A Heart King wants listeners to understand the person behind the music before they press play. He describes the project as an example of “green flag masculinity”: a way to explore what it means to be a good man while still growing into one.
“Finding things that make me proud as a man has been a journey,” he says. He hopes the music gives people a place to examine their own lives alongside him. “When it comes down to it, we aren’t different.”
The name began with Malik Yusef, who suggested “Heart King.” The artist added the “A.” As fans of Kingdom Hearts, they also connected with the idea of a key: something that could help people unlock what is inside themselves.
That sense of discovery shapes his plans beyond music. A Heart King wants to build a world where listeners can take part in the conversation, bringing their own experiences to it. He knows that world will change as he creates it. “It’s not perfect, it’s not polished, but it’s mine,” he says.
For the next year, his goals are to release a full album, begin touring, and connect more directly with fans. He sees that relationship as a group project, with artist and audience learning from each other.
“I’m not about perfection,” he says. “I’m about participation. I’m here to make contact.”
Inside Open Flame: A Heart King Turns Lived Experience Into Music
Most of Open Flame comes from A Heart King’s own life. He describes “Famous” as the project’s more imaginative song; the rest, he says, “really comes from the heart.”
The project was recorded at Republic Records, where guitarist Juan Dior helped establish its sound. A Heart King says their work together gave the sessions a natural flow, even as he faced the nerves of recording for the first time.
Those nerves became part of “Cloud Shaped,” the opening spoken word track and the song he would choose to introduce himself. He felt pressure to be a good leader and to create an environment where everyone could do their best work. Rather than hide that feeling, he channeled it into the piece. Making that environment together, he says, became a source of comfort.
A Heart King also speaks openly about the experiences behind his music. At the time of the interview, he said he was six months sober from crystal meth and had been diagnosed with schizophrenia. His father had also struggled with addiction. Creating music has helped him put past visions and difficult emotions into an artistic context.
He hopes Open Flame can help listeners move through their own feelings, too. People can get caught in painful loops, he says, and he wants the music to offer a way to process what they are experiencing. For him, being alive means feeling those emotions rather than pushing them down.
That openness is central to A Heart King. He is less interested in presenting a polished image than in making an honest connection with the people who hear his work.