Stark’s World
“Your life is your own,” is a grandstanding quote from the anime Mob Psycho that speaks to one centering their life towards their fullest potential. Few independent DIY creatives live that to the fullest whilst building their legacy as much as DC-native rapper, producer, meme lord, glizzy chamb, Smash Bros. God, gaming guru and marketing maven Rashad Stark.
Rashad Stark is a multifaceted musician and all around creative hailing from Washington, DC. Stark and I have been colleagues for almost a few years now, engaging with each other on social media while we both grew in stature in our respective regional art scenes and shared online communities. It was in October of 2020 when I would meet the individual in real life on a day trip to the city, experiencing the 93 Bandits collective in casual conversation, the network of Stark, his gaming prowess, money moves and musical meticulousness simultaneously at work. For a day, I experienced Stark’s world, and the formulas he incorporates in interweaving all of his different avenues at once: A comedian, casanova, and a community man all in one as we traveled to a local event, shared drinks and discussed how his future world looks in conjunction with the tumultuous one that we occupy.
A World of Candid Mental Health:
Dialogues about Black Mental Health are evolving in real life and social media by the year in ways that weren’t discussed as critically en masse before — sometimes for the better or worse. While nuance is lost through more of these conversations, other conversations unapologetically led by those daily afflicted by mental illnesses and pitfalls of mental health in this current global society have given others courage in ways that have not been done before for the younger generations. If one follows Rashad Stark via social media or has a conversation with him in real life, he’ll be open and self-prompted to elucidate his current mental health. While at times it may seem jarring or disheartening for people who know him and love him dearly (as he himself knows), it’s also a level of openness that opens up dialogues about how people address their loved ones with these very real states of being daily.
MV: Your transparency with mental illness/health awareness is as healing as it is visible. How would you describe your feelings about your mental health journey through the present day and even the future?
RS: I was always going through it and I didn’t know why…I feel like I can help people with my story, because people need to hear that, [because] life got a way of showing you that ‘Nigga it’s your turn.’
Stark would reveal that since he was 12 years old he was conscious about being depressed, even if he didn’t know the exact catalysts behind it. Stark would describe in his 20s how the drinking and substance abuse would take his depression to the next level. This would lead into a dialogue about escapism, how people can’t wait to get off to drink and distract their mind from stress at Happy Hour, and how coping behaviors lead into spiraling until the routine of life becomes painstakingly cyclical. Stark frequently tweets through his mental health journey, which allows for his peers across the country to wake up to their own gripes with their own mental health, with some even going as far to tell him in private about how his tweets saved their lives. The more we can dispel stigmas and build safe spaces, the quicker we can build a world that protects and assists those afflicted with mental illness and mental health issues. This is part of the world that Rashad Stark is building every day.
The Viral World:
Everything has a formula, even the haphazard hodgepodge fuckery of social media. As explained in Wreck it Ralph 2, it’s hard to tell how any subpart of culture will go viral and become the trending topic for days or weeks at a time. The randomosity of viralness on social media can turn someone from a nobody into a superstar that has changed the trajectory of their entire generational wealth path for their family and even communities. To this point, going viral nowadays can be equated to hitting the digital lottery, explaining why people do the most obscene, nonsensical, and cringe acts in order to go viral that are Chapter Black worthy. Some master the ever changing algorithms like flowing water to funnel to their other material, which is the more long sustaining marriage of sales and creativity. Stark, no stranger to being viral, has harnessed this concept, even as a local independent artist/creative.
MV: Like Lil Nas X, Jaboukie and other great social media users, you have honed the art of being adept in commanding content and consistently gaining engagement towards your platform in all avenues: The purpose of going viral in my opinion. May you describe the Stark formula for creatives?
RS: [You] chalk it up to the game…When you post this, it’s for the world. It ain’t about going viral, it’s about how you go viral.
Stark, from an artistic sense, would describe how people, trends, phrases and habits all follow and imitate each other as much as possible, whether they say it directly or not. Everyone copies, replicates, and reshares music, lyrics, etc. Memes and social media content are no different, and memes in nature are meant to be shared person to person very freely regardless of the originator. Given that viralness on social media since its earlier days can change the trajectory of their own lives, it’s understandable why individuals would desire credit for whatever they made that received viral attention. What individuals typically fail to leave out of this convo is that the terms and agreements of the social media sites that they willingly download is that once they post any media or material on these sites, they forfeit the right to the content created to the owners of the social media platform. Furthermore, due to national/international copyright and trademarking laws with many companies inside of these social media sites, individuals have even less justification of ownership of the “original content” they create that goes viral.
From this perspective and convo, Stark explained that the sociological de facto of social media is indeed the digital wild west, with folks fighting for credit to gain fame and fortune over content and platforms they don’t even own. Straight up jacking someone’s art or copying and pasting someone’s tweets to grow one’s platform on a consistent basis is indeed ethically screwed up on the other hand; again the wild wild west. Stark, as stated before, is no stranger to viral content and we sat and laughed about his most hilarious wild jokes that he posted/reposted in jest to have his followers laughing. Since this interview first occured, Stark has even been suspended from his original Twitter account for these trademarking and copyright issues that he grew part of his following and musical fanbase from. Stark would stress how followers and consistent viral content means nothing if people cannot monetize it or drive their following to monetization. Stark would create the viral song “Can I Pet That Dawg”, based off the meme and would affect the trajectories of social media accounts based on content he haphazardly reposted for the fun of it that can’t all be expanded on within his interview. The superficiality of viralness is something that doesn’t concern the world that Stark is building — only a means to an end, not the foundation.
The World of Bandits:
Stark is a talented songwriter, first and foremost amongst his other talents. The music industry is so toxically archaic for the average independent artist to try and break through financially and statistically, but Stark makes a steady path for himself with his great original music and his music/media collective The 93 Bandits.
MV: What is the mission plan for the 93 Bandits inside and outside of lit ass tracks representing your city?
RS: I want this to be a family first.
Stark briefly explained the history of coveted group that surrounds his music collective, community, discord, and more. 5–7 years ago as Stark stated, after the original group broke up, himself and the co-captain, Steezy, knew it could grow into the potental to be more than what it is. Stark mentioned candid stories about BP the videographer, ZuriGold and more friends supportive of the brands of every other member of the group working towards prosperity and dominance in all of their avenues. Now that they have a base of operations, a notable numbered Discord chat and features on each other’s respective projects, Stark explained to me how one day he hopes to have his group, his found family, be on the cultural levels of Young Money and Maybach Music Group. The world Stark is beginning to build starts with his family he is building.
Playing the World — King of Games, No Yugioh:
MV: Black people’s versatility in close to every aspect of culture is unmatched as represented through history, now even including gaming, online presence as video game influencers, and Esports. How does your platform celebrate/promote gaming other than what was already stated and what are your plans for your gaming platforms?
RS: I want to focus on maximizing the value of the platform.
Not only has Stark been an incredible showsman in the Saturday Night Smash Cycle II series, but he has grown an incredible commuity through his consistent, hilarious and innovative gaming stream on Twitch. Even though he started in November of 2020, Stark, like with every other avenue of his world, is a natural star. His clips are hilarious, inclusive, wild and noteworthy. He truly has the potential to be the best of all time in this avenue as well. He would even tell this story about how a friend who was at a funeral turned on Stark’s stream for people there to watch, with the friend illuminating to Stark that he truly entertained them and made them feel happy even in an environment such as gloomy as that. The fact that gaming, something near to Starks heart, has the potential to invoke others he hasn’t even met makes his world-building even more glorious.
World’s End:
Lastly, I would ask Stark how the future of his world collides with the current world. My day and interview with Rashad Stark gave me a deeper peak into his world and the one is trying to craft. When I asked him this question, he had to take a pause and likened his world to Luffy in One Piece and what Luffy said to Ace and Sabo about never wanting to be alone again. For himself, Rashad Stark feels that quote applies to him and also never wanting anyone else to feel alone again.
While THE world does not revolve around you, YOUR world revolves around you. You can build the world you desire based on your preferences. Stark realizes this, and it’s great to see a genuine, intentional being build it in multiple capacities daily towards his future.
You can follow Rashad Stark on Twitter and Instagram @rashadstark93, on Twitch as RashadStark and Rashad Stark on all streaming platforms, including his brand new project, Royalty.
