We caught up with the brilliant and insightful GREEYO. a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
GREEYO. , thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Let’s kick things off with your mission – what is it and what’s the story behind why it’s your mission?
From the age of 7 I’ve been performing on stages. From plays to musicals and my own original work, I have far exceeded the 10,000 hours of diligence the industry says turns you into a master of your craft. My first dream was to be on Broadway. It wasn’t Broadway itself that necessarily interested me, but the community of people who do what I do, which is what I wanted. “They are my people,” I thought. That is until “what I do” became a list that hasn’t stopped expanding. In January 2020, while studying Theatre at North Carolina Central University, I won an opportunity to participate in a week long Broadway intensive where I could go to New York to showcase why I was ready for Broadway. But of course, Covid pushed this trip back a year which forced me to dream new dreams. I thought Broadway was dead forever. Dreams of creating a reality that I could control, controlled me. The opportunity to attend the NYC intensive came back around in 2021. When I got there, I realized the community that made up Broadway was indeed comprised of my people, but not my tribe; not my village. I came back to Baltimore determined to find my tribe. It led me to create LaRae Amoor Studios, a multimedia production and photography studio. Through my business, my true purpose has been revealed to me; the mission since I was 7, to find and cultivate my tribe. The journey has made this mission meaningful, and it continues to.
GREEYO. , before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
My artist name is GREEYO. which is a respelling of the title Griot. In West Africa – where many of my ancestors are from – Griots are oral storytellers who use art and history as a vehicle to advance people’s understanding of life; that is my purpose. I am a Baltimore based multi-disciplinary performing artist and multimedia producer. My artistic identity comes from my deep understanding of African and American history. My childhood theatrical background helped me hone masterful skills in acting, singing, dancing, poetry, and lyricism. I’m a graduate of North Carolina Central University with a Bachelor’s degree in Theatre Performance. While there, attained skills such as light/sound design, carpentry, scenic design, play/screen writing and directing. Since graduating, I expanded into multimedia and music production, event curation, and community organizing. By day, I am a high school Multimedia/Theatrical production and Journalism teacher, by night, I operate my multimedia production and photography studio, LaRae Amoor Studios, in Baltimore’s Station North Arts District. My purpose is to manifest diverse artistic concepts in an unapologetically black, highly intellectual, deeply profound manner. LaRae Amoor Studios’ ultimate mission is to join the movement of redefining the limits of black art, to forward the advancement of Baltimore’s artistic community. LaRae Amoor Studios stands for free black identity, knowledge of self, and restoring the world through the arts.
How did you build your audience on social media?
My initial following was comprised of mostly friends and family. Once I graduated from college on Zoom in 2020, I began dabbling with making content. Literally I’d just turn on my iPhone camera and record myself rapping in my friend Kyle’s basement as he Dj’d beats for me. Candidly, the raps were ass. The content wasn’t at the caliber of a LaRussel or a Tobe Nwigwe who were making rap/music content at a high level at the time. I saw what they were doing, and knew I had as much production and artistic facility as them, my friends and family knew too. By the end of 2021, I was talking about making content like them but I just didn’t set aside the time to. Pro Tip: Desire without action is stagnation; being able to articulate your desires isn’t true progress, its acknowledgment. Acknowledgement is only a device to better hold yourself accountable for making your desires come true. These are words that crept into my spirit January of 2022. I brought in that year with covid and was quarantining in the basement. That’s when I decided to take making content seriously. I dropped a rap video everyday for 5 months until more than just my friends and family were watching. Ive stayed consistent with content for almost 2 years and now I own a content studio with an audience that’s organically growing. There’s no such thing as the right time, nor is there such thing as a limit. You must have the audacity to think you can get exactly what you want through the work you put in.
Do you have any insights you can share related to maintaining high team morale?
Your vision is not “Thee” vision. If you are the leader of a team, your job is to make leaders. So when crafting your vision as a leader, you must leave room for other team members to lead, allow them to have ownership. Ryan Coogler, the ultra-ultra-succesful Director often says he’s only great because of the team he has. He doesn’t need to be an expert at camera operation, he doesn’t need to be an expert of costumes, or makeup. As a leader, it’s his job to put the experts in their rightful place to lead in their way, for their crafts. That’s how you do it; create an ecosystem where everyone is in charge. It’s not a hierarchy, it’s not a chain-of-command; it’s a water system. A water system that has many streams and rivers that all lead to the ocean. In this analogy, the ocean is whatever goal the team collectively has. Each team member should have a different path to get there. Literal divide and conquer. So, asses each team member’s strengths and rooms for improvement, create the ecosystem that allows them to lead with their strengths, and align those strengths to the greater good of the group, and your ocean of overall success will never run dry. Gargantuan shoutout to my team/family, ThatBastardGroovy, Mr. Visionaries, Cole The Black Alfalfa, Eyem Nobdy, Rob The Reaper, Kemari the Stringer, Ashy Ash, Chase on the Sax, DJ CUFF, JaySvn for the opportunity, and of course, A.Ś.E.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://linktr.ee/laraeamoorstudios
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/__greeyo/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@vivalasbalt
Image Credits
Tyus Gaskin Breyanna Dabney Nnamdi Chima