Feature #74: Zion Birdsong, Musician

Name: Zion Birdsong

Current Job Position: Musician  

Company Name: Earcandi Tasteful Music, LLC

Contact Information: www.iambirdsong.com (coming soon); iambirdsong@gmail.com; Facebook, SoundCloud, iTunes

Special skills: singing, lyricism, playing guitar, producing music, dancing, engineering

Describe your job story: 

I met a guy named Nicholas Bass. He introduced me to a friend named K. Phillips. That led to he and I making a couple songs. One was “Fireman.” DJ Nabs and I became friends after it caught his attention. DJ Nabs took it to Mauldin who is Jermaine Dupri’s dad and the ex-chairman of Atlantic Records. I didn’t know Michael was responsible for the success of many artists in the music business. His experience and relationships helped me to get my first publishing deal. The sky has been the limit from there.

What did you want to be when you were a child/ teenager? 

I always wanted to be an entertainer. I always felt the need to entertain people.

Are doing your dream job? 

It changed up a little bit. I ended up being a minister of music. Not my dream job, but I’m finding that I like this job better than my dream, which was to be an entertainer. I don’t care for enetertainment as much anymore. I just share and impart.

What do you like MOST about what you do? What do you like the LEAST? 

I like that I can express myself and explore all of me: good, happy, sad, sensual…I can put that in my music and just vent. What I like the least is the music business. I don’t like it at all because it dilutes the art and turns it into a prostitute. It’s too many rules. You put it out there to make you money. You don’t care about its feelings and what it is exposed to. The music business makes it all about money. I appreciate the prosperity as musicians, but it extorts the art and hurts it. It’s hard to appreciate something when you’re squeezing money out it. Nevertheless, I love that there are no limitations on my expressions.

Where do you see yourself in the next 5 years? 

I see myself very successful as a producer and artist. Owning many shares of companies. I see myself as humanitarian. I see myself married and just enjoying the married life and very busy.

Are you happy with where you are in life? 

I am just coming to a place where I am very fulfilled and happy with my life. I am very satisfied because I’m happy. I’m reaching the end of myself. I am very comfortable with my achievements…such as making me happy. I have reached a place where I am comfortable with my friends and loved ones that I have come into contact. It’s a mixture of a lot of things: my personal success, love from loved ones. I’m confident in what I am doing in life. I’m certain of what I was designed to be.

What more do you want to do with your life? I just want to give. Gain more and give more away. More of myself intellectually…more money away. I want to help those who are less fortunate and improve those who are fortunate.

What drives/motivates you? 
Love drives and motivates me. I really want people to experience love. I want people to understand what it mean to receive love and experience the joys of giving it away. The contribution of loving people is what drives me.

What else do you do? 

I play basketball. I do the boring stuff: I take long walks, I like to rent hotel rooms to be catered to. I read a lot. I like getting information. I love studying the greats. I find myself going online and studying Michael Jordan, Bruce Lee, Steve Jobs, Jesus Christ, Charles Mason (to see what makes people tick), Lauryn Hill, Fred Hammond, and Micheal Jackson. Sometimes you can study people’s downfalls and find out what could have helped them up and what could have been useful and uplifting by watching how they fell. I like studying principles at the end of the day. I like going places where there are a lot of people. I stalk life. I love beauty and people are beautiful. I just like to be around people and think of ways of how to relate to them through art. People are like art in motion. They create varieties of chi. I like to be around a lot of living things, such as the aquarium and grass. I like being reminded of all the things God has done. It astounds and amazes me. I like exploring all of God’s wonders, taking the essence of those things by taking lessons from those things. I like to take feelings and moments, package them up and give them to people so that they can experience them, too.  How great would it be to package up a feeling and watch their reaction as they open it! The biggest accolade is improving the condition of life…of a person.

What is your advice to those who are seeking employment and have no hope?

You need to seek God because you were designed for something, meaning that you’re already employed. You’re here for a purpose and task. Check with the person who made you to find what it is. Inquire and have pfaith that you will get an answer. Be happy that the answer is on the way. Fill out many applications. Don’t just fill out apps for jobs that you think are best for you. Don’t be too prissy to work at McDonald’s. don’t be too sophisticated to shines somebody’s shoes. Employment comes by relationships jobs aren’t jobs. Jobs are just what people make. Be a servant. If you’re going to use faith for any old job, go do that job for free. I’ve produced for many people for free and now I work at two studios. Now I can do what I want to do, just from wanting to do stuff for free.

This is the most important thing to know: college doesn’t get you a job. Schooling doesn’t either, nor what you know. It’s not about what you know, it’s who you know. If you know God, He can get you a job. Don’t be picky. Get a job while you look for the job that you desire. Let people know that you’re serious about work.

Remember, if you already know what you can do for free without getting paid, you already know what you can do for the rest of your life. If you try to work a job that you’re not great at:

- You’re going to get fired 

- Somebody is going to come take your place

Go for what you love to do. Nobody can be greater than you because you love it.