Afro Gems

Compilations from a Don

There was a time I couldn’t feel the days go by.

A blur of emotions muted by numbness, a rhythm I couldn’t find — not even in myself. That’s when I turned to sound. Music had always been my compass, and in this moment of disconnection, it reminded me of who I’ve always been.

Afro Gems was born in that silence. A pulse in the quiet. A collection of songs that echoed the parts of me I couldn’t hear clearly at the time. These weren’t just tracks — they were lifelines, reminders of The Afro Don that still lived within, even when I couldn’t feel him fully.

Some tried to offer love, and though I couldn’t feel it at the time, I could still stir a reaction — blushes I didn’t deserve and affection I couldn’t receive. But before I could truly accept someone else’s love, I had to rediscover my own. That journey wasn’t just emotional; it was personal, cultural, spiritual.

Taking care of my hair was one way back to myself. Letting the afro grow, untamed and proud — a crown of resilience even in silence. I didn’t know I’d cut it all off a few years later, shedding more than just hair. But even now, beneath the durag I wear to every outing, the afro lives. It still grows. So do I.

Now, as I step into a version of myself that’s still healing, still forming, I feel the shift. It might be time to rest the durag. To let the rhythm carry me again. I’m no longer the emotionless guy who inspired smiles he couldn’t return. Still a motionless GIF — hard to move, but restless at heart. And like any gem under pressure, I’m finding form.

Afro Gems is for those moments — the in-between states where you’re not who you were, but not yet who you’ll be. It’s for every soul reconnecting with the self they buried or forgot. For the days when love feels distant, but the drums bring you home.

Press play. Reclaim your rhythm. And let the Afro Don in you rise again.