Justin Adu - Author of ‘Don’t Insert Title Here’
When Mr. Adu landed in Oakland, CA he changed the creative game and we never saw him coming. While he's a refreshing face in the Bay Area and has a jovial and embracing personality, Adu is serious about his craft. Which brings me to the audio soundtrack to Adu's book "Don't Insert Title Here", released in February '17. The book alone is one that 'every' aspiring creative should have in their library as it gives the best advice on the journey to owning and creating your visual journey without anyone's stamp of approval. The Aduism advice of owning your rookie status to having at least one horrible project in your portfolio, it's all in alignment to where you will ultimately find yourself - POTUC - President of the United Creative. That's #dope!
You can tell by the music choices of this audio soundtrack, that Adu comes from a lineage of 'Love and Happiness', and as a young man he certainly has a seasoned soul. Knowing this I was not surprised to hear the elements of love when Adu shared that at the age of 14, his first client as a burgeoning creative, was his Mom's daycare center. His journey into the visual art space has roots of family, particularly a woman, and that element alone gives Adu a competitive edge.
We often hear how 'idle time can be dangerous' to the mind. At the tender age of 6, Adu used his the loads of idle time to begin his creative expression and he knew at that age how he wanted to live the one life you're given. Adu's career choice would change the lives of thousands through the lens of his expressive, creative, genius, unduplicated expertise. Idle time certainly worked in Adu's favor - it was his creative playground and you have to listen to the soundtrack to really appreciate how he story tells this part of the book.
To have someone tell you to embrace your rookie position and then give you permission to be 'horrible' at something, only a true creative, one who is multi-dimensional in their craft, can share advice from their own experiences and be confident and comfortable in giving the secret sauce to success. I can only imagine these experience happened in Adu's journey given his outstanding track record as a very sought after creative. As he would say, "it's only the beginning of something great to come!" And I would absolutely agree as I feel it in my bones!
Never sleep on greatness! It's not found in loud spaces or in high level of exposure and accolades bestowed on someone. Rather, it's in the sound bites of music, in an Aduistic way, where the gems in the story telling of the visual arts journey, where you can appreciate the true authentic advice of genuine creative greatness in the making. It's Aduism.
Listen to the audio soundtrack of "Don't Insert Title Here", Justin Adu - Author. Mixed tape credits: M. Knight - mknight77.com and K. Flow - kflowmusic.com