THE
JOURNAL
A running notebook of what's on my mind — the sessions, the shows, the people who built me, and the songs still finding their way out.
Writing "Wife You" for Every Couple Still Dancing
I didn't set out to write a wedding song. I sat down at the piano thinking about my own marriage, about promises that get harder to keep the older you get, and the words just kept landing on the same idea — choosing somebody, over and over.
“A hook only means something if you'd still sing it after the room clears out.”
By the time we cut the vocal, it had turned into something bigger than me — a song for every couple still dancing after the DJ's gone home.
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What Leon Huff Taught Me About Patience
Some sessions take an hour. This one took years — and every bit of the wait is in the record. Notes from finally getting into a room with a legend.
Carrying Lil Sonny's Torch
My musical father led The Intruders before me. This is what it means to step into that lead mic every night and try to do the name justice.
Back at the Apollo
Walking out on that stage again, years after the amateur nights, hit different. A few notes from a night that came full circle.
Finding the Hook Before the Song
Why "KINGOFHOOKS" isn't just a nickname — a look at how I actually build a song, starting with the part people will still be humming tomorrow.
Overbrook High, Where It Started
Same halls that gave the world Will Smith and Wilt Chamberlain. A trip back to where the voice first got loud enough to notice.
Steve Harvey's Stage and the Nerves Before It
National radio, one shot, no do-overs. What actually goes through your head backstage before a moment like that.
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