The Music Issue

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THE MUSIC ISSUE

EMERGING ARTISTS ABRA BILLIE EILISH PELL G4SHI RAVYN LENAE RAY BLK KADHJA BONET DECLAN MCKENNA SAM PA THE GREAT GRACEN HILL XAVIER OMAR SIR THE BAPTIST

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THE MUSIC ISSUE

MAY 2017

PHOTOGRAPHY

EMERGING ARTISTS

ALEX KNIGHT

JIMMY FONTAINE

ABRA

ABIGAIL KEENAN

DENNIS DESIGNS

BILLIE EILISH

JOSEPH YOUNG

CLEM ONOJEGHUO

NICK KARVOUNIS

LARS ROY

WILLIAM RECINOS

EUGENE TRIGUBA

RAVYN LENAE

JOAO SILAS

PETER NGUYEN

KADHJA BONET

WILLIAM WHITE

MIKE FOX

JOHN HULT

ROMAN KRAFT

VINCENTU SOLOMON

SEBASTIAN PILCHER

MICHAEL BAIRD

LANCE ASPER

GURISMAN SINGH

KARI SHEA

JESSE ORRICO

DANNY BLANCO

ALLEF VINICUS

REED ANGELO

ATIKH BANA

MATTHEW HENRY

ALEXANDRE CHAMBON

THOMAS HABR

TIKO GIORGADZE

HANNAH SIDER

TANGGUH ALEXANDER

DARIUS SANKOWSKI

KARL FREDICKERSON

JOHNNY FAN

PELL RAY BLK G4SHI

DECLAN MCKENNA SAMPA THE GREAT GRACEN HILL XAVIER OMAR SIR THE BAPTIST PUBLISHER MIKE FOX COPY EDITORS SAMANTHA HUGAR GRAPHIC DESIGN MERCEDES LOZANO ALEXANDRA VASQUEZ

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contents

E M E RG I N G A RT I STS p. 10

RAVYN LENAE

DECLAN MCKENNA

KADHJA BONET

BILLIE EILISH

G4SHI

PELL

RAY BLK

SIR THE BAPTIST

ABRA

GRACEN HILL

XAVIER OMAR

SAMPA THE GREAT

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GRACEN HILL

I N S P I R AT I O N C O R N E R XAVIER OMAR

RAVYN LENAE

T H E

R I S E

EMERGING ARTISTS

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Kadhja Bonet Kadhja Bonet delivers a funky new sound as both as a fine soul singer and gifted musician.

Her debut album, The Visitor offers a twisting mix of psychedelia and soul. The album has an experimental jazz and soul songwriting tradition.

Her lead song “Honeycomb� has close to 200,000 streams on Soundcloud and the album is selling on her website as both a CD and vinyl.

On the album, Kadhja invites us into a world not wholly our own, where past and future meet.

With a retro-fitted sound, two respected labels from different genres, Fat Possum and Fresh Selects have joined forces to bring us new music with Kadhja Bonet.

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G4shi The streets from New York will always bring new and fresh music from talented rappers. Born in Africa, bred in Brooklyn by parents of Albanian descent, G4SHI (pronounced “Ga-Shee�), is a rare breed of artist that incorporates rapping and singing into a style that not only includes New York culture but also musical elements from around the world.

Having just wrapped up his first US tour in 2016, G4SHI performed alongside DJ Snake during his closing set at the Ultra Music Festival in Miami in March 2017. Armed with no label backing, his most recent release, Disrespectful was streamed over two million times in the two weeks directly following its release. The only way now is up for the talented young artist.

Ray BLK Ray BLK is an artist who stands for three main values: Building Living Knowing. Ray’s first experiences of music came at a very early age, dancing to Missy Elliott and Timbaland on MTV Bass at the age of seven. Her debut EP Havisham was released in 2015, telling the story of a heartbroken girl turning against men. Releasing her music on her own label, Ray retains the rights to her music while avoiding signing a record deal.

Delivering the brash honesty of rap music, with her unique blend of soul and R&B spirit, Ray BLK weaves between genre boundaries borrowing the elements she requires to reach her goals. Her 2016 mini-album Durt featured collaborations from

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Stormzy, Wretch 32, and SG Lewis.

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Billie Eilish Billie Eilish’s unique style of music how a voice full of emotion and power reaching beyond her years.

Raised in Los Angeles, her parents were actors and musicians which forced her to grew up surrounded by art. When Billie was 8 years old, she began singing in the Los Angeles Children’s Chorus. By 14 years old she had released original material, produced, and co-written with her older brother, Finneas O’Connell.

Listening to music undefined by genre, she finds inspiration in indie-pop artists like Aurora, Lana Del Rey, Tyler the Creator, and Earl Sweatshirt.

Mostly recently, she released a track, Bellyache, along with a video shot in the Mohave Desert, art directed and choreographed by Billie herself.

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Pel l Born and raised in New Orleans, Pell moved to Jackson, Mississippi after Hurricane Katrina destroyed the family home. His music has been praised for his fusion of precise lyricism and soulful singing, creating an original sound.

Pell finds music as an emotional outlet and a way to make new friends in new cities. Pursuing his love of music through high school, college, and while working day jobs, his first track on his debut album paid homage to his first job at the local Dollar Store. Pell’s first album, Floating While Dreaming, gained more than 20 million streams on Spotify and 8 million on SoundCloud.

Abra Abra is a singer and songwriter born in New York, but raised in London for the first eight years of her life. She specializes mostly in slow R&B. Abra also goes by the title Darkwave Duchess, a self-proclaimed nickname she created when first signing with Awful Records. She moved near Atlanta at a young age and discovered the record label. It was in Atlanta where she partnered Awful Records and got her career started.

Abra is confident, imposing, and likes to take a strong stance from the beginning. Her debut album, BLQ Velvet soared in listens. It was then followed up by the album Rose with one of her better known songs, Fruit. Her slow R&B is becoming known as more soothing and rhythmic than contemporary R&B artists today. Abra is currently working on her

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next album, Princess.

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Declan McKenna Declan McKenna is a British singer, songwriter, and musician best known for his hit single “Brazil”, a catchy and thoughtful song about the destructive effects of the 2014 FIFA World Cup’s presence on Brazil. It’s a song that will draw you in and realize there’s a lot that goes on behind the scenes.

At the age of 15, McKenna won the Glastonbury Festival’s Emerging Talent Competition. More than 40 record companies tried to sign him, but he ended up going with Columbia Records. Now Declan is 18 and not only writing about what he knows but what he feels, which can be complicated being so young.

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Sampa The Great Born in Zambia and raised in Botswana, Sampa the Great found a love for hip-hop at an early age.

At age 9 she decided to dig deep into this new found love hip-hop. It began when she walked into her cousin’s room to call him for dinner, 2pac’s Changes was playing. Listening to the lyrics and harmonies, she fell in love. She began carrying a notepad with her as she travelled and studied, her upbringing and life experience inform her lyrics. These lyrics cover political and societal imbalances in a meaningful way, tackling heavy themes with a light touch.

Sampa Tembo comes from a big family of dancers, performers and DJs. With creative genetics clearly on her side, it should come as no surprise that the singer/rapper/songwriter more

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than lives up to her name.

Sir The Baptist Sir the Baptist, is proving himself to be a chaplain of the modern rap culture. He’s an internationally known artist signed to Atlantic Records, BET award nominated and acknowledged by Forbes, Jay Z, Billboard, CNN, Late Night with Seth Meyers, People Magazine, BBC Radio 1, NPR, The Grammys and many others for his trailblazing cause of “Healing Hip Hop.” Sir isn’t just a recording artist, he’s also the author of The Travelogue of a Visionary and is frequently called upon for his opinion on current events by major national and international news outlets. In his tireless advocacy for humanity, his urban church and charitable organization have brought awareness, funding and care to countless foundations and over 100,000 music festival goers in the summer of 2016 alone at festivals such as Lollapolooza, Made in America and more. Sir was also honored by the Mayor of Chicago for his contribution to HIV/AIDS awareness. After over 3 million plays, 2 major films and 1 album, Sir the Baptist is well aware that there’s so much more

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work to be done.

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Inspir Corn

ration ner Discover your artists favorite artists.

Inspiration Corner was created to gain insight on who or what inspires some of the worlds emerging artists.

Through this, we will be able to connect sound with passion, love, and mutual respect.

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Gracen Hill, singer and songwriter based in Nashville, Tennessee takes melody and fuses it with

raw

emotion.

The

artist

has

been

through a rollercoaster of experiences and emotions

but

continues to strive towards

greatness in the heart of Music City.

Her debut EP Gray, delivers an infectious blend of motown groove and pop sensibility. The first single Comatose from the EP is lyrically clever while being almost annoyingly relatable. Find the new EP available on Spotify, Apple Music, etc...May 19th, 2017.

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Gracen Hill

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G R AC E N H I L L

Nashville, Tennessee is home to countless musicians, but only a few are born and raised in Music City. Gracen Hill is one of the few and making her impact known. This interview goes in depth about her journey with music as well as interesting facts and inspirations.

What is the best part about being a musician?

Being able to tell my story to people and bring light to situations people may have experienced. My music is from real experiences and I want people to be able to take from that and be like “I get it” and feel that personal touch.

How much has your style changed when you first started doing music?

Soooooo much. I started off doing pop kinda stuff after listening to a few inspirations, then developed a love for soul fused with pop. That’s where my sound is at now.

What would people be surprised to learn about you?

I was a rugby player for 4 years!

What’s your best advice for aspiring musicians?

Keep working. Keep going. Keep persevering. Whatever you’re working on, do more. Also, understanding how far you’ve come and appreciating the people that helped you get there.

Be humble.

“The meaning of life

is to find your gift.

The purpose of life is to give it away.”

- Pablo Picasso

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In just a matter of years, Xavier Omär, who was once known as SPZRKT, has taken his rare breed of R&B talents from San Antonio to the internet to hundreds of thousands of fans who learn about his undeniable artistry with when he steps foot on a stage.

Today, Omär has caught major attention around the world with his sound that in any given moment flips rhythm and blues on its head.

His music also combines upbeat tempo with elements of pop and jazz and breathes new life into an ever-evolving genre.

X AV I A R O M A R

Omär speaks on his musically-inclined upbringing, the honesty and respect for women he’s bringing back to R&B, coming into his own as an artist, favorite inspirations and more.

What brought you into music?

My family actually sparked my interest in music – everyone is really, really talented. My dad and my brother, they both played bass guitar and piano was their main thing. They both produce.

They both write. And they also play drums. My sister is this mega soprano. Matter fact, she’s on tour with one of the top gospel artists right now. And my mom, she did opera in college, like full out opera. When my brother was in high school he had a threeman group, and he was producing. I just wanted to be like my brother. I decided to go just for it. Back then I was a rapper and did production for a little bit. I didn’t really focus in on singing until I was 21. But being in that family, there’s just no way you weren’t going to be musically talented. So I really took it upon myself to not be the oddball, the non-great musical person in the family.

How much has your style changed since you first started doing music?

It’s always rooted in R&B. That’s always going to be the foundation. But you’re going to hear elements of almost anything after that from gospel to pop to soul. In the past, you may even hear elements of country here and there. You’ll hear elements of rock because of the powerful vocals. But R&B is always the root. I actually try not to push outside of what that genre allows, too. That genre to me, is one of the most expansive genres. Erykah Badu, her early beginnings, you could say that was soul or neo soul, but in a lot of ways, that was R&B too. You can also fast forward now to Beyoncé and all of what she’s doing, and that’s still R&B. Even Frank Ocean is doing R&B, and those are all completely different sounds, but it still works within the constructs of the genre. So I try to touch a lot of those areas. I

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think that’s just the best way to really describe it.

Staying where you are is a form of quitting.

”

Xaviar Omar

“

What was the hardest part about getting where you are now?

I didn’t have anything when I started. My intention when I first made music was to just put it out in places and hope somebody would recognize and know it was me. That was my sole intention for my first project. There were a couple of people who hit me up from that project, and the people that they knew started helping me. It just snowballed into where I am right now. The whole Soulection thing happened because Sango found my music online. On my second project, he found a song he really liked and just wanted to do one song with me. I had no idea who he was when he found me. From the song, he was like let’s do a project out of nowhere, and here we are now talking about it all. So I really just took a big risk and said I’m going to go online and put my music out and hope somebody finds it. The people that found me have really helped me to get this far.

Who do you vibe with in the studio?

Shoutout to Amir Abbassy; he made that connect to give me an opportunity earlier this year to work with Hit Boy and do all this cool stuff with him. From there they started putting me on shows. The first one was actually with Sango and from there it’s been with D.R.A.M., Noname, Basecamp, just all these people. Overall, it really affirmed where I am and what I’m doing.

What’s your best advice for aspiring musicians?

The only reason many of us claim to be a savage or have no feelings is because we’re really just scared to get hurt, so

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we act and play but we’re never fulfilled because we won’t be honest with ourselves. Be honest.

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Born and raised on Chicago’s often turbulent south side, Lenae is part of “Zero Fatigue,” a local music collective that boasts artists like Smino and Jean Deaux, as well as producer, Monte Booker. At 17 years old, the classically trained singer/songwriter is taking the music world by storm with her inimitable style, which seamlessly melds elements of R&B, Electronic, Soul and Hip-Hop.

By August of 2015, Lenae soft released her highly acclaimed debut EP, Moon Shoes, which premiered on Fake Shore Drive and My Mixtapes and has well over two million plays on SoundCloud. To date, Lenae has performed all over the country, including headlining appearances at Chicago’s African Fest and at House of Blues Chicago. Given her remarkable ability to blend genres, it’s no surprise that Lenae has been influenced by a wide variety of artists, from Stereolab and Outkast to Bob Marley and Ella Fitzgerald. Some of her favorites like Erykah Badu and NAS are now reaching out as dedicated fans of Lenae.

“The minute you feel like you don’t owe your supporters anything is w hen you’ve lost it.”

Ravyn Lenae

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R AV Y N L E N A E

Given Ravyn Lenae’s remarkable ability to

How much has your musical style changed?

blend genres, she has been influenced by a

It has changed dramatically. We grow so much as a person

wide variety of artists, from Stereolab and

within the course of a month or a year, it’s fun to look back

Outkast to Bob Marley and Ella Fitzgerald. This

and have documented those changes/experiences. Seeing

interview touches on her interesting journey and

the growth or hearing the growth is just an amazing thing.

advice to aspiring musicians.

A part of being a singer, you get to hear the growth and the development of your sound. I think I’ve grown a lot since

Has music always been your plan?

my last project and I’m ready to see what’s next.

From a very early age I knew I was artistically inclined, I just never knew what realm I’d be in.

Name a few artists you’d love to do a song with and why?

That ended up making me dabbling in guitar

The number one person who popped in my head is Jai Paul,

lessons, piano lessons, and lead to me eventually

he’s an electronic soul artist, really underground but he’s

seeing a vocalist. It took me a while to get some

super innovative with his style. No other music sounds like

money invested to figure out exactly what my

his music, so that’s my number.

passion was. Once I figured out it was music, I can’t see my life without it.

Andre of course, because he’s innovative, everyone knows that. He’s weird, he corky, he’s a genius. As well as Pharrell,

The Fox Magazine is all about inspiration, who/ what inspires you the most?

As far as other musicians, inspired by Outkast from a very young age. My dad used to drive around the city playing Outkast all day. It got me hooked.

Outside of musicians, I’m mostly inspired by people I’m surrounded by, specific events, experiences, colors, and emotions.

who’s a genius as well. I just want to pick their brain and figure out what goes on in their head.

What’s the best part of being a musician?

Seeing the reaction of people who love your music. I’m always going to connect with my music because it’s a part of me, but when other people translate it in their own way and feel it deeply as I felt it when I wrote the song, it’s just amazing. It doesn’t compare to anything else in the world. It reminds me of why I do it.

After shows, I always stick around to hug people and talk to people. That’s my favorite part about being an artist, you get to see these faces rather than just actually online it speaks volumes. Actually seeing them in person and that real connection, I love that aspect of it. Nobody really gets enough appreciation for their job. When someone goes to a grocery store, nobody is thanking them while they are getting checked out. It’s showing appreciation no matter who the person is.

What’s your best advice to aspiring musicians?

Take that first step. Starting to release music or putting yourself out there is the hardest thing in the world, but once you do it you can organically build. It may require spending a paycheck on studio

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time. Don’t be afraid to do it. Believe in yourself and everything else will unfold.

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