“The Good and The Bad”

“ She changed my life. I grew up in the projects, virtually I had no chance, and I had this woman that said “I’m not giving up on you ever”. A comment given by Anthony Ramos during an interview with Good Morning America. Anthony Ramos recently released his brand new music album named The Good and The Bad. 

Anthony Ramos was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York with his mother, sister, brother and for some time his father. All throughout his life he believed that he was not going to be anyone or anything. But with the help of his high school drama teacher for paying for his applications and never giving up on him in high school, he was able to get into an amazing art school. The schools is called The American Musical and Dramatic Academy. There he graduated from the musical theatre program in 2011. He is mainly known for his roles as John Laurens and Phillip Hamilton in the broadway musical  Hamilton and his role as mars in the netflix show She’s gotta have it. When his new album came out I knew I had to hear it, since I was a fan of all his work, from the musicals he performed in to his last album he had released to his small singles he has sung.

The new album called The Good and The Bad  was his most relatable work I have ever heard. The album consists of twelve songs, four that are mainly about his personal life and eight that are mainly romance. I have listened to the album almost everyday since it was released and it has made me realize a lot of myself. The songs that are mainly about him and his family are songs I know many people would be able to relate to, from adults to the elderly and especially teenagers. One of his songs is called  Figure it Out where it talks about how he has bottled up his emotions and his problems because he doesn’t know how to figure them out. The first line of the song is “All alone on my phone, in my bedroom.” which is something several teenagers do because they probably do not want to talk about how they feel or why they are acting some type of way. This exact line hit me because after my parents got divorced, I felt like I could not talk to my family or friends  about my emotions, so I would get home and just go to my room to listen to some music and cry or watch videos to try to cheer up.

I have cried to these songs because I feel like for once someone understands what I’m going through. I can relate when in his comment he said “I grew up in the projects, virtually I had no chance.” because the city I was raised in wasn’t the best city educationally nor safety wise, I felt like 

there was a high chance I would go to college for a profession I did not like and be stuck in that same city or state. But then I discovered him through my middle school choir teacher, since he was into the musical  Hamilton. This year has been a hard year for me emotionally because I am still lingering on things from the past but once i heard Anthony Ramos’ story I didn’t feel like how I did before, and I feel like I can become the type of person I want to be and to study the profession I want to study. He wasn’t sure he would be able to go to AMDA because of the tuition and I have felt the same as well, But because of his music helping me through my rough patches I feel like maybe I can and maybe accomplish the same through my work and story like he has with his new album. Even though there is some foul language, I would recommend this album to anyone who wants to jam out on some catchy songs and anyone who just wants to feel understood.   

The man who once said “ I grew up in the projects, virtually i had no chance” has proved himself wrong and has helped me personally through his new album  The Good and The Bad. I hope you listen to it, it might do you some good emotionally or you might just find a new artist you may like.