Today we’d like to introduce you to Ali Balouch.
So, before we jump into specific questions, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
The best way I can recall my start in Dance & Music was being exposed and heavily influenced simultaneously by American Pop Music & Culture and being born of Pakistani (ethnically Balochi) descent my parents loved renting and watching Bollywood movies for family entertainment at Ameen Grocers off Bissonnet. As the late 80’s through the early 2000’s America became its most influential creating world-wide trends and music like Hip-Hop and birthing Mega Stars like Michael Jackson, Bollywood was eating it all up and spitting back highly animated and imaginative although not always original Music, Movies and Dance Moves that gave me so much Juice as a child to get up and bust a move. Today I can officially say I have successfully performed both my own original Hip Hop music & show and participated in an International Pakistani Award Show as a backup Bollywood Hip Hop Dancer and it feels funking awesome!
Has it been a smooth road?
Wooweeee not at all. The struggles of self were real and Peer Pressure and trying to fit in not only as a teenager but Slap on top being of Asian-Middle Eastern or Arab descent after 9/11 took place was in my experience a game changer in just about how everybody viewed and interacted with me from classmates down to the staff and teachers in school and also even neighbors and parents of others in the community. The world all around me was acting so damn different towards me for something I had absolutely nothing to do with and it made me so much wiser and able to be above any ignorant or prejudice I encountered.
When my passionate spark for dance combusted inside around late 2008 and I began actively pursuing and expressing my desires to learn and practice dance my family gave me an earful. My parents both actively insisted on me focusing on College and attaining a degree of some sorts or even attending a Technical School and getting a certification which if I could go back and re-do my ass would’ve definitely chosen the Certification Route but I digress. I being a rebellious teenager was just so done with being told how to live my life after barely graduating High School and being coerced into spending my adulthood slaving away for a boo boo salary I chose to go my own route. I spent hours on hours watching any and every dance video available on YouTube at the time learning and absorbing all that I can. When I finally got a job and had my own spending money I developed whack spending habits and a dependency on smoking Herb although I am a big Pro Legalization advocate and use it responsible NOW I can honestly say it stagnated my growth a bit at times during my adolescence choosing to buy dub sacs every week than take a dance class at one of the many dance studios growing in Houston were just some of the realizations I had but usually did very little about. Not taking away from the Master Classes and Workshops I have a taken that were tremendously beneficial to my journey. Just giving you some more perspective of the internal struggles I dealt with.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Yo Village! OB3 Productions. ArtiSun Roots story. Tell us more about the business.
SO, when I was solely pursuing Dance and wanting to create and imitate the type of videos I was super inspired by, I had the idea to produce my own Dance Videos and post them all to YouTube with the company name OB3 Productions back in 2010. It was randomly made up one day while I was on a basketball court hooping with my brothers and homies and it stuck. At first, it stood for Original Balouch’s 3, but as time grooved along and my brothers and I grew apart living our own lives it evolved to One Broadcasting 3. (One entity broadcasting and producing Film, Radio/Podcast and Blogging/Literature/Articles) Originally I wanted to make really cool & fun Bollywood style dance videos but I also love clowning with my friends and making comedy skits and short vids was always on my mind. Bringing my vision to life has all I’ve been pursuing since I finished school. It’s been exhausting attempting to Direct, Write, Act, Perform, Edit, Choreograph and Produce my own videos damn nearby myself so as of recently production has been on a bit of a standstill because my outdated camera friggin broke and being a father has become a full-time occupation.
Near the end of 2015, I was at a crossroads with life. The entire year I was a Full-Time Professional Dancer with the now retired Prototype Cru. We were creating together, performing all around Houston & accomplishing goals we set out. Shit was dope! I was working two different dance jobs sponsored by Dance Houston and had an incredibly supportive girlfriend at the time who is also a talented singer. Felt like I was living an actual movie for a second..but it flipped turned upside down damn near all at once. I was slowly being swallowed by the depression kitty with my Uncle passing, my crewmates retiring from Dance altogether and my Ex decided to pack up her shit for the summer and jetted to New York I was left all alone once more to figure shit out for myself.
After a really dope & intense acid trip I had with my homies mid 2016, I ended up quitting my whack ass warehouse job and embarked on a journey to rediscover myself. It was nearing the end of summer and I was teaching a free hip-hop dance class at the Alief Community Center when I ran into an old friend and a former dancer of Prototype Cru during their years at Alief Taylor High Michael Winters, Aka AfroKai. The Brother was a budding music producer and filmmaker and was also on a quest of finding self and exploring his talents when, after our hotbox session in the parking lot, we decided to collaborate. First, it was a dance video that AfroKai helped me create by holding the camera. And when he noticed how I direct and assert my vision he asked for a favor back and I helped film 2 of his music videos. A few months later, we’re kicking at his Home Studio working on a full album and that’s how Yo Village was born.
Since the beginning of 2017 we’ve actively worked together on numerous projects, events, shows, business meetings and collaborations. WE specialize in Funky Soulful Hip Hop music with a message. Our motto since the beginning was working together and collaboratively with others to “Build true Unity with the Community.” Our Community. We stand for injustice towards all minorities and We set our selves out to be a strong, leading, truthful voice for Our Generation. It’s more than just becoming the next big Hip-Hop/Pop Superstar, we hope to lead in the change towards a better more positive & progressive lifestyle by educating and informing the public on topics, subjects, and issues that are constantly swept under a rug in order to keep us in a mindless trance. Overall I am proud of our stance to stay completely independent, to be working and interacting with people who are just as passionate as we are. I am especially proud of us staying true to ourselves and being our most original and authentic selves WHEN making music or performing on stage. So many people copycat the most popular sounds and trends it’s just mentally draining to witness. and what sets us apart is that We CARE.
And last but not least ArtiSun Roots my most recent and active business frontier began sprouting. 2017 was such a significant year. Yo Village released their debut album titled Welcome to Alief in May and just as we’re starting to build our selves up to start performing at open mics Hurricane Harvey devastates Houston and the surrounding areas. Everything felt disheveled and throughout all the closed businesses, flooded streets and destruction. Love began blossoming in my world. The lady of my life stepped in the spotlight of my heart and began singing her song to me. We met sometime earlier that year at a Fried Chicken Festival I was working In while working for the short-lived yet well known fast food joint called Krisp Bird and Batter. We exchanged social medias and one thang lead to another, by the beginning of 2018 we were preparing our lives for a whole new journey…Parenthood.
To keep it short we both shared our dreams and passions with each other and explored several options of attaining entrepreneurship with our own joint Small Business. After many days scouring ideas from quick cash schemes to long term investments we both agreed that the most fulfilling job we want for ourselves involves using our hands. So out along with our son Khalief we birthed the concept of Artisun Roots. In summary Artisun Roots was answering the need of reducing pollution and decreasing the amount of trash being sent to landfills by re-purposing and recycling old, outdated furniture, jewelry and clothing to create beautiful pieces of home decor, jewelry, functional furniture and appealing clothing from older styles. We are still in our baby stages at the amount but very confident to mention it and promote it now. So be on the lookout for a launch date! 2020!!
How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
I believe that Boom Bap/Lofi Hiphop and honestly GOOD Quality Soulful Music in GENERAL is going to make a huuuge comeback. Music with a message will take over the airwaves for sometime and people from all over will hopefully be more in tune with exactly what’s going on around them and aren’t afraid to stand up and speak.
Being Authentic will be a requirement. Same with dance, it’s really starting to look like everyone is biting off each other and the few that are True to their Art and stay original hardly get any spotlight. At the end of the day its all a constant evolution and I just hope to project a significant input into the industry by being my true authentic self. There’s only one A.L.High/Adotfree.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://yovillage.bandcamp.com/album/welcome-to-alief
- Phone: 281-943-9885
- Email: bookyovillage@gmail.com / a.freeob3@gmail.com
- Instagram: a.l.high_yovillage
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ob3.tootrill
- Other: https://soundcloud.com/user-337420364-730441783/albums
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