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THE FOX MAGAZINE DREAM BIGGER WITH US.

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

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

p. 34

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

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 â€œHoneycombâ€? 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.

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.

Gracen Hill

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

In just a matter of years, Xavier OmĂ¤r, 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, OmĂ¤r 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

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

Staying where you are is a form of quitting.

”

Xaviar Omar

“

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

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