We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful DNA Picasso. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with DNA below.

DNA, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?

This 14-track body of work titled, The Colour Blü is different from anything I’ve ever created or released largely due to the amount of vulnerability it took. The album art is inspired by Pablo Picasso’s 1903 oil painting titled, “The Old Guitarist” which depicts an elderly poor musician, playing in the streets of Barcelona. In this painting, the man looks like he’s barely alive, holding onto the last thing keeping him on this Earth; music. I had the painting recreated by an artist named Juan Ibara which depicts me in the same blue room, holding onto the same thing keeping me alive. The original art by Pablo Picasso was a part of The Blue Period, an era where he mainly used blue paint to convey the sadness he carried at the time. I’ve always associated the color blue with sadness as well as depression and paralysis which made me not even wear the color growing up. Looking back on it, I was truly just fearful of showing emotion and being truly vulnerable in the world. I favored red because of its bold nature, it made me feel loud enough to quiet the noise but It was never about the color. It was about trying to stay alive and not show vulnerability, which I always looked at as weakness. As a black man, I never felt safe enough to let my guard down with anyone. I felt this way for a long time until I found true love. Love changed my outlook on life. It made me realize the weight of having someone to trust with your heart. This project is filled with love. Rap music is notorious for being misogynistic and even I’ve been a participant in the toxic culture of performing out of lovelessness but that’s no longer where I’m at. I’ve accepted the emotional risk that comes from being open and willing to love and be loved. Music has been a beautiful journey, it’s also been filled with trials and tribulations. On songs like “100” and “Feel Like Myself” I reflect on my journey as a musician and remind myself why I started rapping in the first place. I’ve always wanted to be the voice for those who didn’t have. Before I made music, I wasn’t heard the way I wanted to be. Now I’m able to put my story and my perspective into the music. I’m excited to share this project with my supporters and ready for it to be discovered by the people who truly need to hear it.

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 was born in New York, adopted with my twin brother and a young age, moved to California where I grew up until my teenage years when I moved to Denver, Colorado. I was playing sports and going to school mainly. I always loved listening to music and creating playlists to send to my friends. One day I started dabbling with recording music and I would show friends at school the songs I made. I thought they were okay but I didn’t take the craft serious until I got to college where I ultimately started recording a lot of my first songs. I dropped out of college to pursue the arts, music and photography. Life smacked me in the mouth and I did not get to work on the arts for a while; I had to get a job and survive. I found a job that I made enough money at to live and record music in the studio. At that point I took it upon myself to be connected and have a network of connected people so I started throwing parties with my close friends. That gave me thew ability to reach people with my music as well. Fast forward to today, I’ve released 11 studio projects and worked with dozens of artists in and outside of my city, I’m also a songwriter, vibe curator and I manage younger artists. What sets me aside for others is my authenticity and my story, I’m most proud of the things I’ve been able to create going through what I’ve gone through as a black man.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

Throughout this entire music journey, I’ve also had to figure out how to eat. With that being said I’ve switched jobs and gotten certified to do things. I went from the food service industry to an office job, back to the service industry and now I’m in the mortgage world all while doing music.

We’d love to hear your thoughts on NFTs. (Note: this is for education/entertainment purposes only, readers should not construe this as advice)

I think they are the future and a great way for freelance artists to build community and profit off their art,

Contact Info:

• Website: www.picassogvng.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/dnapicasso
• Facebook: facebook.com/dnapicassogang
• Twitter: www.twitter.com/dnapicasso
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOxpALnfNEgYQ22ZoRKXRhQ