Lacy Darryl Phillips has a career in the entertainment industry which spans four decades. He has worked with recording artists, such as Mariah Carey, Lauryn Hill, Vanessa Williams, Grace Jones, Sheena Easton, Peabo Bryson, CeCe Peniston, and James Ingram.
Hi, I'm Lacy Darryl Phillips, AKA The Uncle Earl, American award winning recording artist, director, choreographer, radio personality, and crazy guy. I want to talk about resilience. You know, it's something that you must acquire. It's not given and it sometimes can be very difficult. I had some many challenging times in my life being an artist and performer, you know. You go through this life, you're always proving yourself. You must prove yourself. You must keep yourself sharp. You audition, you have people judging you, doors are slammed in your face. If you're not resilient, it will crush you. My best advice to you is to take it all with a grain of salt. Believe in yourself. Do your best. Don't try to impress anyone. Don't try to out do anyone because there's enough room for everyone in this life. You must carve out your own niche. I can't be you; you can't be me. Both of our jobs are taken because we own them. Resilience is like going through a windstorm, how the trees sway back and forth and they still stand. Like a diamond, it needs to be sandblasted to bring out the brilliance, and that's what life does to us. It blasts us, it brings out the individual brilliance. It reminds me of a time in my life. I was a young man. I choreographed the show called The Wiz in high school. You know, and you just do these things and it's fun, fun, fun, and I was like, wow. I would love to be in that show. An audition came up. I went to the audition. I made it all the way to the end. The choreographer loved me. He made me demonstrate in audition. I didn't get the job. I was crushed. I could have given up but I decided to hang in there and I thought, okay, I'm gonna get this. I'm gonna make this happen. Low and behold, a few years later, I got a call to actually choreograph the national tour of The Wiz with Grace Jones, Peabo Bryson, CeCe Peniston, and Mr. Tony Terry, who became a very, very good friend of mine. If I had given up, I would have never had that experience.
Last Updated: September 10, 2021
