We were lucky to catch up with Rashan Smith recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Rashan , thanks for joining us today. We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.

Andre 3000 famously said in a song “Rebelling to me is like an itch” and nothing resonated more. That is 100% how I feel about being creative, it’s all expression and that’ is everything to me. I became aware of this at the early age of 12. My mother was no longer picking out my school clothes the responsibility was all mines so I took that as the opportunity to express myself to the highest limits I could ever think of and since then it’s how I have did everything in my life. From my everyday to the music I make, art I paint and clothes I design.

Rashan , 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?

My biggest inspirations are Ye (Kanye West) and Pharrell Williams. Before and after school I was always have my tv on MTV and I would constantly see them in almost all the videos and they always had their own look and it inspired me to always be the purest me and its the reason I started turning my everyday journaling into songs.

That was my true introduction into music and then I set up my own home studio to record myself when I was 16.

My extreme discipline comes from also playing sports in high school around the time and I just applied the same hard work and consistency mindset my coaches would instill in us.

This deep infinity I had/have stretched
Beyond music, it spilled over into fashion, film as well as designing
And you start to understand that where the deeper connections come from is when the art paints a full picture or tells the full story meaning it’s more than just a song, this is that artists actual lifestyle.
The lifestyle approach is how I create all my projects. Meaning it’s never just one thing from one creative medium
It’ll be a specific concept in mind that I have full intentions on expressing and it will be told in all art mediums. Music , fashion, film and designing as well.

That is where I feel most confident and innovative. I look at all my projects as if they were museum exhibits and that concept stands for all my life period,

So all the art is reimagined in the lens that I feel art should be, with that respect and attention to detail as if one was visiting the moma. This is specifically to give the full experience because I feel as though that is one of the two major goals an artist should strive for

1 : express a message that starts a dialogue that creates endless conversation.. Tupac is a great example of this .

2: create an actual experience. Something that the audience can potentially resonate with and be sparked by.

I am most proud of the fact that I can 100% say I am myself, expressing to the maximum freely and I’m still learning and growing. My ultimate message as an artist is to move with love and never be startled by fear. Fear is only the unknown. As well as taking pride in individualism.

One thing I would like everyone to know is the best thing you can do is fully dive in and immerse yourself with all that is you. Explore yourself. And know that that process itself is art and it’s beautiful

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

My ultimate goal is for artist to understand that we have the power. Music is very very powerful and the world would be very bland without art. I want everyone that is an artist to trust themselves and trust in their vision to completely move independently if that is a goal. It is 100% possible. You do not have to rely on an industry of platform when we have all those tools to create our own at the tips of our fingertips.
We are all ART-CHITECTS

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

The most rewarding thing about being an artist is knowing that we can help those who may have felt like they have never had a voice,

As artist we have the opportunity to give joy, spread information and comfort those who feel uncomfortable and I believe that source of positive energy could effect millions

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @Wholovesrashan
• Facebook: @Iamrashan
• Twitter: @Wholovesrashan
• Youtube: @Gahdsmuseum
• Other: Website soon

Image Credits
1st picture (red pants) Shot by @cyvvs Rest of pictures (purple) shot by @judovisuals