We were lucky to catch up with Zen Tha Buddha recently and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Zen thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Do you think your parents have had a meaningful impact on you and your journey?
I can say both of my parents were very supportive, in the beginning, and they still are to this day! They would’ve had every right to say, “Oh, no! You’re not doing music. Your going to work a regular 9-to-5 for the rest of your life!” But once they realized that I was serious about music, they shifted their focus to managing my career. My mother has her own promotions business; So she would book events and have me open for other artists. For my parents, I can imagine that discovering that their child was talented was like finding a needle in a haystack. An absolute rarity. They’ve certainly been my biggest inspirations. Without them, I wouldn’t be who I am today. Literally and figuratively.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
Well, I was always a creative writer. In school, I always enjoyed writing essays, poetry, and journaling. I always had a thing for words! I was the kid that would read the entire dictionary and thesaurus. As early as middle school, my English teacher would encourage me to write more poetry. As she said it was beautiful. I didn’t consider myself a “rapper”. As rappers were, before 2010, not as alternative. This was before the days of Mac Miller, Chance, Gambino, and Tyler. We had Drake but he was the anomaly. Even though I enjoyed it with the masses, I couldn’t relate to rappers before that were rapping about guns, drugs, jewelry and money. So I never dreamed that I’d become one. Their lives didn’t reflect my reality. But it wasn’t until high school where the invention of SoundCloud gave creatives a platform to showcase their music. Bypassing the label, their music went to the consumer! It gave me an ounce of hope but, still, I didn’t feel all the way confident and secure to record a song and put it out. I had no knowledge of what it took to make one. Where do you find a studio? How much does it cost? Will my friends like it?
I had so many questions. But my friend, Trip, was also making music during this time. He was nice enough to let me shadow him around the studio. It was then where I developed a routine for how to work in the studio. I was green in the beginning. Hearing my own voice played back to me for the first time was wild! “Is this what I really sound like?” I would say. But I would eventually find my studio voice and begin working on my first demo project, “Spiritual Awakening” in 2020. The reviews were good enough for me to keep going. So during 2021, I began working on my first album with producers, Noel Nelson and Rommel Gates. “Dystopia” was the title, reflecting on the dystopian times of the pandemic. Themes I touched on were civil unrest, vaccines, biological warfare and the new world order.
Is there mission driving your creative journey?
I feel like I share similar goals of artists coming up. We all want to buy our mom a house or move our family to the suburbs. But the biggest thing for me is to be financially stable on my own. Then once I’m stable, I want to give back to my people by opening up a one-stop shop. Almost like a YMCA but for music artists and fellow creatives. Studio rooms, podcast rooms, a rehearsal stage, free internet access for editing videos, mentorship programs, manager workshops, music production classes, so on and so forth. I want to make money in my sleep.
What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?
Seeing the way my music affects people. It’s a weird feeling to explain. But when I’m on stage and I feel the crowd’s energy moving through me, motivating me, it’s unreal. Hearing the cheers and seeing everyone having a good time just reassures me that I’m doing my job. We all, especially as artists, have these anxious thoughts before we hit the stage. We think, “I hope they like me. I hope they like my music.” But nature always has a way of balancing things out. The energy you give out is the energy you’ll receive back.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://instabio.cc/3073020q77GQL?fbclid=PAAabkLzmO6Ki8fOe2gERMM3l4IkxJ3e4bmDEfW3xvak_-QZeMqTWM5R7TThs_aem_AVKxDopZcTRw6D-M0itbqw-VTNlK5XA0v-BwB9bmcSx2kVvq5bsMW_tQm4rYc24zI1c
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