On June 15, we sat down with Sol Development’s Lauren Adams to discuss her creative process and how she heals through her craft. The conversation was insightful and powerful; here are five things we learned from the talk.
On What Sol Development Is
“We are a collective of musicians, songwriters, educators…the whole nine… we draw from the Black music experience not just here but, all over the world… We believe that there’s not enough darkness to put out one candle. We teach never to be afraid of letting your light shine.
On Sol Development’s Goals
We wanted to elevate the culture, activate the light within folks, and to make true change in what we call “the entertainment business” but changing what that is and what that change is and what it looks like.
On Making Change
In order for change to be made, you gotta be the change. We try to focus on looking within and using that in building up of others. When it comes to uplifting the people we do it as a whole. We’re not here to fix people, the goal is for people to find the light that they truly are.
On Creative Process
When we uplift our people we’re doing it together. I love how we were able to merge… we all have different experiences as black people… we had to be vulnerable and feel safe to talk to each other about what the roots of these songs were.
On De-Centering Yourself
Start with those that are most marginalized in your community. Give everything you have away but make sure you start from the bottom and then you lift up. If you have the light in yourself, you’re ready to spread light to others. You gotta know what it’s like to be free before you offer that to those who are seeking freedom.