I grew up in the countryside of Honduras. A humble childhood — none of the luxuries you see in the States — but full of love, and thank God there was always food on the table. My mother had already gone to the US to open a path for us, so my grandmother became my second mom, and my cousins became my brothers. I rode my first horse at six. To me, that was normal. I wouldn't trade that childhood for any other.
On the farm we had a tiny TV wired to a battery. One hour a night — and me, waiting for the music videos.
That's where this started: watching Daddy Yankee on that little screen, in the middle of the countryside. At ten I stood in front of an audience for the first time, at school, singing "La Camisa Negra" — terrified. I sang it anyway. That's how I've done everything since: scared, and doing it anyway.
Leaving Honduras was the hardest thing I've ever done. Leaving my grandmother — that hurt, and still does. I arrived to a completely new, much colder life: back home I lived surrounded by cousins, uncles, grandparents — here it was me and my little brother, and that was it.
Computers called to me since I was a kid. By the end of high school I was fixing everyone's, and I ended up working in tech. And that's where I found my way: every hour of that job paid for the studio, the gear, the lessons to learn to record myself. Nobody handed me anything. I've funded this music myself, hour by hour.
My identity was split in two: "AB," the one who works. And "Lyonary," the one who creates.
For years I carried both names. Today I choose the artist — that's why I'm no longer AB Lyonary. I'm Lyonary. The lion was always the real part: always fighting, always finding the way out, looking up even from the bottom. I'm not chasing fame. I'm chasing a life spent creating — making real an idea that only exists in my head.
And if you're in Honduras — or anywhere — dreaming the same dream: believe in yourself more than you think you can. Bet on yourself, one hundred percent. I bet on others first, and it cost me time. Bet on you first. Then you can lift everyone else.
