Rap inspired me from a young age. My mom bought me the Mickey Unrapped CD that had a bunch of popular rap songs with Disney characters performing alongside the original artists… Whoomp! (There It Is) by Tag Team had me in a chokehold. The beat was infectious, and I knew the real version of the song, so I thought it was funny to hear my favorite characters rap along. I think the idea of hearing different lyrics over songs that I knew sparked me to try to create my own.
Later on in life, I downloaded a music production program that was made for EDM accidentally. I started messing around, creating beats & patterns, and once I started pairing original lyrics to them, I never looked back.
Throughout this time, my mom made it very clear to me that I was a black boy. She always pushed me to talk about my experiences, especially after finding a notebook of mine that had a bunch of ridiculous, explicit lyrics that I couldn’t even relate to. She made it clear that I was unique and didn’t need to try to fit in with what everyone else was doing; beyond the music, down to how I express myself. Falling in love with other genres led me to try blending and blurring the lines very early. Special shout out to Cool Edit Pro and Peter Quistgard.
I’m inspired by so many things and people. Skateboarding, B-grade films, graffiti, club culture, punk, metal, hardcore, body modification, veganism, queer expression, activism, the different intersections of ethnicities in neighborhoods; all of these things have played a part in who I am today and I’ve tried to find ways to tastefully incorporate them into my art. I’ve had friends from every walk of life and we speak & listen to each other, trying to experience this journey together. Some of them have asked me to tell their story or feel represented by my music, and I feel privileged to even be able to articulate any of our experiences through a medium.
I want to say my other projects have pushed me to be more creative with my approach and see things more objectively when presented within a rap sphere. If you listen closely to my production and vocals, you might hear or feel a part that’s familiar to something from an entirely different genre. Business ventures have motivated me to create the best (for lack of a better word, though this is the music business) product in the most authentic way possible. Music has also become very saturated and formulaic, from the Migos flow days to drill now, and I’ve never wanted to just go with the popular flow. I always felt like I could create something more enticing to myself and others by experimenting.
Regarding stereotypes, it used to be a mission of mine to try and prove people wrong about their preconceived notions. I’ve since shifted my focus. A lot of art and culture originated with Black people, so my current goal is closer to proving that me and my friends can do anything and do it tastefully. I think me being unapologetically myself can lead to someone else breaking their mold of needing to fit in due to the color of their skin.
-Cadena.
