TED@BCG Toronto
Madame Gandhi and Amber Galloway-Gallego: "Top Knot Turn Up" / "Bad Habits"
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"Music is so much more than sound simply traveling through the ear," says sign language interpreter Amber Galloway-Gallego. In a spirited performance, musician and activist Madame Gandhi plays two songs -- "Top Knot Turn Up" and "Bad Habits" -- while Galloway-Gallego provides an animated sign language interpretation.
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
00:12
Amber Galloway-Gallego: OK, hi.
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I'm a sign-language interpreter
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that specializes in music interpreting.
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And you're probably wondering
why Deaf people would attend concerts,
why Deaf people would attend concerts,
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but actually, music
is so much more than sound
is so much more than sound
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simply traveling through the ear.
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See, Deaf people experience music,
just in a different way.
just in a different way.
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For example, my friend Lisa,
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she cuts her hair a certain length,
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so she feels the vibrations
of sound in the music.
of sound in the music.
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And music has psychological effects on us.
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It invokes feelings of nostalgia,
happiness, sadness,
happiness, sadness,
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falling in love.
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It makes you have a feeling
of connectedness,
of connectedness,
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and unfortunately,
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Deaf and hard-of-hearing people
are excluded from these events,
are excluded from these events,
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because obtaining a sign-language
interpreter is so difficult
interpreter is so difficult
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and so overwhelming
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that they simply don't buy
the tickets or they just give up,
the tickets or they just give up,
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and this is not OK.
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We have to make everything accessible.
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So, myself, I am
a sign-language interpreter,
a sign-language interpreter,
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so what I have to do is I have
to take music and bring it to life.
to take music and bring it to life.
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In doing that, I become a bridge
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between the hearing world
and the Deaf world,
and the Deaf world,
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making sure that I'm representing music
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and the artistry of what music represents.
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Now, this is a lot of work, OK?
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For a regular set that might be 12 songs,
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myself and a team,
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we have to study over 30 songs
or more for one set
or more for one set
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and hope and pray
we have the right setlist.
we have the right setlist.
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But you know what?
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You know what the reward is?
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Looking down in the audience
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and seeing Deaf
and hard-of-hearing members,
and hard-of-hearing members,
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all of those people dancing
and jamming out
and jamming out
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and feeling included
in that music experience.
in that music experience.
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For myself, I'm a part of this cultural
and linguistic community,
and linguistic community,
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and we all communicate in different ways.
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Some of us sign and voice,
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some of us just sign,
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but no one way is superior to the other.
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But you know what?
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Those with hearing loss face
daily battles to communication access,
daily battles to communication access,
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and those barriers
are put up daily for them.
are put up daily for them.
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And music shouldn't be one of them.
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So along with Madame Gandhi
and myself today,
and myself today,
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let's break down those barriers.
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02:42
(Applause and cheers)
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02:45
(Music: "Top Knot Turn Up")
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02:48
(Percussion)
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Madame Gandhi: This is a song
about getting the work done.
about getting the work done.
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Hair up in a bun that's the most fun.
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Hearing myself think when I go for a run
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or maybe I'm practicing the drums
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or maybe I'm writing in the sun,
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the takeaway point
is I'm talking to no one.
is I'm talking to no one.
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Protecting my vibes that are wholesome,
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trying my best to solve actual problems.
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If you want to hang with me
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then you have to roll up
your sleeves and work with me.
your sleeves and work with me.
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This ain't no time to come flirt with me;
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pipelines and drills
are destroying the earth, you see.
are destroying the earth, you see.
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I cannot stand all the constant misogyny.
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Tie my hair back so there
ain't nothing stopping me.
ain't nothing stopping me.
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Top knot turn up. It's a top knot turn up.
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Top knot turn up, turn up, turn up --
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about getting the work done.
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Top knot turn up, turn up, turn up.
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It's a top knot turn up.
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Top knot turn up, eh.
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(Percussion)
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Tie up and tie up your hair
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and throw back those curls.
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So tie up and tie up and tie up your hair
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and throw back those curls, uh ...
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Throw back those curls,
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throw back and throw back
and throw back those curls, uh ...
and throw back those curls, uh ...
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(Beatboxing)
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(Percussion and beatboxing)
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I turned off my phone's notifications,
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so I have more time.
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No bubbles to trouble
my clear state of mind.
my clear state of mind.
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One thing to know, I'm not here to please.
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Hair tied back, I do it properly.
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My time is not your property
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when I'm productive like my ovaries.
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Eh, give a grown girl room to breathe,
basic rights and her liberty.
basic rights and her liberty.
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Free from insecurity
that the world's projecting onto me.
that the world's projecting onto me.
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Please do not trouble me
when I am focused.
when I am focused.
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The future is female,
you already know this.
you already know this.
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I'm fighting against
the corruption on SCOTUS,
the corruption on SCOTUS,
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upping my top knot
since when I first wrote this.
since when I first wrote this.
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Eh ...
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It's a top knot turn up.
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Top knot turn up, turn up, turn up --
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about getting the work done.
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Top knot turn up, turn up, turn up.
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It's a top knot turn up.
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Top knot turn up, ay.
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(Percussion)
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Tie up and tie up and tie up your hair,
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throw back those curls.
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Tie up and tie up your hair,
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throw back those curls, uh ...
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Throw back those curls,
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throw back and throw back
and throw back those curls.
and throw back those curls.
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(Beatboxing)
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Amber G.
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(Applause and cheers)
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Top knot turn up.
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(Music and applause)
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Madame Gandhi.
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(Music)
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(Applause and cheers)
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(Music ends)
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(Applause and cheers)
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05:59
Amber, it's such a pleasure
to share this stage with you,
to share this stage with you,
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and to make my music accessible
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to an audience who might be
hard of hearing or Deaf
hard of hearing or Deaf
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and otherwise might not be able
to be included in my music.
to be included in my music.
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And it really wasn't
until this collaboration
until this collaboration
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that I had thought of the fact
that though I work so much
that though I work so much
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in diversity and inclusion,
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that my music may not be reaching
as many people as it could be.
as many people as it could be.
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I grew up in New York City,
playing the drums,
playing the drums,
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listening to Nas, Lauryn Hill,
Thievery Corporation,
Thievery Corporation,
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TV on the Radio,
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the Spice Girls --
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And for me, music was truth.
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Music was my perspective
into somebody else's point of view,
into somebody else's point of view,
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into storytelling,
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into understanding how the world works.
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And yet at the same time,
I felt like there was such a disconnect
I felt like there was such a disconnect
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between the way that I understood
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my own very multidimensional
sense of my gender identity
sense of my gender identity
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and the very two-dimensional way
that women and femmes
that women and femmes
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were often portrayed in the media.
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(Sighs)
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As I moved through my life,
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I went on to study mathematics
and women's studies at Georgetown.
and women's studies at Georgetown.
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I was the first-ever data analyst
at Interscope Records.
at Interscope Records.
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I toured the world
playing the drums for M.I.A.
playing the drums for M.I.A.
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And I did my MBA at Harvard,
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all with the intention of being able
to make a difference in the music industry
to make a difference in the music industry
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and move the needle on gender equality
from the business side.
from the business side.
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But it was only until three years ago,
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when I ran the London Marathon
bleeding freely on my cycle
bleeding freely on my cycle
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to combat the global menstrual stigma
that women face every day
that women face every day
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all around the world,
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that I realized that I have a message,
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and that the most effective way
that I can convey my message
that I can convey my message
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was through my music.
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And why music?
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Because music caters to the emotions.
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Music is joyful.
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Music pulls you in with the beat
and the rhythm and the melodies.
and the rhythm and the melodies.
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The music pulls you in
via the community aspect of it.
via the community aspect of it.
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And music allows you to access
somebody else's truth.
somebody else's truth.
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In the music I listen to today,
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sometimes I'm like, wow,
I love the rhythm so much,
I love the rhythm so much,
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but the message is so misogynist,
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it's tough to work out to our run to
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or do whatever it is
that I'm trying to do.
that I'm trying to do.
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I oftentimes say, "I'm not here
trying to turn up to the sound
trying to turn up to the sound
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of my own oppression."
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You feel me?
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(Laughter and cheers)
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So I'm here to build
the alternative instead.
the alternative instead.
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In my work, I talk often about
the notion that the future is female.
the notion that the future is female.
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That we can actually look
to the femme archetype
to the femme archetype
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and derive alternative
styles of leadership
styles of leadership
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that might encourage,
instead, collaboration,
instead, collaboration,
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emotional intelligence
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and building a world
that is linked and not ranked.
that is linked and not ranked.
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And so for anyone watching or listening
and experiencing this talk today,
and experiencing this talk today,
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I encourage you to consider
the blind spots in your work
the blind spots in your work
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and what partnerships
or collaborations you can do
or collaborations you can do
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to be able to make your work
have even greater of an impact.
have even greater of an impact.
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This next song is called "Bad Habits,"
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and it's about being
an even better version of yourself.
an even better version of yourself.
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(Percussion and beatboxing)
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(Singing) I had run out of time,
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I had done lost my mind,
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I had run out of time,
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I had done lost my mind.
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I didn't know
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why.
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I didn't know.
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I been so pressed that I don't even know
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what's bothering me.
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All my bad habits have go to, got to go
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entirely.
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It's my year to be free
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from what's bothering me.
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It's this society
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that's killing me.
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All my bad habits have got to, go to go.
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All my bad habits have got to, got to go.
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All my bad habits have got to, got to go.
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Yeah.
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All my bad habits have got to, got to go.
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Turn with me.
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(Beatboxing)
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Ready?
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Clap with me.
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(Audience claps)
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Now listen.
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(Singing) Fela Kuti in the 1970s
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inspires me.
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All he wanted was his people to be free
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from the colony,
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like Mahatma Gandhi in the 1940s.
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I've been reading about women's history
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in the 1920s,
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thinking about how I could be
so much better.
so much better.
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Thinking about all the tears I've cried.
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Thinking about how we could
be so much better.
be so much better.
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Thinking about all the tears we've cried.
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(Percussion)
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Yes.
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All my bad habits have got to, got to go.
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All my bad habits have got to, got to go.
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All my bad habits have got to, got to go.
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All my bad habits have got to, got to go.
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All my bad habits have got to, got to go.
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All my bad habits have got to, got to go.
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All my bad habits have got to, got to go.
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All my bad habits have got to, got to go.
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(Music ends)
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(Applause and cheers)
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Thank you.
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(Applause and cheers)
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ABOUT THE SPEAKERS
Madame Gandhi - Musician, activistMadame Gandhi’s mission is to elevate and celebrate the female voice.
Why you should listen
Kiran Gandhi, who performs as Madame Gandhi, is a Los Angeles-based musician, activist and music industry thinker, listed on Forbes 30 Under 30 music class of 2019. She has toured professionally, drumming for M.I.A and Thievery Corporation, and currently DJs, drums and produces music under her own name. Her song "The Future is Female" climbed to number 8 on the Viral US Top 50 Spotify Charts following the 2017 Women's March, and her solo EP Voices has received critical acclaim from outlets like FADER, Paper Mag and Milk.
Gandhi holds a Bachelor's Degree in mathematics, political science and women's studies from Georgetown and an MBA from Harvard Business School. Between 2011-2013, Gandhi worked at Interscope Records as their first ever digital analyst, studying patterns in Spotify and YouTube consumption behavior. In 2015, she ran the London Marathon free-bleeding to combat period stigma around the world, sparking a global viral conversation about how we treat menstruation in various cultures. She now travels often to perform and speak about modern gender equality, and she's also working on her full-length album.
Madame Gandhi | Speaker | TED.com
Amber Galloway-Gallego - Sign language interpreter
Amber Galloway-Gallego is a world-renowned ASL interpreter specializing in music.
Why you should listen
Amber Galloway-Gallego has more than 18 years of sign language interpreting experience and has a master's in ASL/English interpreting. Her certifications are National Certification RID CT&CI, NIC, Texas BEI Level V, Oral Certified: Comprehensive. She has been featured in Rolling Stone, Oprah and Out magazines. Vibe Magazine referred to her the as the most recognized sign language interpreter and "The Jay Z of Hip-Hop Sign Language." On television, she has been featured in "Totally Biased with W. Kamau Bell," "Jimmy Kimmel Live" and recently she was featured on "The Steve Harvey Show." Galloway-Gallego uses her status to fight for access and equality in the Deaf community.
Frequently praised for her ability to passionately convey the connection between lyrics and sounds, Galloway-Gallego's music interpretations demonstrate the emotional bonds which have driven music lovers to concerts for years. Her interpretations bring the music to life in a way that's not often seen in music interpreting. Deaf audience members have often said they are able to connect to music performance more than they ever had in the past. Her interpretations delighted and inspired hearing music aficionados to learn sign language. Galloway-Gallego has always loved music and the Deaf community, but it was not until she saw the San Antonio Deaf Dance Company and the Wild Zappers perform that she realized that she could hone her interpreting skills to bridge the access gap in the music industry.
Amber Galloway-Gallego | Speaker | TED.com