El Tucsonan

Trey Wilhite grew up in Tucson skating a six-foot half pipe his dad, an architect, built in the backyard. When the family pool leaked around 2008 and there was no money to fix it, they drained it, and the skaters came. The music, the fashion and the skating all showed up at once. Now he sells vintage as Attic Slug and is putting on SlugFest: one stage, 12 local bands, a skate park built mostly from repurposed material, vintage vendors and art installations. It started as his idea and grew into a team of about seven. We talk about the festival in northeast India that inspired it, the permits nobody warns you about, why he treats the budget as an investment, his grandma's cardboard guitar, and Slugman, who Trey has only read about online.SLUGFEST 2026Saturday, October 17, 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.Historic Fourth Avenue Coalition, 311 E 7th St, TucsonTickets: slugfestaz.com/tickets$10 off with code GRINDAges 14 and up. 14 to 16 with a parent or guardian.Members watch it without the ads: eltucsonan.com/supporters/sign_inIntroducing Tucson to itself., Gregorio C., El TucsonanCHAPTERS0:00 Slugman shows up1:45 Where SlugFest came from4:47 Skating, music and a drained pool6:47 Attic Slug, and what SLUG stands for8:17 The festival in India that inspired it10:49 Booking 12 bands for one stage14:02 Building the team18:21 The hardest part: permits and porta potties22:53 What the day looks like24:44 "Some guy called Slugman"27:23 Why vintage29:36 Ten genres, one stage31:35 First music memories33:05 Grandma's cardboard guitar36:28 How skating came into his life38:10 SlugFest in five years42:21 Seeing trash as art44:27 Solarpunk47:13 Building the skate park48:01 Vendors, food trucks and who can come51:22 The budget, and why it's an investment55:40 Start small, think big56:28 A skate team and a record label1:01:25 Does our logo look like the Hatchet Man?1:02:26 Producer Questions1:06:54 India, and music that makes you laugh1:11:08 The Slugman round1:12:55 Slugman's message for humanity1:16:16 Three people to interview nextLINKSBecome a supporter: eltucsonan.com/supporters/sign_inSponsor the show: eltucsonan.com/pages/sponsorInstagram: @eltucsonanTikTok: @el.tucsonanYouTube: @EltucsonanSLUGFESTslugfestaz.comInstagram: @slugfestazLAST EPISODETito Romero: https://youtu.be/hgKEJ0v4E4gBOOKS & WRITERSNone this episode.NAMES MENTIONEDRachel, Andre, Carrie Ann and Alexis, the SlugFest team: creative direction, video, press and more.Vijayanti Pappu, the South Indian Carnatic musician Trey is most excited to see.Crooked Tooth, handling the bar at SlugFest.KFMA Day and Fall Ball, the Tucson festivals Trey grew up going to.El Tucsonan is produced by Self Media Productions LLC, Tucson, Arizona.

Tito Romero grew up in Barrio Centro and went to Julia Keen Elementary. The school closed in 2004 and sat empty for twelve years. When a trucking company came for the property, he and the Flowers & Bullets collective showed up to the town hall with more than 300 people. Today that school is the Midtown Farm: goats, compost, seed saving, a tiendita, and a whole neighborhood of people who made it happen. We talk about Mexican American Studies, where the name Flowers & Bullets came from, why his neighborhood never saw the rainwater rebate, and how all the circles come together.Members get the full uncut episode, including the conversation that kept going after the questions ended: eltucsonan.com/supporters/sign_inIntroducing Tucson to itself, Gregorio C., El TucsonanCHAPTERS0:00 Intro0:50 Tito and Flowers & Bullets3:50 Mexican American Studies6:35 T-shirts and a backyard garden9:02 Corn, squash and beans10:52 Where the name came from12:59 From t-shirts to food and identity19:37 Pick your anchor21:44 Potlucks, gardens and rain tanks25:36 300 people vs. a truck yard27:05 Is harvesting rainwater illegal?30:55 The green movement left us behind32:45 Selling people on a backyard garden36:57 What kept them going39:03 No executive director44:30 Their elementary school49:50 Renting two acres at a time52:25 Building on rented ground56:01 COVID and a refuge59:06 You're not growing plants, you're growing soil1:01:16 Seed saving1:02:25 Lessons from Oaxaca, and the goats1:07:37 How the circles come together1:11:03 A tiendita, a kitchen and an LLC1:13:18 What excites him, and what's hard1:18:05 Producer Questions1:21:41 How to get involved1:23:36 Three people to interview nextLINKSBecome a supporter: eltucsonan.com/supporters/sign_inSponsor the show: eltucsonan.com/pages/sponsorInstagram: @eltucsonanTikTok: @el.tucsonanYouTube: @EltucsonanTITOInstagram: @tucsontitoTikTok: @tucsontitoFLOWERS & BULLETSflowersandbullets.comGet involved: flowersandbullets.com/get-involvedInstagram: @flowers_and_bulletsYouTube: @flowersbullets4607Facebook: FlowersBulletsLAST EPISODEZuleyma: https://youtu.be/10Wwp33QTKgBOOKS & WRITERSNone this episode.NAMES MENTIONEDDora and Jacob, who started Flowers & Bullets with Tito.Tom Horne and Jan Brewer, the Arizona officials behind HB 2281, the law that ended Tucson's Mexican American Studies program.Corky Poster, the architect who backed their proposal for the school and now sits on their board.The Agnese Nelms Haury Program at the University of Arizona, which supported both the lease and the purchase of the property.El Tucsonan is produced by Self Media Productions LLC, Tucson, Arizona.

Zuleyma came to Tucson from Nogales with two kids and no plan except fashion. She worked five years for free at Border Fashion Week, started the Capricorn Market so other small businesses had a table, and says the quiet part out loud: fashion is a rich people's sport, and she is building anyway. In this one she announces the Tucson Project House, a hub for every creative in this city, for the first time anywhere.Introducing Tucson to itself.Gregorio C., El TucsonanCHAPTERS0:00 Intro2:24 Spanglish, and a six-week business class6:00 Two things: fashion and the Capricorn Market7:19 Nogales, a border town9:32 Border Fashion Week and Domingo Toledo10:46 Five years unpaid, paid in knowledge12:50 Eddie Corps and learning to sew17:18 Her second show, at the U of A18:42 Starting the Capricorn Market27:24 Sky Bar, Screw Bean and Brooklyn Pizza29:13 Why it is called Capricorn35:14 New York, Beyond Walls and cactus leather39:42 Border Fashion Week, Oct 1 to 3, Juan Gabriel43:09 Tucson Fashion Week is gone44:27 Fashion is a rich people's sport48:46 Shein, quality and the $10 find57:53 The job she turned down1:01:51 I didn't do anything in my 20s1:03:42 The paper form on a first date1:11:17 Relationships, money and starting over1:29:27 The mom tribe is a lie1:34:17 A mind that will not slow down1:41:05 Producer Questions1:53:58 The Tucson Project House1:59:40 Favorite brands, and Law RoachLINKSBecome a supporter: eltucsonan.com/supporters/sign_inSponsor the show: eltucsonan.com/pages/sponsorInstagram: @eltucsonanTikTok: @el.tucsonanYouTube: @EltucsonanZULEEInstagram: @zuledelreyTikTok: @zuledelrayThe Capricorn Market: @thecapricornmarketBorder Fashion Week: @borderfashionweek | borderfashionweek.comEverything else: linktr.ee/zuleymazepedaTUCSON PROJECT HOUSE@tucsonprojecthouseZule's Enterprise presents Tucson Project House: Music, Fashion, Film.Market and launch party, Saturday September 19, 5PM to 9PM.Café Passé, 415 N 4th Ave, Tucson, AZ 85705.Free and family friendly. RSVP required, guest list only: forms.gle/Cs47ZqtmUkdjM24e8BORDER FASHION WEEKOctober 1 to 3, 2026, Nogales, Sonora and Nogales, Arizona. Tickets are on sale now.LAST EPISODESteven Cota-Robles: https://youtu.be/jP-4YpiS5ggBOOKS & WRITERSNone this episode.NAMES MENTIONEDDomingo Toledo, founder of Border Fashion Week in Nogales, Arizona, and the friend and firstboss Zuli assisted starting in 2017.Eddie Corps (Eduardo Corpus), Tijuana-born designer whose 2023 Border Fashion Week collectionshe calls one of her favorites.Raquelle Pedraza, New York couture designer and celebrity tailor whose credits include SalmaHayek and Shakira. The job Zuli was offered and turned down.Juan Gabriel, the theme of this year's Border Fashion Week gallery and collective.Law Roach, celebrity stylist and Project Runway judge, the "Cinderella dress" she describes.Aldo Rendón, Mexican stylist she recommends for brand suggestions.SKIMS and Shein, discussed in the conversation about material and quality.Versace, and Gianni Versace, her favorite house and the Medusa story behind it.El Tucsonan is produced by Self Media Productions LLC, Tucson, Arizona.

Steven Cota-Robles was working a grocery job during the pandemic when he realized he wanted to spend his skills on Tucson instead. So he sold his house, quit, and started teaching kids how to cook. Today the Tucson Family Food Project sends 260 meal kits a week to middle-schoolers across five Tucson schools — real whole-food recipes, built to be made by a kid, at home, with what they've got. We talk about the teacher who told him not to just hand out food, the wife who upgraded the whole mission, regenerative farms on closed school campuses, and why he aims at the base of the flames.— Gregorio C., El TucsonanCHAPTERS0:00 Cold open3:09 "You teach kids how to cook"3:35 The COVID grocery-job epiphany + a note from 20195:26 The teachers' rule: you can't just hand out food8:41 Selling the house — and meeting his wife on Bumble11:49 Getting into the first school (just ask)13:02 20 kids, one kitchen: the proof of concept18:30 Brownies, salad & minimum-equipment recipes26:06 From 20 to 100: the church kitchen33:46 "That's not a bag of food. That's a bag of love."37:07 What surprised him: kids finding their voice41:39 The new kitchen, 1,000/week, and 17,000 someday43:57 Regenerative farms on closed schools57:50 Why Tucson is the hardest — and the perfect — place63:55 The poverty and food-insecurity cycle67:11 Aim at the base of the flames76:33 Producer questions: pushback, morale, advice83:29 Financial transparency & the first 99085:35 The student who changed everything90:38 Guest recommendations & where to find TFFPLINKS• Support El Tucsonan (membership): https://eltucsonan.com/supporters/sign_in• Sponsor El Tucsonan: https://eltucsonan.com/pages/sponsor• Tucson Family Food Project: https://www.thetucsonfamilyfoodproject.org• TFFP on YouTube — @thetucsonfamilyfoodproject3055 • TFFP on Instagram — @thetucsonfamilyfoodproject• El Tucsonan — IG @eltucsonan · TikTok @el.tucsonNAMES & PLACES MENTIONED• Catalina United Methodist Church (Speedway) — donated kitchen space• Oatman Farms (Gila Bend) — first certified regenerative organic farm on the West Coast• Flowers & Bullets · Tucson Village Farm · Market on the Move — Tucson food/farm orgs• Heifer USA (Arkansas) — holistic land-management course• Marley Foundation (Phoenix) — $125K kitchen-equipment grant• Ardmore Institute of Health — $125K grant; "full plate living" 12-week pilot• Zuckerman College of Public Health & Andrew Weil Center for Integrative Medicine (U of A)• "That Was Epic" (Juan, Phoenix) — positivity YouTuber referenced• Guest recs: Chef Pablo Valencia (Gastronomic Union of Tucson) · Jennifer Ekstrom (TUSD School Board) · Dr. David Garcia (U of A / Andrew Weil Center)Financial transparency: TFFP's Form 990 & IRS determination letter are public — look them up by name or EIN on the IRS site.The Tucson Family Food Project is a registered nonprofit. This episode is a production of Self Media Productions LLC.

This week I sat down with Mike Curry — a Tucson native who spent years lost to addiction, prison, and three years homeless on these streets, and who now works one-on-one as a sobriety and mindset coach for entrepreneurs and high-level executives. We talk about the moment everything turned — a walk away from a robbery, a $8 yard job, a sandwich from Safeway — and how he built a life and a business on the other side of it: engaged, reconciled with his daughter, and coaching founders through the belief that 90% of business is mindset, and that the business owner is usually the bottleneck.We get into his own influences (David Bayer, Zig Ziglar, Earl Nightingale), why he coaches from lived experience instead of theory, "hangxiety," and what it actually means to surrender. And we talk about Mount Lemmon, where his mom's ashes are, and Tucson — the city he loves enough to wish it grew more of its own businesses.Watch the full conversation now. — Gregorio C., El Tucsonan🔔 New episodes every Tuesday — subscribe on YouTube.This episode includes sponsor/ad messages; timestamps above.⏱️ CHAPTERS0:00 Cold open1:59 Coaching men on sobriety & business5:21 From car salesman to coach8:44 Prison, pharmacies & the descent10:19 Rock bottom: homeless on these streets13:45 The day it turned: a yard, a sandwich15:18 Who addiction really comes for17:39 His brother, and "hangxiety"25:15 Identity, your circle & resiliency32:49 His mentors: Bayer, Ziglar & Nightingale37:03 Faith & a spiritual awakening49:38 Love, letting go & how she showed up55:14 Becoming a coach & speaker58:36 Why coaches need coaches too64:25 Better humans, not just better businesses71:04 Freedom, Mount Lemmon & loving Tucson75:14 Tools to beat addiction (producer Qs)79:30 The root of addiction: trauma & soul contracts84:26 Guest picks & goodbye🔗 LINKSEl Tucsonan — eltucsonan.comBecome a supporter (full uncut + early access): eltucsonan.com/supporters/sign_inSponsor the show: eltucsonan.com/pages/sponsorInstagram: @eltucsonan · TikTok: @el.tucsonMike Curry — coaching: mikecurrycoaching.com · Instagram: @mikecurryofficialEpisode 1 with Rey: https://youtu.be/D4L5OEVrY4MEpisode 2 with Q — Part 1: https://youtu.be/XZUkSfR43T0Episode 2 with Q — Part 2: https://youtu.be/Hx3Xx68CQ9EEpsiode 3 with KP: https://youtu.be/PHa9r1Uorj8Episode 4 with Eva: https://youtu.be/IoTjFBDN8sI📚 REFERENCED- Mind Hack — David Bayer- See You at the Top — Zig Ziglar- The Strangest Secret — Earl Nightingale🎬 NAMES MENTIONEDDavid Bayer — mindset coach, led the year-long program Mike went throughZig Ziglar — motivational author (See You at the Top)Earl Nightingale — "The Strangest Secret"Bob Marley — "Redemption Song," which Mike calls the ultimate redemption musicEl Tucsonan is a production of Self Media Productions LLC. Tucson, Arizona.© 2026 Self Media Productions LLC. All rights reserved.

This week I sat down with Eva Sierra — poet, educator, and the person who's quietly kept a Tucson reading series alive for seven years, moving it from barrio courtyards to the south side to a house to Zoom and back. We go all the way back to a Douglas sophomore riding up to the Tucson Youth Poetry Slam once a month, and forward to the U of A Poetry Center, where she runs programs and teaches — without ever finishing the degree everyone around her has.We talk about how you actually teach poetry (good artists borrow, great artists steal), the kid in juvie who wouldn't hold a pencil until, one day, he wrote a whole poem. We get into her belief that poetry belongs to everyone — "it's just language," it's been called "flower and song," it can even live in a TikTok — and her push to break down the wall between academic and street writing: "it's ours, it's public, let us have this." And we talk about Douglas and the border, the novel she's writing about it, and a childhood spent talking to the ants in the backyard because she was already a poet and didn't know it.Underneath it is Isaac — the friend who told her "I'm not the one to do this, but I think you are," and helped plant the seeds of the reading series in his last months.Members have the full uncut conversation. — Gregorio C., El Tucsonan⏱️ CHAPTERS0:00 Intro1:41 From Douglas to the Youth Poetry Slam (2013)3:11 What a slam actually is6:22 From participant to organizer8:26 Starting the reading series (Virgo season 2019)10:22 Isaac: "I think you're the one to do this"12:52 Why "nomadic" keeps it alive16:24 Twelve locations (and 42 on Zoom)19:26 Making every flyer herself21:14 Still writing: the novel24:28 The U of A Poetry Center — and no degree28:04 Poetry, libraries & community ("a dragon school")32:37 How do you actually teach poetry?34:19 Teaching poetry in juvie36:48 The student who wouldn't hold a pencil39:29 Meeting Ada Limón & Tracy K. Smith45:06 Why writing still doesn't come easy (The War of Art)48:09 A quick word from the show50:11 Should the reading series come to the university?51:01 Academic vs. street poetry: "It's ours"54:01 Poetry is just language ("flower and song," even TikTok)57:17 Always a poet: the trees, the ants, the backyard58:39 Her mom, Spanish literature & bedtime books59:28 The novel: Douglas, the border & the space between67:09 Douglas → Tucson: craving the big city69:39 The delight of the Cochise County Fair72:09 Why Tucson is home now73:10 Redefining success: "I am an educator"73:31 Three Tucsonans you should meet76:23 Where to find the reading series77:49 Outro🎵 MUSIC 'minhas perras" - DJQ https://barriosounds.bandcamp.com/🔗 LINKSEl Tucsonan — eltucsonan.comBecome a supporter (full uncut + early access): eltucsonan.com/supporters/sign_inSponsor the show: eltucsonan.com/pages/sponsorInstagram: @eltucsonan · TikTok: @el.tucsonEva — the reading series on Instagram: [ CONFIRM HANDLE ]U of A Poetry Center: poetry.arizona.eduEpisode 1 with Rey: https://youtu.be/D4L5OEVrY4MEpisode 2 with Q — Part 1: https://youtu.be/XZUkSfR43T0Episode 3 with KP: [ add URL ]📚 REFERENCED- The War of Art — Steven Pressfield- Ada Limón — U.S. Poet Laureate ("You Are Here"), the Saguaro NP bench- Ofelia Zepeda — Tohono O'odham poet, the bench poem - Tracy K. Smith — former U.S. Poet Laureate- Ana Castillo — border / Mexican-American writing - Octavio Paz — "poetry in any medium" - "Flower and song" / in xochitl in cuicatl — the Nahuatl idea of poetry - Spoken Futures / Tucson Youth Poetry Slam🎬 NAMES MENTIONEDIsaac — in memoriam. · Mariana Rivera ("Mari") · Paola Valenzuela · Tyler (digital media) · Mark (Borderlands) · Monique (Casa Clyde) · Herman (photographer, Douglas) · Tanya & Jen · Eli & Joe (JoJo's) · Paula & Fatima (Douglas reading). El Tucsonan is a production of Self Media Productions LLC. Tucson, Arizona.© 2026 Self Media Productions LLC. All rights reserved.

Tucson, meet KP.He's a DJ and producer, an Army veteran who came home from Afghanistan, and the engine behind Soon Spins — Tucson's own internet radio station. But this conversation is really about a feeling: that somewhere after 2020, our city stopped smiling. KP came here from South Dallas and felt the culture shock — a place where strangers scowl instead of smile — and he's spent ten years trying to figure out why, and what it would take to bring the joy back. We get into the dance culture we lost, the grief under the surface, the people who quietly built something real, and why he believes Tucson already has everything it needs. It's fiery, it's tender, and it's a love letter to a city still deciding what it wants to be.If this resonates, the best thing you can do is watch, drop a comment about something specific he said, and share it with a Tucsonan who needs to hear it.— Gregorio C., El Tucsonan⏱ CHAPTERS0:00 — "We lost it" (cold open)2:02 — Who is KP: DJ, producer & Soon Spins3:51 — "Here, people scowl instead of smile": Tucson's melancholy5:35 — A city unsure what it wants to be (transplants & development)9:09 — Mountains, not high-rises11:56 — Earth Day for the Hood & the TCE cancer story14:42 — The Army, Afghanistan & coming home21:16 — Finding music: the saxophone23:06 — Debbie, the Dunbar & "let me be your intern"32:36 — South Dallas to North Dallas: two worlds34:38 — "Tucson was popping… and we lost it"36:08 — Losing Isaac & the night COVID hit39:34 — Power, complacency & who's really in the room41:59 — What "not complacent" actually looks like47:16 — Soon Spins: the dream & the mission51:48 — George Floyd, walking out & starting over56:34 — Bringing the dance culture back (El Tambor)1:01:01 — DJing in Europe, paying artists & the end of the "American dream"1:06:40 — On rap, Texas roots & Kendrick1:13:50 — Teaching kids: Soon Spins in the schools1:18:47 — Reagan took the instruments out of schools1:24:23 — "Life starts right now": KP the mentor1:29:57 — Last words & shout-outs🎵 MUSIC & RELEASES (KP)• No Titles No Masters — KP's album• KPMADMAN — the "melancholy town" release• "The Devil Wears a Suit and a Tie" — single• Collaborations with Q (1202 / THEM&i)• Live mixes & sessions on Soon Spins(All linked below.)🔗 LINKSWatch ad-free + full episodes / support the show → https://eltucsonan.com/supporters/sign_inSponsor an episode → https://eltucsonan.com/pages/sponsorKP → Instagram @kpmadman · https://kpmadman.bandcamp.com · https://soonspins.comEl Tucsonan → Instagram @eltucsonan · TikTok @el.tucson · Subscribe on YouTube ↑📚 BOOKS, WRITERS & IDEAS REFERENCEDH. Rap Brown · The Last Poets · Patrice Lumumba · "critical regionalism" — the idea of making something rooted in where you actually are, instead of importing another city's identity.🎬 NAMES & PLACES MENTIONEDIn loving memory of Isaac — a cultural bearer in Tucson's scene.People: Debbie (KP's OG at the Dunbar) · Q · Tim (built the Soon Spins site) · Ms. Sanders · Duke · the guest DJs who've spun on Soon Spins.Places: Soon Spins · KXCI 91.3 · Dunbar Pavilion · Hotel Congress · El Tambor · the Sonoran Room · Utterback Middle School · Davis Elementary's mariachi program.—This episode is a production of Self Media Productions LLC. Views expressed are the guest's own. Where on-screen text references a public event, it cites published news reporting.© 2026 Self Media Productions LLC. All rights reserved.

Welcome to episode 2. This one's a long one — so long I had to break it in half. This is Part 1.My guest is Enrique "Q" Garcia Naranjo — DJ Q, poet, teacher, and co-founder of the 1202 collective. Q has been doing culture work in Tucson for 15 years. In this half, we get into Q's poetry origins, the Sin Ti show that pulled me into the Tucson scene in 2016, his run as DJ Q at Club Congress and the cumbia/El Tambo era, why Tucson has always been a crossroads, what COVID broke and what it rebuilt in him, and the only game he's willing to play with anybody: the millennium.Part 2 drops next. Members can already watch the full uncut version on the website.— Gregorio C., El Tucsonan—⏱️ CHAPTERS00:00 — Hook00:14 — Welcome & episode intro01:38 — Q introduces himself03:11 — Poetry as a pillar05:33 — How we met: Sin Ti, 201611:23 — DJ Q at Club Congress12:12 — Cumbia across the borderlands17:57 — Tucson as a crossroads forever20:34 — SB 1070 & the shadow under the music24:02 — Sponsor: Nina Flores27:27 — Resurrecting the dance floor34:04 — Hoko Fest39:51 — How COVID hit42:24 — Losing Isaac44:27 — "King to a crumbling tower"51:10 — Being serious about play56:09 — Aimé Césaire & the millennium1:11:17 — Nature's healing1:16:18 — We're here now—🎵 MUSIC CUESMusic in this episode by Q —"07 FAT""bruto"Find more of Q's music at Barrio Sounds:barriosounds.bandcamp.com—🔗 LINKSQ & 1202twelvotwo.combarriosounds.bandcamp.comEl Tucsonaneltucsonan.comBecome a supporter (full uncut episodes + early access): eltucsonan.com/supporters/sign_inSponsor the show: eltucsonan.com/pages/sponsorSponsor of this episode:Nina Flores, REALTOR®ninafloresrealty.com/en/rent-trapEpisode 1 with Rey: https://youtu.be/D4L5OEVrY4M—📚 BOOKS & WRITERS REFERENCED IN PART 1- Notebook of a Return to the Native Land — Aimé Césaire- Parable of the Sower — Octavia Butler- Sin Ti: The Beat Tape — Q (cover by Milkweed)—🎬 NAMES MENTIONED- Logan Phillips — Tucson Poet Laureate- Anna Flores — who put us onto Césaire- Gazal (DJ Zaytoon) — Q's partner- Ray — the other half of 1202- Mike — first show with Q and Ray- Lando Chill — performed at the Sin Ti show- Milkweed — Sin Ti cover artist, Ohala Zine Press- KP — recurring presence- Eva Sierra — collaborator and educator- DJ Humble, Lioness, DJ Dirty Verbs — Sonidero Tambo crew- Isaac — in memoriam. This conversation lives because he taught us how to have it.—El Tucsonan is a production of Self Media Productions LLC.Tucson, Arizona.© 2026 Self Media Productions LLC. All rights reserved.

El Tucsonan kicks off with REY — Tucson rapper, organizer, visual artist, and co-founder of the 1202 collective. We talk about coming up in the local music scene, what it actually takes to navigate venues and bad business in a city like Tucson, and why he's been going through his hard drives trying to die empty.
We also get into the AI copyright problem eating the music industry, why "Everything Is a Remix" should be required watching, the 1202 house and what it meant to the community, pinta art and ballpoint pen as a creative practice, and what's coming — including his most personal project yet, Shut up Mijo, dropping this fall.
(Note: we lost about 15–20 minutes of footage to a technical issue mid-episode. We recap what we can. It won't happen again.)
— FIND REY @shutupmijo on YouTube → https://www.youtube.com/@whatup_rey
1202
→ https://twelvotwo.com/rey
FIND EL TUCSONAN Website → https://eltucsonan.com
Become a member → https://eltucsonan.com/supporters/sign_in
Sponsor the show → https://eltucsonan.com/pages/sponsor
— CLIPS USED IN THIS VIDEO "Everything Is a Remix" by @KirbyFerguson →https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJPERZDfyWc
Anderson .Paak on Club Shay Shay with Shannon Sharpe (@ClubShayShay)
→ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZRAvYVn-FU
— El Tucsonan is a production of Self Media Productions LLC.