Creative Highlight 05: Entertainment: Hood Therapist Dav
I feel as if some of the best creatives (& some of my personal favs too) started off in groups. Tyler the Creator had odd future. A$AP Rocky has A$AP Mob. Kendrick Lamar has TDE. J Cole has Dreamville (can we just admire Ari Lennox my absolute fav for a second, because literally her voice is ethereal) and so on and so forth. Every single one of these groups have made tremendous strides in the entertainment industry and have left MAJOR influence on my generation and black culture today. Whether it was through music, or fashion, or literally just showing the world that being yourself and staying loyal to the people that held you down and supported you since day one always pays off in the end, the black culture has truly gained so much from these super talented collectives. I personally had my own share of working with others. Sometimes it went great, other times not so great. Either way, it's all a lesson learnt. In the field that I wanna go into, there's going to be PLENTY of times I have to share myself with other people which is perfectly fine. Having a solid core of fellow creatives can truly push an individual to be the best they can be. Also it's always good to know that you're not alone in the endeavors you want to pursue and creative advice is always there at the drop of a dime if you got some real ones in ya corner. One group that has caught my eye as of late is non other than TP (Top Pick) My bro Davin that I've known for a couple of years now (also my very first friend when I started college way back when lol) spoke to me a little bit about what his group does and the role they play in today's culture. We met up at Brooklyn Museum and dove deep into what makes TP different.
Me: So what exactly is your group?
Dav: My team is called Top Pick Only. It's kinda funny, me and my boys one day took the first two letters of Taylor Port (you know, the drink) and we kinda just made our own twist out of it. Not Taylor Port boys obviously because that would be really corny, but yeah we turned it into top pick. Its more than a name, its a lifestyle, we want everything in life to be out first choice. whether its a car you want or a girl you want. The main point is not to settle. As a collective, its 4 of us, 2 of my friends are doing music. they're both producers and rappers. me personally, I'm more of the back ground person. I like taking photos and I'm more into fashion, I'm trying to create my own magazine as well. My last friend is more into economics, like the advisor of the group. He wouldn't give himself the title of a manager but we could refer to him as that.
Me: How did this start? Who started it? When I think of you guys to be honest, I think of A$AP Mob. Especially talking about your friend who's like the manager, he reminds me of A$AP Yams. (RIP YAMS btw) ya know the same way how he used to oversee and manage the group? That's the vibe I get.
Dav: I mean, in terms of the team we kind of all started it. 3/4 of us went to high school together. It was me, Jah and Jermaine, then as college started we met Max. We would just always study together and work out together. Then we just all became close, and one day we were just talking about life goals/aspirations and we just decided we don't wanna live regularly anymore, we wanna live comfortably and not worry about much, and that's what top pick only is about. Not settling and living your best life.
Me: So as far as you go as an individual, what do you do outside of TP as a creative?
Dav: As I said before, I take photos here and there, I wanna start taking it more seriously. I also wanna take more videos so maybe something along the lines of doing videography. Just tryna save up for a good camera. But this all ties into the magazine I'm tryna put out. The title is "I am You" basically just me relating to you basically. All the content in the magazine is what people would wanna see and hear about. Im looking to include sports, fashion, music. I wanna tackle mainstream and underground artists as well. Black owned businesses is the one thing in the magazine I want to really stand out. It can literally be anything, clothes, seafood boils, hair, anything.
Me: So in terms of the magazine, how are you going to use this to push black women to the forefront. What do you plan on doing for us? How does it cater to us?
Dav: Although, my magazine isn't necessarily targeted to one race or gender, the goal is for it to go global. The magazine is a hood therapist project (my insta handle obviously) and the name hood therapist to me means I want people to forget all their troubles and problems and just focus on the content. Its just a way to settle your head from all the bullshit going on in the world today. But in terms of black women, I'd love to interview women who have their own businesses and give them exposure. Thats me giving them the clientele that they need. Women are actually bigger innovators than men. They're so focused on getting bread and just taking steps forward to being better. So I feel like a lot of my stories can be about them. They're queens.
Me: So I don't wanna put you on the spot, but y'all don't have ANY girls in top pick. Do you guys plan on expanding and if you do, are you planning to bring women into the group or do you just want it to stay the 4 of you guys?
Dav: I mean we don't discriminate. If you feel like you're a top pick and you fuck with us, hit us up! Right now it's just the 4 of us because we trust and believe in each other, we can't just let anyone in. But if we feel as if the person won't do us dirt or anything like that we can consider it. It's a process. We wouldn't mind having a top pick woman in the crew. A "TP girl" that would be wavy.
Me: Last Question, what advice can you give to black women?
Dav: My advice would be to keep being queens. Keep doing you. You guys are the bigger innovators. You guys know how to turn dirt into gold. Women turn everything into light. Just keep striving no matter what.
Make sure to follow Dav on instagram @hood.therapistdav