Female rapper from New York, Issa Storm, is fiercely taking on the hip-hop scene. Issa Storm uses the hardships she has experienced in life as fuel to pursue her career as an artist. Having been raised in Harlem with a family of musicians, she was never a stranger to the music scene. Issa Storm’s father is a DJ, and her mother played the piano, which allowed her to experience a diverse range of music styles growing up. Heavily inspired by female rappers who refuse to allow the haters to contain their talents, Issa Storm embodies the exact attitude required to persevere through this journey.
Her new single “Dior Me” pushes boundaries and shows us that nothing can stop the Storm. With a head-banging beat and an addictive melody, the song emanates empowerment. Suppose someone asked what Issa Storm sounds like in her music. She has the perfect answer – just me. She is the type of artist who is truly authentic with her sound, nothing fake – just Storm. It’s the personality of self-empowerment that makes her such a catch. Her confidence radiates through her music and is contagious for fans. With a “don’t try me” kind of attitude, she emits power and passion through her song “Dior Me.” By including phrases like “I don’t want you to adore me, I want you to Dior me,” Storm shows us her self-worth in a fiery way. She has enough confidence not to rely on others to adore her. She’d simply rather Dior! In addition to “Dior Me’s” self-fulfilling lyrics, its high-energy beat, and electronic soundscape will easily have fans feeling like they are on top of the world.
Can you tell us a bit about the lyrics of “Dior Me?” We love the message of female empowerment!
Dior Me is one of my favorite songs. You could listen to the words literally or read between the lines and it basically is the feeling of “I don’t want you to adore me because I can and do adore myself. I give that to myself through Self Love. I want to see how far you will go for me. that’s the Dior Me part... I want you to Dior me. And Dior expensive! So show me how far you’d go for me. I’m just using Dior to measure it. Like on a scale of adore to Dior, where you got me at? Oh, Dior? Oh okay, you serious about me Lol. Every woman got a few men that adore her. That’s a regular thing. So you gotta stand out from the crowd and let me know why should I give you my time? Are you gonna Dior Me? You gonna give your all to me and then some? Then the literal meaning is just buying me pretty things lol.
Can you tell us about why you chose the name Issa Storm, and more about how your personality can be represented by a storm?
My name is Issa Storm. Storm for short. Issa is actually the last 4 letters of my real name, Marissa, and Storm came about because I’m a bright ball of energy and I have a strong presence like when a storm hits. People know when I’m around. My presence is felt, seen, heard, and when I come around you have to prepare for it because I'm going to knock you off ya feet. Just like a storm has a strong effect whether good or bad on everyone around it, So do I. Mostly in a good way unless you get on my bad side. Just don’t get on my bad side lol. I love my name, Storm. I took the bad of what “a storm” represents and turned it into something new. Instead of letting the storms that hit in my life keep me down, discourage, or destroy me. I take that strength the storm had in trying to destroy me and use it to help me push through. I became the strength of the Storm, controlled those stormy situations and I come out stronger and on top each time. That’s the deeper meaning of my name because I been through some real storms in my life. Now, I am the Storm. Can’t nothing defeat me.
Growing up you were exposed to a diverse array of music styles. Does this exposure influence your music style? Do you find that different genres inspire your music?
Yeah, I was exposed to a lot of different music styles. My grandparents played them old school gospel songs, while my father DJ’ed the newer gospel songs, and my uncles DJ’ed and played alot of songs that were hot at the time. Then there’s the music I heard around me on a daily basis from the radio to just hearing it when I’m outside or at events. My love of music falls in all genres. When it comes to my personal style of music, I make music based on a feeling I feel, the life I live or use to live, my street side, experiences, empowering women, and of course my ghetto hood side lol. Anything I’m feeling or lived or my future that I want to live influences my music. You get to know me from my music. Hey, sometimes I just talk my ish but it’s the confidence in how I talk it as a woman. The confidence in other female rappers, I hear more of it and I love it.. if anything, that influences my music the most because one thing about me, ima talk that Storm talk and won’t double back on it! haha
You told us that you have been inspired by new-age female rappers because of their determination and perseverance when they are told no. Can you name a few of your main inspirations and how they influence your music style?
Yeah like I said a lot of female rappers influence my music when it comes to being confident in who I am. Some of the New age female rappers that I like is Cardi B, Saweetie, Mulatto, Meg The Stallion, Dreamdoll, City Girls. That’s just a quick few of them but some of them. Long story short, Their confidence in being a female rapper is contagious.
What has been keeping you inspired throughout 2020?
My family and close friends been keeping me encouraged and inspiring me to keep going. They remind me that the gift I have is specially made for me. Yeah everyone rapping but can’t no one tell my story better than me. I’m not just another rap employee. I’m a star and I’m going far. They keep me believing. I do this because it’s my passion and I love it but I also do this for my family. I want to give my family a better life, no matter what it takes. They deserve it all. They keep me going and feed my ego when it comes to this rap life lol. When you have a good support system, there ain’t much that can keep you down and out... even a pandemic.