DOMELGABOR: FREEDOM - a chill Neo-Soul song blending R&B groove with smooth, soft rap and mellow hip-hop

"FREEDOM" by @domelgabor

DOMELGABOR: FREEDOM - a chill Neo-Soul song blending R&B groove with smooth, soft rap and mellow hip-hop

“FREEDOM” by Domelgabor is a genre-blending song that fuses a chill Neo-Soul and R&B groove with smooth, soft rap and mellow hip-hop over a deep, gravelly male vocal.

The song's theme highlights that true freedom comes not from ownership, but from letting go. Possessing things creates an illusion of freedom, while real liberation is found in release.

Freedom or the power of letting go of possessions

The idea that material possessions symbolize freedom is a modern contradiction. Although we frequently pursue wealth and belongings to achieve a sense of autonomy, every item—from a home to a vehicle—demands time, money, and care for maintenance, management, and protection. In the end, the things we acquire often turn into physical and mental barriers to freedom.

Owning possessions involves a trade-off: you need to spend physical and mental effort, along with financial resources, to maintain, insure, and upgrade them. Rather than providing you with options, possessions gradually limit your ability to move freely.

Possessions provide a brief excitement, but they soon become routine. This leads to a continuous cycle of desire, acquisition, and longing for the next upgrade, linking your happiness to constant consumption.

Many individuals mistakenly equate their possessions with their identity. When you base your self-worth on external status symbols, you become enslaved to others' opinions and the fear of losing your perceived status.

Philosophical and mindfulness traditions, such as Stoicism and Advaita, propose that ownership is essentially an illusion because everything is temporary. True freedom is attained not by accumulating possessions but by letting go of attachment to the material world.

When you let go of the urge to own, you find a mental lightness. You can appreciate the world's beauty and utilize necessary tools without the weight of possessiveness and the fear of loss.

Psychologically, inner freedom comes from self-awareness, discipline, letting go of attachments, and taking responsibility for your choices. When it comes to possessions, if you don’t really need something and can’t afford it, don’t get it! It is that simple!

Yet don’t get me wrong. I’m not judging or blaming people who have possessions like a home and a car, or both; if they can afford them, why not? It is the dream of many of us.

Personally, I cannot afford either one right now, as my priorities are focused on my kids, their well-being, and their education. Yet, who knows? Maybe I will be able to afford one or both in the next 4-5 years.

In this song, I criticize those who chase after possessions to boost status and ego, despite not being able to afford them, taking on large loans that diminish their freedom and complicate life for themselves and others.

If they were less driven by ego and more rational, their lives would be easier, and they would understand that letting go of possessions brings freedom to mind and body.

The idea behind the song

The idea of writing this song came from a recent discussion I had with an Uber Driver. We were talking about how expensive it is to buy a house or even a car nowadays.

Here in Hong Kong, where I live, the average property price ranges from approximately HK$13,000 to HK$16,000 per square foot (saleable area). Across the city, this translates to an average apartment price of HK$7 million to HK$12 million (US$893,000–US$1.5M), which varies heavily by district and unit size.

In the US, the average price for a good but not extravagant house is a median sale price of approximately US$430,000 (roughly HK$3,370,000 or Euros 372,700).

And the average price for a typical commuter car (like a Toyota or Honda) generally falls between HK$240,000 and HK$395,000 (between US$30,000 and US$50,000, or between Euros 26,500 and Euros 43,600).

As mentioned above, I cannot afford either option, as I have other priorities now and for the next 4-5 years. I'm even wondering if I will ever be able to afford either, as I do not have any savings and do not earn enough to afford it one day, possibly. Let alone, banks are more cautious these days about supporting people like me who have no savings and no collateral.

And even if my parents were to pass away within the next 10-15-20 years (the later the better), they live in France, where inheritance taxes are quite high.

In short, by law, each child has a tax-free allowance of €100,000. Any amount exceeding this is taxed on a progressive sliding scale ranging from 5% up to 45%.

For example, as per the French Service Public, if a parent passes away and leaves a single child an inheritance worth € 150,000, apply the Allowance: Deduct €100,000. The taxable capital is now €50,000.

So here is how the progressive tax sliding works.

Band 1 (5%): The first €8,072 is taxed at 5% = €403.60.

Band 2 (10%): The next amount up to €12,109 (an interval of €4,037) is taxed at 10% = €403.70.

Band 3 (15%): The next amount up to €15,932 (an interval of €3,823) is taxed at 15% = €573.45.

Band 4 (20%): The remaining balance (€50,000 - €15,932 = €34,068) falls into the 20% bracket = €6,813.60.

Total Tax Owed: €403.60 + €403.70 + €573.45 + €6,813.60 = €8,194.35.

The effective tax percentage on that €50,000 taxable amount is 16.39%.

At first glance, it might not seem significant; however, given inflation and the rising cost of living in recent years, paying the €8,134.35 tax today could be challenging for most people. This amount is based on a house valued at €150,000; if the house were more expensive, the tax would obviously be even higher, making it even more difficult to pay.

If you cannot pay the French inheritance tax on a house, the tax authority (Service des Impôts) will charge interest and penalties. To avoid this, you can apply for deferred payment, pay in installments, or ask the notary (Notaires de France) to delay the sale.

If taxes are not paid within six months of the death (or 12 months if the deceased died outside France), the state charges interest at 0.20% per month (2.4% annually). A 10% penalty applies if the delay exceeds 6 months. The tax office (Trésor Public) places a legal charge on the property, which can ultimately lead to its seizure and auction to recover the debt.

To summarize, in recent years, due to various factors (COVID-19, inflation, wars, the global economy, the geopolitical climate, etc.), it has become incredibly difficult for most people to afford a house or even a car, let alone save any money, all under the pressure of possibly losing their jobs as AI, robotics, and technology rapidly take over.

However, I'm moving away from the original subject, but you get my point.

Who knows what the future holds or how it will unfold?

During the conversation with the Uber driver, he asked me: "You're in your 50s, and you've been living in HK for 15 years. Are you an owner? Do you own a home or an apartment here in Hong Kong or elsewhere? Do you own a car?" I replied: "No, I cannot afford either, and I don't have the budget for it. And you know what? I don't miss it! On the contrary, I feel free. If a good job opportunity presents itself elsewhere, I can leave everything behind and go, since I own nothing! Now, that's freedom! (with less worry in mind). You cannot do that when you own an apartment, a house, a car, or anything else that would constrain you to stay."

Of course, I'm saying this now, in my early 50s, knowing that getting older and facing fewer opportunities will, at some point, push me to settle somewhere and, if I have the money, eventually buy a place to retire. And if I find the right place, then yes, I will change my mind and perspective, and I will surely love to be an owner if I can.

Will see what the future brings

I have always dreamed of owning (if I can one day) and living in a place close to the ocean, the sea, and the mountains. It might be because I grew up in Bordeaux (France), located about 1 hour from the ocean and roughly 3 hours from the Pyrenees, where both felt easily within reach and where I spent most of my youth's vacations.

As mentioned above, I have been living in Hong Kong for the past 15 years because life here is peaceful and secure, and the landscape ideally combines urban life with the immediate proximity of the sea and the mountains, which I love.

Even in central Hong Kong, you're never more than a 15- to 20-minute walk from the sea or the mountains, so you can easily escape the busy urban lifestyle and environment in minutes. It's quite unique. I do not know of many places in the world that offer that. I guess you can also easily find this type of place in countries along the Mediterranean coasts.

Most weekends when I'm free, I go for a long bike ride, often ending up trekking in the mountains with my bike on my shoulder or on a beach at the end of a winding path. I enjoy working in a big city surrounded by nature, without the worry of owning a house, a car, or anything else. That's life! That's freedom to me!

That's my way of thinking now, and maybe it will change over the years. However, when I see the rise in violence, crime, theft, and robbery in most countries around the world in recent years, I'm glad I don't own anything and live as simply as possible. It gives me mental freedom and choice without the stress, anxiety, and hassles that come with ownership.

Where to listen to it?

"FREEDOM" by @domelgabor is available on various music platforms:

YouTube: Listen here

Spotify: Listen here

Tidal: Listen here

Apple Music: Listen here

Amazon Music: Listen Here

And soon on most music platforms.

Your Support Means Everything

I hope you'll enjoy this song as much as I enjoyed creating it.

Thank you for your continued support and for listening to my music! It means the world to me!

Peace! And Freedom!

Dom

@domelgabor #domelgabor @domelgabor_music #domelgabor_music #freedom #neosoul #R&B #randb #softrap #mellowhiphop #groove #newsong #newrelease #music #song #track #lifeadvice #life #lifeexperience

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