honesty.
transmuting through light, sound, & symbol.
honesty
transmuting through light, sound, & symbol.
the choice of name reflects a deeply held belief — that being honest in my words, and authentic in my process, will lead to positive transformation in my personal life and community.
i use art as transmutation for things i struggle to deal with in more rational ways. being witnessed is one of the most powerful medicines we can access. by sharing our authentic expressions, we give ourselves the chance to be witnessed, and we give others permission to do the same.
hip-hop, and the cultures that manifested it, represent the survival of shared truths that humanity needs to thrive — truths that many of my more-recent ancestors lost along the way. one of my core missions in this life is to reconnect with these truths and embody them to the best of my ability.
i got into the music scene as a partner to artists — directing and editing videos for friends in the twin cities. eventually that evolved into building studios, promoting shows, recording albums for other people. i learned a lot. but back then i never really focused on my own artistic vision.
in 2014 i co-founded a tech company in the twin cities and spent five years running it. by 2019 i was burned out; i sold what i could and took a one-way flight to india. it was the reset i needed. from there i landed in the bay area and took a job at pandora. covid happened and shook things up further. eventually i ended up in guatemala, and then back in minneapolis. somewhere in all of that, i finally made space for myself.
i grew up an inner city kid (midway, stp!). surrounded by talented, deeply wise people navigating complex circumstances. my home was more stable than most around me, but my parents never questioned my friendships or drew lines around who belonged. that openness is how i stumbled into hip-hop — and hip-hop brought so much growth, so much truth i wouldn't have found otherwise. i try to keep that lineage alive in everything i make.
my primary intention with the music is to be honest. closely followed by breaking rules, blending genres, and building strange worlds that can help us feel hope within the troubled one we have. i'm on this journey to become more of myself.
being witnessed is one of the most powerful medicines we can access.— honesty
i've been building things with technology for over twenty years — flash games as a pre-teen, teaching myself c++ while dreaming of creating bigger worlds, eventually leading engineering projects that touch the lives of millions of people. the draw was never the engineering itself. it was always the world felt and expressed on the other side of it.
that's the same reason i got into film. and music. and why the music i make almost always comes with companion experiences built by the same hands. feeling and world-building is the practice. sound, light, and symbol are the materials.
i'm pragmatic about new technology — i use what genuinely deepens my process and leave alone what would shortcut growth i want to earn myself. i wrote more about how i think through that in the process is the cake.
i try my best to slow down. i tattooed the reminder on my hands. as much as i value momentum & progress, i have deep reverence for people and cultures that treat observation and listening as steps before action.
a few things are alive at the moment
six tracks tracing the arc of a transformational relationship — from limerence to comfort to letting go to a quiet hope. it lands somewhere unfashionable: optimistic. the first two singles arrive with creative companion pieces.
arriving with a generative 3D music video built as a real-time simulation rather than a cut. every event and visual effect is bound to the song's time & amplitude data — the video moves with the song's breath. the waveform is the choreography.
arriving with a playable music video game: a bike ride down lyndale avenue through south minneapolis. iconic neighborhood landmarks, hidden easter eggs, light gameplay layered over the track. you don't just hear the song — you roll through the memories that inspired it.
