Waka Flocka Flame Embracing the Flame
by Dee Doanes Davis
Waka Flocka Flame hangs up from a business call. He takes a deep breath and heads for the juicer in the Shanti Villa kitchen. He’s known for holding a mic to rap, but amongst his family and close friends, he’s known for holding a carrot or two to juice and making healthy drinks. Juicing and making smoothies are his thing. Waka juices the carrots, pours the juice into a glass, takes a long sip, grins, and joyously yells, “Woo–that juice is good, real good, like Kool-aid; good! We both laugh.
Waka is 35 years old, and his birth name is Juaquin James Malphurs. He was born in Queens, New York, raised in Riverdale, Georgia, and is living in sync with the Universe. The rapper and businessman is much more than what meets the eye as he talks about his life’s journey and spiritual practice. He’s animated, insightful, laughing, and cracking jokes as we speak.
Daily, the rapper performs Agnihotra, a powerful Ayurveda healing fire practice, lighting special substances in a pyramid, morning and evening. It cleanses the planet of pollution and heals the body and mind. He says, “My routine consists of sun-up and sun-down Agnihotra. I use a copper pyramid, cow dung, and brown rice. Specifically, at sunrise and sunset, I sing a mantra. The mantra puts everything together. Agnihotra pulls the nutrients from the sun and puts them back into the atmosphere to clean pollution and help the humans, help the atmosphere, help the trees, help the animals. It helps bring about peace.” Adding Agnihotra to his spiritual practice deepened his understanding of himself, people, and the planet.
Health and Wellness
Waka pours me a glass of carrot juice before finishing drinking his juice. Then he begins to chop up some fresh garlic and onions and puts them in small mason jars. He says, “I’m taking a spoon of this before eating my first meal of the day to clean out my system. This is some strong stuff.”
Waka is a vegetarian and frequently makes health elixirs like this one. His diet consists of large amounts of fresh organic fruits and vegetables. Staying healthy isn’t just about what he eats. He says, ”First and foremost, I keep a healthy mindset because it all starts with the mind; it all starts with the thoughts. It at all starts with the things that you grieve for, the things that you crave. So you gotta fight that within before you try to fight them on the outside, and I’m doing a pretty good job with that. How I do that is, man, I just investigate. I get literacy on everything out there and take what is needed before I put it out of my mouth.”
Agnihotra has made a significant difference in all aspects of the rapper’s life. By embracing the Agnihotra flame, he says, “ It took the mist out of the air, and it just made things crystal clear, it gives me better answers on things that I want to do in life and business.”
He thinks that other people in the music industry can easily use Agnihotra. He says. “It’s extremely useful for people that are in the music industry, all industries, from basketball, football, to music, to acting. This is because people working in these areas are driven and pushed every which way, and sometimes we just need our minds to be still and be at peace so we can make the right decisions in life. Meditation holds you together and provides that thang.”
“I found peace, prosperity. I found love. I found understanding. I found trust in myself today, which helped me trust everybody.”
Waka lives for a higher purpose, and material wealth is not his master. He’s intuitive and observant and doesn’t get caught up in what the media or fans think. It’s about walking the right path to reach greater understanding and spiritual insight. Waka says, “I think back to the interviews I did from 2012 and 2013 and things I was talking about when I was on The Breakfast Club. Seeing comments from people saying I just want to “be woke.” I never paid attention; I just prophesized.”
The rapper searched for a way to repurpose his career. He knew he was meant to do things in a different and meaningful way. He found many life-changing moments during this time. Waka says, “I had to search so I could use my career as a tool and anchor to help me on my journey. I found peace, prosperity. I found love. I found understanding. I found trust in myself today, which helped me trust everybody. I found loyalty in myself to help me be loyal to everybody. I found the love within myself to help me find love and love everybody. No matter who you are and what you do, your actions should never drive my reactions.”
Young People With Problems
The rapper understands that everyone has problems, not just high-profile people like him. He knows the issues some young people are dealing with today. “I was that young guy that needed help. I’ve applied Agnihotra to my life to deal with any problems. At the end of the day, you have to have a battle and put the effort in the belief that you can actually change to be a better person.”
Agnihotra protects Waka from a lot of problems; they have gone away. The wrong people have exited his circle, and things are much smoother with continued success as a rapper and businessman. He says, “Don’t believe the hype to follow the normal, don’t work extremely hard, and become a deceitful person. Cuz all you got to do to be successful is save yourself from that trap and just be at peace. That’s what meditation helps you do, and that’s how I apply it to my life.”
Waka has a laid-back approach when young people ask questions about his lifestyle. “They ask me, how did you change? What are you doing? What is your practice? Do you have a religion? I tell them that this is my practice. I meditate, and they see the changes in me. It’s not what I tell them to do, I guess it’s what they see, and they become interested in it. I just suggest I don’t say you have to do this or something’s going to happen to you. This is what I do, just another way to live.”
Homa Farming
“When I got introduced to Homa farming, I felt more human, more conscious.”
For several months Waka has been doing Homa farming, an Ayurveda farming technique based on Agnihotra. It has deepened his love for the environment and taught him the importance of being mindful of the pollution that people make. But not everyone he’s talked to understands the importance of taking care of the planet. He says, “I mentioned Homa farming to my financial advisors and asked them about ways to help the planet. I told them that I wanted clean air, water, and food, and they looked at me as if I said something alien. They had no answers for me.”
Homa farming gave Waka all the answers he needed. It’s an excellent way to grow food naturally without using pesticides, regenerate soil, increase nutrients to plants, and grow food sustainably. Homa farming cuts harvest time in half, remediates soil problems, increases plat yield. On a Homa farm, Agnihotra is performed daily, and Agnihotra ash is used for planting. This ancient Ayurveda regenerative farming technique has been used long before “sustainable,” “organic,” and “regenerative” became agricultural buzzwords in the modern Western world.
Waka is hooked on Homa farming and plans to grow more food. He likes growing healthy food planted with his hands, knowing that it contains no GMOs or harmful chemicals. He says, “I was told, once you learn how to farm, you learn how the Universe works; this is everything. When I got introduced to Homa farming, I felt more human, more conscious. I didn’t want to farm and kill animals on my farm. To me, that’s not cool to have a whole bunch of dead animals or slaughterhouses. Hey man, I can’t eat an animal that I raised that’s just like a family member. It’s just love and peace. Then you know what you put in your body; you know what you’re consuming. I didn’t notice how much food I was consuming because I was living a fast-paced life. I got grounded to show you that you move with the cycle of life; you move with the Universe in what you’re eating. You don’t have to pig out; you don’t have to indulge. You don’t have to be eating sugar all damn day. Sugar is cocaine. To me, it hurts people, destroys the body, and kills men.”
Waka gives me a mason jar filled with fresh chopped ginger as our conversation comes to an end. Waka is serious about living a positive and healthy life, maintaining his body, mind, and spirit on the highest level. I asked if he had any new projects in the new year. He says, “ I’ll just say that from my experience I don’t want to tell you, I just want to do. Thank you.” I smile, knowing that he’s the light and will do many important things for everyone to see in the new year.
