004: North America In Three Acts
t’s been a minute.
Life’s been hitting like a jazz solo—offbeat, chaotic, sometimes beautiful—but the search? Still very much alive.
Post-grad, I kicked things off with a long-overdue family trip. Thirty Jamaicans on a Carnival cruise ship. Chaos in paradise. It wasn’t Royal Caribbean—Carnival’s the off-brand cousin that plays too much soca too early in the morning—but we made it work. The route: Fort Lauderdale to Bahamas, Dominican Republic, Grand Turk. Solid lineup. Still, halfway through, I kept thinking, This would hit different with friends. Family cruising has a ceiling. Drinks were flowing, laughs were loud, but I was ready for land.
And land delivered.
Back in the States, I linked with a heritage brand looking to shoot a visual campaign for a winter capsule. The location? A boutique hotel in Manhattan. The vibe? Classic Americana. I knew exactly who to call—Vinny Seda, the kind of face that sells nostalgia in high def. We hit Lexington Ave just as the city turned gray and miserable. Right before I rolled, Vinny looked up and said, “You know it’s supposed to snow tonight, right?”
He wasn’t wrong.
Snow started falling like it was directed. Perfect timing. We caught it all—cold breath, wet shoulders, streetlights glowing like halos. One of my favorite film moments to date. The campaign wrapped. The client was thrilled. And I was already gone.
Next stop: Austin.
It was spring—festival season. SXSW in full swing. I landed, grabbed a Whataburger, and met up with the homies Henny Retro and Prince. Austin during SXSW is its own universe—afterparties in parking lots, secret shows that feel like prophecies. I was only in town for three days, but we packed it in. Somewhere in that chaos, I remembered a promise I made years ago.
Back when I first visited, a friend and I broke down on the side of the road. While we waited for roadside help, she led me to a nearby creek—untouched, surreal. I said I’d come back. So I did. This time, with a camera and a vision. We shot “Hate or Shine” for Retroi$awesome, and the spot looked like it belonged in National Geographic. Wild, beautiful, unexpected. We followed that up with a clean cut for Henny Blanco. Three days, two videos, zero sleep. Worth every frame.
Before heading back to Jersey, I made one more detour.
Toronto.
A friend had invited me up, and I hadn’t been to Canada in four years. I landed in Ontario, shook off the jetlag, and hit the city. Ripley’s Aquarium. The Rec Room. All tourist stuff, yeah, but done right—with someone who actually knew the streets. The highlight? Dinner at the CN Tower. That rotating restaurant is something else. You walk in and everything’s spinning—slow, surreal, like the room’s deciding who you are before you sit down. I kept looking at the floor to make sure I wasn’t losing my balance.
Back in Jersey, I wrapped up my North American loop with a final hit: Brooklyn Museum, for an album experience by Yasiin Bey (Mos Def). No phones. No distractions. Just the music, the art, and the people. One room. One listen. One time. The project, Negus, could only be heard in the space. A baby cried once and nobody flinched. In the center of the room was a massive mural of Nipsey Hussle, immortalized in paint and prayer. When the final track faded, it left a silence thick enough to feel. You walked out carrying the album in your memory, not your playlist. That’s art. That’s a moment.
5 out of 5 stars. No skips.
The journey continues. Always.
