A Profile In Courage: AmirSaysNothing
AmirSaysNothing by Adam Keely
AmirSaysNothing is a rapper based in Los Angeles, CA.
"I believe that's the magic of this life—overcoming your fears. That's when you really get to see what you're made of."
It's no coincidence that I chose to kick this series off with Amir. He's the kind of guy you want to stand next to in a crowd full of strangers because he's always smiling. There's an ease about him, and somehow his confidence seeps into the consciousness of everyone around him. It makes them feel more confident, too. He's contagious. And so is his courage. As I've watched Amir pursue his rap career, I've been struck by his consistent, unapologetic confidence. Los Angeles is a city that loves to hold its dreamers over the coals for their dreams. It scares a lot of people off. It pushes a lot of people away. But Amir steps up. That very trait—the willingness to stand at the risk of being hammered down—is why I started #AProfileInCourage in the first place.
Where do you think courage comes from?
"I think courage is the need to survive. It's like, you can be afraid all you want, but when things become fight or flight, that's where your true courage comes out. I try to approach most things with that mindset: I go to the fear—I crave it—because I live for that feeling of overcoming. If it's a challenge with making better music, I run to it. If I'm out and I am at a place I've never been, I run to go introduce myself. I believe that's the magic of this life—overcoming your fears. That's when you really get to see what you're made of."
When does courage come up for you?
AmirSaysNothing The Heart of Happy A Profile in Courage
"I mean, I think it's an everyday thing for us all, ahah, having the courage to get out of bed everyday. We don't talk about that enough, but, I mean, the biggest evidence of that would be when I took that a leap on a career as a musician. A few years ago, I found myself spending a lot of time watching it happen all around me, and essentially I just couldn't sit back and watch anymore. It was like I reached a point where I couldn't die one day and not have music—and being a musician—as a part of my own legacy or whatever, you know. I had to have that: people knowing me for music, that feeling makes me feel like I'm where I am supposed to be."Listen to AmirSaysNothing on Spotify and Soundcloud. [soundcloud url="https://api.soundcloud.com/playlists/235704659" params="auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&visual=true" width="100%" height="450" iframe="true" /] And get more inspiration from Amir by following him on Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter. Dive into more about his latest LP, Employee of the Month, at Noisey.