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___ODDEST
We had the opportunity to interview the young, emerging rapper and producer from California, BlankOddest. As a long time friend, it’s been an adventure to see the growth and process of this long time-coming project, which is why it makes sense that this debut album is called Long Story Short.
The project has been tossed and turned, meticulously designed and suddenly put to a halt, but finally the artist gets the opportunity to piece it all together and bring it to fruition later this year. To say we’re excited is an understatement.
In 2017, BlankOddest released his first ever project Breathe Love and Death., but if there’s anything he’s made sure to make a point of, it’s that in this forthcoming album he has truly found his sound now. He explained to me that this new compilation of songs would be the album that would truly emulate his music in the way he most wanted it to be seen, undefinable. He doesn’t want his music to be box-in, labeled, or thought of as one particular genre, but rather he wants it to be authentic, real, raw, and multi-faceted. Long Story Short is to be the matured and full recognized BlankOddest, and it will share his life and the impactful episodes that make up his story today.
Here is Our Interview:
Channel Sounds [CS]: Tell me about Long Story Short, where did the inspiration come from?
BlankOddest [B]: “The inspiration has come from fragments of life I’ve seen. Each piece is different because of how different life is. And despite how quickly things can change, when they are changing, it can feel like a lifetime. This album is a collection of those lifetimes.”
[CS]: How did the stage name come about?
[B]: “That’s a good question.”
[CS]: How have you navigated your creativity through quarantine?
[B]: “This pandemic has been really trying and heartbreaking. You know the details, so I’ll leave ‘em aside. There’s a lot of worry and stress, paired with hours of staring at your plant by your apartment window. There’s a sufficient amount of civil unrest, although I believe there could be more, and that is also a road paved with anguish. It has definitely been more difficult to think about art, and self-expression—such a sometimes selfish thing—in a time where others are what need to be prioritized. But, you find a way. You remember why you make music, and who you make it for, and you find a way.”
[CS]: What is your detour? (what's something about you that you do outside of music? Could be a fun fact, a hobby, a passion project, etc.)
[B]: “So, there were these two guys from France, well, one of them was from West Africa, but he was also French, so for simplicity...these two guys from France came to live in LA for a year. And they loved surfing. They ended up rooming with a kid from LA who had never surfed, dressed him up like some tasty shark food, and told him to shred the gnar. And since their encounter, the kid’s been shredding—I surf now.”
[CS]: In one word, how would you describe yourself?
[B]: “human.”
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