We recently caught up with rising R&B artist TheArti$t for an exclusive interview to discuss her latest single “Rain,” her EP “D&D” and her journey as an artist. She opens up about working with legendary producer Troy Taylor, drawing inspiration from R&B greats like Anthony Hamilton, Lauryn Hill, and Jazmine Sullivan, and bringing vulnerability and feeling back to the genre. TheArti$t also reflects on her song “I Need You,” her transition from teaching to pursuing music full-time, and how connecting with fans through her music has reaffirmed her purpose as an artist.
YouKnowIGotSoul: You’re one of those artists that, when we saw the tour lineup, we were really excited to see you on there because a lot of our fans, naturally, we’re R&B fans, but we’re traditional R&B fans. But a lot of people have been hitting us up about you, and I was like, “All right, well, let me check this new artist out,” because R&B has changed so much over the years. But check out your EP, but your latest song, “Rain.” Man, that one brought back, that had the Brandy style harmonies on it. It really had that feel to it. Just talk about the new single because we love it over here.
TheArti$t: We bringing the yearning back. I always had a super crazy love for R&B, period, but that specific era, just being vulnerable, not being afraid to show your heart, wear your heart on your sleeve, literally, that’s just everything that inspires most of the things that I do. So, yeah, it’s why not take it there? Yeah, and I’ve noticed in a lot of your music you love to add different harmonies, different background vocals. Is that fun for you? Is that something that you enjoy doing? Yeah, for sure. Shout out to Troy Taylor, though, because when I first worked with him back in 2020, three, I think we first worked together, he really, like, introduced me into the importance of having harmonies and having backgrounds and just stressing the fact that you need it. So, it definitely adds color to all the records and, honestly, it’s become my most favorite thing to do while in the studio recording.
YouKnowIGotSoul: Wow. So, obviously, Troy is a legend in this game. And the thing is, with being vocal produced by Troy, he’s tough, right? Every take has to be perfect. Every moment has to feel like something. Just talk about that experience. What was that like for you?
TheArti$t: Like you said, it’s tough, but it’s love. He’s just always making sure that he puts his best foot forward so that we’re able to put our best foot forward. He could easily just take clients and have sessions, but he cares. He cares about us now the way he cared about Trey Songz.
YouKnowIGotSoul: And obviously, the EP, “D&D”. Love that project. Just a lot of different sounds on there. Yes, sir. I felt like you were really exploring yourself as an artist. Obviously, you have records that bring you that feel of what we loved in the ’90s and the early 2000s, but you kind of fused it with what’s current today. Just talk about that project because I felt like that one really had people on notice about your music.
TheArti$t: “D&D” is self-explanatory, honestly, from top to bottom. Even the inserts of the voicemails that I had, I feel like it was important for me to tell that part of my story, what I’m saying? Just feeling like I had a lot of things that I had hiding on “D&D”, I would say, that I felt needed to be brought to the forefront in order for me to step into this next era that I’m currently in right now. But the project is beautiful. Shout out to all the producers and songwriters that collabed with me on that. All the beautiful women that sent in voice notes and that was a part of the project. The team, for helping me put it together. The project, honestly, put itself together too, what? “D&D” came, like, random to me one day after going through all the songs. I’m just, damn, this is what it is, what? And I feel like once more ears get on that project, that’ll definitely be the one that, like, skyrockets everything, for sure.
YouKnowIGotSoul: I gotta tell you, the record that you had put out, “Need You,” that just happened to play on my Spotify one day. And I’m like, and I’m vibing to it, and I’m like, “Man, what is this?” This has that feel to it. And you’re, like, pouring your heart on that song. Just talk about that one.
TheArti$t: I did that out, and I started it out in L.A. with my guy Elliot Shout out to him. He also challenged me to, he challenged my songwriting with that song. I tend to say a lot of words, and I talk fast, things like that. But he challenged me to leave space and really give the story time to sink into the minds of the listeners that’s listening to it, what? So, that was fun to do and also very necessary for where I am right now. I feel like “I Need You” is the beautiful bridge of terrain into this new era that we’re currently in right now.
YouKnowIGotSoul: Now, the rawness and vulnerability in your music is something that caught my attention right away when I listened. It’s almost like a diary for you, just letting it all out. Is that scary for you to put yourself out there like that?
TheArti$t: It’s not scary for me, but it can definitely be used against me as I continue to meet people and build relationships with people. But I don’t care. I feel, why not be vulnerable, man? We only get this one life to live, man. There’s no need to hold things in, hold things back. Be passionate, be insane about the things you love, about the people you love. And that’s just what I’m going to continue to do in the music, outside of the music.
YouKnowIGotSoul: Yeah. I was reading some of your influences growing up. I was pleasantly surprised to see Anthony Hamilton on there. That was one that your mom played for you. And what’s crazy about that is he also has that type of music that just makes you feel it to your core. And then Lauryn Hill and Jazmine Sullivan, other names that you mentioned. What’s the art of that? Because when I listen to your music, vocally, obviously, I can hear it. But more than just the vocals and the word, it’s the feeling that I get from just you putting it all together. How does that even happen? How do you make people feel the record like you do?
TheArti$t: I aim for feeling. I feel like I can’t record in the studio unless the production makes me feel something. I have to feel it or I won’t do it. And I just think that just the way I’m able to put the story together, along with my songwriting peers, it’s just easy to convey that feeling through the music. It goes back to the Anthony Hamilton’s and Jazmine Sullivan’s and Lauryn Hill’s. There’s a lot of music by them that you will probably get lost. You probably won’t even hear what they’re saying because of how the music is making you feel. You just get lost in it. You got to start it over to actually go and hear what they’re saying. And that’s kind of what I’m aiming for. I feel like if there’s anything I’m going to leave on this earth before I go, it’s going to be a feeling. It’s going to be something. It has to be a feeling, man.
YouKnowIGotSoul: Is that the music that you would say kind of like you gravitated towards growing up as well?
TheArti$t: Easily. You never forget how something or someone made you feel. You can probably forget a situation, but how somebody made you feel? Yes. No way. There’s no way you’re forgetting that.
And as you’re coming up and you’re exploring different sounds and you’re trying to find yourself as an artist, I think you’ve kind of found a pretty interesting place where you’re able to merge what we know as traditional R&B with this current new age R&B. You’ve kind of found your spot. Just talk about that creative process and just trying to find your sound through this because I obviously hear it through your EP and you’re going to continue to explore different sounds, but just talk about that whole process of trying to find something that works for you as an artist.
TheArti$t: I feel like the more I continue to explore myself outside of music, it’ll make it easy for me to land somewhere within the music. Because I feel like my life is not night and day. What you see is what you get in the music, outside of the music, and I feel like the best way for me to land in a spot, to find my footing in this, is to just simply be myself. And in order to grow in the music, I feel like I have to grow as a person and just continue to learn more about myself, what I love and what I don’t love, what makes me happy, what makes me sad, and genuinely grasp onto it and allow it to spill over into the music. Because that’s generally what all my music is, is real-life experiences. Yes, absolutely.
YouKnowIGotSoul: Now, talk about your journey in music a bit. I was reading you started off playing ball.
TheArti$t: Ball is life. But I honestly thought I was going to play basketball for the rest of my life. And then I helped raise some of my siblings, and my love for children grew within that. So it was so easy for me to transition into teaching children and being someone that they could rely on and find a safe space in. So I did that for a few years until one day God was like, “All right, listen, it’s time to put everything into the music.” I got fired from being a teacher for nothing crazy, just like phone stuff and things like that. Just being on my phone, which is, I think they made that up because, come on. But I say all that to say it was always going to come to a point of where I am right now. It doesn’t surprise me because as a kid I would always post videos of me singing on YouTube. As most of us did. But it was just something about the way music made me feel as a kid. I danced to everything. I was the kid in the circle of every party. They was giving me little $5, $10 if I was to dance. I was one of them kids for real. So, to be here right now, honestly, it just feels like I was always supposed to be right where I am. I don’t see that my life would have been any different than what it is right now. I’m gradually, gradually growing more and more in this as an individual and outside of it as an individual too. It just feels right. I feel like this is the way I was supposed to help heal the world however I can. I’ve always been a people’s person. And I’ve always loved people and making people laugh and smile, but being able to have something that they can hold on to for the rest of their life, like people can go to my music when they’re sad, when they’re happy, when they’re in love, when they’re falling out of love, or just as a safe space, period. Nothing but God, honestly. No, for sure.
YouKnowIGotSoul: But on the business side of it, obviously, being an artist, there’s a lot of risk involved. There’s a lot of work involved. Obviously, for somebody like yourself that’s trying to find your place in the industry, have you had that moment yet where you were like, “Maybe this isn’t what I wanted to do,” or any moments of, “Okay, maybe I should have took some more time to figure this out”? Have you had those moments? Not at all. Not at all. Okay.
TheArti$t: Even when people had their moments for me, my faith never swayed when it came to music. I never felt like I was doing the wrong thing. I never felt like I was making the wrong song or anything like that. I just feel like, like I said, I’m right where I am supposed to be. I’m right where I’m supposed to be, and nothing and nobody can take that away from me.
YouKnowIGotSoul: What’s crazy is I see the comments on your Instagram, on the YouTube page, and it’s always crazy to hear when people comment and say, “This song changed my life,” right, or something that impacted them so deeply. And for you, obviously, you don’t think about that stuff when you’re writing it, but what does that feel like to see those type of comments, to know that something that you made in a day or two or maybe longer than that, that really just changed someone’s entire life?
TheArti$t: It just feels confirming. Yeah. It feels confirming. Like I said, I love people, and I genuinely want the best for everybody around me, everybody that I don’t even know. It’s like I see somebody walking down the street, and I will try to do something that I feel will make their day brighter. So, to make music that people have said changed their life in any way, no matter how big or small, it’s damn? It’s damn, because I know how it feels for me to hear a song and feel like, “Yo, my whole world feels different now that I have this song.” So, to be able to provide that, give that same feeling to someone else, again, like I said, there’s no place I’d rather be. And as an artist, obviously, you’re somebody that’s going to strive for perfection in your music, your sound.
YouKnowIGotSoul: At what point did you kind of say, “Okay, I’ve kind of figured this out, this is what I want to do”? Because, like you said, you’re still trying to figure out your sound. I think you’re off to a great start with the EPs and the latest single, but has it finally clicked for you what you want to do yet, or are you still exploring at this time?
TheArti$t: Well, on a bigger scale, I obviously want to win the awards, and I want to travel the world doing this and singing and doing what I love. But I feel like I already had that moment back in 2023. I dropped my song “Sober” December 8, 2022. And the reaction that I got in the top of 2023, that was it for me. That was it. I already knew I loved it. I already knew I was going to do it because I was doing it. Well, I’m going to step into the acting world, things like that. But music is going to always be where it comes back to.
The post TheARTI$T Talks New Single, Showing Vulnerability In Music, Kehlani Tour (Exclusive Interview) appeared first on New R&B Music, Songs & Interviews | YouKnowIGotSoul.com.