LocalBlac is a Los Angeles-based artist, with roots in Little Rock, AR. He presents a melodic, hooky vein of hip-hop, with lyrics that explore the human experience with a relatable charm. He’s back on the scene with his latest track ‘We Outside’. This is from his new album, ‘Inside Voices Please!,’ available on all platforms. We had the pleasure to catch up with him to talk about his latest project, upcoming plans, and more.
Thank you for agreeing to this interview with Occhi Magazine. Congratulations on your career to date. If you weren’t an artist, what would you be and why?
Hmm…(lol) I went to school for a few years with plans of becoming an IT professional. I worked on a lot of immediate friends and families computers back then and had a genuine interest in it, that was about the only thing I was good at aside from Skateboarding. Going pro was once a dream of mine, but I settled with being sponsored by a skate shop and felt somewhat accomplished. I still skate weekly; it’s pretty much a part of my DNA. But yeah IT work or skateboarding.
How did you get into music?
In high school, like 15-16 years old. A bunch of us would blaze up, hit up a park, skate, and just freestyle for the hell of it. The first song I wrote was about weed called “In Da Sky”. Back in the good ole Myspace player days. I didn’t start recording again till like 3 years after that, but it was definitely blaze sessions that sparked the idea of making music. Music itself though, I’ve always been a huge fan deep diver. I was one of those kids that used to hold the rewind button on Tupac songs to hear those hidden messages lol yea sh*t was that deep haha.
Who have been your industry influences?
Jay-z, Notorious BIG, and Blu & Exile. I had always been into Jay-Z and BIG did the whole discography thing you know and was truly fascinated by the skill of rapping and the stories pieced together. But once I discovered Blu, like about 18 yrs old, the act of doing it myself started to really click. Just seeing this dude who spoke my language, being able to spit with mad skill, share stories that were closer to home, really became therapy at that point and drove me to start writing.
Please tell us more about your new album, ‘Inside Voices Please!’
It started with my gee AyoDlo from the Blvck Vmish crew. He hit me saying how we should do a project and he had some production ideas he thought I’d sound good on. I heard them and at first, didn’t know where it was going, but I didn’t want to do a string of singles so I sat on them for a second. A month later I recorded the first two songs and sat on them again, but then came back two weeks later and really knocked everything out. I wrote, recorded, developed the title and themes within a month and some change. We started recording at the end of June and by August I was already shooting the first video. Mecca handled the mixing and different things you hear within the mixes so that was something I didn’t necessarily have to worry about and that gave me the time to develop the project thoroughly and how I wanted to roll it out, videos, photoshoot ideas. It was fun, to say the least. “Inside Voices Please!” to me was just that kid inside my head wanting to be heard, wanting to be free you know, and I tried to embody that as a person as well. I quit a lot of bad habits, started trusting myself more, and trying to really drive my point across without worry about how it’s perceived. It’s a slap in the face to everyone who’s tried to silence you or tell you when it’s appropriate to speak. The cool thing about being a solo dude with a few close allies is that I get to work with anyone with no strings attached. So all my videos are shot with different cinematographers, they all bring their own sauce to the music video productions. MightyMuds, BabyFlexFilms, Kellen/Yerself TV. Great people check them out when you get the chance!
We Outside” is your latest release from the new album. Please tell us more about the track and the accompanying video
We Outside! was filmed by Mighty Muds, a part of the East of The River Collective. Really cool guy and a group of artist. We shot the video around Los Angeles in some very important spots. The first shot of the house is my grandmother’s house, the liquor store is down the street from my family’s crib, I would always take trips there so I felt it was important to include that. The last location was near USC, just an area I grew up around. The song itself almost acts as a timestamp. On a relatable scale, I just wanted to document everything that was going on at the time in Los Angeles, protest, injustices, uncontrollable fates. I just wanted to talk about it, you know going to the protest, witnessing such beautiful chaos, it was really moving. Seeing a building get set on fire right in front of me, havoc, it was all-powerful, it spoke loudly. I mean I know some of it was senseless, but it still said something, it told the rest of the world that We Outside! and no one was going to stop us from being so. More personally the song represented never backing down, especially in the areas I grew up in, you couldn’t back down, you had no choice, but to put yourself out there and stand firmly in what you believed and represented.
What has been your biggest challenge as an artist and how do you overcome it?
The dry spells have been my biggest challenge. They don’t come often, but man when I can’t write, it’s the worst time ever. I’ve learned to overcome it though by reverting to freestyling to get that spirit back in sync. Have fun you know, relax a bit. I use to beat myself up for not writing, but that was the worst thing I could do because it drove me into a dark doubt-filled place. A place you ain’t really trying to get caught in lol.
Who would you love to collaborate with and why?
Isaiah Rashad because that would be some fly shit for real. Like yeah somebody calls the fire department haha. I rock with that sound though and I think our two styles would make for some good vibes.
Can you share any information on other projects in the pipeline?
Doing a dope hip-hop/boom-bap heavy project with my guy Tone Spliff. Just a little something for the Hip Hop listeners. That’s one thing I’ve come to appreciate is just the joy for hip-hop as a whole, whether it be trap, boom-bap, spacey, whatever it is. I like it all, therefore I’m able to write and adjust accordingly. Makes it more fun and less limiting that way.
Where can our readers find out more about you and your projects?
Follow me on Instagram, hit me up. I’m always down to chop it up about music.
Twitter is cool lol ain’t really cracked the code on that one yet, but I’m also not a frequent user I still check it regularly though.
Spotify, Apple Music, Tidal, and the other DSPs
Just search LocalBlac (Just remember it’s one word)
Thanks, guys, and much love to everyone. Peace!
Photography by ＠MightyMuds
About Author
