I think I probably started writing music around the age of 7. I just really enjoyed coming up with songs and performing them, either in front of friends and family or the thousands of people in the stands around me as I performed on the stage in my head. Lol. In my childhood my favorite thing to do was come up with songs and choreograph to them with my step brother and step sister. We called ourselves "The Stars" and would force my dad and their mom to watch us perform. It was the highlight of my weekends there. I'd go home and couldn't wait until the next time I could go back and beg them to do it again. S/o to Charity and Noah.
In middle school I was finally able to join the choir.. I had waited for that for a long time. It was the only thing I was excited to go to middle school for, that and the lockers. I stayed for all 3 years and relished in every solo I was able to acquire.
In high school I was accepted into a performing arts program (music, acting and dance) at a local arts and technology school. I did that for a year but wasn't really a fan. The teachers played favorites (in my opinion) and was highly based on seniority. I just didn't really feel encouraged. There were also a lot of students compared to the amount of teachers and I feel like that played a huge part in it as well. As I continued into school I wasn't doing so well, wasn't excited , wasn't encouraged , wasn't feeling it. All I knew was that I wanted to be an artist and I had no idea how to get into that no matter what they taught me at school. I honestly felt like it was just a huge waste of my time. And then during my last year of school, I had a baby. A beautiful baby boy.
I graduated high school and had no idea what I was doing. I wanted to be an Artist and anytime I got into doing something else for a career that wasn't that, it felt like a betrayal. But, I'd had a baby and I had to grow up. So I worked, and I provided for my family. Years went by and I'd record in the cheapest basement studio I could find or post a video of me singing something I wrote on social media, in the hopes that someone, anyone would see it. Some did. I gained a handful of loyal fans and supporters. There were also people that I could tell were watching me but never gave me any encouragement, and also people that ended up having hidden intentions.
Ive learned a lot over the years, mostly lessons, and I think the greatest of them all is that you don't need anyone else to succeed, and your will to do it. Another great lesson I learned, is that success comes in many forms.
Today, I've taken my success into my own hands by becoming an Artist that I not only love but that I respect, by being myself, making music that I love and by investing in what I believe in and following through.
Tomorrow, I'll reap the rewards.