The LEVEL Man: An Introduction

The whole point of the come-up is to challenge yourself. We celebrate three men who have done exactly that.

LEVEL Editors
LEVEL

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From left to right, an illustration of Jeremy O. Harris, Jay-Z, and Jordan Peele.
Illustration: Jacob Rochester

Update 6/7/22: Level has a new home. You can read this article and other new articles by visiting LEVELMAN.com.

What a time, two young men told us in 2015, to be alive. And while Drake and Future were referring to what we now know was the relatively innocent period before the country tipped headlong into Trump-fueled chaos, it’s more than a little possible they were talking about themselves. Drake was about to turn 29; Future was 31. Standing on each side of 30, they felt — and rightfully so — that they were on the verge of something special.

Aging is funny. When your father came up, or his father before him, success was stability. You found something you could do, or that those who held the gates closed would let you do, and you kept doing it until you got to a pension. Your life would change as you went, hopefully for the better, but you didn’t look too hard in any direction but forward. Never back, never next to you, and never, ever inward.

Today, that sounds like a one-way street to misery. The whole point of the come-up is to challenge yourself — to set new goals the entire way, to find growth and fulfillment in every aspect of your…

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