We recently connected with Princeton and have shared our conversation below.

Princeton, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to hear the backstory behind a risk you’ve taken – whether big or small, walk us through what it was like and how it ultimately turned out.

I took the risk of becoming an artist in the first place. My trajectory from when I was little was to excel in school, get a good job and live my life down a straight and narrow path. But something inside me wanted to go after something worthwhile. From where I’m from, the hopes and aspirations of becoming a professional music artist were unheard of simply because no one where I came from had done it before. That’s with everything, people assume you can’t achieve certain milestones simply because they haven’t seen it done before. I’m willing to gamble my future, perception, etc. because I have been instilled the sense of self-belief that I can accomplish whatever I put my mind to. Surburban kid wanting to get into hip-hop, having no connections whatsoever, but knowing that I had a passion and a story to tell. That’s what drove me to this, taking a risk.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

Hey, I’m Princeton, a musical artist and overall creative. Growing up, I was an only child. Not having siblings came with spending a lot of time on my own. My mind was always creating imaginary fantasies that I wanted to live out. My parents instilled self-belief in me at a young age and that I could be whatever I wanted to be. With this as a foundation, I wanted to do something worthwhile, something that aimed for the stars. It turned out to be one of those things where the stars align and what’s meant to happen will happen. I grew up a music lover from both my mother and father. Listening to their countless records, which ranged from The Temptations to Mary J Blige. I fell in love with the way music created a world your mind could immerse itself in. I love how it connected everyone together; I began seeing myself as a vessel to do the same. I started taking music seriously around 17 years old. Everything felt natural about the process; close to 10 years later, I’m still navigating my way through the music realm, hoping to inspire and motivate others through my journey. Countless shows, hours of writing and recording music all have led to me becoming my own person, and all the experiences I’ve encountered have helped me grow as an artist. I’m most proud that I’ve committed to this endeavor for over an entire decade, yes, an entire decade of making music. Nonstop waking up and thinking what are the necessary moves I need to make to not only advance my career but grow as an individual. I have performed on a Mexican talent show Tengo Talento Mucho Talento, opened for big artists in my area, opened on the MTV show MTV Fresh Out, plus many more appearances/accomplishments. The fact to me, someone who wanted to do this without a single connection, was able to create opportunities proves to me on a regular basis I can do whatever I put my mind to.

Do you think there is something that non-creatives might struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can shed some light?

That my route is no different than theirs. Everyone has some sort of natural creativity, whether it be in problem solving or simply generating ideas. Don’t think creativity is meant for only professionals in the arts, anyone can generate raw creativity simply by providing a solution.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

When I was 17 years old and first started making music, I received a phone call from a record label. They told me they heard a couple of my songs and that they wanted to hear more from me. As excited as I was thinking I had gotten my first big break (at 6 months in) as the conversation lengthened, I began to hear laughter in the background, I came to realize it was kids from my high school on the other line. As much as I wanted to sulk and give up, I came to the realization that these types of moments are going to deter you from taking a leap of faith and giving up on your dreams. If I had not kept forward, I would not be in the position that I am in now. My journey would not have taken the path that it was destined to be on. Resiliency comes when everything in front of you is telling you to quit and cut your losses, but you keep moving forward with your mission.     

Contact Info:

• Instagram: instagram.com/princetonmusica
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100068971592187
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@princetondropout

Image Credits
Lorenzo Walton Kempson Bellington Ashwin Ramesh