123. On lifelong passions and aging in a youthful society.

Hi everyone and welcome to Project Mindset, the channel for all those who know that with the right mindset, anything is possible. I’m so glad you’re joining me again today. In today’s podcast episode, I actually want to talk about two topics and give you a little preview of an interview I’ll be doing soon. So, a podcast interview, and it’s with one of my heroes from my youth: Toni L., aka Toni Landomini.

This is a musician and rapper from Heidelberg who, along with Torch (whom I also had on this podcast once) and someone else, Lingoist, among others, founded the rap group Advanced Chemistry. Advanced Chemistry are considered one of the founders of German hip-hop. And what I find crazy is that Toni L., Torch, and Lingoist, among others, have been recognized by UNESCO as intangible cultural heritage. So, for me, that’s crazy. Hip-hop in Heidelberg has been honored in this way, and I get to talk to Toni L. about his mindset in just a few weeks, on May 29th.

Two questions for Toni L.

Of course, we also talk about hip-hop and its beginnings in Heidelberg and elsewhere, but what particularly interests me about him is, of course, what makes a person like Toni L. tick. And there are two things about Toni L. that especially interest me, and I’d like to briefly discuss them with you beforehand. First, Toni L. has been involved in hip-hop for over 40 years. It’s truly crazy how long he’s been doing it.

Maintaining that discipline, or rather, that passion for a subject for so long, is one thing. That really impresses me. So that’s one aspect. And the other aspect is how a person like Toni L., in this context, thrives in an environment where youth is so highly hyped, where youthfulness is so highly valued. In hip-hop, it’s ubiquitous; new young hip-hop artists are constantly emerging who are very well-known for a while, where their music is heavily played.

After a few years, you don’t hear anything about them anymore.

How does he manage to grow old in such an environment? These might seem like simple questions, but for me, they’re incredibly relevant and perfectly aligned with the topics that currently interest me. One aspect is maintaining a passion for a particular subject over such a long period. And that can be anything. I’m currently exploring this myself. You might know this from a podcast I’ve done. I absolutely love playing basketball.

When motivation in basketball wanes

I think I’ve been doing this for 25 or 26 years. So, generously speaking, I’ve been playing basketball for 30 years. And I’m currently in a phase where I don’t have as much enthusiasm for it anymore, where I even have to kind of force myself to go to practice. To be honest, that surprises me. But I just don’t have that same drive anymore. And that’s why I’m asking myself these questions. Of course, my 30 years of playing basketball are nothing compared to Toni L.’s 40 years of hip-hop.

But I do wonder, how do you manage it? And it doesn’t have to be a hobby. It could be a job, or a relationship, or even a friendship. Whatever it is. How do you manage to keep the flame burning for so long, to pursue your passion, your original passion? How do you get through a rough patch? And I’m sure that Toni L. also considered quitting hip-hop at some point.

What makes lifelong passion worthwhile

I’ll ask him that too. But he has this legendary status. And if you live in Heidelberg, you know Toni L. and you know Torch. He doesn’t have this legendary status because he’s been doing hip-hop for three years, or four years, or even ten years, but because he’s been involved in hip-hop for 40 years, and there’s still a lot to come. I recently had the opportunity to discuss this with him. So, hip-hop and Toni L. are far from over; he’s already launching new projects.

He also visits schools, for example, where he talks to young people about bullying, trying to understand and address the issue, to do something about it. I hear from many sources that bullying is a very, very pressing problem in schools. I think it’s fantastic that he’s so committed to this. And I wonder, hey, if he’s been doing this for so many years and will probably continue for another 20, how does he manage to stay so enthusiastic?

What an abandoned startup teaches us about lifelong passion

And as I said, basketball is one of the topics I’m currently reflecting on, something I’m really considering. I occasionally think about what would have happened if, for example, I had a certain project back then and then stopped because I lost interest, lost motivation, or maybe I just didn’t feel like continuing with it anymore, given the problems that were arising. I’ve mentioned it here and there in a podcast: I once had a startup that I worked on intensively for several years, and then at some point I hit a rough patch and faced some challenges, and I just thought, oh no, I really don’t feel like pushing on with that anymore.

My decision was to leave it as it was for now, give it all up, and move on in a different direction. And looking back, I’m not thinking in terms of “what ifs,” but rather, “what if I had persevered?” Could I have continued with my startup back then? What if I had said, “I’ll keep going for a year,” or “I’ll keep going for two years and then decide,” or “I’ll keep going for three years and then decide”? These are the kinds of questions I’m asking now, not in the sense of regret, but because I believe I had good reasons for doing what I did back then.

Maintaining lifelong passion through difficult phases

But to get back to the point about Toni L. and his mindset, he’s been doing this for 40 years. I’m sure there were times when he considered giving it all up, doing something else. What actually kept him going? How did he tell himself his own story, so to speak? What keeps him going? I mean, no matter what you do, to stick with it for such a long time, you really have to have the passion. And how do you maintain that passion?

What keeps you going?

Decisions, experience and growing older

And maybe you’re also in that decision-making phase right now with a project, or even a relationship, or your job—whatever it is you’re considering ending. What if you keep going for another year? What if you keep going for five years? And I’m not saying that for nothing. Toni L. has this legendary status in Heidelberg because he’s been doing this for 40 years. I think that’s incredible. The other issue, the getting older, is something I’m also experiencing myself.

I was born in ’83 and often find myself in circles with lots of young people. I find that crazy, too. In the past, I asked the people around me for advice, for life lessons learned. Now, I’m asked what my take on things is. And the first thing I always do is address them informally, not formally. But I’m noticing that I’m now being asked for certain advice, how I would handle a situation, and so on. On the other hand, I’m also trying, of course, to stay young at heart.

Pass on experience and stay curious

So, I want to share my experience. But I also don’t want to have that image in my head right now. I’m an older man now and don’t want to do things that are considered “older men,” but I want to stay young, be around young people, be out and about. And I was recently at an event in Hamburg, the OMR, Online Marketing Rockstars event. It was an incredibly great event in May. And what I noticed there was, for example, a young German rapper named Shiagu—I’d never heard of him before.

But I’d guess he’s around 25 or 26. And of course, he’s very much in tune with the times, a young guy making pop, hip-hop music, and so on. Toni L. is also a hip-hop artist and naturally sees that there are a lot of newcomers in his circle right now, making a killing for a few years. How does he actually deal with that? He’s getting older in that environment, too. And what does that mean for him? Does it influence the way he thinks, the way he presents himself, the way he comes across to the world? These are questions I actually ask myself, and I really want to ask him these questions.

Why interviews also help the host

I have to admit, podcast interviews are also something completely selfish for me. When I do these podcast interviews, it’s really to learn as much as possible from my guest. Of course, I’m happy to be able to share that experience with you. But as you can already tell, I put a lot of thought into it beforehand, thinking about what questions I’d like to answer, what’s relevant to me at the time. With Torch, who was one of the co-founders of Advanced Chemistry, a good friend of Toni L., I had Torch on my podcast in episode 78—no, it was 73.

We talked a lot about identity. Because I think Torch, in my opinion, can talk a lot about that, also drawing on his music album. There were songs like “Wer bin ich?” (Who am I?). Coincidentally, that song was also featured by Toni L. So, in short, with Torch, we talked a lot about understanding what roles we actually have in life. In other words, you’re being a father, son, friend, husband, entrepreneur, employee, or whatever, almost simultaneously.

Toni L. at Heidelberg Castle

And how do you deal with these different identities? I’m sure Toni L. could have a lot to say about that. But for me, the current topic is maintaining passion and growing older in an environment where many young people are present. It’s also quite funny, I recently had an event here at Heidelberg Castle. It’s called Dinner at the Castle. And that was on April 23rd. And as a little bonus, I asked Toni L. if he could come to the castle as a panel speaker, but sort of as part of a spotlight interview.

He was there. I was so, so happy that he was at the castle. We talked for about 10 or 15 minutes—I think it was very brief—about hip-hop in Heidelberg. And for me, it was amazing to have him at the castle. And at the end, I asked him if he could maybe give a little taste of his rap, of his hip-hop. He actually rapped something a cappella, which I’m going to play for you in a moment.

It was a truly goosebump-inducing moment for me. We also assured others that they thought it was absolutely fantastic. I’ll play it for you in a moment. But what I also find so fascinating about Toni L.’s hip-hop is its conscious rap approach. When you listen to German hip-hop today, we all know it’s not necessarily conscious rap in that sense; it deals with completely different topics. But with him, migration was a major theme, of course. Political themes were also part of it.

Conscious rap and social issues

So, they actually talked about current events in a poetic form. Which I think is amazing because, and I almost forgot to mention this, he released a song back then with his group Advanced Chemistry. It’s called “Fremd im eigenen Land” (Foreign in My Own Country). A really powerful song. We’re talking now, I think the song is probably over 30 years old. And it’s still considered one of the original movements of conscious rap, conscious hip-hop in Germany.

And for me, it’s mind-blowing that “Foreign in My Own Country,” the title alone, is still so relevant. It’s still fresh, as if nothing had ever happened. And unfortunately, I mean that in a negative way. We’re all probably familiar with the research by Korrektiv at the beginning of the year, where certain political parties talked about a kind of remigration of foreigners, of people with a German migration background. So, in effect, including myself.

I’m a German with a migration background. And I’ve mentioned it before in another context. I’m at an age now where things like that don’t really affect me that much, to be honest, because of course you encounter discrimination here and there. The older you get, the more things you’ve seen. What really saddens me personally is that when they talk about Germans with a migration background, they’re obviously also talking about my kids and all the other people here who are second or third generation, trying to raise children here in a good environment—that’s the kind of people they talk about.

Why a stranger in one’s own country remains relevant

And that’s something I find hard to be honest about. And that’s why, sadly, “Fremd im eigenen Land” (Foreign in My Own Country), a great song from back then, is still so relevant today. Because no matter what you do as a migrant here, apparently there are still people who see you as a foreigner. Anyway, I don’t want to get too emotional about that. That’s a completely different issue. I’m really looking forward to the live podcast with Toni L. It’s a completely new experience for me too. A live podcast because there will actually be a few audience members.

For those interested, it’s on May 29th, so relatively soon, on my website projectmindset.de. I’ll briefly explain how you can join as a viewer. Just visit my website. I’ll provide the link for how to participate. It will also be a new experience for me to tackle the topic of live podcasting and have an audience. I’m really looking forward to it. But ultimately, it’s a huge honor for me that Toni L. is participating, that we get to understand his mindset better, and that we hear what he has planned for the future.

This is really crazy to me.

Listen to Toni L.’s performance

And I’m super happy that he’s part of it, so to speak. Okay, enough rambling. Here’s the excerpt from Toni L., his a cappella spoken-word performance from the dinner at the castle. From April 23rd of this year. You can find the rap excerpt in the original recording. It’s not reproduced here as lyrics.

As someone who has chosen to live in Heidelberg, and as you know from the Project Mindset Podcast, I’m a huge Heidelberg fan. I don’t just say that.

I love the city; it really welcomed us warmly back then. Having come here when I was two years old, I have only good memories, or rather, my childhood here is all positive, how everything unfolded. And I even had the mayor of Heidelberg, Professor Dr. Eckhardt Würzner, on my podcast once, in episode number 68. There, too, I mentioned how grateful I am that Heidelberg is such a great city. It’s just crazy how Toni L. is also highlighting Heidelberg here.

Outlook on the conversation

And I’m really looking forward to the podcast with him. So, that’s it for today. I’m so glad you’ve all stayed with me all this time. I’m happy we can continue to connect here. Of course, you can send me questions anytime. The best way is to email me at hallo@projectmindset.de. I always try to reply promptly. You can also reach me via Instagram and LinkedIn. I always enjoy connecting with you. We’ll talk again soon, and until then, don’t forget, mindset is everything.