Still

The gift of music is quite literally the meaning of my entire existence, in all its various definitions (and trust me, there are probably too many. haha). I’ve said it so many times before (on this here blog) that it is the purest part of my convoluted identity.  It is the piece of me that I always come back to when I begin to feel a little bit lost in the world.

I believe that everyone on the planet has at least one talent imparted upon them from the creator(s) of our universe. And whether we’re passionate about these talents or not is a different story, as I believe that these innate skills (when coupled with said passion) are the things we are placed on this planet to do. Our talents give us purpose. These very things appear to be not only virtuous and benevolent, but are more notably the things we leave the womb not only knowing how to do without prior knowledge or training, but do exceptionally well, above all else.

From what I can recall from my own life, I was singing and dancing before I was speaking and walking, if I may embellish a bit. I’m not entirely sure how it is I “learned” about these talents, more so, it seemed that the family around me reacted rather positively to the kinds of sounds and movements I was naturally producing. Mariah Carey’s “Always Be My Baby” from her 1995 album Daydream was arguably the very first song I knew and sang by heart. I remember my father constantly encouraging me to do so, as he used to love when I would sing along. And as he and my mother could see, the joy I felt mimicking what is now one of my all-time favorite artists to this day, was unprecedented in comparison to anything else my little mind was soaking up.

In terms of dance, Janet Jackson was always someone that I really admired. Her precision and legwork was and still is so entrancing. I can’t even count on hands and feet how many times I would dance in front of the body-length mirror in the bathroom to the likes of “Rhythm Nation” and “Miss You Much”. It was something that always felt like gave me wings. And again, my parents were always (and still are) so supportive. I think they recognized much earlier than I did that through song and dance, I understood what it means to be happy and to feel whole.

As I grew into a young boy, to pre-teen, to adolescent, and now, to (young) adult, my aspirations have always been very lofty and somewhat otherworldly, aiming for stages all over the city of LA, lending my voice and dance wherever I could. Stardom is ultimately what I am STILL after and no rain or fire is gonna stop me, as I’ve been going over six years strong now, and continue to climb totem poles in my industry. Classmates in high school used to openly laugh at and mock me when I would tell them what I planned to do with my life following graduation. The gag in all this is that those same people NEVER left that one-horse town. Many are now divorced, single parents, hating their jobs, etc., etc. etc., meanwhile, I’m a published author, I’ve recorded and released countless singles, a mixtape, am headed back into the studio, have performed at some of the largest events LA and San Diego have to offer, am an advocate and activist for change and participant in my respective communities, and so on and so forth.

However, I don’t aspire to fame and repute out of mere gluttony and desire for vacuous admiration and inane vanity. I’ve always believed in the good of the human heart. And I still believe that when you pair art with healing, you get divinity in motion. I still believe in my own, even after all I’ve already been through.

And much of what I’ve already accomplished isn’t to gloat, but really, to prove a point. My love for all things artistic and my endless endeavors have and continue to carry me into some pretty incredible places I used to only dream of (and in a sense, still do). And what’s perhaps even more humbling for me is that, at one point, this was all really just a dream. That’s all it was. I do what I do because I love it, but also, to set an example to everyone watching that it doesn’t matter what you love, so long as you love at all. It doesn’t matter what people think or say, so long as YOU know who you are and what you’re capable of, even what your perceived limitations are (don’t read too much into that). It’ll never matter what the critics say, because as the saying goes, statues are never erected in their honor anyway.

So go and create a legacy. Go forth and utilize your talents to leave some kind of mark. Be someone’s hero. Hell—be your own. It’s what we deserve after all, isn’t it?

Reki*