I’m thrilled to share the cover art for A Ghost of His Former Self, EP arriving October 31, 2025. But first, a I’m going to share a reflection on what I learned from failing at being a productivity wiz.
Before we dive in, as you may know, I have independently funded this EP and can use any support I can get to. A Ghost of His Former Self (the EP) has been professionally edited for optimal audio quality and distributed on all digital platforms—Apple Music, Spotify, ect.—as well as hosted on my personal website to little or no cost to you. The ask: visit my website, explore my store, and support me as an independent artist. Every purchase, share, or gesture of support keeps this work alive.
After uploading my EP on October 9th, 2025, I entered into cycles of anger, sadness, and emotional anguish. These things manifest themselves physically for me. My body becomes sick. I get tired and I often burn myself out becoming over reliant on the stubborn goat energy I was born with—I’m a Capricorn.
Striving for the mountain while avoiding the ocean of ones collective emotions. The moon within the womb makes me sensitive to others. I have been conditioned to run from these sorts of feelings. I am often a sea-goat forgetting the tail—or tale shaping fin that makes use of materials found when sanctifying through sankofa. I forget the fins that slip through the salty waters with ease. The limb that helps mend the tears of good old grief and heart ache.
“But as he [Siddhartha Gautama] went to climb out of the water, his strength failed him. He did not have enough energy to pull himself onto the bank.” Old Path White Clouds by Thich Nhat Hanh, page 105.
I use to read A LOT of project management, and goal setting books. All upper body. Dragging my tail on coarse shores.
I took a step back from productivity hacks and leaned into myself. Into the practice. The dirty job of doing self reflective work. I realized that the energy driving me towards that type of productivity literature was steeped in ignorance of self, need (or greed) for validation and self hatred. Stumbling over all those productivity books and the hundreds of unused notebooks that where going to become bullet journals, calendars, mind maps, and Zettelkastens, I saw I was deeply hurt. That was the mountain. I needed to work with those core and coarse wounds.
“I prayed for freedom for twenty years, but received no answer until I prayed with my legs.” - Fredrick Douglass, from Autobiography Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave (1845).
That realization came in 2019, when I waded back into familiar waters that burned the wounds left by all my flailing on the shore. Waters that triggered remembrances of old tempo wounds from when I’d failed to swim.
Meditation, mindfulness, getting in touch with my body, rapping, using my voice is how I returned to these waters. I started writing A Ghost of His Former Self then. This EP subtly touches on the deep personal work that I’ve been doing with the hope of encouraging you dear listener-reader to do that same work on your own terms.
“Gotta put art to that cause the pain will crack the mask that we wear to hide the past” - and now Miguel, song titled, “Matte Black” from A Ghost of His Former Self (Oct 31, 2025).
So here is the face of the EP, a page, a draft from a book in progress. Washed up on the shores I left to go back to the deep black oceans.
I am proud of this piece. I designed the cover myself. It has many layers of meaning for me which I hope to uncover in the future. Shoutout to The Creative Visionary for the feedback, textures, and guidance on procreate.
Thank you to those of you who supported me by picking up a zine, buying me some tea, and purchasing an instrumental. If you enjoy my work, please consider supporting me directly via my website, andnowmiguel.com
Warm regards,
and now Miguel
Ps. The we just mixed and mastered an additional track for the EP song titled, “Greasy Guilt.” So the EP is 6 tracks (not 5!). The additional track will NOT be on streaming. Stay tuned!
I'm so happy for you. Congrats on this journey.
Very nice! Love the whole vibe here with this EP.