We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Fascin8 a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi FasciN8, thanks for joining us today. What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?

My most meaningful project has to be my most recent album “Hidden Gemz Vol. 1”. This project was supposed to be a collab album with me and artist SunnOfRa rapping over other people’s beats. Our engineer’s laptop was stolen, and we lost all the work. During our rebuild process, SunnOfRa decided to start producing his own beats. We felt the producers around us had their favorite artists who had dibs on their best work. This way we could get the best of the best, have our own style, and not have to pay people. So instead of rapping, he produced the entire project.

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?

I’m an Ohio HipHop artist by the name “FasciN8” with a strong passion for lyricism. My definition of lyricism is making people think just by using words. I love to story tell, get off concepts, but still involve heavy word play and metaphors to keep listeners engaged and entertained. I like to tell my story through my music like an early J. Cole, get off punchlines with some sauce similar to Lil Wayne, with a very raspy deep voice along the lines of Jadakiss, using my own authentic unique formula. I want my fans to relate to my life experiences, but also enjoy some fun music, filled with bars that make you scrunch up your face like a pug. Also, I will be co-host for my upcoming podcast “Them Hidden Gemz: UNCUT” where other artists can make an appearance and discuss some of their “Hidden Gemz” or other talents that help them along side from their primary art. This will give viewers a feel for what else artists work on behind the scenes, and a live performance in a more intimate setting. All guest appearances will receive custom a one of one Hidden Gemz shirt with their artist name and QR code for their business to wear and promote their craft.

Have you ever had to pivot?

As an indie HipHop artist, I always thought I could just focus on making music, releasing it on DSPs, and the music would speak for itself. Times have changed, and no matter how good you think you are, you will never be noticed without proper marketing and having a social presence. I was afraid to spend my money with all the scams going around, until one day I realized how upset I would be looking back, if I didn’t believe in myself enough to invest and try take it to the next level. About 7 months ago, I linked up with someone who’s well connected and genuine. Someone I could trust taking advice from and spending money with to gain traction. Between the game he’s given me, to my own research, I have invested more money into music these last 7 months than I have over these last 5 years. I have seen an exceptional increase in my growth as an artist ever since, and I’m actually starting to see returns from my investments. Do research, do things the right way, and believe in yourself, or you’ll never reach your full potential.

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

More people need to start leading the way! A lot of the times, people are afraid to support someone due to the judgement they may receive for supporting someone before they gain traction. Talent is talent, and just small things like reposting content with a message and not just hitting a share button can go a long way! And, it is free! Also, people will spend 300 plus dollars to go see famous performances all the time, but can’t spend 5-20 bucks to support some local acts. I feel a big reason for that is the sound quality. There needs to be more venues properly set up for professional sound quality so these talented artist can be seen in the right light. Show hosts could also do a better job grouping artists on a showcase that makes more sense. Live performance, and social media love are huge for up and coming artists.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fascin8gemz?igsh=MWhzcTdycTBxcHcwcw%3D%3D&utm_source=qr
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/12DZKEvegh5/?mibextid=wwXIfr
• Twitter: https://x.com/fascin8gemz?s=21&t=Msyp8yXnJ1wJdrZ1VuDXkg
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/@fascin8gemz?si=iZXRKCx_Mcep62Vy
• Soundcloud: https://on.soundcloud.com/c8uMg56ryUvFKBR57
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@fascin8gemz?_t=ZT-8tpZWtOvpT1&_r=1

Image Credits

Phoenix Media Solutions
AlmightyProductions
StreamSpace