Musical Journey of Mr. Talkbox

Justin 0:00

We are grateful to have you today on Armchair , authentic , to help share you to our audience and tell your story , which is a very special , unique story . I feel it , feel it feel it feel , it feel , it feel , it , feel it , I feel it feel it , feel it , feel it , feel it , feel it , feel it .

Rhett 0:21

Oh yeah , I mean , does it get any better than that right there ? Oh bro , you just , Are you kidding me , man ? You have warmed so many people's hearts on this podcast . Welcome back to another episode of Armchair Authentic , a podcast with your friends Rhett and Justin . We talk about real life with real people and today , my friends , you are in for a treat . We get to sit down with the one and only Mr Talkbox . He's a four-time Grammy Award winner , two-time Dove Award winner . He's worked with artists such as Justin Timberlake , nsync , britney Spears , kanye West , future , Bruno Mars , t-pain , cardi B , rihanna , toby Mac and Thomas Rhett . I mean , honestly , the list goes on and on .

Rhett 1:24

In today's episode , we had some great conversations about Mr TalkBox's success , but , honestly , more about the story behind the success . We talk about faith , surrender , humility and focus . This is one of those episodes you want to gather your family and friends around because I'm telling you it's going to light you up for the next step that is in front of you . Now , before we get into that conversation , I want to say thank you to every single one of you who have taken the time to rate and review the podcast . It means so much to Justin and I , but more than that . It truly is the best way to serve those who aren't on this journey yet . Now , if you're joining us for the first time , we want to say welcome to the podcast family . It is great to have you with us . If you haven't already done so , can we encourage you to follow us on Instagram or Facebook . You can find us there at Armchair Authentic . You can also follow us on X at Armchair Off Pod . That's Armchair Off A-U-T-H , pod P-O-D . All right now onto the conversation with Mr Talkbox . You guys ready , here we go . Justin , I am so excited today we have Mr Talkbox .

Rhett 2:46

Now , if you're listening today , I just want to give you a little . I mean , this is just a little glimpse . I mean we're talking about a four time grammy award winner , two-time dove award winner , five number one singles the brother has worked with in sync britney spears over four billion , that is , with a B 4 billion streams . Artists such as Kanye West , future , bruno Mars , t-pain , cardi B , rihanna , kendrick Lamar , smokey Robinson , everybody he's with the Charlie Wilson , kee Sweat . Come on T-Mac , toby Mac , montel , jordan and come on my wife's personal favorite , thomas Rhett . I mean from R&B , hip-hop , rap and country . I mean , dude , he covers all of it , bro . It is so good to have you , mr Talkbox .

Mr. Talkbox 3:35

It's so good to have you with us on the podcast today .

Rhett 3:40

Thank you until the day .

Justin 3:43

Yeah , let's go , oh man .

Rhett 3:43

I was not expecting that . What I think is crazy is Rhett . Actually he just for the sake of time he left off so many other names .

Justin 3:55

I mean it could have kept going and literally really , really great to have you today on the podcast . Even better to have him use the talk box .

Rhett 4:04

For sure . You know , I live vicariously through justin and justin and you have obviously had some friendship here , for I don't know how long couple of years you know , and it feels like it's been two years of us trying to get this podcast conversation with you scheduled .

Mr. Talkbox 4:19

Can I just be honest , oh my gosh . I mean , you know , I felt like I was gonna have to , yeah , no , he don't need to .

Justin 4:24

He's been winning grammy . Mean , you know ? I felt like I was going to have to . No , you don't need to , he's been winning Grammy awards . Well , you know , I thought .

Rhett 4:28

I was going to have to call Bruno Mars and go look , give this brother a break , you and all your grand . I get it , but , like , put us on a schedule somewhere so we get this conversation going . Yeah , that's right .

Justin 4:39

You know , I think the first time that it even acclimated me to who you were before we met this is years before we met . I'm listening to a song and I'm with my family on vacation , literally at the beach , and we're listening to this Toby Mac song called Feel it , and in the background I hear the instrument which I know now is the talk box , and I thought it was the coolest thing I had ever heard . We are grateful to have you today on Armchair , Authentic , to help share you to our audience and tell your story , which is a very special , unique story . I feel it , feel it , feel it , feel it , feel it , feel it feel it .

Mr. Talkbox 5:16

I feel it feel it , feel it , feel it , feel it , feel it , feel it .

Rhett 5:22

Ooh , yeah , I mean , does it get any better than that right there ? Yeah , I mean , does it get any better than that right there ? I mean , oh , bro , you just you're kidding me , man , you have warmed so many people's hearts on this podcast .

Justin 5:34

It don't matter where you're from .

Rhett 5:35

That brings out the I mean , that just brings out the kid in me , dude , I just , I love it . I can tell you that I am a keyboard player and that just makes it brings out the creative juices . Perfect , I feel like forget 24 karat magic . We're going to throw down a song . Right now I will start spitting some stuff out and we'll go .

Justin 5:53

This is your stage name , mr Talkbox . So what inspired you to start using the Talkbox , and when did you actually get your first one ?

Mr. Talkbox 6:08

What influenced me Well , should I say who influenced me to play the TalkBox , was there's a R&B funk band by the name of Roger Troutman and the Zap Band . Roger Troutman is a master TalkBox user and so he was the first guy that I ever heard use the instrument . I heard a song , it was called Computer Love and I was like what in the world is that ? And my cousin . I was riding in the car with my cousin and he was like oh man , we have this album at the house , let's go check it out . I was like great .

Justin 6:36

I want to hear this now .

Mr. Talkbox 6:38

So I go to his house , he pulls out the Rodgers album and then I heard this song he played . This song called I Want to Be your man Blew me away . I said , oh my gosh , I want to do that , but I want to do it for God , I want to do it in church , I want to do it for gospel music . And so I went on this journey to try to find that sound . And boy , I tell you , that was a tough journey . Yeah , it was such a secret , it was like a secret that I couldn't get my hands on . So I had started , I started playing , I was looking for it so heavily .

Justin 7:20

I found a vocoder and I was like no , that doesn't sound like how his sound .

Mr. Talkbox 7:24

And then finally , I found the talk box and I got it when I was on the road , believe it or not , with NSYNC back in 99 . I had gotten one beforehand but I could never get it to work . I didn't know how to make it work . But when I went out on the road with in sync , my tech , my keyboard tech , uh , shout out , bob longo . Bob longo , he's bongo man . He was , he was great . He was the tech for a guy named teddy riley . I don't know if y'all know the super producer , teddy riley , but teddy riley , because teddy riley played talk box too . So he built teddy riley's and he had a replica of it on the road in one of our cages or whatnot .

Mr. Talkbox 8:09

So I saw it and I was like this is it . I felt like I found gold and I found it , we got it . I had my own built probably the next day , and next thing you know I'm doing the talk box . I look up . Now it's over 20 years of me doing this .

Rhett 8:27

Yeah , man , I mean congrats on 20 years . I mean obviously massive milestone here in 2024 for 20 years of Mr Talk Box , that's right .

Rhett 8:36

So I mean , along the journey you've been a part of man , so many great musical acts , as we mentioned at the opening of this thing , and so many we didn't mention , and through those partnerships and collaborations , so I'm sure you've got stories you could tell on those . But ultimately , you know , I'm curious , man , I'm sure other people are too like , really , and you shared a little bit of that , but like really , truly , what motivated you to kind of pursue an independent path in your music career and what have you been ? What have been some of the benefits , uh , that you've seen , being an independent artist as well , because I mean , obviously you're a keyboard player and with the sync and britney spears and those things , but , like , you obviously took a step , man , and you know there's people that are listening to this that are probably really inspired on that alone . But you actually were like I'm going another step , I'm taking a step of faith and doing something . Talk to me about that journey , man . I mean .

Mr. Talkbox 9:24

Yeah , absolutely so . So , yeah , you , you , you , you . You struck a chord with the word faith and just taking steps , and that's that's what has gotten me here to this , this point , and that is me taking steps of faith and and not being comfortable .

From NSYNC to Diverse City

Mr. Talkbox 9:42

There were , like , when I was I was with NSYNC , at the height of their career . We were about to drop the no Strings Attached album , which sold 2.5 million in one week . Yeah , it was crazy , yeah , I was right there .

Mr. Talkbox 9:57

And my last show with them was on MTV's TRL , where we shut down Times Square . We basically , you know , we're upstairs with the big window and the big room and the entire Times Square is like millions of people just outside watching us from there . And that was my last show with them and I'll never forget man Justin Timberlake . He was like , man , you sure you want to lead this right now . Man , we're about to be the biggest thing in the world period . And I was like , yeah , I got to go , I got to do this , I got to go back to what God is calling me to do and I got to go back home to be with my wife , because my wife , she didn't get married to be a single parent and we had just had our second child and I was like I got to go serve my family man second child , and I was like I got .

Mr. Talkbox 10:45

I got to go serve my family man and , and , uh , so he , they understood , and it was . It was a bittersweet moment because they actually liked me being in the band . I was , they love having me in the band . But , um , I had to take that step of faith . I had to go back . I said , lord , I know you got something for me to do and I know it had something to do with this talk box . So I came back home and I , just you know , I began to work .

Mr. Talkbox 11:06

I just you know , I got a job and I started playing at a couple of churches and , you know , and serving my family , and during that time there was a group called Group One Crew and so I started working with them .

Justin 11:19

They were in Orlando , we're all from Orlando .

Mr. Talkbox 11:21

But I did a song with them called Moving and that's why I won my first dub award . But yeah , I just started working . I went home , started working and started working with them and then we started getting uncomfortable in Orlando .

Rhett 11:38

It's easy to get uncomfortable in Orlando . It's pretty hot there in the summer . I mean , I love Orlando . I got friends there .

Mr. Talkbox 11:44

I'm messing but Nashville's not a bad place to end up , let's go .

Mr. Talkbox 11:51

I'm telling you , man , god turned up the heat down there because you know we're just like we want something different . And during that time though , before you know us , you know getting uncomfortable in Orlando God had begun to open doors for me . I met Toby Mack , and I met Toby Mack at the House of Blues Orlando . So we used to do this thing called the House of Blues Sunday Brunch . I started in my mom and dad's gospel band , and so we used to tour all over the country and we would play all of the House of Blueses , but we were at the Orlando one , and that night cause you know the brunches , you know , during the morning up to the afternoon that night , the I have a Dream Tour , which featured Toby Mac and Kirk Franklin . They were together .

Rhett 12:36

Two of the greats .

Mr. Talkbox 12:37

Yeah , so it's crazy . So they came in and they watched us . They watched our last set and so obviously I was rocking the talk box . Toby Mac sees the talk box sees me playing the talk box , dave Wyatt , which is his music director , he comes up to me . He was like hey , man , toby wants to get you on a song . I was like cool . I didn't actually know who Toby Mac was at that time , and so I was like cool , yeah , and so I met him , sure why not yeah , I was like why not they played me the song Diverse City ?

Mr. Talkbox 13:13

And I was like oh man , this is funky man , I was like all right , I'll do it .

Mr. Talkbox 13:17

So a couple of weeks later they sent us the song and me and my buddy my best friends in the world , one of my best friends , his name is Ivan Santiago , shout out Ivan . He , me and him wrote the song . I recorded Diverse City in my dining room with the big quilt on the wall as our booth and we shoved a little mic in the corner and then , next thing you know , all you heard was Diverse City freak show , baby . You know what I'm saying .

Rhett 13:47

Oh , yeah , yeah , yeah , yeah , yeah , let's go . Yeah , All day , all day .

Mr. Talkbox 13:52

Yeah , man . So we did that . I wrote this , me and Ivan . We wrote the second verse to that song and yep , and there is I don't know which record it is . Oh , it's right here , this record right here . Nice , that's awesome . And so we recorded that and that's how my story with Toby Mac started . We kept a friendship over the years and then I think that was in 2007 . Fast forward , 2009 we moved to Nashville . We were , oh my gosh , we were so done with Orlando .

Rhett 14:26

You moved to the promise land man for creatives . I mean , you know , it's true .

Mr. Talkbox 14:31

And that's a story in itself too , you know , and you know we moved .

Mr. Talkbox 14:35

It was . It was I had given up on music . You know I had given up . I was like I'm done , I don't want to do this music thing anymore . I told my wife and my buddy , ivan , him and his family , they had already moved to Nashville , so he had already been trying to get us to move . And so we move , you know . But before we move , there was this . Let me tell you how crazy God is with just dropping down blessings . We were at the bottom guys like we had nothing like we had .

Justin 15:04

We had lost our part . We were living in an apartment .

Mr. Talkbox 15:05

We were at the bottom guys , like we had nothing , like we had . We had lost our apartment . We were living in an apartment and we lost it and we had to go move back with my , my , my mother-in-law at the time .

Rhett 15:11

God bless the mother-in-laws man . I've lived with mine twice , so , bro , I get it yeah .

Mr. Talkbox 15:17

The life of the musicians man yeah .

Justin 15:21

Been there .

Mr. Talkbox 15:22

Yeah , and so we moved there , and there I was still playing drums with group one crew at that time I was touring with them , but we didn't have a lot of shows it was so it was very , very bare minimum . My wife . She came to me , man , and , speaking of wives , man , god bless , shout out to my beautiful wife , tammy . The Lord spoke to her man . It was like hey , god has something better for you . You got to let it go , you got to step down and you got to . You know , god has something better .

Mr. Talkbox 15:50

Sure enough , a guy . He saw me in Knoxville . He was a friend of a friend , matter of fact , he was Ivan Santiago's , my best buddy . His brother was friends with this guy that I'm talking about , and so he saw me and he was like hey , man , I've been watching you online , because this is when streaming had just started too . So he was checking out my first album . So he had become a fan and he had been watching and he was like but God has placed on my heart to invest in you to do another album , and I was like what .

Mr. Talkbox 16:27

I didn't believe him . I was like , come on , I've heard this story before , yeah yeah , yeah , you know , how it is . Somebody comes .

Rhett 16:32

Oh , I'm going to invest in you . Yeah , yeah , yeah .

Justin 16:35

They don't show you the money , do they Right ?

Mr. Talkbox 16:37

No , they don't . And so my wife at this was tripping me out . She was like no man , I think you need to listen to this guy . I was like , wow . So I literally the first thing I had to do , the first step of obedience that I had to take and that was a step of faith for me was to call group one crew and say hey guys , this has been great . I got to step down . And yeah , and that was that . And so I stepped down from group one and immediately I'm not kidding you guys the moment I hung up the phone with management and the lead singer of group one crew , literally five minutes later , the investor guy called me and I missed his call because I was outside . I told my mother-in-law I'm like I'm going to go out and pressure wash your house and clean the house for you . So I'm outside , I'm pressure washing , I get back in the house and my wife said your phone's blowing up and this was back .

Mr. Talkbox 17:34

When someone leaves a message , it only lets you leave about 30 seconds , right , but this message I don't know how , but that man's message was at least one minute to two minutes . He was like hey , man , I'm telling you I can't shake this man . God is on me heavy about this . I need to invest in you to do a new album . God wants you to do a new album and I'm here to take , I'm here to do it . And guess what ? I called him back and he said well , what will it take for you to do a new album ? And I was like , well , we want to get out of orlando I said if I ?

Mr. Talkbox 18:10

can get out of orlando , I'll do an album that's easy . He's like not done , done , done he open nights us a cashier's check praise the lord for us to move to nashville , and that was a crazy situation as well . I'm telling y'all this story . This story goes literally it's so many pockets that the Lord did , but it was all because of a step of faith . Like each step of faith , each moment of faith , do it . I did it afraid I didn't know what was going to happen .

Rhett 18:40

Can we pause there for a minute Because there's so much we could dive into . Can we pause there for a minute Because there's so much we could dive into ? And , justin , as I'm hearing this and I don't want people to miss this who are listening , who are aspiring artists or creatives , or just even if you just want to be successful at the highest level , I mean go back for a second to you're with NSYNC , you're with Justin Timberlake at the height , at the height , and yet you made the decision to walk away and to humble yourself in obedience to a higher calling . I would think there's a lot of people listening going , oh , my God , like obviously God's worked it out in your life and you've gone on to do a lot of things , you know hindsight's 20-20 . But in that moment people are like I can only imagine , like what are you doing ? Are you crazy ? Have you lost your mind ? Only imagine , like what are you doing ? Are you crazy ? Have you lost your mind ?

Rhett 19:27

So my mindset is going back to that moment because something in you , a transformation , you know , I know you're a man of faith , obviously , but like where did the transformation and foundation of that type of faith happen in your life to set you up for a moment that you are willing to push back the accolades of the world , to be a full-time dad and husband , if you will , and family , to really push back the world and to go . You know what I got to be with my family , and if that means I have to humble myself from whatever the world's accolades are to do that , I'm willing to do that Something inside you like that's not many people do . That , man , I want to get to that root . Talk me through that foundation of faith and your journey with Christ , where did that come from , because nobody just does that .

Mr. Talkbox 20:14

Right .

Faith, Surrender, and Independence

Mr. Talkbox 20:15

I attribute that to my upbringing in the church . My mom and my dad my mom always talked about faith , and Hebrews 11 and 1 is our scripture . And that scripture says now faith is the things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen . And it's like the word now faith . It always stuck out to me and it made me feel like delayed obedience is still disobedience . And God says also that it's impossible to please him without faith . And so that's where I took that scripture literally and I was just like well , if I'm doing this , this is not pleasing God , this is not pleasing God . Well , it might be pleasing him , but he says without faith , without that thing being dipped in , faith is impossible . So I never want to be in that position to where I'm not pleasing God . And so that's where it all started for me , and that scripture came back to me again . Fast forward to when I was touring with Toby Mac . You know , even with NSYNC , everything was given to me . Guys Like I was living a superstar life , I was making money .

Rhett 21:34

Yeah .

Mr. Talkbox 21:35

I didn't have to do . All I did was wake up on a tour bus and I had a security guy . If I got off that bus , wherever I wanted to go , that security security person would take me there . And and it was just . It was weird for me to walk around with security people , like I had to walk around the city with security me Like I'm not even on the face of the thing , but that's how crazy it was in that pop culture back then , and so it was just something I don't know . I just didn't feel like I was using my faith . It didn't take any faith to go out there and be a superstar . Everything's laid out for you , everything . I didn't even have to program my keyboards , like it was all done . I just stepped to the keyboard and just smile and wave and play .

Mr. Talkbox 22:22

And that was it and to somebody that sounds like the dream . It is the dream Without God . For sure it's the dream .

Rhett 22:32

That's the key . You know what I'm saying .

Mr. Talkbox 22:35

Without the Lord , you don't see nothing but that . And so my heart , as a youngster , I got saved . I got saved in my apartment , y'all . I got saved because I grew up in church , so I already knew the prayer , I knew the lingo and everything . But it wasn't until I was in my apartment . I was just I don't know where . I was tired of living the life that I live and I said , god , I'm going to surrender to you and this is after NSYNC , this is after NSYNC , this is right before , a little bit before we moved to Nashville , and so I gave my life to Jesus for real , like , oh , I'm a Christian .

Mr. Talkbox 23:19

I know Jesus or whatever , but no , an active relationship , and that's what happened in that apartment in that moment . So that's the foundation of what led me to these decisions . Man , just growing up in church , growing up hearing the word , growing up like my dad and mom were ministers and I was a minister of music all my life . I was always there , I was always under the anointing , under the power of Jesus , like I'm seeing people get healed , like I saw this all my life and I've heard the word faith being taught and I read it in the Bible and that moment was a big moment of using my faith .

Justin 24:05

Yeah , faith and surrender are the two words I keep hearing every time you talk . When I'm listening to you tell these stories , it's happened at like a height of something , yeah , that you feel in your heart the Holy Spirit has asked you to step out in faith and to surrender something . It's got some earthly value to it too , and there are people out there they need to keep doing what they're doing . We're not telling everybody to surrender that , but your walk has been all about faith and surrender , and so now , here you are , you've stepped out of these artists' names that people would think , my gosh , how could you have done that ? And now , independently , you begin to look at it and realize this is going to be independent artists , and so you've done that . We celebrated 20 years , as Rhett said earlier . What a huge , huge milestone . What has that been looking like , though , as you surrendered it , as you stepped out in faith ? Take us through . What is that day in the life of Mr Talkbox as the independent artist ?

Mr. Talkbox 25:06

Yes , amazing , and I love that word independent . And I'll tell you why . I chose the path of independence . And this is in the terms of , you know , being an artist and trying to get signed on a record deal . I basically had no choice because no record company would sign me .

Mr. Talkbox 25:24

They were just like we don't know what to do you're too niche right , right , and then , and then , a buddy of mine , one , he's , uh , he's , uh , he's in the industry , he , he , uh , he . Literally recently , during my cell , my 20-year celebration , he , he said this . He said well , this label didn't understand , but bruno , well , this label didn't understand , but Bruno Mars understood this label didn't understand , but Apple understood .

Mr. Talkbox 25:49

Then he started dropping all these names and I was like , oh my gosh , and so that's why that pathway , you know to be independent . That's why I chose it . And now it's been great for me because I can do whatever I feel , that God puts my heart to do , and the day in the life for me is for Mr Talkbox , is I get to man . This is a beautiful thing , y'all . I get to decide Well , not really decide . I get to the words you use surrender .

Justin 26:23

Yeah .

Mr. Talkbox 26:25

And submit my ideas to God and say all right , lord , I'm going to sit on the edge of the seat today and see what you want to do with me today . You know , and then you know , we plan accordingly . You know , we plan whatever God says . We plan accordingly . And I'm not perfect at it . Some days I want to do my own thing , and then you know , I got my wife . She's like . Come back to reality .

Rhett 26:51

You got a good wife when right there . Oh yes , oh yes .

Mr. Talkbox 26:55

And the Lord , the way God has been doing with me . It's just stuff has just been kind of falling in my lap . I think every day is a day of me preparing for something . I don't never know what it is Like . When Bruno Mars called , I was ready . When Kendrick ready , Rihanna ready , T-Pain ready , Charlie Wilson ready , Everybody that , Toby Mac ready , Like you call a talk box , boom , I'm going to deliver , I'm going to put the . That's the thing . Another department of faith is faith without works .

Rhett 27:27

Yeah .

Mr. Talkbox 27:29

That's what I do daily , I prepare , I prepare

Unexpected Opportunities

Mr. Talkbox 27:33

on everything . Y'all , we spend a lot of time planning , we spend a lot of time just being ready for when the rain comes . Y'all know the story of the farmer , the two farmers you know . You know one went out during the drought . He starts to till the ground , the other guy was like , oh , I'm going to wait for the rain and then do it . Y'all know who got the , who got the blessing .

Justin 27:58

Even what you were talking about on being ready . You mentioned it a second ago , but when you said Apple , for me this is months ago . They had just really released the new iPhone , not to be confused with the one they just announced last week at the time of our recording , but the one that they just released last year . I'm sitting in my chair doing some work and my sons , who keep up on all the latest , they're wanting to show me the latest commercials . They're wanting to show me a feature and as I'm watching the commercial , I don't even care about the features because I'm like guys , that's Mr Talkbox , the song . Forget the commercial . That's Mr Talkbox and I thought that was so cool and I'm thinking he's everywhere , like for an example of being ready in and out of season . How did that opportunity come about ? What does that look like ? Because that was , that was mr talkbox . That wasn't even partnering with bruno mars .

Mr. Talkbox 28:51

That was mr talkbox talk now we're about to get into some juicy stuff , man , that thing again , things kind of falling in my lap and I've never told this . And I'm going to tell it in a way , because here's another thing I don't want to paint a picture of . I don't want people to feel like it's all just perfect and it's like there is some there . Listen , man , when good is happening , evil is present is what the Bible says , and we have to know the tactics of the enemy , but we have to also know that we are victorious in Jesus . So this particular situation there's a song that I did .

Mr. Talkbox 29:32

Y'all know I do acapella videos . I've been doing those for some years now and those videos , single-handedly , has helped give me a career . And I did a video from a song called Don't Let Go by an artist named PJ Morton , and PJ he did the original song . He did it with a bow quarter and his voice singing on top of it . So it was really cool and I was like man , I want to do that , but I want to do it on a talk box , because vote quarter and talk box , just for the inquiring minds , those are way too different instruments . Just so people know If somebody come up to me and say oh man , you sound good on that vote quarter . I'm like I don't know what you're talking about .

Justin 30:18

Yeah , that's funny .

Mr. Talkbox 30:19

My name is Mr Talk Box .

Justin 30:22

I'm not , mr Vote Quarter .

Mr. Talkbox 30:26

I'm not Mr Vocoder . So I did that song , I covered it and I put it up on my YouTube and all my socials . It did okay and you know , like you know , some videos do go viral . Some just do pretty good . That one was one of those pretty good videos .

Mr. Talkbox 30:42

There's an artist named Terrence Martin . He's a producer . He's the guy that produced one of the producers on the song Loyalty , featuring Rihanna . That sampled my intro . Okay , so he wanted to use my . He wanted to license my performance of Don't Let Go for his album , which he signed to BMG . So they licensed it from us . They put it out this is 2021 , I believe 2021 or 2022 . Don't quote me on the dates , but they put it out in the song . I think it did okay . I didn't get credit on that record as the guy that did the talk box . I didn't even get the feature on that record . They didn't even say feature and when you hear the song , it's literally all it's my vocals and so I was man , we was . We was pretty sad about that , but here's where the Lord is so good .

Rhett 31:41

Come on .

Mr. Talkbox 31:41

Apple heard that song and so they wanted to . They wanted to use it , obviously Terrence's team . They wanted to use the stuff that Terrence did too , because he played these synth things on it , which was really cool . He killed it , and so they wanted to use my talk box , obviously . But , what happened ? Was they needed to add ?

Justin 32:02

a word .

Mr. Talkbox 32:02

They needed me to change some things , and so he was like you got to call Mr Talkbox , because he's the guy that did it . So there you go . Apple reached out to us . We worked directly with the Apple creatives and there you go , I'm the voice of the Apple commercial .

Justin 32:22

It's beautiful . It's a great commercial too .

Rhett 32:25

And I hope people , what I hope people hear when they listen to this is obviously a man of faith is rooted in your love for Jesus , your love for your family , yeah , and your ability to step out of comfort to an uncomfortable place , which is what faith is .

Rhett 32:41

Yes , you surrender in faith . So faith is like it almost sounds sexy in church , like , oh man , I got faith , but do you ? Do you , I mean , are you really willing to walk away into nothing , not knowing what's next , but just trusting the Lord ? And I'm just reminded of the scripture of those who humble themselves before the Lord . That's humility , of course , god forgive me of my sins , but it's also humility to go , lord , not my will , but your will be done . And even though it seems like things , this could be the path .

Rhett 33:11

You know , I just feel like you're leading me to walk away from this , and I don't know why . But you know what's in my heart , you know my dreams . It doesn't make sense for me to walk away from this . But what I'm hearing in your story is , like Justin mentioned these high of high moments that you would think might be the pinnacle . And how could I go further from here ? There was always kind of a moment of going , but I got something else for you . But in order for me to get you there , I need you to step away from this into the unknown , into the hard , into the uncomfortable faith . Walk on water a little bit . Keep your eyes on me and it's unbelievable to me to see . It's not unbelievable , it's absolutely believable when you're walking with Christ .

Rhett 33:48

But when you've humbled yourself before the Lord , he will always lift you up in due season , and even the humility of what you just mentioned with that story of maybe your name wasn't credited , all that but God still has a way for you to be seen because of your willingness to go . You know it's not about me , this is all for Jesus . And yet God's like hey , this is my boy . I know he didn't get credit , but we're going to be sure he gets credit . He's going to get credit now .

Rhett 34:17

This is what we're going to do , and , like all the things I don't know , but also the humility that it takes , because God lifts up those who are humble . And what I've , you know , in a short time , getting to know you , and even just the feel of this conversation , I , just you , have a humble spirit about you which tells me this has never been about you . And I don't know if you've ever had , you know , every artist . I will just say that , even me , you know , as a 17 year old me , I always wanted to do things for God's glory , but I kind of wanted a little . I wanted to be seen a little bit too , you know .

Rhett 34:48

Like I mean I mean look at how God's showing up and he's using me . You know , I mean come on , you know , I mean like that's just real talk you know , and I've had that .

Rhett 34:57

And so there's always been this struggle for a lot of creatives that I've ever worked with , and even myself , of this identity of like you know , I get to do these things but what I do is not who I am Right , no , but like , it's fun , but like that's not who I am . Have you ever ? You know , kudos to you for walking in humility . And life is long and we still got many years to go and to hear that good and well done , good and faithful , right . We did it for that moment , but until then , have you ever had any ? I mean , would you be willing to be honest enough to say , have you ever had any identity , maybe crisis or opportunities to have to fight that identity , especially in the creative world and the fame world ? And you know , with the platforms that you've been on and the success that you've had , and , if you have , how did you deal with that and how do you work through that ?

Mr. Talkbox 35:58

Oh man , that's a great question

Divine Guidance and Accountability

Mr. Talkbox 35:59

. Yes , I got to say man , when 24K Magic came out . That is , God has been putting me in these positions to get the church , and it's one thing to get maybe the demographics of the black people or the or the , or the white people or the Spanish , it's one thing to get one demographic Right . God has put me in a position to where the entire culture has heard what I've done . This song is in like billions . Heard what I've done . This song is in billions . We have a plaque for it . I got one of them in here . It's like 10 billion streams . That's the entire population , basically .

Rhett 36:35

That's insane .

Mr. Talkbox 36:37

It's pretty insane . And then Bruno's album . He hadn't put out a record in either four or five years and when that song came out , the first voice you heard was Mr Talkbox , and that could send your ego through the stratosphere . Yeah , I bet , okay . And so what happened with me ? Thank God , my wife , man , I'm telling y'all , my wife , my kids , they , they , they just always have a way to keep me humble , because and God has a way of keeping me humble in the sense of I just , you know , I , I , I , those moments where I'm starting to smell myself and like , oh , I've arrived .

Rhett 37:26

Oh , that's a good way to say it .

Mr. Talkbox 37:28

Yeah , like , like I just always felt that the Holy Spirit would whisper to me and say , hey , hey , hey , no , no , no , no , no , yeah , it was God that gave your hands the gift to get wealth and to get popularity . That gave your hands the gift to get wealth and to get popularity . So don't get to that position , to where you think you're higher and just having great accountability around me . Man , that was it . The right people around my wife , my family , I have a couple of friends that are just like hey , man , keep your eyes focused on Christ . And then I begin to read the scriptures .

Mr. Talkbox 38:08

Man , the scripture that talks about Hebel , hebel , hebel kept saying Hebel , hebel , hebel , which means none . Of this means anything , not everything we got going . Our duty on this earth is to fear God and keep all of his commandments . He says that's the entire duty of mankind , the whole , that's , that's our duty . And just reading scriptures like that to to remind me that all of this stuff is cool , but it means nothing . It really actually means nothing . It really actually means nothing . That's so awesome . Everything is to God . God is everything , like . I know we say that loosely , but , man , god is everything . And so , to answer that question accountability , the word of God and actually the Holy Spirit man . The Holy Spirit , god says . I leave you the Holy Spirit as a guide , as a comforter . We just got to listen , we just got to obey and we got to listen . So when I left Toby Mac in Dauber City the last was the- last show I played with them .

Mr. Talkbox 39:22

We played Red Rocks , and that's when we did that multicultural tour with like . We had Tadashi , lecrae , skillet , mandisa , capital Kings . It was a whole bunch of just different styles of music on one stage and so I left that . That was the last show that I played and at the end of the night , like at the you know backstage when we were all done , the whole team gathered around . I got a picture of it somewhere , but they gathered around and prayed over me and my friends from Skillet . Man like John Cooper , corey Cooper , that family , let me tell you something and those people they're evangelists , they're like don't let the rock and roll fool you . They will lay hands on you and prophesy what God is saying over your life . And John Cooper pulls me aside and he says brother , I feel like the Lord is leading me to tell you that you're called to the dark . And I was like , and it resonated with my spirit because I know that that's what God has called me to , even with what I do .

Mr. Talkbox 40:32

You know , most churches probably won't accept it which is fine , but the space that I've been able to be in and be the light to somebody , to share who Jesus is and they're watching , I'll take that man that was that . It resonated with my heart and my spirit when he said it . I said , yeah , he actually is calling me to the dark . Then , next thing , you know Bruno Mars , you know I had already been working with NSYNC and I'm still friends with those guys .

Justin 41:14

And even kind of stacking on that we've talked about before . I had already worked with NSYNC and I'm still friends with those guys . You go look at someone you've aspired to be . Because of their success you can go check out the Wikipedia page and you'll see all the success on the top . But if you keep reading down you might see that two or three divorces later they achieve this , or their kids . Their kids don't want anything to do with them anymore , but that kind of gets covered up in the minutia of the success . And so what I love to even hear about you with the words we said a while ago , now we got three Rhett Faith , humility , surrender . It's kept this gauge on you . And then , acknowledging your wife the Holy Spirit operates through your wife so much and you're listening to her advice

Lessons of Surrender and Faith

Justin 42:00

. You're benefiting right now from closing in on three decades of marriage . Because of what you guys have done . I think you're at 26 years of marriage , I think .

Rhett 42:12

Is that right ?

Justin 42:12

26 years of marriage , three children who are no longer children . They're always your children , but they're grownups now , because this year you also became a grandparent . Let's go . Grand Paul Talkbox oh my goodness , ups now , because this year you also became a grandparent .

Rhett 42:27

Let's go . Grandpa Talkbox , can we call him ?

Justin 42:30

Papa Talkbox , papa Talkbox , guess what my grandfather's name is it's B-Box . No way , hey guys , if you just get a chance to get to know Talkbox .

Rhett 42:43

I mean .

Justin 42:44

I didn't think grandparents came so cool , but right now you're reaping the harvest of saying no to a lot of things that would probably have you know four or five , six times the amount of finances . If you would have stuck with these other things , you would have any house you want , probably four or five of them , but you might not have what you have now . And where I'm inspired with you and I know that so many people will say this after they listen we're inspired by your surrender , your faith , your humility and you're not here to toot your own horn and I know that but you are setting an example of us who are listening , these aspiring artists who are listening to look for where the real treasure and the real gold is . Because when you find the real gold it talks about in the scriptures , he stumbled upon it and he found the treasure and he went and sold everything he had so he could go buy that plot of land to have that treasure . Because when you find real treasure , like you just summed up so eloquently , nothing else matters .

Justin 43:50

If you guys could see what we're looking at , his walls are filled with all the successes , billions of billions of billions of downloads and albums , that , whether it's gold , platinum , whatever it is . He's hit all this stuff , and that's what he was pointing to me and Rhett when he said it all means nothing , it's just a fun little icing , but it's zero to my identity and it's zero to my foundation , and so I just wanted to acknowledge that with you , because we're inspired by you being a farmer who's wanting to have the fruit of real fruit and not something that is so passing , and sometimes you can't have it all . What calling has God put on Mr Talkbox ? What has God put on the listener's heart ? To accomplish and steward their story , and you are a great example of what that is , and so you have so many lessons that you could teach because of your experience .

Justin 44:46

but what are some of the lessons and I know you just gave one , but if there's anything else that you've learned from your experience in the music industry that you could share to an aspiring artist , maybe even an entrepreneur listening to this conversation right now , Going back to all these accolades that's on the wall .

Mr. Talkbox 45:04

I would say to that person man , every milestone , everything that you get to accomplish , boast in the Lord . That's what this is is a boast in the Lord and it's a reminder . It's a reminder of all of the things that he has done , because that's another thing . We have to remember what God has done , because we're going to hit some valleys and when we hit those valleys , we got to look back up and say , wait a minute , god brought me to this , he brought me to that , he did this , he did that , he did that . We have to stay focused on the main thing , and that is Jesus Christ . Y'all . We got to stay focused on him . Everything is going to try and take your attention from him . Everything is going to try and take your mindset off of God , and that is , I guess it's the secret , because a lot of people don't know it . A lot of people don't want to turn to God because they feel like it's this weighty task , but it's not . It's freedom .

Rhett 46:02

I think that's what I'm trying to say here is that this is freedom .

Mr. Talkbox 46:07

It's freedom to be , able to choose God .

Mr. Talkbox 46:11

He said , if you delight yourself in him , he will then give you the desires of your heart , of your heart . All the things that I've ever wanted to do . I've been able to do , and there are more things that I want to do and I know that God is going to bring me to them .

Walking Through Dark Valleys

Mr. Talkbox 46:28

I've always , as a kid , I've always wanted to be on a tour bus and tour my brother and I . We had a bunk bed , all right , we had a bunk bed . We used to drape the bunk bed .

Rhett 46:38

We used to put the equipment on top and I used to .

Mr. Talkbox 46:42

I was always the artist . My brother would get up front , he would be the driver and so we would imagine like we're in cities . I'm like all right , where are we going ? Man ?

Justin 46:52

He said we're going to Houston . Hey , I'm serious . I feel like we hung out , because you just described me and Rhett's childhood .

Rhett 46:58

Yeah , we did crazy stuff like that , that man . We were always dreaming of what stage are we on tonight , you know what ? City are we in ? Was of houston , atlanta . Come on , let's go grab the mic , baby .

Justin 47:13

Here we go on we're just making up songs and we're like two white boys and like a little and I love hearing that , because those little desires that are in the depths of your heart , I love how that's come to pass . Once again , it's faith , it's surrender , it's humility and that fourth word we're going to add there . Man is focus .

Rhett 47:33

Did you see what he's doing ? He's a preacher man . Oh yeah , oh my gosh , oh my gosh .

Justin 47:39

You're making it easy .

Rhett 47:40

He's making notes for his next book .

Mr. Talkbox 47:42

I'm telling y'all the Bible says it though man whom the Son set free is free indeed .

Mr. Talkbox 47:50

And we can walk in freedom , even when we're in the pit of hell . We still have freedom . We have Jesus . Man , like there are so many stories in the Word you know Daniel , man , he was in the lion's den , he was free , he didn't even get , he didn't get eaten up . Man , like he , come on . Like there's so many stories that we can glean from and say man , even when we're and this is what , aspiring musicians , you're going to go through these dark times what you have to realize is that God is getting you ready , he's getting you , he's giving you the piece , taking you through the process .

Rhett 48:25

Think about a very good pot roast , ok , I don't want a pot roast that's only been cooked for an hour . No , thank you . I love it . No , I got to get that .

Mr. Talkbox 48:38

It's got to be in that thing for a few hours . Yeah , that meat has to be as tender Like I love to say . It's got to be in that thing for a few hours . That meat has to be as tender Like I love to say it's got to be as tender as a mother's love .

Justin 48:49

Wow , Come on man . Wow , that's cooking with love right there .

Rhett 48:52

That's some TLC , let's go .

Mr. Talkbox 48:56

And that's what we all have to remember that sometimes God has to keep us in that cooker just a little bit longer , and I'm talking to myself even now . God has to keep us in that cooker for a long time so that when we come out of that thing , we're going to taste amazing .

Justin 49:12

Taste and see .

Mr. Talkbox 49:13

Yes , and what you see with Byron TalkBox , all of this stuff that you see on my walls and all this stuff , all the accolades , all the greatness that the Lord has blessed . You just see a guy that's been in the cooker for a long time being with the theme of Armchair Authentic .

Rhett 49:32

we always love to hear the stories behind the story .

Justin 49:36

And .

Rhett 49:36

I know we talked about this a little bit earlier . Would you be willing to share maybe a dark valley or a moment in your life that you felt was like maybe a valley in your life ? Because you're speaking to creatives , you're speaking to a lot of different people . Whether you're creative or mom or dad or business owner , we go through seasons . But would you be willing to share maybe a tough or difficult season that you had to walk through and how did you walk through that ? How did you get through that ?

Mr. Talkbox 50:08

The number one toughest season that so far that I've been through is back in 08 , 2008 . I have a song you guys should go search it , all y'all that are listening . There's a song on my , on the album that I talked about with the guy investing . It's called my Time . The album is called my Time , but the song is called Fighting , and that song tells the story of . I'll just say it . It says back in October 2008, .

Mr. Talkbox 50:27

I came off the stage . It was pretty late . I went to the table where my music was sold . I had a long line . They enjoyed the show , but later , at my house , when I tried to sleep , bouts of depression came over me and that was the darkest moment in my life .

Mr. Talkbox 50:44

Like when I this was in 2008 , october I dealt with a heavy , deep , deep , deep depression , and it was later I found out that you know , my body , my equilibrium , was literally off . It was just off , and so I wasn't eating , I wasn't sleeping . I lost so much weight , I was so skinny . My wife thought I was going crazy . My family , they didn't know what was wrong with me , and so I went through that for probably the remainder of that year where I was not sleeping . I mean , I was just up like this . I could not sleep . I would nod off for two minutes and then that was all of the sleep that I had . But during that process , that was the toughest time . But let me tell you what I was doing . I would go to the gym , I would run . My family thought I was crazy . I would run to the gym . I was on the gym , I put on my gospel music and I'm praising God and I'm running , I'm running . I don't know how I had that much energy to do all of that . Y'all , I really don't know . But because I wasn't eating , I was malnutritioned , I promise you , I was not eating , I was afraid to eat food , I was just insane .

Mr. Talkbox 51:54

And so I was praying and I was just like and one day oh Lord , it always brings me to tears One day , in my apartment , we had no furniture , everything had went rock bottom . I grabbed my Bible . I take it with me everywhere I go . I grabbed the Bible and I was so mad with God . I was like I could not believe . I was like Lord , why am I going through this ? What is this ? Lord ? You got to take this from me .

Mr. Talkbox 52:23

And so I put that Bible up at him . I shook it and I said , god , if you don't do something now , I don't know , I'm going to end it all . And I wasn't talking suicide , I was talking more like I'm done with you , I'm done , I can't take this anymore . And I shook that Bible and I slammed it to the ground and guys , I'm not kidding you . And it literally opened up to 1 Peter , 4 and 12 . Literally , the Bible opened up to that and my eyes hit the title , because I have the NIV and it says suffering for being a Christian . This is after me , asking God what's going on ? Why am I going through this ? Why , and the one that got always coming back to me now , do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on you to test you , as though something strange were happening to you , but rejoice in as much as you participate in the sufferings of Christ , that right there I felt so much honor when I saw that I said this is what Jesus must have went through .

Justin 53:36

Wow , yes .

Mr. Talkbox 53:40

And then it says sufferings of Christ so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed . His glory is revealed , overjoyed , his glory revealed . I was tripping y'all , I was tripping out . And then it says if you are insulted because of the name of Christ which , going back to what you were saying Red about people every time I took that step of faith people were like , what are you gonna do ? And I'm like , I'm gonna trust Jesus . That was always my answer . And then it says if you have been insulted because of the name of Christ , you are blessed , for the spirit and the glory of God rest on you . If you suffer , it should not be as a murder , thief or any of the kind of criminal . However , if you suffer as a Christian and this is for all you creators this is in the word of God . This is 1 Peter , 4 and 16 , now that I'm reading . However , if you suffer as a Christian , do not be ashamed but praise God that you bear that name , for it is time for judgment to begin with God's household , and if it begins with us , what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God ? What will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God ? And if it's hard for the righteous to be saved , what will it become of the ungodly and the sinner ? And it closes out by saying so , then those who suffer according to God's will should commit themselves to their faithful creator and continue to do good .

Mr. Talkbox 55:07

That scripture single-handedly broke that depression off of me . It immediately , when I said I was suffering for Christ , I felt something go . I was like I felt I felt honor . I was like this is what Jesus dealt with , what ? That was the darkest time of my life . I didn't know . I thought I was going crazy y'all . And I will say this that's woo . That spirit will try and come back . That was going crazy y'all . And I will say this that spirit will try and come back . That's why I want y'all to know when God delivers you from something , it's going to always try to come back . It always tries .

Mr. Talkbox 55:38

But now that you have the tools here , you continue to do good , you continue to create , you continue to praise God , you continue to lift up the name of Jesus in your house , in your life , and I promise you that thing will not touch you , it won't harm you , it won't touch you . Those of you that are dealing with depression , those of you that are dealing with suicide . I need you to take a moment and just say God , I thank you . I give you praise because you are the lifter of my head . You cover me . The blood of Jesus covers me . I believe in you . You said if I suffer in you , then you will get the glory . So live . Don't let this thing . Don't be fooled by the tactics of the enemy . Don't be fooled . Don't be fooled by the tactics of the enemy . Don't be fooled .

Justin 56:28

Beautiful perspective shift , the Holy Spirit perspective shift that he can give us and that is a game changer when you can shift just going through suffering and you recognize , yes , suffering is real but , my goodness , it is a part of our Christian journey and it can be a badge of honor to get to carry these burdens .

Rhett 56:52

I love your honesty and your ability to talk with God and get mad with God and share your frustrations and your emotions and the things you were going through . A lot of people , I mean . God is a big God , he can handle it . He actually wants you to come to him and I love it . You just basically cried out to God . You're like look , I'm out , I got to have work , but what I'm hearing you say is that it was the word of God that is alive and sharper than a double-edged sword that penetrates the dividing soul and spirit , joints and marrow .

Rhett 57:29

And God showed up in that moment and spoke to you the way he needed to speak to you in that moment . It might be different for somebody else , but in that moment for you , this is what he saw you , he heard you and he spoke Not audibly , but audibly through his word and the word of .

Rhett 57:44

God is alive and it brought life and light and opened your eyes and gave you hope , and it reminded you of who you are and who he is , and it gave you enough to what you needed to take another step , to live another day , to keep moving forward . Yes , grow from there .

Rhett 58:01

It didn't happen overnight , it was a process , it

Meaningful Connections in Music Industry

Rhett 58:04

was a journey . Because we like that seasoned roast baby , let's go . We want the crock pot baby let's go . I have a feeling you probably could throw down some good ingredients and cook pretty good . So when we're in Nashville we're going to throw down on some barbecue or something . You're my family , we're friends . I'm inviting myself over . Let's throw the barbecue on , let's go . And I like it spicy .

Mr. Talkbox 58:29

I got that traeger grill duck .

Rhett 58:30

I got a traeger . Oh , you got the traeger , let's go , we'll smoke some . We'll smoke some chicken .

Justin 58:33

We'll do it , man I mean it's getting put on the calendar barbecue , baked beans , the spice and jalapenos in it too .

Rhett 58:38

Like I don't care , we're throwing down , I'll , I'll pay for . I'll pay for all the food . I don't care you cook .

Justin 58:43

Well , I'm there anyways I've got the good end of the deal . We'll use talk boxes , house rent , some money for the food . I'll be the friend that eats for free . It's beautiful we , man .

Rhett 58:54

We are so thankful for your time . I think we need to start landing the plane a little bit . With that , said man , a quick question for you . Uh , what's what's next for mr talk box man ? What's in the works that we can be looking forward to ?

Mr. Talkbox 59:06

the new album , the the 20-year album , live at the Woolworth Theater in Nashville . We recorded it live , full band , and I took it back to the beginning . I went and re-recorded all my classic gospel songs and just where it all started . I felt like God told me to just go back and just remember . You know where it all started , where the birthing of the Holy Spirit was real heavy in my heart when I did these songs at the beginning .

Mr. Talkbox 59:40

My first album is called my Testimony . That's another album y'all can go look up and it's a-a-kind album and , um , we went and redid some of those songs , we did some new songs and I mean we had everybody in the house , man , we had so many amazing people in the house and we did . We shot a whole full-out video for it . So you'll get the whole experience and so we're looking to release that the top of the first quarter of 2025 . We just signed a multimedia deal with the Alliance Music Group , which is with Paul Wright , which is a legendary music exec , and also Mr Fred Hammond , their label , and so we're very excited about that partnership .

Mr. Talkbox 1:00:30

And yeah , and then obviously we're going to be doing some touring together . So y'all just buckle your seatbelts . Man , we're just getting started and we're getting ready to send up some more praises of how good God has been , and a lot of new features are coming . Oh man , we got some big ones coming . Y'all can't wait . Y'all , y'all just stay tuned , vocal to seatbelt , follow me and y'all will get all the tea . You know what I'm saying ?

Justin 1:00:57

Oh , my goodness , I love it . What I think just sets you apart is you are so good with connections . I don't mean to open up another topic , but I'd like to link it on how you just said what you just said , because I noticed that when you talk a lot , you include people in what you're doing and somehow and this is an art that people don't realize , even as an independent artist you are so full of meaningful connections . So , in that area of networking , how are you establishing these connections and maybe that's even as we're ending this , and advice for an aspiring artist to know how powerful that is those meaningful connections in the music industry , like the names that you've named , that we've asked you to name throughout this podcast , and it's , it really is amazing . What have you done to establish a lot of these connections ?

Mr. Talkbox 1:01:44

Yeah , that's a great . I love that too . One of the things I had to learn early on was this , and I didn't know I was doing it and that is be the very best at what you do , to the best of your ability , use social media and use anybody that believes in you . Utilize any of those things , because that's all I did . What I did . I wake up , like I said , I wake up and I go and I prepare . I was doing these videos . I've been doing those videos for years . I have been doing those videos for years , even with the Bruno Mars story , the way that all happened . He had been watching my videos for a whole year . He had been watching my videos for a whole year before he called me . Now , imagine if I would have stopped doing the videos .

Mr. Talkbox 1:02:32

You see what I'm saying . So the new network is this Let people know who you are . If they don't know , they can't call you . Quit trying to be so secretive . Yeah , be secretive in the process . Yes , don't let the cat out . When I started putting those videos out , t-pain's on the phone , toby Mac's on the phone , because they wanted to work with what I was doing and I just say , man , just give it a shot , do it afraid , be the best at the level that you own . If you just got a little phone and nothing else , record yourself doing something . Show your talent , show the people what you got , and then God will do all that other stuff .

Mr. Talkbox 1:03:16

Your brain connections , because I used to be the guy hey , I'm Mr Talkbox , here's my card . And every time I left that conversation I felt like I just made a fool of myself Because they're not going to listen . You know what I mean . People probably walk up to these people and say , hey , here's my CD . What makes you think they're going to listen to your CD ? And all the hundreds of CDs that people walk up to and give it to them , you know . And so that's why you have to force them to pay attention to you , force people to be excellent . When I was doing those videos , I was the best I could be with it . I was like I'm going to take this to the next level .

Justin 1:03:55

What I think is fun for people who are listening to this check out Mr Talkbox on socials , because not only are you an amazing artist , but you're just a great man to emulate and be able to look at and say Lord , as I'm wanting to grow my life , my artistry , my family , this is someone who I want to imitate , because they imitate Christ , just like in the New Testament when Paul is saying this , he says imitate me as I imitate Christ . You have become someone that people can look at to imitate to be more like a follower of Christ , and that's what it's all about in the end of this . But we want people to check you out . So when this conversation ends , how does this relationship continue ? Can you tell us where people can find you on socials website , anything like that ?

Mr. Talkbox 1:04:47

Yes , absolutely , and I want to say thank y'all for having me on today . This is amazing . And yeah , you can find me everywhere . I'm Mr Talkbox on Instagram , twitter Well , not Twitter's X , now , I still don't be Twitter to me . I know , man .

Rhett 1:05:04

Me too .

Mr. Talkbox 1:05:06

TikTok , snapchat , facebook , I think I said facebook , myspace , I mean wherever , we're , everywhere , did you say ?

Rhett 1:05:14

myspace . Did you say myspace ? Is that even still a thing ? I mean , come on , man , okay , I guess you do have three adult kids and a granddaughter , that's all I'm saying . I mean , let's go he's everywhere , man .

Justin 1:05:27

I told y'all , talkbox is everywhere .

Rhett 1:05:30

You know , if it's out there , you know I love it . Dude , let's go , amen . Thank you so much . It has been a joy , it has been a delight , and I wish people could see the smile You've got a smile , that is so infectious . And it's Jesus man . We know that . I see that in you . Thank you more than anything . Thank you for your faith , thank you for your surrender , thank you for your humility , thank you for—what was the other one , justin ? There was one more in there . Focus , focus , focus . That's right , that's right .

Justin 1:06:00

Faith , humility , surrender focus .

Rhett 1:06:02

Yeah , man , just thank you , for it's been a blessing . Hopefully we look forward to , you know , maybe more stories and conversations in the future . We could have gone for hours . I know there's so much more in you that you know would be a blessing for people . But for this episode and this conversation , man , god bless you . Thank you so much , yeah .

Justin 1:06:18

Thank you so much , let's call this one part one . Part one Conversation with Mr Talkbox .

Rhett 1:06:23

Part one one part two over barbecue , let's go over barbecue authentic .

Justin 1:06:29

On the back porch eating barbecue

On The Next Episode of Armchair Authentic

Justin 1:06:56

on the next episode of Armchair Authentic .

Rhett 1:06:59

He can work out the worst painful situations , the ash moment , and make beauty from ashes .

Justin 1:07:04

Some of the friends that God has blessed us with . A couple of them they've gone through some setbacks in the previous season .

Rhett 1:07:09

Yeah , Friendships are called to be crockpots . I know we've mentioned this . We serve a crockpot , god . You know we want a microwave oven type mentality and we try to do that with friendships . We try to do that because we want to be the hero Like oh man , I just want you to feel better . I don't for you , I'm mad with you .

Justin 1:07:30

Now you're getting to see them dream again , and not just dream in a whimsical kind of way , but they're dreaming in the sense of , probably , things the Holy Spirit's been calling them to .

Reach Out To Us: Info@ArmchairAuthentic.com

Justin 1:07:41

Hey guys , we're really looking forward to that episode , but until then , we'd love to hear from you . Email us at info at armchairauthenticcom . We'll see you next time . Have a great week .