While other rappers are getting ready for summer16’s playful pop style, Ivy Sole alternatively gives listeners a soundtrack fit for spiritual spring cleaning; something motivational for anyone grinding away, focusing on work, or channeling positive energy towards the next big dream. As the young Taurus celebrates her 23rd birthday and gears up for a new chapter in her life, we were able to catch up for a short but telling interview about Ivy Sole’s new music and future plans!RESPECT: I’ve read some press on Eden that calls it an EP and some that call it an album. What is the truth? What is your official discography so far?

IVY: The truth is it’s the first real project I’ve dropped in my life and if it sounds like an album, it’s because I treated it that way. My official discography starts with Eden.

The last time we spoke, you had just dropped a mixtape, Exquisite Corpse, and you were a part of an arts collective called Third Eye Optiks. Plus, you are currently in two bands, Liberal Arts and IndiGold . What’s the artistic difference between the music you make on our own, and the music you make with your bands- and what’s the status of Liberal Arts right now?

I’m no longer affiliated with Third Eye Optiks, it’s a now defunct collective, although many of us are still pursuing music. As you’ll see on Eden, I’m still collaborating with many of the LA homeys, but as for making projects as a group, I don’t know if that’s in the cards. Indigold came out of this summer, it was supposed to be a side project and turned into a really amazing experience with a really well-received EP. Indigold is the way I make the music that doesn’t fit neatly within the hip hop/soul and allows me to have the collaborative outlet that I love about being in a group/collective.You’re a North Carolina native, educated at UPenn, and residing in Philly now. When you think of your home, what immediately comes to mind?

At first, I’d say my mother & sister, the people who make home what it is. Then, I’d say just the feeling that you get when you’ve been away and you get to return to something or someone. That feeling, to me, is home.

What did you want to be when you were a kid?

I wanted to be a doctor, mostly because of how lucrative it could be, but I hated physics and lost interest.

You have new footage up of the Eden Release Party. How was that experience for you, and why did you pick Mir Fontane and Sammus as your openers?

The release party was amazing, about 100 of my closest friends & supporters to celebrate the completion of Eden. It was a goal that I’d always had and it felt great to be able to fill a room and really just vibe out. It had a great turnout and people came from out of town to come support, including my mom. The openers were chosen based on preexisting relationships. Mir is a great, talented guy from the southside of Jersey & we met through performing in Philly. Sammus is a fellow femcee and Ivy League grad who’s making some dope moves, and we got connected via her manager.

All Mine has a great King Krule sample from Out Getting Ribs. Are you a big King Krule fan or was that just the producer’s choice? What your favorite King Krule song.

I’m a huge King Krule fan, especially the multiple mediums that accompany his new album A New Place 2 Drown.

You said on The Vow that you daydream about doing shows in different cities. What’s a city you’ve never been to where it would be a dream come true to perform?  

I honestly can’t pick one, but I’m really excited at the prospect of performing abroad. I’ve heard that Europe is really good to hip hop artists.You’ve explained before that your spiritual beliefs align more with eastern religion than western religion. Yet, the title Eden obviously references the Bible and Christianity. Plus, on You Don’t Know My Name you end the instrumental with a sample from Genesis 3:18. Can you talk about the spiritual undertones of the album in terms of your personal faith and how it relates to the album’s theme? 

I think the answer to that is three-fold. In one respect, Eden is the beginning of a journey for me–musically, creatively, and professionally. Also, the song that follows that sound clip is a retelling of the story of the garden of Eden, so creatively it helps move the project from one topic to the next. And lastly, I think my music will consistently be a meditation on religion & spirituality. On Master Plan, I ask the question, “Is it the master plan or the master’s plan?” and one of the meanings of that line is the uncertainty of knowing whether what you’re doing is just the actions or if it’s a part of some higher being’s plan for your life. I haven’t decided which one I believe just yet lol.

You Don’t Know My Name speaks to your first experience with puppy love, and it’s really cute. How old were you when you had your first crush that you rap about on the song?

YDKMN is actually written from the perspective of a man reflecting on the relationships he’s in or has pursued in the past. The first verse is the present, the second is college, and the third is like middle school.

Love is a reoccurring theme throughout the entire album and you tackle it again and again with songs like Enough, and Lost Without You. Do you believe in soulmates, like there’s one true love for every person? 

I don’t believe in soulmates in the traditional sense. I think that in life we find people who match our energy at a specific frequency and whether or not these friendships or relationships last isn’t indicative of a lack of something.

What does Black Sensuality mean to you?

Black sensuality in artistic forms is one of my favorite things in the world. I think reclaiming Black sexuality and the ways its been portrayed as improper or hypersexual and making it more intimate and subdued. I think restraint is a really powerful way to show intimacy and my favorite artists do that well (Prince, Maxwell, Floetry, etc)

Who is Malika?

Malika is a symbol for a beautiful girl, like the type of person that kinda stops the room when they walk in.

What’s the last song you listened to?

Can’t Keep Checking My Phone by Unknown Mortal Orchestra

Specifically what songs on Eden did you produce?

I produced YDKMN and collaborated with CS~W in a very minor capacity on Master Plan & Cloud Kickin’.

How do you spend the majority of your free time?

I’m working full time on music and freelancing as a designer/writer, so most of what would be my free-time, is actually spent on music & whatnot. But before this, I played pick up basketball and spent time outdoors.

How long were you a vegetarian, and why do you practice veganism?

I’m still a vegetarian, haven’t really been able to let go of cheese just yet haha.

What should the fans look out for next?

I’m planning a mini-tour for the fall, I’m definitely excited to get out on the road and connect with people in real time.

What the one thing you particularly want people to notice when they look at your work?

I want them to see that everything I do is genuine & personal.

Suggested Articles:

RESPECT. Premiere: Get Lost in Ivy Sole’s Debut Album ‘Eden’

RESPECT. Interview: Birman Speaks on ‘Ms Gladys,’ Drake’s Success and Business

The post RESPECT. Interview: Ivy Sole in the Garden of Eden appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

With his latest track, “Disconsolate,” the transformative rhymester leaps further down a path that overrides the constraints of the traditional musical styles we’re accustomed to. In a time when hip hop is dominated by 20-something-rappers, like Earl Sweatshirt and Joey Bada$$, the 17-year-old is confident about his position and where he’s headed with his group. “We are today’s creative, we are the next big thing. We spend every single day making this shit happen and that is the lifestyle that kids are going to emulate. ” We caught up with the rising rapper to discuss the inspiration behind his music, being compared to Odd Future, and how he wrote his riveting song, “Disconsolate.”

Your group Alive Since Forever, has been compared to Odd Future. Are you conscious of this comparison?

I’m extremely aware of the OF comparison. It’s definitely something we all hear often, some more than others. Getting that comparison used to be a drag, but I can’t deny that I’ve learned a lot from the members of Odd Future artistically, and I latched on as a 14-15 year old to the do-it-yourself, fuck-what-people-have-to-say, just-make something-you-think-is-rad-and-the-rest-will-follow theme that they push in all their shit. Like when Tyler won that VMA I was freaking out; it felt like I won that shit. It was the first time I saw someone that looked like me up there and it’s one of those moments that’s going to stick with me for my the rest of my life.

What do you think the biggest difference is between ASF and Odd Future?

The biggest difference between ASF and Odd Future is distance. It’s a huge challenge to keep a group together that’s separated by a hefty majority of the continental United States. Pretty much everything we do together is through a screen; every show we have someone needs to get picked up from the airport, or bus stop or whatever. We overcome huge distances and adversities to make this work and it forces us to be a lot closer on a personal level. If I need to get files to someone for mixing or editing, it’s not a matter of me just going to their crib and giving it to them. It’s file compression, constant emails, texts, phone calls back and forth and sometimes shit goes wrong and you have to be on your feet and have a plan A, B, and C in order to make sure the best product gets out for appreciation.

Do you feel sometimes that the music and the way people perceive you could be misinterpreted—I mean you must have a lighter side to you?

Not necessarily, the reason I take the perspective I do, and touch on the kind of subjects I do is because the media, the companies that create products for consumption, the television writers, even the film writers and directors, have the wrong idea of the “average American Teenager.” The average American teenager can be much more than just a cell phone-clutching zombie. There are all kinds of things going on in these kids’ heads that you wouldn’t even believe. Yet, no one seems to see it or hear it. But if I bare it on myself, if I place that brand on myself and focus it through the correct channels and in the correct way, it’s a more effective at making the right people pay attention.

Don’t let LED screens raise your kids. Remember your youth and where you were sitting at 16, 17, and 18 years old. At those ages you’re asked to make huge, life-altering decisions, yet at the same you’re time told you’re still very immature. It can be a bit of a head trip, and can make for less than positive and dangerous thoughts to become the background score of your day-to-day life. As for me, I’m just the “average American Teenager.”

Who or what makes you laugh?

I have the most hilarious group of friends. I honestly don’t know what it is but it seems like every time we’re all together it’s a never ending cycle of jokes and laughing. Like, our entire crew makes me laugh.

On your latest track, “Disconsolate,” you appear vulnerable and sinister in equal measures. How do you create that feeling of anger or despair?

I don’t have to create those feelings. Everyone has them; it just so happens that I make music where people can hear and see it.

How do you think “Disconsolate” compares with other tracks you’ve done recently?

“Disconsolate” is a lot heavier than anything else I’ve done. It’s not a song you can just glance over with your ears, you actually have to stop and listen, which isn’t really the trend lately as far as I can see.

What was going through your head when you wrote the lyrics?

When I started the EP, I made the decision that I wouldn’t use any instrumentals unless I could see what I was going to write about first. For “Disconsolate,” the first time I heard the instrumental I saw a couple arguing in an apartment, throwing shit around and just fucking screaming at each other, the woman holding her bags and heading towards the door, she opens it, turns around, says one last thing and slams the door. The man sulks back to the couch in the living room and you see the coffee table in front of him. It looks like he’s been binging on various different things for days, maybe even weeks and then I saw his face, worn, and decrepit, and I decided I would write what he would have to say, to himself, about himself, and to the woman he loves.

It’s a really personal record – very different, content-wise, compared to “Rabbits”.

Yeah, it definitely is, pretty much every song grew out of one polarizing emotion or another.

Do you actually do any of the things you talk about in your lyrics?

Bits and pieces of these songs are based off a brief period of my life where I was making really stupid decisions and others are just sonic portraits. At the end of the day, I wanted this EP to be more like an art gallery than a collection of songs. Each song is a portrait in a frame or a scene in a film all drawn from the same sonic color palette.

What would you say the inspiration, or message, of your music is?

My thoughts and feelings, of course. The message really is, there isn’t one? It’s there for people to appreciate and build their own messages from. I’m not going to say this is the way you have to feel when you listen or this is what you should take away because that sets a margin, and guidelines and that is against the very nature of art. What I take from a song may be, and probably will be completely different from the person to my right or left. I guess to answer your question the message to me is that it’s okay to have to those dark thoughts and feelings, but just find a way to get them out and leave them somewhere. Don’t carry baggage with you because it’ll make you cold and bitter and life is way too short for that shit.

What do you think it was that sparked your interest in hip hop?

I got put in a teen leadership class in 10th grade and met Ian (Kevin Abstract). That’s it, that’s the only reason I started making music or even became interested in it. I grew up in Third Ward, Houston, so I was always around hip-hop, all my cousins rapped and freestyled. I never thought about being a rapper until I got put in that class with Ian. A computer algorithm decided the course of my future and I couldn’t be happier.

Did you ever consider a different career?

I wanted to go to school to become a petroleum and mechanical engineer but that never really felt…. right, like what I was supposed to be doing.

Who was the first famous person you met?

I met Beyoncé, when I was like 4 or 5, at a charity event my mom took me to in Houston. I think that was the first time I met anyone famous.

Have you experienced any crazy moments on social media?

No, not really until I recently got called “Ghetto Drake” in a YouTube comment. I think that’s like my favorite insulting thing I’ve ever been called. I probably shouldn’t be reading YouTube comments in the very first place. Other than that I stay quiet and keep to myself so there’s no room for people to go out of their way to insult me as of now.

Were you surprised when you were called in to support Chance The Rapper? How did it happen?

Yeah, definitely seeing how I only had one song out at the time. Actually it was ASF, Chance, other affiliates of Save Money/The Village, and a bunch of other acts opening up for BIG K.R.I.T. in St. Louis. We were put on the bill to open and they were as well. That’s how that came about.

You really seem to have a handle on exactly what you do. Tell me about some of your influences.

Definitely not, I still have a lot of growing and learning to do. My main influences are: King Krule, Earl Sweatshirt, Yeezus Christ, Beyoncé, Frank Ocean, MF DOOM, Eminem, Radiohead, Tool, Nucleus, BADBADNOTGOOD, Kevin Abstract, a lot of Jazz/classical composers, and basically anyone that is universally accepted as groundbreaking pioneers of their craft. I draw influence from anyone that truly creates art that benefits and pushes forward human thinking and understanding of what art and music is, and can be.

Is there an end game for you and ASF? Will there be an album, a record deal, or a music video?

The end game is to show people what we have made and work so hard on. We’ve been turned away from a lot of opportunities because we don’t fit the criteria for what is considered for publication. Music, or getting people to support your music I should say, seems to be less and less about the product, but the packaging. The who you know is engulfing the who you are and it would be really rewarding to still make the kind of impact that everyone I’m influenced by has without having to fall into that kind of tar pit. I guess the real end game is to show people who we are without forgetting who we are. Every person in our group is different – of course we are, look at how spread our entire collective is. It should be enough that we’re still able to make this kind of product with that kind of obstacle. That is our lifestyle, our image, we are today’s creative, we are the next big thing. We spend every single day making this shit happen and that is the lifestyle that kids are going to emulate. The fact that our circumstances don’t change the fact that we make good music should be proof enough. Hands down, end of story, we create better product than other groups that have spent their whole lives together. I guess this is a good time to announce my full length, it’ll be coming in the winter of 2015 is all I can say as of now.

Is there anything else you’d like to add?

Thanks for letting me rant. I hope I’ve answered all the questions anyone has about me or the collective I’m apart of.

For more from Ameer, click here.

The post Interview: Ameer Vann, Rebel With a Cause appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

photo by Wes Sherwin

Wara from the NBHD (NeighBorHooD) is a long-time Atlanta residing, BK-born rapper. He’s the face of Playin Four Keeps, an LLC that he controls with his close team of creative advisers and contributors. Together, they’re hard at work collecting sounds, initiatives, and performances opportunities to grow as a culture and brand. This brand is neither a solicitation nor the misplaced analogy that we find in many of the crews built around rap these days. Instead, PFK as a brand is an exploration of their work together, accumulating substance as Wara poises himself for his next major release, Kidnapped.

Here, you’ll read the stories of Wara’s efforts to remove some of the opacity of his artistic presence. One of his most recurring battles is with the idea of musical quality being affected by the need for quantity (in order to stay relevant). This pushes him to remain tasked and active not only in order to prolong his career, but to use his career as a way to accrue the most from what life has to offer.

Peep game.

RESPECT : What’ve you been up to since the second version of The Ill Street Blues dropped?

Wara : Well, we hit the road, we actually started to do way more shows, and I started to develop a bigger fan-base. You know, being that we dropped in February, a lot of times, people forget by the next December. I’ve heard of more people waiting on my music, even at this point in the year. We’ve gone through so many transitions, though, lately. To be honest, I’m the type of artist who doesn’t like to revamp shit, I just wanna keep it movin in the same direction. If I keep doin my work, and keep evolving, I think people are gonna have to go back and hear what I sounded like at the beginning. Everything’s been positive, and as far as my life, not much has changed. Just the same bullshit. Every day is pretty repetitive. Back and forth to the studio, every day, just really trying to figure out what our next move is gonna look like.

What’re some of the options you’re weighing?

We’re planning a tour for the next album, but in my mind, 2013 was my coming out party. Now, I want 2014 to be a year where I make a bigger impact with my music. As I’m putting out music, I force myself to grow. That’s really it. I need to make sure that I’m focusing on looking back at things to change anything in my sound. Like every time I put music out, I put out quality music. But I go back and look to mistakes I may have made. Even in terms of the politics of releasing music, I find some mistakes. When a new video comes out, we always feel like we could’ve done so many little things to improve exposure and whatnot. Not necessarily that you HAVE to learn from your mistakes, but you have to figure out what you DIDN’T do. That’s what counts sometimes.

So what’s been your biggest realization so far?

I feel like I have this two-week cycle thing. I might put out a song Monday, and it goes crazy that week, but then the next week it just dies down. People’s attention spans are even shorter than that, sometimes just like three days, and there are so many things that I can do to keep my music pushing forward, and in the front of people’s minds. So to keep my relevance, I’m gonna have to keep my shit coming. But people go out of their way to support my music. People are happy with the output so far, and I like that they anticipate the next release.

And what about the next project. What’s the name?

Kidnapped.

What other details can you give us?

It’s probably gonna have like 13 songs on it, pretty standard. I’ve done a bunch of recording for it already, but I need to go back over some of the production. When it comes down to release time, I wanna have a lot to choose from. And since I had so much to get out, my first tape was 17 tracks. But I wanna make this album way more tight. Like I wanna get my message across without saying so much. This one has to be way more musical. The content is gonna be there. I’m confident about my content, but I just want my production to be on point.

When we last spoke you said that you actually started producing yourself. Have you put anything out yet that’s been produced by you?

Not yet. I only started during the process of Ill Street Blues. But I wasn’t ready yet. I was lowkey studying this whole year. A lot of the production is gonna be from me, but the live instruments in the background, I’ll have to bring people in.

Do you wanna try to describe your production so far, or do you wanna wait for it to drop first?

I would say that my production is really gritty, but it’s more cinematic than that. I tried to study Neptunes and RZA recently, so that’s how I try to frame my production. I like the beautiful chords in the Neptunes’ work, and how colorful the beats are, and how RZA perfected that gritty, raw typa shit. I would say that’s where I want it to come from. It’s not an exact sound, but it’s cohesive. I aim for that, but sometimes other things come out.

You also recently said that you were tired of rap. Why is that, and why do you even continue if that’s true?

I have those points in time where I feel like there’s nothing else I can do for the rap game to make it different and fun again. Nowadays everyone’s a rapper. Back in the day, if you went up to someone, and they told you they were a rapper, that was some real shit. That was a skill or a talent. I’m not gonna say it’s oversaturated, because who am I to say that?… Since I guess everyone has the chance to rap. But I feel like I got tired of rap when I started to characterize my work, because I don’t like lyin’ about my life.

But my life has been repetitive! Since the last album, I’m still in the same hood, doin’ the same things, but I don’t wanna talk about that no more. My mind moves faster than I naturally do, and I gotta make sure that I stay focused and close to reality. It’s not really fun, you know? I love the music so much, but rap has become boring to me, since there was nothing new for me to talk about. I wanna get out there and tour and play shows and have more experiences to feed my creativity. But I’ve been around niggas that made it. I been around niggas that went in and they have the best job in the world now. But I need to figure out what they did to get where they’re at. I think I have talent, I just need to make the right moves to get myself headed in the right direction. I’m at the level where I should be, but I’ve felt like that for too long.

photo by Wes Sherman

So tell us about some of the shows you’ve done so far.

I wanna thank J Dirt for what happened with CMJ and the Fader Fort. He definitely helped me get that extra leg through the door. Making it and killin it was so surreal. Because two days before, my pops told me he was about to get deported, and he needed help with some money. He’s from Jamaica, and he hadn’t paid his fees or whatever. And my mom didn’t have money to pay the rent. And I’m up in New York broke as fuck, and I was about to play the show of my life, but everything at home was blowing up. But I new I couldn’t lose my head, feelme? My focus had to be on point. And we was up in SOB’s, and I was so mad bruh! I sat down on the bench, and had to shed a fuckin tear the night before what felt like my big shot. I’m on my high horse, and when I get back to Atlanta, it’s back to the same shit. I got no time to waste now. If I’m not gettin a better show every time I perform, and if I’m not gettin to a point where I can sell records, then by the times I’m 25, it’ll be time to take another avenue here. I’m not the type to wait around and wait for it to happen like that. I don’t have to do those hole in the wall shows no more, right now I’m up in better venues. But when I get a budget, people are gonna love the shows that much more. I’m mad that the moment at CMJ died out.

The post Welcome to the Neighborhood: An Interview with Wara appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.