Emil Wilbekin

Founder, Native Son・@emilwilbekin

LIFE CAN BE ONLY WHAT YOU MAKE IT

WHEN YOU'RE FEELIN DOWN

YOU SHOULD NEVER FAKE IT

SAY WHAT'S ON YOUR MIND

AND YOU'LL FIND IN TIME

THAT ALL THE NEGATIVE ENERGY

IT WOULD ALL CEASE

Dear Mary Jane Blige,
I want to thank you for creating the soundtrack and intervention for my coming-of-age. Your lyrics literally gave me life and guided me through some of my most intimate thoughts (and darkest feelings) swirling through my mind as a young man. It was your voice that blessed me with light, self-love and liberation, quieting shadows of shame, uncertainty and insecurity. Your testimony as a Black woman searching for herself mirrored my own journey as a Black gay man on a similar quest. The sorrow and pain that could have consumed my life were exorcised from my mind, body and spirit through the emotional rescue of your voice — the rifts, the scatting, the bravado, the rock bottom, the escalating hooks, the defiance, the resilience, the gospel, the fearlessness, and the revelation of Black joy. You have been my sonic psychologist and my soul sister. Like you, I am a work in progress — perfectly imperfect.