Musician with a Message, SaulPaul, joined Google this week at the Austin Google headquarters where he performed his music and sparked an inspiring and intellectually focused business talk on social engagement through mentorship and bridging the technological gap. His motivation? His own personal life story as told through the film, Tower to Tower. His goal? To change the world and reach over 10 million this year. How? One song at a time and through global partnerships. All ears at Google were tuned in.
Austin “Googlers” showed SaulPaul love as he shared his music, message, and thoughts on business, community building, and technology as a part of a company speaker’s series called “Google Talks.” Other notable Google Talk past presenters have included SXSW Interactive Director, Hugh Forest and GSD&M’s, Roy Spence.
It is clear that passion for social good is an important and common thread between SaulPaul and the team members at Google. After telling his personal story of tragedy and triumph, SaulPaul spoke about his experience as an entrepreneur and corporate responsibility consultant, the importance of cultural competency in branding, and leveraging virtual communication technology for social change.
SaulPaul took the audience on a journey as he shared his music, story and vision for social change. He weaved in his music with personal story telling and seamlessly switched from emotionally charged ballads with his guitar to breaking the ice with his upbeat freestyle rap performance laced with an acoustic hip hop beat created on the spot.
The musical performance didn’t end the discussion though, it spawned it and many more ideas. Several hands went up to ask questions after his emotionally charged performance of his new song, “Mama.” One audience member shared, “You normally don’t get to hear the meaning behind the lyrics. SaulPaul’s music is very inspiring.” From the conversation during the Q & A session, it is clear that this is just the beginning.
After his performance, SaulPaul was invited to take a tour of Google by host Googler, Kate. Though Google is a mega-international multi-conglomerate brand, the people on their team, their locally themed art and creative spaces in the office, make it a home away from home. As SaulPaul walked the halls of Austin Google, he had time to chat with those whom had taken the opportunity to sit in on his unique performance. Many of them were excited to report that they had downloaded his mobile gaming app, SaulPaul: Dream In 3D from Google Play. SaulPaul’s final words, “I thought it was cool that I have a mobile gaming app on Google Play, but now the people at Google are playing my app—that’s dope.”
What’s next for SaulPaul?
Same thing every day… Change the world… one song at a time.
