What’s it like being a creative from New York? An artist? My analogy for it all is that it’s like fighting for a playoff spot in the Western conference. Everyone’s yearning and yearning to be heard, and some want it more than others. Some got an established team, others getting it out the mud. It’s tumultuous and as a spectator for time, I’ve seen so many faces transcend.

As a 22 year old who spent years developing himself, his style, and his ability to navigate a DAW, I truly feel like I can jump off the deep end and fulfill my desire to be heard. Even if I don’t succeed, I failed being honest to myself, my self-expression, and to the world surrounding me. I believe I’ll shine though — a celestial stunna like me, it was written in the stars.

Growing up in Harlem most definitely helps you develop the waves necessary to find a style unique and true to you. I know, because it rings true for me. From being surrounded by stores with Pelle Pelle jackets on display as a kindergartener to being surrounded by the sounds of Dipset, I got an idea of what cool was. Simultaneously, I also came up on the games of yesterday via MAME emulators and the Playstation 2. I loved, loved, LOVED the OSTs of fighting games (which in turn got me into EDM!) Capcom and SNK respectively had made sounds that I grew infatuated with before I was a teenager. This was all after I had been listening to 107.5 WBLS in my dad’s Chevy Astro on the way to school every morning. Needless to say, I’m heavily inspired by the elements of yesterday. Simultaneously, I come from a Malian & Ivorian background, and I was constantly listening to my countries’ music, whether it be Salif Keita or Alpha Blondy — sounds that’ll forever be engrained in my stylistic DNA.

Art in and of itself inspires me to create soundscapes in detail. Ironically enough, despite going to a performing arts high school and taking an art history course in the 9th grade, I wasn’t as passionate about it in high school. My interest most definitely began to click into adulthood — I realized my desire to reinvigorate my knowledge for art at 20. Today, I’m infatuated with classicism and surrealism alike, but surrealism holds a special place in my heart. The escapist feel, the dreamlike aura to the paintings speak ever so dearly to my pursuit of an escapist, dreamlike sound. Fashion is also a very big thing for me. The Maison Margielas and the Jean Paul Gaultiers, to the Pyer Moss’ & the Martine Roses — it’s all one medium of art, merely wearable. I love to draw inspiration from runway shows and the models that walk them. When I first got into it, I loved the early archives of Maison Martin Margiela’s runway events. Learning about his love for the color white, his encouragement to LIVE in your clothes and let them show their age, and his philosophy of repurposing the old floored me, and has stuck with me creatively. This opened the door to not only learn more about some of the brands I love today, but push the boundary on my creative endeavors.

Now here I am, standing whole and pouring my ideas out — something I’m absolutely grateful for. To see where this takes me is one of the illest gifts I could ask for. I hope you can join me on this journey too. Stay wavey…