I remember sitting in an early morning sales room at Toyota. The general manager, a portly old white man with a high-pitched southern drawl went around the room asking everyone what they listened to in the mornings on their way to work. His belief was that a salesman should be listening to lectures, podcasts, and tutorials that would be beneficial to their growth as a salesman. When he got to me, I expressed aloud that I didn't listen to Tony Robbins, or any of the sales genius, that morning I had listened to the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan. He literally paused. And went to the next person. He wouldn't understand my "why", but Min. Farrakhan had made a few messages that resounded in me for quite some time. It was from 1994 and is titled "The Pain of Being a Black Man In Racist White America". I'm not a member of the Nation of Islam, nor do I have an interest in joining, but there aren't many messages that personally resound with Black men like what he says in this lecture. The line that stood out to me most was the following: "...As long as you as a man lay down at night and dream about your greatness but you are never able to manifest how great you are, then the pain of being non-productive makes you seek pleasure that keeps you non-productive." - Hon. Min. Louis Farrakhan Most definitely a resounding message, but at the time, I had no clue on what it meant to me as a salesman. In fact, had the general manager asked me what I learned from my odd listen in on Farrakhan, I would've probably bullshitted a good summary, but in retrospect, it's probably the most important thing I've ever heard. All of lives, we're told to dream big, and by the time we've reached a mature age where we can act on our dreams, we struggle with the anxieties of failure. When it isn't a fear of failure, it's the disbelief in ourselves, or even the appeasement of friends and family. The proof is in the pudding: the inability to act on our dreams makes us chase and seek things that will continue to keep us away from being able to act on our dreams. For men, this is immensely true. There is a saying, when you lose money chasing women, you never lose women chasing money (Nas). Women are the #1 distraction for men when they're chasing their dreams. It's a rigorous conditioning to create men who are perfect at attracting women. Instead what it creates is women-seeking men, who attract women at any cost.
And so birthed Emblem in the middle of December 2016. Standing in Aja Channelside night club with my brother, Deni Brave, who was encouraging me to continue with creating new music. I told him I had something, and that it would release on my birthday as usual. At the time, I had nothing. I had nothing until December 21st in a series of work nights for GoodKnocking, BuzzBoost Social, and intense writing. Those days and nights, which bled into one another reminded me so much of the 40 days and 40 nights of Lent, and so I tapped into that message all over again. "15 Days I couldn't Sleep At Night...but on that 16th Day, that sun just shined so bright" I ate, wrote, worked, and barely slept. Of course, not the ideal work strategy, but from it, came the compilation of music (12 total songs, from that I chose 8) which became my message to other creatives and to other men. The messages vary, but include (i) we are made to create, and to leave our work for others, (ii) to sacrifice pleasures for productivity, (iii) to focus on self, and avoid envy, and lastly to (iv) be good and spread love. If you asked me, Emblem is a project for young, ambitious, Black men like myself. It's a message that, regardless of where our life journey takes us, we have to remember that we leave behind receipts, legacies, and emblems that others will remember us by. It's not delivered in a wildly direct way, but I continue to encourage others to listen to Farrakhan's message, and to listen to Emblem. Emblem will be available in full release on January 31, 2017. Stay informed by subscribing to my newsletter for more details on how to get access to the individual tracks, credits, digital package, and more.
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