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“Been through it all but I feel like it was worth it, not a perfect man but I feel like I am worthy,” sings musician Rob Woods in a raspy yet uplifting tone that’s reflective of the sentiment in his trademark song, “Worthy.”

Woods wrote the song in collaboration with Ricky Jassal, who he met while incarcerated in a California state prison. Since his release, Woods has been traveling around this state reminding people that no matter what they’ve been through, they too are worthy.

Rob Woods talking to people at San Quentin State Prison about the idea of being worthy. (David Chatman)

Through the Worthy Foundation, which Woods runs along with Quinton Jackson, Jacob Moynihan and Derek Foster, they have partnered with other volunteers to give free haircuts and resources to people living near the well-known unhoused community of Skid Row in Los Angeles. While there, his message was amplified when local artists painted the word “worthy” on a nearby wall. He’s also gone back behind the prison walls to do work, as he’s held workshops and performances at San Quentin in an effort to remind people of their value. And during a “Worthy Hour” show in his hometown of Sacramento, I got to see firsthand why Woods is so grounded, as his friends and family boisterously cheered in support of his art.

Woods’ work is important, especially here in California. This state is home to the second largest population of imprisoned people and the country’s largest unhoused population. And for many people, even those who aren’t living behind bars or sleeping on the streets, times are hard. In the scramble to pay bills and make ends meet, our inherent value as human beings often gets lost. So this week we talk to Rob Woods for a simple but profound reminder that you too are worthy.

Episode Transcript

Pendarvis Harshaw, host: Welcome to Rightnowish.

I’m your host Pendarvis Harshaw, bringing you a conversation I recently had with a talented musician by the name of Rob Woods.

Rob is an MC whose poetic lyrics speak of hard times and hope, the central idea in his music is that we’re all worthy beings. It’s best exemplified in his 2020 song titled, “Worthy,” a melodic and contemplative piece, with soulful lyrics about redemption.

This concept of worthiness, something he learned while incarcerated, also shows up in Rob’s approach to how he now serves the community.

He organizes with other volunteers to give haircuts to unhoused folks on Skid Row in Los Angeles. He also volunteers behind bars, speaking to people who are incarcerated in places like Marin County’s San Quentin State prison. And the idea of worthiness even shows up in his series of statewide live performances, which he calls, “The Worthy Hour.”

Rob knows what it’s like to be at your worst, and then grow to be the best version of yourself. So this week we talk about music, meaningful messages, and his movement to remind people that no matter what you’ve been through, you are worthy. Stay tuned.

Recently, I saw you perform in Sacramento at the Guild Theater as a part of your show called The Worthy Hour. What is the worthy hour?

Rob Woods, guest: It’s exactly what it is. It’s for one hour. You know, I’m trying to pour into those that are, you know, there in attendance, making sure that they feel worthy, that they hear the word worthy, that they understand the meaning behind it, which is for me, it’s knowing that you are loved, knowing that you are worth it, your worth, that you’re worth everything, everything that you want and you desire. I feel like people need to hear that.

And, you know, I just been able to do it through a musical display most recently, you know, being able to capture a dope audience and sit there with them for the hour and make sure that they’re hearing this, feeling this. And it’s not all just rap. You know, I try to assemble some musicians like my buddy K.J. Focus, who’s just really, really mean on the saxophone. He pulls up and he’s able to convey that same message to you without saying a word, just through his instrument.

It started with me doing it only inside of prisons. But, I soon realized that even us out here, we need to hear that we’re worthy. It’s not just… some people that are going through things behind bars, like in all reality, we are all in need of hearing this word on the daily. So, you know, I just, you know, take pride in making it my job and doing it.

Pendarvis Harshaw: What was going on in your life when you wrote the song “Worthy”?

Rob Woods: I was finishing up my prison bid sitting on the top of my bunk. I was confused a little bit on like where where I was at, you know. I kind of didn’t even understand, like, damn, you fucked up so bad that you got here. But at that same moment, I did feel that like, God was with me. I’ve never done anything on my own. I felt the power of like prayers, you know, I had a really powerful prayer team. My great aunties came to visit me in prison. They would pray on me. And now I feel like I have just like these angels. You know, I had angels on earth, I have angels above. And it made me feel like I knew I was going to be okay no matter what.

[Music]

Rob Woods: You know, the words are “I admit that I did a lot of shit and I never been perfect, been through it all, but I feel like it was worth it. I’m not a perfect man, but I feel like I’m worthy. And if I’m worthy, then Lord, please have mercy on me.”

Clip from Worthy by Rob Woods:

` I admit that I did a lot of shit and I never been perfect,

been through it all, but I feel like it was worth it.

Not a perfect man, but I feel like I’m worthy.

And if I’m worthy, then Lord, please have mercy…

With the song, I just, I don’t know man, I just heard it in my head. I had a calling for it to write the music. I didn’t, I did not find it, the beats and all that until later on in life. But the initial template was just me writing in my journal.

Pendarvis Harshaw: You have a new song with LaRussell, who’s had immense success with putting heavy messages in his music and the Co-LLAB Choir. What was the conversation like leading up to that song?

[Music]

Rob Woods: It was a genuine approach on all fronts. You know, for me and… me and LaRussell it was just simply, you know we had done some shows. Pre-pandemic, you know, we did some shows where like we were just crossing paths, opening up for other artists and things of that nature. And, you know, we just had a chance to build a cool little rapport and a, you know, friendship through the music. And we waited until we found a track that actually just felt good for both of us.

Clip from The Road by Rob Woods:

I feel like I got the weight of the world on my shoulders but finally here

Been through the winter, the stormiest weather but we made out to the clear

I put my foot on the gas, I ain’t comin’ off, we bout to switch up the gears

I was locked in the cell, wasn’t worried ‘bout bail but the failure was my only fear

And I’m back on the road (Back on the road)

Back in my mode (Back in my mode)

Back in my zone (Back in my zone)

Chasing the gold (Chasing)

Rob Woods: The song is called The Road. You know, it hit… it hit for him. It hit for me. The beat maker, Beau Knows Beats, it hit for him. It was just very, very once- once we got the correct beat, it was easy, easy flowing. For the Co-LLAB choir…I had no… I didn’t know anything about it. But once they brought it to my attention on my damn this choir is so dope. And um, they jumped on another song with us with me and Gunna Goes Global called I Know.

[Music]

Rob Woods: And it was a heavy message based song but they elevated.. they elevated the sound. Took them no time for them to come back with their own versions of like how the song should sound and they amplified it in a way that I just can’t do on my own. I can’t do it myself, you know? I’m good with writing, I’m good with rapping. I think I can hold a note or two, but the power behind that choir and their willingness to be a part of this was like something that really amplified the track.

Clip from I Know by Gunna Goes Global:

People always judged you

You ain’t want nothin’ but somebody to hug you

Bills got you stressin’ it’s heavy on your back

You tried to borrow money but they said they’d call you back

Pendarvis Harshaw: Hip hop has long had this issue with some music being, um, lighter. It serves a purpose, but it can be overly.. like we’re overly saturated with music that isn’t um, of high intelligence, I’ll say or isn’t um, relating to the soul and so, how do you go about putting substance in your music and making sure that it reaches people?

Rob Woods: The first thing that I want to do is make music that I care about and that I love. If I can’t do that, it can’t happen. Very hard for me to do that. So I just try to stay the course of like, do you believe in what you’re saying? Like the stuff that you’re writing about. Is this really you, is that really your life? Is that the image that you are putting out there, does that line up with the person that you are?

I know what I believe in and what I don’t believe in. And I don’t believe in putting negative things out there. I don’t believe in hurting my brother or my sister in any way. I don’t believe in down talk of any kind to my people. So, you know, with this music, I just make sure that those things are checked off. Does this make a person… how does it make a person feel? Because this isn’t for me. It’s for someone else. I’m giving it to them. How does it make them feel? What did they take away from it? What effect does it have on them, during the, you know, the course of them listening? And that has just been my, you know, my rule of thumb in creating.

[Music]

Pendarvis Harshaw: Your music is steeped in hope. Like, as I’ve listened, the first song that I really latched onto that black gold track, like I needed to hear that personally. It was, you know, around 2020 where things were pretty heavy. Thank you for that. And why does it feel important for you to have hope at the center of your art?

Rob Woods: I think it’s important to implement hope at the inside of the track because that’s all I am you know, that’s all I’ve been. And even the track Black Gold, that was not my original track. It’s actually a guy that I met when I was doing a tour into San Quentin Prison. He was very talented, his name is Antwan Banks. When he got out, he reached out was like, “Hey, I love to connect, let’s do some music.” He came to me with this idea of black gold, like that’s him on the hook

Antwan Banks in a clip from Black Gold by Rob Woods:

“I know the price of black gold (Black gold, black gold, black gold)

I know the price of black gold (Black gold, black gold, black gold)…”

Rob Woods: Us as black individuals and… We’ve been painted a different color. You know what I mean. We’ve been painted a different light and it’s negative. But, you know, I really, really want to do my job in reminding us, like, how beautiful black is.

Clip from Black Gold by Rob Woods:

King like Nat Cole

Beautiful Black queens, all black bathrobes

All that Black soul, sound like…

Rob Woods: I know that music is… it’s very, very, very, very powerful and it’s dangerous at the same time. I want to be on the side that’s putting something out there that people can take and that they can use in a way that it’s going to help, not hinder.

Pendarvis Harshaw: As I’ve done work with folks who’ve been incarcerated in different institutions throughout the state as well as people reentering society, it’s been clear to me that that network, that community is essential in making sure that people get on their feet and reestablish themselves. Is this something you’ve experienced of seeing that… that network of even, um the kind of fraternal group of people you were incarcerated with even, have you experienced that as well?

Rob Woods: The formerly incarcerated, I have seen what it looks like when they get out. There’s just absolutely nobody there. You know, I did my… my halfway house in the Tenderloin, you know. Very, very weird place for a prison to place a man after he’s doing prison time. You know, this is supposed to be a rehabilitation time of your life, but the halfway house in the Tenderloin, and we all know what it’s like there. You look to the left, you gon’ see a lot. You look to the right, you see a lot. It’s very hard to just get out and keep a straight path.

My sister was close to me, you know, like, literally right down the street. She lived in the Tenderloin too somehow and uh… I knew that that helped me a lot. She helped me with getting my first job, references. My other buddy Gunna Goes Global, he was in the halfway house when I got out with me, cause we met in prison. He gave me my first studio for $25 an hour. You know, everything that I really, really needed, it came from other individuals that wanted to help and just be a resource. And I feel like we all need that some times in our life, but definitely a person that has been going through incarceration. When they get home, they need all the help they can get. Positive reinforcements.

Pendarvis Harshaw: People showing up for other people who might otherwise slip through the cracks of society. That’s…

Rob Woods: Yep

Pendarvis Harshaw: That’s definitely what I’ve seen as well and so… thank you for sharing that experience.

Kind of fast forwarding a little bit. I understand that you grew up in Sacramento, you spent time in the Bay Area, then you moved to L.A. and when you, when you got there, you began working with the unhoused population, specifically around Skid Row. What did you see? What were your like, broad observations when you first got there?

Rob Woods: You know, it’s very sad.

[Music]

Rob Woods: Very much like how it is down there in San Francisco area where you have Taylor Street, where it’s one street, at the bottom of the street, it’s the Tenderloin. It’s poverty. It’s homelessness. It’s… it’s, you know, it’s just a totally different world from the top of the hill. Here in Los Angeles, it’s the same way. You got your downtown area. You have a very rich area where people are thriving and like just three blocks over you have Skid Row, which is five to seven blocks of just total opposite of that. And I saw people turning a blind eye. I saw people making a point to go around these areas.

The arts district is on the outside of Skid Row. Downtown is on the outside of Skid Row. Skid Row’s almost in the heart of the downtown area, but we make sure to go around it. And I didn’t feel good going around it. Man you know, I didn’t. I had to go in there. I had and it was during me making the video for Worthy, looking for all these dope beautiful spots to do the video. And I’m like, why are we going around what needs us the most?

Like we went in there and we had. We had our brotherhood, we had our sisterhood. We had people that actually wanted to hear the message. That was eye opening. That was very awakening to me to like, physically see people wanting this message. I feel like that is the place that needs it the most. Let’s… let’s come together in a place that needs us.

Pendarvis Harshaw: One of the earlier parts of your volunteer work was around haircuts. Why did you see it as important to give people haircuts in effort to show them that they’re worthy?

Rob Woods: You know, the feeling of when you get a haircut, you feel like, ‘Aye, damn, you know, like I feel good. I look good.’

[Music]

Rob Woods: ‘I don’t have a dime in my pocket, but I feel good, like, let’s go get it.’ You know, that is the energy that I was able to get, even when I was locked up. I get a haircut. I feel good. I still got some years, but looking in the mirror, I’mma be alright. I’m okay.

When I had the opportunity to do the haircuts in Skid Row, I wanted to give that same energy. You know, and it was beautiful to see.

One guy flew out from Washington. His name is Juice and he was also incarcerated with me, but he’s a barber. He flew himself out. He stayed for a weekend, and then two other barbers from the L.A. area just.. they banded together and they sat on that corner and they gave up as many free haircuts as possible. And we literally watched… It was a transition, it was a transformation from no smile, to haircut, to mirror, to smile, to walking off, and feeling good, and attacking the day.

And that’s like what my barber buddies were saying, they’re like, “Hey man we could give this freely. Like, this is the one thing that we possess that doesn’t cost us anything that we want to give away freely.”

Pendarvis Harshaw: Based on your firsthand experience in these two environments, prison and then working on the streets with folks who are unhoused. What parallels or overlaps have you seen?

Rob Woods: These are two places where it’s clear that they need, they need somebody. They need help, right? You’re dealing and you’re doing with the least amount of resources possible. They don’t have a lot. They might not even want a lot anymore, but they’re making it work and they are trying. But I also see a community of people that have each other’s backs. You know, that’s one thing that really drew me to the area was like, even though they don’t have homes and houses and cars, what they do have is like a heart and a smile and they’re sharing. They don’t have shit, but they’re still sharing!

There’s some things that we need in society. We need, even in the prison system, it sucks to say, bro like the, the structure, the organization, the discipline that it- that they have in there, we need some of that out here. The minimal hopping on the phone to talk to people and the scrolling through our instagrams that they can’t do in there, I feel like we need a little bit of that out here to help balance you know, and keep us focused and stay on track.

Pendarvis Harshaw: On a personal note, I know that the work that you do both as entertainment and also the work that you do, the social work that you do, can be draining. And this world just in general is taxing. And so I’m wondering, like when you’re down, what’s your… what’s your personal ritual to remind yourself that you’re worthy?

Rob Woods: I just remind myself, like first off, it’s all in my name. I’m named after my grandfather. Very, very, very great man, he led the family, 11 children. I have 11 aunties and uncles. And uh, he was a great man. And I always just try to remind myself like… Will he be proud, you know what I mean, of the work I’m doing? I think so. You know, even with like, the distribution, this stuff I’m doing with the community, I learned that from him. You know, I used to ride around in the back of his truck and he would stop at food banks and grab bread and stuff after work. We’d pass it out, and um, so a little piece of this, like I don’t get drained when it comes to that is what I’m trying to say. I get, I’m very excited because that’s my.. that’s my work. That’s my connection with him. We just keeping it, we just keeping it alive.

For me, it’s a bit of a blessing. I’ve never not felt it. I’ve never not felt like God loves me, never not felt like my family loves me. To remind myself I literally just have to just speak, speak back to myself, speak to God, just being thankful.

Pendarvis Harshaw: How was it felt for you personally, seeing your message resonating with folks?

Rob Woods: You know I’m a solo artist, I’m not signed or none of that stuff. Bro I just literally like, I have the opportunity and the ability to create something and people actually like it. People actually love it. Some people actually take it and it’s helping them. And that is like, the hugest payoff for me.

Rob Woods: It’s like cooking good food, man. And watching everybody at the table eat and get full and say it’s good. And then, you know, catch the itis and doze off, right? Like, I did it the right way. I feel like the same way with my music, and my message when I’m able to put it out there and the…. Man, it’s just… It’s… it’s amazing.

Pendarvis Harshaw: Indeed it is. Rob, thank you. Thank you for your message, your work and your music.

The service of reminding people of their worth– that we are all worthy– is such a unique thing that can be easily overlooked, especially when so much is needed: housing, mental health resources, changes to laws, you name it. But if you, as an individual, don’t think you’re worthy, you could have the world and it would mean nothing. So, it’s a universal message and I hope you all gained something from this conversation.

I invite you to check out Rob’s music, including his latest single, “The Road,” which is done in collaboration with Vallejo’s LaRussell and The Co-LLAB Choir, find it wherever you stream music.

And you can keep up with Rob Woods on instagram, at robwooods, all one word. Rob R-O-B. Woods is spelled with three O’s. That’s W-O-O-O-D-S.

[Music]

This episode was hosted by me, Pendarvis Harshaw.

It was produced by Marisol Medina-Cadena and Sheree Bishop.

Chris Hambrick is our editor.

Our engineer is Christopher Beale.

Rightnowish is also supported by Ugur Dursun, Cesar Saldana, Katie Sprenger, Jen Chien, and Holly Kernan.

Rightnowish is a KQED production.

Take it easy. Keep it lit. Be nice to people and don’t forget to pay it forward. Peace.

Rightnowish is an arts and culture podcast produced at KQED. Listen to it wherever you get your podcasts or click the play button at the top of this page and subscribe to the show on NPR One, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, TuneIn, Stitcher or wherever you get your podcasts.

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