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Hip hop isn’t just music...it’s community infrastructure.
In this episode of Is Anything Real?, Adam W. Barney sits down with Jeffrey Roe (Beats, Rhymes y Comunidad) to talk about the difference between an audience and a community...and why founders, creators, and leaders keep confusing the two.
Here’s the clean line:
- Audience = one-to-many (you broadcast)
- Community = member-to-member (people belong)
Jeffrey breaks down hip hop as a real blueprint for building belonging:
DJ as curator. MC as storyteller. Graffiti as identity. Breaking as participation...where the community becomes the show.
If you’re building anything that needs trust, retention, or momentum, this one will land.
Guest: Jeffrey Roe
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jcroejr/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jerseycityjeff/
Host: Adam W. Barney
⚡ Transition Leadership Foundation Call (20 min): https://calendly.com/adamwbarney/foundation-call-20min
Creators and Guests
What is Is Anything Real??
Is Anything Real? is the Reality-First Leadership podcast for builder-leaders who want outcomes, not optics. Each week, Adam W. Barney sits down with founders and operators to unpack positioning, marketing, community, energy management, and influence - plus the numbers behind what actually worked.
You’ll hear: a quick Reality Check, a practical Proof Stack (inputs → actions → outcomes), and one EnergyOS habit you can run this week. Specifics over slogans; humane systems over hustle cosplay.
New episodes every Wednesday at 12:00 PM ET.
👉 Book your 20-min Exploration Call: https://calendly.com/adamwbarney/explorationplugin-20min
[00:05.6]
Paid ads promise reach, but community, community promises resilience. Which one's real? Today, I'm bringing on someone who's lived through hurricanes, layoffs, and corporate pivots, and has built an entire career around making connection, the new growth channel.
[00:22.3]
Welcome back to Is Anything Real? The show where we cut through the noise, challenge the hype, and ask whether anything in this game actually holds up. I'm Adam W. Barney, author of Make Your Own Glass Half Full, and someone who's managed over $100 million in paid media, but can still count on two hands the number of times I've actually clicked on an ad myself.
[00:42.4]
My guest today is Jeffrey Roe, founder of Beats, Rhymes, y Comunidad. He's a longtime digital community builder, a connector at heart, and someone who's transformed his corporate experience into a mission-driven consultancy. Jeffrey's story threads resilience, culture, and equity into a conversation that pushes marketing beyond CPMs and impressions into actual human connection.
[01:07.7]
Jeffrey, welcome. Thank you so much, Adam. It's great to be here. Awesome. Let's start here. In your words, what's the biggest difference between chasing reach with ads versus building real community? I would probably draw a parallel between what's the difference between an audience and a community.
[01:27.9]
Right? Especially for those of us creators who are on Instagram with large numbers of followings. I see this all the time, right? It's like, oh, I'm so tapped into my community. And it's like, hold on a second, you don't quite have a community just yet. You have an audience.
[01:43.9]
And the biggest difference there is one to many communication. Right? That's an audience versus members engaging with each other. Right? That's real community where, you know, it might be your platform, you might take the stage from time to time, but you also know when to take a step back in order to allow for some of those meaningful connections to flourish.
[02:04.6]
Right? Right. It's like ads give you impressions, but community gives us something stickier to attach to. 100%. How do you explain that different, say, to founders, though, who are still pouring money into Meta, or Google? I explain the nuance between both of them while also reminding them, hey, I understand that you're building a business here and you've got to generate that awareness somehow, one way or another.
[02:32.7]
Right? Probably the best way is to draw the parallel between social media management and community management. Right. Because those two often get confused. And while they do share a lot of synergies and need to collaborate in order to make the most out of what their purpose is.
[02:52.3]
Social media management is a customer acquisition tool that's used to build brand awareness and bring new customers in the door. Whereas community management is a customer retention tool that's meant for brands to build meaningful relationships with their customers. And by doing so, you remind them of the value that you represented when they first made their purchase decision with you.
[03:13.5]
Which allows for cross-sells, upsells, things like that. Right, right. And that basically showcases, you know, how community isn't just a channel you buy, it's a room people choose to enter. You need to give them the welcome sign. But you need to go deeper than that.
[03:29.5]
Right, Jeffrey? How would you say you, you build that? Can you unpack? You know, how, say your business depends on ads only, but you don't just have a business, you have a subsidy for Meta. How do you change that shift? How do you, how do you get people to think in that way?
[03:47.3]
We oftentimes draw a comparison or a metaphor. I should say in community building that, you know, you're sort of like the host of a party, right. So how are you going to arrange the snack table, for instance?
[04:04.4]
You know, what are going to be the different elements of your party that are going to keep folks, you know, have folks wanting to come to the party and wanting to stay. Right, right. I recently, it's funny you asked this question because I recently dropped a LinkedIn article over the weekend called the Hip Hop Community Manager.
[04:23.1]
I'm taking a specific look at community through the lens of hip hop. Last June, I became a certified hip hop cultural specialist under the tutelage of PRS, and the temple of hip hop.
[04:38.9]
So in learning about the history and everything like that, I think what often folks, you know, don't understand about the culture is that it really is a culture. It's not just a genre of music and it's actually composed of four elements.
[04:55.2]
So you have the DJ, you have the MC, you have graffiti, and you have breaking. So what, what most folks call break dancing. But, but yeah, breaking. So I took the opportunity to map the four elements of hip hop to four pillars of effective community building.
[05:16.3]
So your DJ sets the stage for everything, right? That sets the stage and creates the environment in which magic takes place. Right. So think of the DJ as your community platform. And in the early days of building out community, lots of folks tend to go straight to, oh, what platform should I use?
[05:35.9]
Because there's so many out there. Right. Some folks are building it on social media, which is fine. But what I would say, even before wondering about what platform should I use, is meet your community members where they are.
[05:51.1]
Right? Because more. More times than not, conversations about whatever your community is built around, those conversations are already taking place. And it's up to you, as the community builder, to find out where those conversations are happening, meet your members where they are, earn their trust, and then guide them to where it is that you want to go from there.
[06:15.0]
Next is the MC. The MC would be your community manager. Right? This is the one who's controlling the energy of the crowd, setting the tone and the pace at which the vibes are going and the party, if you will, how that's all taking place.
[06:32.0]
So it's up to that person to be the connective tissue within the community. Right? Although you may be the one that's leading conversations a lot of times, again, good community management is about knowing when to take a step back, so that way you facilitate those communications.
[06:52.7]
Graffiti, I look at as being the content within your community. Right. Graffiti artists were very bold in the ways in which they claimed space. They didn't wait for permission to break into subway yards to tag up on trains, and have their names be carouselled around the entire city to the point where New York City, you know, 8 million people knew who they were.
[07:23.2]
Right? Right. So your community content should be the same way. It should be unapologetically bold and memorable in ways that your members are getting value from that. Right? That's the true essence of what, you know, we talk about educating and entertaining at the same time, but real edutainment comes from that sense of boldness.
[07:43.7]
So be bold about. And it's not about being perfect content either, or the most polished content. It's about being the most real. Right. And then finally, the breaking. Right, the breaking is about circles and about collective energy.
[08:00.3]
Right. So your community should be designed in a way that facilitates collaborative connections. Right. We want to connect with folks. We want to build meaningful relationships, and the hope is that they grow into fruitful partnerships down the road.
[08:15.7]
A lot of communities are communities of practice, or there's entrepreneurial communities out there, and you want to make sure that you design for those moments. That's powerful stuff to play into with community. Yeah. I'm gonna riff here a little bit, Jeff, in that regard.
[08:32.7]
That's incredible what you've done. And especially wearing a Third Eye Blind t-shirt at the same time, while you talk through that piece of history. Let's say, you know, if Beats, Rhymes, y Comunidad had a billboard in Times Square, what would you say? What would it say on the top of it?
[08:50.9]
Probably would say community, collaboration, and culture. Right? Because I look at, I look at things not just through the lens of hip hop, but through culture at large, whether that be music in general.
[09:07.1]
My taste when it comes to music, as you can see, is quite diverse. We're cut from that same cloth in that regard. Definitely. Yes. Yes. 100%. 100%. So, looking at community through a cultural lens means not just the culture that you come from or that constitutes, like, what your cultural foundation is.
[09:31.7]
Hip hop's just one facet of that. Right. And we can talk about culture in all kinds of regards, whether it's film, television, music, art, entertainment, theater, you can talk about workplace culture. There's so many different avenues that shape what culture is.
[09:48.3]
So you have to be very clear about defining it and then the context in which you're talking about it. Right, right. I mean, I love to envision you bringing in a whole team of graffiti artists into Times Square, and you graffiti over the actual digital billboard.
[10:05.4]
Right. That would be an incredibly powerful moment. But let's shift gears a little bit. Right, Jeff. Jeffrey, you've lived through layoffs, losing your father, and literally losing your home to Hurricane Helene. How did those experiences shape the way you're showing up in work today?
[10:23.8]
That's a great question. I think that those moments provided for purposeful moments of pause in my career to really reflect, recharge, and rest in the moments where I needed to.
[10:43.4]
You know, grieving, I've come to learn, is a lifelong process, whether that be grief over the loss of a loved one, grief over the loss of a job, grief over the loss of a home. It's a lifelong process, and you never know when it's gonna creep up on you.
[11:01.3]
You know, I think going through those moments really taught me how to calibrate myself, and how I disperse energy into any avenue, any given effort of mine.
[11:19.9]
So I would say ultimately, that it's been an empowering experience because it's one that I've, through practice, through the practice of gratitude, really have been able to look at it in a way where it's like, well, what is this teaching me?
[11:39.3]
Right? Remaining, remaining immersed and grounded In my curiosity and being a lifelong learner has really empowered me to look at this in a positive light and something that I infuse into the work that I'm currently doing.
[11:56.1]
I love it. And you know, it's weaving in resilience, but framing it like an infrastructure. How would you connect resilience to equity and community building more specifically? And how do those, or why do those, go rather hand in hand for you?
[12:13.0]
Because people that come from where I come from, and who look like me, don't often get opportunities to shine. And it's, it's like you're the muscle for resilience that you need to have in life.
[12:34.5]
You start building that muscle very early when you come from where I come from. And I would say that it almost becomes second nature. The resiliency aspect of it.
[12:50.1]
Right. Because you know that you're very much, Your resiliency shows you how much you are standing on the shoulder of giants when it comes to anything you might be working on. Right. And it goes from like resilience to responsibility.
[13:07.9]
And it's almost like they have, it's like a circular thing for me where it's like, the responsibility to honor the legacy of the giants whose shoulders I'm standing on, is what fuels the resiliency. And it's, it just becomes, it becomes, like muscle memory after a while.
[13:26.5]
And it's, and it's almost like, hey, what's the next challenge you got coming for me? Yeah, I'm ready for my next. No. I'm ready. I love it. I know also, you know, Jeffrey, you've worked with some of the biggest platforms out there. Circle, Slack, Skool.
[13:43.4]
And I think founders tend to fall into a trap. There's a trap that founders fall into when they start with software instead of people. If you were advising a startup today, what's the first step to building community the right way? Well, first off, like I said earlier, meet your members where they are.
[14:02.8]
Right. So whether that be a Slack community, whether there's already a platform, whether it be social media, meet them where they are, and earn their trust first before you start worrying about what platform it is that I'm going to use. Right. You first have to build the awareness around yourself and earning that trust is not going to happen overnight.
[14:21.8]
You know, you have to show up first of all, and then you also have to deliver value. And that's something that founders, I think, grapple with at times because, you know, they're a business, and they're thinking from the perspective of revenue generation and growth.
[14:44.5]
Right. And we all know how important that is. Everybody's out here to make a dollar, you know, but how intentional are you about that? Are you coming from a place of service? Right? You can do both at the same time. I think that's the one thing that founders often misunderstand, is that you can take care of people while earning a living.
[15:04.7]
Right, Right. Right. And, you know, it's not just about the platform. It's building a room that people actually want to come back to. Maybe a tip there for founders to think in the mindset of is, maybe level setting with the fact that community has existed since the dawning of human existence, maybe even before that.
[15:27.4]
Right. Community has been a piece of it. So how do you simplify it out of the digital channels perspective or the business perspective at least to start with designing the community? Think about your tribe of people sitting around a fire, right?
[15:44.7]
When fire first invented, how does that community come together? And taking yourself out of your own shoes. Right. I think is a big piece of the puzzle here. It's also a good practice in storytelling, right? Because oftentimes that's how you build trust is by tapping in. And it's, it's not the easiest thing to do, especially if you're not an extrovert.
[16:04.9]
Which I consider myself to be an ambivert. I'm a little bit of both. But I would say, like, I have a buddy of mine, for instance, right. Colleague of mine that I interviewed for my show Beats, Rhymes, y Comunidad. His name's Raj Nation. He is the founder of a company called STARTUPHYPEMAN.
[16:22.7]
Right. And he helps founders to develop their pitches because they're looking for investors. Right? So my boy Raj drops a mixtape called GOAT to Market. You know, they call people the goat greatest of all time, Goat to Market.
[16:39.3]
And on the album, he's got a track called Dry Powder. Dry Powder is a term that's referredto in investments for, you know, when an investor has money that's ready to be deployed. Right. But he decided to flip it and make it an analogy for cocaine.
[16:54.7]
Right. Because founders get addicted to raising money. Right? Right. So he kind of made this analogy. It was very well executed. I would highly encourage anyone out there to listen to that album. But, yeah, like, tell your story and don't be afraid to have fun with it.
[17:10.0]
Be vulnerable, enjoy yourself. And the founding principles of hip hop, going back to my whole analogy about the Hip Hop Community Manager is that, aside from the four elements, the founding principles of hip hop is peace, love, unity, and having fun.
[17:26.1]
So whether you think, whether you've misunderstood hip hop, I know there's a lot of, you know, it's gone down a lot of different paths over the past 52 years that it's been around, but at its core, that's what it's about. Awesome. That's incredibly powerful for founders to think about, also.
[17:43.2]
If there's one takeaway for founders, agency leaders, or even corporate marketers listening right now, I'd say it's this. Paid ads can get you attention, but community keeps you in the game, and without it, you're just really renting growth. Right? So before we let you go, Jeffrey, where can folks find you, connect with you, and learn more about Beats, Rhymes, y Comunidad?
[18:03.9]
Yeah, I would say on LinkedIn. If you're looking for me on LinkedIn, it's Jeffrey Roe. J, E, F, F, R E, Y. Last name is R, O, E. I'm the guy wearing the baseball cap. I think I'm in my current avatar I'm holding a microphone. I was hosting a film festival earlier this year. So find me on LinkedIn, Jeffrey Roe.
[18:21.4]
But I'm also very active on Instagram, so this @jerseycityjeff, as you can see here. And then from there, you can link out to Beats, Rhymes, y Comunidad, and my consulting practice, Fiesta Alegre Community Consulting. Fiesta Alegre, for those who don't speak Spanish, is a mashup of two Spanish words.
[18:36.7]
So fiesta is a party, and alegre is the word for happy. So it's a happy party. Happy party. I love it. Well, big thanks to you, you know, Jeffrey. Everyone listening, make sure you connect with him on LinkedIn. Follow his work across Instagram, and beyond, and we'll drop the links in the show notes rather below so that you don't miss any of this.
[18:57.0]
And Jeffrey, thanks for joining. This has been "Is Anything Real?" I'm Adam W. Barney. If you want to scale smarter, stay energized, and cut through the noise follow this show wherever you get your podcasts and connect with me on LinkedIn. But, Jeffrey, thanks again.
[19:12.6]
Thanks so much for having me. All right, until next time, keep your energy high, keep your ads honest, and remember, community compounds. Thank you. Bye y'all.