Music engineer Emerson Mancini recently opened up about how Kendrick Lamar’s song, “Auntie Diaries,” inspired him to come out.
Mancini was in the process of engineering “Auntie Diaries” for the Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers album, when the lyrics resonated to him emotionally.
Lamar raps:
“My auntie is a man now/I think I’m old enough to understand now…”
And to those lyrics, Mancini recalled:
“I was like, ‘What? What’s happening? What is this?’ I ultimately had to stop and play the whole thing.
I needed to know what this is about because I had just started taking testosterone a couple of months prior. The whole experience was really raw at the moment, and it was amazing to me.”
He continued on by sharing that at the time, he was only out to a few people, and listening to “Auntie Diaries” was a turning point for him.
“‘Auntie Diaries’ is a song that inspired me to come out in a loud way. I wasn’t out to anyone other than a couple of friends. No one professionally, no one publicly. I don’t know if I’ll have a more personal relationship with an album than I do with Kendrick’s in particular because it was really a big thing in my life,” Mancini expressed.
He then shared the news to Lamar and his team after mastering Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers. According to Mancini,
“I said something to the extent of, ‘There’s a lot of bravery and courage on this album, and I would feel remiss if I didn’t partake in some of that for myself’ — and I just told them. And it was met with nothing but love. It was really an extraordinary moment in my life that I’ll never forget.”
You can listen to “Auntie Diaries” here:
Source: hollywoodreporter.com
