Meet SoL (STAYonLIT) | Writer, Artist & Performer

We had the good fortune of connecting with SoL (STAYonLIT) and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi SoL, why did you decide to pursue a creative path?
Well first of all, thank you for wanting to do this interview with me. A lot has been going on recently, so it took some time to get here, admittedly. But I’m excited and grateful that you want to hear glances of my story. Let’s Go!

For as long as I can remember, I’ve always had a love for the arts. Outside of music, film was my first love. I wanted to be an actor at one point in time. I’ve always appreciated how directors and cinematographers organize their shots to tell a story even when the actor(s) aren’t saying anything. Or when the scenery itself IS the dialogue.

Music was always playing in my house, and between my MoM and my sister, we all had different tastes in genres and styles. I was lucky enough to experience different flavors of sound. I’d always be dancing and singing out loud to the music that came from my stereo speakers, imagining either performing in front of crowds of people or performing in music videos.

Summing it up, it really comes to down to obsession. I don’t like doing things I don’t want to do, lest it’s to further the cause of something I love. I love entertaining people from a performance aspect, I’m always thinking of creative ideas at any time of the day, and I enjoy expressing myself in creative ways for hours on end. So, I’d much rather be a creative, writing lyrics, playing the piano, singing, performing, etc. then to be at a stationary desk jittery, and slightly agitated because the ideas that want to come out are constantly bugging me.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I love to write, about just about anything I can. I have a little notepad I carry around with me whenever ideas come and a ton of drafts/notes on my phone and computer of ideas and information. I inherited that trait from my DaD. I remember him telling me one time “I always keep a pen on you, SoN. You’ll never know when you’ll need it.” I still type, but there is no doubt a pen is my favorite weapon to unsheathe. All of my art stems from that.

Writing rap lyrics, poetry, journaling, and since creating my own website getting, into blogging and writing essays. What sets me a part is my particular way of putting words together and how I see connections in things that seem foreign. Which is really the nature of an artist, to see two things that don’t match and put them together to create something meaningful. I pride myself on my inner melody poetic penmanship. It’s invigorating feeling when you write something that is clever and is exactly what you wanted to say in the piece.

With the Spring Equinox beginning, my resolution to myself is write more on my website and release audio recordings of songs, poems, and instrumentals. Also getting more visual content out both as a solo artist and filming of The Daisies & Roses Project that I’m a part of, and creating new works that say who I am now. I’m in a rebuilding stage in my life.

Coming to what I’d call my “Phoenix Rising”, was difficult. It still is. Before now, I was terrified of really going out and do what was necessary for my brand and artistry. To solidify itself into becoming something real, not just planned in my head or on paper. I would go out to shows and perform, attend many artist events, allowing myself to be pulled every which way to different creative things. All of which ‘m grateful for, but deep down…I was running away from myself. I didn’t have a sense of direction really. And I didn’t have a sense of direction because I didn’t believe in myself. It was much easier to encourage and inspire other artists to go for what they want, figure out who they are, reach their idea of Paradise, but when the mirror was placed on me, I turned my back.

It was only with the pandemic when everything shutdown, and having a slight emotional/mental breakdown that I took the steps to face why I was feeling this way. It took sometime, still a work in progress, but a combination of faith, action, therapy, prayer, and challenging what I thought was true about myself and the world helped to me to get to a place where I can say “I’m recording new song I’m releasing soon” and mean it.

“Sometimes you have make a leap of faith first. The trust part comes later.” That’s the biggest take away I got from my journey this far. It is so easy to be so analytical and in your head about what to do because it’s scary to fail. Especially when you have experienced failure in the past and the consequences wasn’t received well by others who may not had the most forgiving opinions. I had to learn failure is necessary to grow, and perfection can only come from practicing over and over again till you got it down. It’s hard, but that’s where mastery comes from,

I hope and pray that people take from my story to never give up. As long as you are still breathing, you have the power right now to take action. Have faith in that action, and believe it will manifest more than what you thought that movement could do. And if you fail, good, learned the lesson from that failure, get back up and Try Again! Every day harness from your heart the best of you and bring it out. You and the world needs your contribution, it is vitally important that we express it. Don’t keep inside to die with you when you are buried 6 feet. Let it breathe, let it live,

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Oh man, one thing I love about Cincinnati there’s always something to do! Park Place Restaurant is a must, their food menu is awesome, I love their vegetarian burger with fries. And if I was the designated driver, I’d get them a drink from the bar called the Dirty Rhonda, haha. The Butterfly Conservatory is a great place to go, they have a walk trough of all these different plants and trees, then you head to this big area where there are butterflies everywhere flying around. You can even attract one to you with these scented pads you hold for them to land on to see them up close. All the different parks we have in the city are beautiful. Notable stops is Mt. Echo, Ault Park, Mt. Storm (which has a soccer field, my kinda game to play), Winton Woods, Mt. Airy Forest, and Sawyer Point Park & Yeatman’s Cove. Roots Seeds & Oils is a great spot for essential oils, crystals, literature, clothing, and other medicinal items from them to take back home. Nostalgia Wine & Jazz Lounge is a hot spot to hear live music downtown, even Marlon Wayans did a comedy show their not too long ago. Of course we need to get our reservations to make sure we can get in, lol. For games we’d go to Scallywag Tag, 16-Bit Bar+Arcade, and Arcade Legacy. Go to the nearby museums like the Taft Museum, and the Cincinnati Art Museum. Have to get some food, like MOTR Pub, Taste of Belgium, Aladdin’s Eatery + Lounge, Gomez Salsa OTR, Kabuto Japanese Steakhouse & Sushi Bar, I could really go on. I LOVE Food! I also love poetry, so would go to to the different poetry spots depending on the night. Instead of listing them, here is a link to some of the best spots in the city! https://composedinsol.wixsite.com/composedinsol/post/something-to-do-cincinnati-list

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I dedicate this to my MoM, who is the reason I even picked up a pen and wrote my feelings. She still supports me on my creative journey as I support her with her work with Seniors in our community. Many things have happened, like still waters to raging waters, but a Mother’s love is unwavering. I Love You MoM.

Also quick Shoutout to MoPoetry Phillips, Dawn Crooks, Gifted, GBD, and Audra D. The Poetess. These are Creative Matriarchs that poured into me from day one I stepped out on faith to hit the stage. They poured into me life when I couldn’t see my potential, thank you all.

Website: https://composedinsol.wixsite.com/composedinsol

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mrstayonlit/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/stayonlit

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mrstayonlit/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZawRPaPQIt79kPTxnZZaNw

Other: https://linktr.ee/stayonlit