This is Episode 4 of the Seven Train Dreamers Podcast, where we pay homage to the dreamers and doers — across North America and around the world.

At this stop, we highlight another Seven Train Dreamer: Brooklyn-based hip-hop artist Ashé Koran.

This episode is personal.

We move through Fort Greene, Brooklyn — its streets, memories, and moments that shaped a generation. From Myrtle & Washington to Fort Greene Park, this is a story about place, identity, and standing tall through change.

Marlon reflects on growing up above his uncle’s laundromat on Myrtle Ave in the ’90s — running plates of Ital food, learning his first hustle, and witnessing how trauma and inspiration often live side by side. Fort Greene wasn’t just a neighborhood — it was a classroom.

As the episode unfolds, we explore Fort Greene’s transformation:
from farmland → to a Black middle-class cultural hub → to a neighborhood on the edge of gentrification. A renaissance for some. Pressure for others.

The episode features a special call-in from Ashé Koran, including reflections tied to his song “Stand Tall,” grounding the themes of roots, resilience, and self-definition.

We also revisit Fort Greene Park — a true crossroads:
projects and brownstones, Brooklyn Tech nearby, free summer concerts, reggae, hip-hop, soul, Spike Lee’s first block party, and moments when the entire culture showed up at once. If you’ve ever grown up in a neighborhood that shaped you — even as it changed beneath your feet — this one’s for you.

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📍 Join the Facebook group: Seven Train Dreamers, where we highlight people doing good work and continue the conversation all week.

Catch you at the next stop. 🚇✨