Meet Joseph Lanyo

 

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Joseph Lanyo . We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Joseph below.

Joseph , we are so happy that our community is going to have a chance to learn more about you, your story and hopefully even take in some of the lessons you’ve learned along the way. Let’s start with self-care – what do you do for self-care and has it had any impact on your effectiveness?

Over the past couple of months, I started doing those things I’ve always wanted to do when it comes to focusing on self-care and recharging myself, things I previously put to the side. This includes hobbies that I wanted to pick up, such as fishing, camping, and going on long runs. I’ve noticed that stepping away and taking the time to connect with these other parts of myself really brings the whole puzzle together. It gives me such a fresh perspective and makes me feel more in touch with what I’m doing. I started to see the connection between everything I’ve been doing and the things I want to do. My music is bright and vibrant just like the weather that I like to be in. I love being in nature and it made sense that some of my titles are nature-focused like Ye Dze Pe, which means “sunshine” in my language. Fishing has taught me so much over the past year – qualities like patience, resilience, and focus. More than anything it has shown me how important it is to always keep going and keep putting it out there because eventually something will bite. You can take a fisherman from the water, but you can never take him from the desire to keep fishing; it’s the same for me and music. I understand now that even if I step away from recording or being consistent with my social media presence, to focus internally on the other facets of my person. I am not doing a disservice to my music but rather the opposite. Focusing inward allows for improved outward expression.

 

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?

I am Joseph Lanyo, a Togolese-American musician living in Cincinnati, Ohio. I make Afrobeats, Afro-fusion music, with the goal of championing a very bright, vibrant, and positive sound. Despite that, I do believe that African music is a weapon for revolution, so my message is very heartfelt, true, and not just vibes. I just released a new project on July 5th called “Switch it uP Baby!!!” and will have more music coming on my birthday of this year. I also played a live, intimate show at the end of last month that will be available on my YouTube page within the next couple of weeks. Coming up, I’m working on a “Joseph and Friends” concert in the park, the location and date are still to be determined. The whole idea ties into our branding really well because we are very much nature and preservation-focused, this being reflected in our music. It’s important to us for our fans to recognize this in our artistry. I believe as an artist, it is our job to be the voice of the unheard, to be the activist who, through our music, starts the right discussions that lead to solutions. In that regard, I can’t think of anything better to do than to share nature and the joy of it with my fans and friends. Of course, there will be music, food, and merchandise, so even if you’re not a huge nature person, you don’t want to miss out!

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

The ability to communicate, learn, and most of all, compartmentalize. One of the biggest things I’m learning is patience, which is imperative with these other qualities. You have to be able to communicate how you feel even if you can’t communicate what you want from a technical standpoint. This allows the other collaborators to get an understanding of where you are coming from, making it pivotal to good collaboration. Everything takes time, or at least everything worth doing that is good. If you want a microwavable career, that is a choice you have to make, but if you want that good home-baked, REAL substance-filled quality, then you better be ready to spend some time working on it. Compartmentalizing really comes into play whenever you are working with other individuals and ideas are being thrown around. It is good to know when to hold back and let the process unfold because sometimes you can become a deterrent to progress by just giving out too much too early. Keep in mind these are all things that I’m still working on every day; I’ve had to learn to have a lot of grace with myself through my personal journey. These are just a few key parts of how I have been able to improve over the past couple of years. Growth takes time; true growth requires patience and time to build the best root system for withstanding life’s storms and navigating through this journey.

We’ve all got limited resources, time, energy, focus etc – so if you had to choose between going all in on your strengths or working on areas where you aren’t as strong, what would you choose?

I believe it is better to truly know who you are as an individual and make the determination of what works best for you. I am a well-rounded individual and I believe that in being this, an individual such as myself can assimilate quickly to their surroundings. This also provides a faster understanding of other disciplines or roles from a surface level. In saying this, I still do believe that specialists have a role and are very crucial to the balance of our society. Both concepts require sacrifice. It really comes down to choosing your “hard” and understanding what works best for you. Even well-rounded people may have areas of greater strength, but it is not the same degree as a truly specialized individual within a particular field of study. I am thankful for all the specialists that I know who help me get to the next level. Every well-rounded person needs a specialist friend and vice versa.

Contact Info:

Image Credits

Tony B
Joellen W
Joseph L
Judicaël K
Manu D
Azim A

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