The Fort Wayne-based songwriter, rapper, and recording artist A Certain Energy leave us with nothing but inspiration through his latest heavy-hitting anthem, "Fake Love."
After graduating high school, A Certain Energy (ACE) joined the U.S. Marines and served overseas. Prior to his service, he quit music three times due to personal reasons. After he experienced the unfortunate passing of his best friend, A Certain Energy thought it was a better time than ever to get back into music in honor of the late Darian Asher-Layman.
Now signed to Sinclair Media Group Limited, ACE recently released his powerful and inspirational single, "Fake Love." He dedicated the song to those who wish failure upon someone attempting to make their dreams a reality. "This song honestly brought a lot of emotions out of me during the writing process. Looking back at the days where people told me I couldn't even be in-arms-reach of my dreams took a toll on me," said ACE.
Jumping into the single "Fake Love," the track opens with a haunting piano melody alongside a warm brass sample that later drops into the hard-hitting and bass-heavy beat. As A Certain Energy joins the party, he instantly grabs our attention with his melodic vocal delivery and emotional tones.
Diving deeper into his lyrical content, ACE raps about making it on his own and striving to make his dreams a reality even when the sirens (haters) are blaring. We can't get enough of the empowering sensation that this single has to offer, especially as A Certain Energy offers his attention-commanding performance alongside the punchy sonics; he leaves us ready to reach for the stars.
Get your dose of motivation with A Certain Energy's latest single, "Fake Love," now available on all digital streaming platforms.
We're truly impressed with your passionate performance and inspiring lyrical content in your latest single, "Fake Love." What moment inspired you to create a song that slaps the haters?
Everything that got me to this point inspired me to compose “Fake Love” honestly. The triumphs compared to the over-abundance of failures, the supporters compared to the fakes, and the day ones that never were there in the first place. These all coincide with each other which helped my team and I create this composition titled “Fake Love”. There have been plenty of times where one person says one thing to my face but will do a complete 180 to someone else about this career path. At least earlier in my career. Now all of it has changed, but it still will always be in the back of my mind. So, something needed to be done about it. At least for me to have closure with the situation to let them know that we’ll make it happen regardless of their “Fake Love” or not.
Who created the dense and powerful production for your single "Fake Love?" What was it like collaborating with the producer on deck?
David Sinclair-Black, the founder of Sinclair Media Group Limited, was the lead producer of the track. Since he stays overseas we took advantage of digital meetings via Google Meet to get the ball rolling. The mixing engineer is Aidan “Ack” Ackerley, and the mastering engineer was none other than Bobby Balow. The creation of “Fake Love” had so much high energy there was no surprise at how easy it was to compose. Personally, it is one of my favorite tracks that has come to fruition in my career so far.
We noticed that you also dropped a music video for "Fake Love." How does the music video enhance the song's powerful lyrical theme?
The concept of the music video was created by Amir Hussain and I who also was the director of the “Foreign” music video that dropped in June. The idea of the video was to visualize the ideology of “Fake Love” from my position whether it’s from agents, fans, close friends, and relationships. David Coley plays the agent, Jordan Rothgeb plays the fan, Joey Nelson plays the friend, and Elizabeth Isaacs plays the relationship. David Coley, a good friend of mine in the entertainment industry who is a model & actor, is seen during the beginning of verse one. The storyboard here is that everything seems to be going smoothly until a call comes which ends the scene. From there we transition to the fan with Jordan, who is only there for the hype and nothing else. After the scene, we transition to Joey where he plays the close friend. This aspect is extremely important because it plays close to my professional and personal life. Everybody wants to eat, but what are they willing to do to get that plate? Some will go above and beyond to get their plate full regardless of who is feeding it. I’m all about the grind, but when it comes to the “backstab” concept that’s when you know they’ve gone over the line.
The visuals for “Fake Love” is something I hold dear to me because it’s a glimpse of why I’m the way I am today. I keep a very small circle and barely talk to many. You just don’t know who really is there and who isn’t without a contract or them giving their all first hand.
What was your personal songwriting process like for "Fake Love?" Was it easy for you to write such motivational and meaningful bars?
The songwriting process was probably the easiest writing I’ve ever done. When it comes to writing music in general though I stay as original as possible. I don’t depict a false image. I feel like false images are the hardest way to write. It’s not you, so it’s not true. If it’s true, then you’ll know from the way the song is delivered that the lyrical content hits close to home. I have to thank my father again for that because performance is about what comes from your soul and heart. It’s the only way to be original.
How does "Fake Love" represent your artistic brand? Do you often release tracks that inspire and excite the listener?
"Fake Love” represents my artistic brand as it states on my logo: “The Original”. Like I said before, I stay as original as possible. This is why I write the way I do. I don’t write to fit a false persona. If I haven’t lived it or been influenced by it in some way then why should I write about it? It’s just not who I am as an artist, nor as a person. Be who you are. That’s the only way to live a pure, happy life. I love releasing tracks that listeners do request. I love engaging with my fan base. They’re the reason why I made it this far. If there are a certain number of fans that are going through a particular time in their life I’m sure I was there at some point too. As I said, be who you really are. That can create lifelong inspiration and motivation to go after your ambitions.