Pursuit of Happiness: BLXST Found Himself Through Self-Awareness and Fatherhood

On a humid June afternoon, BLXST serves up a harsh assessment of his former self: “Growing up, I was naturally more selfish.” 

It’s jarring, but it’s more understandable when you learn his background as the youngest child and only boy among older sisters. “I was pretty much looked after my whole life,” he adds. Then came the switchup: “When my first son came and interrupted the whole program, it was an adjustment I had to make. It taught me empathy and sympathy and just how to love overall, externally.” 

That brand of active love is clear from the way he speaks about fatherhood and his relationship with his own family. It’s also clear on his latest album, Labor of Love, which he hopes shows fans the extent of his vulnerability.

“The Labor of Love is just where I'm at right now mentally in my life,” he says. “No characters, no filters. It's just how I'm showing up as a man. I just want to acknowledge the sacrifice that goes behind the word love, the work that goes behind the word love hits the title, Labor of Love.”

For the latest edition of Pursuit of Happiness, BLXST Talks about some of the elements that go into that labor. Speaking to Okayplayer, the South Central L.A. performer discusses the restorative power of Jamaican food, the lessons he learned from fatherhood, his family and more. 

BLXST: Sometimes you gotta realize that the internet is just the internet. It’s not real life. A lot of times you may feel certain energy, but you go to the ones you love or the ones that love you and that all disappears. Sometimes you just gotta disconnect to connect.

When I’m having a bad day, some good food will put anybody in a good mood. Man, I love Jamaican food. Some jerk salmon, any Caribbean dish, some curry shrimp. That’s my type of party. I think [also] conversation goes a long way. That could be a conversation with my mom. She worked for the mental health department, so it’s kind of like I got a personal therapist in my corner. She always got something uplifting to say. In hindsight, I appreciate the real side of life versus just the fast side of life. I really owe that to my mom. Her personality and her character is very grounded. Even beyond her, my grandparents are Jehovah’s Witnesses, so it was a strict household being in the middle of the hood in South Central. But it kept me in alignment to be more family-oriented. 

The biggest difference between me now and me then is my self-awareness — understanding my impact, and not just on a small scale, but in the universe. What I say to you can affect your day, and that can affect somebody else’s day. So I think what I learned is just to be intentional, or more intentional, with everything. Not to say overthink everything, but just have a purpose behind what you’re doing. Don’t just do it just because, because everything is cause and effect.

Being a father taught me about selflessness. It gave me a sense of purpose. I would imagine I would just be the same old me — selfish, probably more reserved.

I think when you have something to protect, you take that risk because now it’s bigger than you. For me, I put it all on the line for my family. I don’t think I would have adapted to that mentality, maybe eventually, but I had to do it at the snap of a finger.

It wasn’t like I planned on having a kid when I did. So it was a quick adjustment I had to make. I think that gave me that extra motivation to grow up as a man and really stand on business.