Features

Feature: JetsonMade On Being A Hit Record Magnet and ‘Boy Meet Beats’ Academy

At only 26, JetsonMade has already established an extensive catalog of smash-hits that can rival that of a legendary producer. The Grammy-nominated hitmaker has produced platinum-selling records including “Suge” and “Bop” by DaBaby, “What’s Poppin” by Jack Harlow, “Start With Me” by Roddy Ricch and Gunna, “Vette Motors” by NBA Youngboy, “It’s Giving” by Latto, and many more. His unique ability to produce compelling beats and galvanize the collaborative support of a versatile array of prominent artists has underscored his place as a young pioneer in the music industry. JetsonMade’s work has climbed the Billboard 100 charts and earned him two Grammy nominations.

The multi-platinum selling producer also has a keen eye for entrepreneurship. The BoyMeetSpace Academy provides an accessible opportunity for rising music producers to gain the foundational business and production acumen to go the distance in their respective careers. Through the program, JetsonMade and the BoyMeetSpace label have created an incubator that invests critical resources and tools for the burgeoning wave of creatives in the music community. The academy, exclusively owned and operated by JetsonMade, marks the producer’s newest, independent endeavor, further diversifying his entrepreneurial portfolio.

The program’s first course, BoyMeetBeats, will be available in three different tiers. The On-Demand version provides access to the full video-based program, written exercises, bonus resources, and access to the free community on the BoyMeetSpace Discord. Tier two is the On-Demand and Producer Network version. This gives access to the full video-based program,, written exercises, bonus resources, and access to the Exclusive BoyMeetSpace Academy community on the BoyMeetSpace Discord.

Lastly, the premium version includes everything in the On-Demand program, plus participation in a live learning cohort led by an experienced producer, an Exclusive space within the BoyMeetSpace community, and weekly lessons from jetsonmade and other high-profile producers. He is joined by award-winning producers Tay Keith, WondaGurl, and Pooh Beatz for the premium tier which has a limited availability of seats.

Terzel Ron caught up with JetsonMade to discuss his highly decorated career, entrepreneurial ventures, and his favorite records that he produced.

You have a lot going on right now. Talk to me about the journey of Boy Meets Beats Academy. How did that all come about?

It was a collective thing. Just a lot of different people, upcoming producers reaching out for tips and just random producer questions.  It would be people like my mom and my other family members. They had friends with kids who wanted to produce and stuff like that. So, I started talking to them to help. We just thought it would be a super good idea to kind of create something that answers a lot of the typical questions that I get in one platform, and educate them a little bit further with that.  

So that’s where the whole academy idea came from. You had the foresight to make it sort of an educational course.

I mean, yeah, that makes it sound technical, but really it was just something that I know that I want to put myself back in, like an upcoming producer informative, but people that I look up to active, because a lot of people who do courses and stuff like that, you know what I’m saying?   People who are not really in the mix of what’s going on. So I just felt like it would be good to come from me.

You produce a whole lot of stuff. So when people think about being a producer, they want to hear it from someone like you. Like, ‘Is LeBron teaching me how to play basketball right now as my coach, or is it just a random gym teacher?’

Exactly.

A lot of people always give advice. But you figured, “let me make a course that people can actually pay attention to.” I feel like that entrepreneurial approach is something most people wouldn’t be able to do.

I found the right people to execute it with the majority of the actual course. And the structure of that came from being sought after. People kept reaching out for me to do panels, lectures, whatever.  I’ve been talking for a long, long time about doing some sort of course. Right. I like courses in high schools that are like production courses. And so we talked about finding a way to either restart that at his high school, or revamp it or whatever.   So when people kept hitting us up for him to do guest lectures and stuff like that, it just kind of made sense. And I know he had been wanting to do this for a long time, so we partnered with Cafe Media to kind of build out the course.  

Tell me about finding that partnership with Cafe Media. Were they someone who approached you?

Ben has a super great relationship with them. He was the plug.   He made it all come together.

I feel like, as a producer, you kind of have that entrepreneurial mindset built in already because of all the relationships that you have to build in order to make songs come to complete fruition. What has been your favorite part of your journey so far as a producer?  

I ain’t gonna lie. My favorite part is buying laptops. I love buying laptops. That was, like, the best part, of course. Like, you know, you go platinum, build war, that’s regular.  That’s not even regular, but it’s just, like the only thing that beat all of that was, like, being able to just go get a new laptop when I really want to. I had to grind up so much to buy laptops and stuff, like to make beats.   So it was like when I could do it casually, it just felt good. The first day I went platinum, I went and bought another laptop and just was like, ‘all right, Mom, I’m going to make beats on this laptop platinum again.’  And I bought another one. That was like, the best experience for me. That was the best experience on my journey for me.

That kind of sounds like you won the NBA championship, and instead of celebrating too long, you get right back in the gym that night to keep practicing.

Yes. I want to upgrade and go for better each time.  And to be honest, even with this course, it was super good because we just recently got a studio here in Atlanta. So I was coming to the studio, like, at night and stuff like that, but when we had to shoot the course, we actually shot it at the studio.  So it had me up here early, but just coming up here early kind of, like, motivated me a little bit more because I’m like, I forgot how I feel to be in the studio super early. 9, 10 A.M. So that was super good.  I just felt like, man, I can’t be telling folks to go, ‘do this, do that,’ and I’m not doing this. It was good for me, too.

There are a lot of other producers that helped you with this venture of Boy Meet Beats Academy. You got Wonder Girl, Tay Keith, and a few more. What was it like approaching them to help out with the idea?

It was just like calling the homies. Especially with Tay, because it was like my first producer friend, for real. He helped me when I did my first publishing deal. He gave me a lot of free game when I was coming into the game.

That’s the right person to talk to.

Yeah. So it was pretty normal, actually. Just a phone call.

Let’s take it back a little bit. When you were coming up as a producer, who are some of the people in the field that you were looking at?

Ryan Leslie. He used to have, like, blogs on YouTube a lot. Timbaland. Because when I was downloading little drum kits and stuff, it was always Timbo who had, like, crazy sounds and drum kits. Sonny Beats too. Legend. I always used to like Sunny Beats. And he was always like, ahead of the wave.  And he always brought up new artists.

Your first placement was in 2015 with Slaughter King. Yeah. Tell me what that was like, because that was right before 21 got really hot.  

That’s before a lot of shit. What was that like? I was in college, but I remember I was in the cafeteria. I couldn’t eat. I’m like, ‘man, I’m going to leave. I’m going to drop out. I’m going to drop out.’  Because this at the time, 21 was coming up. And a couple of days before that, I was like, ‘man, it would be crazy if I just get one on it.’  So it was like, what if I’m on the mixtape? I just remember like, came out. So I’m like, I’m going to eat lunch and then I’m going to go in the car, listen to everybody start calling me, text me like, ‘yo, you got one on 21 tape!’ 

So you didn’t initially know you would be on Slaughter King?

Yeah, on God. This is Slaughter King tape. Slaughter King. So Slaughter Tape had already dropped. It was like, this one, he’s gonna be, like, the hottest on the underground scene.  

The tape that made 21, like, I was on it, but it came from Young Nudy, because one of my buddies was hanging with them, and I was sending Nudy a lot of beats.  I probably send Nudy every beat that I had made at that point, because this one before, I had really mastered making beats well. So I maybe had like, seven to ten beats.

What was your production system at this time?  

Logic. I was on Logic Pro 9. I just sent Nudy a lot of beats. And then I guess he ended up playing them for 21, and he ended up putting a song I produced on the tape.

So you didn’t know 21 at this point?

No. But I knew Nudy? I feel like he needs more shine. But this was like we got, like, my first that, like, song six that I ended up doing him in, like, 2018. That was, like, my first. Single. For real, like, with that magnitude.  

 What was it called?

Zone Six. Zone Six. And 2018 ended up putting, like, Future in Black and Remixed and stuff like that.

What was your first song that made you realize, ‘all right, I’m on now?’  

In the stage as a producer, every step, you get closer to where you want to go. At least with me personally, I was like, ‘okay, I’m on this level of producing now.’

After Slaughter King dropped, you’re now one of the hottest new producers. Did everyone reach out to you at that point? Was it that type of vibe?

Not exactly. See, that was the crazy part. I started realizing, I’m still in college at the time. So I was like, man, I spend a lot of my time in college. I was in Charleston, South Carolina. The next year, like that next summer, when it was time to get out of school, I ended up just moving back to Columbia, South Carolina, and I just never went back to school. But that was kind of like the start of my journey, where I was putting everything into producing.

So you’re just like, this is my passion. I’m gonna throw everything in this shit.  

Yeah, but to answer your question, people didn’t necessarily come to me after that. It really wasn’t, like, the biggest song on the tape, so it didn’t really matter. That actually kind of gave me motivation because I’m like, ‘man, I don’t want to lean on that.’  I didn’t really have more placements coming up that I knew about. I’m not really plugged in. I’m like, ‘I need to keep working, but I need to get out of school. I need to fully focus on producing.’ It definitely was the start of my journey.

What was it like when you were trying to make connections in South Carolina?   Did anybody help you with that?

Yeah, a lot of people were helping me out. Every other state, there’s kind of like a crab in the barrel type mentality.   But I was linked with a lot of good people.

Talk to me about linking up with DaBaby. Did you meet at the time you started working?  

No, we met in the studio. We had previously done some work. Like, we did a song called “No Love” on one of his previous mixtapes. But when we linked up, like the first time we did was “21,” which ended up being like his first single that went crazy.  

Did it come together because of TP?

Yeah. I was sending new to a lot of beats and brothers like my beats.  So he was just like, ‘bro. I work with Nudy. I can make sure of the placement.’

Did you have a plan to go this far?  

When I first started out, I really wasn’t educated about all the extra stuff that comes being a producer, I was just like, I want to be like, I want to change the sound of game. I’m a Leo brother.  When I was starving, like, a lot of people were hating.  I was like, ‘I’m about to pop. I just have to get right artists.’ I always say that I got to just link with the right artists who understand it. So just coming up, that was my goal, just to change the sound and do it my way. I wanted to pop my way because I tried to make other type beats, and it didn’t really work.

How long after you started did you decide to create a label?

2020, I say, but it really isn’t even a label. I wouldn’t call it label. It’s just a team. It’s whatever it needs to be. Once I started learning, like, of course I can make money off of and stuff like that. Once you start seeing Metro, South Side on Billboards, you start seeing producers shows, I was like, ‘that’s what I’m doing. ‘

There’s so many legends over in Atlanta, man.  

But there’s a lot of legends that come from from South Carolina, too, though, bro. Like, you got Speaker Knockers just on the production side. You got Speaker Knockers. You got Super Mario. You got Pierre Bourne. You got me. You got TNT. You got Taj Money. We are low key goated. Yeah, to the producers, that is low key.

Where do you see the future of Boy Meets Space and the Boy Meet Beats Academy in the next five years?

Just more successful. Probably the next five years, we’re going to have, like a lot of plaques for sure. We’re going to be like headlining festivals out there. That’s what we’re going to be in the next five years.   We work with a lot of talented people, so we’re not doing it ourselves. We’re going to be connected to somebody who’s doing it. As long as they perform.

Will you actually be talking to the students who sign up and offer one on one mentorship at all?

Definitely. We’ve got the Discord. I was just on the Discord the other day, just talking about regular stuff.   I ain’t trying to be like no preacher, no big homie, OG. I wanted to be like if they walk into the studio, if they are hard, I’m going to sit down and work with them. I kind of just try to hop in and just keep the shit with them and work for it.   That’s what it’s all about. Because it’s like when I’m 40 years old, I want the youngest to put me on something. I want to look like you guys. I kind of try to keep it open. That’s how I mentor. That’s mentoring in my weight.

 What was it like when you got your first Grammy nomination? When everything just started to finally pay off, off on a crazy scale?

I thought I was going to win that shit.  

But you kind of expected you’d be nominated, right?

No. I feel like it’s because you’re in the weeds working, you’re working. Of course I knew about the Grammys, but I never associated myself with that stuff in my mind, you know what I’m saying? Like Billboard, I didn’t even know what none of that meant.   Like being on Billboard, all of that. I always knew about it, but I never understood it until it was like happening. People like, yeah bro, you such and such charted on Billboard. I’m like, ‘damn, for real?’ Just seeing stuff like that was like, ‘okay.’ It was a learning experience.  I received it differently because I wasn’t really expecting it. That’s why I could go back to the studio and do work.  

Did your family know? Your mom perhaps?

No. She heard it from others. She was like, ‘yeah, my coworker said her son listens to your music.’ It was just stuff like that. She just knew. I was like, ‘I’m getting a car, hear my son on the radio.’ 

What is next in terms of upcoming projects? Is there anything that you are dropping soon?

Yeah, I think next year, I’m trying to go in and just do projects with a lot of upcoming artists. A lot of my successes came with different artists who were already big and stuff like that, so I don’t want people to think like that I’m leaning on that in any way.  I realize there’s a lot of music coming out, so I’m just like, ‘I’m going to do music with a lot of people.’ Yeah. A lot of upcoming artists, though.  

Here’s a few fun questions. What’s your favorite food?

Fried chicken!

You have so many hit records that at this point, I got to put two of them against each other in a game I like to call “Song Versus.”

Okay, let’s do it.

 What is your favorite? ‘What’s Poppin’ versus ‘Suge?’

‘What’s Poppin.’ I like how it sounded in the club and in the car. I just feel like that’s one of my best mixed beats.  

“BOP” by Da Baby versus Roddy Ricch’s “Start With Me.”

I’m going to have to go and start with me, bro. That whole project was crazy.   Only reason I got to go start with me, bro, because that shit was just like, bro, me and PG was like riding Roddy before he popped. We were riding around to Roddy. He was, like, one of my favorite rappers at the time.  This was before “The Box.” I don’t know which song he owed.

Around the time of Feed the Streets.

Yeah, this was around that time. So he was like, “Every Season” was cosign cosign. So that’s how he was bubbling too.  

That’s how I found out about Roddy. Meek Mill just kept posting them.

Yeah, that’s why he got hot. So when he posted snippets, I’m like, “That shit hard.” That actually surprised me the most. Because it was just like, I watched that shit from zero. A lot of the shit. I watched zero. But like that one was crazy because it was like a puzzle. Bro, Cole Bennett on the video? I’m like, ‘damn, that’s hard. It’s going to go up.’ But as he went up, the growth was crazy. I didn’t see that shit growing, but it went like number two. That’s crazy.  

Last one for you. “Peace Hardly” by NBA Young Boy. This is one of my favorite songs! Versus “Vibes” by Dababy.

Vibes! It turned my dog Nico up. He got paid!

Related Topics:Entrepreneurship featured Hip-Hop JetsonMade Music rap

terzel

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Feature: Ray Garrison (Silos Band)

Ray Garrison is a writer, producer, and EDM DJ based in Los Angeles, CA. The multi-dimensional artist blends the genres of Pop, Heavy Metal, and Nu Metal. In 2022, the Garrison teamed up with David Rhemann, the drummer for Grandson, to create the Silos band.

The band includes members Philip “Proto” Nielsen (bass), Nick Dromin (guitar), and Ramon Blanco. They are currently signed to Judge & Jury Records and released their first single, “Flowers” – a new take on Miley Cyrus‘ acclaimed hit – on March 17, 2023.

Sound of U Live caught up with Silos frontman Ray Garrison to talk about his musical journey, upcoming projects, and more.

When did your music journey begin?

I wanted to be able to record myself playing guitar and uh like I was listening to Blink-182, and I wanted to like the guitar melodies that made me feel like I was high or something so I was like I wanted to be able to do that myself and make it home. Iit really just started with me wanting to be able to listen to myself and then later I was like, ‘oh it would be cool if other people listen too.’

Who are your top three inspirations?

Blink 182, Eminem and Bring Me The Horizon.

When did you begin taking it really seriously?

When I was 16. I would drive home from private school and there was this pro audio shop that was on the way home in downtown Atlanta. I knew that like all the big Atlanta producers got their gear from there, like Jermaine Dupree, Bush Walker, all these big time guys. I would just stop in there and look at stuff and then I would eventually show the guy at the front of my demos and he was like, ‘oh this is cool.’ That was where it started and then I learned a lot from them.

Were you self-taught from there?

Yeah, you know, I was a combination of self taught and then every time I went into the studio to record I like was a mutant fly on the wall. I was extra attentive and asked a lot of questions. Just like information.

When did you join Silos?

Silos was born in November of 2022. I was a solo artist, and then my friend David just parted ways with Grandson, and he wanted to be in a project that was more oriented around a band. And at the time, I needed a good drummer, and I really liked David.

I’d known him for years, and I always wanted to work with him. So we kind of had a meeting, a lunch, and then decided to start working on a new project. And almost instantly, I knew I was going to no longer do a solo artist thing.

And I was going to just mix. Just like natural chemistry.

Do you guys have any music coming out for the rest of the year?

We got a song coming out in June with DJ, with someone coming out in July with Escape the Fate. Nice. The title of the next one is ‘Hold Me Close.’ Right now, we’re putting out all singles from the album. So, I think that album is going to drop in the fall. It’s going to be on vinyl and CD.

Are there any dream collaborations that you have?

I’d love to do a song with Oli Sykes from Bring Me the Horizon. I’d say it’s a closer goal, within two years.

Is there anything that you think people should know about you?

Yeah, we have an awesome fan base emerging. We have a Discord where we’re in touch with our fans and kind of have a continuous conversation. So I’m going to plug that. “Silos Fandom.” There’s a link for it on our Instagram stories highlights.

Features

Feature: Devon Thompson

What are you looking forward to the most in 2024?

No bullshit. No bullshit 2024. That’s what I’m looking forward to. I’m gonna like leave all the negative stuff behind and like try and change my mindset about certain things. So I feel like that’s, and also work harder and practice more. Just be more disciplined within myself, I think.

Can we say what those certain things are?

Yeah, practice sitting down and practicing my guitar every single day more. Because, it gets hard like when you play shows it’s easy to just like only play when you’re at shows or during band practice for me I want to sit down and be disciplined also not beat myself up over stuff that I can’t control.

A lot of people are really upset with themselves when they like especially living here when you feel like and you’re an artist and you feel like, ‘God, I wish I was doing more. I wish I could. Why don’t I have this, why don’t I have this,’ like you can’t control that the only thing you can control is your personal growth and what you put into it and like you know if if you got something like it you’ll get it out if you really work hard. You can’t just sit around, you can’t expect it to come to you. You have to work for it. I think that’s a really good piece of advice to give artists in general because you know we’re in a new game social media, and a lot of it is like creating content yourself, and I know artists are making a lot more of their own music videos in a way that I’ve never seen before, have you noticed that? – I have noticed that because, you know, TikTok did that. TikTok made like making your own mini music video a thing. So I actually think it’s amazing because it allows artists to have more freedom with what you do.

I think that’s really special and it’s really, but it’s also really, really hard to do that, because this is what you have to do. Every day, I’ve struggled with that. I used to hate it and now I’ve like changed my mindset we’re like no I’m gonna like do this and embrace it and really show people like what I’m about.

I think everything is easier when you have a team of people and people who just really like add to your circle as time goes on. They see your mission and your vision.

Has it been easy for you to find your team?

It, surprisingly, has been easy. It’s because I’ve been putting myself out there. It’s been easier. And I have a wonderful team that I’m working with right now already.

But I’m always looking for, like, expansion. We need more people involved. We need all the people involved. You know, your fans are your team. You know, you are your team. Like, everyone a part of it is important.

So, like, that being said, I’m always looking for new kingdom. to work with and being over minded So like I feel like it’s easier now.

What other goals do you have for the year?

My goals are to be be more social. I can easily double down and just just be by myself and working on stuff, but my plan this year is to make more friends and to be more social with my family, friends and with new people. I push myself further this year. My music breaks down barriers and standards for female guitar players. It’s a big one, because we’re still it’s still really stigmatized.

Talk to me about that stigma that female guitar players face.

So many women are scared to play guitar, and a lot of them tell me they’re like I am too scared to get up there and play it or even if they do play if they’re like, um, ‘I’m the rhythm guitar player,’ or whatever. You don’t see a lot of female guitar players out there because it’s so stigmatized. If they’re not like an insane shredder people are like you got them stuck it happens so much and i’m a Gibson sponsored artist, so i they saw something in me that gave me hope to keep pushing myself so now i tend to only play in three pieces. I’m the lead guitar player and lead vocalist this year. That’s what I’m going to push on people because I have some really not that good like okay like that’s fine.

It used to get to me and now I’m like just use that to practice practice and be disciplined and safe off it just do it you know that’s what I’m doing.

Do you think that female artists in general also get that sort of stigma and is it coming from the butthurt men?
Absolutely. Yeah, no totally. It’s the main the main thing like I get comments online that are like, you know They can be really really derogatory and and it’s you know what it’s Generally men or very jealous women who don’t like themselves and hate their lives. And I’m like, ‘why do girls girls hate me? Why do certain men hate me?’

And it’s nothing that you’ve done. It’s just you have to remember that there are people that just love to hate you out there.

They love it, especially because you’re doing what they want to do. They want to do what you’re doing. And you just have to, like, you literally just have to understand and recognize the personality traits. They’re like, no, that is not a person who is cool or, like, wants to help or even knows what they’re talking about. about, you know what I mean? Tell us a bit about the music that you have dropping this year though. Do we have anything to look forward to in the first few months? Actually, I have a new single coming out in like a week and a half. And my goal for this year is to have a songwriter and I want to be a part of it. really, really creative with what I’m doing this year. All my music videos are like mini movies type situations, like the Twilight Zone kind of, and I like creating… I really just want to pay homage to the universe and a whole… I mean, to put it simply, a sort of vibe on everything.

Like with my branding, with my merch, like this is… is I don’t know if you can see it – oh I have a lot of teeth in in like my merch stuff like that and in my songs just like really Really visceral and really guttural, but also have been also with an imperial edge And I want my music videos to translate that it’s gonna mean soon So I want to be cohesive so new singles out and then we’re gonna have and I have a lot of music dropping this year. And I’m playing a lot of shows shows and that’s what’s been happening this year So yeah in January 17th.

What’s are you releasing?

It’s called I love you, but it hurts like hell.

Who are some of your favorite musical inspirations from Los Angeles?

Well, I don’t don’t sound anything like her, but I love Phoebe Bridger’s ability to be anti. So like what LA is not, and I think that’s really cool.

So I like that she can do that. How about some of your most influential artists that you listen to growing up that have really kicked yourself? Yeah, growing up. Blondie is a big one for me.

I have a lot of 80s music and 70s music. has really shaped what I do. So Blondie and then a big big goth like inspiration to me, Suzy and the band she’s really big and then some newer stuff like or kind of newer some like some deftome stuff some my bloody Valentine stuff and it’s harder for me to find newer inspirations just because like I don’t know it’s just it’s it’s hard it’s hard for me and then uh yeah so

those are some of my inspirations for sure. Dice was there anything else that you want to grab about before being grabbed? Yeah I think that a lot of people don’t talk about again what I said before about how disparaging this can be and how how much self -doubt can be involved with this um and I have been my worst enemy base in doing this and um you know my I think a lot of that has to do with people you surround yourself with. You can tell who really supports you and who doesn’t and who are out to get you, who poses your friends, but they’re not. Make sure you surround yourself with loving people and people who value you really.

Some talk about it enough here, especially with people who aren’t from here and who are from here. It’s just like both. So find the right people who lift you up. Both of you guys are in a relationship sort of thing. And also, just walk out of the bullshit. It’s what I’m going to do this year and I’m going to work on it.

So for everyone who’s struggling out there with, you know, artist identity, sort of the like, “What am I doing?” You’re here for a reason, you’re here for a reason. And just believe in yourself. Believe in yourself.

Don’t talk but thank you for your time. Thank you so much.

Features

Feature: Leonte

Leonte here! Tell us a little bit about the different things that you do.

Yeah, so I mean, first and foremost, I’m a person. And I like to be that way. I come with a lot of emotions and a lot of ideas and feelings that I bring into my art and my work. I’m a model. I love to create very vivid images and stuff with posing and stuff like that. I’m also a creative director for a magazine called Lex Style Mag. It’s about creating a vibe between fashion and music, and really creating a home for that to collaborate and become real is something important for us.

But I also make music. I’m a singer. I make like alternative R&B, pop and rock vibes. I’m really just taking all of those and really just adding my own spice into it, adding a little bit of me and really my goal with that music is to create an environment and create an environment where people can feel emotions that they may not you know be privy to or may not have understanding of but you know they can empathize with the pain, empathize with the joy, empathize with the yearning, love, right? I want to create an environment that you can experience those things safely amazing so how long have you been doing modeling yeah so I’ve been modeling for 10 years I’ve been singing all my life I started off in my church choir shout out yeah so for like most people that started off in the church like singing was a big part of my life it was a big part of my life I expressed myself. I started making my own music physically about a year and a half, two years ago, is when I actually started that.

How has your journey in fashion really impacted your journey into music?

Honestly, I think the fashion in the music industry is so interwoven that it was like a seamless transition. I went from, you know, trying to figure out how to… create very vivid pictures and, you know, how to do really crazy poses to, like, saying, “Well, how do I create a vivid sound with my voice?

If I do this type of movement while I’m singing, will the sound come out differently from this?” Right? So everything just kind of translated differently, right? Saying like, “Okay, well, when I do this performance, I want to wear this type of outfit so that it conveys this message while I’m performing this song.” Right? Really aligning the fashion with the music and the tone with the environment to create a full image and a full picture is kind of where that fashion piece really really locked me in.

As you said, you are now involved in the magazine. What has it been like going from being the model to being the subject and actually having that creative control?

Honestly, becoming the creative director of Lex Style magazine is one of my biggest accomplishments today. I think being in charge of the visual outlook of a project such as Lex Style Mag has put a huge weight on my shoulders that I’d love to take on. It’s really giving me the opportunity to take my wildest dreams and put it out into a visual medium and share it with the world is something that I don’t take lightly. I think it’s something that takes a lot of time and effort, it takes a lot of attention and I think because of that I’ve been able to take all of my years of modeling and understanding what poses look good and what poses don’t.

Kind of the energy behind the photo and what clothes will look good and what poses. I’ve been really able to create really detailed outlines of like this that I want to create and I think that’s something that you know I’m looking to bring out the best in myself for this magazine and for others. I also do freelance creative direction for other brands, so it’s like always fun to be able to express myself in this place.

All of the work that you do is truly so inspirational and incredible. What do you think is the hardest part about continuing that?

Thank you so much for joining me. Being a artist and how you feel. I think the hardest part about consistently releasing creative pieces is understanding your value but also understanding the value of the people around you.

I think as, when you’re the model, everything’s centered around you and how you’re feeling and what you’re getting paid, like you’re, you know, the experience. you’re getting, but when you’re really the creative director, when you’re really at the top of that situation, it’s more about, okay, how do I make sure these people that are helping me create this vision that I have feel valued and feel, you know, I see the best of our abilities and feel comforted in these aspects. I think that’s one of the hardest things because, you know, obviously in this world, you live in and you want to cut down on costs as much as possible, but also it’s like, you want to pay. people what they’re worth, so they pay for what they’re worth. I like saw that, it’s like trying to get people with disabilities.

What has been like your biggest inspiration, both in fashion and music?

I played football in college. And so a big inspiration in my fashion sense was Odell Beckham Jr. Like, he was getting big and popular in football. His outfits on and off the field were always the same. The field outfits were always icy and dripped out with the signed sneakers, the custom likeness, you know, how he used to do it.

But then off the field, it was also him showing up to events drippy, showing his style off. I think things like that really pushed me to actually work towards being more creative with my outfits on and off the field. In terms of music, I think somebody that really inspired me was Juice Wrld, I think I will say “Lucid Dreams” came at a time that I needed it.

And I think, you know, just that being his day… debut, like, hit that popped off for him and that was the one that caught me and then ever since, like, I listened to every single song that he put out like, that was someone that really inspired me to be more of a leader, but he also inspired me to just be creative, I don’t think you could ever say, “Oh, Juice Wrld’s gonna rap like this on this flow.” It was always something completely different than his last song, something completely, you know, new but it had the same feel, the same environment around him, right? And, you know, he had a way of talking about like really hard subjects with a light tone that made him want to party while you’re listening to it, right? Which is something that I want to create, but also different. So for mine, like, I definitely don’t take as much of the drug abuse and alcoholism into my music. It’s complex idealist, you know, abandonment. Heartfelt pain. The concept of, like, where you’re supposed to be and, you know, like flirting. I want to do, like, really, like, take those archetypes and really create stories in my music. I think that’s really what I’m focusing on right now.

I think that’s really the beauty of music. You’re able to take inspiration, and take ideas, while also interacting with your own personality, your own blood, which is so incredible and great to see from you.

And what are we?

So what I’ll say right now is there’s going to be an influx of art, an influx of modeling and an influx of music. Right now my goal is in this 2023. year are to get three good releases and build up a catalog behind them so that I have a lot to push out for everybody, as well as create four really good covers and magazines to release out to the public and to collaborate with as many talented artists as I can. Like my goal is not to get up there by myself, my goal is to bring everybody out here at 50 and I think that when we create a community of people that support each other and uplift each other in this fashion and music space, that’s when we really drive, right? Because you’re only as good as your network, and it’s only as good as how many people you have with you in your team, right? And, you know, what they like to say is network federally, don’t network forward.

Because you never know who in your circle is going to be the next one up, and you’re all riding together. So that’s going to be good. there. So, it just supports people around you, it supports the day one, it’s going to come the day zero, it’s going to rock. Well, I am so very excited to see what’s next for Beyonce. Everybody should be on the watch for what’s coming next. He’s going to be hitting us with new music, have sure new books, new shoots. So please be on the lookout for him!