You were born in South Bronx, New York City where rap and hip hop music originated. All of your life, you always wanted to be a hip hop artist and make music for people to enjoy and party to. Your mother always told you that you had a voice perfect for rapping and keeping on beat during the music. You also had a way of rhyming words that didn’t seem to rhyme with anything. But in 2007, your dad passed away due to prostate cancer when you were 15. You were close to your dad, his death was very hard on you.

That same year, your mom remarried a man named “Haruto Mitarai”. Haruto was originally from Tokyo, Japan and was a military man. You and him got along well, Haruto raised you as his own kid. But it didn’t make your sadness of your dad’s death any easier or went away. It was also that same year when Haruto moved the family to his native country; Japan. He got you and your mom settled in downtown Tokyo. You attended high school in Tokyo, and made a good group of friends who you became close to.

You learned to speak Japanese and adapted to the culture around you. In school, you joined the sing/dance club. Your ability to rap and to sing and dance hip hop got you to become popular in your school. While in school, you kept hearing about a musician called “Miyavi” through gossip from a group of girls. Apparently he was a very popular rock n’ roll star in Japan and was good at playing the electric guitar, especially the girls. Girls would be obsessed with the man. They would swoon over him and he liked the fame it came with his career.

But when you listened to one of his songs, you weren’t that impressed by it. The tune was a bit off and the lyrics didn’t really have any personality to it. As if the lyrics didn’t come from something personal that would inspire someone to create music. It really didn’t affect and impacted you. And you weren’t a huge rock n’ roll fan anyway.

You would see Miyavi’s face everywhere on billboards in Tokyo, especially downtown. You really didn’t understand the appeal of him, and didn’t judge people who did listen to him and his music. But you thought he was just a complete show off.

It was now 2009, and it was summer break. At late evenings, you always rode your skateboard down the streets of downtown Tokyo. But one night, you rode your skateboard near the Hibiya Open Air Concert Hall Building. That’s when you heard many, many screaming girls. You used the break to stop. You observed the scene: Many girls were screaming out of pure excitement, some were crying hysterically, and some were a little touchy. Then you saw Miyavi walk out of the building, he had bodyguards keep the girls separated from him. You huffed out of boredom and was about to skate away.

But you didn’t notice in that moment, Miyavi saw you. He noticed that you weren’t part of the group of girls nor his fanbase. He had been staring at you for a moment; for a while, Miyavi started to feel a bit empty inside. Even though he had everything he wanted: Money, Fame, Music, Girls—but there was still a hole in his heart, his soul was completely empty. Not even the hookups and common flings he had with girls filled that void either.

Miyavi wanted something real and genuine. He didn’t know if he might feel peace in his life… but when he saw you, he felt something he never felt before any other girl he had been with. But all he knew was that he saw you as his redemption, his muse… his salvation… and perhaps more than that…