Day 11 - 13 of Diversal's State2State Artist Discovery Road trip
Portland, Maine - Artist: B. Aull
We had the pleasure of kicking it with up and coming hip hop artist from Maine, B.Aull at his home studio in Portland. It’s basically where all the magic happens, where he not only records, vibes and creates, but also hosts what he calls #BMixes. This is where fans comment on his posts which beat they want him to flow on. He then chooses the best one and does his thang. See a recent #BMix he did to Taste (Feat. Offset) by Tyga below:
He then opened up his vault of fire and gave us a glimpse to some upcoming projects he’s been pearling, some produced by music producers here in America and few others he’s been working on with a few music producers from Istanbul, Turkey who go by the name The Flytones and are also according to Bandbasher, one of the top 10 music producers on Instagram people should follow —and ohh do they got soul! Stay tuned for their upcoming collaborations with B. Aull. The following video is the first track which introduced us to B. Aull.
When he’s not in the studio rhyming, writing, vibing, or selling his merch, he's working at one of Portland's biggest and hottest radio stations Hot 104.7, which enables him to keep his ears and fingers on the pulse of the music scene in the north east and hip hop overall. So what is the status of the hip hop music scene in Maine, let alone Portland, ME? According to B. Aull the scene is growing, big time. He mentioned that there is an increase amount of opportunities for local talent to get their chance to shine. For instance there's the ‘Monday of the Minds’ at Flask Lounge in Portland where frequent showcases are held. Not to mention, more national acts are coming to Portland, which many B. Aull has opened for. Some of his opening credits include opening up for Snoop Dogg, Sean Paul, Lloyd Banks, Ty Dollar $ign, Post Malone, and more. B. Aull also recently performed at Hot Summer 2018 where he opened up for Fabolous, Big Boi, Joyner Lucas and more.
When asked who he wanted to collaborate with, among artists like Kaytranada, Anderson.Paak, and others there was one artist in particular that stood out, not only because B. Aull was a fan, but this particular artist is responsible for inspiring B. Aull to get into music in the first place. This artist is J.Cole. Too young to attend J.Cole’s 2010 concert at Port City Music Hall, before he was B.Aull, underage Brandon had to sneak in the venue with his mother (Shh). According to B.Aull that concert was the moment that would change his life, because after the concert he knew what he wanted to become. He wanted to be up on stage doing what J.Cole did and having that positive impact on a crowd of people like J.Cole has. He knew then he wanted to be a hip hop artist and the rest has been falling into place. Since then B.Aull has performed a few times on that same exact stage where he saw J.Cole perform at for the first time. “Well isn’t ironic…don’t ya think?”
After the interview we chatted more on his projects and upcoming collaborations, and did some more vibing to beats. B. Aull has got a lot of positive energy which is undeniably contagious, and according to him it’s that attitude he has, his charism what sets him apart from others. I can attest to this, as he did not break his grin the entire time I was with him. B. Aull’s got a lot of experience and continues to progress and evolve year after year, month after month. Spotify even recently added his single ‘Come Down’ to their “Fresh Finds: Fire Emoji” playlist in late July.
“I want to be the face of hip hop in the state of Maine…I want to be the person that puts Maine on the map for hiphop”
With a consistent and growing number of streams on Spotify each month, anywhere from 5/6k to 13k consistently month over month, it’s apparent that his fan base is existent and growing. Moreover, when leaving his home studio walking down the stairs one can’t miss the huge painting/mural, fan art done of B. Aull by artist Nick Genesio. See below, this guy is extremely talented, check out his page.
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The next day we got a taste of his stage performance and energy at the Hip Hops 9 event, another artist showcase that frequently hosts events in the Portland, ME area. This event was hosted at the Oxbow Blending & Bottling bar/music venue. If you’re ever heading to Maine make sure to check if they are hosting another event. Dope spot, dope artist, dope vibe.
