@RAPTALKSK - Interview

ETHEREAL.PRESS

For those who don't know Kendrick Lamar, quote retweeted @RAPTALKSK's post announcing his (then) new album 'Mr. Morale and the Big Steppers. Kendrick, at the time, had not released a full-length project since the release of 'DAMN' in 2017.

What was going through your head when you saw that retweet? Could you walk us through that experience?

@RAPTALKSK

I sort of didn’t believe it when I saw it. I found out when someone direct messaged me saying something about a quote tweet. I went to check Kendrick’s page to see it and I already gained like a thousand followers in a minute, I was just sitting there thinking “wtf”. I just knew that this was about to be huge for the community because we’ve been waiting for the album for so long, but I was just like damn what are the odds that he chose my tweet out of the thousands he could have chosen from.

ETHEREAL.PRESS

We saw on Twitter that you are listening to an album a day for the next hundred days. What prompted this endeavor?

@RAPTALKSK

I love to expand my taste as much as I can, and there are a lot of albums I always put off listening to so one random night I just got the idea and made it happen. It’s a mix of new albums and some I just haven’t heard in a while, something I'm doing for myself.

ETHEREAL.PRESS

What projects are you most excited about dropping this year?

@RAPTALKSK

I cannot wait for that Beyoncé album next month, SZA confirmed to be dropping too. Travis Scott, A$AP Rocky, and Daniel Caesar are “supposed” to be dropping this year as well. Also very excited for Freddie Gibbs, Rome Streetz, Muggs, and WSG if we get anything from them, I hope we do.

ETHEREAL.PRESS

Having an audience on social media can often bring forth some unwanted attention but, at the same time, can be a blessing. What is your favorite part about having an audience on Twitter?

@RAPTALKSK

The best part is just having so many people who can see my opinions and having a community where I can talk about anything with anyone. Just being able to talk about music and have my opinions reach thousands of people is crazy to me.

ETHEREAL.PRESS

Have you thought about releasing music?

@RAPTALKSK

Nah, I’ve written a good amount of songs but they will forever stay in my notes app. I tried to get into producing but I never got the time to actually get into it.

ETHEREAL.PRESS

Who are your favorite music commentary accounts / channels / publications?

@RAPTALKSK

Hip Hop Numbers is a great page on instagram and twitter and his youtube videos are awesome as well. Fantano, Shawn Cee, and Blacky got cool channels… NFR Podcast is goated... I don’t watch much youtube or videos in general so I don’t know much.

ETHEREAL.PRESS

We noticed that several past vinyl/song posts you have made involved the great Jimi Hendrix. We recently picked up Band of Gypsys (1970) on vinyl; listening to it was a fantastic experience.”

Can you talk to us about how Jimi Hendrix has impacted you and what your favorite project is from him?

@RAPTALKSK

Jimi is an artist that opened my eyes to the genre of rock music and just pushed my willingness to listen to things outside of my comfort zone. Easily my favorite guitarist of all time, his music just evokes certain emotions in me that I can’t find anywhere else. My favorite album is Electric Ladyland, one of my favorites ever actually.

ETHEREAL.PRESS

I would assume a lot of your audience is in their late teens / early twenties, & they may never have listened to many of the older projects you post about. If you had to recommend one or two albums to your followers (released either 60s/70s/80s), which would you recommend they check out?

@RAPTALKSK

Choosing just two albums is difficult but here are two off the top of my head

Animals - Pink Floyd

What’s Going On - Marvin Gaye

Some classic rock and classic r&b/soul..., can’t go wrong with those.

ETHEREAL.PRESS

What is next for @RAPTALKSK?

@RAPTALKSK

Hopefully I expand past just a twitter account. Possibly starting a YouTube channel very soon!

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SK: @RAPTALKSK