I don’t create pieces. They come to me. My creative process usually stems from a mood, a feeling, an emotion. I’ll be sitting at home staring out the window, halfway through my litti chowka, and suddenly a melody hits. I think a lot of the music I listen to in my own time subconsciously seeps in to create these tunes. 

My biggest influences are Neo-Caribbean synth and Sub-Saharan African percussion, which I often mix together to create my beats. Recently, the noises and sounds I hear in my daily life have begun to interest me as well. Experimenting with a rock hitting the ground, a chair screeching against the floor, or a voice crack in a friend’s voice to create music sounds so poetic. 

I don’t feel confident enough to release my music anywhere publicly, but if I could, I’d probably choose SoundCloud. Spotify never seems to gain enough traction. On the contrary, I am well-known within Irvington’s underground rap circles. Any time I feel a beat is unfinished, I send it over to friends who rap over it, and almost always I’m left with a vision for the final piece. Just this homecoming season, I worked on a beat for my endorsed candidate, Karan Mody (12), which I originally had no inspiration for. 

I wouldn’t consider myself even close to being good at what I do, but I do it because I find it so captivating. My favorite part, when everything starts to click at the end, is what keeps me coming back every time.