“Finding ways of having a positive impact on those around me, inspires me.” – BREIS
We at BoxHuman are passionate about highlighting and celebrating inspiring humans; especially the ones who are inspiring, helping, and bringing light to the world. We do this to rebalance some of the negative messages we often hear, see, and receive daily. We quickly met up with one of these amazing individuals…
Hi BREIS, it’s fantastic to meet you. Without further ado, let’s start this BoxHuman Inspire Series interview. Can you please tell me a little bit about you, your unique name, and what you’re especially known for?
BREIS stands for Brother Reaching Each Inner Soul. I’m a rap artist, author, and founder of Student of Life. A Hip Hop education company using rap to engage young people, improve their literacy skills, and self-confidence.
A perfect intro and such a great name! Can you please tell me how and why you become a rapper and what inspired you to go into the music industry?
Rap was a way for me to vent and express my thoughts on life. It wasn’t planned or anything, it just organically found me. Coming from a strict Nigerian household, I never thought rap could be a career option.
When I started performing and got positive feedback from people, I realised that I had a passion for it and in time opportunities started to present themselves.
The rest is history.
Wow, it’s so amazing to hear how your ‘unknown-path’ made you so successful. Moving onto our next question now…As with anything new, breaking into a new industry can have its challenges.
Can you tell us…What’s been your biggest challenge you’ve had to go through since becoming a rapper?
I’ve always been an underground or independent artist meaning I don’t have any major label financial backing.
I, therefore, finance everything myself from the recording, mixing, and mastering to filming my own music videos. I manage myself, get gigs for myself, create opportunities for myself. It can get a bit much sometimes. I also have to balance my music career with my business.
…and what inspires you to write your music?
I’m inspired by my life experiences, philosophy, the human condition and so much more.
Hearing that you personally finance and manage your music career is incredibly inspiring. With life, it can have its ups and downs. Can you tell us what’s the hardest thing about being an entrepreneur, educator, and successful independent rap artist?
I think it’s natural to want to excel in all you do but the reality is that out of five areas in our life, we will probably only do well in two or three, never all five. So the challenge is knowing when to focus a bit more on those areas that need more attention.
Thank you for sharing that great advice, BREIS. We’ve been told that you’ve recently released a book to inspire creatives during the pandemic. Congratulations on achieving that! Can you please tell us a little more about this book and what you hope to achieve from people reading this book?
Yes, I wrote a book called “Diary of a Creative Mind.” It chronicles the journey of recording my latest EP, “Arise & Shine.” It took a year and a half and is a journal of sorts, where I write out my day to day experience of being all the things that I am. I also go into details about the songs of my EP too.
Editing the book during lockdown was quite cathartic for me and I was relieved to finally release it. There are so many gems in the book in terms of how to balance business and creativity.
What people get from it will depend on where they’re at but I believe there are loads of topics touched in the book that will either inform, encourage, or empower the reader.
“Ask and you shall receive”
– BREIS
It’s so inspiring to hear how you’ve produced something so great within a time that has been so challenging for many.
You are well known in the education sector as the Hip Hop Educator. With your first interactive rap book, Brilliant Rappers Educate Intelligent Students being loved by children and young adult…Can you please tell us what inspired you to write this book and why?
Every time I performed in schools, teachers would ask if I had any books published. It got to the stage where I felt it was a sign from God to write it. So I wrote it in six months with a view to creating something that hadn’t really been done before by a rapper as far as I could tell.
The result was hundreds of schools inviting me in to share my work with the students and encourage more reading amongst young boys.
It was a major success.
Thank you for sharing that. What a unique and refreshing way to teach!
We’re nearly halfway through our time together. I think its the best time to start our BoxHuman Inspire questions before we say goodbye…
1) If there was one positive thing you would say to someone to inspire and empower them what would it be and why?
I would say all the song titles from my new EP including Stay Diligent, Arise & Shine, Give Dem Wahala (trouble), and Keep On. That’s my current mantra for getting things done and excelling. Whether you’re going in as an artist, producer, lawyer, DJ, manager whatever it is…do it to the best of your abilities and do it with honour and integrity.
2) What future life goals do you want to achieve and why?
One of my future life goals is to build an empire I can pass on to my children. I believe in self-sufficiency and want to provide wealth for my children’s children and beyond.
BREIS
Creative, kind, and fun.
A BoxHuman is an empowered individual. They will not be defined by society’s labels. They show the better qualities of humankind, such as strength, kindness and inspiration. Can you please tell us what makes you a BoxHuman?
As a student of life, I’m always trying to better myself as a man and find ways of having a positive impact on those around me.
“Thank you, BREIS.”
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