Where are you currently based? Brisbane.
How did you first start playing music? I’ve had a passion for hiphop/rap music from a very young age. I grew up playing the guitar until the age of 13 before becoming interested in hip hop dancing. Throughout my childhood and adolescent years I’ve had a huge interest in hip hop culture and would listen and dance to hiphop/rap music. In 2021 I took the initiative to start making music. I’ve always had confidence that I could rap and make music, therefore in October 2021 I recorded my first 3 singles under the title, Humble Beginnings.
What’s been happening recently? This year I’ve been busy recording my debut EP. I contacted Gene Castillo who is a sound engineer and producer at Six Degree Studios located in Tarragindi, Brisbane. I found Gene through mutual contacts on Instagram and reached out to him in December 2021 to record my first initial track for the EP. From mid January 2022 until the end of March I was in the studio recording and finialsing the tracks for the EP.
Your debut EP ‘Truth Be Told’ is coming out very soon, what influenced the sound and songwriting? When I write music or come up with concepts I try to relate it with experiences I’ve encountered in my life. Truth Be Told is an EP where I get to express my feelings and thoughts towards certain themes such as love, friendship, family, and so on. Since I’m making a debut into the music scene in Australia, I’m still in the process of finding my sound in making rap music. My EP features producers from different parts of the world which provides me with an opportunity to explore different sounds in urban music.
How did you go about writing Truth Be Told? Truth Be Told was written in collaboration with lyricist/songwriter Nathaniel Hamilton from Canada. I’ve been working with Nate since my first release and really love the way he writes bars. I provide Nate with a concept for a track and together we collaborate in writing lyrics. The style of rap that I admire the most are tracks made by J.cole, Kendrick Lamar and Wale. Since working with Nate, I’ve been working towards finessing my flow in rapping and writing bars.
What does this EP mean to you? This EP is a huge deal for me. It has allowed me to work with close friends and professionals to create tracks that represent me as an artist. This EP is an opportunity to showcase my skills in making music and introducing myself to the music scene in Australia.
Where and when did you record/produce/master and who did you work with? I recorded my EP at Six Degree Studios with Gene Castillo who is a member of Rush Hour Studio. Gene mixed and mastered my tracks. I worked with producers Ramoon, Fewtile, Dillygotitbumpin and JustDan.
How did you approach the recording process? Once I finished writing my lyrics I would source beats that I like and then worked on my flow. This process would take a few try’s until I got to a point I was happy with. Before I went into recording I made sure I had practiced my flow for each track and the approach I wanted to take. After my recordings were done, Gene and I would go through a reviewing session where I would share my ideas for the mixing process.
What do you have planned for Truth Be Told? My plans for this EP is to get my tracks over a few thousand streams on spotify and apple music. I hope that my music reaches a broader audience and that people enjoy the tracks I’ve produced. Ideally it would be awesome to be signed to a label so I can continue making music that people enjoy.
How does it feel to release your debut EP? It has been a really cool experience thus far making music. To be able to release this EP with the help of close friends has been fun. I’ve learnt a lot and I cannot wait to hear what people think.
Who are you listening to at the moment? At the moment I’ve been listening to Burna Boy’s new album Love, Damini. I’ve gotten to love all sorts of music genres besides hip hop and rap. My recent favourites have been afrobeat and dancehall.
What do you like to do away from music? When I’m not making music I’m either designing or playing basketball. Currently I’m doing my Masters in Secondary Teaching as I’m working towards becoming a teacher.
What’s planned for the remainder of 2022? For the remainder of 2022 I have a music video planned for my track Immigrants. I’ll be working with my close friend Devina who is a filmmaker and producer.