Exposed Vocals Interviews Genre

Exposed Vocals: So tell us your story. Where did you grow up? What made you decide to become an artist?

 

Genre: I was born and raised in a small town named O’fallon Missouri. So if anyone ever asked “Where did you grow up?” I would simply reply “St. Louis.” As a child I had trouble focusing in school which only got harder as I got older but one thing I could always focus on was music. And from birth to now I have listened to every genre imaginable from country, to metal, to death core, to trip-hop, to classical, and any other genre you can think of. One day when I was sitting in class I realized why am I not following my passion! Why am I not making music, if I have an earbud in 24/7 and thats the first thing that comes to my mind when I try to start a conversation. So that very night I began writing lyrics, line after line. And now 2 years later I’m recording and putting out music. My real passion.

 

Exposed Vocals: How did you come up with that name? What was your inspiration behind it?

 

Genre: I went through many ideas for a name. These names varied from VelociRapper, DeceptiBar, Sadation, ect… But I thought to myself none of these truly express me as an artist. Then I thought back to my past and realized I have listened to every genre so why not just call myself Genre!

Exposed Vocals: What do you think about online music sharing? Do you ever give your music away for free? Why?

 

Genre: Absolutely, as a small artist I think that being able to share my music simply by saying to someone “@ Genre_Official_Rap on soundcloud” or being able to share links on social media is amazing. Their are a lot of people who ab use this but I think when it is done right it can really show that the person who lives next to you could be a great musician. Social media is a great platform for musicians. However I do not think giving away music for free should be done. With things like soundcloud, youtube, and spotify its harder then ever for an artist to get people to buy your album.

Exposed Vocals: Since everyone was a start-up once, can you give any smaller or local bands or artists looking to get gigs and airplay some tips?

Genre: Networking! Networking! Networking! Make friends with your community and learn what they want to listen to. If your music can pull them in because it mentions a topic/place that they know personally. Then they are much more likely the listen. In order to take that to the next step the artist has to reach out to radiostations, a&r, and anyone for that matter who is willing to push their music. It will take you awhile to find these people but when you do buddy up to them.

 

Exposed Vocals: Where do you usually gather songwriting inspiration? What is your usual songwriting process?

 

Genre: Inspiration for lyrics comes from two opposites. Both the ordinary and extraordinary. It comes from everyday life and what I call my other life. I feel like their is this other world that you have when you are a lyricist that speaks to you. I dont have a particular process I just make sure to always have my phone or a pen and paper on me so anytime a rhyme pops in my head or a topic I can jot it down. Then at night I put lines together and touch them up.

Exposed Vocals: Do you have a band website? What online platforms do you use to share your music?

 

Genre: Currently I only have a soundcloud. @ Genre_Official_Rap

Facebook @ Genre Rapping

Twitter @Genre_Official

Exposed Vocals: If you were given half a million dollars and a year off, what would you do? How would you spend it?

 

Genre: Hahaha. First thing I would do is expand my equipment for my studio. And save $15,000 for food. But the rest would be spent on equipment, and promotion.

Exposed Vocals: How do you find ways to promote your music? What works best for you?

 

Genre: I find the most efficient way is to find people in your community and talk to them one on one. Such as a big spot for me to get people interested in my music is our local skate park. Social media is great for bigger artist. But when your on the come up you defiantly need to implement 1 on 1. If you cant find people in reality then message them personally on any social media platform.

Exposed Vocals: So, what’s next? Any new upcoming projects that you want to talk about?

 

Genre: Yes! Within the next couple week I will be putting out my first official full length project called Making A Move. This will be a full length mix-tape, with a huge variant of beats, flows, and tones.

Exposed Vocals: If you weren’t making music, what would you be doing?

 

Genre: If I wasn’t making music I would probably be doing either Graphic Design or some form of physical art.

Exposed Vocals: How do you juggle the rest of your responsibilities while trying to stay ahead in your music life?

 

Genre: Well I realized that you don’t need 8 hours of sleep every night. I usually sleep 4 hours a night. Having these extra 4 hours gives me 4 hours more to work on music every day. This is also really use full because I’m most inspired when its dark out.

Exposed Vocals: What should fans look forward to in 2016?

 

Genre: Fans should be looking forward to the mixtape Making A Move as well as a second project coming out sometime before November.