Fear has a way of shrinking the room before anything has actually happened.
For Customary, it meant years of second-guessing himself: fear of performing in front of people, fear of being laughed at and fear that a white, middle-class kid had no business picking up a microphone and calling himself a rapper.
His song “Fear” confronts those insecurities directly, not by pretending they never existed, but by refusing to keep giving them authority.
“I have limited myself for years because of self-consciousness and fear of being in front of people, fear of rapping while being a white middle-class young man and fear of being laughed at for what I do,” Customary said.
The song draws its central idea from the biblical claim that perfect love casts out fear. Customary connects that love to the sacrifice of Jesus, arguing that faith should do more than offer comfort after something goes wrong. It should loosen fear’s grip before it prevents someone from doing anything at all.
That distinction keeps “Fear” from becoming another motivational speech dressed in a beat. The song is not built around discovering enough confidence within yourself. It is about finding the courage to move because your identity no longer depends entirely on an audience’s approval.
“Fear” appears on Customary’s album, Compassion, released July 29. The project includes 14 tracks and collaborations with Bobby Bishop, P. Dirt and Dom.
There is an obvious irony in recording a song about being afraid to perform publicly. Then again, fear usually loses some of its size once it has to come through the speakers and explain itself.
Listen to “Fear” below.