Exposed: Making a Love Story About the Terror of Saying How You Feel

The Life of a Modern Renaissance Man: A Video Journal, entry 28

You would think someone who performs in front of audiences would be comfortable confessing his feelings to another human being. You would think. Performing a song and telling somebody you like them are apparently very different sports.

I worked with MSYJ on Exposed, an Afrobeat and R&B collaboration about romantic vulnerability, nervous anticipation, and trying to find the courage to say what's happening in your heart.

We made a music video that turns that tension into scenes: an artist painting his muse, dance lessons, encounters in an apartment building, and all the little opportunities for attraction to become a conversation. I loved the idea that creativity itself could become part of the language of romance.

The title works because telling the truth about how you feel is an act of exposure. There's no clever caption to hide behind, no perfectly calibrated message, no guarantee that the other person will meet you where you are.

I've written a lot about that feeling, including the awkwardness of standing in a doorway and not knowing what to say. Here it found a different rhythm, with collaborators and a cinematic story.

This was another reminder that vulnerability isn't reserved for quiet moments. Sometimes it belongs in a catchy song, a dance studio, and a music video where everybody can see exactly how nervous you are.