Special Features Ausar on New Album and Grammy’s Validation

David Pierce CNW Staff Writer

In an industry that promotes killing Black folks, drug dealing, and self-hate, here stands Ausar. He is an Eastside Native who provides bars and tunes that are self-aware and empowering and chivalrous. In songs like “Honey” from his project “Flight of the Honey Bee”, he explains achieving purpose in life is similar to a relationship with a significant other. It must be intentional and nurtured.

In the song, He writes: “We not competing for no spotlight here. In my eyes you the center of attention. I’m fixated.

Stuck and asphyxiated. You breathtaking to me”

Ausar digs deeper to share intentions of his actions to take care of those who are supporting him on the track, “Love is”, featuring Biari.

On the song he can be heard saying: I believe the family come first Don’t think I ever minded getting hurt I would give all that I have to make sure We all on one accord That you secure.

Ausar has been working for a long time and gained a lot of experience along the way. He competed on NetFlix’s “Rhythm & Flow” with Chance the Rapper as a Judge. His song “Home” has been featured on season 4 of Showtime’s “The Chi”. And he said it wouldn’t have been possible without his mentor and music legend, Wyclef Jean. “He’s like an uncle,” says Ausar. “Very cool, down to earth, and likes to have fun.”

Just like he puts his brains into his bars, the suave musician used his same intelligence to earn his Community Health degree back in 2019 at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC). He understands graduating from college is not a common path for artists, but that was when he decided he wanted to pursue music. He described UIUC as a training ground. “I got around a group of people through an organization called “W.O.R.D.” (Writes. Organizing. Realistic. Dialect.) They put the battery in my back,” he explained. “I was about to ‘cut my teeth’ and understand what performance looks like”

Going to college was a decision influenced by his mother along with not cursing in his music. “I was born and raised in a very traditionally Christian household, so I was taught not to,” he said, “I can get my point across without having to” Now, Ausar is preparing to reveal how more of his life experiences and trauma have molded him into who he is today with his new album, “I.N.K.”, which stands for “I Now Know”

“Dealing with issues that I’ve had and how I deal with them today,” he shared. “Who’s the person I’m developing into now through this journey?” Ausar is a member of the Recording Academy that presents the Grammys and understands why artists find it so important to win. “Grammys are the biggest...Everybody wants to be acknowledged in a certain way,” Ausar said.

In past decades, the Grammys have upset music lovers in categories such as Hip-Hop and R&B, where winners were chosen. But fans were distraught by who was chosen. An example of this is the 2014 Grammys where white rapper, Macklemore, won best rap album for “The Heist” over Ken- drick Lamar’s “good kid, m.A.A.d city” (GKMC)

Other nominees on the list included Drake (“Nothing Was the Same”) Jay-Z (Magna Carta…Holy Grail) and Kanye West (Yeezus). Ausar said the Grammy’s lacked “Cultural competence”, whereas the Academy may have looked more into the vanity of Macklemore’s album rather than what it’s done for the Hip-Hop culture. “Macklemore was killing the charts at the time,” Ausar said. “When you look back at the cultural impact of all those albums…it looks crazy for The Heist to have won out of all those albums”

Despite it not receiving a Grammy, GKMC later became one the longest-running albums Billboard Hot 200 chart. While Black artists can still win awards from Black-focused organizations such as BET Awards and the Soul Train Awards, Ausar said there’s a different feeling behind winning a Grammy with it being the biggest award show. So not winning one can be upsetting.

“When you put your time, effort and your heart [behind a project] …that can actually hurt,” Ausar said. He has plans on winning a Grammy someday, but his overall mission is to inspire people. “My overall goal is to change lives,” He said. “I just want to make the world a better place.”