Adam Melchor & Kenny Beats - I'm Afraid I Love You (Video)
L.A.’s own Adam Melchor links with Kenny Beats for this stripped down poignancy & I must say, I don’t believe I’ve seen or heard anything like this from Kenny, it’s a different side of him to hear his contribution to a subdued record like this. I don’t think people realize that he’s more than just a producer who’s made beats for some of your favorite rappers, he’s an actual musician as we get a glimpse of his talents on this earnest little number. Adam’s lyricism throughout this number will pull, yank & tear away at your heartstrings, even as he softly croons them out, you can feel the fear as he stands on that precipice, scared to take that leap of faith into fully committing to the one he loves, I’m sure a lot of us can relate to such avoidance of our own feelings.
He wishes he had to gift of gab, the most silver of all tongues in order to win her over, he doesn’t want her to see the mess he tries so hard to cover up, he’s afraid of what she’ll think & even worse, dislike what she comes to learn but maybe it’s all just in his head & he’s convincing himself that he’s just not worthy of her love. He notices this & simply follows up with admitting his own fears & vulnerabilities to her in hopes she’ll greet them with the warmest embrace. He admits to wishing she would never leave his side, as selfish as it is, he knows it’s only fantasy & it’s too tall an order to ask of someone who simply can’t promise that & as he metaphorically mentions, she could hurt him, rather intentional or not & maybe that’s what’s holding him back from loving this person fully.
It’s bittersweet how words just seem to get in the way of love at times, especially when it’s the words we tell ourselves cause they don’t always tend to be the most kind & encouraging. We can sometimes have very little faith in love, maybe cause what we grew up seeing with our parents or our own experiences in this field but love is about taking chances, taking that risk that hey, I may or may not get hurt in the end but I really admire this person & enjoy their company so let’s just see where this love can take us. If we’re gonna free fall then why not together cause at least the ground will absorb us both. It’s a beautiful record that I hope to see hit the streaming services soon, though this acoustic performance is truly where it’s at, there’s just something much more intimate about sets like this.