Great songs come from developing the craft over time – it’s knowing what elements make up a good song, and how to cohesively link each element together successfully.

Diving into your passion could bring about some significant rewards. My passion is songwriting of course and I love to do it for so many reasons. Aside from prayer, I use writing as my escape. I have a universe of lyrics that I tap into whenever ideas are dropped in my spirit and that I go to whenever I need ideas if I get stuck on a track. I write when I need to vent, when I’m overjoyed, when I’m in love, when I’ve been hurt, and even when I just want to go crazy and have a little fun!! Lately though, I have been writing LIFE. I have been writing about my inner most issues, facing my true emotions head on and not being afraid to take risks lyrically.

The transition to getting to this point however took time. It’s been 15 years now. A lot of late nights, missed or rescheduled appointments and sometimes unkept promises of things I couldn’t do just because I had to be in the studio.

But the sacrifice I made to focus on writing and collaborating with different producers and other songwriters took me to a space spiritually that I would have never imagined. It’s called self discovery. When you have risked what seems like everything for something you know you are born to do, the truth starts setting in and you can’t walk away from it. The songs just flow through you. The songs visit you in your dreams and you wake up, roll over and record them on your phone before going back to sleep. You have to pull over on the side of the road because you just heard a dope line in your head and you don’t want to forget it. Or someone’s in your face talking to you but you blank out because you are thinking about how to make the song you did yesterday sound even better before you send it out.

You may be thinking “well what about your multi-platinum success, hearing your songs played, the royalty checks and getting to meet different artists and executives? Aren’t those major accomplishments too?” Yes they are, but where did the opportunity to get all of this come from? It came from the gift within. You have to continue to nurture and use that gift so that you can continue to get better & enjoy those blessings.

So I encourage you , no matter where you are  in your journey, keep writing, developing your skill, play around with those melodies, think of different concepts, and follow through with completing the song. The time you sacrifice for your creativity shows a continuous pursuit of discovering new ways to strengthen your craft.

Now I can write a song in my sleep, develop new artists, and people know they can depend on my skill and work ethic whenever they need me. Not to mention I’ve definitely grown as far as the context of my lyrics from back then and I’m still getting better. Because I’m doing what I love, it doesn’t feel like work even though it really is.

Mastering your craft can bring you much success, recognition, respect from your peers, financial gain, lasting relationships and ultimately fulfillment.

But the most beautiful part about the journey to mastery is that it produces a new you. Write on…

-Tami

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