What Failure Means
Y'all messed up giving me this award. Thought I had a big head before. I wrote some things down I wanted to say.
This is surreal. That was a crazy list of awards, but they really seriously pale in comparison to this honor today. Berkeley, thank you so much.
Y'all messed up. Can't tell me nothing now. I'm a doctor. No.
Okay, sorry. I was saying earlier, saying earlier, I don't do surgeries, but probably work out some prescriptions, so holler at me. Y'all think I'm playing.
Roger, thank you so much for that wonderful, presentation. I gotta say to the students, last night was fantastic. You guys and I mean, the vocals, some of y'all went to church on a Friday.
It wasn't even fair. Like. And everything, the performance was just, the the band, everybody, the production, it was. I was really blown away.
I may steal a couple of those ideas I saw. So I did a Q&A, yesterday with about 1,000 of you of the students. And it was really wonderful, and I talked about.
There was a lot of things that were, the rock, that was. I wish I would've thought of that. That, it sort of embodied, I was just saying to Missy, I was like, "Wow, she she said everything I was gonna get up and say."
But I wanna say that when I was young, I felt like a weirdo. I felt like I didn't belong. And I look around this room, and I feel like I found all the rest of the weirdos.
We're all here, you know what I mean? So only took me 38 years, no, I just, I just always felt different. And you know, I just, I'm sure you guys and gals feel that way.
But I think it's important to know that you are different because you make the difference. Yeah. That's, that's what you're here to do. And it takes a little time to learn that, and I know that I would not have learned that about myself if it wasn't for music.
And you know, music was the place where I could go and forget all of those things. I could lose myself, and then feel like I could really find myself. And I gotta.
It's, it's such a trip to me to be sitting on this panel with you Missy. When I was 16, and my best friend is here in the audience. He can tell you annoyingly how many times I played Super Duper Fly over
And over and over. But I always said to my friends, I said, "This is the future of music." I'd never heard anything like it.
And I just, it's such a honor to be sitting next to you on this panel, such a trip, that I heard your music when I was 16 years old and said, "I gimme. I must have." That's amazing. And the fact that we both work with the same producer now throughout the years is, it's.
So put it out in the world. You can do it. There's, there'There's no dream that's too big.
And so for me, I really fell in love with songwriting and production not long after that. And you know, that was really a big part of my education. That's where I got to learn so much more about music and arrangement and you know, songwriting and production.
And you know, I guess I wanna say to you the same, sorta the same thing that you've heard before, but how lucky are you to have learned all that, you know, I've spent the last 20 years learning, you have it at your fingertips. You're all, and I saw it last night. You know, I can't tell you enough.
I was blown away by you guys. So it'd be a shame to waste it. It'd be a shame to waste it.
I so many people. I said I wasn't gonna cry either. So Aw.
It's okay. I'm in a I'm in a trust tree. I'm in a safe place. There's so many people that have conspired to, for me to be standing here today.
My wife, who inspires me every day, you know, I won't tell you to get married or not get married, but I will say this to you find someone who is better than you and convince them to spend their lives with you. So, my best friend Trace is here today.
He's, he's been a big part of my life growing up, and one of the people that when I felt like it wasn't going to work out, Here comes the rock thing again. He was the rock for me.
And I just. I can't thank you enough, man. Obviously, it's Mother's Day tomorrow.
Shout out to all the moms in the house. Fellas, if you think you can even compare to what a woman does, you should watch them have a baby and bring them into the world 'cause you ain't, you know what I mean?
Like, you ain'As we say in the South. So obviously, my mom is sitting here and I. It's, it's hard to even put into words what you've given me and the.
How much you sacrificed, for me to have the opportunities that, I've had. I'm so lucky to be your son. I love you so much.
Oof. I got my mom, like, a, this really dope purse for Mother's Day. I was like, "Yeah, Mom be styling." And then, I remembered I was gonna be here.
I was like, "She don't care about the purse. She's-" This is probably the best Mother's Day gift I could ever give you Thank you Berklee. I'll say one more thing.
I'll say one more thing. I said this at the Q&A, and I wanna speak to the students one more time. You're sort of taught probably about, you know, that there's gonna be ups and downs and failures.
But I just don't, I don't subscribe to that. Or as a doctor, I don't prescribe to that. You know what I mean?
You get the joke. You're defined by what you define failure as. It's not a thing if it leads you to your success.
It's all part of the journey. It's all part of the journey. You have to appreciate those moments because what happens right after you feel like you failed is who you are and who you will continue to be.
And I say this, I apply it to songwriting, but obviously you guys are, you know, graduating and moving on into so many different facets of the industry. But I always say this about writing songs, that you have to dare to suck. You do. You have to dare to suck.
You have to feel. You will never make something great if you are afraid that it's going to suck, that it is going to fail. So I'll leave you with that.
And and that fire in your belly that got you here, keep it. Love it. Keep throwing logs on it. It's important. Your tenacity and your ability to define who you are through those failures will be your ultimate success.
So thank you for this honor. I Y'all messed up as I said before.
And I just. I truly never thought this would be something that. I couldn't even put this on a bucket list because I just didn't even think it would ever be possible.
So to the university and faculty and everyone here, I am truly grateful and humbled and honored, and I hope that in the years to come, two things will happen. One, I will represent you in the way that you most hope for, and two, I look around and see this graduating class, meet me at the studio. I wanna see y'all.
We're working together. So those are the two things I want to come out of this. All right? Thank you so much. I don't even I thank you so much.
Thank you.
