Today we’d like to introduce you to Brandon Briggs.
Hi Brandon, so excited to have you on the platform. So, before we get into questions about your work life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today.
I was born and raised on June 4th, 1997 in Miramar, FL which is located in sunny South Florida. I originally grew up being what they call a jock playing football, track/field, and wrestling. One thing I would do in private is write poetry and short stories. For example, I wrote a short horror story called Camp Horrorwood that my teacher wanted to submit to a writing competition. When it came to singing, I did not do any more than belching my favorite songs in the shower. After tearing my ACL during a high school football game, I decided to take a focus on my academics for college. I attended the University of Central Florida pursuing a political science degree. During my time here, I became a part of various leadership roles for organizations such as the Chi Tau Tau chapter of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc., the Black Student Union, Men of Integrity community service organization, the National Black Law Student Association, and many other organizations that promoted the mission of diversity and inclusion within the university. During my collegiate experience, I explored my love for music by performing covers of different songs for the first time in front of an audience. For instance, my first performance ever was during a pageant that was produced by the Mu Iota chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc singing a Frank Ocean song called “White”. I also used songwriting as a way of journaling my current feelings of life and just putting my thoughts on paper as a coping mechanisms for the stress going on in life. After graduating college in 2019, I continued to write music as a way of journaling my thoughts while I experience the harsh realities of adulting or the real world. Throughout these years I experienced the loss of my best friend I grew up with, financial struggles, and the struggles of trying to figure out what exactly do I want from life. When I moved to Dallas in 2022, I decided to put more of a focus on my music and start performing some of the songs written whether they are personal pieces or songs based on different life experiences. I wish my music can touch the lives of others and make it very relatable. I want the world to know that they are not alone with what they are thinking or feeling. I released my first single called Pain in December and have so much in store for the world and cannot wait to show it!
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
As I was growing up, I was struggling with being influenced by family and others about what I should be doing with my life. I was told get a law degree or medical degree or things of that nature. But unfortunately, I never asked myself what do I want from life. In college, I tried to embark on this journey of figuring out what my wants & needs are but it just lead to many more questions than answers. Whether it was what should I be doing in the near future, how/who should I love, or if what I am doing now is enough to be successful in the future. The sense of identity was something I struggled with for a very long time as time went on. After experiencing the tragic death of my dear friend, the financial struggles I faced after graduation, the exploration of my love life, and the adjustment to this new lifestyle, it made me realize that your sense of identity can change as you grow in life. What you may think of yourself yesterday may not be the same today. That is why I do not stress over what should or should not be and trust God, trust myself, and trust the process.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I am a singer/songwriter that makes music that can be relatable to others. Whether it is pop, r&b, jazz, soft rock, I would like to make songs that can appeal to someone’s life and touch their hearts in a special way. For instance, for my newly released single “Pain” I speak of the hardships that people may experience in their lifetime and how the love of someone can help you carry on in life. I really want to create music that not only people will love but pieces that someone will be able to feel as though they are not alone in this hard and confusing thing called life. I would also like to create a positive and fun feel for some of my music so I can spread smiles or positive energies across the world.
Is there any advice you’d like to share with our readers who might just be starting out?
That idea you have, the song you would like to write, that podcast you want to start, that business you want to start, the art that you would like to create, JUST DO IT. Do not let your own thoughts or other people’s opinions tear you down or stop what you want to do! Every minute in life is not promised so it is important that we make the most of it and do what brings YOU passion or gives YOU that feeling of success.
Contact Info:
- Website: Briggs | Linktree
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Daaquann/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/mimosaque
Image Credits
Malcolm Simmons
Cameron James
