“Overtime” is a chill, alternative R&B track with lo-fi textures and hypnotic production. As the first self-produced single from my third album "Keep That Energy," it introduces a story of passion, purpose, and emotional distance. 

Listeners have complimented my vocal delivery because it feels intimate and unforced which gives the song a conversational, lived-in quality that fits with the theme of balancing work and life. The production is warm, hazy, and minimal in the best way, allowing my vocals to breathe and hold space while carrying weight. The songwriting is clever and layered, with subtle work-related wordplay like “reap and sow what it seems, they seem so unaware they wear you out" -- a line that critiques the corporate disconnect where higher-ups assume you’re reaping rewards from producing results when in reality, you're worn out. The line threads together homophones and clothing metaphors: sew/sow, seam/seem, and wear/unaware, to tell a story: I do the sewing and seaming, while the corporations and the consumers wear me out. 

The theme of work impeding personal/spiritual progress carries throughout the new album, with "Overtime" serving as a moment of both tension and release. I composed the song with sonic duality, letting the verses feel light so the hook can carry the emotional weight. The laborious anthem, “I might not come home tonight, I’m working overtime” is simple but potent. I wrote it in the shower right after sequencing the beat switch. I don't usually write hooks away from the mic, but this one just felt so obvious that I immediately recorded it afterwards. What follows, "I know there's more to life, put in work 'till I die” is a tragic oxymoron that aches with emotional suppression -- I fantasize about a better life while using work as a means to escape my current one.

For the second verse I wanted to briefly tell a story about a guy who is stuck putting in overtime when he just wants to go home to be with his partner. "I pick up the phone to hear the tone of your voice fasho, now you're putting on a show like whoa. You know how this goes... Tell me you've seen this episode, in this scene you've got no clothes and I'm fiending for you hoe, can't believe I'm on the road now..." I kept the delivery playful to capture the tug-o-war between duty and desire. In this hypothetical scenario it seems like the guy ditches work and speeds home to his partner, but by the end of the verse it's revealed that he won't be coming home after all -- "I'm not tryna be foul, I'm just on third base. I got a lot on my plate so I might not come home tonight.... I'm working Overtime"

I feel like this song's genre is difficult to pinpoint, but I was inspired by the modern evolution of R&B -- emotionally expressive, melodically fluid, and unbound by traditional structures. I wanted to lean into ambient textures and conversational vocal phrasing rather than traditional soul stylings.