Music Producer: Will's More Than Just A Bike Messenger
( New York Beacon, The )
See a brother on a bike with a Dove Sack flung across his back, andyou think you know his story? Would you ever imagine that he's an accomplishedmusic producer who has worked alongside industry giants like Quincy Jones?Or that when he does ride, it's not only as a courier, but as a self-employedentrepreneur? The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and president of MilesPer Minute (MPM) Courier Service?
MPM is a business venture Will embarked on with his partner Fatima Faloye,the aspiring actress that plays the character Chantal on FOX Channel 5'stelevision series New York Undercover.
Will and Faloye met more than 15 years ago as students at the Boys HarborAfter School program in Harlem. There, under the auspices of director BernadetteWallace and drama instructor Kathi Kennedy they were introduced to thearts.
After Harbor, Will tried his hand at acting and modeling, and eventuallyrealized his passion for music production. Fatima was less consistent inher pursuits but in the end managed to land a recurring role on a hit televisionseries. A recent reunion at Boys Harbor gave to two the chance to finallyrecognize in each other a mutual passion for the arts which stimulatedtheir desire to go into business together.
A DAY IN THE LIFE OF A BIKER COURIER
"Steppin' down" is bike messenger speak for the interruptionof one' s stride; an annoying disturbance in a rider's progress to hisnext delivery. It usually occurs at the prompting of helter-skelter cabbiesor heedless pedestrians who don't known which way they want to go. Andit is a no-no in the courier profession where time is money.
Yet Will, himself a bike courier, has just allowed the cardinal sinof the trade to be committed, and he didn't have to. Well, theoreticallyanyway. Practically speaking, when the jay-walking Suit cut Will off asthe biker made his way up Eighth Avenue, got tweeked when he was almostrun over, and then had the gall to start swinging, Will, who maintainedhis stride throughout the entire ordeal, could have igged him. He couldhave continued on with his four mile rush delivery that had to be completedwithin the hour.
But the place where an innocent person gets assaulted by a completestranger and doesn't respond is not the place Will hails from. No. Rather,where he grew up, simply sensing fever from the next man can be cause forconflict. So to actually put your hands on someone. ..
He counts to ten. He breathes deeply. After taking a moment to locatethe bit picture, he finds clarity and decides to let the herb slide; toallow him to forge ahead with his exaggerated sense of self where he willinevitably meet his end anyway; to accept the whole episode as just anotherinstallment in the never ending action drama in a day in the life of abike messenger.
It is a profession that could easily qualify as one of the most hectic,physically and at times, mentally challenging in the city. Bikers deliverpackages of all sizes, under all kinds of time constraints, while simultaneouslynegotiating treacherous New York City traffic and a hostility from thepublic that can be just as deadly. "A lot of folks have a negativeview of bike messengers. They think of us as lowly good for nothing hoodrats,"said Will. And, of course, we all know what people think they know aboutthose who fit that demographic.
In this particular instance, the cynics are right in one respect: Willis a hoodrat. Or rather, a self-proclaimed "proud, living, strivingproduct of the ghetto." When his parents split-up 12 years ago, itthrew his world into a tailspin. He left home early and dropped out ofschool soon after.
What they don't know, however, is that the young man was blessed withthe consciousness to use that experience to inform his vision, to stimulatehis creative impulses and to fuel his creative impulses and to fuel hisambitions; his will to be self-determined.
MORE ABOUT MILES PER MINUTE (MPM)
MPM was just the project to christen this promising young partnership.Will had extensive courier experience, both he and Fatima cycled and theyboth had the management and organizational skills to make it successful.Furthermore, MPM would supplement their creative endeavors as they nurturedtheir talents in industries that are by nature erratic and unpredictable;industries where it is hard to make money and, at the same time, maintainone's artistic integrity.
"Harbor encouraged that respect for craft. But really, this passionreflects something even deeper. Historically, it has been creative expression-particularlyin music-that has helped Black folk sustain themselves in the face of oppression.To front on that is blasphemy, " said Will.
Will and Fatima want to be clear. MPM is first and foremost a reliable,professional messenger service. In its first five months of existence theyhave managed to recruit a host of experienced and efficient riders, tosolicit work from some thirty odd businesses and have never lost a client.At the same time, however, they see MPM as having the potential to supportthe creative world in ways that extend beyond their own particular interests.
"All of my riders are artists. And I don't think that is merelycoincidental. The work is solitary. The hours can be flexible. And thefact that you don't have some boss constantly looking over your shoulderoffers a sense of freedom that complements the temperaments of most creativepeople," said Will.
You can it the romanticization of the bike messenger. And it is whatfuels Will and Fatima's resolve to fashion an intimate functional relationshipbetween MPM and the entertainment industry.
Presently, they are negotiating with several talent agencies on waysMPM can provide work for struggling artists when their craft doesn't pay.All of which promises to make them-at once-innovative, self-employed, sociallyresponsible and self determined. A couple of hoodrats on bikes who do deliver,but in more ways than that Suit with the God complex could even fathom.
Ethnic NewsWatch c SoftLine Information, Inc., Stamford,CT
Don Thomas, Music Producer: Will's More Than Just A BikeMessenger., New York Beacon, The, 12-27-1995, pp PG.
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