We were lucky to catch up with Rickey Turner recently and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Rickey thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Did you always know you wanted to pursue a creative or artistic career? When did you first know?
I first knew I wanted to pursue a creative path in elementary school. My older cousin, who goes by The Legendary MIC from the Welfare Poets, is a rapper, producer, educator and mentor. He introduced me to DAW’s at a young age and showed me the basics of music production. Later on I attended the Arts and Technology high school, and originally I wanted to be a portrait artist. After realizing it wasn’t my passion, I switched gears and took a documentary film class my senior year. My friends and I worked on short films, music videos, skate videos, and pranks. I quickly felt in love with editing and being in my zone. Sitting down at a computer with a blank timeline gave me the freedom to create and tell meaningful stories I wanted to spread to the world. I found music production and video editing very similar with both requiring great rhythm, but also mentally, sitting alone in a room and allowing your creative juices to pour out endlessly. Music was an outlet to keep me focused and engaged in the things that really matter, I have always wanted to tell stories through my music, documentaries, and short films.
I created the musical persona “Inglorious RIC” to get out of my comfort zone and create art that covers many genres. As a producer I have worked with Artists from all around the world such as Luka Maric, Forest Slater, Moka Only, The Welfare Poets, Dejavu on the beat, James Betamax, and more. My most recent release is an indie track titled “Wings” featuring Forest Slater, now on YouTube and soundcloud.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
I grew up in a single parent household with my mother and older sister. My mother escaped an abusive relationship and with her focused and disciplined personality, she dedicated her life to being the role model, support system, and super hero me and my sister viewed her as. Although my mother is the strongest person I know, she didn’t shy away from showing her vulnerable side. Watching my mother cry happy tears or sad tears showed me that it is okay to show emotion, especially as a young man of color.
I am multi-disciplined artist who channels my emotion through storytelling and truly am inspired by everyone I meet. I use photography, film, and music to tell great stories. Everyone has a great story. So many stories to tell and I want to be the person to tell them. One of my most proud accomplishments as a music artist was opening up for the Last Poets at Nuyorican Poets Cafe in New York City. As a video editor and videographer I have worked on videos for Home Depot, Ambi, McDonalds, TVOne, The Players Tribune, Musical Artist Blu, The Welfare poets and more. Over the years I have worked for media publications such as TVOne, The Urban Daily, VladTV, Ebony Magazine as the Senior Video producer and now currently the Renaissance Youth Center as the communications and social media manager.
At the Renaissance Youth Center I have taught video production, music production, and coding, but most importantly I get to document a one of a kind program, and celebrate the successes of our youth.
I am also a children’s book author, having written 2 books with my daughter Nia. One title “Nia the Ocean Activist” and “Healthy Eats”, both available on amazon.
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
Everyone nowadays gets caught up in numbers and analytics and we have slowly drifted away from sharing art for feeling and emotion, to sharing art for the sake of views and notoriety. To be honest, earlier in my career I felt discouraged and attempted to give up on my goals solely because of “views.” Every video and content I uploaded seemed to be viewed by no one. I felt helpless and unmotivated. I thought “why keep creating if no one is watching?” And then I realized I create for my ME. Views do not reflect our talent, our effort, and time we have put into the craft. Just because you aren’t receiving “viral” numbers, doesn’t mean your content isn’t good. Understand that it is a process. Just remember to keep creating for you and those who support your craft.
For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?
The most rewarding aspect of being an artist is impacting and inspiring those around you. Seeing my daughter and my students create their own art is what gives me the inspiration to keep going. I may not be known worldwide but, if I can inspire someone to express themselves positively, then its a win for me.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://rickeylturnerjr.wixsite.com/home
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/inglorious.ric/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rickey-turner-490013201?original_referer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2F
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@ingloriousric
- Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/ingloriousric/wings
- Other: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Mr.-Rickey-Turner/author/B0CP1SDZMG?ref=ap_rdr&isDramIntegrated=true&shoppingPortalEnabled=true
Image Credits
Edgar De la Vega