“Buzz’N” iNterview W/ @ZaneAlexanderNC

GYBU is back with an all new “Buzz’N” iNterview and for this edition, we are traveling over to Fayetteville, North Carolina to join up & coming emcee/ producer Zane Alexander. We will revisit his “When Nobody Cared” project, speak about his latest and upcoming videos and his ambitions as a producer. So without any further ado, let’s dive into things.

Zane, thanks for joining us for the interview. For starters, could you give some insight as to your musical background and who you are as an artist?

Well for starters, I came down from the Heavens with a harp and 2 cymbals… Just kidding, LOL! I’ve always liked beatboxing as a kid and pulling pots and pans from under the sink. I never thought it was possible for me to be able to make things I’d hear my mom listening to until I found a game called MTV Music Generator 3 in my Xbox demos at the age of 12. I played it nonstop and eventually felt limited because it only allowed the use of loops. I was always fond of the drums but I wasn’t allowed to play them until I was 15-16, but I stopped because I didn’t like to be forced to play them whenever my church visited somewhere else (I don’t like anything I consider fun to be turned into a job).

When I turned 18, I went off to school without having any idea of what I wanted to do. I met my roommate Steven Echols and he let me use his computer for months until I got my own. 4 years and one phone called from GmiasWorld later (Gmia is my manager) I decided to write to my own beat one day “No Is All I Know”. As an artist I feel like I represent the voiceless, ignored, belittled and shunned. I make songs about things people want to say, but don’t and things people notice but don’t pay attention to. It won’t be uncommon for me to take a depressing subject matter and make it into an upbeat song. An example is “We’re Crazy”, a repetitive song about love triangles.

What’s the North Carolina hip hip scene like in Fayetteville? Do you feel your particular style of music is a fit to the area? Please explain why or why not.

My mom and I moved from Fayetteville when I was 6 to go to ECU in Greenville but I was bugging every year afterwards to go back. That’s where my family was at. However, I do hear about the hip hop scene in Fayetteville from friends. They say it’s mostly trap and nothing is wrong with that, unless you’re just doing it because it’s hot right now. I’ve heard of Rain 910 and Kaj Kadence and they both do hiphop. I think my style of music probably doesn’t fit the area and is mostly slept on, in general. To be honest, I wouldn’t be sure how to properly categorize my music because I make so many kinds of beats and naturally, it leads to many kinds of songs. I guess I’ll say I fall into a Miscellaneous category: and if it isn’t trap or club, then the song might get nodded to here because of the beat, but it won’t make anyone check for you, unless you’re popular already.

You’re production skills seem to have a strong Kanye West flavor to them. Is Ye an influence on your beat crafting? What other producers did you lean towards when molding your own lane?

Ahhh man! Making beats is the fun part! I used to study Kanye West’s beats and Timbaland, as well as beats from old school hip hop artists. Ye is the biggest influence though. Noah “40” Shebib is a big influence as well because I listen very closely for EQ and FX in his mixes. J Cole’s production is also something I studied: How he makes beats that fit the song and doesn’t over-do it. I do believe in studying music and applying principles as opposed to copying so I blended all those things together.

Let’s talk about your latest project, “When Nobody Cared”. Why isn’t this album all over the internet? LBVS! You’ve got alot of great records on there. How did that project come together and what type of impression were you trying to leave with listeners?

Haha…. thanks Blitz, that album cover was shot with a cell phone and was supposed to be in a real auditorium but we didn’t get that either. That project came about because the album I had been working on I wanted to push back due to wanting the quality to be perfect. d I wanted it to be looked at by the masses. I started mixing and mastering my own songs after being told it would cost $300 to mix the single. I said hell no, I will teach myself! Starting with “No Is All I Know” on my channel, you will see progress. Then in July, I decided to record a mixtape from the perspective of someone who didn’t yet have a voice in the world: Someone widely unnoticed. I wanted listeners to know basically “HEY! I’M HERE NOW AND YOU’RE GONNA LISTEN FOREVER…. or at least until I decide to quit.” and most of the mixtape is “in your face” like that.

One of my favorite songs that I’ve been playing alot is “Soul You Need”. The production, the lyrical content, all very well executed. Please speak about the song, will there be a video shot for this or any of the songs from “When Nobody Cared”?

This song was my least favorite on the mixtape… *waits for the crowd to calm down*… Yeah but that doesn’t mean that I didn’t like it! I love every song I put on there it’s just that the truth on this one makes me cringe a bit. Funny right? It’s so “in your face” that it makes the creator cringe? I wanted to make a soulful song with nothing but truth in it and make songs so that I KNOW who’s listening to my work. So if you’ve heard the song, you know why I don’t do collaborations often and that I don’t like selling beats. This song (and mixtape) led to the shrinkage of folks that I allow to be around myself because when I dropped the mixtape very few “friends” even acknowledged that I released a body of work (which is something I address in “Another College Dropout”). Anyone I know personally that says “I support you” but has to ask how music is going hasn’t supported: Never be afraid to ask “How” in response to those “I support you bro” statements. That was the sole purpose of this song: To tell the truth and probe listeners (and apparently make me cringe). I’m probably not gonna do a video for this song unless a label or someone picked me up and said we were doing one.

The internet has been buzzing over your current single, “Lauryn Hill”, which you also produced. What inspired you to create that vox like sing song sample within the beat? You speak at the beginning of the video about how she influenced your music, could you revisit that convo and explain to our viewers why Lauryn has such a strong influence with you?

http://youtu.be/jCmQlQh0g8w

One day I was at work and I just thought about how my friends and I were gonna be “ballllllin” one day and kept singing “balllllin” at work. Then I got home and recorded it then put a beat under it. I originally was going to use a beat loop but it didn’t match up, so I re-created it. Remember how I said earlier that I make upbeat songs about depressing subject matter? Notice how the song lyrics contradict (or compliment) the vocal sample? It’s talking about “balllllin” and I’m basically rapping about being in a helpless situation and not knowing much about rap because I grew up in a religious household.

You just shot a video for your next upcoming single, “For Real”, which is a record geared more towards popular radio. When can we expect the single & video to be released?

The single will be released soon; most likely whenever the video is finished. I do have the audio finished and will probably go ahead and release the audio for download and use the video to promote the song. I had so much fun shooting the video. This is my first time shooting a video with Mr. Quentin Rogers. Also my brother (from another mother) Josh made a cameo in the video as well. I’ll say it could be at most a week before release. If enough people were to ask though, I’ll just go ahead and put out the audio.

So you’ve been working on your next upcoming project. Do you have a title selected for it yet? What can we expect from you on this particular project?

I haven’t picked back up on it just yet but I am getting song ideas for it. It’s the project that I pushed back; It’s gonna be called “Urban Wallflower” (unless someone steals this title from reading this, then it will be called something else, lol). You can expect more upbeat soulful sounds with a bit of in-your-face songs, but I promise it will be like nothing anyone has ever heard from a hip-hop artist. It’s going to be from the perspective of an introvert (the Wallflower) in a popular genre (the Urban). Think “My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy” meets “Nothing Was The Same”. I want it to be a beautiful work and well-polished.

Zane, for those looking to hear more music and to stay up to date with what’s going on with you, where can we find you online?

You can find me on youtube at The Letterman Jacket. My Twitter is @ZaneAlexanderNC, which is where those following the music will have music-only updates (I try to keep socializing to a minimum on this account so people who only want to see the music can easily find it). I also have my personal Facebook and all other links in the youtube videos.

It’s really been great having you join us for the interview. Before we bring things to a close, is there anyone out there you’d like to thank or shoutout?

Shoutout to Gmia for believing that I should commit to being an artist after hearing my song “We’re Crazy”. Shoutout to Steven Echols for letting me use his laptop to practice making beats. Shoutout to Jamal Sanders for letting me know that FL Studio even existed. And lastly shoutout to Mantee Williams and Jeff Guertin (aka PilotBeats) for getting the full version of FL Studio for me my freshman year in college so that I can be on a level playing field with everyone else. Also shoutout to Desi (@Desi_Chelle) and SureShotMixtapes.com owner @Arthezius.

Zane Alexander is an entity to keep your eyes on and ears open for. With his solid production skills and ability to craft great music, the young North Carolina artist is poised to make a name for himself within the music industry. We’d like to once again thank Mr. Alexander for stopping by for this edition of our “Buzz’N” iNterview series. Make sure to link up with Zane via social media and stay tuned to GYBU for new music from this artist as it releases.

Interview by: @blitzb_60505