We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Jimmie Outlaw Jr. a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Jimmie, we’re thrilled to have you sharing your thoughts and lessons with our community. So, for folks who are at a stage in their life or career where they are trying to be more resilient, can you share where you get your resilience from?
Since the age of 8 years old I have always had determination to finish certain things. Music was definitely one of those things. Music got me through a lot of troubling times. I began first just listening to music, then I began to listen to poetry which led to me start writing my own music. I was 13 years old at the time of starting to write music. By then, I had endured a lot in life. From being sexual assaulted by family and friends, to being put down by everyone around me for pursuing music. Music has always been my passion. It literally saved my life on many occasions, like when I used to have suicidal thoughts or would hurt myself (cutting myself with a knife). People gave me encouraging words through out the years but none of it resonated until I heard it though music. My mom hated my passion for music and I’ll never forget her (along with a lot of other people) telling me “Music don’t put food on the table or pay the bills”, or “you should just work and quit doing music”. All of that motivated me a year after losing my first daughter in 2021. I got divorced that same year and pursued music fully since then. I say all this to say, my resilience comes from the negative that’s already placed around me.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
HungerLYFE is a brand I created in 2016 which started as neighborhood protection. It was for teens in the area who needed something to do after school or during the summer. It became a music thing once I started saying it in songs then created a label, HungerLYFE Entertainment. After starting the label, I began to build the label with passionate people; engineers, producers, other artist, videographers, models etc. Now HungerLYFE thrives to promote our music as well as our message; Be the greatest you you can be!
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
Communication
Consistency
Promotion
Early in my career i heard a lot of people tell me 3 things but no on showed me how to properly display any of them. I advise to study the target audience, learn how to promote to that audience, get out more to that same audience in person to shwo your work.
Okay, so before we go, is there anyone you’d like to shoutout for the role they’ve played in helping you develop the essential skills or overcome challenges along the way?
Emotional stability has been key to being able to get as far as I have. I learned from not making certain decisions based off of emotions that it can hinder you extremely. You will miss a lot of opportunities making emotional decisions.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/j2_thacraftsman/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HungerLYFE/
- Youtube: UC4Ur7GDc_3JZ8uhBEhhNB_Q
Image Credits
Zymere Smith
so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
