Exposed Vocals Interviews Certainly

Exposed Vocals: How did you hear about Exposed Vocals? What made you decide to sign up?

Certainly: I was on twitter looking at my notifications and I looked to the right upper comer of the page where it says who to follow, and that gorilla caught my attention so i decided to click it to see what was all about and I went thru the page, found it pretty interesting so I decided to follow. Then I saw that you guys were really talented at reviewing musicians and I decided to give it a try.

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

Certainly: I was born April 9, 1990 Valencia, Venezuela. I grew up in different places , I was always moving with my family . We lived in a city called Guacara till I was 6 then we moved to Miami and we were living in the US for a year , Sunrise , Davie and then I came back to Venezuela to a city called Mariara and i lived the nightmare for 8 years that left me in shock with the violence . My dad had a feeling things there were not going to get any better. He was in politics and one day got threaten to get killed , and they shot at his car so he had to move to Miami and applied for politic asylum and applied so He could bring my mother sister and I.

I went to Western High School and i got kicked out in after I was done with 12 grade because i skidded way too many times and didn’t have enough credits to graduate , (They actually caught me when I was finishing the year and they pulled out the days I missed and decided to call my parents ). Then I started working with my dad Detailing private Jets around Miami , Fort Lauderdale and Palm Beach; I used to work for Volvo Nissan Of Weston as a part time technician , I was getting new cars ready for delivery and maintaining the lot clean . Also my dad had a detailing company working there and sometimes I used to help him and became really good at detailing. I worked in many places as a detailer ,(Ferrari of Fort Lauderdale, Bentley Rolls Royce Aston Masrtin, JM Lexus , Mercedes Benz Coconut Creek, Then Ferrari Of Fort Lauderdale Again).

When I was 16 years old , I was always going to house parties and all age parties getting wasted and smoking weed , I got me a connection to put me down to play at this places as a Tech House Dj, I had the opportunity to Dj at many places around Fort Lauderdale ,Miami and Hollywood. At 17 I decided to start making my own original music , So I became a producer, and started releasing my music on iTunes , Beatport and other online stores when I was 18 years old with a music institute in Switzerland Called Stahlplatten , Then I signed with a record label in New York Called AMnesia Music and I started writing rap but never went to the studio, (I been listening to rap since i was 8 years old and I always liked it).

I released my first rap Mixtape when I was 23 by myself ,( I decided to go to the studio for the first time) and put the Djing and Producing to a side for some time. I knew it was a big change from Electronic music to becoming a rapper. It was really a hard change completely unpredictable for my fans base , friends , and family whom disliked it and never supported me , but i never gave up ,never lost hopes and always believed in myself.

I had to opportunity to go to New York for a Cypher at Bad Boys Studios and i decided to buy a one-way ticket to New York with 100 dollars in my pocket and a quarter of weed that I had hidden in the flight . Nowhere to stay , decided to stay in the streets for a week , thinking that i was going to find a job at Ferrari Of Manhattan and that i could start a new life.

So I took all my belongings and flew to La Guardia Airport , when I got to New York I came only with a Florida Jacket on and wasn’t ready for the cold weather. I took a taxi to Queens and took the subway towards Manhattan to get to Bad Boys Studios. They let me upstairs and when I got to the door , the guy on the intercom told me that the session wasn’t going to start till later. So I decided to sit in the hallway and roll me a joint while I was waiting for the cypher, and when I was half way thru my joint, some guys came out of the studio running telling me that i couldn’t smoke in the hallway and that I needed to leave, but i could leave my belongings in a locker and come back for the cypher. So I went walking around Manhattan finishing my joint and came back to the studio 30 minutes before the cypher started ;when I got back , the place was full of rappers and producers with 2 camera guys recording everything. I had brought with me a Da Vince Vaporizer and i was smoking with all the rappers getting ready for the cypher trying to relax and not be nervous. We all started freestyling right before the cypher and then we did a practice session before they started recording the main cypher in witch we all killed it, and they couldn’t decide who won or who lost. When everything was over it was almost 12pm ,I was exhausted from the Flight and from walking around all day with all my bags plus i had to stay in the streets with a dude that I meet from the Cypher that didn’t have a place to go neither , trying not to pass out so i wouldn’t get robbed ,when you have different drug dealers offering drugs to you every 5 minutes and getting moved by the cops every hour because we couldn’t sit in front of any store and then all of the sudden the temperature started dropping and i didn’t know what to do , so we started walking towards Central park and got stopped by a drug dealer whom i seen a couple times already and i told him i didnt have any money and he told me to start walking to a some weird street , he started rolling a blunt and we started talking. He told me that he knew biggie and that his brother used to make music with him and then he started showing me his music so i took my cellphone and I showed him mine; then we went different ways. We finally sit down in front of a store and when im almost passing out I witness a massive fight around 4am going down with half of the block fighting and the cops came so we had to leave again. Later that morning I went to the bus station to rest a little and charge my phone and planing to go to Ferrari of Manhattan and i had to walk with all my bags there to get rejected and then it started snowing. But this i just one of many adventures I had, that have changed my life in such way that made me who i am today and gave me the strength i will be needing for the future.

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

Certainly: Like every artist you need a name to identify and distinguish from each other. It took me quite a while to come up with a name that nobody was using and that had double sense so i could use it in both ways meaning that it identifies me and I could also use it to express an intent to say that I’m right at the time of writing my lyrics and overall in my career. Always looking for positive outcomes.

I was listening to a Lil Wayne song called “Megaman” and you can figure the rest “Fucking with a real nigga, Fucking right Certainly”
Exposed Vocals: What do you think about online music sharing? Do you ever give your music away for free? Why?

Certainly: I support online music sharing , because it’s the easiest and fastest way to share your music with everyone , and since now half of the world is constantly looking at their cellphones is great toll to be heard by many people if you do the right promotion.

At the beginning I was thinking only about the money because nobody Is out here to help you, as a matter of fact they will kick you when you’re down, but then when I got up on my feet and didn’t need money that much I decided to release all my music for free. Like on my last mixtape says “Free to listen”. But I am planning to get back on iTunes with a major label and make real money, since I have pledged to make music till I die. From producing music to writing to singing I will never stop , Even if is non profit , I will constantly release music.
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?
Certainly: I would say to go partying, do all the drugs you can find and meet as many people you can till you find the right person to put you down, but then again. Everyone has their different struggle and the only advise I can give you is let god guide you and and fight the demons away. DO NOT LET THE DEVIL IN

Exposed Vocals: Do you ever make mistakes during performances? How do you handle that?

Certainly: I only made a mistake at a gig I had in a club that it used to be called Discotek , I brought the wrong CD and didn’t noticed till I got behind the turn tables. It was very embarrassing with the Dj on floor and I decided to leave. It wasn’t that bad because i didn’t interrupt the music but the Dj noticed my mistake.

I was very young at the time and was ready like I am right now, but I always try to do everything as clean as i can with low provability of making mistakes , but like every human , we all make mistakes.

Exposed Vocals: Do you tour? Anything interesting happen on tour that you think our readers would enjoy hearing about?

Certainly: I had a tour planned with coast2coast but I was taken to jail for something I didn’t even do, right before I could leave and the police took everything I had. I got desperate and asked one of my connections from ATL for a handout witch it was a huge mistake since I had a very good image with them and then I got turnt down.

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

Certainly: I never gathered any songwritting inspiration from anybody. What I do is; type while I go thru different beats and I modify all the words so I can make them flow smoothly with whatever beat I decide to use when I’m almost done with the song.
Exposed Vocals: Do you have a band website? What online platforms do you use to share your music?

Certainly: I’m currently using Rebvernation as a website to promote my music and share it with my fans but when I’m doing something big and for free I would use Datpiff , Soundcloud, twitter , Instagram and currently not using Facebook because unless you’re really famous , you’re prolly wasting your time putting music there.
Exposed Vocals: What are some really embarrassing songs that we might find on your mp3 player?

Certainly: I only listen to “cream” , I’m not really interested in bad music and I believe to have developed an ear for the best music around , no matter what type of genre. So if you ever go thru my MP3 you’e probably going to try to steal it.
Exposed Vocals: If you were given half a million dollars and a year off, what would you do? How would you spend it?

Certainly: I would built a brand , I got plenty ideas for different bussinesses. Of curse depending where the money is coming from, If they ask me to strictly do music and that I could develop my business later, then I would only focus on making music and try to spend money wisely ,only on the necessary things. How i would spend it , is confidential. I wouldn’t want to ruin my plans.
Exposed Vocals: Any planned studio upgrades? What are you working with now?

Certainly: Not at the moment , I’m focusing on making more money and fixing my credit, so I could buy a house and built a studio from the ground
Exposed Vocals: How do you find ways to promote your music? What works best for you?

Certainly: I’m widely open for social media in witch I used on the daily to promote images appealing to my fans , so they don’t lose interest and at the same time they get to know the way that i think.

The best place to promote your music would be Instagram , I started getting a lot of feedback lately .
Exposed Vocals: If you could perform anywhere and with any artists (Dead or Alive) where and who would it be with? Why?

Certainly: I would like to perform at the Cannabis Cup 420 edition in Denver Colorado with Future , when an artist know with producers to work with, magic starts happened and the best music is born, So it would be an epic night with the best vibes
Exposed Vocals: So, what’s next? Any new upcoming projects that you want to talk about?

Certainly: I’m currently working in 1 album and a Mixtape at the same time. The Album it’s going to be a non violent clean album , but the mixtape is explicit for sure. I’m playing a few gigs around Florida and ATL
Exposed Vocals: If you weren’t making music, what would you be doing?

Certainly: I’m really good at selling stuff , so I would be dealing.
Exposed Vocals: Do you remember buying your first album? Who was it? What was going through your head?

Certainly: Get Rich Or Die Tying by 50cent , This is fucking Amazing
Exposed Vocals: How do you juggle the rest of your responsibilities while trying to stay ahead in your music life?

Certainly: It’s pretty hard to do it because I’m still struggling and nobody has ever helped me. I’m always paying for everything , so I’m constantly making money to pay for my studio and the rest of the stuff that are necessities to me. But I’m always on ahead and on top of my music.

Time is really important for me so I try not to waste none. I barely sleep and wake up at 5am everyday , even on the weekends so i work on my music and still have time to take care of my personal life.
Exposed Vocals: What should fans look forward to in 2016?

Certainly: Get ready for my best year , I been doing this for 10 years but there is something about 2016 that has me exited.