8/15/18 - Omaha, Nebraska

Day 23: 14th Interview, 14th State 

While I thought finding an artist in Omaha would be a challenge, a few hashtags on Twitter, and I stumbled on a Soundcloud post, a track titled Drowning by Naylon.  The cover image caught my eye and it had several thousand plays at the time, so I was intrigued. Her voice begins around 25 seconds in, and it immediately draws you, powerful and seductive with a lot of soul. If there was a comparison I’d say a mix between Ariana Grande and SZA, and coincidentally enough she’s got clips of her doing covers of their songs and killing it! Check em' out, including more covers by Frank Ocean, Kehlani and more including some originals on her YouTube.

 

 

 

As good as her voice is, I was surprised to see she only had a few tracks on Soundcloud. But no worries, she teased of new material in 2019. 

 

“...be on the look out for some cool new music, some cool songwriting...”

 

We met up and did the interview at Edward Zorinsky Lake Park.  It was raining all morning long, which stopped right before we linked up, so perfect timing.  The only caveat was bee’s kept attacking her during the interview and a few deers got curious as well.  Other then that, it was dope getting to know Naylon a bit more, hearing about some of her previous work, upcoming plans, her inspiration, some of her favorite musicians she likes to listen to and see live, and apparently concerts get to her, but in a good way.  When responding to why she cries a lot during concerts, she said: 

 

“It’s just a surreal feeling to see people giving their all, and doing what they love.. its inspiring” 

 

She credited Ariana Grande and Taylor Swift as her two favorite concerts she ever saw live.  Maybe one day sooner then later, they’ll share the same stage.  One artist she did have the opportunity to share a stage with, was none other then grammy-nominated hip-hop artist Logic.  Earlier this year Logic sold out a 2018 Spring Concert hosted by Mavericks Productions at the Baxter Arena in University of Omaha, the same University Naylon attended.  They wanted someone from the school to open for Logic, and out of the 12 thousands students enrolled they of course chose Naylon, who at the time went by Maria Corinne.  

 

Below is her cover of Thinking Bout You by Frank Ocean

 

 

From growing a fan base of over 33k on Vine (RIP), to opening up for Logic in spring of 2018, to growing a listening audience of over 40 thousands on an original song on Soundcloud without any marketing.  Naylon is a star in the making and a musical force that continues to shine, continues to write and continues to sing.  I wonder what achievements lay ahead for her in 2019??? 

 

Afterwards we met up with another one of her friends at a cool sushi bar restaurant called Blue Sushi Saki Grill. I’ve had some great sushi, but this was definitely up for the running.  Our waiter, who recognized Naylon from school, recommended this dank dish, and dank it was...It's called.. "Triller" 

 

 

Off to the next state, South Dakota... 

 

 

8/14/2018 - Davenport, Iowa

Day 22: 13th Interview - Xavy Rusan

Where many would say living in big cities like NYC or LA places them in an advantage over others, hip-hop artist, Xavy Rusan says being from a place no-one has really heard of, gives him the advantage.  

 

“...you’ve heard the story of what it’s like to be in Brooklyn, Compton, Detroit, Miami, but you don’t know what it’s like to be from here…” 

 

Good point. Referring to where he’s from, Davenport, Iowa, apart of the metropolitan Quad-Cities, Xavy Rusn said he could only speak for the eastside and not the west side of Iowa, but mentioned that opportunities and fan bases were mostly geared toward Folk and Indie Rock genres.  So as a hip-hop artist from Iowa, “you got to pave your own way”. To him, this differentiation is a plus and opportunity to stand out. He went on to say that there wasn’t yet, a pioneer in rap, no one in the hip-hop community really speaking for them.  This lack of representation in rap, along with his older cousin, were his inspirations for getting into music back in 2013--the same year he released the video for his single "The Christening".  

As passion drives us to fulfill a need, his was being able to be that voice in hip-hop for his hometown, for Iowa, for the middle of the map. 

 

 

As I wasn’t finding any luck or substance via Facebook Open mic events for the time I was going to be in town, I turned to searching for artists via hashtags on Instagram and Twitter.  This is how I found Xavy Rusan.  I was diggin’ as I did in every city I went to, and I found myself listening to his projects from 2016 posted on Paste Magazine.  His confident swag in his tone, thought-provoking and visualizing wordplay with that southern-authentic hip hop vibe, had me like “OK IOWA!”.  The vibe took me bobbin' to his YouTube and Soundcloud. He got some hits coming out the middle of the map! Quad City Times even listed him as one of the top 5 local artists playing 'the soul of Quad Cities'.  

 

 The Plug

 

Kodak 

 

So what should we look out for from Xavy Rusan moving into 2019? A continuation of his catalog of good hip-hop.  According to Xavy, projects, collaborations, and a lot of visuals.  

 

“I’m trying to get people to look into this world I live in”

 

 

Keep Up

Instagram

Twitter

YouTube

Soundcloud

Amazon

Spotify

Bandsintown

 

 #hiphop #xavyrusan #iowa #middleofthemap

8/13/2018 - Milwaukee, Wisconsin 

Day 21 - 12th Interview - Cullah 

Previewing his music via social posts of his project Cullahsus released April 27th, 2018, I was expecting a first impression personality to reflect those vibes on that project, which was energetic, funky, upbeat, etc. (It's really good, y'all got to check it out..) Not only that, just stream through his videos on Youtube, a mix of chill, fun and upbeat, funky vibes, with hiphop lyrical flows and some of that soul-sanging.  When meeting Ian McCullough who goes by the stage name Cullah, he was surprisingly very calm and collected, poise, soft-spoken but with a lot to say, and extremely intelligent.  From the historic forested and rolling hills of Wisconsin, to its deep germanic roots, and the earliest breweries in America and Milwaukee, and much more, Cullah was full of interesting facts, one after another.  He was also full of wit, joking around with me for possible pun-titles of his album project next year set to release on April 27th, 2019…’Spectacullah, Cullahtavation, Cullahflower...'  Spoiler Alert.. he’s already chosen Spectecullah, so stay tuned.  

 

We first met at Colectivo Coffee, but then decided to do the interview across the street, right off the water. While getting to know Cullah a bit more while walking there, through his answers during the interview and then afterwards as we kicked it a little bit shooting some pool at nearby bar called Vintage, although very poise and calm, there’s an undenying fierce energy for his passion for music.  

 

I asked what genre he considered himself, and it was hard to pinpoint one genre he resonated with, rather, he accredited many genres being influences over the years, from electronic, to hip-hop instrumental, to folk, blues, parsimonious funk, drum n’ bass, uptempo, downtempo, and more.  He did mention a cross-discipline or cross-fusion of multi-genre and Future Blap.  Check out his Soundcloud and you be the judge. 

 

 

Beats and Open-sourced

When he’s not laying down raps on stage over funky and groovy AF vibes, Cullah is also a talented producer, producing his own beats he’s flowing on, and they’re good.  Just check out his catalogs at https://cullah.com.  

Prior, he was also a computer engineer, and actually makes a correlation between music and code, stating music should just be like code, open-sourced.

 

“...It’s information, just like code.  Music should be free and accessible….”

 

Via Creative Commons, all his albums are open-sourced, as he believes in the beauty of royalty-free music, which is how he builds his fan base—collaborators using his music on their own projects, usually film, credits his name, people here it, and he gets new Spotify listeners, about 20k listeners per month to be exact. That’s correct two, zero.. 20 thousand.  

 

“People get access to them, you get YouTubers with Influence, people hear about it, then they go on my Spotify, and then thats how I pay rent”  

 

Come to find out through several stories of people recognizing him, and the name, Cullah, he’s also pretty popular, especially around town. While playing pool someone recognized him from a performance at an open-mic years ago.  We ended up playing doubles…and of course won.

 

 
 
 
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But back to the music.. 

Milwaukee Music Scene

He discussed the scene out in Milwaukee, saying there’s a lot of talent there and 'things are changing', yet many creatives he knows are leaving and going to larger cities like NY. But there's definitely a scene and opportunities for artists are changing for the better. While there’s a lot of Punk Rock, he’s seeing a lot of success and shows being sold out in the hip-hop community and Americana Folk, two genres (of many) he fuses together within his own music.

 

2019

When asked what his goals are he responded about Spectaculluh releasing next year and also mentioned his open-sourced goals. ”I’m planning to release free music every year. By 2020 I’ll have done an album a year for 50% of my life. That’s my next goal..”

 

If you like to support Cullah for upcoming projects, check out his Patreon Page.  https://www.patreon.com/Cullah

Media

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