09/22/2026
LIFE UPDATE: WE SO BACK!!! 🔥
At the end of 2016, I quit doing music.
Mentally, I felt like the passion was gone. I was spinning my wheels, watching so many opportunities and potential deals slip through my fingers.
I started questioning everything. Was God closing these doors to protect me? Was I just not good enough? Was any of this even worth pursuing anymore?
I was fighting depression and anxiety while working a job I absolutely hated. Eventually, I told myself, “Man, just work this job and be regular.”
Then 2020 hit. The world shut down, and I picked up carpentry.
The first thing I built was a stage in my backyard. 😬
FOR WHAT?! 😂
I was done performing! But I remembered how hard it was when I was chasing my dreams. There weren't many opportunities in my area for artists like me to get on a stage and showcase our gifts.
So I started thinking…
For every opportunity that slipped through my fingers, maybe I could create an opportunity for somebody else.
If nobody was going to give us a stage, I could BUILD ONE. At first, it didn't work out the way I envisioned. But somewhere along the way, the music started coming back to me.
Last year, I released my first project since 2012.
Now I had a new question: How am I going to get this music in front of people?
And I felt God telling me, “I already gave you the tools.”
THE STAGE!!!
The same stage I built when I thought I was done performing became the very thing that brought me back to my purpose.
I built the stage, and THEY CAME! 🙌🏾
Now, through Poetry in the Park, I'm creating opportunities for other artists while watching doors open for me that I once thought were closed forever.
Last week, I performed downtown in my own city. By the end of my set, people were hugging each other and shedding tears because of the music.
Man, THAT'S what it's about!
Some people might look at me and think, “Oh, that's just Darnell with his old self still trying to rap.”
Nah. You got it all wrong.
I'm not chasing the same things I was chasing 10 years ago. I'm using my gift to be a blessing to people. To bring people together. To create opportunities. To make somebody FEEL something.
I thought I was building a stage for everybody else, but God was building a way for me to find my purpose again.
Sometimes the doors that close aren't the end of your story. Sometimes they're the reason you learn how to build your own.
And when you finally get that door open, HOLD IT OPEN FOR SOMEBODY ELSE!
We don't throw shade. We throw hearts. ❤️
LIFE UPDATE: WE SO BACK!!!
