Practice English Speaking&Listening with: Meet Kenny Hamilton!

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What's up guys?

Hannah here with

Mister Kenny Hamilton.

A new guest for Think Tank.

Now, in this video we are obviously

putting this up on YouTube but

we are also streaming it on

Facebook Live, so if you're not

following us on Facebook,

go to facebook.com/thinktankfeed so

that you can see us live and

be a part of the conversation.

Now, that's enough of me talking.

Let's get to you, Kenny.

You're a new guest on Think Tank.

>> Yes.

>> How does it feel so far?

>> It feels great.

>> Do I smell?

>> It's, no.

Everything just smells like roses.

>> Okay.

>> But OutKast said

roses smell like boo-boo.

>> [LAUGH] >> No,

everything is great.

It's great energy.

Great vibe.

I'm just honored that you would

allow me to even share this.

>> I'm honored that you're here.

There's so much honor in this

studio today.

>> There is a lot of honor.

>> I feel like, there really is.

Guys, you probably have seen Kenny

on the main show,

on The Young Turks, but

he is also an all around good guy.

He is a brand influencer,

a marketing expert, and

he's also a music artist manager.

So I wanted to introduce you guys

to him before we start throwing out

clips with his face in them.

So tell me a little bit about

your journey, because unfortunately

you and I got off on the wrong

foot when we first met.

>> Yeah.

Well- >> He has,

in his Twitter bio, @kennyhamilton,

says he likes the Tar Heels.

I love the Tar Heels.

I am a Tar Heel.

I bleed Carolina blue.

No, so, originally from

Atlanta, Georgia.

I grew up in a suburb called

Stone Mountain.

>> Okay.

>> And just from my young

upbringing of me developing

into the man that I am today,

my travels have taken

me from school to the military and

the Navy to be exacting,

got out the Navy, started a radio

career and was working in that and

my best friend found a pop artist

that got insanely successful, and

we started touring with that,

which brought me to LA.

>> Mm-hm. >> And I was running

tours and working with

an incredible team for a long time.

And now I'm just kind of branched

out on my own.

I call myself the Jerry McGuire

of the entertainment world.

>> Hm.

>> So, I'm not trying to be

the richest person in the world.

It's all about

personal relationships,

treating people well and good

quality things that we put out.

So, last year I produced Punk'd

that we put on BET.

>> Okay.

>> So, I've done some stuff on

the TV, film side.

I've done some

stuff on the music side.

And that's just the big passion.

And I love talking, so,

I started in radio, so

why not talk.

>> Talk more,

I like hearing you talk so far.

>> Talk to you, talk to them,

talk to anybody.

>> So far, we'll see how the rest

of shoot goes but right now I'm

enjoying hearing you talk.

So you started in college,

you went into the Navy.

>> Yeah.

>> Then you started your radio

show, okay, in Atlanta.

>> Yes.

>> So talk me through how you

took that and sort of branched out

into having basically your hands in

every single pot.

>> Well, I used radio, so, kind of,

back story a little bit.

When I was in high school I went to

this summer school, prep school.

>> Okay. >> Outside of Boston

called Phillips Academy.

>> Okay.

>> So, while I was at Phillips,

they were always playing East Coast

music and I was from the South, and

I was huge into OutKast and

Goodie Mob, and a lot of the music,

and at that time I felt like

the South was being slighted,

and no one paying attention to us.

So, I ended up having a radio show

there.

And then,

college I had a radio show, so

I loved playing music and playing

stuff that I liked to listen to.

>> Right. >> So when I got out of

the military, I started interning

in radio but my passion was to be

a music agent, a music manager,

I wasn't exactly sure.

I looked up to Diddy,

to Russell Simmons.

>> Mm-hm.

>> To people like that.

So, I wanted to be in that world.

So, I thought that if I had

knowledge in a radio capacity, that

that would give me an upper hand

into getting into the business.

>> Right. And so,

how long were you a radio host

before you basically lived out

your dream and did music managing?

[LAUGH] >> I started radio in 2004

so we started kind of, I really got

my feet wet probably in '08, '09.

>> So it took you four

to five years just to turn it into

this amazing creature that you

always wanted to be.

>> I mean, we got lucky.

>> I hate when people say that.

>> No, we did.

>> Hard work.

Hard work.

>> I mean, it was definitely hard

work but it's also being part of

an incredible team.

>> Yeah.

>> A lot of people always wants to

be the person in charge but

not everyone always wants to be

that great team player.

And I was the good sixth man,

or the guy in the starting five

that would be an integral part into

the team.

And I embraced that role and did

the best that I could in that role.

>> Amazing, and now you're doing

all these crazy things, which are

all really interesting and awesome.

But I'm kind of interested in what

you told me before we started

filming, that you're into Kung Fu.

Let's talk about that.

>> [LAUGH] >> [LAUGH] Cuz that's

really cool.

So how did you get into Kung Fu?

>> I started martial arts when I

was about six, seven years old.

>> Wow. >> And off and

on as kids kind of go until your

parents put it in and then,

I think, between 10, 11, 12,

I was really into Taekwondo.

So I jumped into that.

I was doing little tournaments here

and there and I got,

I won third place.

I'll never forget that kick to the

gut took me out of second place.

[LAUGH] And

I remember getting my trophy, and

I was like, aw, that's awesome.

>> A literal kick to the gut.

[LAUGH] >> It was very hard, yeah.

It put me down for a minute.

I almost threw up.

>> Yeah, yeah.

>> But yeah, so,

I grew up idolizing Bruce Lee and

watching old school,

black and white Kung Fu movies and

things like that.

I love the Asian culture,

this whole tattoo on my arm is all

dedicated to the Asian culture.

>> Wow. >> So, the crane is a type

of style of Kung Fu,

a Shaolin type and everything else,

it just kinda goes up to here.

>> Cool. >> But it's just one

of the things that I love.

We all have that basketball or

sports and things, and

my thing is martial arts.

>> Very cool.

Well, I'm so excited for

you to be here.

I think we have an awesome show for

you guys.

>> Clearly, you can see Kenny is

very interesting to listen to, so

we will get his insight onto all of

the fun topics that

we have coming up.

Thanks for tuning in and

leave your comments for

Kenny below in the comments.

And Facebook Live,

stick around cuz, you're just like,

you're on it.

You got this, you're already

ready for the Think Tank,

the Hannah movements.

Facebook Live, stick around, cuz we

will be getting your input later.

All right, guys, thank you.

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