Lenny Meriño shared their story and experiences with us recently and you can find our conversation below.
Good morning Lenny, it’s such a great way to kick off the day – I think our readers will love hearing your stories, experiences and about how you think about life and work. Let’s jump right in? What do the first 90 minutes of your day look like?
The first thing I do when I open my eyes is give thanks and feel happy for the opportunity of another day to dedicate myself to what I love to do. Its like a ritual that make me feel in conexion with the lifestyle that i choiced. And then I like to go for a jog to stay active and start practicing my reggae band’s musical repertoire and thus stay in shape for the concerts.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
I currently work in my reggae band called Spittin Fijah, where i’m not only a co-founder but also a guitarist and backing vocalist. We consider Spittin Fijah is pure fire, a storm of rhymes and rhythm that ignites the street with its incombustible energy. Its sound is a Caribbean roar where dancehall, hip-hop and raggamuffin collide like waves against the boardwalk. Every verse is gunpowder, every beat is gasoline, and when they release the vibe, there is no one standing still. Barranquilla burns when Spittin Fijah sounds! Something that sets us apart and makes us special in our city is that at every music festival we take the opportunity to offer our followers various painting workshops, graffiti, and everything with a message, a purpose, and thus provide the complete experience of who we are as artists and what we want to achieve: a society full of art and culture.
Amazing, so let’s take a moment to go back in time. What’s a moment that really shaped how you see the world?
Having the opportunity to live in a country as diverse and unequal as Brazil gave me many experiences where I could see both sides of the coin, both playing my guitar in public squares and at events where other social spheres were present. Being a musician opened doors for me in many places, even allowing me to enter favelas where young people lived who didn’t have the same opportunities and only knew violence to survive. Living this daily made me ask myself many questions and, above all, value and cling to art as a form of resistance.
When did you stop hiding your pain and start using it as power?
My mother studied fine arts, so I was lucky enough to grow up in an environment full of art and creativity. But this was normal and everyday at home. I only realized the transformative power of art when my friends noticed that I could play guitar and also paint outstandingly. That’s when I started to express everything I felt through songs or illustrations that could convey a message with just images. This is always healing.
I think our readers would appreciate hearing more about your values and what you think matters in life and career, etc. So our next question is along those lines. Is the public version of you the real you?
Well, I think that artists are people with an extra level of sensitivity and we feel depending on the environment, the context, the music, even what we wear; the important thing is to know how to adapt to the moment and make art out of everyday life or make art in life.
Okay, so before we go, let’s tackle one more area. If you knew you had 10 years left, what would you stop doing immediately?
Wasting time by not being honest with ourselves is a western; time is literally money.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lennymerinho?igsh=OTZtejN3cnNlZGJz&utm_source=qr
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCclwvbbvjQ1mDq7rs8lVjhg
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