For those who don't know, my first name is Heno but my full name is "Yihenew" which in Amharic means "This Is It." As the youngest of 4 in my family, my parents would often celebrate that I would be successful one day; early on laying the foundation of what manifestation would prove to be in my life. Although my life panned out differently than what they had intended, a hard veer from a promising route to medical school while attending Howard University, to living on my own terms as a full-time creative and now embracing Web3, the desire for more was always present but the curiosity to critically question— and sometimes even challenge— everything around me was growing exponentially.

A big part of making decisions is also having to live with the ramifications of those decisions. Choosing this artist life isn’t for the faint-hearted. It took a lot of sacrifice, pain, guts, blood, sweat, tears + more to weather the storm; through the good and the bad. But I realized a long time ago that you simply can’t make everybody happy when you’re in pursuit of your dreams and sometimes you just got to accept that cold truth. That’s why the second part of this song hits as hard as it does for me every time I hear it. I had to let go of the idea of gaining my family’s support despite making the decision to go against what they wanted for me. Overtime, I’ve made peace with some of my family, at least the ones that still matter to me, and have been the subject of celebration back in my hometown in Maryland.

This record is for any first generation immigrant that has had to deal with the pressure of being successful and taking care of your family. For the promises we make and for those working to follow through on all of them, to the people working hard to break generational curses, to those taking care of your family and honoring them in what you do, this record is for you.