Do you like love stories? Do you like hip-hop? Do you like poetry and spoken word? Have you ever worked with your spouse? Have you ever wanted to move out of the friend-zone and into dating? Have you ever wanted to learn how to drop a mic?
If you answered “YES” to any of the above, then you’ll want to tune in to my interview with this creative, collaborating couple. Now I introduce to you Amena and Matt.
Or as I like to call him, “Opdiggity, No Doubt.”
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00:00 – Who are Matt and Amena Brown? And dropping microphones
02:57 – Matt and Amena’s love story
04:40 – Dr. Henry Cloud’s dating program (and how it ended)
07:50 – Running off to Vegas and getting married by Elvis
09:49 – “You’re a jewel of a man.”
12:29 – The turning point in their relationships
14:55 – Two questions Amena asked Matt
17:50 – Why Matt felt comfortable being vulnerable
19:10 – Amena called Matt. Matt asked Amena, “Why are you single?”
21:10 – Being open and honest vs. being an attack dog
22:40 – The lightbulb finally goes off for Matt
25:26 – Going exclusive?! And getting dating advice from middle schoolers
28:25 – The different spheres of dating
29:45 – Going from individual artists to collaborating
30:40 – Matt’s art + Amena’s art = ?????
32:15 – The five facets of hip hop + NSYNC beatboxing special
34:13 – How to deal with two different creative styles?
37:56 – Finding the right vocabulary in disagreement
38:47 – Entering into each other’s space + digging into messiness
41:27 – When is their next EP coming out? Why is Atlanta great?
42:22 – Outkast: the soundtrack to their 20’s
44:30 – Find Matt and Amena on Twitter and Instagram
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Amena Brown is a poet/speaker/author out of Atlanta, GA who performs her unique blend of spoken word poetry nationwide and has spoken at conferences like Catalyst, Chick-Fil-A leadercast, and many more. She released her first book Breaking Old Rhythms in 2013. Amena performs with deejay/music producer Matt “DJ Opdiggy” Owen as Sol Graffiti. This husband and wife duo is a musical collaboration combining rhyme, soul, hip hop, electronic, and groove. Sol Graffiti is a mashup of poetry and music to tell a story and make you dance. Sol Graffiti is graffiti for your soul._______
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You’re welcome Amanda! They truly are good folks. Excited for you to see tomorrows couple as well.
Oh my goodness- I love! I was cracking up from “drop a mic” to “that’s when I realized” to “Justin beatboxing”. I think they are this really great example of a couple who used a lot of wisdom and boldness in making things happen. Amena being wise and bold in just taking steps toward Matt and then Matt (when he realized she was interested) being wise and bold in moving toward Amena. Really cool thing to see play out.
I know! I loved their story and so glad you enjoyed as well Jennifer.
Mic, dropped.
Oh my gosh…what she said about Christian guys and worldly guys approaching you is so true! Like she said…it seems like the church guys won’t come up and actually ask you out! So then you don’t know what to do…do you talk to him? Will people say you’re being too forward? Or that you led him on? Do you wait for him to make a move? What if you don’t pay him ENOUGH attention so that he knows you’re interested? It’s so hard! lol
Nicole – Yes yes! I think you might enjoy some of these posts: https://loveandrespectnow.com/?s=who+pursues (-:
First, I have to say, I love the “married by Elvis” idea. It’s affordable, it’s quick, and you get to go to Vegas. HAHA They both have great stories. His is a story of recovery from a failed marriage and the deep well of depression that followed. Hers was with the frustration of “church guys” and their lack of clarity. I love the fact that he was able to come back from the depression. He had the support of his friends and parents to help him and that is awesome. Her frustration comes from church guys not being forward, and that might be a common frustration among you ladies. As a “church guy” I will tell you that I think it is difficult for us to be forward at church because it’s church. If I am rejected at the library (because I’m too old and introverted for clubs) or other public setting, it’s not likely that I’ll ever see that stranger again. If I am rejected at church, it’ll probably be by someone I am friends with and we’ll probably both be there the next week with an uncomfortable awkwardness between us. Also, I have found as I get older (I am a very old 37), that the only single ladies at my church are all 18-25 years old. It’s awkward to flirt (I could stop here with this statement) with girls that I knew when they were children and I was a younger adult. Another possibility for their hesitation is bad lessons given by the church. I can’t speak for every church but I remember too many sermons about the evils of premarital sex, the “true love waits” stuff, and the late 90’s push for Christians to stop dating altogether (the book was called “I Kissed Dating Goodbye” never read it but it did cause several break-ups at my church). My young, immature brain took all of this in and came to the conclusion that “sex is impure; dating leads to marriage which leads to sex; therefore dating is bad”. It took a while for me to overcome these teachings. All of that should be coupled with the understanding that I was extremely (and still am) socially inept. I did not have sense enough to separate the impurities of premarital relations from the godly purity of marital relations. Some of the other “church guys” might be suffering from some of the unnecessary religious roadblocks that were poorly taught to them as children. All of it combined can cause some hesitation and uncertainty to cloud their vision of God’s beautiful gift to them.
Hey Nathan – thanks so much for sharing your experience and frustration. Everything you’ve said is something I know lots of guys have experienced. A good book to check out is Real Sex as it speaks in a really healthy way to some of those messages we grew up to in the church. I think it’s a really productive and thought provoking book.
Amanda thinks...
Hilarious. They seem like such a fun couple. Thanks for posting. Some good things in here to think about!
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