We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful NovaKane . We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with NovaKane below.
NovaKane , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Do you feel you or your work has ever been misunderstood or mischaracterized? If so, tell us the story and how/why it happened and if there are any interesting learnings or insights you took from the experience?
Early on in my career, I did feel like my music was misunderstood because not everyone could grasp it. While in grade school/high school, there isn’t that much diversity in hind sight because of trends, as a whole entity. As I got older, evolved, and had more life experiences, I realized that everyone has their own lane. Once you grasp that reality and focus on YOUR art, everything you do will prosper. I was able to myself and because of that, my music has reached countries I haven’t even stepped foot in yet.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I’m known as NovaKane and I’m from Detroit,MI. I moved to Atlanta around grade school and been here ever since. Well, since a baby I was around music. My mother was an artist and she would take me to some of her studio sessions and I would just sit in my carrier inside the recording booth while she did her thing. My grandmother was also an evangelist, so growing up I would go to church with her multiple times a week. Obviously playing on the instruments (drums,piano,organ) when nobody around was my groove. I wrote my first rap when I was about 5, right after the movie Hustle & Flow came out. I don’t know, a spark just lit up inside of me after I seen the scene where they were making the “Whoop Dat Trick” beat. All I knew was, that feeling I felt was instilled in me permanently when it came down to music. What sets me apart from others and what I’m most proud of is that I make music for me to be honest. I simply create what I want to hear. I’m very critical when it comes to my energy and mental/emotional well-being. My music is my therapy. Regardless if I’m in a positive or negative headspace, I need to get those emotions out. The main thing I want my supporters to know is that despite my music being therapeutic for me, I always hope to resonate with others who may be/have experienced the same as me.
For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?
For me, the most rewarding thing about what I do are those random dms at like 4am, where someone’s like “hey I really vibe w this song, I’ve felt like this before/I get it! That’s hard”. It just makes me think, they could’ve been doing ANYTHING else, but they took time out their day not only to listen to my music, but tell me how much they appreciate it! It’s a very humbling feeling.
How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?
I feel like people should stop gatekeeping good music! I noticed that’s it’s so common for people to find a new thriving artist, and try to hide it like the Secret Krabby Patty Formula all because they don’t want people to “bandwagon” the artist. Truth be told, that’s why we have so many copy & paste artists now but that’s a topic for a different discussion… Show your new favorite artist love though by sharing them with others, that’s what a supporter does 😌
Contact Info:
- Website: https://linktr.ee/NovaKane
- Instagram: the_novakane
- Youtube: NovaKane