The Proven Knowledge Podcast

Columbus based artist PA Flex has had many years in the local scene notched under his belt both in groups and as a solo artist. Following the collaboration I heard with Jéan P The MC and Kaz Oliver titled “Karl Malone” and his role in this summer's Punchline Academy freestyle, I took notice of the high quality work he has been putting out. I was thrilled to bring his experience to the show this week for episode 331 where we covered a great amount of awesome topic points! He told me about his early move from strictly being a battle and freestyle rapper to structuring himself as a strong songwriter and lyricist. Throughout the years he’s continued to evolve and push the limits of his creative works and he described how his love and connection to words helps him channel new influences into each new record. It is on full display in his 2021 solo album “Sleeping Giant”, his work with his brother Co City and their releases under the label they self-started called “North City Music Group”, and the new bodies of work that are on the horizon for both of them as 2027 approaches. I really have a lot of respect for PA’s consistency and impressive run over the years. I look forward to staying in touch and hopefully getting some collaborative work started soon as well!

Consider donating to the show via our Ko-Fi profile here 👉 https://ko-fi.com/theprovenknowledgepodcast

Your contributions will be used towards making the show better with new guests, giveaways and more coming every week!

As always the support is appreciated 🤝

Brandon Isaac is a Cincinnati based artist, author, teacher and advocate who caught my attention with his work in recent years. As someone who has experience in so many areas of both art and community efforts I wanted to get to know more about his perspective, approach, and overall work ethic as a whole. We were able to do that and more this week on episode 330. He told me about the concept and creation process for his latest project “Home Is What Matters Most” which is not only a 6 track EP, but also a self published book featuring the story on full display of Brandon’s past, his family ancestry and the ways that where your from can help inspire your craft. This opened up a nice discussion about grants and the route and strategies Brandon implemented to help secure funding for the project which I think can be very beneficial for any artist looking to follow a similar path. As he currently refuels and replenishes after a long work year, he talked about being able to dictate what his next moves might entail on his own time. With that in mind It will be a thrill to see what 2027 has in store for everything he has his hands in for himself and the people he helps impact in positive ways!

Consider donating to the show via our Ko-Fi profile here 👉 https://ko-fi.com/theprovenknowledgepodcast

Your contributions will be used towards making the show better with new guests, giveaways and more coming every week!

As always the support is appreciated 🤝

On episode 329 I was joined by one of my favorite artists from Cleveland and that is the very talented Nuke Franklin. Our primary point of discussion was his latest album “C’est La Vie”, a 9 track effort that represents his views of the current world as we know it and the ability to accept and move forward with the right attitude. He helped break down the concept and shed light on the overall aesthetic, collaborators, and how he views it in comparison to some of the other work he’s put out in the past. Having drawn inspiration from close family members as well as artists like Tyler, The Creator and Kid Cudi, he also reflected back on the blog era in Hip-Hop and the impact it left on him as an up and coming artist at the time. I really enjoyed hearing about the ways he has found both success and purpose through his creative works and as he begins to map out his next body of work, I’m positive he will continue to prosper in a way that serves him greatly. Thanks to Nuke for a fun conversation on this one!

Consider donating to the show via our Ko-Fi profile here 👉 https://ko-fi.com/theprovenknowledgepodcast

Your contributions will be used towards making the show better with new guests, giveaways and more coming every week!

As always the support is appreciated 🤝

The ever evolving and multifaceted styles of Habe Kitine have been on display over the course of his nearly 20 year run as an artist dating back as far as 2009 to his debut album “Finally”. This week he joined me to discuss his official return with his June released project “Bon Appetit - Appetizer”. It serves as the first of a 3 part series for Habe that sees him dip into a multitude of genres blending his smooth vocals and song writing with unique production choices. We also had a great discussion about what he went through in the years between projects, primarily how he learned to focus on what felt right to him as an artist as opposed to always focusing on the moves others wanted to see from him. This decision is clearly paying off big with his new wave of sonic styles being put out into the world and with the series’ second offering “Entree” on the horizon, it will be a thrill to watch it keep unfolding. Thanks to Habe for the conversation and to Tori for helping make it happen!

Consider donating to the show via our Ko-Fi profile here 👉 https://ko-fi.com/theprovenknowledgepodcast

Your contributions will be used towards making the show better with new guests, giveaways and more coming every week!

As always the support is appreciated 🤝

Episode 327 brought in Gary P, an artist from the Raleigh area who has a wide array of styles to share within his music including Rock, Alternative, Hip-Hop and Trap. I wanted to pick his brain a bit on how his sound developed and specifically through his influences in multiple genres with Hip-Hop artists such as Juice WRLD, Kendrick Lamar, and also bands such as Blink-182 and Nirvana. I really appreciated his perspective on taking a fully DIY approach to his craft, not only recording himself but also mixing his own tracks, and filming all of his visual content to use for social media. He also touched on his recent single “Lights” as well as his overall approach to creating music in general as being a quick and efficient process. Be on the lookout for more new music from Gary very soon as he keeps evolving and pushing his craft to new heights. Thanks to Tori for the connection and to Gary for the time!

Consider donating to the show via our Ko-Fi profile here 👉 https://ko-fi.com/theprovenknowledgepodcast

Your contributions will be used towards making the show better with new guests, giveaways and more coming every week!

As always the support is appreciated 🤝

This week on episode 326 I was joined by Electronic music producer James And The Cat to discuss a multitude of topics around his music and overall brand. Our primary point of discussion was surrounding his creation process. As someone who creates vastly different music than James I was curious to know about his decision making when it comes to song structure, melody and length. He outlined how these particular choices helped to create his latest 3 track effort called “Translation” and also spoke about his goals for releasing tracks in a different way in the coming months. This will start with an upcoming single in September and will also coincide with release of a brand new plugin he has been engineering to help detect the key of a track in the software Ableton. He told me about the mission, challenges and overall goal of creating his own plugin from scratch and the ways he feels it will help other producers to make life a little easier while creating their music. I really appreciate James for stopping by and I also want to thank Tori for connecting us!

Consider donating to the show via our Ko-Fi profile here 👉 https://ko-fi.com/theprovenknowledgepodcast

Your contributions will be used towards making the show better with new guests, giveaways and more coming every week!

As always the support is appreciated 🤝

After discovering Joey Aich’s work well over a year ago I was excited to finally welcome him to the podcast this week on episode 325! We started the conversation by recapping his move to Columbus from the Cleveland area around 2017 and the many things he has learned since then as an artist and in life overall. As someone who has extensive experience with live performing he told me how he tends to approach each show, no matter how big or small the crowd is, like the biggest show of his life in order to give the same experience and first impression to anyone who might be a new or first time listener. He doubled down on this by creating unique fan experiences such as a rehearsal show to help promote his 2025 project “Moments Like These”, along with vinyl, visualizers, and other ways for individuals both new and established with his brand to immerse themselves in. I really respect Joey’s consistent grind and his message to keep pursuing what you love through all of the ups and downs you will face along the way. It’s how he has seen so much progress already and I’m thrilled to see how that progression keeps going from here in all of his upcoming endeavors!

Consider donating to the show via our Ko-Fi profile here 👉 https://ko-fi.com/theprovenknowledgepodcast

Your contributions will be used towards making the show better with new guests, giveaways and more coming every week!

As always the support is appreciated 🤝

This week on episode 324 I sat down in person with former guest Elijah Rushin and our fellow collaborator QUWAN to discuss a multitude of topics surrounding the music they’ve been putting out over the course of the summer. Most notably we touched on QUWAN’s sophomore EP “Chapter II” that released in June, a project that served as a growing point for him both musically and in his life as a whole. He and Elijah both talked about what the process was like putting it together, for QUWAN on the lyrical side and for Elijah on the production side. Elijah’s pursuit to help push QUWAN out of his comfort zone and challenge him to reach greater heights can definitely be heard when you listen to each of the EP’s 5 tracks. We also touched on QUWAN’s personal approach as a Gospel and Christian artist, the art of live performing, and our own three person collaboration via the track “BENEFIT” which found a home on Elijah and I’s EP titled “CLOUD$ v1”. These two have been some amazing individuals to get to know more over the last year and it’s also been a real honor to get to work on music with them while having a front row to the other great material they continue to create. I’m thrilled to present this conversation to you all and eagerly await the next big connection the three of us will get going very soon!

Consider donating to the show via our Ko-Fi profile here 👉 https://ko-fi.com/theprovenknowledgepodcast

Your contributions will be used towards making the show better with new guests, giveaways and more coming every week!

As always the support is appreciated 🤝

Returning to Dayton this week I welcomed the multi-talented K. Carter to the show for episode 323! K. Carter serves as the other half of the duo Safe Money with our guest from a couple of weeks ago TINO and also has released many works as a solo artist as well. We were able to discuss how his initial experiences with improv and poetry led to his formed love of music and crafting songs himself which also led to other amazing avenues where his voice could be used to enlighten and empower others. These include public speaking through presentations and also improv comedy which we touched on in a very mind blowing topic point for me within this episode. He also spoke on the importance of having self confidence and being able to move a crowd of any kind no matter what kind of message he shares with them at the time. I could tell just how much it means to him to be able to use his gift of speaking in positive ways while also allowing himself to have so many forms of creative expression. I’m also looking forward to what’s next from him musical as well as ways we can stay connected from here!

Consider donating to the show via our Ko-Fi profile here 👉 https://ko-fi.com/theprovenknowledgepodcast

Your contributions will be used towards making the show better with new guests, giveaways and more coming every week!

As always the support is appreciated 🤝

Following the long awaited release of our collaboration album titled “Solace”, I welcomed Grizz back to the show for episode 322 to have an in depth discussion about its creation. Since starting the project in 2021 it oversaw many twists and turns but ultimately still came out relatively close to how we envisioned it in the beginning. We talked about the many ups and downs in his own life that Grizz channeled into the lyrics and overall message behind “Solace” and how longtime collaborators like AaliyahTheTruth and Dre Da Dream helped assist with the vision. I also spoke on my perspective as the producer creating the sonic palette that might be a bit different than what some might be used to from my sound overall, but one that fit just right for what Grizz was aiming to create. I want to thank him again not just for returning this week for the chat, but also for allowing me to be a part of such a cool body of work that’s sure to get more ears and respect as time goes by.

Consider donating to the show via our Ko-Fi profile here 👉 https://ko-fi.com/theprovenknowledgepodcast

Your contributions will be used towards making the show better with new guests, giveaways and more coming every week!

As always the support is appreciated 🤝