It Wasn’t My Condition, It Was the Conditioning | Lachi’s Raw Road to Grammy Fame

0:00Like, I feel like nothing's off limits. Like, say whatever. So let's go back to the beginning.

0:04Lachi:Kind of rejected the blindness of it all. I felt a lot of shame. Yeah. So I say it wasn't the condition, but the conditioning. Because I was different, I didn't really have that many friends growing up. Right. So I turned to music.

0:20Lachi:Once you accept it, then you can eventually begin to embrace it. Once you embrace it, then you can eventually begin to celebrate it. And once you start celebrating it, that is when you are now a beacon for someone else.

0:35Welcome back to the Bill Fod, where authenticity trumps authority. I am here with a Grammy-nominated, best-selling, blind Nigerian-American, a CEO twice. Like, what is going on in my life right now? Who is this lady? I am so excited to welcome Lachi to the Bill Fod. Come on, girl. Give it up for her. I'm so excited.

1:01Lachi:Welcome. Hey, I'm so excited to be here. This is going to be a blast. Let's go. I love I already love you already. Your energy is infectious. I love it. I'm so I'm just going to do I'm just let's go. Let's do it. I feel like nothing's off limits. I could say whatever. Throw it on the table. If you don't like it, just be like Ryan answering. Look, this New York. I got you. I got you. I got you. I know my mom's from New York. My whole family. I got you. All right. So let's go back to the beginning. Now, you were born in Nigeria. My parents were born in Nigeria. I was born here. So what was that like growing up as a blind woman?

1:37What is that like?

1:39Lachi:So first of all, I was the sixth of seven kids. So my parents were Catholic. You know how it is. And so we had a big household. And my parents just didn't have time for all that. So I definitely was not coddled. And I think that that was a really good thing. I was just out there messing around with other kids and stuff like that. Now, because I was different, I didn't really have that many friends growing up. So I turned to music, I turned to the piano, I'd play songs, I'd write poems and stuff like that. And it would help me understand the world around me. And really, the world understand me.

2:14Lachi:And so it really was like a cultivator for my love for music. But yeah, I mean, I kind of rejected sort of the blindness of it all. I mean, I felt a lot of shame. Yeah. And I was super shy because I was blind. And I also had neurodivergences. But then, you know, today, I'm not shy at all, right? I'm super butterfly, social butterfly, super successful, but I'm still blind and neurodivergent. Right. So the blindness and neurodivergence obviously wasn't the issue. So I say it wasn't the condition, but the conditioning. I love that. You know, the way that you put it, just it's so eloquent because, you know, recently I started talking about my father dying when I was really little.

2:55I was six years old. My father died. So immediately that makes you different immediately. And I don't think that I really ever realized how different I was because my mom was the same as your family. Like we ain't got time for this. Like it happened. Like I'm sorry that your dad died. I'm really sorry, Mara. But like we need to move forward. And this could never be a crutch in your life. and you can never use it as a reason why you can't do something. But in fact, you use it as your superpower to become who you want to be. Right.

3:22Lachi:I feel like we all have to navigate the world differently. Right. And we all have things that we're born with or that come into our lives that make us unique, but also that make us have to build our own problem-solving skills, our own shortcuts, our own ways that we have to do things. Sometimes we have to overcompensate for things and we don't realize it. And then once we accommodate for those things, then we're just on top. And so I think a lot of these differences that we have, these uniquenesses that make life more difficult, that make barriers more prominent, are actually what help us be the best thing we are.

3:57I love that. I always say it's my imperfections that make me perfect. That my imperfections are perfect. Literally though. Perfectly imperfect. But that's so literal.

4:07Lachi:Because if you were quote unquote perfect, then you would have nothing to improve. you'd have no drive you'd have no determination and so it is those things that make us fucking oops sorry i love that word what do you mean that's my favorite i already i love you done i already love it i'm so glad that you know but your kid is in the audience here he has he has an airpod and he hears it all the time okay gotcha you're good you're good you're good he's used to it but you know it's funny because with all that being said you're in a visual industry sure so how How does that like circumvent? You're in a music industry, you know, and I know you're like you do stuff with Afrobeats as well.

4:46Right. And you're doing like, how does that even like go together? Yeah.

4:51Lachi:So the entertainment industry and I focus primarily on entertainment, whether it's music, fashion, storytelling, et cetera, et cetera. Because I feel like that is the quickest way to people's hearts. If you want to showcase to them, hey, let's break down the stigmas of blindness. Let's break down the stigmas of disability. Well, if you sit there and teach someone, they get bored. If you slap someone's hand, they get like, who are you? Right? And so why don't we have some jokes? Why don't we do some dances? Why don't we sing some songs and get people feeling good after they leave? And that's going to be entertainment.

5:27Lachi:And so in entertainment, you want to be the most entertaining. Like, I just love commanding a room. I love walking into a room and just being the it. Right? And so, yeah, I do that. Part of my advocacy is the fashion, is the look, is like the whole kind of get up so that people can just, even if I don't say a word, they can look at me and go like, oh, wow, the idea of blindness is already being destigmatized for me. Yeah, absolutely. Because, I mean, I'm looking at you and I'm thinking, well, if she's blind, how does she know that her gold shoes go with her gold hair? You have gold jewelry on.

6:03I'm thinking the same thing.

6:05Lachi:And the belt, girl. We got the whole thing. I mean, you're a force. As soon as you walk in, not to mention your braids have like spots of like golden, you know, it's golden, which goes with your gold. This is insane to me. But how do you like as far as being blind, navigate fashion? Because you look amazing. Thank you. Well, I can't take the fullest of credit. So first of all, the beat face is actually my partner who's back there somewhere. Shout out to Arthur. So Arthur beats my face to all hell. And actually, we go viral for the makeup on Reddit. makeup yeah yeah yeah i mean you're beautiful i don't think you really need makeup honestly you're beautiful you are beautiful thank you it's actually not a lot it's not a lot of makeup so we kind of just do a very light face um this is the day face uh but we go and arthur learned how to do my makeup off of reddit and so now we kind of blow up on reddit and when people see us walking down the street they'll chase us and be like lachi and i'm like do you know me from my music and they're like you do music I just know you from the makeup like here's my card that's so funny um but yeah no we so that and then of course you know I always want to look good I work with different stylists and different designers and this and that shout out to Afua who's one of my main designers um and we just make sure that I stay top to bottom and then if I have something that I like so like these shoes or I have my seven inches um if I like a heel I'll buy like 10 of them yeah because it's so important i like a platform i okay a big yeah i can't do like the you know flat it has to be a platform otherwise i'm uncomfortable especially in new york forget it yes i can't do first of all i can't do like a well i like a stiletto i do like a stiletto as long as there's a platform as long as there's a little bit right at the bottom right and i'm short so i need the lift but it's uncomfortable for me if not so yeah i have platform every every shoe i own as far as like nice ones or platforms yes period though because hello i already love you already i can't yet oh well while we're still talking about fashion let me grab this little guy right here oh yes let's add oh yes let's okay you already i think you should just take over the show you could be the host today i'm just sit back and you listen you want a boss you'd like to follow yeah um i was like this all the time you are hilarious i can't because i'm like okay bill okay somebody had to come at y 'all and change that f to follow that is exactly what happened it came from my girlfriends actually they were like oh really they call me mara because you know from new york they're like mara you're like a milf and my other girlfriend's like no she's like a bilf boss i'd like to you know yeah and then my other girlfriend was like come on she has to be a little bit more professional boss i'd like to follow okay sure sure but we know what it really is anyway this is fierce i mean yeah so fierce thing you got these are the glam canes um and i have like a million of these i have one for like every color in the alphabet i have a red white and blue one I have like a pride one that has all sorts of colors.

9:03Lachi:And I mean, come on, look. So when I was really young, my mom got me a cane. I was like eight or nine or whatever. And she was like, you know, it was the plain Jane white cane. Right. And I did not want to use it. I had much better vision then. And so I was like, no, I'm not using a cane. I already have to wear these like goggle glasses. I already have to sit in the front. Like, I don't want all this other stuff. So I threw my cane away. Stop. And my mom, but then I needed a cane though. Like, you know what I'm saying? Like, I'm just like. Let me just accessorize this. Yeah, exactly. Because like, I'm not trying to walk into lockers and think they're a classroom.

9:34Lachi:So I need to get this figured out. So later in life, as I really started to find success in the music industry and get confident, I started using my cane just so I could do my job better, just so I could navigate better. Right. And then my personality built up. I'm wearing these gala gowns. And I was like, well, if this is going to be an extension of me, then I am going to have to have it literally be like, you know what I mean? like this is like my style i love bling the blingy or the bling right like hello absolutely stunning isn't it cute um and then uh what was the last thing i was gonna say so um now we sell them oh you do yeah they're at glam canes.com and listen we have young girls young guys swifties out here with these canes we have bay hivers out here with these canes people going on first dates going to graduations we've even expanded from blind canes to like walkers and quad canes so we have like old ladies are older late older season debutantes yes exactly out here looking gorgeous and feeling really good and really combating their own erasure like standing in front of and celebrating all parts of themselves and not wanting to not be seen but actually wanting to be i love that so they don't have no one has to feel the need to shrink themselves if they have a disability but now you i love that i love the whole concept yes you embrace it you bling it out and you call it a day.

10:56And if anyone has something to say, whatever.

10:57Lachi:Then whatever. It's like, if you've got a problem with it, bring your bling your thing out. Yeah, who cares? Whatever it is. But let's talk about this Grammy. I mean, that's not a little thing. Like I kind of just perused over it. Grammy nominated. That's a big, big, big deal. Talk about it. Tell me a little bit about it. So as CEO of Ramped, which I know we're going to touch on, we do a lot of work with the Recording Academy who runs the Grammys. And so one of the big things that I, because, you know, as a young musician, I had always looked at the TV and said, I want to be up there. I want to do that.

11:29Lachi:That should be us on that stage. But I just never had anybody on the top of my vision board that matched my trifecta, right? Like woman of color with a disability. And so it was like my goal in life to really get folks that look like me or have my story into those rooms and onto those stages. So through Ramped, we really partnered with the Grammys and started doing things. And through that partnership, I started meeting some really amazing people with and without neurodivergences and disabilities and stuff. And so I was like, I want to get on all of your projects. I want to produce them. I want to write with you folks, all these new friends I was making.

12:07Lachi:So I came together with this artist named Chris Redding, who is neurodivergent and celebrates his son's autism and things like that. And so we came together and we created this very beautiful new age, sort of new wave, beautiful music that celebrated just the journey through neurodivergence and the different ways we think, love and heal. And, you know, he's a black dude, right? So he's bringing some soul to it. And you don't really see some soul in new age, right? And so people really resonated with it. I got a bunch of different artists and musicians with autism onto the album. And so it was this really big, beautiful project of a bunch of different artists with different neurodivergences celebrating ourselves.

12:53Lachi:I love that. But the music was also very good. Like it wasn't like, oh, come check us out. I get it. You know what I mean? Oh yeah, like I get it. It's not like a charity case. It was skill first. This is really people with talent. This is like talent first, everything else. Talent first. Like I can't do the pity stuff, the charity stuff. No, keep your money to yourself unless you're buying a ticket. it baby so um we put it out there i produced it so i was kind of the producer on it and sort of the executive producer like how how is that something that you can do honest question oh oh you mean like as a person who's blind yeah how are you like the the different because right and i don't know because i'm not a recording artist but i see them and i see people in there and they're moving like the the equalizer they're moving this button they're moving that like how How is that a challenge?

13:39It can be. Or you probably just know it now.

13:42Lachi:I just know how to navigate around. I have like a very teeny minuscule bit of vision if needed. But I don't really, it's not enough to really be competitive. So we can use everything from magnifiers to screen readers to keyboard shortcuts. Everything to be able to navigate the screen without having to use your eyeballs to navigate the screen. it does take a little longer for to get some things done which is something that we're working on with different audio technology designers but like let's say for instance if you have something that is at 2db and you want it to be at 4db if you have vision sure you can take the slider right right but if but if for whatever reason you don't have vision you can navigate using your screen reader to that area and then it'll tell you it's two and then you just hit the up arrow key two times or whatever.

14:36Lachi:And now you're at four. So there's always when there is a will, there is a way. And so there's a really robust, like blind production, DJs, et cetera, community that give each other tips and shortcuts on how to make some of these things. And I'm sure with like technology, everything is kind of, you know, everything is always changing technology, AI. I'm sure everything will start to evolve to where it is a lot more user friendly too. Yes. And, and we're partnering with some of these folks on, you know, doing a lot of the user testing and doing some of the co-design. That, no, that's amazing. So here's what I really want to push you on.

15:10When a blind artist succeeds, the industry tends to fame it as inspiring rather than talented. And you kind of touched on it. I mean, not kind of, you have touched on it. I mean, do you think that the industry is more accepting and becoming more diverse as far as people with disabilities? Or do you think they're showcasing disability first and then?

15:29Lachi:um so i hate or hate's a strong word we don't hate in here but i very truly deeply dislike what i call inspiration porn right inspiration porn trauma porn all of that kind of stuff because at the end of the day everybody has something i love i already i just love you everything you're saying resonates no i'm not even kidding like i'm just putting my cards down because it like what you're saying is so true i resonate with everything you're saying well Well, who wants to be like pitted as an object of pity? Nobody. Right. So I know that through our work with Ramped, we're doing a lot of, one of our big slogans is we want to create a music industry where no one has to mask.

16:09Lachi:Right. And we want to let folks know that like disability is not just wheelchairs and walkers and canes, right? Disability is super large umbrella. It can be everything from tinnitus to anxiety to ADHD to, you know, having a temporary situation. So everybody has some form of disability identity and like understands what disability is. And so when we really kind of tap into what that identity is, when we see it out on the street, we recognize, oh, that's a human. I'm a human. They're navigating differently than I am. But that doesn't mean that they are an object to make me feel better about myself.

16:45Lachi:And so that's one of the big things Ramp is trying to do. We're trying to go, hey, artists or producers or agents or managers are like A &Rs. anywhere you work in the industry, if you have some kind of neurodivergence, difference, chronic condition, you are welcome here at Ramped, but honestly in the music industry, period, without having to feel othered, without having to feel pitied, without having to feel pathologized and being celebrated for your work. I love that. I love. All right. So I'm gonna have a little fun with you. So you're gonna tell me true or false. All right. The music industry is more accessible today than it was 10 years ago.

17:22True or false?

17:23Lachi:I believe it's true. I believe it's true. Disabled artists have to be twice as good to get half the recognition. We got to be 10 times as good to get the percent. Pity plays a bigger role in disability representation than people really want to admit. Pity plays a huge role and it really, really shouldn't. It's kind of nasty, y 'all. Get over it. Nobody wants to be pitied, duh. Yeah, nobody does. Nobody, nobody, nobody. You can separate an artist's disability from their art. You can, but I have to say it all depends. Like, I feel like if you have a disability, whether it's depression, whether it's anxiety, that comes into your music.

18:05Lachi:Like, you don't necessarily have to be like, I have anxiety. Like, that's also kind of cool. I mean, don't you? Let's go. But I'm also saying, like, if you have anxiety or if you have to navigate the world differently, that's going to your lived experience is going to come through in your art. And these days, artists are very four dimensional. Like you don't just listen to an artist for their song, you listen to an artist, and then you watch their tick tock. And then you're like, who are they dating, and stuff like that. And so their lived experience becomes part of their art. And if disability is part of your lived experience, I don't know that you should have to divorce it.

18:36Lachi:We only divorce it because we're so forced to mask and forced to pretend to be quote normal. yeah but if we didn't have to do that and people got to live freely in their lived experience i think we would get so so much more art so much deeper stories and so much more beautiful authenticity in this world i i would agree with that so i'm going to switch gears for a second and talk about your ceo mindset let's go i mean because you're a ceo you're running i mean you're making music running companies this is like i mean you're a bilf you're a real bilf you're writing books i mean how about your books let's talk a little bit about your okay advocating publicly I mean, there is nothing you don't do.

19:12Lachi:There is nothing I don't do except for sleep. So I had forgot to bring my book because I wanted to show it off. But humble brag. We stopped by Barnes and Nobles, which is down the street. And so we picked one up. I love it. I love it. Don't humbly brag. Say this word. This is it's in Barnes and Nobles. It's in Barnes and Nobles, y 'all. It was so fun because we go in. We go into a Barnes and Nobles. We're kind of wandering around and we're like, where is the social section? and we go and we see this and it was just so beautiful and it was like prominently like just out there and the beauty of this is you can actually I don't know if you can touch this they can there's braille on the letters so it's very fun um but yeah I mean I wanted to a write so like I said before everybody's masking and we're masking because we don't know how to talk about stuff right because we're afraid of being pathologized and so I wanted to really write it in a way that people would want to hear it, right?

20:09Lachi:So this book, I Identify as Blind, it takes my story and the stories of other sort of celebrities, public figures, politicians, anyone who would say yes to me interviewing them and celebrates our stories, just navigating success in different industries, entertainment, music, et cetera. Also, it's a very humorous book. We get into the artistic past. We talk about pop culture And it's just a really fun way for people to be introduced to disability identity, neurodivergence, how to take your chronic condition and feel empowered. And this is not really meant to be like educational. It's meant to be just a fun pop culture book for you to figure out how to talk about it and for you to learn some really, really cool stories along the way.

20:56Yeah, and if you can't have fun while doing it, I mean, if you can't have some kind of sense of humor, then what are we doing?

21:01Lachi:Then what are we doing? Like what? I mean, we got invited to this banquet called life. Let's have fun. Yeah. I mean, I agree with you. And we spend so much time focusing on the negative and focusing on being politically correct and all the things that don't matter. When in reality, I mean, if you're not laughing and smiling, what are we doing? Yeah. I feel like the best way people learn stuff is when they learn them in a good mood. Absolutely. Yeah, of course. Because you retain it better. Because you retain it better and you want to feel good. And then you recall things that made you feel good.

21:32Lachi:And so hence the humor, hence the fashion, hence the music. Tell me about your CEO mindset and what you're doing, because I know you're running companies. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, we talked a little bit about Glam Canes. And then, of course, I run Team Lachi, which is my team of I think there's about five of us on our team. Everyone has disabilities on my team as part of the disability community. So we run a tight ship. But if you're going to say what is your CEO job. It is with Ramped. So Ramped stands for Recording Artists and Music Professionals with Disabilities. We're a consultancy and training firm on disability culture and inclusion within the music industry.