The Story Behind Duo
In 2017, I asked my good friend Devyn to come over and engineer a recording session for me. He arrived, we set up, and I started laying down vocals on the track. Naturally, I was excited because it's always fun to work on new music. I was ready to see how it would turn out.
As we were listening to the playback, I realized that I didn't like the existing pre-chorus. In most cases, I would just go back to the drawing board and write something new at a later time. But I was determined to finish it. So we turned on the beat and I started brainstorming for a new idea. After a few minutes, I heard Devyn mumbling a melody that immediately captured my attention. I was honestly surprised because to my knowledge Dev's only experience with music was as a listener. I asked him to write lyrics to the melody and I convinced him to record it. And that became our first collab together.
Listen here: WDPA ft. dev
The cool thing is I believe that moment revealed a common interest between us. We've been able to work on numerous songs since then. Most of which will never see the light of day. But today I am happy to announce that Devyn and I have created a three-song project. Below is a short breakdown of the project and the meaning behind each song.
Trach #1 - "Midas"
This was the first song that we wrote. Most of my verse was written in Florida last year during a family vacation. For some reason, it took us so long to come up with the concept for this one. But a breakthrough finally came while we were freestyling during a lunch break.
Another fun fact is that our Pastor, Steven Sexton, is featured at the end of this song. I was listening to him preach one Sunday and I thought, I have to include this somewhere. It just felt like icing on the cake!
Meaning:
God gives us everything we need to accomplish our purpose. The kicker is, it all starts as a seed. We have to grow it, feed it, and build it. If you look up Midas Touch, it means the ability to make money or wealth. But this song for us means that God gives us the ability to succeed and to produce the purpose he has for us.
Track #2 - "Trust Issues"
I'm just going to be real with you guys. This is probably the most transparent I've ever been on a song. 90% of the time I fear putting my thoughts and feelings in a song because I don't want to get judged. I had to challenge myself to just be real with things I've been facing over the last year.
Meaning:
As for most people, 2020 was a challenging year for me. When life slowed down it also uncovered things I didn't know I needed to face. I am still working through many of those things. However, I learned that I will never receive healing from something that I never address. This song is a part of that process for me.
Track #3 - "Fear of God"
This song was born on a car ride home from eating Torchy's Tacos. We were going through beats on Soundclick and the instrumental (produced by BeatsCraze) caught our attention. Dev started freestyling a melody that later became the chorus. The rest is history.
Meaning:
I would say the biggest inspiration of this song comes from Proverbs 9:10. It talks about how fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. And that wisdom provides the understanding that enables us to live better.
This verse was very intimidating to me the first time I read it because the word "fear" normally carries a negative connotation. The main question in my head was, "How literal am I suppose to take this"? But I believe this relates less to the emotion and feeling of fear and more to a response of respect and honor.
As a Christian, I believe that God knows far more than I do. I also believe that he has my best interest in mind. When we do things his way, we witness his glory through the fruit produced.
This project reminded me how important it is to do life with people. We need others to encourage us, journey with us, and help us in times of need. Two is better than one.
Here is a link to listen, buy, or stream the new project: DUO
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