Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Lady Scribe. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Lady , thanks for joining us today. When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally?

This is a hard question to not rant on because technically I’ve felt called to a creative life for as far as I remember. In my life that’s taken on many forms – wanting to be an author when my 8th grade teacher, Ms. Nixon validated me on a paper that I wrote and told me, for the first time by an educator that I was “talented”. To almost paralyzingly witnessing my cousin elevate his career and establish a new sound in Chicago that’s gone on around the world, from being a 16 year old kid who cared not just about himself, but setting up a structure that we all could have a platform to be creative on. The ending of relationships I thought would last this lifetime, to the passing of my cousin, Ryan. And then Tyler. And then Keon.

Overthinking has always been my burden, but the double edged gift God gave me from that is a divine ability to critically analyze unhealthy patterns, trauma and perceived setbacks. I always wanted to “be” a creative but for most of my life I’ve had an extreme anxiety about sharing the things I worked on because every piece I made was so deeply personal. In 2020, following the pandemic like most people I grew so bored and under-stimulated that it gave me nearly an unlimited resource of time to reinvent and relearn myself and pick up new hobbies. In all of that, by the grace of God, I was brought back to my love for music.

My decision to pursue creativity professional, for me was less of a career choice and more based in the inner knowing that this inspiration that finds me in my lowest and highest points of life is something worth releasing to the universe for it to do as it sees fit to.

To make a longer story a bit shorter around 2020 was when I made the decision that I would live a creative life, for the rest of my life.

Lady , love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

Hey cousins!

I like to call myself “Your Friendly Neighborhood Hope Dealer” (Shameless merch plug) and I’m from the west side of Chicago. I’ve struggled throughout my career to sonically define my style but I’ll leave it at this for now:

“I’m not a rapper, I’m not a poet.. I’m a writer”

Writing has taken on several fulfilling forms throughout my life but the one that makes me feel the most alive and pushes me to complete my thoughts the most has always been rap.

My love for hip hop has led me to pick up a camera to learn to become more visually creative and better paint my picture. Pick up instruments I have no intention to professionally play, sing to the top of my lungs in the shower and to crowds of hundreds of people alike (even though I can’t) and venture into fashion expression with my brother, Michael alongside me in an attempt to represent myself on the outside how I feel on the inside.

I’m most proud that I’m still holding strong with unshakable faith to my most long standing dream. And even though I may not have the most refined language for it, and working through correcting my language God has allowed me to open my mouth and share divine revelation he’s given me that for some reason, the people around me identify with.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

Perceived rejection and what it really means.

A few years ago I moved back to Chicago under the impression that switching location could further my career. I was met with a huge wall of resistance that by the grace of God I was able to push past to this current season of my life. BUT at that time it felt like all I knew. I was under the impression no one liked my music and it was too weird, intense and underdeveloped to be casually listened to.

During that season I spent a lot of time with my brother, Michael. One of the things he told me that stuck with me is that when you’re in the business of creating novelty sometimes people have to interact or engage with you several times to even fully understand what they’re looking at.

Fast forward to now those trials built me an unshakable confidence. I know now that there’s a group of people I’m divinely anointed to speak to and maybe even inspire. And even though some for sure won’t, some very well may. It’s not my job to fixate on if everyone likes it or not, but simply to create.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative?

The type of unshakable faith it takes to pursue creativity, especially publicly. Like true, long-suffering, God inspired faith.

If you don’t consider yourself a creative, you still are. Rather someone in you life has validated it early enough on you’re still a creative being. Those of us who are still pursuing creative careers while still maintaining spiritual, financial and mental demands often need a LOT of support and a LOT of validation. Which im sure, if I surveyed my greatest support systems in my life they’d agree. I might call my mother to rant her ears off for 2 hours about how excited I am about an project I’m working on, I might beg my best friend to watch me rehearse a song I just wrote that I’m nervous about performing in front of multiple people for the first time and I may

But for every single pillar in my life who’s anchored me in this journey that may not fully understand how important it feels for me, I’m SO grateful. All of those things gave me the confidence that I have now to believe that someone else who doesn’t even know me could be invested my work too.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://linktr.ee/LadyScribe
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ladyscribemusic?igsh=MWgxOTAwOThxNXYzNA%3D%3D&utm_source=qr
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/1EFJibhTbe/?mibextid=wwXIfr
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/@westside_scribe?si=ogelid9Ca24MKJek

Image Credits

JR Dixon @J_R_Dixon
Normvn @Normvnphoto
Levi @booklevi