With the release of my most recent album A New Challenge in early 2020 I wanted to also release visuals that would accompany the music. I started working on these visuals in summer of 2019 to use behind me during specific performances where I could use projected images/video. I wasn’t aware at the time that I’d end up creating an entire visual album.
I had a lot of fun piecing together a variety of pictures and video clips from my own collection and from a variety of sources online. Songs like From a Boy to a Man (4:52) feature pictures of me and other family members who have played a significant role in my upbringing such as my mother, father, and my step father. I tried to collect as many pictures from family that truly conveyed the feeling of the words that I shared on the song. The song called Wiz Kid (8:43) is about my talents in video games and uses a number of various clips of some of my favorite games from the 80’s, 90’s and early 2000’s.
On songs like Thankful to Have You (0:00) I used professional photos of my wife and children to show the the love and happiness that are a result of us being together. Later on in the album I sequenced several behind the scenes clips of myself and vocal artist Devonte recording the song No Stress Groove (7:01) and also recorded myself recreating the disco/pop inspired instrumental track Keep Going (10:04).
Editing media can be tedious work but I definitely enjoyed putting these visuals together. It has been nice to retap into some of my video editing skills that I learned in college and to put all of my talents together through projects like this. We’ve all came a long way and probably still have a journey ahead of us and that is one of the central themes in this overall visual presentation. I hope that somewhere within all this mixed media storytelling that you are uplifted. PEACE
Side A Track Times
0:00 – It’s Ya Brother 1:16 – From a Boy to a Man 4:52 – Wiz Kid (BAP) 8:43 – Can’t Go Back 10:14 – Miss My Bros 11:55 – A New Challenge 13:47 – Smooth Sailing
Side B Track Times
0:00 – Thankful to Have You 3:04 – No Stress Groove feat. Devonte 7:01 – Keep Going (Instrumental) 10:04 – Smooth Sailing (Instrumental) 14:51 – We Still Here (Freestyle)