It’s not even that Dawud Hasan Tarleyb (who goes by Dawud Hasan) is a science nerd or anything like that. He’s not; he’s a writer, an independent hip hop artist, a community organizer, and an event planner. It’s in those creative spaces where he’s found himself open to expand his work and his visions for what he can do, including incorporating science into his creative work. An opportunity came late last year in the announcement of the “Art for Planetary Health” community art project with the Fleet Science Center in Balboa Park. The program invited five local artists from diverse San Diego neighborhoods (Hasan, southeastern San Diego; LaRaza Webb, southeastern San Diego; Claudia Biezunski-Rodriguez, Barrio Logan; Yvette Roman, San Ysidro; and Kline Swonger, National City) to collaborate with their communities in creating art focused on alignment between communities and the health of the planet, and promoting an environmental consciousness. “I named my project ‘Stardust’ and decided to create a book, a movie, and an album and we just got to work,” he says. “I formed a team and we worked on the graphics, the music. When it was finally time to apply, I showed them all the work we had done and a month or two later, we got an email that said we were selected. … Now, we’re here.” A showcase for all five artists’ projects will take place from 6 to 8 p.m. Oct. 12 at the Fleet Science Center, and admission is free. Hasan, 44, lives in southeastern San Diego and works as an in-home health aide, and is the founder of Diamond Minds, an organization he created in 2012 that organizes the San Diego Hip Hop Health & Wellness 5k and Festival, community forums, art exhibits, food distributions, and other events and programs focused on growth and education. He took some time to talk about his “Stardust Project” for the Fleet center’s program, in which he wrote the novel and executive produced the album, and how a close friend got him interested in science and astronomy in the first place. Q: Why was the “Art for Planetary Health” project something you wanted to be a part of? A: I’ve always wanted to do something with science and astronomy in the community. It’s not even because I have this huge thing for science and astronomy because I really don’t. I have a really close friend named Ivan (Cofey) who’s also part of this project and who’s strong in science and astronomy. It’s his jam and for more than a decade we’ve been having these conversations about science and astronomy, and he taught me what stardust is. Way back then, when I started visualizing Diamond Minds, I told him that he needs to be a teacher because he’s from the ‘hood, he’s swagged out, and at the same time he has all of this knowledge and understanding of the stars. It’s crazy. So, I told him that he should teach and that I was going to build a platform for him to teach, and I called it Diamond Minds. When I saw the opportunity with the Fleet Science Center, that’s why I went after (the grant). What I love about southeastern San Diego… Just the diverse nature of it. Hispanics, Blacks, Asians, some White folks, everybody’s kind of just getting along, doing their thing. Minding their business, that’s what I like (laughing). Q: Walk us through the process of how this took place? A: It started with the name, “Stardust.” Then, I started to craft this story, which I had already started writing last year. I used AI to kind of help with the vision, putting in different prompts and bringing up different images. One of the images that was created was of these kids on a rooftop in the Bronx, overlooking the city, and there was a spaceship. I said, ‘Oh, that would be so dope if there was an alien invasion over the ‘hood,’ and that’s kind of how it started. With the music, before I was a community organizer, I started out as an independent hip hop artist. Being from Queens, New York, it was just something that we did that was fun, so I’ve always been an emcee. Putting music to this was easy. Ivan, the friend I mentioned, he’s an emcee, too, so we’ve been rapping together forever. So, with him being able to rap about science and math and astronomy, it was easy. Some of the songs he wrote for this are phenomenal pieces, it’s hard for me to even describe, but it’s poignant because it’s real hip hop. At the same time, it’s education about science and astronomy, and I’ve never heard anything like that before. With the movie, it was going to be a cartoon at first. We found an illustrator through LaWana Richmond, who is the founder of Afro Con (a local Afrofuturism convention held annually). She put me on to Tony Washington, who’s a prominent illustrator. He worked for Marvel, DC, Dark Horse, and he’s been in the game for 30 years. He’s just a really, really dope brother. So, we linked up and it kind of went from, ‘Hey, we’re going to do this comic book’ to a movie and a comic book, and now a novel. He came up with some characters and some different graphics, and I started to write the story. It took me a few months to write the whole novel, and from there, we’re starting to extrapolate different parts to put into the graphic novel. Q: How would you describe the story you’re trying to tell through the novel, the film, and the soundtrack? A: It’s a story about a young boy in southeast San Diego who is the focal point of an intergalactic chase that is happening through the multiverse toward him. The story includes themes of unity and redemption. The film is the same story. The novel is completely fleshed out and it’ll be turned into a graphic novel. The trailer for the film will be screened at the showcase on Oct. 12, and we’ll do a 20-minute set where we perform songs from the album. The music is based on science, astronomy, and math. Q: Why astronomy? What role do you see it playing in the health of the planet and a greater awareness about the environment? A: I think the general understanding of science and astronomy is a good thing, and the specific understanding of “stardust” and what that means. It means that every element that makes us who we are comes from elements that were created from exploding stars, eons ago. Just having that understanding, I think, is an empowering thing because we’re not just willy-nilly living life. Like, we’re actually participants in creation and evolution. This is an esoteric kind of thought, but tapping into that and being more focused on what happens next in human evolution and creation is generally good. For kids and adults alike, the general understanding of science and astronomy is our life, it’s everything around us. Why wouldn’t you want to know the intricacies of everything that we’re looking at? Looking up, I think, is very important because humanity is moving toward being able to travel to space and civilian space travel is coming next. Our kids probably won’t know a world without being able to go to space. Q: What is your goal for this project? What do you hope it achieves and contributes to your community? A: We just want to enlighten people and make people curious about the stars. Q: What is the best advice you’ve ever received? A: My grandmother, she said, “Be careful of your gifts because the same thing that brings you up can bring you down. Your gifts can be used as a double-edged sword against you, so just be vigilant over yourself.” Q: What is one thing people would be surprised to find out about you? A: I wash dead bodies. So, I’m Muslim and in Islam, one of the final rites of every Muslim is to be given a final bath, a final washing or purification, so I’ve been doing that for 15 years now. Q: Please describe your ideal San Diego weekend. A: Probably Ocean Beach, I’m an O.B. kind of guy. I’m chill, I like nature, so a nice walk in the morning and breakfast at Margarita’s (Restaurant). That’s my favorite restaurant. Then, go to the secret beach in O.B. It’s a three-mile walk from the secret beach to the dog park and back, so that’s a cool little walk.