We were lucky to catch up with AMN Whiitey recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi AMN, thanks for joining us today. Can you recount a story of an unexpected problem you’ve faced along the way?

Things go left all the time. But as an artist, you have to be able to adapt quick or one little mistake can cost more than it should. Most problems ive had are unexpected problems. If its expected, you should plan a solution to the best of your ability. The worst unexpected problem is when its something you could have prevented. Perfect example, I had a pool party/ video shoot I was promoting for about two weeks. So the day of the pool party comes and I get there a bit early and the location I had rented was in use by another party. I was only like ten minutes early but the party was still in full effect and clearly the space needed to be cleaned. I contacted the host and told him I had arrived and that the space was still being used. Turns out I had booked the day after the date I was promoting. So to paint the picture, I had booked my videographer, bought and prepared a bunch of food as well as drinks and whatever else we needed. Not to mention all the people I had that were beginning to arrive for the party which included someone celebrating their birthday. The host was very understanding and cooperative and let us still use the space after the party who actually booked that date left. Fortunately we were able to solve my mistake but unfortunately someone pushed the host in the pool as a joke which the host did not find funny. which was understandable as he had his phone in his pocket. He kicked us out, I apologized for the persons behavior and told him he can keep my payment for the following date for the trouble ( i had booked the space for 8 hours and we only used his space for less than 2 hours before that happened). I ended up doing a part 2 a few days later and that guy was not invited. So as an artist mistakes could cost you and more than money, it could friendships, business relationships, opportunities, anything.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

where i come from everyone wants to be a rapper or ball player or an artist of some sort. My brother was heavy into all that and he was good, but to me he was the best. My first talents i realized i had were more school oriented. I really liked reading and even got into writing my own stories and got into poetry even doing a school project. The school liked the project so much they had it turned into a book and made me read one of the poems over the loud speaker. I wrote my first song after me and my brother were split up in foster care. Me and my foster brothers a year or two older than me had made a freestyle we use to perform around the house. That was just us as kids messing around I wrote more stuff messing around since then as a kid because like I said where I come from its something everyone does like a sport. I started writing more as a teenager and actually trying to get better after I went to the studio a few times with my brother and seen how he was developing. I didnt release my first song until i was 17 i was just released from rikers island from i was sentenced to a year so I did 8 months. During that time i was asked a question of where do i see myself in five years. And my answer was a big house with my moms and siblings. And I planned on doing that through music. I had already made my mind up to take music serious. I had got my ged in jail and i was planning on going to school for audio engineering but things didnt work out due to a program that accepts newly released felons into colleges being shut down. Still I found studios and started recording paying for the studio from a pharmacy job i had found. I had a child at 19 so that took my attention till I became more stable. Now for the last two years ive been consistently performing, releasing music/videos, my music has been on hot 97 a few times. I go outside and set myself apart from others .ive won mulitple music competitions with judges from hot97, on the radar/power 105. Ive progressed to the finals of the coast2coast competition where me and my team flew to miami and although we didnt win we met a lot of people had a good experience and got some more work done out there. Ive opened for bobby shmurda, had events hosted by DJ drewski. But what really sets me apart is my versatility and consistency . And as we grow more and more people are going to hear the story and relate .

Looking back, are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

People. When SoundCloud was blowing up a lot of artist forgot that networking and doing the foot-work also has value. My following isnt large but not everyone can get in the same rooms as some of the contacts ive met and had conversation with and built relationships. You never know who you may meet at an event and majority of these people arent answering dms from random people. When you meet and have an actual conversation with someone you can leave a better and lasting impression in my opinion than just randomly messaging them.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

There are a few things. Of course money is one thing but im smart I could make money a lot of ways, my music definitely started as an outlet for expressing myself and story telling. As I grew as an artist I found myself wanting to make music that could express feelings for others or help them relate to me. A major mission of mine is to have a legacy worth leaving behind. As well as being able to enjoy my time here with my loved ones as stress free as possible.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://linktr.ee/whiitey365
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/amn_whiitey/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@AMNWhiitey