Before he hits the stage to perform at Songbyrd Music House in DC this weekend, hYYdn taps producer FelMax for “Enemies” via BigTyme Music Group / EMPIRE. Serving as the latest single off his soon-to-be-released Soul Work EP, the track looks back at the early years growing up in a strict, religious household. Raised in a deacon’s home, he felt the constant tension between spiritual expectation and the allure of street freedom. The song captures that internal tug-of-war: discipline versus temptation, faith versus rebellion, identity versus assumption.
Fundamentally about pressure and transformation, “Enemies” reflects on hYYdn’s adolescence, marked by judgment and the overwhelming pressure to conform to an identity that wasn’t authentically his. A pivotal moment, a conversation with his father rooted in grace and understanding, ultimately granted him the freedom to shed these expectations and fully embrace his individuality.
The essence of “Enemies,” and indeed the entire Soul Work project, is powerfully encapsulated in the lyric: “Going through the pressure, wasn’t growing till I did that.”
