Bio (Name, Residence, Experience)

Did members of the Positive Brothers perform in the subways before?
Yes, most of us come from different performance backgrounds.

Where are the PB from?
Originated in the Bronx
Individuals from different places. 
He’s from Harlem.

Is the music player part of the group?
Every person is in the same group. Him just sitting and playing there probably makes someone want to punch him in the face because it makes more money. The thing is, he doesn’t need us. He makes more money with us, but he doesn’t need us. Everybody hustles in the way that’s comfortable for them. He hustles with music. Just cause we’re giving him a contract, it’s a mutual respect. As much respect as he gives us, we give right back.

Does he always play with you?
No, but it always starts with business. They started me with business. It develops into a relationship after a while. I had to play my cards right, but after a while I saw they saw me as a brother. Now everything switched. Now it was like, you need a place to live? Pull up. Once when we were uptown late, got a bottle because it was good, I was like my roommate’s going to be annoyed and they were like pull up man. So yeah, he’s not close with us right now, but who knows next year? We have treat them like business to protect ourselves but we don’t want to do that.

Video of Positive Brothers Performance

Background (when it started, what they do, where to find them)

When did the PB decide to get together?
Street performing passed down from generations
Early 70’s
He’s 18, started a couple years ago,
Oldest member in group for 15 years.

Do you use the same routine every time?
Back at the start it was much simpler. Just dancing and entertainment, no jokes or anything.
Now it’s a company and an official thing.

Is there a way to contact you?
Yes, personal email, Instagram, twitter, YouTube, business cards, company phone number.
There is also a younger group that come out once in a while.
We’re creating a platform for everyone, to provide them with instruments, etc.

Is this a part time or full time commitment?
Full time. All day every day.
We want to go out there and teach kids, maybe provide an alternative to 8 years of school.
8 months ago, life was completely different.

Also in the winter?
Yes.

How dangerous is it?
Depends on the person’s motives. Someone could be coming from a home where everyone is doing drugs, and you might want to just fix up your shoes, so they might want to cut you.
Sometimes you might help someone and get a smack in the face, just because that’s the type of guys he is.
Other times, they only want to smack you to make sure another guy doesn’t get comfortable with him, even though he’s not really that type of guy.

How often do you switch up group members?
Well I’m the last one so probably not anymore unless it’s for an old member. We’re really a family business, you don’t really add people to your family business. Not that we don’t want to. It’s a lot of commitment. Everyone covers for each other. Sometimes someone gets injured, and you have to cover for them, even if you don’t want to do it either. It’s all about the relationship. I view my audience as my mom and my dad and my little brother. It’s about entertainment. The ultimate goal is to get money, but there’s a million ways to get money. There’s a lot that comes out of this.

Is this a steady kind of income that you can rely on?
Mostly yes, but there are issues that we run into. Weather, protests. Car accidents and similar issues. It isn’t completely reliable.
Another issue is if one of the members isn’t fully into it, the audience can sense that.
This also has another consequence. If another group gets jealous of their income, they can’t really simply copy the routine and make money, because the audience is tuned into the vibe. It’s not that you don’t want the other groups to have food.
A lot of people had struggles with making it work, which caused some conflicts with the authorities
There were also a lot of trouble with the police about speakers and things, that other groups might be like “why can that guy have a speaker and I can’t” so rivalry is really a big part of street performing.

Feeling about the Job and Coworkers

Does it ever wear out?
Depends on the person. We’ve learned so much, even if we broke up now we could use the experience to move on to bigger and better things

Are all the people in your group coming with such strong motives?
Honestly, my group is not the kind that looks to recruit. They told me I was the last one, that I’m going to end it. We all came here for different reasons, but it felt right. We didn’t feel like we were on a different team. At some point, we were all living together. If I left right now they would feel a certain way, they’d be like, text his phone man, you aight? You good? What’s up?
We’re making money. So anytime you come into our group, we’re taking money out of our pocket and giving it to you. So, we have to feel a certain way about you to let you in; I don’t give money to strangers. So, when they told me I was the last one, that makes me feel a certain way. They sat there watching me on the subway, and we would say what’s up, because we see each other all the time. Then they give me a contract, and I’m like, hey don’t I know you? In the meantime, they were like hey, do your flip like this, do your flip like that. So, they were training me the whole time. I saw how they conducted, and how serious they had to be. So, if I just up and stop dancing because my leg hurts, that would hurt them. It’s like holding the door open for somebody, you don’t have to do it, but you do.

Can you think of your most memorable performance?
Not really. They’re all really good and spontaneous. Next week someone can ask me about this one.

Is this at all culturally related?
Honestly, yes. It’s deeper than you think. It’s not possible to say with words, it’s more of a way of thinking. African Americans and what we’ve been through with the government ties into what we do. Further back, the only thing you could do was hustle. You would be doing something illegal, like selling drugs or something. We aren’t a race that just takes. We do this for the money, but that’s not what it’s all about. That money has a purpose, it was always just a means for survival, it was a necessity. We were never really represented as street performers. 

Is there any positive impact from your work? Did you make any friends?
Yes, I hang out with these people all the time. I’ve lost a lot of friends over this. There’s a lot of bullies in this too, age doesn’t matter.
For me, I found a home. I went through a bit of a struggle myself, a different kind. I never thought I would end up in this.

Where ideally would it go for you personally?
I want to open a studio for myself, to teach kids and do choreography.

Challenges (police, taxes, routines)

What legal challenges do you come into?
One of the older members had a leg injury, but since he’s been in so long so he handles finances and getting gigs.
Some days we even just don’t perform, handling business matters. We’re busy with other stuff too like kids’ parties.
We just started recently, but we had an issue with being considered not paying our taxes.
Another general issue could be making sure you have enough space or performing in a space where you’re registered.
A store they’re performing in front of could stop them from playing music or something.
They can’t use a speaker, they have to do it with a live performer, though different shows bring out different outcomes.
Sometimes if we’re in a place they don’t care, we can just freestyle.

Is there anything you wanted to do but couldn’t?
Yes, some people take offense to some jokes. They used to do some taking off shirts for money or putting on a spandex suit. That doesn’t work with everyone; it depends on the audience.

Are there specific locations that work better for money?
Monuments and tourist locations work better. Every place has different types of audience.
There are a lot of different shows we do, and a lot of thinking that goes into it.

Future of the Company

Is there anything that you guys would do to incorporate the audience more?
Yes, we’re always looking for new things to do with the audience. We learn from them, languages and ethnic values. These jokes aren’t just made up, there’s a lot of work that got into them. We’ve been to a lot of different places.

Would you recommend this type of thing to the next generation?
Yes, definitely. There are a lot of pitfalls and things to avoid, and a lot of old guys weren’t trying to give back, they were just trying to make money. I’m comfortable with others making more than me, I don’t like holding grudges. If I was one of those guys, I would have a lot more beef, and maybe be dead.

If you yourself had children, would you recommend this to them?
Only if they dance with me. The problem is, sometimes you could tell a kid dance with me and I’ll give you 10 bucks. Then you make 1000 bucks in the show, he knows that’s wrong, but he’s too young to do anything about it. They don’t know any better to ask questions, no one told them to. 
You can tell the different drives of people even if they’re doing the same routine, and you could make more money than they are because of that.

Where do you see your company in the next 5 – 10 years?
We put too much on our plate. We’re doing like 50 things at the same time. Now we’re looking into Urban Life. We got some business cards, we’re looking for a store. 10 years from now, who knows if we’ll all know each other.

Positive Brothers Social Media:

Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/positive_brothers/?hl=en

Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/Positive-Brothers-232809761487/

YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2H5i86aFSrfnAOHMGpevsA/featured