Describe your sound in 3 words
bow/viral/movie
Tell us a few things about your new work “A Mixtape From Me4u”.
the album is really just a product of quarantine and the winter. i hadn’t written any songs in a few years, but a snowy winter plus lockdown gave me the time to mess around again. i’ve always made music as a hobby since high school, but never had things click creatively like they did this time. most of the album was produced in a week in mid february where i didn’t sleep since i was just in the fucking zone. i knew I had some great songs, but i’m not a great singer, so recording finished towards the end of may as i re-trained my voice to deliver better performances and lear how to stack harmonies. over that time period, it morphed into a whole conceptual art project with the visuals.
Which song of the Mixtape is your favorite?
“romcom” is my personal fave since it’s just fuckin weird with the Abba backing vocals and big arps, but “mr lovesick” will always be special for me, since that was the one that really unlocked the entire mindset for the album during that crazy week in february.
Artists and people who have influenced and inspired you?
Kanye has a huge influence on this record clearly, but I think my biggest inspirations as a songwriter are The-Dream and Taylor Swift. Daft Punk’s “Discovery” shaped the sonic texture of the album. Blackpink played a huge role in my approach to production and song structure and also visually with the videos i’ve made to accompany the record. DJ Lucas and Arthur Jafa were also huge influences for the visuals as well.
What would you change in the music industry?
my one hope for artists both big and small is that everyone takes their time on their projects. with streaming and tiktok, i feel like a lot of people feel pressure to make music specifically to fit into a Spotify playlist or for someone to make a dance on tiktok. if that’s what u wanna make, go fo it but make sure that’s actually what u wanna do. make your art for u, not for anyone’s attention or approval. take risks!
What was the best film you have watched during the quarantine?
sound of metal. a really important film for any musician or just creative person in general. shoutout to my old colleagues who worked on that.
What would you be doing right now, if it wasn’t for your music career?
i’m a video editor primarily for commercials and that will continue to be my main source of income. this album is purely a labor of love. i don’t ever expect to live off of music since inspiration comes and goes. the biggest lie musicians and creative people in general tell ourselves is that we ought to make a living pursuing our passion. unfortunately capitalism makes that near impossible and art suffers, which is why we have problems like i mentioned before with music being tailored to playlists. i’ve been fortunate to make a good career editing and with that bedrock i’ve been able to make this project without having to worry whether or not it’s going to make money. i enjoy editing, but it doesn’t always fulfill me creatively and that’s ok, it pays the bills! i don’t think I would’ve been able to create as freely as i did with this album when i was younger with a different attitude towards the relationship between money and art. i doubt that’ll i’ll make the money back on the album that I put into it, but it doesn’t matter. i was inspired, made it and thought it was good enough that i felt i had to share it with the world. if inspiration strikes again in the future musically, i’ll do it again.
Thank you!
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HipHop Paranoia 