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

HeSo, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally?

Growing up I never imagined I would be in the creative field professionally. Initially I wanted to be a doctor until the 6th grade. I was uprooted from the only school I attended my entire life, which was a private school, and forced to attend a public school for the first time in life. I remember my aunt Jessie driving me to my first day of school. I was visibly upset and low spirited sitting in her passenger seat and she said a few words to me that changed the course of my life forever. My aunt told me to ask if my school had a drama class; she said that I would like it. I did exactly what she said, and my love for the arts began that day. My grandmother always kept me in piano lessons growing up, which I hated, because I didn’t wanna play classical music. I was also very active in my church and youth choir so I could sing and had some experience performing. I never imagined that theater would consume my life the way it did. My dream of being an actor became my ultimate focus as I migrated to a magnet school for Drama in middle school. It was in middle school I met my childhood best friends, and joined a singing group. My theater teacher Mrs. Seward opened me up to a world I never knew existed. She went on to become a theater teacher at the high school level, and I followed her there. After 4 years I decided to study theater and English at FAMU. Due to some members going to different colleges, the group dismantled, but encouraged me and my best friend Kenneth to get going in music. He and I started a home studio in Tallahassee, Florida where we recorded many up and coming acts, including the First Lady of Dipset Jha Jha, Co- Writer of Bruno Mars’ hit “Just The Way You Are” Saint Cassius, and the famed member of Nappy Boys, T-Pain. Somehow right before my senior year of college there was a major shift, and along with my soon to be production partner Ralph Jeanty, I dropped out of school to pursue a career in music producing. I was terrified and unsure of my decision at first but the moment Ralph and I branched out and started our company in Miami, Florida in 2004, I knew it was exactly what I wanted.

HeSo, 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?

In 2004 myself and Ralph Jeanty started the company Move Sumthin Productions. Our sole mission was to make beats that made people move. I never considered myself much of a songwriter, but that all changed in 2006 when I joined a writing camp created by the late great R&B legend Betty Wright. By 2007 she afforded the opportunity to work with the late Andre Harrell and Snoop Dogg. Moreover, under her mentorship I honed my craft as a songwriter which landed me the opportunity to do a session at the request of Dj Khaled, with the production team The Runners, and Murder Inc artist, at the time, Lloyd. Per a conversation with Lloyd in 2008, he told me that I should move to Atlanta, because he felt they wouldn’t appreciate my talent in Miami. Later that same year my best friend Kenneth was senselessly gunned down in Miami, so moving to Atlanta the following year seemed inescapable. Ralph and I changed our name to the Exclusives in 2011, and vowed that our mission would be to give each artist we worked with an exclusive and unique experience. Living in Atlanta since 2009, I became known as Sean Pen and wrote with Lloyd, Nipsey Hustle, J Holiday, Sammie, Nicki Minaj, Lil Wayne along with legendary Atlanta producers such as Don Vito, Jazze Pha, Bangladesh, DJ Toomp before ultimately being introduced to New Orleans native August Alsina in 2011. 2 years later our first single under a major label “I Luv This Shit” took the world by storm and nothing was ever the same. Today as a songwriter and producer I am 11 times platinum, 9 times gold, I have 4 billboard number 1 plaques, 2 ASCAP Awards, and 2 grammy nominations. I believe the things that sets me apart is my ability to give whoever I work with their own sound while still staying true to my own flavor. I love being on the radio, but I always aim for timeless music.

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

I don’t subscribe to having any regrets in life, but that doesn’t mean if given the opportunity, I wouldn’t do a few things differently. I wish I had more financial literacy in general, but moreover literacy specific to my field. I admit in the first stages of my career I had no clue how I would make money, and most importantly where does the money come from. I placed this responsibility on managers in the past and unfortunately had lots of irregularities regarding my income. I had to learn lessons about income streams in the music industry the hard way unfortunately. I also had to witness the harsh reality that a lot of songwriters don’t like to discuss in fear of not finding work; we don’t make the money we should. To sustain a life style that matches the success of the songs we write, I would need to write at least one “hit” record a month, and by hit, I mean top 40 billboard song with radio play. The problem with this is, that’s not an easy task, as some people in this industry won’t amass 12 hit records in their entire lifetime nonetheless in a year. Living solely off residual income like royalties is a luxury most writers will never experience. Producing and engineering offered me more income streams than the average writer but in all honestly its grueling work that offers no guarantees. If I knew then what I know now, I would have structured things differently and invested my early earning in non-music related areas.

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

The time in my career I had to pivot is happening right now. I dropped the name Sean Pen and rebranded as HeSo RUDE to throw my talents into becoming a solo recording artist. I wanna be able to leave my loved ones something more than plaques behind when I’m gone. I love music and I wanna do it the best I can for as long as I can, but realistically I don’t wanna have to depend on writing a song to pay my bills in the next 20 years. I have been in the industry for over 25 years, and the thought of being in survival mode that long is honestly terrifying. With that being said, I’m doing something I did in 2009 when I moved to Atlanta; I’m betting on myself. I believe I have a message I wanna share with the world in my own voice. RUDE stands for “Really Unapologetically Doing Everything” and that’s exactly how I govern my life. I wanna be rich, but I also want to empower my fans to be rich as well either financially or in knowledge and understanding. My Project “Minimum Wage” in dropping in 2023 and I hope the world receives it with all the love I’ve poured into it.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.hesorude.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/heso_rude
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hesorudeworld
• Twitter: www.twitter.com/heso_rude
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@hesorude5087
• Other: Tik Tok: https://www.tiktok.com/@heso_rude

Image Credits
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