Priest, CutDro,Konshens the MC, Ro-Mizzy, Uptown XO, Aleem Bilal

Details

Parent Category: Onstage

Details

Parent Category: Onstage

1. So let’s get the most obvious question out of the way first; you’re from Australia and now recording and performing in Atlanta. Other than the fact that she raps while you are a singer, is that where any comparisons between you and Iggy Azalea end, or are you two otherwise acquainted?

Yeh i guess… well we're both blonde too, and work our asses off so I'm sure there are some similarities but musically I dunno. I mean we're both pop I guess. I'm kinda into her. I rock her cd from time to time. Gotta support the Aussies!!

2. You’re signed with Defient Entertainment. Was that a goal, and why do you think it happened for you?

I actually left that situation. No big deal, just wasn't the right fit. I'm still affiliated and work with my friends from the team. It was weird how I got in with them. I went to one of Tip’s artists at the time listening party, Spodee was the artist and weirdly Tip came up to me, I think thinking I was someone else, but it caused enough attention that a lot of people came up to me and gave me their card and eventually I met with Will, one of the A&R for Defient and it went from there. Literally a bit of a fluke but my song Running On Concrete got me in the building I guess long story short.

3. How has being in the States, particularly in Atlanta, helped your career as an artist? What have you experienced or learned that would not have been available to you somewhere else?

It’s definitely broadened my range. I always wanted to write hooks for hip hop ever since Dido was on the hook for Eminem’s song Stan. It just really appealed to me. So I got to finally do that in a bigger capacity and work with a lot of amazing Atlanta talent. And from that it’s widened my network. I get to work with some crazy good producers. It’s just a bigger network than Australia.

4. Tell us about musical influences both in and out of your genre. Whose style have you studied and what have you taken from those studies and applied to your way of performing?

Mannnnnnn lol I have so many influences. Like my friend Visto is an influence now! I grew up on the Beatles, Etta James, Frank Sinatra and Billie Holiday. Roy Orbison is like my favourite male vocalist, but I guess more recent influences are Portishead, Kanye (for breaking boundaries always) Sia. I mean all music influences you I feel to some degree. I’ve never sat down and studied someone I don't think. Not consciously. But I always read these interviews back after answering these type of questions annoyed that I've forgotten someone amazing.

Details

Parent Category: Onstage

Details

Parent Category: Onstage

1. You just hit Soundcloud with a track, “that I HATE YOU love” that’s getting a lot of attention and replays. It’s one of the most creative things we’ve heard lately because it’s not the normal “I’m a baller/killer/flashy” lyrics folks are putting out. It’s actually a real slice of life. What’s the inspiration behind it?

Well honestly I went back to a couple of my past relationships, and basically did some self-reflecting with that track, its many times where we as people like to play the blame game on why something didn’t work, but I just wanted to showcase my insecurities and the bullshit I was putting these women through, and basically how the tables can be turned on you as well. It’s not solely based on one situation, but it was an accumulation of different things.

2. You’re a multi-talented creative. In addition to the project you’re about to drop we’ve also noticed your work behind the camera. Which came first, and did one lead to the other? 

Well I always rapped, since I say 5^th grade, but didn’t get serious about it up until 12^th grade, however shooting videos, and branching off was something I did as a hobby once I got in college. I’ve always been pretty good at anything I put my mind to, but it was something about making my ideas come to life with some type of visualization that always connected with me, so I figured hey let me get good at this as well.

3. Talk about the music scene in the DC area; is this the right place to be for an emerging artist? Is the ecosystem supportive enough? Collaborative enough?

I think its pretty good on an artist level as far as like my peers and shit like that, I don’t necessarily believe that we are keeping each other down honestly. Yeah a lot of times people say we practice the crab in the bucket mentality, but honestly that’s EVERYWHERE, however I think some of the people in charge in this area, some of the gatekeepers, aren’t doing their job, they dictate nothing that comes from this area honestly, artists are having to move to completely different regions in order to get on, and I think that’s a problem.