Why Humble the Poet Writes for Himself
The most important relationship you have is with yourself -Humble the Poet
Keep it simple. It’s the most important lesson I learned as a military survival instructor. If I went over people’s heads and got technical, I lost them. It took months before I learned my craft well enough to communicate it to others. I was happy to stop leaning on my powerpoint slides.
Simplicity is the backbone of UNLEARN by Humble the Poet, aka Kanwer Singh. Humble and I had a great conversation about how he developed his philosophies and then simplified them. To watch our conversation check out the video below.
Growing up Humble learned to express himself through language instead of keeping his inner life pent up. He studied music and the way an artist completely captures an experience through sound, the vibrations in the air that touch us. He explained the power of sound as I reflected on the way Eminem’s music touched me as a middle school boy. Humble told me that the connection I felt was not Eminem rapping to me, but Eminem rapping for me, like a theme song. And when I rolled up at a middle school track meet listening to Lose Yourself it was my personal anthem.
Humble values simplicity because it was crucial during his years as an elementary-school teacher. He believes that simplicity helped him reach more students. And as an artist, he found his audience when he, “Started saying smart things, but not sounding smart.”
The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill influenced Humble and his book title, UNLEARN, is probably a subtle nod. Humble had just bought Lauryn’s album when a friend was busted for shoplifting. Humble opened up the CD jewel case and read the lyrics book while he waited for his friend. This “lyrics first” process of experiencing new music became part of his method for deeply engaging with artists.
Humble was so hungry for good music that searched the hard drive of a computer he was selling to find any hidden gems. He found something that would change him forever. It was The 50th Law by 50 Cent and Robert Greene. Two chapters of UNLEARN are devoted to 50 and Humble and I shared our admiration for Robert Greene. You can see my interview with Robert Greene in the video below.
Now Humble has followed in 50’s footsteps as a rapper and author. He started small, self-publishing, but the book grew like a seed. UNLEARN is now an international bestseller. He’s left self-publishing and signed with Harper Collins. The second book is coming out later this year, and he says it’s full of the tough love he needs to hear when he’s being real with himself. He travels between Toronto, Los Angeles, and New York. For his birthday, July 12th, he’s even made a commitment to start a non-profit.
Maybe Humble isn’t keeping it simple after all?
get more from Humble at HumbleThePoet .com