You are seriously behind the curve if you haven't heard of Eric July or his band BackWordz, but now you have another opportunity to do so with the release of their latest track "Be Great", the leading single from their album Veracity, out later this year on Stay Sick Recordings. Video linked below.
Men on a mission.
Eric and the guys in BackWordz are kind of a rare find in that they are probably one of the only bands in their genre not leaning to the political left. Their last two singles, "Utopias don't exist" and "Statism", decisively set the tone for what this band is all about - freedom and anti-authoritarianism. "Be great" takes that a whole step further and explores the opposite side of the coin called "freedom" - owning your failures.
They say follow your dreams, but what does that mean?
'Cause dreams only come to a sleeper. Forget that; you need to wake up/
Keep grinding instead. Keep that in your head/
Praying and hoping is not enough 'cause faith without works is dead/
These are words to live by.
Breaking away from the pack
BackWordz is like a lone lifeboat of truth in a sea of bands who only make songs about wishy-washy mysticism and blind rage. Instead of taking the anti-free trade, socialist stance that is entirely too common among artists of all genres, Eric's lyrics are a firm rejection of the "victimhood" mentality that plagues most young people in the arts. Every single stanza is jam packed with an antidote to this defeatism.
Stop, being envious of everybody that's around you/
You're not poor, 'cause they're rich. Realize this: It's not fair, get over it/
If you spent as much time working on your craft as you did complaining... well../
You wouldn't have the time or energy to be worried about everybody else/
These guys clearly aren't willing to settle for anything less than success, and they won't be blaming their shortcomings on others.
No shortcuts to success.
Eric goes on to relate a tale of his own persistence with his music. Eric and the guys have achieved quite a bit of social media success, and it clearly didn't happen overnight.
I just so happen to be rapping since the age of 10/
Like a God given talent prolly Back to praising him,
can't get pretend I'm new to this stuff/
Kuz I been doin this bruh/
In addition to the empowering, uplifting words of inspiration, this content is extremely polished. BackWordz have clearly established that they are dedicated to delivering a quality product which represents both their values and the effort they're willing to put into achieving a free society - all while setting themselves apart from their competition.
Be Great.
Be sure to check out Eric July and BackWordz on Facebook, YouTube and Twitter!