Proud Of Me (with Akilis & D-Rey)
Music by Carlos Becerra / Lyrics by Nicholas Nyemah

“I support your head and neck, you remind me to keep my head up.
I show you how to take a step, you show me how to step up.”

Having a kid changes your life. It forces you to make sacrifices and take on new responsibilities, and it fills you with immeasurable joy. In this song, I say I want my son to be proud of me. Really, my deeper desire is to be a good teacher and an example for him to follow so that he can grow to be proud of himself. One of my happiest moments came when 1-year-old Derek Nyemah (D-Rey) showed off his harmonica skills on the track. At the time, his younger brother was still on the way. Since then, little E-Saw has reminded me that I have to write a joint for him one day.

The beat comes from Carlos Becerra (Akilis), who just might be among my 5 favorite USC Trojans (along with my wife, my sister, George Lucas, and Young MC). Carlos and I hooked up when he was looking for an emcee to fill in for his hip-hop cover band. I ended up learning the words to about 30 mainstream rap songs over like a week, which was pretty sickening. I must say Welcome to Jamrock was off the chain.

Carlos is a talented and versatile musician, and a cool cat to work with. He’s a real go-getter too, and he now runs his own bike shop. Check him out at Live 4 Bikes and hit the road.

PROUD OF ME:

Get the full album:
St. Nicodemus tha Lonestar
THE PEN, THE VIEW, THE ANGELS
Amazon | CD Baby | iTunes

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BONUS MATERIAL:

The first time I was at Carlos’s pad, we kicked it in the studio he had set up. A bunch of equipment, instruments lying around, vocal booth in the corner, posters of musicians and inspirational quotes all over the walls. He played me some of the beats he’d been messing with, and in about an hour we had cranked out The Funk.