WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.040 Have you ever been driving in your car, or maybe 00:00:03.040 --> 00:00:04.360 you're just sitting at home with your headphones 00:00:04.360 --> 00:00:08.039 on, listening to this massive generational hit 00:00:08.039 --> 00:00:10.759 song, and you find yourself wondering about the 00:00:10.759 --> 00:00:13.339 invisible hands that shaped it? Oh yeah, like 00:00:13.339 --> 00:00:15.939 not the face on the album cover. Right, exactly, 00:00:16.039 --> 00:00:18.179 not the lead singer screaming into the microphone, 00:00:18.640 --> 00:00:21.120 but the people operating in the shadows, the 00:00:21.120 --> 00:00:23.440 secret ingredients. The session players, the 00:00:23.440 --> 00:00:27.300 producers, the folks who... They aren't necessarily 00:00:27.300 --> 00:00:30.399 doing the press junkets, but who are absolutely 00:00:30.399 --> 00:00:33.079 vital to the sonic architecture of the music 00:00:33.079 --> 00:00:35.219 you're listening to. Yeah, we really love the 00:00:35.219 --> 00:00:37.399 myth of the lone genius, don't we? We do, but 00:00:37.399 --> 00:00:39.859 music, I mean, at its core is almost always a 00:00:39.859 --> 00:00:42.619 team sport. And the most crucial players are 00:00:42.619 --> 00:00:45.320 often the ones whose names you have to like squint 00:00:45.320 --> 00:00:48.280 to read in the liner notes. For sure. So today 00:00:48.280 --> 00:00:50.299 we are going deep into the story of one of the 00:00:50.299 --> 00:00:52.380 ultimate team players in modern music history. 00:00:52.780 --> 00:00:55.299 For this deep dive, we're pulling from a single 00:00:55.299 --> 00:00:58.079 source today, a Wikipedia page that details the 00:00:58.079 --> 00:01:01.340 life, the discography, and the frankly unbelievable 00:01:01.340 --> 00:01:04.560 trajectory of Mark Ramos Nishita. Right. Though 00:01:04.560 --> 00:01:07.219 you probably know him, or at least you know his 00:01:07.219 --> 00:01:10.219 work, under his professional name, which is Money 00:01:10.219 --> 00:01:13.719 Mark. Money Mark. Looking at the sheer volume 00:01:13.719 --> 00:01:16.859 and variety of his credits on this page, it - 00:01:16.890 --> 00:01:21.090 It reads less like a standard musician's biography 00:01:21.090 --> 00:01:24.030 and more like this blueprint of pop culture over 00:01:24.030 --> 00:01:26.930 the last 30 years. It really does. He is this 00:01:26.930 --> 00:01:29.469 through line connecting entirely different eras 00:01:29.469 --> 00:01:32.010 and, well, entirely different genres. So our 00:01:32.010 --> 00:01:34.069 mission for this deep dive is to explore how 00:01:34.069 --> 00:01:37.109 an everyday guy who is literally working as a 00:01:37.109 --> 00:01:40.090 carpenter, evolved into a secret sonic weapon 00:01:40.090 --> 00:01:42.590 for some of the biggest acts on the planet. Yeah, 00:01:42.790 --> 00:01:44.769 and more than that, extract some real -world 00:01:44.769 --> 00:01:47.189 lessons from his life. Exactly, lessons about 00:01:47.189 --> 00:01:49.329 versatility, about the power of behind -the -scenes 00:01:49.329 --> 00:01:51.849 influence, and how you, listening right now, 00:01:52.090 --> 00:01:53.969 might apply those same principles to your own 00:01:53.969 --> 00:01:56.129 life and career. OK, let's unpack this because 00:01:56.129 --> 00:01:58.170 this isn't just a biography. No, definitely not. 00:01:58.209 --> 00:02:00.450 This is an absolute masterclass in being in the 00:02:00.450 --> 00:02:03.329 right place at the right time and having the 00:02:03.329 --> 00:02:05.569 structural empathy to make yourself indispensable. 00:02:06.030 --> 00:02:08.050 I love that phrase. Structural empathy is the 00:02:08.050 --> 00:02:10.449 perfect term for it because he possessed this 00:02:10.449 --> 00:02:13.370 willingness to apply his skills in ways that 00:02:13.370 --> 00:02:15.990 nobody, like not even Mark himself, probably 00:02:15.990 --> 00:02:18.830 expected when he first started out. Well, let's 00:02:18.830 --> 00:02:20.849 set the stage with his early life, because I 00:02:20.849 --> 00:02:23.409 think it gives a lot of context to that versatility. 00:02:24.189 --> 00:02:27.509 So Mark was born in Detroit in 1960. His father 00:02:27.509 --> 00:02:30.090 was Japanese Hawaiian, and his mother was Chicana. 00:02:30.289 --> 00:02:32.129 Right. And then the family moved to Los Angeles 00:02:32.129 --> 00:02:34.349 when he was, what, six years old? Six years old, 00:02:34.430 --> 00:02:37.669 yeah. So right away, you have this rich, incredibly 00:02:37.669 --> 00:02:40.550 diverse background, and it drops him right into 00:02:40.550 --> 00:02:43.550 the melting pot of LA culture during some highly 00:02:43.550 --> 00:02:46.219 formative decades for music. Oh, absolutely. 00:02:46.580 --> 00:02:49.500 I mean, he's absorbing the funk, the soul, the 00:02:49.500 --> 00:02:52.080 emerging hip hop scenes, the punk rock, all of 00:02:52.080 --> 00:02:54.800 it colliding in Los Angeles in the 70s and 80s. 00:02:54.879 --> 00:02:57.460 It's quite a mix. It is. And that eclectic environment, 00:02:57.860 --> 00:03:00.580 it becomes the foundational vocabulary for, well, 00:03:00.919 --> 00:03:02.819 everything he does later. But if we jump forward 00:03:02.819 --> 00:03:06.300 a bit to the late 80s, he's not exactly, you 00:03:06.300 --> 00:03:08.360 know, climbing the traditional music industry 00:03:08.360 --> 00:03:10.599 ladder. No, not at all. He's actually working 00:03:10.599 --> 00:03:13.419 as a carpenter. Which leads to the defining anecdote 00:03:13.419 --> 00:03:16.240 of his entire career. So he has this mutual friend, 00:03:16.780 --> 00:03:19.199 Mario Caldado Jr., who's a legendary producer. 00:03:19.319 --> 00:03:22.520 Right, Mario C. Exactly. And Mario asks Mark 00:03:22.520 --> 00:03:25.259 to come over and fix a wooden gate. Just a busted 00:03:25.259 --> 00:03:27.860 gate at the entrance of a property. But it just 00:03:27.860 --> 00:03:29.740 so happens that this property is where the Beastie 00:03:29.740 --> 00:03:32.180 Boys are staying. Of all people. And they are 00:03:32.180 --> 00:03:34.360 in the middle of recording their landmark album. 00:03:34.620 --> 00:03:37.199 Paul's boutique. It sounds like complete fiction. 00:03:37.460 --> 00:03:39.879 You have one of the most important hip -hop groups 00:03:39.879 --> 00:03:42.979 of the era inside basically revolutionizing the 00:03:42.979 --> 00:03:46.099 genre and Mark is outside holding a hammer. It 00:03:46.099 --> 00:03:49.439 really does. It's like hiring a guy to fix your 00:03:49.439 --> 00:03:51.780 plumbing, and he ends up cooking you a Michelin 00:03:51.780 --> 00:03:53.599 star dinner. That's a great way to put it. But 00:03:53.599 --> 00:03:55.340 how does that happen? How does someone go from 00:03:55.340 --> 00:03:58.180 fixing a gate to actually shaping the music? 00:03:58.360 --> 00:04:00.740 Well, what's fascinating here is the intersection 00:04:00.740 --> 00:04:03.900 of practical utility and creative opportunity. 00:04:04.379 --> 00:04:06.860 Because he didn't just fix the gate and hand 00:04:06.860 --> 00:04:09.719 them a demo tape. He actually stayed on to help 00:04:09.719 --> 00:04:12.020 the Beastie Boys build their brand new recording 00:04:12.020 --> 00:04:14.680 space, which became known as G -Son Studios. 00:04:15.050 --> 00:04:17.730 And when you are constructing the studio, you 00:04:17.730 --> 00:04:21.029 are dealing with the literal architecture of 00:04:21.029 --> 00:04:23.449 the sound. You know exactly where the cables 00:04:23.449 --> 00:04:25.649 run. You understand the acoustics of the room 00:04:25.649 --> 00:04:27.810 because, well, you built the walls. You literally 00:04:27.810 --> 00:04:31.430 put them up. Exactly. He is making himself physically 00:04:31.430 --> 00:04:34.350 indispensable to their environment. So he's there 00:04:34.350 --> 00:04:37.170 solving problems for them in real time every 00:04:37.170 --> 00:04:40.199 single day. Precisely. And that physical proximity 00:04:40.199 --> 00:04:43.139 naturally erodes the boundary between, you know, 00:04:43.279 --> 00:04:45.199 the guy building the studio and the guys making 00:04:45.199 --> 00:04:47.360 the album. That makes total sense. He wasn't 00:04:47.360 --> 00:04:50.139 some studio executive coming in in a suit to 00:04:50.139 --> 00:04:53.439 dictate terms. He was a peer. He was sweating 00:04:53.439 --> 00:04:55.759 it out, building the foundation of their creative 00:04:55.759 --> 00:04:58.939 home. And when you establish that level of trust 00:04:58.939 --> 00:05:01.420 on a practical, physical level, translating it 00:05:01.420 --> 00:05:04.220 to a musical level is it's a much smaller leap. 00:05:04.500 --> 00:05:07.110 Which brings us to the music itself. Because 00:05:07.110 --> 00:05:10.209 he built GSUN Studios, he was intimately integrated 00:05:10.209 --> 00:05:13.170 into their daily lives, and he transitioned seamlessly 00:05:13.170 --> 00:05:15.629 into becoming a principal collaborator. A huge 00:05:15.629 --> 00:05:18.629 one. This kicks off an incredible historic run. 00:05:19.230 --> 00:05:21.769 It starts with their 1992 album, Check Your Head. 00:05:22.350 --> 00:05:25.069 He performs, he writes, and he collaborates on 00:05:25.069 --> 00:05:27.750 every single B .C. Boy's album all the way through 00:05:27.750 --> 00:05:30.209 to their final record, Hot Sauce Committee Part 00:05:30.209 --> 00:05:34.790 2, in 2011. Wow. He even co -authors the mix 00:05:34.790 --> 00:05:37.649 -up, which actually wins a Grammy. But wait, 00:05:37.730 --> 00:05:39.170 I have to stop you here. I want to push back 00:05:39.170 --> 00:05:41.550 on this. Oh, sure. Let's hear it. We know the 00:05:41.550 --> 00:05:44.550 Beastie Boys as this tight -knit trio. There 00:05:44.550 --> 00:05:46.889 were three guys from New York who grew up together, 00:05:47.470 --> 00:05:49.949 inside jokes piled upon inside jokes. I mean, 00:05:49.970 --> 00:05:51.829 they practically finished each other's sentences. 00:05:51.889 --> 00:05:54.149 Oh, absolutely insular. So why would they let 00:05:54.149 --> 00:05:56.610 an outsider, even one who built their studio, 00:05:57.050 --> 00:06:00.209 become so integral that he co -writes a Grammy 00:06:00.209 --> 00:06:01.889 -winning album with them. It just seems out of 00:06:01.889 --> 00:06:03.730 character. Well, it's because their formula was 00:06:03.730 --> 00:06:06.129 breaking down and they desperately needed a bridge. 00:06:06.290 --> 00:06:08.930 A bridge? Yeah. Think about where the Beastie 00:06:08.930 --> 00:06:12.310 Boys were at that exact moment. Paul's Boutique 00:06:12.310 --> 00:06:16.189 was this masterpiece built on hundreds of intricate, 00:06:16.610 --> 00:06:19.899 dense samples. But... The legal landscape around 00:06:19.899 --> 00:06:22.800 sampling was changing dramatically right then. 00:06:22.839 --> 00:06:25.319 It was becoming too expensive and frankly legally 00:06:25.319 --> 00:06:27.560 perilous to make records that way anymore. I 00:06:27.560 --> 00:06:30.899 see. So they made a massive pivot. They decided 00:06:30.899 --> 00:06:33.600 to go back to their punk roots and actually play 00:06:33.600 --> 00:06:35.579 live instruments themselves. Right. But they 00:06:35.579 --> 00:06:38.560 weren't exactly virtuoso musicians. I mean, they 00:06:38.560 --> 00:06:41.779 had punk energy, sure, but maybe not the deep, 00:06:42.040 --> 00:06:44.620 grooving musical trumps required for the funk 00:06:44.620 --> 00:06:47.040 and soul sounds they clearly wanted to explore. 00:06:47.240 --> 00:06:49.300 which is exactly where Money Mark becomes the 00:06:49.300 --> 00:06:52.660 glue guy. The band is walking this creative tightrope 00:06:52.660 --> 00:06:54.620 trying to figure out how to be a live band again. 00:06:55.199 --> 00:06:58.199 Mark's specific skills, particularly his mastery 00:06:58.199 --> 00:07:01.740 of keyboards and the melodica, provided the foundational 00:07:01.740 --> 00:07:04.000 groove that they lacked. We should probably quickly 00:07:04.000 --> 00:07:05.800 explain the melodica for anyone who hasn't seen 00:07:05.800 --> 00:07:07.819 one. It's basically this mini keyboard that you 00:07:07.819 --> 00:07:10.220 hold in your hands and you blow into a mouthpiece 00:07:10.220 --> 00:07:12.480 like a flute to make the sound. Yeah, and it 00:07:12.480 --> 00:07:16.379 has this incredibly distinct wheezy analog tone. 00:07:16.519 --> 00:07:19.939 It's quirky, it's portable, and it completely 00:07:19.939 --> 00:07:22.740 changed their sonic texture. That's so interesting. 00:07:23.019 --> 00:07:25.180 Mark brought in the melodica, he brought in vintage 00:07:25.180 --> 00:07:28.519 keyboards, and he laid down these funky, soulful, 00:07:28.720 --> 00:07:31.939 rhythmic underpinnings. He anchored their raw 00:07:31.939 --> 00:07:35.240 punk energy with legitimate musical theory and 00:07:35.240 --> 00:07:37.600 deep funk grooves. So he was the safety net. 00:07:37.680 --> 00:07:40.879 He was the architecture. And crucially... He 00:07:40.879 --> 00:07:42.860 wasn't trying to outwrap them or be the fourth 00:07:42.860 --> 00:07:44.899 frontman, which is why he wasn't a threat to 00:07:44.899 --> 00:07:46.980 their insular dynamic. Oh, that's a huge point. 00:07:47.180 --> 00:07:49.899 Right. He just filled the sonic gaps. You don't 00:07:49.899 --> 00:07:52.060 penetrate a tight -knit group by competing with 00:07:52.060 --> 00:07:54.379 them. You do it by offering a complementary skill 00:07:54.379 --> 00:07:57.139 that elevates the whole unit. That is such a 00:07:57.139 --> 00:07:59.279 crucial lesson for anyone working in a team. 00:07:59.800 --> 00:08:03.139 Provide the floor they can dance on. And this 00:08:03.139 --> 00:08:06.160 mastery of building the sonic foundation naturally 00:08:06.160 --> 00:08:08.879 leads into his own creative overflow. Of course 00:08:08.879 --> 00:08:11.560 it does. Because after you've spent years establishing 00:08:11.560 --> 00:08:13.500 the sound of a generation with the Beastie Boys, 00:08:14.019 --> 00:08:15.920 you have all this energy and all these ideas 00:08:15.920 --> 00:08:18.379 that maybe don't fit the band's specific vibe. 00:08:18.480 --> 00:08:20.740 Right, you need an outlet. Exactly. So what does 00:08:20.740 --> 00:08:23.040 the ultimate glue guy sound like when he is left 00:08:23.040 --> 00:08:25.709 entirely to his own devices? You get the reluctant 00:08:25.709 --> 00:08:28.329 frontman and, honestly, a really fascinating 00:08:28.329 --> 00:08:31.509 case study in aesthetics versus fidelity. Yes. 00:08:31.850 --> 00:08:34.009 Let's talk about his solo discography because 00:08:34.009 --> 00:08:37.629 it's wild. In 1995, Money Mark releases his debut 00:08:37.629 --> 00:08:41.190 album, Mark's Keyboard Repair. It's this collection 00:08:41.190 --> 00:08:44.370 of keyboard -driven pop -funk songs. But the 00:08:44.370 --> 00:08:46.429 defining characteristic, according to the source, 00:08:46.909 --> 00:08:49.529 is that it was recorded at demo quality. Yes. 00:08:49.710 --> 00:08:52.070 It is aggressively unpolished. We're talking 00:08:52.070 --> 00:08:55.529 hiss, room noise, imperfections everywhere. It 00:08:55.529 --> 00:08:57.590 sounds like a rough draft. And I want you, the 00:08:57.590 --> 00:08:59.370 listener, to really think about that for a second. 00:08:59.629 --> 00:09:02.149 Think about the last major project you submitted 00:09:02.149 --> 00:09:04.590 at work or presentation you had to give. Would 00:09:04.590 --> 00:09:07.090 you have dared to hand in your messy first draft? 00:09:07.149 --> 00:09:09.909 Probably not. The sheer confidence it takes to 00:09:09.909 --> 00:09:13.590 release unpolished raw work to the world is staggering 00:09:13.590 --> 00:09:15.350 to me. And this raises an important question, 00:09:15.490 --> 00:09:17.149 right? In a music industry that is generally 00:09:17.149 --> 00:09:19.470 obsessed with perfection, with endless vocal 00:09:19.470 --> 00:09:22.269 takes, pristine mixing, snapping everything perfectly 00:09:22.269 --> 00:09:25.389 to a digital grid, why did releasing a lo -fi 00:09:25.389 --> 00:09:28.029 demo quality album actually work for him? Because 00:09:28.029 --> 00:09:32.059 it clearly did work. Director Guy Ritchie even 00:09:32.059 --> 00:09:34.940 plucked a track straight from that album to use 00:09:34.940 --> 00:09:37.879 in his hyper -stylized film, Lock Stock and Two 00:09:37.879 --> 00:09:40.460 Smoking Barrels. Exactly. It worked because of 00:09:40.460 --> 00:09:43.399 the intimacy it created. When you polish a track 00:09:43.399 --> 00:09:46.200 too much, you can actually scrub away its soul. 00:09:46.600 --> 00:09:49.139 You create this barrier between the artist and 00:09:49.139 --> 00:09:52.100 the listener. Makes sense. Mark's rough, demo 00:09:52.100 --> 00:09:54.620 -quality aesthetic was a stylistic choice that 00:09:54.620 --> 00:09:57.500 communicated absolute immediacy. It felt like 00:09:57.500 --> 00:09:59.059 he was sitting on the couch in the room with 00:09:59.059 --> 00:10:00.960 him while he was just messing around on the keyboard 00:10:00.960 --> 00:10:03.759 finding a groove. Just hanging out. Yeah. And 00:10:03.759 --> 00:10:06.000 for creators like Guy Ritchie who were looking 00:10:06.000 --> 00:10:08.799 for gritty, authentic textures to ground their 00:10:08.799 --> 00:10:12.019 cinematic worlds, that raw sound was incredibly 00:10:12.019 --> 00:10:14.799 appealing. It proves that sometimes the emotional 00:10:14.799 --> 00:10:16.940 vibe is much more important than the technical 00:10:16.940 --> 00:10:19.840 fidelity. The vibe over the fidelity. I love 00:10:19.840 --> 00:10:21.840 that. And you know, he didn't just stay in that 00:10:21.840 --> 00:10:24.159 low -fi lane either. His solo work evolves so 00:10:24.159 --> 00:10:27.080 rapidly. It really does. By 1998, he releases 00:10:27.080 --> 00:10:29.769 an album called Push the Button. It gets massive 00:10:29.769 --> 00:10:32.389 critical praise for blending rock, pop, soul, 00:10:32.549 --> 00:10:35.909 funk, and hip hop. And then in 2001, he drops 00:10:35.909 --> 00:10:39.309 Changes Coming, pivoting entirely to a tropical, 00:10:39.570 --> 00:10:42.470 danceable disco and funk sound. He is just genre 00:10:42.470 --> 00:10:44.769 hopping with absolute impunity at this point, 00:10:45.090 --> 00:10:46.990 synthesizing all those influences we talked about 00:10:46.990 --> 00:10:49.610 from his childhood in Los Angeles. And this genre 00:10:49.610 --> 00:10:52.269 fluidity serves as a perfect resume for the next 00:10:52.269 --> 00:10:54.330 phase of his career, because he proves he isn't 00:10:54.330 --> 00:10:57.490 just a 90s alternative hip hop guy. He is a musical 00:10:57.490 --> 00:11:01.350 savant. This eclectic solo output turns him into 00:11:01.350 --> 00:11:04.210 the ultimate hired gun for Hollywood and for 00:11:04.210 --> 00:11:06.429 a wildly diverse array of other artists. We enter 00:11:06.429 --> 00:11:08.389 the chameleon phase, but what's interesting is 00:11:08.389 --> 00:11:10.750 how he adapts his sound to the specific thematic 00:11:10.750 --> 00:11:13.429 needs of entirely different visual media. Exactly. 00:11:13.490 --> 00:11:15.690 Instead of just listing off his IMDB page, let's 00:11:15.690 --> 00:11:17.990 look at the range here. On one end of the spectrum, 00:11:18.250 --> 00:11:21.190 he scores HBO's Family Bonds, which is a gritty 00:11:21.190 --> 00:11:23.710 documentary series. He plays all the instruments 00:11:23.710 --> 00:11:27.090 himself, leaning into raw, unvarnished textures 00:11:27.090 --> 00:11:30.730 that fit a documentary. But then, on the complete 00:11:30.730 --> 00:11:32.850 opposite end of the spectrum, he's contributing 00:11:32.850 --> 00:11:35.929 music to massive, glossy Hollywood blockbuster 00:11:35.929 --> 00:11:39.110 comedies like Along Came Polly or The Devil Wears 00:11:39.110 --> 00:11:41.740 Prada. Right. And scoring a high fashion corporate 00:11:41.740 --> 00:11:43.700 comedy requires a completely different sonic 00:11:43.700 --> 00:11:46.340 palette than a gritty documentary. Really different. 00:11:46.519 --> 00:11:48.899 It requires an understanding of how music manipulates 00:11:48.899 --> 00:11:51.379 emotion in a highly polished commercial setting. 00:11:51.779 --> 00:11:53.840 Here's where it gets really interesting, though. 00:11:54.340 --> 00:11:56.700 The musical collaborations. Again, the range 00:11:56.700 --> 00:11:59.700 is just dizzying. If you look at the liner notes 00:11:59.700 --> 00:12:03.929 of Beck's massive 1996 hit, Where It's At, you 00:12:03.929 --> 00:12:06.610 find Money Mark. Oh, of course. He provided that 00:12:06.610 --> 00:12:09.129 iconic opening electric piano phrase that sets 00:12:09.129 --> 00:12:11.490 the entire mood for the song. When you think 00:12:11.490 --> 00:12:14.029 of that track, you know, two turntables and a 00:12:14.029 --> 00:12:16.629 microphone, it doesn't work without that foundational, 00:12:17.029 --> 00:12:19.149 slightly off -kilter keyboard riff anchoring 00:12:19.149 --> 00:12:22.169 it. Absolutely. Then he piddits to playing with 00:12:22.169 --> 00:12:24.870 the Omar Rodriguez Lopez quintet, navigating 00:12:24.870 --> 00:12:28.850 deeply complex, experimental rock. He jumps into 00:12:28.850 --> 00:12:31.029 the studio with the Red Hot Chili Peppers to 00:12:31.029 --> 00:12:33.269 play the Hammond B3 organ on their song, Look 00:12:33.269 --> 00:12:35.440 Around. And we should probably explain the Hammond 00:12:35.440 --> 00:12:38.200 B3, because it's not just any keyboard. Not at 00:12:38.200 --> 00:12:41.639 all. It is this massive mechanical beast of an 00:12:41.639 --> 00:12:44.379 organ with spinning speakers inside the cabinet. 00:12:44.679 --> 00:12:47.820 It gives rock music this deep, vibrating, almost 00:12:47.820 --> 00:12:50.820 church -like resonance. To play it well, especially 00:12:50.820 --> 00:12:53.659 in a fast -paced funk rock song, it requires 00:12:53.659 --> 00:12:56.419 serious technical chops and an aggressive rhythmic 00:12:56.419 --> 00:12:58.799 sensibility. Which he casually drops into a Chili 00:12:58.799 --> 00:13:00.659 Peppers track right around the same time he's 00:13:00.659 --> 00:13:03.179 doing recording sessions with legacy icons like 00:13:03.149 --> 00:13:05.230 like Yoko Ono, Iggy Pop, and the Rolling Stones. 00:13:05.289 --> 00:13:07.309 It's just unbelievable. But he doesn't just stay 00:13:07.309 --> 00:13:09.830 in the 90s and 2000s either. He connects generations. 00:13:10.549 --> 00:13:13.129 Fast forward to 2020, and he's featured on a 00:13:13.129 --> 00:13:15.870 track called Isolation Bird with Linkin Park 00:13:15.870 --> 00:13:20.149 frontman Mike Shinoda. Wow. In 2023, he's performing 00:13:20.149 --> 00:13:22.710 on the keyboard for Cypress Hill on their NPR 00:13:22.710 --> 00:13:26.129 Tiny Desk concert. See, he's not resting on his 00:13:26.129 --> 00:13:29.240 legacy. He is still actively in the room, shaping 00:13:29.240 --> 00:13:31.519 the culture as it happens. And that leads to 00:13:31.519 --> 00:13:33.659 the most mind -blowing collaboration of all to 00:13:33.659 --> 00:13:37.500 me. According to the source, in 2021, a talent 00:13:37.500 --> 00:13:40.240 manager connects Money Mark with a Japanese girl 00:13:40.240 --> 00:13:43.019 group called Atarji Gakko. Talk about a pivot. 00:13:43.320 --> 00:13:45.799 Right. He co -writes and produces songs for their 00:13:45.799 --> 00:13:49.909 EP and their 2024 album. He is explicitly credited 00:13:49.909 --> 00:13:52.129 with spurring the evolution of the group's sound 00:13:52.129 --> 00:13:54.250 and image. That's incredible. I mean, how does 00:13:54.250 --> 00:13:56.830 a guy who started out fixing a gate for a hip 00:13:56.830 --> 00:13:59.990 hop group in the early 90s end up evolving the 00:13:59.990 --> 00:14:03.250 sound of a J -pop girl group in 2024? What is 00:14:03.250 --> 00:14:05.850 the mechanism there? Well, he applied his understanding 00:14:05.850 --> 00:14:08.950 of deep funk grooves to ground their hyper -energetic 00:14:08.950 --> 00:14:12.429 pop vocals. He didn't force a 90s boom bat beat 00:14:12.429 --> 00:14:15.549 onto a 2020s J -pop groove. Right. Instead, he 00:14:15.549 --> 00:14:17.429 recognized that beneath the glossy surface of 00:14:17.429 --> 00:14:19.710 modern pop, there is always a need for a foundational 00:14:19.710 --> 00:14:22.070 rhythm, a pocket that the vocals can just sit 00:14:22.070 --> 00:14:24.809 in. He bridged those two entirely different musical 00:14:24.809 --> 00:14:27.350 worlds by finding the shared DNA of the groove. 00:14:27.730 --> 00:14:29.549 That is structural empathy in action right there. 00:14:29.710 --> 00:14:32.049 It really is. And if we connect this to the bigger 00:14:32.049 --> 00:14:34.370 picture, it tells us exactly what makes a true 00:14:34.370 --> 00:14:38.190 chameleon in any field. How so? Well, being a 00:14:38.190 --> 00:14:41.029 chameleon isn't about having no personality of 00:14:41.029 --> 00:14:42.970 your own, and it certainly isn't about imposing 00:14:42.970 --> 00:14:45.490 your rigid signature onto someone else's project. 00:14:45.950 --> 00:14:49.309 It is entirely about the art of listening. Listening? 00:14:49.929 --> 00:14:52.279 Yeah. When Mark steps into a room with the Chili 00:14:52.279 --> 00:14:54.679 Peppers, or when he is sitting in a studio in 00:14:54.679 --> 00:14:57.659 Japan with a Tarashi Gakko, his first instinct 00:14:57.659 --> 00:14:59.940 isn't, how do I make this sound like Money Mark? 00:15:00.440 --> 00:15:03.240 His instinct is, what does the architecture of 00:15:03.240 --> 00:15:05.799 this specific project need to stand up and reach 00:15:05.799 --> 00:15:08.360 its highest potential? He's constantly subordinating 00:15:08.360 --> 00:15:10.460 his own ego to serve the greater good of the 00:15:10.460 --> 00:15:13.539 song. Exactly. He remains a relentless student 00:15:13.539 --> 00:15:16.600 of music. He approaches every single genre, whether 00:15:16.600 --> 00:15:19.519 it's alternative rock, tropical disco, or J -pop 00:15:19.519 --> 00:15:23.090 with genuine humility and curiosity. And paradoxically, 00:15:23.649 --> 00:15:26.309 by remaining a student for his entire life, he 00:15:26.309 --> 00:15:28.570 becomes the ultimate teacher and guide for the 00:15:28.570 --> 00:15:31.289 artists he works with. The loudest voice in the 00:15:31.289 --> 00:15:34.330 room often burns out. The person who listens, 00:15:34.509 --> 00:15:37.929 adapts, and serves the greater good becomes indispensable 00:15:37.929 --> 00:15:41.190 across decades and across cultures. That's beautifully 00:15:41.190 --> 00:15:43.409 said. So as we wrap up this deep dive, I want 00:15:43.409 --> 00:15:45.129 to bring this all back to you, the listener. 00:15:45.710 --> 00:15:47.769 Think about how you operate in your own team. 00:15:47.850 --> 00:15:50.289 your own workplace or your own creative endeavors. 00:15:50.429 --> 00:15:52.929 Yeah, how do you fit in? The life of Mark Ramos 00:15:52.929 --> 00:15:55.309 Nishida teaches us that you don't always have 00:15:55.309 --> 00:15:57.470 to be the loudest voice. You don't have to be 00:15:57.470 --> 00:16:00.309 the face on the poster to leave a massive, indelible 00:16:00.309 --> 00:16:03.789 legacy on your field. The core aha moment here 00:16:03.789 --> 00:16:07.169 is the immense power of structural empathy. Absolutely. 00:16:07.289 --> 00:16:09.509 Sometimes the most powerful and enduring position 00:16:09.509 --> 00:16:12.490 you can hold is that of the versatile collaborator. 00:16:13.250 --> 00:16:16.240 Be the person who can humbly fix the gate. understand 00:16:16.240 --> 00:16:18.759 the foundation of the house, and then step inside 00:16:18.759 --> 00:16:20.460 to write the Grammy -winning hook when the moment 00:16:20.460 --> 00:16:22.720 calls for it. And that leaves me with the final 00:16:22.720 --> 00:16:25.179 somewhat provocative thought to mull over. Ooh, 00:16:25.320 --> 00:16:28.259 let's hear it. We've traced how Money Mark's 00:16:28.259 --> 00:16:31.679 influence stretches seamlessly from 1990s hip 00:16:31.679 --> 00:16:35.659 -hop all the way to shaping the image of a 2020s 00:16:35.659 --> 00:16:37.740 J -pop group hiding right there in the liner 00:16:37.740 --> 00:16:40.830 notes. Right. It makes you wonder... When we 00:16:40.830 --> 00:16:42.649 look back at the grand history of pop culture, 00:16:42.870 --> 00:16:45.529 the defining trends, the massive shifts in art 00:16:45.529 --> 00:16:48.509 and media, how much of what we consider the spirit 00:16:48.509 --> 00:16:51.110 of the times is actually being puppeteered by 00:16:51.110 --> 00:16:54.490 a handful of invisible cross -generational chameleons 00:16:54.490 --> 00:16:57.250 who simply knew how to listen better than anyone 00:16:57.250 --> 00:16:59.629 else in the room? That is a brilliant question. 00:17:00.029 --> 00:17:02.129 The invisible hand shaping everything we hear. 00:17:02.540 --> 00:17:04.500 Well, thank you so much for joining us on this 00:17:04.500 --> 00:17:06.859 deep dive. We hope you walk away with a newfound 00:17:06.859 --> 00:17:09.039 appreciation for the glue guys, the listeners, 00:17:09.440 --> 00:17:11.460 and the structural empaths to the world. Hear, 00:17:11.480 --> 00:17:13.200 hear. The next time you put on your favorite 00:17:13.200 --> 00:17:15.880 90s track or even the newest pop hit, listen 00:17:15.880 --> 00:17:17.880 closely to the layers beneath the lead vocal. 00:17:18.099 --> 00:17:20.339 You might just hear a wheezy melodica or a purring 00:17:20.339 --> 00:17:22.339 Hammond B3 in the background, and you'll know 00:17:22.339 --> 00:17:24.740 exactly who is holding the whole thing together. 00:17:25.359 --> 00:17:27.000 Keep listening, keep learning, and we'll catch 00:17:27.000 --> 00:17:27.480 you next time.