More than just a performance

Photo by Brian Zheng

Sean Leon’s burst of energy kicked off Welcome Week’s Aug. 31 concert. Leon’s unique beats were taken in by attentive ears, his anomalous sound pulsated through thousands of hearts as the rhythm swayed concert-goers’ feet and left a little tingle in the fingertips of their airborne hands.     

On stage, Leon’s presence is all about the music. He wears no mask and doesn’t hide behind the smoke. In a pair of Tommy Hilfiger jeans and a loose t-shirt he is himself, clutching the mic and rapping the lyrics to Laying Low (Cooking Up) as he interacts with the crowd.

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Leon has full control over his sound, he writes, engineers and produces music almost exclusively by himself. He has had the support of individuals in the community in the past but does not consider himself as part of the music industry.

“I get through off a conversation, [or] just the work being polarizing enough that it jumps up and it attacks and grabs people. It makes them want to pay attention, want to watch the movie,” explains Leon.

As his own label and manager, Leon’s balances many roles and titles to grow himself as a musical artist. He often takes unconventional paths like rather than hosting extravagant release parties, he would rather bring a few people at a time into a recording studio to listen to his upcoming music for the first time.

His main priority is not the fame and money. Leon wants to move people with his music, he wants to evoke indescribable feelings and inspire with his craft which makes him stand out against a myriad of rappers.

It is not easy challenging the norms or being self-made in a lucrative industry, but it is important to staying true to himself. In much the same way students will experience the pressure of conforming into their environment and perhaps can pick up a few tips from Leon’s experiences.

The university environment is an incubator for fostering student growth and success, yet it is easy to slip into a robotic trance shuffling from class to midterm to class to exam on a predefined conveyer belt. The end result is thousands of paper degrees marked by the same ink that vary by a few letters and if your ambitious, the kind of framing.

Leon’s presence on campus was a reminder that while the cookie-cutter method may work for some students, to get the most out of your experience at McMaster and life beyond university, it is important to be a self-starter, your own leader and define success as it pertains to your goals and dreams.

“I think the key to happiness is just understanding what it is you’re actually pursuing… I think we can get on this pursuit of things and it’s not necessarily what we want…Maybe [it’s] something somebody else wants for us. Maybe it’s something that we see has brought [other] people happiness,” explained Leon.

Once finding his own pursuit, Leon’s younger self was focused on achieving success by a certain age. By taking it easy and removing the pressure of being ‘somebody’ by a certain point in his life, he has found greater happiness and welcomes challenges that come his way. He boasts about aging like wine.

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Leon also talks to himself to gain clarity of the present moment and insight into where he sees himself in the future. Self-awareness and self-perception are important. He cannot control what others think of him, but he can control his perception of himself.

“I talk to myself more than I talk to anybody, like by far, by miles, leaps and bounds…How else could I know… If I talk to other people I can get a sense of what people want from me or what they are comfortable with me having or what box they’re willing to put me in,” explained Leon.

“[T]hat could be good to know for some people, that can give you some sort of security as well if it matches with what you have your vision for yourself but if it doesn’t, you see a lot of people becoming unhappy.”

Leon also has confidence in his craft and sees himself as an expert. However, a key to continuously evolving is that he approaches things with a beginner’s mentality. It would be a shame for him to deny himself of learning opportunities or see himself as anything less than a master.

Attending the Welcome Week concert was nothing short of an attempt to kick it and lose yourself in the music before the stress of university life seeps into daily regimens. However, students can also take away powerful messages from Leon’s presence that’ll get them through the year.

Now that Welcome Week is over and academics are in full swing, think about what success means to you and make this year something you are proud of.