“He has lost it”

I was visiting my brother when the phone rang. It was his son – my nephew. He was at the Roskilde Festival which is some kind of music event in the eastern part of Denmark called the Devil’s Island by us from the real Denmark.

My nephew was talking about Earl Sweatshirt – his big idol.

I remember some years ago when I visited my brother that I heard the songs Earl Sweatshirt made. While I found the lyrics too modern I could understand why it appealed to the youth.

For reasons unknown to me the mother of Earl Sweatshirt wanted to derail his career so he was abducted to a wilderness program and later sent to Samoa where he was mistreated until he was released.

Since he reentered the world as a free man, he seems to have lost the drive which made him something special. My nephew was so disappointed that he almost was ready to return home before the event is over. However it is rather expensive to go this event – several thousand DKK – so my brother promised him to wire extra money so he could get drunk and perhaps enjoy some of the other music.

It makes me wonder. Why rob your child of his career? What kind of motivation could justify this? As a father it does not make sense. If it had been my son I would have let my son outlive his potential.