Bobby Newt: Inspirational Singer and Songwriter

 Bobby Newt: Inspirational Singer and Songwriter

Written and interviewed by Aaron Robinson @iamcomprehend and Tocarra Eldridge @TocarraMusicWorld

Consciousness Magazine had the opportunity to interview singer and songwriter Bobby Newt. Here’s is what the Grammy nominee had to share during a recent interview.

Aaron Robinson: Who is Bobby Newt?

Bobby Newt: Who is Bobby Newt? Bobby Newt is so many things. I am a married guy. I'm a family man. I'm a musician. I'm a songwriter, a singer - a motivational speaker as I feel like I have a lot to give in terms of hope to the inner-city kids. Yeah, gospel singer, three-time Grammy nominated songwriter... musical family. I come from a group, The Newtrons, that’s way back. I’m a father for sure - proud father.

Aaron: How was your experience living in the projects, such as your father being a gangster and pimp and having both parents on drugs while being involved in the street life? What was that like for you growing up?

Bobby: It was good and bad. People that are from where I'm from, it's all you know, so when you're in it, you think it’s fun. I didn't know I was in danger. If I'm toting guns or carrying dope for my dad, I mean, it's all we knew. We were like little soldiers. So, when I was in it, that part of it was fun. I mean, obviously, there were some times when we didn't have any food, we were getting evicted from somewhere, or, if we didn't have toilet paper, or toothpaste. These things, obviously, were a struggle. Like, yo, what the heck, how do we not have these things? But that was the thing when you're in a life like that, where your dad is a hustler. We could be living in a mansion in Granada Hills, and then the next day, you’re living in a U-haul truck.

That's how extreme it was. When you see your parents doing drugs, but that's the norm, so you don't even know that that's a bad situation. I had no idea. I actually thought it was funny. Like when my dad would be high, I would make fun of him and my brothers and sisters would be cracking up. You try to laugh through it, so you don't cry. You know what I mean? You’re just building this strong outer protection almost like a turtle. I've been surviving so long, you know, you forget to live. When I was in that it was all I knew. You’re in survival mode. So, you do what you got to do.

Tocarra Eldridge: As a youth, you were signed to Joe Jackson’s record label Jackson Records when you were with the Newtrons in the 80’s. What was that experience like for you?

Bobby: The Jacksons were everything to us. I mean, we're from the Motown 25 era. When you saw Motown 25, you saw Mike put that glove on and do that backslide. We had been doing that already, because we started out street performing and dancing. We knew exactly what he was doing when he was calling it moon walking; we called it backsliding. That's how we started out by street performing at Fisherman's Wharf, which is like the super tourist part of San Francisco.

As we started winning talent shows around town and just performing everywhere, we cut our first 12 inch record, which was “Why do Fools Fall in Love”, Frankie Lymon’s version. From there, we hustled, we performed, we practiced and we would go back and forth from San Francisco to Los Angeles. We would go down to what was called the Motown building. And we were just trying to be seen by anybody. We performed in the lobby. We performed on the elevator. It didn’t matter, anywhere, because my dad had this thing about the Jacksons. Joe Jackson had an office in there, and we would go to his office and try to meet him. Most of the time, we would go there, and we would just sit there and he would never see us.

And then the one time after going down there, probably five, six or seven times, and we were waiting all day. It was getting towards the end of the day, so we’re starving, and my dad goes across the street to get us some Pioneer Chicken. [At the Motown building] the door just happened to open. When the door opened, I ran through the door. I was like today we're going to meet Joe Jackson. I ran through the door and he looked up and he was like, can I help you? I was like, “Yeah man! We've been coming down here a bunch of times; we were trying to meet you.” He was like, “well, what can you do?” And I said, “I can sing and I can dance like your son”. He said, “somebody come turn some music on for this boy”.

They turned the music on, and I went to dancing and singing. When my dad came back, we were in it. And from that point on, he managed us and he would give us a monthly stipend. We recorded with some of his producers and some of his people. This was for a couple of years, but he did get us a big show at the Roxie, the world-famous Roxie. And we practised for three months for 12 to 13 hours a day. It was the most strenuous, rigorous thing that I've ever done in my life.

My twin and I at the time were 11, and my brother Jay was five or six. We practiced and we had a live band. We did the show and we got five standing ovations and Michael Jackson was actually upstairs videoing the whole thing. They said El DeBarge was up top, but it was actually Michael Jackson, but they couldn't announce that he was there because it would have been a pandemonium. That was the experience. I mean, Joe, he would come to San Francisco to our parties. He was really like family with us. But we didn't know that he didn't have the power. He was blackballed. I guess him being a manager of the Jacksons and being the way he was....he wasn't able to help us like that.

Aaron: Being that young, did you know that what you was getting involved in when that door opened, along with the rehearsals and everything your father wanted you guys to be?

Bobby: To be honest, man, all I wanted to do was make my dad happy. When you from the hood, like, you're not scared to get up and dance with somebody. You aren’t scared to get up and sing, because you’re used to the environment.

We wanted to get up and perform and show what we could do. In practice, he instilled that in us. We always felt like we were ready anywhere, anytime. It was like second nature man. After watching Motown 25, I thought I wanted to be Michael Jackson. And so, whenever somebody gave me a chance to sing or dance, I would do my thing.

Aaron: Interesting! And during you guys’ career you made money, did plenty of shows, shook hands with a lot of people and so forth. One of your record deals didn't go through as you thought it was, so you ended back up in the same place; the projects. What was that transition like for you all?

Bobby: We hooked up with the Jacksons. Even through it all, we weren't famous. San Francisco is a small place. We would go back with the pictures and things like that; it was like, “oh my God, these kids were just with Michael Jackson over the summer.” It’s still street stuff going on this whole time. My dad is still selling though and then he goes to jail. Then we go help him escape from a fire camp.

And so eventually, at 15, we get a record deal. We signed with MCA Records. My dad is managing of course, but he's on the run from the police the whole time. He takes over the budget. He ended up making a record that he wanted to make, not what the A&R guy wanted to make, which was a huge mistake. You need them to spend the promotion money. And so that's really what happened with the Newtrons.

And we put the song out, we had a video, we did a Soul Train, we did Video Soul, and a whole 26 city like promotional tours. The label didn't want to do that, my dad forced them to. Long story short, we do the promotional tour.

So, they were playing our song all over the country. The song comes out; it goes number 25 or number 26 on the Billboard charts. So, we had Rolls Royce, we had limousines, we had cars, we had a nice house, but we didn't have money. And so that's when I just went back to kind of being normal. My twin, who used to hang out with my dad on the street stuff, hooked up with other street people and felt like he needed to find money for our household.

That's how he gets himself killed. That's what takes us back to the projects. So, for a kid, you lose your twin, you also lose this dream that you had, and that you have worked for. We get the record deal, and it's gone, like that. It was absolutely devastating in a bunch of ways. The shame of everybody seeing us on TV and then now we are back in the projects.

Tocarra: So, Bobby, regarding your music career, you transformed from R&B singer to a Gospel Artist, what was that transition like for you?

Bobby: It’s weird, because I think some people transition from R&B or mainstream to Gospel when they feel like they can't be hot in that realm anymore. I'm a songwriter. I think whatever you write has to be authentic. I got married at 30; I couldn't write or sing about being in the club. The transition happened authentically for me.

I signed to Death Row Records because I didn't want to be dealing with A&Rs and all these, you know, gatekeepers. Trying Death Row, that was the last straw. I'm trying to chase R&B. That didn't work out. God blocks these things because He didn't have that for me. I'm now seeing and telling my testimony, and I'm not glorifying those things, no more, but now glorifying the fact that I've overcome them.

Aaron: Mentally, you're going through all these things as a youth and young adult. Who was there for the exit plan? You know, like to give you the spiritual guidance and to show you the way to be a better person?

Bobby Newt: I had gone as far as I could go. I was using women for money. And to the world standards, I was doing really well. I had a really nice car and the name brand clothes, but the anxiety that I felt at night-time when I was alone. I can't even explain it. I couldn't sleep. The only thing that would help me sleep was to pray.

To say I had an exit plan, I didn't. I was just surviving. Nobody ever taught me the right stuff to do. I come from the hood. People who use cocaine, that's how they coped. That’s how my parents coped. People in my family look at my siblings and I, and they're like, you guys are the absolute miracle - the fact that you guys are not dead or in jail is an absolute miracle. The fact that you guys can hold down jobs and that you guys are good parents. It’s nothing but God. I try to use my gifts to glorify God. So, I can go on, and on.

Tocarra: What led you want to empower the youth?

Bobby Newt: I've always kind of done stuff with kids, because I'm a basketball guy. So, I've coached, probably for the last, on and off for probably the last 15 to 20 years. So I coach kids through basketball. That was kind of my ministry with them. Sports are a good way to teach kids - to empower them. I meet people, and these people have non-profits, and they're like, “hey, we work at the school, would you like to come and talk at our school”. God kind of showed me all these things.

Visit Bobby Newt at

https://www.instagram.com/bobbynewt74/

Watch Full interview of Bobby Newt on The Aaron & Tocarra Show

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xr-iveZuoWc&t=788s