Exposed Vocals Interviews Milahni Roe

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

Milahni Roe:  

I was born and raised in Orlando but my family is originally from Jamaica, JamRoc, Jamdung all of that. My Jamaican culture has a lot of influence on me as an artist and in my music. I love to incorporate patio in my music, which is the Jamaican dialect everyone loves so much. I am very proud of where I come from and I’m always ready to show it. Ya dun kno! It no nuting to mi cuz ah yahd mi cum from!

I’ve always had a special bond with music but I never knew I could create it the way I’m creating it now. After a trip to New York, I felt inspired to pursue what I really wanted in life and not create barriers for myself. So I LIVED. I decided I was going to go for my dreams of being a star, I’ve always wanted it but I never gave myself reasons why I HAD to get it. When you are moving toward a goal you have to constantly remind yourself of reasons why you HAVE to do it because there’s people telling you why you shouldn’t, circumstances making you feel like you can’t and personal battles interfering with your strive for success. But fuck all that! Who cares. I HAVE to do this for the sake of me, for the sake of my family, the world, for the sake of humanity. Milahni. Roe. is. HERE!

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

Milahni Roe:

My coworker’s name was “Melanie” and my manager from Haiti was calling her but pronounced her name milani and I loved it. At the time I wasn’t rappin so my first thought was “I’m gonna name my daughter Milahni” lol but when I started to rap I said forget my daughter, I AM MILAHNI ROE!

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

Milahni Roe:

Online music sharing is heaven sent for new, upcoming artist. Sites like SoundCloud, YouTube, Datpiff and many others give artists a platform that allows artist to easily share and promote their music, network and build a fan base. In the little time that I have been doing music, my social media presence has increased in comparison to before. When people are able to access your music and they like it they spread the word, they follow you on social media next thing you know you’re taking off on the way to the top.

At the ground floor, I’ll give my music away for free. The “ground floor” is the term I use to describe where I’m at in my journey to the top. I’m a new artist, I need to build my fan base before I decide to charge anyone for my music. I’m catering to my audience right now and testing the waters to see how people will react to me, the artist and my music. So far things have been phenomenal and I’m getting betta and betta.

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?

 

Milahni Roe:

YOU HAVE TO BE READY AT ALL TIME BECAUSE YOU NEVER KNOW WHEN YOUR MOMENT WILL COME!!!! Lol I stress this to people all the time. You never know who is watching you, who’s listening to you. Don’t take anything lightly because you may think your just showcasing for an average stranger on the street but come to find out that person is close with the Dj at the hottest club in the city and if they like you they could make the connection, you never know.

 

PROMOTE YOURSELF! You have to be the first to do it. If you post a pic on social media you better like every last one, interact with people on social media, talk to people in your city. Wherever you go, you should have it in your mind to promote yourself and do it in a way that leave people thinking like “dammmmmnnn who is that?!” I’m all about it and its all about mi, Milahni to the muhfuckin R-O-E.

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

Milahni Roe:

I don’t know how I come up with stuff sometimes. I have an idea of what I want to say and I just run with it, how it comes out is how it comes out. A lot of inspiration for my lyrics come from my life. I am telling people my story in the way only I can tell it and that’s unique to me. I always made up songs about things that I’m doing even before I started rapping, so when I did start to rap it was like finding something I lost but I knew I would always find again. Y’all know that feeling, and when you do find it, it’s like “yessss! I knew it!”.  

I just tell a story and people like it. . .

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

Milahni Roe:

Yes! Line’em up, line’em up!

Twitter/Ig/Facebook: Milahniroeworld

YouTube/SoundCloud: Milahniroeworld

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

Milahni Roe:

A year off? From what? Lol, I’d take a year off from work, school, life so that I could put in serious work on the music front. I been thinking about this too. I played the lotto when it was 1 billion something and I said if I win this money I’m dropping everything and going hard for my music. I didn’t win, but I’m still going hard, just can’t drop everything lol. But baaaayyybeehhh if I COULD. I’m gone.

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

 

Milahni Roe:

I have very amazing and supportive co-workers, shout out to my Cosmic Baes. They have been with me since day one encouraging me, motivating me to keep going, they see my vision too. They keep up with me so whenever I post something on SoundCloud I text them the link. I have hundreds of coworkers so I just collect numbers. Anywhere I go, I collect numbers, tell them about my songs on SoundCloud, send them the links.

Social media is free and virtually unlimited. So I use it. I look for ways to create value in my brand, I have to make people want to come see me.  *Spending that cash to come see me. Saving money up to come see me. Hundreds of dollars a ticket just to see me, oh ima give a show, because I don’t know what you had to do to be here but I appreciate you being here.* [Visions]

 

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

Milahni Roe:

I’m working on capturing different audiences. I want everyone to be jammin my music, so I’m experimenting with different sounds, different styles, testing the waters.

“L I M I T L E S S .” Mixtape

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

Milahni Roe:

Don’t know, don’t care to know because music is LIFE. Lol, probably living my mom’s dream.

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

Milahni Roe:

It’s difficult, but sacrifice and dedication is key. I look at it this way, when someone is in school they make sacrifices for school to have ultimate success. Music is the same in my eyes.

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

Milahni Roe:

It’s Milahni Roe’s World. I’m working on my mixtape “L I M I T L E S S.” I’ve also been releasing music on my SoundCloud, some singles off my mixtape like “Dr. Seuss” and a few other songs I make when inspiration hits. I appreciate every moment I’ve had thus far, every positive comment, every piece of constructive criticism, every like, follow, share. These moments mean everything to me.