We recently connected with Kendle ‘Grant Sounds’ Bramble and have shared our conversation below.

Kendle ‘Grant Sounds’, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Did you always know you wanted to pursue a creative or artistic career? When did you first know?

I was unemployed after a large corporate layoff from a nonprofit organization in late 2019. I then transitioned into education, working with kids in early 2020. However, I was still figuring things out when the pandemic hit, making my job with kids very challenging. During that time, being part of If The Shoe Fits, the rap collective I’m now part of, was my saving grace. I contributed ideas to our creative direction, which improved over time, although I felt unsure about what I was doing. I did my best to promote the collective through social media and messaging.

Things started to click for me when we joined Clubhouse. Our manager, Chioma, suggested we discuss anime and video games on the platform. Previously, it had been just a casual hobby, but after hosting our first Anime Anonymous rooms, our group quickly grew to tens of thousands of followers. It amazed me how many people, especially people of color, found this online space to discuss these slightly stigmatized topics. I found myself in morning meetings with strangers from around the world who I chose as leaders for their ability to entertain, care for others, and discuss our shared interests. Some days, I spent up to 16 hours on the app, falling asleep in rooms, but I kept coming back because people needed these spaces, and someone had to curate them.

Our community appreciated our dedication, and we gained support for the time we devoted to the culture. This momentum led to the release of our first project, ‘A Slice Of Life EP,’ and helped us establish ourselves as artists in the community. Encouraged by community members, friends, and students, I quit my job to pursue full-time content creation on Twitch. After a year, I had over 1000 monthly subscribers, thousands of followers on other platforms, and a few sponsorships. However, I found the relentless pursuit of growth unsustainable. Balancing 24-hour streams, creating content, and maintaining personal relationships was overwhelming.

Upon recommendation from a member of Anime Anonymous, I did a residency at VaynerMedia to learn about strategy. It was a role I had never heard of, but I realized I had been doing it for years. Through determination, I landed a full-time position at VaynerMedia and have been growing as a strategist since. I still engage on social media and create content off the clock, but now I have a sustainable foundation to build upon without feeling overwhelmed. I love what I do and feel blessed for the journey that led me to this point, where I have a foot in the door to a much larger adventure.

Kendle ‘Grant Sounds’, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I’m someone who’s always been passionate about creativity and connecting with others. My journey into my current industry started with a background in psychology and education, where I worked with children. However, I soon found myself exploring different avenues of expression, particularly through music and content creation, which eventually led me to marketing and advertisement.

As a member of If The Shoe Fits, a rap collective, I found a platform to channel my ideas and creativity. I played a role in shaping our creative direction and honing my skills over time. Our collective focused on promoting our music and message through social media and various platforms. Additionally, I am a co-founder of an online social news network called Slice of Anime Network. Together with my fiancé, I run a small business called Soul Scribbles Studios, where we help individuals build and grow their personal brands. We’re also in the process of opening a brick-and-mortar business called Cat Scratch, aimed at increasing socialization opportunities with animals and serving as a space for geeks, nerds, and content creators.

While I still stream on Twitch, create TikTok videos, and post on Instagram regularly, my focus is more on strategy for the organizations I’m involved in. What sets me apart is my approach to socials and community-building, which is guided by love and transparency. I’m ambitious and driven, always striving for greatness without compromising my morals or sacrificing the well-being of those around me. Respect and autonomy are paramount to me, and I believe in giving people the freedom to grow while maintaining an amicable distance.

I take pride in the community we’ve built and the positive impact we’ve had on people’s lives. As a brand, I’m committed to delivering quality work and creating spaces where people feel valued and inspired. I’m confident that my name will be known for the projects I’ve created and those I’m currently working on with brands and companies. I’m constantly seeking new opportunities to expand my creative endeavors and make a lasting impact.

In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?

Create a burner account. Mask who you are and build a following by being a tastemaker in various verticals. Then, share the content of others. Content creators thrive on engagement; the more visibility they have, the bigger their platform can potentially become. That said, as a creator, engagement IS capital as well. With that in mind, giving it out for the sake of a thriving creative ecosystem may be class conscious, but it might neglect your own positioning within that system. That said, create a burner and boost others in disguise. It could be visible as well, but I’m sure creatives also want a free space separated from what they engage with and people seeing what they engage with. I would hate to be a rapper who can’t retweet anime stuff I like because my fans don’t connect with that audience as much as I do, but the game is the game. Not everyone can have the best of both worlds, given that we are full of contradictions within and as a society. That said, making a burner and supporting in secret is one of the coolest things you can do. Every like counts, every view counts; because it only takes one share to land on the right feed or ‘For You’ page that may change someone’s career for the better. If everyone thinks like this, we’ll see many more success stories each year.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

Don’t take it personally. That applies to the engagement you receive, the feedback you get, and the compromises you may have to make. For a long time, I was the runt of the litter compared to my other highly creative friends, who still to this day have hundreds of thousands more followers than me. It’s very easy to become jealous or even worse, to devise plans on how to use them or take from them to build yourself up. I’ve seen many people do that in the past. The story behind this is that during the Clubhouse era, I was surrounded by a ton of amazing female talent like Madarasdaughter, TheYonnDon, Renegoncosplay and others. It was so easy to feel like you’re the unimportant one. Sometimes, people looking past you to get to your friends, or even worse, looking through you with platitudes to reach them, would hurt. I had to learn, post-Clubhouse, that the relationships that matter are timeless. The people who will support you are consistent, and the content that is good is good content, regardless of whether the engagement matches up. I’ve now had my wins in social media through If The Shoe Fits campaigns, and although I’m hungry for more on my personal page, I no longer feel held back by seeing the wins of others in the face of my own success. Comparisons are the enemies of ambition, especially when unfettered and unchecked. We’re all running a different race.

Contact Info:

• Website: soulscribblesstudios.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/grantsounds
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kendle-bramble-222a90a6
• Twitter: https://x.com/GRANTsounds
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/channel/UC7Aq6uvtVNC21oBHBY5kaow
• Other: If The Shoe Fits Socials: https://solo.to/itsfcollective