great word complexity in their life, in a way where they get some tools and they're like I haven't thought about that or, oh, I relate to that, or, you know, my life sucks, but after listening that show and hearing that my life's better than that, or or I can use these, these tools and systems, whatever. Whatever it is like some, some semblance of hope will help in other ways.
Speaker 5:What you were saying real quick, real quick. What you're saying is it's so true that everybody can relate to it, because, although I say that I've had these people who didn't budge on my whole journey, they were right there by my side. I look to my right, they're right there. I look to my left they're right there, but the crowd's gone. You see what I'm saying the crowd and all the people that are making noise and want to be involved because of the thing you're doing, they're going to come and go, but there's going to be people that are going to be right there by your side.
Speaker 5:And my brother, prana Self, has been with me on that block for 13 years straight and he's never faltered. Do you know how many rappers I see come and go because they wanted to be? I didn't make them big, even though I'm not. I'm not here to like make you the biggest rapper, but I'll shine my light on you and then you know I share it. I share my whenever people look at me. I can share with somebody else because I don't feel like it's mine. It's all my life. I'm going to just stand in here and rap in front of the camera all day?
Speaker 2:No, I'm going to give it to other people and let them do it. Maul, you are one big, huge hug, man. Thank you for this. But all good things must come to a bridge, to another good thing.
Speaker 1:And first of all, can I get a drum roll please?
Speaker 2:Thank you for that, mark Incredible Maul, welcome to the other stall for what we call the roll up. Oh yes, sir, this is where we dig deep into the recesses of your mind to extract the information that will change the world forever, with a level of questioning that can only be looked at as Einsteinian.
Speaker 5:Oh yeah, I like stuff like this.
Speaker 2:Um, I will, I will, uh, we will, we will toss this around, pardon the pun, uh, and each of us has their couple of quick questions. So you ready for the first one.
Speaker 5:Yeah.
Speaker 2:All right when it comes to toilet paper, over or under.
Speaker 5:Oh under. I just had to think about that. Yeah, I like it. It's literally the fastest route of getting it out of there all right, good mark single or two ply, two ply for real.
Speaker 2:Yeah, if anybody ever says single, I'm really worried. Yeah, my man gross. Okay, wet or dry, wet or dry what Wipes man?
Speaker 5:Wipes. Oh, the wipes, that were the dry wipes. They have wet or dry wipes. Yeah, yeah, wet.
Speaker 2:All right, okay, yeah, all right. Next question what is your favorite potty time activity?
Speaker 5:My favorite potty time. You're talking about actually taking a dump in the bathroom.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so when you got that extra time and you're just kind of like you're doing your thing, you know.
Speaker 5:I'm like everybody else, I'm on my phone, okay.
Speaker 4:That's why you never touch other people's phones, by the way. So before, phones Never.
Speaker 2:And I can't believe I'm saying this. I cannot believe I'm saying this. Can you see me blushing? I'm like this is such a inside he's a tomato right now I, so I would take labels, uh, of things that were in the bathroom. Okay, and I would read the labels, yeah, like in different voices. Yeah, and I would narrate. I would narrate the labels. Yeah, like in different voices. Yeah, and I would narrate. I would narrate the labels. I would like I would list the ingredients and I'd go from different voices.
Speaker 5:It's yeah, everybody's done that at some point in time. You can't say you've actually never read a label of something but out loud oh no, that's crazy that.
Speaker 1:No. I was like sitting in the bathroom going. You know these ingredients should not be used for and like my mom like a commercial.
Speaker 2:Yeah, my mom would be like what are you doing in there? I'm like stop mom voiceovers, Right.
Speaker 4:See, I wasn't smart enough to read those words, so I I did out're so much alike in so many ways it actually scares me. I would read that's how I can do a bunch of different voices. I would read the articles in the magazines that were in the bathroom in different voices out loud, so it sounded like there were a lot of people in my bathroom, right.
Speaker 5:So you had see, I can always tell you had a great upbringing. When you have magazines in the bathroom, that's like a, that's like an upgrade, that's like a, like a it was.
Speaker 4:It was a big time of people right uh time time magazine
Speaker 2:oh yeah absolutely I think I was trying to tell us as we lived a privileged life we did I did, yeah, because I had privileged friends.
Speaker 5:I used to go over to their house and raid their refrigerators like so there, there's actually one that you forgot. It's, uh, you know, classic and you, you, everybody will agree that yellow, classic national geographic, oh yeah yes, yes, they don't have, I also had mad. Yes, they don't do it anymore.
Speaker 4:I also had Mad Magazine, so I don't know if any of you had that but, I used to read Mad oh God.
Speaker 5:You're super privileged. You are super privileged. Oh my God, if you had Mad Magazine, it was like this person's going to be in the bathroom longer.
Speaker 2:Highlight. Highlight was the other magazine.
Speaker 1:Remember the Highlight High person's going to be in the bathroom longer.
Speaker 2:Highlight highlight was the other magazine when you had the remember, the highlight, highlight. Yeah, yes, all right, maul we. It's time to raise the bar mark. You want to start or not? Phil you, phil you start phil.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I'll do it, maul. What's the one song that might drum around in your head over and over again that you don't care if that happens?
Speaker 5:Now it's a song I actually like, or it's just like something I'm like irritated with that won't get out of my head. It's the irritated thing that won't get out of my head.
Speaker 3:But it's still there. Yeah, but that you don't mind that it's there.
Speaker 5:Let me think about this. I have a huge backlog.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you better tell us now Culture club karma chameleon.
Speaker 5:It might've been a white wedding. It might've been white wedding. We're going to go with white wedding.
Speaker 3:I will tell you. As soon as I asked you the question follow the yellow brick road popped up in my head and now we won't leave. So somebody, somebody asked a different question leave.
Speaker 4:So somebody, somebody ask a different question. Yeah, please, so I'll go, I'll go with, I'll go with favorite quote. So mal, what is your favorite quote? Um?
Speaker 5:oh, I actually invented it. Awesome, and it's f? U, g, g u p. Fuck up, awesome, fuck up. It does exist on facebook. It has a page. It's literally the end, all be all and it can be used in all kinds of ways. Like you know, dashing down the snow in the one horse open fuck up, fuck up, there's a comedian Reif that uses something similar to that.
Speaker 1:He probably stole it from Matt. He did.
Speaker 5:And you can put it on anything.
Speaker 2:But who are the artists that you admire, Maul I?
Speaker 5:admire a lot of artists. I admire hundreds of artists. It's almost I admire hundreds of artists. But there's artists that you know, I look up to and I look at their body of work and I'm like that's amazing, the stuff you did. It suited me at a time where I needed it and I got something out of it. That's what hip hop does. My story is going to be different from the next person's story because there might be one or two phrases in there he said that totally related to their life at that time and that's what hip hop music does.
Speaker 5:But, nas, start from the first album and just keep listening to it till you're done with everything and then you'll have an understanding. Because, see, here's the thing about naz. I would say naz raps about a lot of gangster stuff. He's a. He's a rapper that's from the streets but he respects the culture. So you're going to hear him consistently respecting the culture in whatever rap he does, and that's why I respect him so much as an artist. He's one of my favorite artists Brad Jordan, scarface.
Speaker 5:These are artists that are from the streets, but they are hip hop artists. You see what I'm saying. They didn't take advantage of the culture. They told real, true stories about what was really going on in the country and they actually respected the culture. But there's people like in the culture that don't necessarily do it like that. I wouldn't call them hip hop, although it is rap and hip hop is all rap. You see what I'm saying. I'm not one of those people like I'm this uppity. You know it's not hip hop because you're rapping and you don't know about the history of hip hop. I still look at it as hip hop music to a certain extent, you know, because everybody has the room to grow into. You know, whatever, wherever hip hop brings them.
Speaker 2:Yeah, their own art form.
Speaker 5:Definitely.
Speaker 2:Well, awesome. Well, maul this is. This has been terrific, mark Phil.
Speaker 3:some parting goodbyes to our guest and think about our collective stories right All together, and just to let you know what a great sense of peace I've been sitting in all night as I've been listening to you. So thank you so very much.
Speaker 5:I appreciate you. I appreciate you, Phyllis.
Speaker 4:Maul, I'd echo that. I'd just like to say that you gave us a gift and you gave our audience a gift, and please leave knowing that you provide an amazing amount of inspiration and value to the, to the people that you interact with. You are such a beautiful, valuable person and you have gifted us with so much today. Beautiful, valuable person and you have gifted us with so much today. So thank you for sharing that. We need to be following what we're ordained to do and surround ourselves with the people in order to accomplish that. So thank you for that, thank you, thank you, sir.
Speaker 5:Thank you, sir.
Speaker 2:Maul, we're obviously going to drop a bunch of stuff in the show notes, but what's the? What are the digits and information we need to have now that you'd like to promote, Because we'd love for people to be able to follow you to, uh, to track, track what you're doing and to help you on all?
Speaker 5:fronts. You can follow um me on Instagram. There's two pages. There's the lyricricist Live 13 years, no cursing, no violence at the Jacksonville Art Walk. You know Hulu episode 26 of a show called Impact featuring Jacksonville artist Maul Jones. And they followed me around and, you know, discovered what I was doing in Jacksonville. My actual page on Instagram Mal's Mind M-A-L-S-M-I-N-D. Yeah, thank you guys for having me here. Shouts out to Pool of Dreams. Yeah, there's a single out on YouTube. You can do Mal Jones Pool of Dreams. You'll see the video. Some very good friends of mine out of athens, georgia, you know, doing the the positive work. So I gotta team up with them and you know, just uh, emphasize that everybody has a dream, everybody can do it, everybody can use their mind to go down that road, that lonely road, and find your people there.
Speaker 2:You know excellent man, thank you, thank you so much for this.
Speaker 5:Thank you, guys for having me. Man, y'all have a good day you too we'll be right back.
Speaker 2:Hey there, we sure do. Hope you're enjoying the show and if you are, please tell your friends like it, share it, put it all over the place, because we're not just doing a podcast here, we're trying to start a movement. Okay, that was probably a bad pun intended, by the way, but seriously, the complexity of toilet paper is about creating conversations in places where things just don't need to be that complicated. It's about finding the simplicity in life and if we work together, you know what we think we can actually achieve it. So follow us on Facebook, share the show, give us your comments and come back and join us in the stall. We just had the Lyricist Live on our show, dropping bombs and, wow, that's one hell of a visit to the stall to start off this whole podcast. What's your thoughts? Anything stepping in front of you is a huge takeaway.
Speaker 3:I'll jump in and say I think the biggest thing that is sitting with me is that Maul chose to take the road less traveled. And there has been some pain on that and there has been some really good fortune, maybe not in conventional ways, but in ways that are obviously meaningful to him and meaningful to those who have the good fortune of intersecting with his life.
Speaker 2:And he made a choice. That and we need to remember this and I'm sure this is going to come up over and over again, because it already has just in our meetings and our conversations, not just the shows and that life is hard and the complexity of toilet paper is not to say that life isn't hard and that listening to the show makes it easy. It's to recognize where complexity shows up, where we make life more complicated than it needs to be. And and, of course, everything about choices sometimes feels complicated. And he had the staying power not just to make the choice that he did, but he made a choice that the only way he was going to keep his life more simple is if he never sacrificed the integrity of what he was creating. So that's what jumped out of the stall to me.
Speaker 4:I think for me it was back to the complexity of choice is what a hard decision in an environment that wants you to choose differently, that encourages you to choose differently. He found simplicity and was able to share simplicity with us by staying true to his decision, and I think that that's really beautiful that, regardless of the outside noise, he made a choice that he believed in and that made it simple for him.
Speaker 2:Word to the bird. Have you heard? No, I'm out. I don't want you guys to pout, because I know you're going to get angry and you're going to shout, but I'm here to say that's all I got today, so hey hey, hey, you get that.
Speaker 3:We're with you, buddy.
Speaker 2:You know I sometimes want to say not that I'm having so much fun. I just want to say thank you. I appreciate you for putting up with me, that's right. Anyway, hey, listen. You can hear the real lyricist, not this joker, al Emrick. You can hear the real lyricist and learn all about him. His information and details are in the show notes, including links to his incredible TEDx presentation. And, as always, please follow us on Facebook. The Complexity of Toilet Paper is the name of our Facebook page. Once again, step into the stall with amazing people, as well as amazing ideas and concepts that create complications in our life, that lead to complexity, and we're here to help you simplify your life, one conversation at a time.
Speaker 3:Did you say toilet paper?
Speaker 1:Everything complicated, one big, big mess. I'm overthinking, I'm over, I'm overthinking.
Speaker 2:This is the complexity of toilet paper.
