In the movies, the hero faces a problem, and stands tall against it, defeating it with a little help from friends.

In real life, we face problems and often turn and run the other way.

That only works for so long, though, and then our problems return with a vengeance.

Ace Henderson learned this the hard way not long ago.

The 23-year-old North Carolina-based musician has seen his star rise over the last few years, scoring co-signs from Solange’s Saint Heron and Nas’ Mass Appeal. And he’s supported your favorite artists on stage, everyone from Pusha to Jeezy.

What more could a young artist want, right? Well, a little sanity and order in one’s personal life isn’t too much to ask, is it?

Over the last “four years, I’ve lost family members to cancer, I’ve lost friends and perpetuated silly drama,” Henderson said. “I even lost myself.”

Photo: Matt Sgambati

Times were tough. Henderson says that he used music as an escape, working hard on his debut album “as a means to ignore the fact that I was a broken person.”

When he wasn’t working, he said, “I found myself drinking five days out of seven and sneaking to do drugs as a security blanket and body armor for social situations, and consequently, tarnishing the friendship I had with my ex and the relationship I was forming with someone new.”

After finishing up his record, Henderson began to promote it. But that didn’t make him feel any better.

Things came to a head after a show he did with Young Jeezy, one he calls “the worst performance but best experience of my career.”

He had performed his songs, and was rushing from the venue to the airport for a flight to New York to work on some new tracks. “I was at the precipice of quitting music altogether,” he said, “But I didn’t want my ticket to [go to] waste.”

As he made his way through the city, “there was a massive fire in downtown Raleigh.” Although he had a plane to catch, he paused. “I’m emotional and into imagery, so I took it as a sign.”

A sign of what he wasn’t sure — and soon found himself with other things to worry about.

As he scrolled through his phone to see what people had thought of his show, he got a text, “screenshots from some ‘friends’ about my ex posting a beautiful love note with her new beau.”

Hopefully you haven’t been there — but even if you can’t sympathize, you can empathize with how that felt. “In that moment, I felt the pressure of all my fears crack over my head like an egg.”

Henderson says he stumbled through the airport, through security in a haze. “I wanted a blunt, a bump, some Adderall, whiskey, whatever could numb the pain that accompanies watching people ‘move on,’ because that’s all I’ve been trying to do for the last few years: move on.”

At the airport alone, having just passed security, Henderson said, “There were no vices to indulge in … so I sat in Terminal C17 and cried for the first time in years. I felt gravity.”

Now, if this were a movie, next would come the part writers like to call “Atonement With The Father,” where everything looks lost, where it seems the hero’s done for before pulling victory from the jaws of defeat.

This wasn't a movie. But Henderson, like those movie heroes, wasn’t done for at all.

Photo: Matt Sgambati

He landed in New York, went to the studio and met producer L’Camino.

“I sat down on his couch … I never mentioned anything that happened between walking off stage and arriving in NY … I had my phone hidden from me, for fear that I’d see another ‘trigger’ and render myself useless for the weekend.”

Henderson sat there, and then, as they “eased into the rhythm of the percussion and Fred began stringing together synths … I wrote the song in pieces in my head.”

The song, you ask? What song?

The song Blavity is proud to premiere, a certified future classic, “Runaway.”

Photo: Ace Henderson

“’Runaway’ is the first time I didn’t attempt to filter the confusion I’ve felt for years on the pursuit of mental health and emotional clarity. I don’t really like to yell — and I caught myself screaming into the microphone, like my soul was doing the #GetOutChallenge, lol.”

All that pain, all that struggle, and then triumph: a great song full of truth, dreamy and relatable, catchy and evocative — that’s a heroic, silver screen victory if we’ve ever seen one.

“I looked in the mirror and was like, ‘F*ck it — who can tell me I’m wrong about what I’ve experienced?’”

No one. No one can. But we all experience the same joys and hurts, albeit in different ways, which is what makes pieces like “Runaway” so powerful.

The EP is described as "an introduction to Ace's aptitude for painting powerful mental images through syncopated melodies, multi-layered vocals, sound bites and meticulously devised lyrics." It's also said to feel like "Southern summer nights," "personal expectations" and the "shared experience."

Check out the world premiere or "Runaway" below, and keep an eye out for Ace Henderson’s second EP, free: nights & weekends, coming soon.

Saint Heron

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