WORDSPJ Some
封面明星 - Prettyboy 做
創意總監 - Derrick Odafi & Jessica Rushforth
創意製作人 - Jessica Rushforth 和 Derrick Odafi
攝影師 - 芭芭拉普雷莫
視覺總監 - John Serunjogi
造型師 - Malcolm Yaeng
造型師助理 - Gloria Iyare
佈景設計師 - 傑西卡·拉什福斯
MUA - 祝福 Kambanga
STUDIO - 拍攝更多照片工作室
NW: Hi BK, we would love to start by asking how you are right now?
BK: I am in a growing state. I’m honestly just observing, and just working on my album, I think I’m just ready for new stuff to come out. So this is also exciting. Like for me to be a part of this too. You know what I mean?
NW: Yes of course, who is Bktherula and how has she helped Brooklyn Rodriguez?
BK: I would say that who I am and as an artist are very similar. I feel like Bktherula helps me in a sense of just remembering that. I guess I am who I am, and not in a prideful way. If I can envision it, I would see BK talking to me, and I’m sitting down or sad about something, and then she would just come to me and be like, ‘Yo, what are you doing?’ And I’d say, ‘What do you mean?’, then she shows me the life that I have, and the things that I’ve done, and then I’m like,’ oh, yeah, forgot.’ I would have to get up again and shake off whatever is trying to keep me in this cave of emotions.
NW: Yes, to sharpen your mental state, and helps you thrive on that side.
BK: Yes!
NW: Being an Atlanta native, how has that place influenced you, not only as an artist but as an individual?
BK: I was actually just talking to my friends about this yesterday. I honestly don’t think I could have done it anywhere else other than Atlanta. I’ve grown up with my videographer, my engineer. He’s engineered every single song that I have and I grew up with them since I was 15. We just did a lot of stuff, we went to underground shows where they were playing my music and I couldn’t have done it without them. I also couldn’t have done it without being here in Atlanta, I felt the energy here, the culture here, everything has morphed me into being who I am today. I’m recording my album in Atlanta with the same guys once again so it’s just like the cycle repeats itself here all the time.
Prettyboy DO 的星光熠熠
就像第九期的“野火”一樣
當您想到 Afrobeats 時，尼日利亞藝術家很可能是您心目中的形象，我們知道他們擁有許多強大而有影響力的名字。開創性人物 Prettyboy DO 是當前來自非洲音樂強國的有影響力的藝術家名單中不容錯過的人物。這位出生於新澤西州的突破性藝術家提供了一種充滿活力和活力的聲音，不會讓您坐以待斃。這些聲音與他古怪的風格無縫匹配，從他在 COLORS 上的“Jungle Justice”和其他非常成功的單曲（例如“Same Energy”和“Chop Elbow”）的表演中，您可以清楚地看到這種創造力的反映。 Prettyboy DO 是一位走鋼絲的社會評論和實驗音樂的藝術家，將這些性格特徵歸功於他的環境和個人影響。 Prettyboy 本人和他的音樂一樣有趣，受 Dennis Rodman 和 Sisqo 等人的影響，他的個人風格和能量從頭到腳都與眾不同，從他五顏六色的頭髮到他富有表現力的風格感。
在他最近發布的最新項目之後，受聖經啟示錄啟發的名為“野火”的 EP； Prettyboy DO 已經能夠在 Afro-Pop 和 Rap 之間產生分歧，炫耀他的多才多藝，這使他與眾不同！被稱為 Alte 界的王者，毫不奇怪，他的影響力隨著音樂傳播，營造出迷人的氛圍。繼續他的旅程，這位歌手/說唱歌手似乎有一個明確的目標，那就是成為最偉大的人，一路上激勵人們，鋪平自己的道路。
WORDS Derrick Odafi
“音樂讓我成為一個男人。我一直熱愛音樂，即使是在孩提時代，但更喜歡音樂的時尚方面。大吉、馬斯、圖帕克…… ”
Full Look , LEO PROTHMANN
Silver Chocker, CHANEL
您對於倫敦的觀點是？
P：我經常來這裡，這次因為音樂而不同，我們現在起床了。我愛倫敦，我愛那裡的人，對我來說，這似乎很非洲。從某種意義上說，它就像家一樣。
倫敦和拉各斯有很好的聯繫，你覺得它是什麼？
P：首先，我們這裡有很多自己的人，這裡有很多非洲人。這裡有一種類似於拉各斯的整體氛圍，因為它非常繁忙，非常喧囂。但這裡是一個更高的層次，還有鬥爭。我愛倫敦，但與此同時，這裡的鬥爭很瘋狂，因為他們在這裡什麼都不說，只是內部的。
你在紐約也有經驗，那也是一個你真的必須努力才能做到的地方。
P：我想我所過的生活，我學到的一件事是你不能真的後悔。如果我有某種職位，我不能浪費它。倫敦很忙，就像地鐵一樣，你真的沒有空間，紐約就是這樣，就像 x2 不干淨，比倫敦更堅韌不拔。
回到音樂上來，你是說音樂找到了你還是你找到了音樂？
普：那很深。音樂讓我成為一個男人。我一直熱愛音樂，即使是在孩提時代，但更喜歡音樂的時尚方面。 Biggie、Mase、Tupac……我喜歡 Tupac，我什至有一個像他一樣的紋身。時尚在我的腦海裡一直很重要，同時也是音樂，但我從來沒有把自己看作一個說唱歌手，我把它看作是一種生活方式，所以我到處跳舞、振動、模仿。它的文化，尤其是它的時尚。當我年輕的時候，我可能想成為一名設計師。問題是，在高中時，我曾經寫過很多，詩歌等，陳詞濫調，但總是奏效。在大學裡，他們讓我用英語寫一首詩，我寫得很快，他們讓我把它讀出來，而且很長，每個人都喜歡哇。那個時候我腦子裡真的沒有音樂，但是那個時候 Drake 出來了，Rocky 出來了。我在學校表現不佳，我只是失去了我的女孩和心碎。然後我開始進入錄音室，但直到我覺得它很好而且那是在 2012 年我才發布任何東西，我沒有回頭。
這有點注定，這是一個過程，但你不知道這個過程是什麼。
P：是的，你不知道在遇到人的過程中會發現什麼。事情變大了。是上帝。這是上帝和工作。
除了音樂，你還會做哪些有創意的事情？
P：電影，我導演了很多音樂視頻。我可能會進入電影，這取決於我去那裡的雄心和意願。我真的很想現在開始。
你有造型師嗎？如果不是，它從哪裡來？
P：我只是在 Instagram 上，保存東西然後混合起來。
我們最喜歡你的項目之一是你的 2018 項目，你最喜歡創造它的時刻是什麼。
P：當我回到拉各斯時，我去了伯明翰和洛杉磯，那一次我決定放棄一個項目。然後我和我的表弟進行了一次談話，他告訴我“你必須放棄一個項目，放棄一些東西並了解你的聲音，就像你的單身人士正在流行一樣，你很興奮，但需要了解你的聲音”。太好了，一旦他說我很酷，讓我們走吧，讓我們開始吧。我有一堆我已經錄製好的音樂，去倫敦錄製 2 首歌。去拉各斯，開始和我的孩子們一起錄音，雨果，然後我們有兩個。現在我們可以舉辦一場表演了……我很生氣，我討厭行業政治，如果我們努力工作，你就能努力工作，讓我們去吧，讓我們抓住這個機會。我和我一起去參加一個表演行業 n****s tryna f**K 我很生氣。但演出結束後，我很生氣，我去了他的工作室，告訴他給我演奏一些東西，那個節拍讓我感到最快樂。拉起
NW: One video game that you would like one of your songs to feature in cyberpunk? Why is that?
BK: Cyberpunk is actually my favourite game. I don’t know why I haven’t mentioned it yet. I feel like it just looks like how my music sounds. Even the tasks that you have to do, it just reminds me of my music. There’s this one time, I was playing the game and I went to the club on the game. I was hearing music in the background and it sounded like the future and I was like, ‘Oh my God,’ this just sounds like my music, like me. I just imagined that was my song. I also have Tony 77 tattooed on me like, like the game.
NW: Have any video games sparked a song that came out?
BK: I would say it was not a song that came out, it just reminded me of something that I already have out, a song called Crown. Whenever I was in the club was like ‘Damn, that sounds like Crown’, but I think what inspires my music is the small sounds like the sound of like, I don’t know, opening like a the car or whatever. It makes this weird, futuristic sound or just how it sounds when you’re standing in the middle of the street. That inspires me more than the actual music in there. Sounds I’ve never before heard. Inspires me more than listening to other music.
NW: What were some of your favourite characters that you’ve seen in some of these video games?
BK: Well, I mentioned Tomb Raider, Lara Croft. That was like a big inspiration. the way that she dressed and I just really liked that type of style…Crash Bandicoot. My favourite character from Mario Kart was Rosalina. And Knuckles from Sonic. Yeah, Knuckles had swag.
NW: Another thing that’s interesting about you is that you have a toy collection.
BK: Yeah, I do. I do.
NW: How does tapping into your inner child influenced your music? And yeah, tell us a bit about your collection, and why it’s so special to you.
BK: Tapping into my inner child, I just feel like it really never left, honestly. And I think it helps my process with music because I’m just being me. You know what I’m saying? The second you fall away from what you actually are, you’ll just compute, you’re gonna compare yourself to everyone, you’re gonna be really insecure, you’re gonna doubt yourself. And you’re gonna feel like something’s missing, which is why when people usually get famous. They obtain all this money, all this fame, and then they still feel
like something’s missing. Because they left a very important part out which is who they really are. At that point in life, you’ve already lived so much life you don’t know where to find that shit no more. You have to really look hard and dig deep to find it again. So I think you should just never lose it, so you won’t have to look for it.
But about my toys. I’m actually sitting right in front of it. I’m really into horror movies. Like
extremely into horror movies. So I have a lot of my favourite horror movies. I have like a toy of the none. Hellraiser I have a Candy Man toy. I have the Grady twins toy, Coraline. The Walking Dead, Five Nights at Freddy’s Halloween. I have a whole SpongeBob collection. A whole saga: SpongeBob, Patrick, Squidward and I have the Krusty Krab and Sponge Bob’s house and stuff.
NW: Is that your favourite cartoon?
BK: Yeah, that’s one of my favourite shows. I can’t lie. That’s it. I have a couple Tech Decks. I have a Run DMC toy and Andre 3000… I’ve got a lot of Minecraft shit. I actually like miniature arcade games. I have Miss Pac Man, Galaga and cyberpunk toys. I have a chunky toy that moves.
NW: LVL5, what a lot of people might not know is that the album has a very spiritual kind of messaging, what sparked that direction for you?
BK: I think that I am just trying to spread a message of there definitely is a spiritual war going on, all at all times. In the smallest little things that we go through. And, sometimes we feel like the world is against us. And why are all these bad things happening? It’s actually just as simple as is spiritual warfare, the light and the dark. That’s really it. When you do crazy good things, the dark is not happy about that. They’ll do anything to take you down. So that’s why when people say life is like a roller coaster, you go all the way to the top, and then you go all the way down. You don’t have to go all the way down. The reason why people are going all the way down is because they’re not aware that there’s a spiritual warfare going on.
So, they just kind of let the devil take them down. It could be like small things like you going up. Everything’s cool. But let’s say you don’t drink, right? You’re going up, you go to one of these parties. And they’re just like, ‘here, take a shot’. You take the shot, that’s what’s making the roller coaster go down. It’s a decision that you’re making. But you just have to be aware of what can take you back. And that is the dark. That’s the spiritual warfare that I’d be talking about. There’s signs and there’s certain things that you can see, that will literally tell you what’s about to happen, but you just have to see the unseen. And in order to do that, you just have to really tap in.
NW: You recently released an acoustic version of that song. What message were you trying to convey with that?
BK: For the acoustic, I wanted to give more of a personal side of me honestly, because I feel like some people think I’m either extremely aggressive or not serious. I wanted to do that, you know what I mean? Let me really show them, tell them how I feel without having to tell them how I feel. So it’s the same songs that are already out. When I’m saying something completely in a different way. It sounds different. It feels different. When I started off, my first song was an r&b song. I’m more into that. I know how to do that way more than what I’m doing now. So it’s like, alright, just let me just show them another side of me, was my thought process. And I did it, I did all three songs back to back. We just planned on releasing it like that, it was probably the easiest thing I’ve done. I wanted to kind of get a little bit more vulnerable with them.
Black Leather Top and Skirt, LICK RIKA
Leather Arm Belt, MONIKA BEREZA
Latex Leg Cover, ELISSA POPPY
Black Boots, NATACHA MARRO
“如果我還在做音樂，我認為自己是在尼日利亞從事音樂工作的山羊之一。”
我們看到您擁有很長的職業生涯並領導著新的藝術家。在接下來的 10 到 15 年裡，你在哪裡看到你自己和你的手藝？
P：10 年後我想在哪裡……該死，我會老[笑] 我看到不同的東西，但我認為自己是在尼日利亞在音樂上做這件事的山羊之一，如果我還在做音樂的話.如果我不是，我將擁有一位藝術家，但仍然是有史以來最偉大的藝術家之一。 10 年後我可能會拍電影。也許在我的腦海裡，我可能會試圖獲得奧斯卡獎。那時我認為自己是泰坦，一個家喻戶曉的名字——它甚至不會是我的藝名，而是我的真名。
令人驚嘆，希望製作能被世界記住的一代電影？
P：是的，只是想成為娛樂界的巨人。我不認為自己在商業上有什麼表現，但我會把手伸進去，我知道我會去拍電影。到那時，我認為我不會成為焦點，但我的電影會。
Dress, TRACY CUI.
Ring (Right Hand), KHIRY
Rings (Left Hand), AGMES
Nose Ring, ARTIST’S OWN.
紫色西裝：約翰·勞倫斯·沙利文
豹紋襯衫：Edward Crutchley
珠寶：Rathel Wolf
NW: This issue that we’re releasing is called the performance issue. What does performance mean to you?
BK: I still think experience fits for that, honestly, it’s, that’s probably one of my favourite things to do, and every day I practice to get better. Practising, just listening to my music and seeing how my body moves to music, and just taking it to the stage. And also, like creating a connection with the fans in the crowd as well. I would say.
It’s fun. It’s probably that I want to be known as one of the best performances. That’s another goal that I have.
NW: What aspect of performance do you want to tap into a little bit more?
BK: Stage design, I need stage design! I need just something a little bit more. But I think that every day, I’ll just strive to be like one of the best performers. I just, that’s the dream that I have to look at Trav [Travis Scott]. Trav goes on stage and people go crazy, even Carti. If we really get in there, Carti goes on stage, and the crowds are different from how other people go on stage. It’s not the same. Our attention spans are getting shorter and shorter. And there’s so much music that comes out. So people don’t really listen to the same body of work over and over again anymore. To have that type of control, to the point where you can go on tour three, four times with the same body of work. 1000s of people are still pulling up plus 1000s more. Yeah, that’s what I want to do. That’s what I’m gonna do. I just have to perfect what I’m doing. But I’ll get there for sure. Wherever you’ve been at once or twice, like, you’re not gonna get that experience, not anywhere else. So you come back for that, for that feeling, for that energy.
NW: What do you want yourself to be focused on 10 years from now?
BK: I would say, don’t don’t stretch yourself out too long. When your time is done, your time will never be done. You don’t have to keep up with the next gen, that’s why the Next Gen is the next gen. It was a good one. When you know, you know? It’s definitely gonna be like an evolution thing. I’m not just sticking to wherever it is like you’re delving into other aspects of your journey.
NW: Maybe a toy museum 10 years from now?
BK: It’s definitely gonna be something different. I have a feeling that this is just the beginning of everything that I was supposed to do. I might even be fucking motivational, I don’t know, I see myself talking a lot. I see myself really helping out younger kids and stuff like that. It’s just a matter of growth that I need to do. I can really be great at a lot of different things. I could branch out into a lot of different things. I think music is just a first step, because it’s my love and I’ll never not, I’ll never stop loving music. Even when I retire. I’ll probably still have a studio. But I’ll probably just retire from dropping but I’ll probably still be recording.
“如果我還在做音樂，我認為自己是在尼日利亞從事音樂工作的山羊之一。”
