Be Free: Why I Made a Country Song About Being Who You Are

The Life of a Modern Renaissance Man: A Video Journal, entry 37

If somebody had told teenage me that I'd make a country-inspired anthem, I might have asked what exactly they'd been listening to. But the older I get, the less interested I am in letting genre labels tell me where I belong.

Gabrielle and I created Be Free, and released its lyric video on Election Day in 2024. The song celebrates freedom, resilience, faith, and the right to live in alignment with who you are. It mixes her soulful vocals with my storytelling instincts, and it gave us another opportunity to explore a style outside the usual boxes people might put us in.

The title says a lot about what was on my mind. People are quick to criticize a dream they don't understand, a choice they wouldn't make, or a life that looks different from theirs. I wanted to write toward the freedom to follow your own path anyway.

There is also something beautifully American about Black artists bringing their own voices into country music. The genre's story is much richer than the stereotypes people carry about it. I liked creating something that felt rooted in that freedom to cross boundaries.

Looking back, I hear a sincere creative collaboration and a reminder that self-expression isn't owned by any one genre. I'm an actor, rapper, poet, filmmaker, and apparently now somebody who will bring country into the conversation too.

Sounds about right.