So I was taking a walk the other day

Friday Feels // Rom-Com/Rom-Trauma #12

May 16, 2025

I went to the Grand National Tour last week. It was every bit as good as people are saying—maybe even better. There was a tweet I saw afterward that really stuck with me (I didn’t screenshot it, but here’s the gist): It’s clear Kendrick is on this earth doing exactly what God intended of him. He’s living in his purpose.

If you’re a fan, you probably know the wild, full-circle story behind “DUCKWORTH”, the last record on DAMN.

Before Kendrick ever picked up a mic, his father, Kenny “Ducky” Duckworth, worked at a KFC in Compton. Around the same time, Anthony “Top Dawg” Tiffith—yes, the same Top Dawg who would go on to found TDE and manage Kendrick—was deep in the streets, known for robbing local businesses, including that very KFC.

To protect himself, Ducky used to give Top Dawg free chicken and extra biscuits. That small act of generosity ended up saving his life. Top admitted he had planned to rob the place but decided to spare Ducky because of his kindness.

Fast forward years later: Top meets a young Kendrick and signs him, not realizing at first that Kendrick is Ducky’s son. Kendrick captures it all rapping:

“Because if Anthony killed Ducky, Top Dawg could be servin’ life
While I grew up without a father and die in a gunfight.”

That’s not just a bar, it’s spiritual. A living reminder of fate, divine timing, and how the smallest, quietest choices can reroute lives. The song opens with Bēkon & Kid Capri singing “It was always me versus the world, until I found it’s just me vs. me…” and the eerie mantra: “Just remember, what happens on Earth stays on Earth.”

I could go on about the actual performance—the music, the transitions, the visuals (insane, by the way)—but more than anything, watching Kendrick that night, you could see it: that man is in alignment. There’s nothing more powerful than someone fully walking in their gift. And yes, the graphics went absolutely crazy.

There’s been this one line stuck in my head for weeks leading up to the show—turns out, it’s SZA: “I just want what’s mine.” That’s exactly how I feel right now. Even as I’m still figuring out what “mine” is supposed to look like. Maybe that’s just the reality of pushing 30—wanting what’s yours, while still trying to define it.

I was updating my portfolio and got some really thoughtful feedback through a good conversation earlier this week. It’s had me reflecting, thinking about the next step while still taking steps. It made me put some deadlines next to these scripts.

Anyway, if you’re still with me, thanks for sticking through the ramble. Long story short: seeing Kendrick was soul food. I need every album on vinyl immediately.

Before I hard pivot from music, though, has anyone ever really listened to the lyrics to “Shake It Out” by Florence + The Machine?

“Looking for heaven, found the devil in me.”
“Every demon wants his pound of flesh, but I like to keep some things to myself.”

Alert your local modern church, you know the one with the youth pastor that resembles Chance the Rapper, yeah, tell ‘em “boy, don’t I have the couldve been secular song for you.”

Okay, now onto film—ngl I’ve been slacking on my watchlist lately, mainly because I’ve gone down the rabbit hole and started watching movies on Tubi, but it’s not all for naught. Tubi put me on to a movie that poses and answers the question “What if someone else was writing your life—and decided to end it?”

I’ll stay on theme with this week’s music video - Kenny. I’ve never seen this video, but I love the song. I’ll watch it after I post, it’ll be a first for us both.

Feeling

⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

Go Knicks!

3.5 out of 5 stars

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Listening

Music is undoubtedly one of the best parts of being alive. Here are some of the tracks that have contributed to the soundtrack of my life this week:

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Watched

Stranger than Fiction (2006)

Written by Zach Helm | Directed by Marc Forster

Imagine you start hearing a narrator in your head—not your own voice, but someone else’s, describing your life in real time. Your thoughts before you think them. Then comes the twist: you’re the main character in a story, and the narrator casually mentions that you’re going to die. Soon.

This was such a fun watch. It actually reminded me of Barbie—not just because Will Ferrell is in both—but because both films feature characters who suddenly realize how small they are in the grand scheme of things, only to then reclaim agency by realizing it’s their world. Ah, the joy (and existential dread) of worldmaking.

I won’t spoil anything because I genuinely want people to go into this one fresh, but it’s so good that it’s earned a spot on my favorite films list—despite the fact that just a week ago, it wasn’t even on my radar. It also furthers my personal theory that the best films often feature characters who are writers—or at the very least, characters who get to co-author their own story.

Did it make it to the Rom-Com Ranking Top 50 list? 👍🏾

🍿 Letterboxd review 🍿

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Misc.

finsta flow

It's fw me Friday...y'all fucking w me??

Lyric of the week:

Life/God is one funny ma'fucker
A true comedian, you gotta love him, you gotta trust him

Duckworth. by Kendrick Lamar

J