TRUST ME I KNOW WHAT I'm DOING

Thank you so much for listening to this and sharing it with your friends and family, for rating and reviewing it wherever you’re listening, and for following TRUST ME I KNOW WHAT I’m DOING on all that social media. You know, sometimes you just have so much to share and so many ways by which you feel comfortable sharing, that the totality of it simply is a reflection of your true self and your own authenticity. It’s perhaps like playing chess and getting to the point of having 12 different ways to make a checkmate, but the elegance and drama and pace and journey of that chess match and all it took to get to that point tells us a lot about the player. I personally find it exciting when people showcase versatility through talent, introspection, purpose, patience, and of course a lot of practice and hard work. Thankfully, I had a chance to catch up with the very talented Utkarsh Ambudkar, a South Asian American artist whose versatility embodies this excitement and a sustained relevance in many different genres. Utkarsh grew up in Baltimore Maryland, and started rapping and performing spoken word at a young age. His spoken word and freestyle performances have garnered praise, awards, and collaboration with Lin Manuel Miranda and Freestyle Love Supreme and his own underground hip hop explorations and musical releases. His acting performances have equally blossomed, through roles in Pitch Perfect, Tick Tick Boom, and Barbershop 3 among many other film credits. As an Indian American, he has also landed roles in very unique and successful storytelling endeavors like the Mindy Project and Never Have I Ever. Utkarsh is currently co-leading in the comedy series Ghosts on CBS, and this week, is set to release his musical comedy film World’s Best on Disney Plus, which he co-wrote, co-produced, and stars in along with Manny Magnus and Punam Patel, a story that places a South Asian family at the core of a Disney film and exploring the possibilities and joy of rap and hip-hop through a youthful and imaginative lens. We chatted about it all, and since he and his wife recently welcomed a new baby, we introduced each other to the conversation with some congratulations and gratitude!