Artist to Listen to: Maurice Moore

If Trey Songz and Bryson Tiller’s sound morphed into one, it’s components would make up the sound of Maurice Moore. (Let me preface this by saying, it’s a compliment!)

The 19 year old Canadian R&B star is working his way to the top of the charts and inside of our hearts with a collection of his remixes and songs on SoundCloud.  His music is perfect for vibing with friends, or just chilling solo.  The 13 tracks posted on his sound cloud (linked above) are just a taste of what’s to come,-as he is working on his debut solo project- and I’m honestly so excited to see what will happen next.

This young man does it all! He sings, produces, writes, and is very much in charge of his own direction, defining himself as a melodic novelist. (I have to say his music one hundred percent embodies the self proclaimed title) Listening to his collection of singles makes me want to dance and is an amazing mix of R&B, soul and hip hop. I promise your ears will thank you, and when you’re jamming to these songs in your Snapchats I hope you’ll think of me.

The tracks as posted on Soundcloud include:

• Please You. (prod. instupendo + auracle) ~this one is my absolute favorite
• The Feels. (prod.TheAuracle +Sober Rob)
• Play. (prod. Maurice Moore)
• Stay Up. (prod.BNJMN x Krs x Oshi)
• The Loudest Silence. (prod. Maurice Moore)
• Typhoon. (prod. KDaGreat)
• Christmas Eve. (prod. Maurice Moore)
• Ready.
• Sex U Back to Sleep.
• #MyGirl (prod. BNJMN)
• LOL. (prod.BNJMN)
• Rich.

 

Of course, you can’t just take my word for it! You have to go over to soundcloud or YouTube and vibe, chill, jam, and give your soul what it needs! Follow him on social media: @mauricexiii on twitter, check out his website , and find him on Instagram @maurice_xiii

If all of this isn’t enough, can I just say he uses the cutest sound bites from How I Met Your Mother in his song The Loudest Silence and that should tell you everything you need to know about how awesome this young man is…Okay maybe not everything, but it should definitely seal the deal for you. So go! Share! Dance! and Enjoy the sound that is Maurice Moore.

 

National Poetry Month: The Magic in Art Studios

In honor of April being National Poetry Month, I want to share with you all something I wrote back in January. It is titled The Magic in Art Studios:

 

I grew up in art studios , surrounded by magical images focusing on thoughts, love, hate and life all being projected onto canvases.

I was surrounded by women that could take a single brush stroke and turn it into a beautiful story, art imitating life imitating art. Each cubicle different, a space to call their own.

And as I felt like part of the group, as they housed art shows in their space: First The Studio, then The Art Collective, I realized that art was my very first love.

I loved the idea that I was in a censorship free zone where women had the power to do bad all by themselves and to tell it in their art.

Creativity buzzing in my little 12 year old veins, super adult, box wine in my cup. cheese and crackers in my stomach; I was a force to be reckoned with. I was anything I wanted to be. Abstract. Realist. Feminist.

It was a good time in my life those two art studios. I learned so much about the importance of self expression, and about self love and a lot about womanhood.

The Number 20

I turned 20 on the 9th of December. I always thought that 20 would be this magical number. After all, here I am having been in this world for 2 decades, and I feel as if I’m important. I find myself continuously letting people (like my mom) know that I’m 20. It’s almost as if I’m over compensating for my height of 4″9.

The thing is, “I’m 20” seems to be my answer for everything. My mom will want to open a jar for me that I’d been struggling with, or someone will feel the need to comment on me walking from campus to my car at night, and I’ll say “I got this, I’m 20.” But what does that even mean? Technically I’m still a child. I’m just floating in this realm of being an adult but not being an adult. Doing the means necessary to live like renewing my license, or putting money on my EZ pass, paying year old hospital bills, filling up my gas tank. Even though I’m handling my responsibilities, it feels as though I’m just wandering around aimlessly in this very adult world. There’s no handbook for being 20. There’s just cans and can’ts. I can buy tobacco products, I can get piercings and tattoos, I can play the lottery, I can get my own apartment. I can’t legally drink. (I’m sure there are other can’ts I just felt the need to emphasize legally drinking alone.)

So, as the new year approaches I will be entering 2016 as a 20 year old. I can’t help but to wonder why it is that we have so many expectations for ages. If you would’ve asked me as a kid what I thought being 20 would be like, I would’ve probably told you that I would have a house, and a dog. Oh the imagination of the youth, such a wonderful, well meaning, and beautiful thing. My reality? I’m 20, living with my old best friend’s family in order to save money on housing while I attend ODU. I do not have a dog of my own, just debt, and a blue bedroom in a house which is not mine. 20 is the year that you want your shit together, and you think  you’re doing something because you work a job on weekends, and you go to school. Here’s the thing: My shit is no where near together. But that’s okay, I’m still in the learning stages of adult hood. I have all the time in the world to get it together. And so do you. If you’re 20 and you feel like a grown-up baby, I’m here to tell you, you are not alone. We’ll one day look back at this stage and wish we could travel back to it. We’re young, and our only job is to live and work, and go to school… and be a decent person but we all know how hard that can be.

Here’s to being 20 and not having a goddamned clue what we’re doing! Here’s to hoping we figure something…anything out, and here’s to finally declaring our majors…or changing them. Now’s our time. We’re 2 decades after all.