By Jasmin Jenkins

Editor-in-Chief

Layton Greene is an R&B/soul singer from east St. Louis. Her latest EP was released on September 28, 2019, entitled “Tell Your Story.” This EP contains seven songs that describe Greene’s life story. She said this in the bio for the EP. She created this album so that people who felt ashamed or were too scared to tell their stories could have a voice and know that they are not alone. Therefore, I find that this is a great album to relate to. 

After listening to the EP, I found myself in love with how vulnerable Greene had gotten with the lyrics of each song. In every song, Greene talks about a personal event that has happened to her. One of my favorite songs off “Tell Your Story” is “Blame on Me,” which is the first song on the ep. Blame on me covers her father not being present in her life, her mother being held at gunpoint, and being sexually assaulted at twelve by her cousins. Every verse of this song is placed in what seems like chronological order of how life was growing up until she became of age. From start to end you follow a timeline of life events and lyrical imagery. With the background music flowing so well with the lyrics it just adds on each climax of the song where she keeps repeating “I put the blame on me.” I like that specific chorus because it shows how even as a young girl she thought all the bad that was done to her was her fault. This lets me know that even as young kids or teens, we’re obligated to feel as if we are always at fault for things that go wrong. This song hits differently than any of the others because I can feel the emotion through the song. It’s so raw and sensitive it appeals to the five senses. Every verse holds sight of imagery. Such as when she talks about her mother being with an alcoholic who wasn’t good for her but loving him so much, she was blind at the dangers he brought when he put a gun to her head. 

Another song which I feel is even more relatable to high school audiences is the song “I Love You.” It reminds me of a teenage romance gone wrong, where one party is so infatuated with the other and that person doesn’t feel the same anymore. Then when that other person finds someone else it almost becomes toxic for the ex to stop fantasizing about the future, they could’ve had together. That’s what happens when you become so dependent on someone. 

This is why this album is so relatable it covers so many topics like abuse, being bullied and not fitting in, being dependent on men, being homeless, not focusing on school, just a little bit of everything. Greene did a very good job on this album, all the lyrics have a such a deep meaning, and I appreciate her using her talent to help send a message to others that it’s okay to reveal your truth. Overall, you guy should give this EP a listen and see if you can relate to any of the songs.