N: So this design that I got on my shirt was designed by my boy Colin Mitchell. The place that we’re performing at is actually their home, so they're allowing us to perform, it's kinda like a house party and shit. That's kinda dope. He had more of an understanding of what I was saying when I was telling him the information about the songs I sent him- about what Free Lunch meant for me...he basically just came to the table with both of our ideas and made it one...some of it is, of course, just me representing myself, like the little dragon tail all the way around and the food on the outside and the even the bagel in the middle, a lot of this stuff gets a little deeper and Colin can definitely elaborate a little more...
CW: Well I can't wait to hear the new music. Thank you for speaking with me.
N: I Appreciate you, we’re about to have a great ass night!
A good 20 minutes before the show kicked off with it’s first performer, I ran into one of the opening artist’s, Clayton, and got a few words from him as well.
CW: First off, I'm glad to see you tonight..!
C: I'm glad to see you too.
CW: I was actually looking at the flyer and was like “oh Clayton’s on the flyer! that's an interesting mix.” So what I wanted to ask first is how familiar are you with Nile seeing that you are a part of his show tonight?
C: Yea, Nile’s the homie. I've actually known him for almost a couple years. We actually had a session way back and then it's been us checking in with each other, sharing each others shit on socials and stuff like that, and every time I've seen him it's just been that good energy- just showing respect for each other as musicians and hanging out whenever we bump into each other.
CW: Me personally being a fairly new fan of you, I've rarely seen you perform still, I haven't been to a lot of your shows. How often do you say ‘I'm a fan of this person. I wanna be opening for them or a part of their rollout..’ What does it take for you to do that?
C: Its just like, if im fucking with their music and them as a person, most importantly, and those things line up its whatever. You need support from me- you’ve been sharing my stuff, fucking with me; its just a recipricating thing, its easy for me at that point. He's a good dude and he makes good music. It's really easy after that.
CW: That's a good point..Being a singer, what is your relationship with hip hop and rap as far as collaborating, or how often do you listen to it? Would you like to collaborate more with rap artists..?
C: Yea, I would love to collaborate more with artists, rap artists specifically. I love rap music. I listen to it as much as I listen to R&B. I have some faster paced songs where I get into rapping a little bit; I wouldn't call myself a rapper but I love the energy of it. I like switching it up at times, so doing it, listening to it, being involved with it- its a super dope change up for me.
CW: I think that's really cool, that element of rap and singing... Nowadays, you can tell ‘oh this person just sent in that verse or they asked this person last minute.’ That connection feels lost..As far as that process goes for making music, what do you feel makes your music flow the way it does and how do you feel that a collaboration with an artist would go for you, while keeping the integrity of that flow?
C: It's just everything, the way that you feel- when I make music, when I hear the beat or i'm making the beat and the first thing that comes out of my head- I might rap a little bit, slower, I'll sing; I always find a way to get into the rhythm of what I got presented to me, especially if a rapper sends me a beat that they wanted me to work on.. like if I hear the hook and I got room some room where I can sing a little bit- I like those collaborations…
CW: Yes it's like a push and pull, there's gotta be magic between the two. I love that..Now, you said that you and Nile had a relationship that goes way back- what does it mean for you to see his growth and elevation as a peer artist, or just someone that you grew up with musically, if you want to call it that?
C: For sure. Seeing him and meeting him a couple years ago, he was definitely good and I knew that he would only get better. you can see that in people sometimes and that’s why it makes it easier to mess with someone that’s really nice, and on top of that, you're growing, I can learn from you, you can learn from me, it's a mutual relationship, so seeing that and hearing his latest music nowadays i'm like, “yea this makes sense. I would expect this from someone like him,” just based on the energy that I got from him all these years... It's cool to see. I'm excited to listen to the rest of the project..
CW: Same for me! Thank you so much for talking with me and I can't wait to see your set.
/Naomi-Re’a for CW
