We were lucky to catch up with Slideride Funk recently and have shared our conversation below.
SlideRide, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Can you tell us about a time that your work has been misunderstood? Why do you think it happened and did any interesting insights emerge from the experience?
Theres a lot of times me or the motive behind my work has been misunderstood n mischaracterized. With me Rapping about my Black Magick experiences, playing behind rap beats with my trombone, or me just having Dreadlocks and not keeping them retwisted have had people give me the side eye. But, I look at these as opinions which really doesn’t matter unless your spirit breaks. Hearing my song “Hoodoo Lady” people thought I just use my powers for bad and greed, but that’s not the case. I portray Protection Rituals which have people think I’m in the wrong. If you’re uneducated in that area, I can see why people have been misunderstood; but I gain benefits from it because it keeps the uneducated people away from me. Only thing I learned from those experiences is that your tribe will come to you, you don’t have to change your well being just because someone else isn’t familiar with it. It takes 2
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
Like said in the last 2 interviews, I grew up playing my trombone and rapping on the streets of Charleston, South Carolina. But I put my foot full in with the trombone first. I traveled to many countries, states & Cities & met plenty of people. When I started to have a little name to myself on the instrument, I decided to make music playing trombone behind rap beats. Once the beats got colder, I decided to rap on them, which was the best decision of my life. I play over Trap beats, Lofi smooth Beats, R&B, Jazz, Classical, Standard, Etc. Me personally, I don’t know too many musicians playing over rap beats unless it’s cover songs, songs that’s already made and published. So me having 10 producers making new beats for me sets me aside from the rest. SlideRideFunk was a name Ik could relate to with the trombone Or Rap, my slide with the instrument and how I slide on beats. Riding on the slide because my licks are smooth, and riding on the beats because I’m lyrically potent. With SlideRideFunk, I want the readers to understand it’s a movement, not just my artist name, but an actual Lifestyle.
What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?
1 lesson I had to unlearn was not talking to strangers. MAN, was that a lie. Talking to strangers CHANGED MY LIFE. Not to sound like a cry baby, but strangers will help u more than a lot of friends. How will you judge someone you Barely even know? You can’t. But your close friend can because he actually KNOWS you. You see how that correlates. If people don’t know you they won’t get the chance to try and talk down on you or your gifts, because who are they?? SlideRideFunk helps me keep my Identity safe from attacks. Playing on the streets has taught me that strangers can change your life, YOU just have to focus on self more. You might get put on a radio station if someone likes what they hear on the side of the streets, u might get even a $100 bill tip for playing good 2 times that week. You could even get a fresh new batch of clothes from someone who’s generous, all of these things happen to me while playing on the street. THEY WERE STRANGERS.
How did you build your audience on social media?
The day I wanted to push “SlideRideFunk” heavily, i changed my whole instagram. Deleted anything that didn’t have anything to do with me performing or dropping music on Apple Music. I changed. It started with me as a person. If you don’t take your craft serious, how can other people take it seriously? No really, think about it. I became what I wanted to see out there. A Star. When you believe you’re something, other people will too. Make it cool enough for EVERYONE to want to join in, not just 1 genre or set crowd.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://open.spotify.com/artist/5E1tC9XpPyWyGywAVsYNzj?si=MyqjdBRaQsC6s3org3djkQ
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/slideride_funk?igsh=dzd1a2Z1Nmp3azM0&utm_source=qr
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/@slideridefunk?si=v_ik81Yt839xA_yr
- Soundcloud: https://on.soundcloud.com/FeBZnwZh7V6KG6uU8
Image Credits
@SlideRide_Funk