My Legacy
All my life I have been around music. I remember as a young boy, listening to my family sing and play music, and at an early age, I knew music was something that I was born with. Just about everyone in my family either sings or plays an instrument. Music is in us so much that, you notice small signs of music in the toddlers and younger. For an example, my mother told me a story about the time she went to an Earth, Wind & Fire concert. She told me as soon as the music started playing, I was kicking like crazy and I didn’t stop until the concert was over.
My dad was a major musician in Atlanta, so he was always playing in church, playing with some of the top gospel artists, and playing overseas. My dad played the organ/piano/keyboard, but I always had an interest in the drums. My mother always wanted my dad to teach me and my sister the piano, but we never learned. My parents bought me a mini drum set when I was about three years old. I used to always play on it to the point where it annoyed everyone in the house. I would always sit next to the drummer in church trying to copy his every movement. I would also listen to drummers on YouTube and try to copy their moves. I continued to play the drums up until the 5th grade. At that point, I was way too big for my drum set, and I asked my parents for a new set. They never bought me one, so I took apart my drum set. This kind of upset my dad.
For a while I wasn’t doing anything that was motivating me to do music. I was in the school band, but it wasn’t fun to me. It was too easy for me. The only thing that was beneficial to me was I was learning how to read music. One day, I was sitting in church listening to my dad play and just watching everyone’s reactions. My family and some of my dad’s friends would always ask if I played keys, but I didn’t. They used to always tell me that my dad was so talented. I never realized it till that day in church. At that point I was interested in learning how to play the organ. I was also interested, because I knew the organist got paid the most. I didn’t want to ask my dad if he could teach me, because I remembered my dad being hard on my older sister about practicing. Eventually I asked if he could teach me, and he told me that I would have to learn the piano before I learned how to play the organ. I started playing for a couple of months, but I quit soon after. I just didn’t feel like practicing.
After a couple of years I was feeling empty. I was upset that I wasn’t doing anything musically. I also felt a little depressed. One day, I heard this young musician named Cory Henry. He absolutely blew my mind when I heard him play. He motivated me to get better. I started playing again at 16 years old. This time, I promised myself that wouldn’t stop playing. At one point I wasn’t practicing like I should've. My dad sat down with me and had a huge conversation with me about music. The number one thing he told me was to “Be Authentic.” He told me that I would need to have my own sound. I need to stop trying to sound like him or Cory. This pushed me to the max. I started practicing differently. I put more time and effort into my practice. I also started programing/ producing music on my laptop. One day, my dad saw me working on a track and he asked if he could listen to it. He was so amazed, he thought someone else created the track and I lied to him. He didn’t know that I had got so good.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qLDKGbhr5Ps
Later in life, I want o do music as a side job. But if I can do it as a full time job, because of the money, I will definitely lean towards that. I feel that I have so much music and creativity in me that I have not yet unlocked. As a musician, I honestly want to reach the playing level of Cory Henry. I want to incorporate my gift of playing into producing music. I also want to find a church to play for. It would be an easy job while in college. I am so excited for the years to come, and I am so curious of where my gift will take me.
