Mr. Corazon placed semi-finalist at the TMA’s last November with “The Dying Light”, a music video pamphlet in reaction to some of the worst moments of 2020.
Mr. Corazon is a solo artist and has been making his own self produced and directed music videos in Los Angeles. Self made artist, he shoots, edits, and performs in his own videos, creating all his content.
“The Dying Light” semi finalist place is a well deserved win as he uses poetic spoken words to engrave his screams.
We had him for an interview.
Your video is a protest song to support Black Live Matters. When did you feel the need to make this video?
The best way I can answer this question would be to say fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, and hate leads to pain and suffering.
The song takes the position that racism in America is a precondition to being black. Therefore, if you are black, you will be subjected to racism and your life will be indelibly sculpted by it.
Of this, there is no choice.
The song tries not to instruct or preach, but presents its discourse about racism as sad reality that is familiar to us as our own skin or the sad refrain of a funeral march. The first and second verses of the song reflect a feeling of numbness having been subjected to fear for so long. But, when you have lived a life of fear and anger, eventually the suffering and the rage toward injustice seeps out and is heard in the lament of the chorus…”Shot by the cops.”
A statement of fact I was taught to understand the moment I recognized my skin color was not the same as everyone else’s in America. The song understands the evil of racism is as old as our culture and as persistent. Yet, people wish to deny the facts and hide the truth to avoid their own responsibility, culpability, and hand in the crimes against black people.
Dying Light tries to give a sorely needed acknowledgment that the History of racism is undeniable and continues to boldly and blatantly destroy black lives. It contradicts the naysayers and deniers and says to black people, I understand you, and I believe you.
When did you complete it?
The general song structure was composed the day after Trayvon Martin was shot and it was completed at the start of 2020. Unhappy with previous drafts due to the difficult subject matter, and my approach, the song took eight years to complete in its final form.
The video shows many graphic footage of many Black people victim of direct violence. Was it your goal to balance the visual violence with a soft musical atmosphere?
Yes, I felt the contrast between conversational verses and the potent images of real documented violence toward black people would signify the way we have normalized violence against black people. Often we are stereotyped as “angry black people”, but the truth is we are expected to be calm and resigned to living in a country that has justified murdering members of our community by the very people sworn to protect us.
This creates an inner conflict and stress that most black people feel forced to hide, and it hurts us.
Lyrics are also pretty explicit, but still it feels contained in a way. Where did you draw the line in the words you chose to use?
The point of the song was to invite people to listen, most people won’t listen when they are being screamed or cursed at, even if well deserved.
So my approach to the lyrics of this song was to make the song conversational to invite people into a space where we can talk honestly
and if in agreement, then shout together what we know and see to be a sad truth in our lives. The song is a rallying call to those who want to resist the undeniable racism we experience.
You are a one man band, playing music, writing the lyrics, singing, editing your own videos… Would you like in the future to form a band or collaborate with other artists?
I also have worked for years with one producer who I often collaborate with. Jerry Andrews, from Zona Sound in Long Beach California. He is a music industry professional producer who has worked for Universal, many well-known artists, and has supported my cause by making himself affordable to work with. Without this rare opportunity, I would not be here. But because of his nature and nurture approach with artists, I have two new albums coming out in early 2021. I love music, and the joy of playing and creating. If someone wanted to collaborate with me I’m always open to that possibility.
What are you working on right now, what are your next projects?
There are many hot irons in the fire! The first is the album by the same name as my single, Dying Light, explores forces which have tried to pull the world back into darkness. The second new project to be released is called Unknown, which offers to be a soundtrack to the Pandemic we have all been suffering from. Both of these new albums will be released under the Sonic Frontier Record Label in early 2021 on Itunes, Amazon Music, Spotify, and Bandcamp.
The TMA's | Tracks Music Awards 