Hey Geno Pacino! Welcome to BuzzMusic! We are loving "Rudy Ray, we can hear a bit of an almost rage to your voice with some of the lyrics being spoken, how do they relate to your life? Are there any hidden messages here that go out to all listeners?
Not necessarily I always carry a lil bit of rage in me so it appears in all my songs. I let the beat talk to me so my tone is predicated on what the beat says. I'm really intentional & clear in my music when I heard the beat the lyrics just came and it's more of a shot at people who take themselves too seriously or are snobs. It's just a cool song about being authentic.
The instrumental bed in "Rudy Ray" has a bit of blues, anthem, and straight-up hard-driven energy. How did you come up with the various parts? Were any of these created after the vocal?
My homie Andre Allen made the beat so that's more his area of expertise.
Being in Chicago must really have been inspiring, with a lot of backstory in the Hip-Hop scene there. What had initially inspired you to begin creating music? Were there any influences in the city that helped shape your sound?
My passion for music created everything that I am it's always been my dream since I was a lil boy to be a musician more specifically a rapper. My neighborhood I grew up in shaped my sound. I grew up in Englewood & had to grow up dealing with a lot of terrible things both in my household as well as the people and friends that surrounded me. I have always had a lot of empathy so what I talk about is everything I & my people experienced between 66 & Honore and 65th & Bishop. No matter where I go or evolve to I carry the things that happened on & around those blocks with me.
How does it feel to be able to share such personal stories out with the world? Did you ever feel like not sharing some of the music you make?
It feels great to share my personal stories with the world. One of the things that I do my best to do & is my intention with all I do musically is to spread my influence. I'm really a positive guy so that's why I talk power & uplift people in most of my songs. But it's also a sense of duality because although I'm not in those same places most of my years coming up was rough. I had a great family & support so I wasn't in as bad a situation as others that were around me but it's always going to be an edge to me. It doesn't mean I have to be ignorant or carry it with me all the time. I know for a fact there are more people like me in the world & I speak for the common man although I am extraordinary lol. Too much music focuses on one thing whether that be your strict party person or the guy who only talks about wealth or fictionalized stories of selling all the drugs in the world. I embody all those things in one person a real genuine person. I can't tell you I was this super gangster but I can tell you I was in the streets. I don't have all the millions in the world but I aspire too. No matter how far I go in my music my goal is to be grounded and speak to people with similar experiences as mine. I have never not wanted to share the music I have had times where maybe I didn't have anything out or wasn't in a position to create music. But everything I have I want to share I know people can learn a lot from me.
Be sure to listen to "Rudy Ray" here.