I AM MUSIC

People ask me all the time what kind of music I listen to.

I never know how to answer.

Because the real answer is…

Everything.

Some people treat music like background noise. They throw on a playlist while they’re cleaning the house or driving somewhere and never really hear it.

I’ve never been able to do that.

Music doesn’t just play.

It speaks.

It’s poetry wearing a melody.

It’s a painting that doesn’t use paint.

It’s emotion you can hear.

A four-minute song can take you back ten years. It’ll remind you of a person you haven’t spoken to in forever. It’ll remind you of a city, a basketball court, a late-night drive, a breakup, a championship, a funeral, a first kiss.

No photograph is required.

Just one note.

That’s power.

I’ve always believed that if music disappeared tomorrow, humanity would invent it all over again.

We’d start tapping on tables.

Clapping our hands.

Humming.

Whistling.

Because rhythm is already inside us.

Our heartbeat is proof.

Life itself has tempo.

…

I don’t just listen to one genre either.

I never understood putting music in a box.

One minute I’m listening to Charlie Wilson.

The next minute Jelly Roll.

Then Adele.

Then Kanye.

Then Lauryn Hill.

Then Jay-Z.

Then Mary J. Blige.

Then some jazz trio I’ve never heard before playing in a tiny room with twenty people sitting quietly holding glasses of wine.

Then classical.

Then country.

Then rock.

Then some random instrumental that only has three thousand streams.

If it moves me…

I’m listening.

I think that’s why I love traveling so much.

Every city has a soundtrack.

New Orleans sounds different than Detroit.

Nashville doesn’t sound like New York.

Italy doesn’t breathe like Texas.

Different cultures.

Different instruments.

Different rhythms.

Same purpose.

To make somebody feel something.

…

Music follows me everywhere.

When I’m designing clothes…

Music is playing.

When I’m writing stories…

Music is playing.

When I’m brainstorming business ideas…

Music is playing.

Sometimes the beat tells me what colors to use.

Sometimes a piano makes me think of an ending to a story.

Sometimes a guitar riff makes me sketch an outfit.

People think inspiration just appears.

Mine usually walks through the speakers.

I honestly don’t know if I would’ve become the same creator without music.

It shapes everything.

…

Basketball taught me something I didn’t realize until years later.

When I was younger…

Pregame meant rap.

Loud.

Aggressive.

Bass shaking the locker room walls.

I wanted to feel invincible.

Every song felt like a challenge.

Like somebody doubted me.

Like I had something to prove.

And maybe I did.

Back then.

Now…

You’ll probably catch me listening to jazz before tip-off.

Or smooth R&B.

Or soft piano.

Or classical music.

People laugh when they hear it.

“You getting ready for a basketball game or a spa day?”

Both.

Because I don’t need to raise my energy anymore.

I need to direct it.

There’s a difference.

Young me thought intensity won games.

Older me understands peace wins a lot too.

When your mind is quiet…

Everything slows down.

The game actually speeds up.

You see passes earlier.

You breathe better.

You react instead of panic.

The music changed.

Then I changed.

Or maybe…

The music helped me become who I was always becoming.

…

I’ll never forget one game.

I’m sitting on the bench waiting to check in.

Coach is talking.

Fans are screaming.

Ref blows the whistle.

None of that is what I remember.

What I remember…

Is an entire rap song playing in my head.

Every lyric.

Every ad-lib.

Every beat.

Like somebody hit play inside my brain.

It was louder than the arena.

That’s when I realized something.

Music doesn’t stop when the speakers stop.

Sometimes it keeps playing inside you.

…

People ask me for playlists all the time.

“Send me what you’re listening to.”

I laugh because they expect one vibe.

Instead they get ninety.

They’ll see Frank Sinatra sitting next to Future.

Miles Davis beside Lil Durk.

Adele followed by Chief Keef.

Then an orchestra.

Then gospel.

Then country.

They’ll text me back…

“Bro…what is this?”

Exactly.

That’s life.

Life isn’t one genre either.

Some mornings feel like jazz.

Some nights feel like blues.

Some seasons feel like country roads.

Some chapters sound like church.

Some heartbreaks deserve violins.

Some victories need trumpets.

Some workouts demand bass.

Why would I limit myself?

…

One of my favorite things is finding out what other people listen to.

Especially when it surprises me.

I’ve got friends that look like they’d only listen to one thing…

Then they send me folk music.

Opera.

Old-school soul.

Heavy metal.

You realize real quick…

People are way deeper than they appear.

Music exposes that.

It tells you pieces of someone’s story they never say out loud.

Their playlist usually tells the truth before they do.

…

One thing I want to do more of…

Is experience music instead of just hearing it.

I want concerts.

Not because I need another picture for Instagram.

Because I want to witness artistry.

I want to hear Charlie Wilson sing live.

I want to watch Adele silence an arena with one note.

I want to feel Jelly Roll tell stories that sound like they were ripped out of somebody’s journal.

I want Lauryn Hill.

Mary J.

Jay.

Durk.

Kanye.

The legends.

The new generation.

The jazz clubs.

The symphonies.

The local artists nobody knows yet.

I don’t just want songs.

I want experiences.

There’s a difference.

…

Sometimes I think…

Maybe I am music.

Not because I sing.

Not because I produce.

Not because I play piano or guitar.

I don’t.

But music has become part of how I think.

How I create.

How I process life.

Everything has rhythm now.

Conversations.

Walking.

Basketball.

Business.

Love.

Pain.

Healing.

Everything.

Even silence has timing.

Maybe that’s why music feels so human.

Because it reminds us that every life has a beat.

Some are fast.

Some are slow.

Some are loud.

Some barely whisper.

But every single one matters.

So if somebody asks me what my favorite genre is…

I still won’t have an answer.

Because I don’t love genres.

I love honesty.

And every great song—no matter what category it’s placed in—is simply somebody telling the truth…

With a soundtrack.

What's your soundtrack to life?