WORDSPJ Some
COUVERTURE STAR - Prettyboy DO
DIRECTEURS DE LA CRÉATION - Derrick Odafi & Jessica Rushforth
PRODUCTEURS CRÉATIFS - Jessica Rushforth & Derrick Odafi
PHOTOGRAPHE - Barbara Premo
DIRECTEUR VISUEL - John Serunjogi
STYLISTE - Malcolm Yaeng
ASSISTANTE STYLISTE - Gloria Iyare
SCÉNARISTE - Jessica Rushforth
MUA - Bénédiction Kambanga
STUDIO - Prendre plus de photos Studio
New Wave: Hi 6LACK! Thank you so much for joining us. How have you been? How is touring going?
6LACK: It’s been really, really good. I’ve wrapped up the European tour now and since then I’ve been designated some time off. But at that time, I started to think about the album anniversary coming up. So, we just ended up doing some surprise pop up shows in New York and Atlanta. The goal of the shows was to strip everything back down to the live music mainly and just to expose ourselves in that way, be nervous again, not really knowing what we were doing on stage and figuring out what the next era of performances might look like for us. I’m constantly just thinking about what I might want to create next.
Are you planning any other shows for the anniversary at all?
6LACK: So, we did that last week in Atlanta, I can’t remember which day of the week. And then we did the New York show a few days before that, so those two are already out of the way. Now, I’m just more so thinking about what I might want to do for L.A, if we do it somewhere else. I would like to keep the theme of the show that we just did alive.
We were able to catch you at your London show and the crowd was going crazy. What would you say incorporates your signature 6LACK sound that makes it instantly recognisable?
6LACK: For me, it’s the lyrics more than anything. I believe for most people who enjoy my music, they enjoy the content. I think that with music there are a lot of distractions sometimes from the words, especially these days. But for me specifically, the stories that I tell, the things that people can relate to, the things that I’ve been through, how much I’ve grown and the content of the lyrics is what people resonate with the most. So, if you hear me kind of walking through a personal story, I think those are moments where people kind of turn around and I say, ‘oh yeah, that must be a 6LACK song’, or ‘you must be listening a 6LACK album’. If you see somebody in a specific vibe while they’re listening to music and they’re kind of engulfed in it, I think those are things that kind of give away the fact that they might be listening to me.
La célébrité de Prettyboy DO se propage
Comme 'Wildfire' sur le numéro IX
Lorsque vous pensez aux Afrobeats, les artistes nigérians sont susceptibles d'être l'image de l'endroit où votre esprit vous mène, dont nous savons qu'ils comptent de nombreux noms puissants et influents. Personnalité pionnière, Prettyboy DO est un personnage à ne pas manquer dans la liste actuelle des artistes influents de la centrale de la musique africaine. Cet artiste révolutionnaire né dans le New Jersey offre un son plein d'entrain et vibrant qui ne vous laisse pas sans bouger. Ces sons correspondent parfaitement à son style excentrique, de sa performance de "Jungle Justice" sur COLORS et d'autres singles extrêmement réussis tels que "Same Energy" et "Chop Elbow", vous pouvez voir clairement le reflet de cette créativité. Prettyboy DO est un artiste qui marche sur la corde raide du commentaire social et de la musique expérimentale, créditant son environnement et ses influences personnelles pour ces traits de caractère. Prettyboy est aussi intéressant en personne que dans sa musique, avec des personnalités telles que Dennis Rodman et Sisqo comme influences, son style personnel et son énergie sont distincts de la tête aux pieds, de ses cheveux colorés à son sens expressif du style.
Suite à la sortie récente de son dernier projet, un EP intitulé 'Wildfire' qui a été inspiré par le Livre des Révélations dans la Bible ; Prettyboy DO a su diverger de l'Afro-Pop au Rap en montrant sa polyvalence qui le sépare du reste ! Étant nommé roi de la scène Alte, il n'est pas surprenant que son influence se répande avec une musique qui crée une atmosphère passionnante. Poursuivant son voyage, il semble que le chanteur/rappeur ait pour objectif clair d'être le plus grand et d'inspirer les gens en cours de route, ouvrant ainsi sa propre voie.
WORDS Shenead Porosootum
« La musique a fait de moi un homme. J'ai toujours été amoureux de la musique, même enfant, mais plus encore du côté mode de la musique. Biggie, Mase, Tupac… »
Full Look , LEO PROTHMANN
Silver Chocker, CHANEL
Quelle est votre opinion sur Londres ?
P : Je suis souvent venu ici, cette fois c'est différent à cause de la musique et nous sommes debout maintenant. J'aime Londres, j'aime les gens, cela me semble très africain. Cela ressemble à la maison d'une certaine manière.
Londres et Lagos ont une excellente connexion, qu'en pensez-vous ?
P : Premièrement, nous avons beaucoup de nos propres gens ici, beaucoup d'Africains ici. Il y a toute une ambiance ici qui ressemble à Lagos car c'est très occupé, très animé. Mais c'est un niveau supérieur ici, il y a encore du mal. J'aime Londres, mais en même temps, la lutte ici est folle parce qu'ils ne disent rien ici, c'est juste interne.
Tu as de l'expérience à New York aussi, et c'est aussi un endroit où il faut vraiment se bousculer pour s'en sortir.
P : Je pense que la vie que j'ai vécue, une chose que j'ai apprise, c'est qu'on ne peut pas vraiment regretter. Et si j'ai une sorte de poste, je ne peux pas le perdre. Londres est occupé, comme le métro, vous n'avez vraiment pas d'espace et New York est juste comme ça, et c'est comme x2 pas propre, c'est plus graveleux que Londres.
Et pour en revenir à la musique aussi, diriez-vous que la musique vous a trouvé ou que vous avez trouvé la musique ?
P : C'est profond. La musique a fait de moi un homme. J'ai toujours été amoureux de la musique, même enfant, mais plus encore du côté mode de la musique. Biggie, Mase, Tupac… J'adore Tupac, j'ai même un tatouage comme lui. La mode a toujours été très présente dans ma tête, en même temps c'était la musique, mais je ne me suis jamais vu comme un rappeur, je le vois comme un style de vie donc partout je danse, vibre, mime. Sa culture, sa mode en particulier. Quand j'étais plus jeune, je voulais probablement être designer. Le truc, c'est qu'au lycée j'avais l'habitude d'écrire beaucoup de poèmes, etc, des trucs ringards mais ça a toujours marché. À l'université, ils m'ont dit d'écrire un poème en anglais et je l'ai fait si vite qu'ils m'ont dit de le lire et c'était si long et tout le monde était comme wow. A cette époque, je n'avais pas vraiment de musique en tête, mais à ce moment-là Drake sort, Rocky sort. Je n'allais pas bien à l'école, je viens de perdre ma fille et le chagrin. Ensuite, j'ai commencé à aller en studio mais je n'ai rien sorti jusqu'à ce que je sente que c'était bien et c'était en 2012 et je n'ai pas regardé en arrière.
C'était en quelque sorte destiné, c'était un processus mais vous ne savez pas quel était le processus.
P : Ouais, tu ne sais pas ce que tu trouverais en rencontrant des gens. La chose grossit. C'est Dieu. C'est Dieu et le travail.
Quelles autres choses créatives faites-vous en dehors de la musique ?
P : Film, je réalise beaucoup de mes clips. J'irai probablement dans le cinéma en fonction de mon ambition et de ma volonté d'y aller. Je veux vraiment commencer maintenant.
Avez-vous un styliste? Si non, d'où vient-il ?
P : Je suis juste sur Instagram, je sauvegarde des choses, puis je les mélange.
L'un de nos projets préférés est votre projet 2018, quels ont été vos moments préférés pour le créer.
P : Quand je suis revenu à Lagos, j'étais allé à Birmingham et LA, et cette fois j'ai décidé que j'allais abandonner un projet. Ensuite, j'ai eu une conversation avec mon cousin qui m'a dit "tu dois laisser tomber un projet, laisser tomber quelque chose et connaître ton son, comme si tes singles éclataient, tu es dope mais tu dois connaître ton son". Alors boum, une fois qu'il a dit que j'étais cool, allons-y, allons-y. J'avais un tas de musique que j'avais déjà enregistré, je me rends à Londres pour enregistrer 2 chansons. Allez à Lagos, commencez à enregistrer avec mes garçons, Hugo, puis nous en avons 2 dans le sac. Maintenant, nous pouvons avoir un spectacle… un mec me fait chier, je déteste la politique de l'industrie, si nous travaillons dur, vous êtes capable de travailler dur, allons-y, profitons de cette opportunité. Je vais chercher un n****s de l'industrie du spectacle qui essaie de baiser avec moi, je suis énervé comme l'enfer. Mais après le spectacle, je suis énervé, je vais dans son studio et je lui dis de me jouer quelque chose et ce rythme m'a rendu le plus heureux que j'aie ressenti. Remonter
So many big artists have come from Atlanta. Were you inspired much by your neighbourhood and surroundings to create music, or was it something that was more home-grown in the household?
6LACK: For sure inspired by my neighbourhood and my surroundings. I think there might have been a portion of time where I was mentally was trying to tell myself, ‘alright can you stop shouting out your neighbourhood like every few bars and just give it a rest for a second?’ But I grew up outside so, it was natural for that to just be a part of my music. If it wasn’t a school day, I pretty much spent sunup to sundown and past that on my bike riding in two different neighbourhoods on the other side of town with people telling my mom they saw me on it in a completely different part of town that I couldn’t have been in. But it was just a way of life to wake up and go, and there’s just so many different things to pull from. If you get into some trouble, you can get into some music, you can just be in the neighbourhood and just do kid s*it like basketball.
There were tons of different things to get into, followed by a soundtrack to actually live to. We had dance music and snap music and trap music and R&B music, and it was just a pool of inspiration for me and I pull from as much as I could possibly pull from. So, the good and the bad. Atlanta definitely is a thing that, even to this day, I don’t think there’s been a project or I haven’t said something about the city.
The number six is something very significant to you, considering you were raised in Atlanta’s Zone Six, your daughter is called Syx… So, is the whole like six thing purely to rep Atlanta?
6LACK: Oh no, it’s for a lot of different reasons. When I was a kid, I didn’t know much about the zoning of Atlanta. The number six was already my favourite number. I was born in June; the sixth month and it was just a reoccurring thing. Anytime something pops up in my life, I try to put meaning to it. So, if I’m looking at the clock at 6:00 and or the sixth person in line at school and all these things are just showing themselves to me. For me it’s just like, okay, well, what can that mean? Is that my favourite number? And then as I got older, as I got into numerology and life path numbers and I realised that six is my number, you know, in that realm. And it just kept taking on new meaning as I got older and then like I said, zone six, my daughter being named Syx, it just kept showing itself. So, I just ended up owning it.
Have you ever tried to work out your life path number?
6LACK: Oh yeah, for sure. I had gone to it before I did the calculator. I went to six first and I read it and I was like, ‘oh yeah, that’s definitely me’. And then I did the calculator and it obviously ended up being six.
Since I Have A Lover, is the first solo album you’ve done since East Atlanta Love Letter from 2018. Music has evolved quite a lot since then so, how did you adapt to these sorts of changes that were happening around in and around the music space with Since I Have A Lover?
6LACK: I didn’t at all, I just did my own thing. There was not much for me to reference or adapt as far as how outside things go. For me, it was more of a personal journey. And this album was a journal entry for me, it was where I’m at. The last two albums have been markers of where I was during that time, how I felt and how I thought. So, for this album being in a different space and not coming from a place of depression or deep confusion for me, this one was about realising my potential as a human being and realising how much more space I had to grow, seeing how far I had come and trying to figure out what the sonics of that sound like.
The title track was a moment where I was just like ‘what does an ideal day sound like for me?’ and not necessarily thinking about the confines of is this R&B enough? or is it hip-hop enough? or is this old 6LACK enough? It was just like, what and how do I feel right now? Is it more alternative leaning? Is it pop? How do I feel and how do I put it in song form? So, we went with that goal for the first track, the title track, and then from there, I just started to build upon the idea of that. It was just more and more moments of how do I make an audio version that describes me in the flow of life and a really, really good flow of life, figuring it out type of flow.
Are there any standout tracks from the album that hold like a really special significance at all?
6LACK: For sure. You know, the easy answer is all of them, but more specifically, I would say ‘Inwood Hill Park’ has been one that continues to just make itself like a regular part of my day. If I’m on social media and I’m clicking through story notifications or anything like that, people are living to it. And of all the songs on the album, it is the one that I feel is the theme to my life the most right now. It has a hip-hop type of drum pattern to it and is very like, get up and go, as far as just how it feels when you listen to it. The chorus to that song, just talking about being dazed and under pressure and embracing the highs and lows of life, and how it might not be easy, but I keep it alive, and I do it as much as I can every single day. So, ‘Inwood Hill Park’ applies to me through every single walk in my life so far so I think that one stands out the most.
" Je me vois être l'un des GOATS à le faire musicalement au Nigeria, si je fais toujours de la musique ."
On vous voit avoir une très longue carrière et diriger une nouvelle charge d'artistes. Dans les 10 à 15 prochaines années, où vous voyez-vous et votre métier ?
P: Où est-ce que je veux être dans 10 ans… Bon sang, je serai vieux [Rires] Je vois des choses différentes mais je me vois être l'un des GOATS à le faire musicalement au Nigeria, si je fais toujours de la musique . Si je ne le suis pas, j'aurai un artiste mais je serai toujours l'un des plus grands à l'avoir jamais fait. Je ferai probablement des films dans 10 ans. Peut-être que dans ma tête je vais probablement essayer d'obtenir un oscar. Je me vois être un Titan à ce moment-là, un nom familier - Ce ne sera même pas mon nom de scène, ce sera mon vrai nom.
Incroyable, j'espère faire des films générationnels dont on se souvient dans le monde entier ?
P : Oui, juste pour être un titan du divertissement. Je ne me considère pas comme quelque chose du point de vue commercial, mais je vais y mettre la main et je sais que je vais me lancer dans des films. À ce stade, je ne pense pas que je serai sous les projecteurs, mais mes films le seront.
Does fatherhood at all play a role within creating your music as well?
6LACK: Absolutely. You know, I think that when realised that I was going to be a father, that was the moment where I felt like honesty was the biggest point that I needed to tackle in all of my music. Before I had a kid, there was a lot of deflection and a lot of insecurity and a lot of ‘I don’t know’, not necessarily being true and honest about my own part in certain situations… and once I knew I was going to have a kid, from there I was just like, okay, well, you have to clear up all of these grey areas and be a little bit more sure of yourself and be a lot more honest, because not only do you deserve it for yourself, but someone will be looking at you as an example. Maybe she doesn’t see it or notice it or hear it in the beginning, but eventually her ears and her understanding of everything will be very, very clear.
So, for me, it just pushed a lot more honesty into what I do. And I think that’s why we get to make albums like Since I Have A Lover where, I’m not creating from a bad space anymore. And that’s partially because of having a kid who needs to also feel happy and inspired and healthy and supported. And if I make music that does that for me, then I can only imagine that it’ll do the same thing for her.
You’ve collaborated with some huge British artists such as Gorillaz on the track ‘The Pink Phantom’ and featuring Elton John as well as yourself. Was there anything that you learned in the creative process from either of these artists?
6LACK: With the Gorillaz track specifically, I think that has been a lesson that I’ve learned throughout my whole entire career of making music, which is if I want to grow and if I want to do different things, I just have to continue to put myself in spaces where people might not be used to it. Or maybe the first time I try something with it, it might be uncomfortable or it might not be my favourite. And then over time, I figure out my space in those moments. And when I learn in those moments and when I create in those moments, I end up loving it. Then I can bring new tricks and new things back to my own music.
For this issue we’re focusing on the theme of resistance. So, would you be able to tell us what resistance within your art would mean to you?
6LACK: To me, that would mean continuing to just stand on purpose and serving a cause greater than myself. I think that with money, attention, distractions, social media and biases, there’s so many things that take us away from the core of why we are here and why we create. So, for me, resistance within my art just means sticking to what I know is right. Sticking to what I know actually helps people letting that just lead my whole entire career for as long as I can do it.
Dress, TRACY CUI.
Ring (Right Hand), KHIRY
Rings (Left Hand), AGMES
Nose Ring, ARTIST’S OWN.
" Je me vois être l'un des GOATS à le faire musicalement au Nigeria, si je fais toujours de la musique ."
