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A Section Arts & Culture Friday, May 29, 2026by CHLOE McGOWAN chloegm@indyrecorder.comSuga-T Stevens, PhD also known as the Legendary Suga-T, is coming back to Indianapolis this month %u2014 but not just for hip hop.Rapper, CEO, motivational speaker and author Suga-T recently announced a new single and select tour dates which include Indianapolis. She%u2019s also the featured guest speaker for Quiche and Conversations, a local event focused on wellness and community conversations hosted by Inspired on Purpose and Speak on It Radio on May 29. Suga-T sat down with the Recorder ahead of the event to talk about her new music, having an entrepreneurial mindset and balancing different aspects of her career.Responses were edited for clarity and brevity.This marks your fi rst time speaking at Quiche & Conversations in Indianapolis. What makes this particular event so special for you?Suga-T: Just being able to come back and impact the community. Indianapolis, the region itself, sold a lot of seats in the beginning of my career (and) over the past 40 years, and just being able to bring something back, to give as we were given to as we built my music career %u2014 that%u2019s the most exciting part. And then, of course, that%u2019s what I do in general, I%u2019m an author and a speaker and a trainer, and I own a coaching school, and a learning academy, so that%u2019s just a part of the work as well.When you do these speaking events, are there specifi c topics you try to touch on to inspire people?Suga-T: Yeah, the main thing is creating equitable opportunities for yourself and healing through creativity and arts. And, of course, women and girl empowerment always.What was it like to transition into this phase of your career? How do you balance your music career with your education, humanitarian eff orts and motivational speaking opportunities?Suga-T: It wasn%u2019t built all at once; it was through the years. At different times in my career, I needed different things. I was brought into the industry %u2014 I came into it mothering, parenting. Therefore, different times there%u2019s been different things that came up in my personal life that allowed me to have to either pivot or put something in front of the other, whether it was temporary or whether it was permanent. Because I knew that was the type of environment that I was going to have to have in order to fulfill my full purpose and have the well-rounded experience as a woman, and not a regretful woman later saying, %u2018woulda, coulda, shoulda, oh my god, my kids hate me because they never see me,%u2019 or I left them with somebody else, so they%u2019re saying I didn%u2019t raise them. Can you tell me a little bit about your mindset when you realized you wanted to do more with your career and what that entailed %u2014 whether it was the people you surrounded yourself with or stepping outside the box within your own industry?Suga-T: My specialty, my expertise, I learned it eventually, is helping people create equitable opportunities for yourself. In that, I had to create equitable opportunities for myself along the way. So, I was pretty much forced into it, to be honest with you. The good part is, at the beginning of my career, I was put into the career as an executive producer. I came in helping run a label, so I understood that as a teenager in this music business that it had to be about business and I had to have an entrepreneurship mindset and I had to have a %u2018do-it-yourself just in case somebody else don%u2019t do it or won%u2019t do it for you%u2019 mentality. Being a mother on welfare at 15-16, years old, establishing Section Eight at 17 years old, and realizing that in my 20s I had to let that go because I started venturing into actually creating, making money from music and noise. I said that I wanted to help someone else that was in that position to have a good experience.It ain%u2019t just about music; it%u2019s a bigger world out here than just music, and I just liked to be there, I like to be in all different types of places. June is coming up, and it%u2019s Black Music Month. Can we talk about your new song and upcoming album?Suga-T: Yes, I love my new album. It%u2019s gonna be different, and I%u2019m gonna surprise you. The album that%u2019s coming out now, there%u2019s a time where people try to %u2014 ageism. People are afraid to grow up and it seems as if they%u2019re afraid to grow up in hip hop. I%u2019m not afraid to grow up, I%u2019m happy to live as long as I have, to be here for over five decades, and there%u2019s so much that could happen. It%u2019s a safe album to play in front of your children. It%u2019s no parental guidance, but it is definitely friendly to the family, older, and it%u2019s not hard on the ear to the younger generation of underage.How would you say your music has changed over the years? Do you fi nd yourself looking toward diff erent areas of your life for inspiration, or has that always been pretty consistent?Suga-T: I know who I am, I know how I want to live %u2014 because what you put out there is going to affect your life, it%u2019s going to reflect somewhere %u2014 and I like being just one person. I like being me. I don%u2019t like to have to switch up and change and be this person and that person, and I like to give a show. Now, I talk like I got a lot of sense, but when I%u2019m on stage, I rock it. I know how to intervene, get us moving. I know how to turn into that performer. What does it mean to you to be able to do so much within your own community? I imagine you stay quite busy, so where do you fi nd joy in all of it?Suga-T: I think it%u2019s a place of always feeling like I%u2019m needed. I think that%u2019s what keeps me healthy, that I%u2019m needed, and that I can help someone else that may not have been exposed to what I%u2019ve been exposed to and might need that push %u2014 because I was one of them. The Working Well Project is a sustainability hub, we call it Save Ourselves. Teaching people how to save themselves is everything, and that%u2019s the joy in it, is being that person, even today. Sometimes I need help, even today. Someone either helps or someone doesn%u2019t. When someone helps, it makes a world of difference, and when someone don%u2019t, it also makes a world of difference. So, I like to be that other just somebody in somebody%u2019s life that can make their life easier, because life is hard enough.Quiche and Conversations will feature food, vendor booths, Sprinkle Me networking and a panel discussion with Suga-T from 5-7 p.m. on May 29 at Nexus Impact Center. For more information about Quiche and Conversations, visit daspeakabox.com.Read the full Q&A at Indianapolisrecorder.com.Contact Arts & Culture Reporter Chloe McGowan at 317-762-7848. Follow her on X @chloe_mcgowanxx.Q&A: Social entrepreneur Suga-T talks new music, mindset ahead of Indy visitRapper, entrepreneur and motivational speaker Suga-T Stevens is coming to Indianapolis as the keynote speaker at Quiche & Conversations. (Photo provided/Suga-T)