Ain't That Serious
Ain’t it Serious though?
If you’ve known me & DC, you know we’re a bit serious and determined in everything we do. Our process with our music and how we move in the world is often mapped out with intention. This song is one of the last ones written off the EP and came at a time when we were truly being tested for an extended period of time.
We wrote this song after I performed for an event at Axis Lab’s Base Line in June 10, 2017 in Argyle. It was my first time performing again after returning to Chicago from LA and being received by my family and friends was so nourishing. This was the first performance that my parents attended fully. And the first time they spoke of my creative work without criticism or fear. That energy carried and trickled into me and DC’s creative session later that night. It was also very special because my grandfather’s death anniversary is June 13 and I very much felt Daddy Ed’s energy and guidance during this time.
Ceremony rings by our friends at Chalwah Pipes.
Back story
We moved in November and in February experience the gentrification of the Complex 2010 Studios location DC’s studio is based. Amidst our move, DC was unexpectedly living in Chicago most of the time. Our transition to LA was rocky and unstable challenging our relationship in many ways.
On top of that, we were planning our Spirit Ceremony for August 2017, so the pressure was on. Both of our mental health suffered greatly through this time and would be tested further into 2018 as we had a transient living situation for near two years. Needless to say, we were very stressed. This song has become a mantra for the times when our capacities, patience, and vision for brighter days were very low.
It’s part of a practice of divergent thinking that I learned while studying Human Development and Family Studies and it is something that has helped me survive and navigate this world as an undocumented multi-gendered person. Our radical imagination and creation of songs reflecting that is part of how we will survive.
I also want to take a moment to share how important, challenging, and necessary it was for everyone involved that we were moving so much and that our relationships to one another and ourselves was changing. I personally felt a lot of out of body things because of my genders, status, and how that plays into conventional relationship styles, but if this song teaches us anything it’s that all this pressure, noise, assumptions, worries, fears, and concerns are really not that serious. They are often distractions from us living our purpose in the now and it’s taken my whole life and three years journeying with this song and my community for me to arrive in this self-acceptance.
Whatever it is that’s bothering and limiting you it’s not worth creating a battle with life and losing ourselves to it. But we have to learn how to detach from our issues and identities in different ways to create capacity for addressing these challenges more creatively, playfully, and with an abundance mindset that is often denied to us, especially those who are part of marginalized identities and groups.
Lyric Manifestations
It was such a beautiful and fun time working with both DC and DGainz for this video. Both of these artists have really served the Chicago creative community & world and haven’t really received their just due (yet). I really loved working with them because of their strong spiritual and Scorpio energy, which was just what this video needed.
We had been talking about it for a while and finally the stars aligned on All Soul’s Weekend in 2019. We traveled to graveyards, backyards, and local parks to get the right angles and energy for the sacred message of this song ~ Non-Attachment & Universal Love ~impermanence and letting go because that is was unconditional love looks like, too.
I decided to drop the video on April 1, 2020 for April Fool’s because who knew that we would be in this situation of quarantine and COVID-19. The energy of creativity, detachment, death, and the continuity of life have really been in the forefront of this spring season and I am so grateful for this video and the positive messages it is sending and receiving to the world.
Song as ceremony
Music and gathering is sacred. We were blessed to be able to debut this song for our family and friends at our Spirit Ceremony in Chicago on August 5, 2017 during our first and also money dance. We didn’t really move intensely because the pins hurt! Thanks Ninang, it reminds me of your love. LOL
We thank all our family and friends who came in body, heart, and spirit for supporting us, holding us up, and making this happen.
We could all really use a money dance right now, huh?
I do believe we have all the abundance and prosperity we need within us. Sending you all so much love in whatever seriousness you are in. Holding you up sacredly as a member of this divine oneness with you.
