Alex Warren and the Gift of Generative Thinking

 In his book Culture Care, Makoto Fujumura shares a story from his life about a time when he had nothing. The story goes that Makoto and Judy were living in Connecticut with barely any money for food or rent. Judy comes home with a bouquet of flowers and Makoto gets frustrated, since they barely have enough money to afford dinner that night. Then Judy says, “We need to feed our souls, too”. That line from his wife is what sent Fujumura on a thirty-year quest to redefine care in our society.

According to Fujumura, there are three pillars of generative thinking: genesis moments, generosity, and generational thinking. When I first read these “three G’s” an artist immediately came to mind, Alex Warren. Not only is his story incredibly similar to Fujumura’s, he also exemplifies his “three G’s”

Twenty-five-year-old Alex Warren first rose to fame in 2019, when he was part of the viral Hype House. After that, he went on to develop his music career, with his first viral hit being “Burning Down,” which reached the Billboard Hot 100 in 2024. In 2025, he was nominated five times at the MTV Video Music Awards, winning Best New Artist, and performing his song “Ordinary”.

Fujumura defines “genesis moments” as moments of creativity, growth, and failure that spark renewed conviction in a person. Warren has been creating ever since he was very young and continued to create even when dealing with his mother’s alcoholism and homelessness. Early in his social media career, when he was mainly posting YouTube videos, Warren was accused of copying David Dobrik, a YouTube star with more fame and a similar content style. His videos and music were met with harsh criticism, with many Dobrik fans saying that he would never amount to any sort of real fame. His music career had a slow start, with him first releasing music in 2021, but not gaining traction until 2024. Throughout all the criticism and hate he was receiving, he still created. He still worked tirelessly at his music and YouTube content. Today, many of his songs stem from the hardships he has faced. He was able to turn his failures into something beautiful.

Fujumura says that generative thinking is fueled by generosity. Warren’s greatest generosity is his wife, Kouvr. Alex met Kouvr online in 2018, while she was living with her parents in Hawaii and he was living in his car. “Before You Leave Me”, his first song to hit the charts, was inspired by their long-distance relationship and the fear that came with it. Kouvr later moved to the mainland US and lived with Alex in his car.  Alex credits Kouvr’s kindness and support for his success. He said that without her by his side, he’s unsure if he would have had the strength to keep going. Two of his most popular songs, “Ordinary” and “Carry You Home,” were inspired by their love.

Fujumura says “our lives are directed or constrained by paths paved by the generations before us”. In this he explains his concept of generational thinking. Warren lost his father to cancer when he was nine and his mother to alcoholism when he was seventeen. He grew up with a single mother who was an alcoholic and was a homeless teen. By all societal standards, he should have failed. His father was the one who encouraged him to create music, gifting him his first guitar, and his mother instilled Christian beliefs in him. These two gifts from his parents helped him succeed. To cope with the death of his father, he turned to writing songs. His music is inspired by the gospel songs he heard in church during his childhood. Both of these themes accumulate in his song “Eternity,” in which he writes about the deaths of both his parents and the melody is heavily inspired by gospel.

Fujumura said, “when we are generative, we draw on creativity to bring into being something fresh and life-giving”. I find that quote fitting, as Alex Warren won the Best New Artist of the Year award. Warren transforms the pain of his childhood into music for everyone to enjoy.