On The Come Up: Bryson Tiller
On two feet, that’s where I stand though” — Bryson Tiller
Bryson Tiller also known under the moniker Pen Griffey, is quite the inspiration. In 2015, the young artist received praise and recognition for his song ‘Don’t’. The music video posted on Bryson Tiller’s Vevo channel has now clocked over 237 million views and has generated 25 million streams on Sound Cloud during the writing of this article! It took a lot for Tiller to reach the level of success he’s achieved. Things weren’t always easy for Tiller growing up, He didn’t fit into the in crowd, grew up under-privileged in the 502 area of Louisville, Kentucky, and his mother passed away when he was just 4 years old.
It’s been a few years since ‘Don’t’ put Tiller in the spotlight. He’s been able to grow his following, work with artists like Gucci Mane, DJ Khaled, Rhianna, and Young Thug. Tiller released his first full length album ‘T R A P S O U L’ which did incredibly well and was nominated for a Billboard Music Awards, an American Music Awards, and a Soul Train Music Award. He would perform on live television, at the BET Music Awards and in first half of 2017 drop his second studio Album ‘True To Self’.
Bryson Tiller is a man of many accomplishments. It took a lot for the young musician to be able to overcome his adversity and shape the life he lives today. He’s been able to create a world of opportunity and riches for himself through persistence, hard work and faith. The Young artist even turned down an offer to be a part of Drake’s record label ‘October’s Very Own’ in the pursuit of creating the life he imagined. He stayed focused on his vision. Here’s how and why he created this life for himself?
Bryson Tiller’s rise to stardom could be heavily contributed to his daughter Harley. Harley was born when Tiller was just 17 years old. Tiller had dropped out of High School prior to the birth of his daughter to chase his dreams in music. Bryson always loved to sing, and with video games, Star-Wars and competitive sports all being major passions for him, singing remained his biggest source of inspiration and self expression. He was known for his musical aptitude during his time and school and was even known to cut class to focus on his music. When his daughter came into the world however Tiller needed to prioritize taking care of his daughter and decided to stop pursuing his career in music. He Got a job Working for the United States Postal Service and Papa John’s as well as working for a moving company and during this time would be living out of his car. Tiller wasn’t able to move ahead after 2 years of effort and would contemplate many options in trying to figure out what he would be doing for the rest of his life. He wanted to be able to provide the world for his daughter and ultimately decided to reconsider a career in music, to create a better life for his daughter and himself. In many interviews the musician has stated how big of an inspiration his daughter is to him.
After reading a Forbe’s article titled; Six Ways to Achieve Any Goal’ written in 2013, Bryson Tiller would ultimately decide to pursue music once again. Here are the six ways as listed from that very same article!
- Look at it. A goal that you can actually see is massively more powerful than a goal you write down on a checklist. This is a favorite technique of mine and it works very well if you’re a visual learner.
- Tell people. I was perusing Facebook recently and stumbled on my friend Jennifer’s blog post. In it, she was announcing her intentions to change her world in a big way, getting in shape and becoming that healthy mom she’s always wanted to be. She was open with her goals and descriptive in what she was aiming to accomplish.
- Break it up. Many people abandon goals because they’re just too dang big. If you’ve done this to yourself, stop now. Change your game plan.
- Set a date. One of the best ways to knock out a goal is to put it on your calendar. If you put a stake in the ground and impose a date on yourself, you’re much more likely to reach it.
- Be realistic. I’m sure if I asked everyone here, you’d all be just as interested in magically obtaining a bazillion dollars or finding the cure for cancer as I would. But there are some goals that are just too out of this world (although Elon Musk might actually reach his goal in this category). Simple but true…you’re more likely to reach goals that you realistically set for yourself.
- Commit to yourself. Last but not least, there’s only one person in this goal-setting process that matters. You. You’re the one who has to put the hours in at the gym. You’re the one who needs to stay late at the office to finish that task for your boss so you can score the promotion. You’re the only one receiving the paycheck that will eventually pay you out of credit card debt. It’s all on you, my friend. Commit to yourself and then re-commit yourself each time you fall (because that definitely happens along the way).
The article and experiences prior gave Bryson the energy and faith to produce and create ‘Don’t’ which he worked on and put out on Sound Cloud. The track would become a viral hit and would allow the artist to get his foot in the door and open many opportunities for him for years to come. Through this adversity, Bryson was able to find fulfillment, self expression and be able to provide for daughter. He made the decision to pursue what he loved and in spite of many setbacks stayed focused and stuck to the plan. His is a story of persistence and faith and personal growth. Bryson had to become the man he is today to be able to do what he needed to do for himself and his family. What a truly remarkable story!
