Against All Odds

When a young 13 years old girl got booed on stage, she was tempted to give up but said to herself: "Nope... you guys gonna hear me today!"

She took the mic and silenced the crowd with her amazing voice. Many years later, Lauryn Hill became a multi-Grammy awards winner. 

Dare to make arts, you'll see the resistance starting at home with your parents: "My God! talk to your son he's crazy!" dad said. "Hey...! Last time I checked, he was your son too!" mom replied. They want you to have a "secured" job, -Hell! I went to study pharmacy the first place. Can you imagine?" Who can blame them, it's all love?

Then you start to hear things like "too much competition, crowded industry, you'll never make it" etc. Anything new? How, many babies were born the same day as you? There will ALWAYS be a competition.

The question is: What's your signature voice? Where you come from? Where are you going? Your values? What makes your sound authentic and unique? It takes a lifetime to find the answer. Miles Davis used to say: "My sound is round!" and "The Blues and Jazz are NOT coming from poor, sad, uneducated people."

I get tons of "NO... Lionel, not today!" during the day. Then I go to sleep, check my phone the next morning to find a very little yes among the tons of new "NO, Lionel... this is not the right time!" At that moment, my heart is filled again with joy and hope. The melody of Heaven's trumpets: this is the sound of success! This is me trying!

The next time you feel down and out, say those words: "Nope...you guys are gonna hear me sing, TODAY!" It's your life, sing it your way and you'll find your audience.

You see my friend, God is clever. He placed the best things in life on the other side of fear and rejection.

The meaning of the painting

Singers give all they got on stage. Just a voice and a microphone. After a concert, they sometimes are barely able to speak, they have to learn how to manage their instrument. And yet, after a good performance, they can get bad critics and be trolled. It's hard, even more at stadium status level. How can we be so cruel towards artists who give us so much?

I wanted to paint that feeling, this special moment of intimacy with an audience. The loneliness on stage. I was walking in my neighborhood in Yaoundé (Cameroon) when I noticed those beautiful flowers. The next day they were all gone, -kids have no mercy nowadays- only one was laying on the floor, intact. I took it and composed my painting around it. Flowers are the symbol of peace, hope, and joy.

How many singers have a painting backstage, so inspiring they can look at it for hours before and after the show? Maybe we found a cure for tormented, fragile souls.

God bless the artists.

Artwork: "Acapella" by Lionel Thomas (2017)

Credit video: Lauryn Hill get booed on stage

?Ps: It feels good to get back to writing, I missed that feeling.

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Lionel Thomas is an artist painter of music, musician, and storyteller. France-born and international artist, he brings a colorful perspective and injects new life into the art world with his myriad of vibrant works. 

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