We recently connected with Versoul and have shared our conversation below.

Versoul, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Can you open up about a risk you’ve taken – what it was like taking that risk, why you took the risk and how it turned out?

As an independent artist, I think that there are always risks that have to be taken. The first risk that I took related to my artistry was probably when I was in college for the first time after high school. Initially, I was going to go to college to become a lawyer But then I learned about a music electronic program at a close college, and I decided to change my major and take that course.

Once I was there, studying electronic music, I learned a lot about producing beats, recording, vocals, setting up a studio and operating it, and collaborating with other artists. I was really happy that I decided to change my major and go pursue what my heart wanted, because I was always interested in music and writing music since I was a little girl. I continued to take risks to put my free time into writing and recording songs, producing them and engineering them myself as well. The reason that I consider these things risks is because making music as an independent artist doesn’t pay your bills or guarantee you any paycheck consistently, at least not in the beginning.

I continued to support myself financially by working at regular jobs that had nothing to do with my music. And honestly, it’s still been challenging for me to make Music my full-time job where it is able to financially sustain me on a consistent basis. That’s why I’m still working at other jobs while I am pursuing my music as an independent artist.

Versoul, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I first got into making music as a little girl when I was around four years old, I was singing along with Toni Braxton, making up my own, R&B, melodies and lyrics and freestyle as well. I continue to freestyle and write rhymes and lyrics up until I was eight years old. After that, I would make my own mixtapes and put my favorite songs on it, that I listen to on the radio. A lot of Usher, Mariah Carey, Ludacris, Aaliyah, Missy Elliott, and so much more.

When I was 13, I learned how to play the guitar and I continued writing my own songs. in seventh grade, I had a friend who knew how to produce beats using FL studio, so he taught me how to make beats and ever since then I’ve been producing my own music. When I was in high school, I started to record my own songs on the beats that I made, at a studio that I used to ask my mom for lunch money to pay for hourly. I actually have a 16 unreleased album that I produced wrote and recorded when I was 15 years old that I never released yet.

I got more serious about once I was in college and that’s when I actually started releasing my songs on SoundCloud and YouTube under my first artist name Babii Cris. One of my remixes to another artist song has gained over 800,000 views organically. my inspiration comes from my own experiences, relationships, whether friend or romance, as well as observing, and, watching others going through their own challenges and struggles it’s always felt good to me to be able to express myself through music. I struggled a lot with depression growing up and having an unstable environment, and not the best examples around me, so music actually made me feel like I belong in this world.

Because I studied music in college, I started to engineer my own music when I was around 18 years old and I begin to offer as a service to other artists as well. I became passionate about getting into details and being meticulous with EQing the sounds and adding changes in song.

When I was around 23 years old, I learned how to film, so I began to offer filming to other artists as well for music videos, and such. As an independent artist, I know it takes money and trust to share your craft with someone else, and work on music with them, but since that was difficult for me, I took pride in my ability to record mix master, and engineer my own music as an independent artist. I think what set me apart from others is the fact that I am an artist, as well who understands what it’s like to not only be an engineer, but also to keep creativity through the mixing process through the lens of an artist. I have a lot of patience as well as , a welcoming vibe and presence that I think really helps others feel comfortable when they record with me.

I mostly proud of my ability to do a lot of things on my own, that would end up costing a lot of money if I were to seek out the services from others. As an independent artist income isn’t something that is really high, so that’s part of why I learned how to mix, master, and do videos on my own. I’m also proud of my dedication and my passion within my music, I’m just proud of my ability to be vulnerable and use my voice and inspire others to also follow their dreams and be the best version of themselves that they could be so that they can be happy. I’ve gotten a lot of feedback from others about my music saying that it’s helped save their life, it’s helped them heal from trauma, and they just feel good when they listen.

I want people to know that I’m always growing and evolving, but even in my growth, I will always be authentic just like I was when I was first starting out. so that means they’re always gonna be something new for me to offer and the best way that I could be here for others and help others is through my voice, and through my music. I only want my music to be healing and bring people good energy, and to inspire them to do what they love and also stand up for what is right in referring to the injustices going on around the world. Those are oppressed and being threatened, killed and harassed by the government and white supremacy.

I really want to inspire people and other artists to continue to use their platform to speak up about different issues that are going on around their communities and around their world. At the same time I want to emphasize how important it is for us to take care of ourselves and balance, how much we put into our communities with our own self-care and time of solitude, that we also need to recharge and re-center and re-ground ourselves in order to be a better service to others.

My artist, artist name, Vel actually means to see the soul. It also comes from my last name, which is a very similar name as Vel. To see the soul means to know who you are, or at least to discover who you are by following your heart and challenging yourself, and others into doing what feels right, even if it might hurt someone else’s feelings because they don’t understand you. I’ve dealt with a lot of pushback from different people in my life who told me I was being too dramatic or want to take me seriously because I’d be the one to speak up about a certain way that I felt, when, in reality, they didn’t wanna address how they were feeling and they didn’t want to take accountability in the fact that their actions and words affected me . So I really just want people to be more mindful as well in their own relationships with friends or romance, and try to have an understanding that your actions in your words really can impact somebody in a negative way if you’re not being aware or accountable.

We all got more to grow so I just want to continue to do what I love, have fun with it and have it reach the people who really need it and who appreciate it.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

I think the story of resilience that I wanna share is one that is still being written. It takes resilience every day to stay committed to being an artist even if it doesn’t feed you or pay your bills, it takes resilience every day to be an artist when you’re not guarantee that there are people who are going to listen. It takes resilience every day to do what you love, even in the face of critique and opinions that may be different from your own. I think my biggest story of resilience is always going to be the many times that I push through my feelings of not wanting to be here anymore on this planet because of how low that I felt in those times and how much I didn’t feel like I had anybody else to understand me in those moments. my dad took his life in 2011 when I graduated high school and it was resilience that got me through that and to help me not follow into his footsteps as if that is my destiny too. So I think in music I am actually able to be resilient and remain resilient , because it’s always an open book for me, Music has always accepted me and been there for me when I felt like there has been no one else.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

I think the most rewarding aspect of being an artist or creative, is the feeling of completion from a project that you just finished, and that moment, when you get to play it back on loudspeakers, in your car, for your friends and family, and just be the most excited person about it. It’s also the feeling of fulfillment that I get when I am done writing a verse or making a beat, like it failed the whole I didn’t know that I had in my heart and in my soul to make that piece, even if I didn’t record it yet or finish it yet, that’s also such a rewarding feeling to just know thatyou have that to look forward to finishing and that it came from somewhere so deep and special in your heart. The best reward is being proud of yourself in my opinion especially if that’s not something someone is used to feeling about themselves.

Contact Info:

• Website: versoulmusic.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/versoulmusic
• Facebook: Facebook.com/versoulofficial
• Twitter: Twitter.com/versoulmusic
• Youtube: YouTube.com/versoulmusic

Image Credits
Jacklyn Espejo for all color photos Jade Ebitner for black and white photos