Episode 1: Flwr Chyld
The Introduction
Atlanta has been the home to many influential artists like Usher, OutKast, & 6lack. The music scene in Atlanta has always been a melting pot of various genres that have impacted the music we listen to today. It has no shortage of homegrown talent & it is evident through artists like Flwr Chyld who continue to raise the bar. Flwr Chyld is an incredibly talented producer & songwriter who has been adding his unique sound to Atlanta’s music scene. Drawing inspiration from jazz, neo-soul, alternative R&B & hip-hop - his passion & refined musical abilities is what make him stand out from the crowd.
The Discussion
From tracks like Flow & Luv 2 U, it is pretty evident that you have adequate knowledge in producing music & showcasing an array of styles throughout your songs which in a way is still uniquely you. Which leads to the question of what made you get into creating music & how did you find your sense of self?
I pretty much got into music through my dad, he grew up playing music from a young age and made a career out of it when he moved to Atlanta to become a Band Director when I was around 7 years old. I became fully submerged into the culture of band music at a young age and for my entire life, I’ve always have been a band geek. I started to get into playing instruments around 11 and picked up the trombone. When I was around 12 & 13 that was when I actually got into beat making. At the age between 14 & 15, I picked up the FL Studio’s and the rest is history. At a young age, I already knew this is what I wanted to do but also having something like formal training helped me a lot really helped me excel in the production of music. I also attended college, so I when is the school of music, that was when I started experimenting & really started to develop my style.
Atlanta obviously has a huge music scene including artists like Usher, OutKast, 21 Savage, 6lack and etc. How did the music scene in Atlanta influence your music when growing?
So this question is always interesting since whenever I get asked this question my answers sometimes change. But the answer that I consistently always give for this question is mainly the energy that the city brings in terms of music. The way I draw inspiration from a person like Stevie is different when I draw from a city like Atlanta since the music that is mainly coming out of the city is hip-hop and that’s what's poppin. So I draw my influences from trap music since I love trap music. You may not hear it sonically but I try to evoke a certain emotion from my music. I’m not trying to make trap music but emulate the same feel, the same energy, the same soul but in my own interpretation. But overall I have definitely been inspired by the music that has come out of Atlanta from artists like OutKast & other trap musicians and come up with creatives to use that in my music as well.
I know that you quote from your documentary that one of the main reasons why you’re so passionate about creating music is because it helps you escape from all the chaos that is happening around the world. How have you used music to cope during these times as we have the pandemic and other social-political issues?
So short answer I would say that music has really helped me stay balanced, in the past, I used music to help me escape even before the pandemic. But now I just use music just to stay balanced on a higher level & be at peace.
In a city like Atlanta who I guess the music scene is predominately Trap & Hip-hop, do you sense that the scene is changing towards more R&B & Neo-Soul as artists like yourself are adding new elements to it?
I want to start by saying that there has been a lot of artists that have come out of Atlanta that people don’t know are from Atlanta. Since when you get to that point people tend to forget where you’re from, but for someone like me, I can relate since they are trying to get that breakthrough & when the city is known to make a certain genre of music it is hard to get the recognition that you are looking for. So people usually move somewhere else & get that breakthrough since there is a market for that. But for me, I work remotely in my collaboration process since by being a both producer/artist, I can basically collaborate with anyone around the world. But in the city, I would say I & a small number of the artist is what I’m doing in terms of music. So there are some moments where you feel overshadowed since your music is different but I never took it personally & just went back to the drawing board to restrategize things, which is kind of similar to what I did when I released my first EP under the name Flor Chyld where it was the first time I tried to control my destiny & go from producer and put my face on things and see where things go.
Do you think people tend to support artists more when they are from their city or do you think there is a bit of disassociation?
I believe that a lot of cities tend to suffer from the same problem of unsupportive communities. People who I talked to from LA & New York have said the same thing & it’s definitely in Atlanta as well. I always like getting asked questions about Atlanta since I can be honest and give insight on both sides from the perspective of an outsider and insider. Like we as a city are unique & different in some ways but we share the same problems as other cities at the end of the day. So when it comes to this topic it's super interesting because we usually get the intention that people from your city would be the most supportive but in reality, it is you who has to build yourself up to even get that certain recognition. I was recently watching an interview of an artist who was from a small city & he said that “You’re not gonna pop if the people in your city don’t know you”, that is kind of true to a certain degree but at the end of the day the music industry is very interesting & you may not even pop off in your home town but in a whole different country because of streaming. Like for me one of my biggest countries for streaming is South Africa & I believe that every artist is going to deal with this at one point - that they don’t have the support they need from their city. I’m grateful to have a great amount of support from the city but sometimes when things are not working out you have to bring your talent to somewhere else where people would listen to your music. At the end of the day, you have to do what’s best for your career & it's up to you to make things wor
If you have a Tiktok account you have probably seen a bunch of artists blowing up on the platform like Don Toliver and etc. What are your thoughts on this, is this the future of sharing music with the next generation & is it going to create quote-on-quote fast music so it meets weekly trends?
In my opinion, Tiktok is really just another avenue as far as the social media thing goes. Since it is kind of like the next big thing right now so it’s very fresh & I think that is why it’s so easy for people to become successful so early on the platform. But for myself, I don’t really rely on Tiktok for like success as an artist but you kind of have to go with the flow sometimes and do what others are doing so you can expand your audience. So for me, I had to start a Tiktok recently because of managers but I have seen famous Tiktokers having huge influences on certain artists' music & basically blowing it up. As an artist & with your team, you’re always trying to figure out how can you boost streams & have plateaued & then some tiktoker blows up your music, it can be life-changing since the streams just go up exponentially overnight. It’s crazy & super interesting what Tiktok is doing to the music industry but the people who I have talked to who are in the music industry don't really rely on Tiktok (in terms of creating your own content) but just let influencer do their thing. But on the flip side, if it’s hip-hop then it can do wonders because of the energy that it brings, the tempo if you can dance to it and get a trend going on. It can take your career to heights just off of Tiktok. On the alternative R&B side you just got to rely on the influencer to do their thing.
In terms of “Fast Music”, I think it has already been a thing even before Tiktok. Going viral was a way to get popping off in the industry & if you have seen the show called “Dave” on Hulu it goes about showing how the main character is just trying to viral with his music. With every single social media platform, everything just has been moving faster & faster, the shelf-life of music is getting shorter. It definitely has an effect on an indie artist who is just focusing on it for the art itself in comparison to those who do it for the money. You have to rethink the way you do things because of the current music industry & you just have to adapt to it. But if we look back at history is always kind of like this there were a different way to share music as things went from analog, now it went to digital which evolved piracy but streaming came out which basically helped reduce it (because of the pricing). That being said musicians always had to adjust & even the greatest music labels & it up to us to figure that out.
Music has obviously played a vital role in the fashion industry. They both go hand in hand & influence each other. Would you say that your music impacts the way you dress?
That is a great question, I never got asked that. I would say yes, music is a form of self-expression & putting energy into music is kind of like putting thought into the clothes you wear. Both of them are a form of self-expression at the end of the day & when I think about my latest track called “Lucky Day” I wanted to visualize that directly in terms of the vibes that influenced the outfit I was wearing for the cover art. Looking back there is some cover art where I wished there was some more cohesiveness with the outfits and music.
What advice would you give to your fans or those who are trying to make a career in this tough industry?
I always say these 7 affirmations to myself all the time. I started doing this at the start of quarantine and started meditating as well. I just want to pass these along to anyone who may be reading this & hopefully it may be useful.
Stay Patient
Stay Persistent
Stay Confident
Stay Consistent
Stay Faithful
Don’t Stress Things You Cannot Control
Don’t Take Things Personally
What is the future for Flwr Chyld?
One thing I always say to people is don’t expect anything from me musically. Just know that I’m always working hard to improve myself as a person in return the music is going to be better. I’m currently working on my debut album, it's going to be great, it going to be insane. There is a lot of stuff I need to work on, so I’m dedicating a 2021 or even a bit of 2022 to get where I want it. But you will definitely get some singles & collaborations from me this year.