“authentic life”, a single
Well, here I go, stepping outside of my comfort zone once again.
I’ve loved hip-hop for as long as I can remember: I can remember being in college, thinking I’d eventually grow out of my love for the genre and wondering what I might transition to. While I like a variety of artists and genres, hip-hop is still number one for me, even as I get ready to turn 43.
I’ve always said if I could be anything else, I’d love to be a producer making beats, helping to create great songs with my favorite artists and up-and-coming artists that I find. I’ve never seen my Self as the artist behind the mic, and I’m not sure I do now, but last year, I got tired of saying I wish I could be a producer, and I hired a coach to help me learn how to make my beats. I have a long way to go, but I’ve been having fun making music over the last few months—you can check out my Soundcloud profile to hear everything I’ve created so far.
When I decided to bring back the Keep Pursuing Series in 2025, I knew I’d be writing poems for each of the talks like I did when I held the series in 2023. Instead of writing the poems after I had given the talk, this time, I’d write them before to help me outline the talk.
But that wasn’t enough.
I had a crazy idea…what if I turned the poems into a song?!? I could publish the poem and the song to market the talk and help people understand what to expect if they came to the talk. Shortly after I thought about turning the poems into songs, I saw a video that gave me an idea of what I wanted my video to look like; it was Ab-Soul’s appearance on Colors on YouTube. First, I am a huge Ab-Soul fan and have been for a long time, and when I saw the aesthetics of the Color series and saw/heard his delivery, I knew that’s what I wanted to recreate. I hope it doesn’t come off as copying, but I'm paying homage to Ab-Soul and the Colors series.
I sent the video to Morgan, my videographer, and asked if we could do it?!?
She said yes, but I’m sure there was some doubt because I knew she hadn’t shot anything like that.
That yes was all I needed, and I started working on the song, bought a new microphone, and began playing around with the setup in my studio to try and recreate what I saw in the Ab-Soul video—-but also maintaining my unique spin on it.
This past Tuesday, Morgan came to the studio, and we created magic, magic in the sense that we were able to take a vision in my head and turn it into reality. The filming and editing that Morgan did are amazing and perfect—I couldn’t ask for anything more from her. She made me look like a legit star.
Now, my contribution, on the other hand, has plenty of areas for improvement, but I knew that going into it. I did not have the expectation of matching Ab-Soul bar for bar in my first attempt at writing, recording, producing, and directing a video—and truthfully, I’ll never match Ab-Soul lyrically or in performance (that’s not my purpose in this).
I’m looking forward to practicing and improving my delivery—making it sound as if I’m at ease and finding my cadence.
I’m looking forward to producing better beats to complement the lyrics.
I’m looking forward to having more confidence behind the mic as I get in more reps.
If your first attempt at something is as good as your last, you didn’t grow enough—I can’t get to better/good/great without starting with this first attempt and sharing it.
Despite my awareness of my weaknesses and opportunities for growth, I am so stoked about how this turned out. The message of the song is there and it perfectly captures what my talk will cover next week. I couldn’t ask for a better first attempt.
Behind The Scenes
I wanted to share some behind-the-scenes thoughts for this first video.
You’ll notice in the Ab-Soul video that when they cut to a camera further away, you can see they are in an awesome studio. I wanted to include cutaways in my video that showed we were just in my little podcast studio. Up close, it looks like I might be in the same studio as Ab-Soul, but when you get the full picture, you see that Morgan and I were just working with what we had. The video turned out great. The audio quality is great. Yeah, a high-end studio and equipment would make a difference, but I’m not sure it would have made that much of one. Moral of the story: just go do the thing, and you can always grow into it in the future.
Roman, Leo, and Silas were not as excited as I was for this video—they warned me it would be “cringe.” I hope this video and the ones to follow show them to pursue the thing they want and not to let anyone, even their children, deter them. I’m sure there is a little cringe for them in this video, and maybe their friends will make fun of me, but I hope their takeaway is that they should do what they want and not what others want for them.
It took me four takes to land a “perfect” delivery.
Perfect is the enemy of great—if I was waiting for everything to be perfect, this song and video wouldn’t exist.
I can’t wait to see the improvement over the next eleven months as I write, record, and produce more songs and videos.
I have no expectations for the songs and videos other than trying something new, growing, hopefully driving attention to the Keep Pursuing Series, and improving. Anything that happens after that is bonus!
The Lyrics
I hope you don’t miss the lyrics and messages due to my beginner delivery—the song's message is what’s most important.
(Verse 1)
One life, your life, a canvas to paint,
The picture of your soul, no room for restraint.
Gifts from the heavens that only you hold,
A spark in the darkness, a light to behold.Chris Brickley grinding, Harry Mack rhyming,
Hakim Tafari moving, that cosmic alignment.
They found their lane, their purpose defined,
Living proof that the authentic life shines.Passion's the engine, desires keep it lit,
Energy’s the currency, your heart’s where it sits.
Service to the people, that’s the foundation,
But alignment's the glue, it’s the soul's translation.(Chorus)
One life, your life, the path is clear,
Authenticity’s the key to fight the fear.
Spirit, mind, body—keep them aligned,
Let the Universe speak, and the stars will combine.(Verse 2)
Society’s whispers try to box you in,
Family traditions got you questioning within.
Trauma leaves marks, scars on the soul,
Education tells you, "This is your role."But nah, there’s a life more authentic, more true,
A vision that’s reserved for nobody but you.
Blind to the calling? The system got you stuck?
Peel back the layers, reconnect with the trust.Imagine surrender, no resistance, just flow,
Let the Universe guide where you don’t wanna go.
Michael Singer showed it, the experiment’s real,
Surrender to the moment, let your spirit heal.(Chorus)
One life, your life, the path is clear,
Authenticity’s the key to fight the fear.
Spirit, mind, body—keep them aligned,
Let the Universe speak, and the stars will combine.(Bridge)
The puzzle’s incomplete ‘til your piece locks in,
Your talents and your gifts, that’s where it begins.
Every crack in your story’s a beautiful line,
A testament to why your soul was designed.(Outro)
So live it bold, live it real, live it bright,
Your authentic life is the beacon, the light.
One life, your life, the purpose is true,
The world’s waiting on the magic that’s you.(Chorus)
One life, your life, the path is clear,
Authenticity’s the key to fight the fear.
Spirit, mind, body—keep them aligned,
Let the Universe speak, and the stars will combine.
If you’d like to join me for the “authentic life” talk, there are still tickets available; come join me on 1.29.25 at 7:00 PM—tickets are free; if you aren’t local, don’t worry. The talk will eventually make its way to YouTube and the LifeDesign+ podcast.
Until next time, keep pursuing,
JC
