We recently connected with Nasa Lamode and have shared our conversation below.
Nasa, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. It’s always helpful to hear about times when someone’s had to take a risk – how did they think through the decision, why did they take the risk, and what ended up happening. We’d love to hear about a risk you’ve taken.
I come from a small city, Milwaukee. I was raised in a small neighborhood, in a small home. Even though I would skate out to Chicago often, which was only an hour and a half away, I never actually realized exactly HOW humble my roots was. I mean HUMBLE. We had curtains and bedsheets for doors. All my uncles was gang members and drug dealers. Some of the women in my family and hood was sex workers and this is the life I knew. I didn’t know anything else. I was always different though. I was a nerd. I was always into nerdy stuff. I always had a passion for music too and kept my focus on that. As I got older, I started realizing the type of city I was living in. Although it is very beautiful in some parts, there’s also so much ugly. So many of my friends were getting murdered or ending up in jail. Either that or they were killing themselves with drugs. It was a depressing environment for me. It was a hard pill to swallow. I knew I had to get out. I packed my stuff and moved to Texas. I was in San Antonio for two years and then eventually moved to Houston, where I was start my music career. This risk I took was terrifying, but completely changed my outlook on life and my financial status.
Nasa, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
To start off, my name is Nasa Lamode. I’m a music artist and entrepreneur. I got into music initially as a music producer. When I was 16 I got my hands on “Fruity Loops” a beat making software. I started making beats and became addicted to it. I graduated high school later that same year and went straight to college at 17 to become a barber. I would spend my time either making beats or focussing on school. After I was done with school for barbering, I went back for music engineering. I decided that I wanted to be an engineer at this time. I still had no idea that I would eventually become an artist. I was inspired by big producers of the time like Zaytoven, Ryan Leslie, and Justice League. I would cut hair at the shop and make beats in between. I was about 20 at this time. I realized that time was passing fast.
Fast forward a few years later and after meeting and working with many artists, one in particular pushed me to rap. My homie Gwalla Guappo. I’ll never forget it. He introduced me to an upcoming engineer. The studio was only 10mins away from my Houston apartment. The first time I pulled up I was trippin because it looked like a trap house with an out house and everything, The most country thing I ever seen. I was lowkey nervous because I didn’t being my gun. But after going in and meeting everyone, I was overwhelmed. Chris Jordan was extremely professional and it looked so dope inside. Dope ass equipment and an amazing vibe. This became my second home for the next two years. I recorded all of my projects from 2017-2019 in the “Lions Den Studio”
I also launched an Online Magazine Company in January 2022. It’s called Bad Habit Magazine. We have our own in house photographers, This is a solution for creatives to get press and a photoshoot at an affordable cost and a solution for small businesses to advertise. It’s still in the start up phase, but my team and I are working out a dope ass launch party this spring.
Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?
Just a few years ago I was literally a hermit. I had no social media following nor was I really making friends with substance. I stayed out of the public eye for an extremely long time. With that said, I had to start completely from scratch. I was discouraged when I got to Houston and everyone here had like 10k plus followers on Instagram and take networking so seriously. Meanwhile, people in Milwaukee was still using Facebook to complain and gossip. I was so behind and really under a rock. My good friend Heroux really put me on game on how to finesse my online presence and how to network and make money on social media. All of these tips and tricks are pretty much available on YouTube now. But for me, there’s no better way to gain followers and an organic audience than by real life. I mean, exchanging information with everyone that you meet and vibe with. That shit is important and they usually stick around. Another thing I learned was to never take nothing personal. Keep focussing on good content and consistency. They might not mess with you today, but they will tomorrow as long as you keep your head in the game.
Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?
My whole life I was taught to be aggressive and to go after what I wanted. This was an important lesson earlier in life because it got me in places where you can’t be if you’re soft. But when I got to Texas, that lesson was the very thing that got me in trouble, Here, it’s all about vibes. You can’t force nothing, You kinda just gotta let things happen naturally and organically. It turned a lot of people off when I would force shit. People wasn’t feeling that. I lost so many opportunities being blunt and aggressive. I had to learn to be cool and just get in where I fit in.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://linktr.ee/Nasalamode
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/nasalamode
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nasalamode
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/nasalamode
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCkiDnHK0CMTk0vMV-2Q19og
- Other: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/5RfltFBaWhfeSCjKTuJ48F?si=KnVR4TuxRCySkSEdyi0egA Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/artist/nasa-lamode/1471596728
Image Credits
Not Managed, Rah Shots