Green Street – “New Beginnings” (Video)

Here’s the first video from the Brooklyn’s Green Street in a while, and “New Beginnings” is a video directed by Myriam Schroeter and Jamal Solomon. Green Street will be releasing their deeply personal new album, The Will to Win, on October 23rd. Read more about their story below.

48 hours. That’s how close I got to not being here.

It was Saturday, October 20th, 2012 and I had just finished performing at the Nuyorican in New York City. I remember stepping off stage and barely being able to walk on my own. Two days later, I was being rushed into Brigham and Women’s Hopsital in Boston to undergo an emergency dialysis procedure to save my life.

I was born with a rare form of kidney failure. By the age of sixteen, one of my kidneys had completely stopped working and I was down to the limited functions of the remaining one. According to my doctor at the time, I had a “maximum of three years before your other kidney fails.” I still vividly remember that day at the clinic. In that instant, everything changed. I immediately realized how limited my time on earth could be, and that I was responsible for creating the reality I wanted to live in. I promised myself that whatever I did, I would do it with purpose.

Fast forward to my early-twenties. I had already beat the odds by making it this far. Furthermore, off the strength off my relentless work and vision, I had created an amazing reality for myself. Here I was — creating art, traveling the world and inspiring other people to chase their dreams a little harder. I was living with the sense of purpose and fulfilling the promise I had made to myself six years ago. Yet, nobody knew what I was actually dealing with. I never told anyone about my health situation. I made a choice to deal with those demons by myself.

I didn’t know when my time would run out. But more importantly, I didn’t care. I just knew that I would do everything I dreamed of before that day came. I toured the world for two years off the strength of a partially functioning kidney and a mother that prayed too much for her own good. I ate sashimi in Shibuya, played cricket in the slums of Kolkata, raced jetskis in Barbados, bought things I didn’t need in Dubai and still made it back home. Doctors couldn’t explain how I was still alive. All my tests showed that I should be deep into the end stage of kidney failure, but here I was. That’s just how strong my will to survive was.

My run finally came to an end in October 2012. I spent the next four months on dialysis as my family searched for a suitable donor for a transplant. I recorded much of this album with an irregular heartbeat and a catheter in my chest. I had three surgery dates cancelled during this period, each one breaking the back of my family a little more. Eventually, with our options dwindling, we decided to take an unspeakable risk and nominate my father to be the donor. He had previously been all but ruled out as a possibility due to impending health issues.

The week before I went into surgery, my doctors consulted ten kidney specialists across the nation in regards to my situation. Out of this group, five of them believed that my transplant procedure could have potentially fatal consequences. Even given this knowledge, my family and I decided to move forward and roll the dice with God.

My decision to tell this story is more for you than for me. Physical and personal limitations are only as big as you want them to be. The ability to create the life you want is entirely up to you and your will to win. Don’t be afraid to love. Dream bigger. Live with a purpose.

This album was a deeply personal and cathartic process for all of us. But despite all the circumstances and roadblocks, this is easily our strongest piece of work to date. That should tell you everything you need to know about us.

This album is dedicated to my parents for giving me life twice in the time that I have known them. To everyone who purchased, downloaded, shared, tweeted this album…thank you. Your support means a lot more than I can explain in words. Now, let’s win this sh*t.

With nothing but love,

A-live