Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Anna Ashon . We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Anna, thanks for joining us today. Can you talk to us about how you learned to do what you do?

As long as I could remember little anna was always connected to music. It wasn’t always love at first sight tho. From my childhood, I remember not wanting to wake up at 6am just to travel into the city for piano lessons.
Truth be told I think I just wanted some extra sleep haha

It’s really funny how the universe works and how everything comes together. At the age of maybe 11/12 I picked up a love for drums. My school offered classes and I got a drum pad. What I’m trying to say is maybe music comes a little natural because I’ve had early exposure to it as a child.

My obsession and passion for music pushed me to be very curious of the how. How do artists and musicians create songs and albums & how can I be a part of that process. So I did some research, I hit-up YouTube, friends, and found resources.

Released my first song “Who are you” via Amuse a free distributor platform for artists back in 2018. Recorded the song in my engineers house, and had my best friend freestyle a verse. Once I saw the process and what it consisted of I knew I was hooked. There’
is so much gratification and no better feeling than seeing an idea/a thought of in your head come to life.

-Honestly not too much I would’ve changed because without the expierence I wouldn’t have a foundation I think the major thing is finding an engineer or team that really believes in you/ your sound vision.

I ended up leaving college and it was difficult to keep in touch with my old engineer/ traveling a few states to work. But those circumstance forced me to build a relationship and complete Manifest Destiny my first album with one of my current engineers Fritz. Now I prefer to build personal friendships/relationships with my producers.

-Most essential skills is natural curiosity and willingness. I’m a slight perfectionist so maybe not waiting on every little thing but just going for it will definitely help as well. I still struggle with this

-I think the biggest obstacle that stood in the way from learning more was time. That transition from college to real world is no joke. And no one can really prepare you once the student loans are ready to collect and you’re still trying to find a full time job.
This experience caused me stress and just trying to balance life,work, music, and adulting. So give yourself grace because we’re all trying to figure this shit out.

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.

I’m a Ghanaian-born, Queens-based pop-rap artist, creative director & photographer . I go by the stage name of annathewin.

Originally launched my career at the age of 22, releasing my first album Manifest Destiny back in 2018.

Honestly how I got into music/rapping is by freestyling with friends in basements and at parties. sounds kind’ve funny but it was just our thing my friend group at the time. That transpired to where we are today.

Because I’m also an artist I can relate to wanting your visuals to match the music. That’s why I created Winnerstablemedia a media company to help with planning and content creation that’s now being forced on artists. Wether we like it or not content is here to stay and we nee to adjust to feed our core audiences.

I love the idea of collaboration!! Often times I try to collab with new artist or artists I’ve networked with or at a live show in general. I think a lot of us have so much talent to offer, the marketing/ visual part is where it sometimes can become tricky. I want to create a community and foundation that can help support artists as we evolve.

Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?

Yes, because I literally went broke making my first album. It made me pivot to wanting financial freedom for myself. The pandemic helped bring that to reality when everything shut down and we were forced to pick up new hobbies.

The first book that was recommended to me was “steal like an artist”. I know what your thinking it’s not about stealing but rather using the interpretations for inspiration. Highly recommend and easy read. From there I read “rich dad poor dad”, and starting attending financial seminars and courses. Highly recommend for anyone who is looking to pivot and just more knowledge and inspiration in life in general.

What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?

This one is tough because I’m a big believer of no one owes you anything. Although society could be nicer to creatives and artist in general the feedback definitely is needed for improvement.

A like, share, comment, even sliding in an artists dm to let them know you really fuck with the song. Or having good constructive criticism could be very helpful. Creating content around there songs or literally anything goes along way.

Artist pretend not to notice these things, but we do. And we know who’s real and who’s cloudy. Don’t wait to get on the bandwagon when you have front row seats the whole time.

Contact Info:

• Website: N/A
• Instagram: Annathewin
• Facebook: Anna Ashon (I’m a little selective on FB)
• Linkedin: Anna Ashon
• Twitter: Annathewin
• Youtube: Annathewinofficial
• Yelp: Annathewin

Image Credits
Credits: Zato Bravo (For 95% of photos) Credits: WinnerstableMedia