Minneapolis-based artist papa mbye visited Carbon Sound's studio for an interview and live performance of three tracks. 

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Watch Minneapolis-based artist papa mbye and his band do an interview and live session in the lab with Carbon Sound.


Erik Stromstad

papa mbye in The Lab with Carbon Sound

papa mbye - "PASSENGER" (in The Lab with Carbon Sound)

papa mbye - "COMMON SENSE" (in The Lab with Carbon Sound)

papa mbye - "PIXEL" (in The Lab with Carbon Sound)

papa mbye in the lab with Carbon Sound

Dutch settlers may have brought Double Dutch to America, but it was Black girls who put it on the map, says Lauren Walker, president of the 

. "Double Dutch is Black girl magic. It came from a union of young girls in their community getting together to socialize, and to engage in each other's dreams and ambitions." 

They also put their own spins on popular rhyming songs, like "Miss Mary Mack," and brought them into the ropes, says ethnomusicologist 

. "You learned from your elder siblings, you learned from your same-age peer age group, in schools, hanging out on the stoop, on the sidewalk." 

Then in 1973 two New York City policemen, Ulysses Williams and Lauren Walker's father David A. Walker, established Double Dutch as a team sport and got it into schools. When the first tournament was held a year later, nearly 600 kids participated. Many more were inspired. 

Adrienne "Nikki" Adams Howell, Delores Brown Finlayson, De'Shone Adams Goodson, and Robin Oakes Watterson met as junior high schoolers on the Lower East Side in 1978. Howell says they meshed immediately. "Everyone had their own creative ideas and everyone had their own different strengths, you know, everything came together for us."

Calling themselves "The Added Touch,'' the team placed second in the singles division and third in doubles at the 1978 World Wide Double Dutch championship. Then they took it higher, says Watterson. "I would like to say we reinvented ourselves. It's like 'We're the 

!' We changed our name, changed our attitude. And we brought it." 

In 1980 the Fantastic Four became the Double Dutch World Champions, leading to appearances in McDonald's commercials, a spotlight in the Emmy-award-winning 1981 documentary

, and invitations to demonstrate Double Dutch at schools across the country. Goodson remembers being rushed by young fans back home in New York and realizing that her team was representing more than just the sport. "I remember them knocking us down to the ground actually, you know, with hugs and they showed so much love."

As the team's star rose, so did the profile of Double Dutch. In 1981, Frankie Smith released the hit song "

." In 1982, the Fantastic Four were tapped to perform at The Roxy alongside DJs, MCs, graffiti artists, and B-boys- leading to the team's participation in the New York City Rap Tour, which introduced hip-hop to audiences in Europe. 

A photograph of the Fantastic Four taken on the tour by Janette Beckman has circulated widely, for example appearing on a 

 and in an exhibition at the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture. However, the Fantastic Four were identified on the tour bill as "the Double Dutch girls" and the photo has often been interpreted merely as an expression of friendship. 

These erasures were consequential, says Gaunt, adding that today many people don't know that Double Dutch was an integral part of hip-hop culture and history. "What's missing and the reason why people don't know it is that that narrative is not perpetuated by most of the men who tell the story of hip-hop." (A notable exception is 

And yet the ties between hip-hop and Double Dutch were never completely severed. For example, you can spot them in Nelly's 2000 debut single "

," which borrows from the hand-clapping game "Down Down Baby,"  

 and songs by Missy Elliott, including 2002's "

," which samples Frankie Smith's "Double Dutch Bus," and 2019's  "Throw it Back," whose music video features a scene where Elliot's braids double as jump ropes. 

In early 2023, the Cartoon Network animated series 

 will air a Double Dutch-themed episode co-written by 

. "My dad is a pastor in Seattle, Washington, and I grew up playing Double Dutch in the parking lot with my friends and we would just go for hours and hours," she says. "And I was really excited to bring those experiences into the episode."

When Craig's friend is accused of slacking by her hyper-competitive Double Dutch teammates, he challenges them to a "jump off" even though he has no idea how to jump. Unbeknownst to Craig, his mother was once a Double Double champion- until she was bested by a rival, Carla Frazier, 

Revisiting that memory empowers Craig's mom to reframe it, and inspire the kids to jump 

. As for the real-life champions, the Fantastic Four went on to college, families, and careers, and stayed involved as coaches and officiators. They were on hand this year to serve as judges for 

the 31st David A. Walker Memorial Double Dutch Holiday Classic at the Apollo Theater

, paying forward what Double Dutch gave them. "Structure, discipline, working with others," says Delores Brown Finlayson. Then Nikki Howell jumps in, "These are my sisters for life."   

{"type":"doc","content":[{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"","type":"text"}]}]}

Allyson McCabe

The ties between Double Dutch and hip-hop can be traced to Nelly's "Country Grammar," Missy Elliott's "Gossip Folks" and "Throw It Back," and the Cartoon Network animated series Craig of the Creek. 


Listen to the Story

Four young women in athletic clothing, holding jump ropes

courtesy the Fantastic Four

Courtesy of Fantastic Four

Janette Beckman

Derek Blanks, Courtesy of Cartoon Network Studios, Inc

Old school Double Dutch team

Missy Elliott - Throw It Back [Official Music Video]

How the Fantastic Four took Double Dutch to new heights

HOUSTON — Police have arrested a 33-year-old man on a murder charge in 

, who they said was a "innocent bystander" to gunfire last month outside a bowling alley in Houston.

Patrick Xavier Clark was taken into custody peacefully Thursday night, Houston Police Chief Troy Finner said Friday. Clark is the second person arrested in connection with the shooting that wounded two other people.

Born Kirsnick Khari Ball, Takeoff was the youngest member of 

, the Grammy-nominated rap trio from suburban Atlanta that also featured his uncle Quavo and cousin Offset.

The 28-year-old musician was one of three people police said were shot outside the downtown bowling alley around 2:30 a.m. on Nov. 1, when a dispute erupted as about 40 people were leaving a private party at the alley. Police have said another man and a woman suffered non-life-threatening gunshot injuries during the shooting, in which at least two people opened fired.

Police Sgt. Michael Burrow said during a Friday news conference that the shooting followed a dispute over a game of dice, but that Takeoff was not involved and was "an innocent bystander."

On Wednesday, police announced the arrest of Cameron Joshua in connection to the shooting. The 22-year-old was charged with illegally having a gun at the time Takeoff was shot, but Burrow said investigators believe it was Clark's gunfire that killed the rapper.

Fans and other performers, including Drake and Justin Bieber, celebrated Takeoff's musical legacy in a memorial service last month in Atlanta.

Migos' record label, Quality Control, mourned Takeoff's death in a statement posted on Instagram that attributed it to "senseless violence."

Migos first broke through with the massive hit "Versace" in 2013. They had four Top 10 hits on the Billboard Hot 100, though Takeoff was not on their multi-week No. 1 hit "Bad and Boujee," featuring Lil Uzi Vert. They put out a trilogy of albums called "Culture," "Culture II" and "Culture III," with the first two hitting No. 1 on the Billboard 200 album chart.


Takeoff and Quavo released a joint album "Only Built for Infinity Links" just weeks before his death.


Houston police announced Friday that Patrick Xavier Clark, 33, has been charged with murder in connection with Takeoff's fatal shooting outside a bowling alley last month.


Jordan Strauss | AP

A man has been charged with murdering Migos rapper Takeoff

 moved to New York City for a job on Wall Street, but he says his interests soon led him elsewhere. "I'd take myself to the 1 train stop on Hudson and Chambers and these trains would roll in with these graffiti burners, covering the train from top to bottom. And I just couldn't believe what I was seeing- it was this sort of beautiful vandalism." 

. Fred Brathwaite, who served as an informal spokesperson for the Fabulous 5 graffiti crew, put out a call for readers to hire them to create custom burners at their businesses or homes, priced by the square foot. Intrigued, Holman called 

Fab 5 Freddy and Lee Quinones of the Fabulous 5 showed their graffiti on canvas at a gallery in Rome

 on a New York City subway car- a string of soup cans that doubled as an announcement of his arrival as a significant creative catalyst. 

grew, it expanded beyond visual art. He brought DJs Afrika Bambaataa and Jazzy Jay downtown to perform at the Mudd Club, and took Chris Stein and Debbie Harry up to the Bronx to see 

- an exchange commemorated in Blondie's No. 1 hit song 

 Harry then introduced the rappers Funky 4 + 1 when 

, where rap had its national television debut. 

The Clash came to New York to record their 1980 album

. The band's single "Magnificent Seven/Magnificent Dance" became a hit on pirate and college radio, as well as on New York's legendary Black station WBLS. Returning to the city for a 17-date string of shows at Bonds International Casino in the summer of '81, The Clash brought on rappers such as Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five as openers and invited the artist 

 expressed resistance to these creative alliances, the band

 to championing them. When the tour continued to Europe, The Clash took Futura along and collaborated with him on 

ex-Sex Pistols impresario Malcolm McLaren was looking for the next big thing, so Michael Holman brought him to a park jam in the Bronx

. "He was dressed like a Pirate from the Penzance on acid," Holman recalls. "Pantaloon pants and bright orange this and that, crazy- you know, like Culture Club." 

Perhaps more like a culture clash, but Holman says something magical happened. "Jazzy [Jay] gets on the turntable and starts to scratch records, and quick cut, and do all of these isolated, you know, B-beats, and I'm saying to Malcolm, 'See what he's doing? That's like special mix DJing. And see that kid over there- he's like breakdancing, and see that over there? That's graffiti. And Ikey-C on the mic- that's rapping.' And Malcolm, like a lightbulb goes on, and he's like 'I get it.'"

In September of '81 McLaren asked Holman to put together a show featuring DJing, MCing, breaking, and visual art as an opener for the band Bow Wow Wow in New York. That led to a weekly revue at a club called Negril, where B-boys the Rock Steady Crew and Floor Masters (later the New York City Breakers) battled on the dance floor. 

Another McLaren associate, Ruza "Kool Lady" Blue got things going at the Roxy, a massive roller rink where she added one more element to the mix by bringing in the 

 team, winners of the 1980 worldwide championship. 

In the summer of 1982, the Roxy became the epicenter of New York's nascent multiracial youth culture. Building on that momentum, Fab 5 Freddy, "Kool Lady" Blue, and French journalist 

 brought hip-hop to Europe. Dubbed the "New York City Rap Tour," the sojourn kicked off on 

, then moved on to Lyon, Belfort, Mulhouse, Strasbourg, London, and Los Angeles. Bringing all of the elements of hip-hop together, it showcased dozens of artists- including the Fantastic Four, Futura, the Rock Steady Crew, as well as Afrika Bambaataa, Phase 2, Dondi, GrandMixer D.ST (now DXT) and Rammellzee. 

 to cover the London show. At the time she had been shooting two or three bands a week, mostly punk acts in small clubs. "It would be dark and, you know, people would be pogoing, spitting and shouting," she recalls. Beckman had never encountered artists scratching, rapping, breaking, making graffiti art, or doing double dutch- let alone at the same time. Nor had she seen the audience responding with such rapt attention. 

"It was so different from anything we knew," she says. "It seemed full of joy I have to say." Although the journalist who accompanied her dismissed hip-hop as a passing fad, shortly after the tour Beckman moved to New York in 1983, and went on to photograph emerging artists such as 

 who would soon become iconic. By then hip-hop was already showing up in films such as 

, setting the stage for its global ascendance. Four decades later, it's still central to music, art, and fashion, and is even gaining recognition in the world of Olympic sports, where 

breaking will be featured for the first time at the 2024 Games– in Paris

Four decades after the New York City Rap Tour made history in Europe, Hip-Hop's influence is everywhere - in art, fashion and even the 2024 Olympics. 


A New York City train races on elevated tracks through a neighborhood

Martha Cooper

The Clash - Magnificent Seven/Magnificent Dance (Dub Version) - Epic 12"

Rammellzee Live In France 1982 4k

How artists and influencers set the stage for Hip-Hop's global rise

Carbon Sound went to the Amsterdam Bar & Hall in St. Paul to talk with the fans about what makes Flo Milli and Monaleo special.

Flo Milli and Monaleo are two of the most exciting young voices in rap today. 

Carbon Sound contributor Tosin Faseemo went to the show

, commenting, “Flo Milli and Monaleo showed their full, charismatic selves to Minnesota. In addition to their viral hits, they have genuine talent that translates to real-life stage presence. As long as these two are around, the future of rap is safe.”

Fans were excited to see the duo and shared their thoughts before and after the show with Carbon Sound, a few even sang the songs themselves.

Tune in to Carbon Sound to hear tracks like 

 to watch more fan reviews and future in-studio performances.

Sanni Brown is the host and voice of Carbon Sound.   


Sanni Brown

Liam Armstrong

Carbon Sound went to the Amsterdam Bar & Hall in St. Paul to talk with the fans about what makes Flo Milli and Monaelo special.


Person holds microphone during interview2

Flo Milli & Monaleo LIVE - Fans Review

Flo Milli and Monaleo LIVE - Fans Review

Most fans of rising Memphis rap star GloRilla will tell you that her emphatic bellow of a voice is what drew them to her music, and story, this year. But it wasn't until the summer of 2021 that she unveiled her ominous delivery. Glo's first tape (and proven premonition), 

, came out in 2019 and the then 19-year-old possessed many of the qualities that people love her for now: rowdy, car-rattling energy and valiant attempts at anthems about people having her f***** up. It didn't really stick, though. Her untrained voice was more of a light squawk and she was lost in a pool of not-quite-there artists from a city known for distinctive rap characters. So Glo went back to the drawing board to figure out a way to separate herself from the pack. 

After taking time to hone in on a sound she felt more comfortable with, GloRilla met Hitkidd at a local open mic. Soon after he started releasing posse cuts featuring her and other promising young women from Memphis like K Carbon and Gloss Up. Tracks like "Set the Tone" laid the groundwork for GloRilla's ascension. She was already a local standout by the time her career-cementing single, "F.N.F (Let's Go)," hit this April, but that song was the first of hers to really click on all cylinders. The video felt like the full-day version of Megan Thee Stallion's "drive the boat" campaign, with Henny guzzling, twerking on car hoods in the middle of Memphis intersections and seemingly every close friend Glo could get to the shoot there to partake. It was an attainable kind of fun — no private jets, yachts, luxury cars or designer clothing, just orchestrating a moment out of what you have around you. The song advocates for women to prioritize restriction-free pleasure with their homegirls over being at the mercy of a dude whose loyalty is in question — a proven formula for many of the women in rap that have come before her. But most importantly, the song's motor is undeniable, going into overdrive within seconds of starting. 

"F.N.F" got her a deal with her hometown hero Yo Gotti's CMG label, an 

, and a follow-up hit thanks to a Cardi B guest verse that'll make you wanna run through a wall. And recently, the song was nominated for Best Rap Performance at the 2023 Grammy Awards. It's been a steady incline for the hopeful superstar who just released her first mainstream project with a nine-track EP, 

 capping off the kind of "rookie" year that few rappers have ever enjoyed. Part of what's helping to etch GloRilla so firmly into people's hearts is the way she shows her listeners how to celebrate through adversity — chin up instead of languishing — with an unwavering belief that s*** is gonna work itself out. Do you, and do it with an authoritative stance. "F.N.F" and "Tomorrow" embody that philosophy perfectly. 

Though it feels like a mere sample of what's to come,

presents GloRilla as a singular voice using her instrument as a megaphone for provocation and inspiration. The rarity of her tone is obviously part of the appeal, but what makes it stick is the sharp cuts with which Glo uses it. There's a way that she snaps off the ending of her bars that drives the impact further into listeners' cores. She establishes her main points of emphasis: beefing with her exes' new tings is beneath her, she can handle her own dirty work, inconsiderate men won't be tolerated and, most importantly, having steadfast faith is sure to take you wherever you wanna be. (Shoutout to her government name being Gloria Hallelujah.) She hardly deviates from those, lyrically, but in energy, she's giving something different at almost every turn. "No More Love" recycles an idea that artists often express after their first taste of fame and fortune, left to shakily steer through personal relationships with a new layer of complications. Here, GloRilla weaves through recent burdens — envy within her circle, being let down by a guy she thought would be different, and having to abort a child last year (which, as of 2022, is banned in her home state of Tennessee without exception) — with a measured, conversational approach. It's a different, more collected mode than "F.N.F," which is tucked near the end of this project for both the streaming and the power boost.

The breakout single is the only song on the project produced by Hitkidd, and he is missed elsewhere. There's been some documented disagreements over the ownership of "F.N.F" in recent weeks, which could explain why it's the only collaboration from the two here. That diminishes some of the magic that helped get GloRilla to this point. Hitkidd-produced songs like "F.N.F," "Set The Tone," "Ghetto," and "Hot Potato" possess a crunchy, hole-in-the-wall Memphis grit that Glo's new tape doesn't have —  one straight from the school of early 90s Three 6 Mafia, filled with the type of dark keys and hi-hat hits that inspire on-the-spot jookin moves. Most of the production on 

feels like it comes from a generic CMG vault for their entire roster. It lacks the distinctive regionality that made Glo special. The closest new thing to the Hitkidd sound is "Blessed," which does feature those crucial menacing keys, but falls well short in its lack of urgency, which is reflected in Glo's delivery. 

Because of this beat disparity, the hits — "F.N.F" and "Tomorrow 2" — are still clearly the best tracks here, but there's an exciting three-song stretch in the EP's interior. The Acleff and Macaroni Toni-produced "Unh Unh" is similar in buoyancy, and repetitiveness, to Cardi B's "Up." The elastic bass begs to explode out of venue speakers and her voice here is more of a high-powered bark. The hook leads with a warning, "They don't wanna see no gangster b****** win / Well, the industry done f***** up lettin' these gangster b****** in / They say my fifteen minutes up, I'm only fifteen minutes in." Gotti appears on "Blessed," with a laidback approach that frames him more as Glo's peer than her boss, and, on the song, she urges that she's much more invested in giving the people hope than being involved in beef. "Get That Money" samples North Memphis luminary Project Pat's 2002 brawl-inciting "Shut Ya Mouth, Bitch" and Glo flips it into a book of principles for making sure men don't get the goods for free. 

Memphis isn't typically mentioned in the conversation with other rap capitals but it should be. The momentum that acts like Three 6, Pat and 8Ball & MJG kicked off in the '90s is still going, and it's arguably stronger — or, at least, more widespread —  than ever. The 2000s saw Gotti and the late Young Dolph rise, and the current wave of artists can attribute the city's success to the expansion of their respective imprints, CMG and Paper Route Empire. Through Gotti comes hit-machine and more-than-capable lyricist Moneybagg Yo, half-comedian half-rapper Blac Youngsta, and BlocBoy JB whose career was launched with a Drake feature. Through Dolph comes slick-talking, flashy characters like Key Glock and Big Moochie Grape. Pooh Shiesty, and his friend Big 30, came into national recognition just a few years back, but wowed listeners with distinct handles on their rich drawls and their deployment of gruesome content. GloRilla, K Carbon, Big Gloss and others are the proper foils to those two, as they offer the female perspective of the same early-20s Memphis demographic. Glo's move past her counterparts is the product of natural development but also, in part, because she reaches listeners across gender boundaries in a way that other young women can't.   

In a short-sighted assessment of her voice, delivery and style of dress, some perceive GloRilla as masculine, based on rigid binary thinking, and that has been used to both 

 on the national level. Some misogynists have upheld her as proof that women don't need to prioritize sex to be successful in hip-hop. For others, she is not feminine enough. But GloRilla comes from a legacy of Memphis women whose street prowess and propensity for violence always ran parallel with their femininity. Gangsta Boo has a song titled "Kill, Kill, Kill, Murder, Murder, Murder" while having others about her late night escapades. La Chat rapped about dismembering bodies and still screamed for someone to slob on her cat. Glo's music moves along similar paths. She raps casually about getting backshots on a hotel balcony, getting head from men who swear they don't give it and not befriending women whose partners she's hooked up with. She has a song called "Nut Quick," another shooting down a guy asking for her number and another where she raps, "He got 99 problems and the biggest one is me!" She isn't rising despite sexuality (or because of it); she's rising because she is able to balance many different things throughout a track. And if there is a most obvious space for growth it's that she could display her well-roundedness a bit more clearly. 

is a solid introduction to bigger stages with higher stakes for GloRilla, and "F.N.F" being up for a Grammy will only push her further. What the tape affirms is that she is an energizer. She welcomes being framed as a source of inspiration, especially for people who come from similarly trying backgrounds. The more we learn about her, the more we see how quickly her life took a complete 360 with the success of "F.N.F" and how she has been manifesting that success ("Out Loud Thinking"). It's the rallying displayed in the title, pulled from a lyric in that song: the "anyway" pivot embodies her resilience. That's her superpower — that people home right now desperately looking for a breakthrough can see her and think to themselves, "I just gotta keep going"; that a great life is, in part, just a break away. So when she puts the passion behind that resounding voice throughout this project, it resonates deeply. And if GloRilla can continue harnessing that power to motivate, she could be a voice for her generation.   

Lawrence Burney

Though it feels like a mere sample of what's to come, the Memphis rapper's new EP presents her as a singular talent using her instrument as a megaphone for provocation and inspiration.


Courtesy of the Artist 

Hitkidd, GloRilla - F.N.F. (Let's Go)

GloRilla, Niki Pooh - Get That Money (Official Lyric Video)

GloRilla is finding her voice

Ravyn Lenae is an artist from Chicago. Her latest album 

 pushes the boundaries of R&B. In Ravyn’s own words, it’s funky, somber, and up-tempo, switching seamlessly between the three moods and at times combining them. It’s a promising debut full-length from an artist who sees the value in taking time to create, letting the inspiration come to her organically rather than forcing it. 

She is currently on tour with singer Omar Apollo. On Tuesday, Nov. 8, they stopped by the Palace Theatre in St. Paul. Sounding more like a co-headliner than an opener, Ravyn wowed the crowd with studio-quality vocals and rapturous live instrumentation. We got the chance to catch up with her backstage after her energetic set. Listen to our conversation above and read the full transcription below. 

Who am I? I am a singer-songwriter from the south side of Chicago who loves to dream and sing. 

I'm on the Prototype Tour with Omar Apollo. We're about halfway through now. So, it's nice to be in the Midwest. 

What's the last thing you need before a show and the first thing you need after a show?

The last thing I need before I start my show is probably water. Like, right before like right before I go on, I'm like drinking a lot of water because I don't drink throughout my set, weirdly. I feel like it's a distraction, and I feel like I going to spill it all over myself because I'm clumsy. After the set usually, I'm really hungry, because I don't like to eat too close to performing. So, food.  

Do you have a go-to meal for after the show?

It depends on where we're at. Honestly, like here. What should I eat? What should I eat here? 

Well, this is the Midwest, so lots of stuff closes pretty early. If they're still open, and if you're not a vegetarian, I like Revival. It has really good chicken. The best here, which isn't saying a lot because it's Minnesota. There are a lot of good options. It's a surprisingly decent food city with a lot of diasporas, so you can get food from a lot of different kinds of immigrant populations.

Somebody told me that there's a big Ethiopian population here, so I should’ve gotten some Ethiopian today. 

Why did you title your album “HYPNOS”?

When I came up with the title, I didn't know it was already a word. I thought that I was real smart and made up a word. When I figured out that there was a whole story behind it and it's derived from a Greek legend, it made it make way more sense to me. 

Basically, it’s about a Greek god that puts people in this trance-like state and travels through dreams and like sends messages through dreams, and I feel like my music does that in a way. I would like to think of my music that way, as kind of trance-inducing and hypnotic in certain ways.  

I agree with you. It has that ethereal quality to it, even with the track titles, too, like “Lullaby,” for example. Do you have a favorite Greek myth or Greek deity?

I think my favorite Greek legend is Pandora's Box. I just love the idea of a world being kept in like this small thing and letting it loose kind of creates chaos and wonder and a whole different life in a way.  just love good storytelling in almost childlike approaches to art in music. 

, you said you have three sides: funky, somber. and up-tempo. Which one were you most trying to channel tonight?

Probably funky. I think when I'm when I'm on stage I try to tap into that other part of me that is big, bold, loud, and dramatic in certain ways. I feel like my favorite artists are able to turn it on a certain way on stage. I love the old drama approach to showmanship. I think some of my favorite artists or people that I love to see perform have that about them. So, I tried to channel that. 

I feel like you can see that pretty clearly in some of the people that you said influenced you like Chaka Khan, Minnie Ripperton, and Denise Williams. I would also argue Prince. Are you to him at all?

Do you have a favorite Prince album or go-to?

A lot of the stuff I love from him the most is his writing with other people. Vanity Six is some of my favorite music ever. "Nasty Girl,” just that whole era of women being very comfortable in their sexuality, showing skin, and being vulgar is really fun to me, and the fact that he was writing those songs is so impressive to me. 

You've been asked a ton of times why it took four years between “Crush” and “HYPNOS.” I was wondering, do you think people even have the right to ask you that?

I think it's natural for people to wonder about that, especially at a time when music is produced way quicker than that. When artists take that time, it does make people scratch their heads a little bit and wonder, “Why did it take that long?”  

So, I don't have a problem answering that question, even though it's a really big question and it's hard to answer. There's life, we went through a pandemic, you know? So, a lot of life changes made me want to sit still and wait for inspiration instead of searching and forcing it. 

Where does the inspiration come from for you?

I think a majority of my inspiration comes from storytelling. Whether it's friends, family, or just being out in the world, you know? So, when we couldn't do that over the last couple of years, it was hard for me. It was a challenge for me to think and be inspired beyond the four walls being stuck inside. So, I'm proud of the fact that I was able to work through that. I felt like I had to dream a little more in-depth and bigger because I didn't have that outside world to connect to. 

What kind of dreams do you have when you go to sleep at night?

My dreams are so vivid. This week, I've had crazy dreams.  

I had a scary dream a few days ago, I got bit by a rare spider and there was a mark on me. And somebody was like, “Hey, you know that that that bite is from like a spider you have 30 minutes to get to the hospital or you're gonna die right?”. So, the whole dream was me trying to get to the hospital. I called the hospital and they were like, “Well, we don't have any more trucks available to come get you. So, I don't know what to tell you.” And I was like, “I don't want to die, I'm not ready!!!” They can be real dramatic.  

Two days ago, I had a dream that I was in church. I haven’t been to church in Chicago in a long time. So, I'm like, okay, maybe that means I gotta go to church when I'm in Chicago and say hey to people, I guess. 

Sometimes I take my dreams very literally, because I'm like, why am I having them if I don't take them literally, you know? But other times, I'm like, my brain is on 100 right now and I need to take a chill pill. My mom says I've always been a very vivid dreamer since I was a little girl. 

You once said that there's power and stillness and silence. Do you think that's still appreciated in the world today and for the demographic that was in the venue?

Honestly, I think that we're coming back to appreciating that in music and in art. I think the pandemic taught a lot of us about patience and hard work, and how that pays off in real-time. I think that coming out of that, people do have a bigger appreciation for art and the process. How long it takes and how draining it can be at times, you know? But then, on the flip side of that, is TikTok, and that shit is very quick. But I do think that there are a lot of real art lovers and music lovers that appreciate that time. 

It's like when Kindles first came out, and everybody thought books were gonna die, but people still want to feel the pages in their hands. 

Yep! People still want vinyl and all of that.

There will always be a community of people that appreciate that time. 

So, for the people that appreciate that time and finally have “HYPNOS” in their hands, how do you want them to feel when they listen?

I want them to be able to sonically feel where I was at during that time and how I've overcome certain things during that time. Being able to connect is the main reason why I do music. Me being vulnerable and open through music pays off in a lot of ways. I want people to listen to it and feel seen, feel heard, feel appreciated. Beautiful. Loved. 

What's been the coolest or most unexpected reaction you've had to the album?

That's a great question.  I was so nervous about putting out animated art for I'm like, “My fans are gonna hate this shit”. They're gonna think I went over the edge, on some whole other stuff. But they were actually very receptive and open to that idea. They actually liked it and thought it was forward and cool. But I was like, “I know these comments are about to be like, ‘Girl, what the hell?’” 

How have you been staying sane and having fun on tour? Have you picked up any new hobbies?

That's a great question. I think the thing that keeps me the sanest on the road is seeing people who I care about and love and familiar faces while I'm traveling. Because I think people don't realize how isolating and lonely tour can get. So, when I'm in a city where there's family and there are friends that kind of fuels me and feeds me a lot of ways to stay energized and encouraged. 

What's your favorite food to eat when you go back to Chicago?

I mean, pizza, obviously! But I feel like dairy is breaking me out as I'm getting older. So I'm trying to stop, but it’s so hard! 

Black people don’t do deep dish in Chicago. 

Good to know. It’s a once-a-year kind of food, maximum.

I'm from the south side. Our pizza is Beggars Pizza. It's like really thick cheese, they put the meat underneath the cheese. People like to compare it to Detroit-style pizza. People think that Chicago is just deep dish, but we do the square, cheesy, meat underneath the cheese thing, too.  

But Black people don’t do deep dish, that's a misconception. 

That’s going to be the headline of this article.

Speaking of Chicago, I know you did something with SSENSE recently, 

a performance with The Era Footwork Crew.

I grew up around it. That and house music is literally embedded in me. When you hear songs like 

 I feel like that's me kind of getting off my Chicago in a way. But yeah, that's definitely a part of my upbringing and musical, artistic culture. 

It's been a cool thing this year to have Back people see themselves more in the electronic music space, too. I feel like it's expanding people's conceptions about what Black art can be. Have you seen that, too? Or am I just crazy?

Absolutely, and sometimes I struggle with the idea of it because it's like, “Okay, why does this feel elevated now?” Is it because it's white-adjacent, because it's in a museum? So, sometimes I do have thoughts around it that's like, “Why don't we feel this way when it's just in our basement? Or when we're at a house party?” So, I try to ask myself those questions and even think inwards about my own art and how I feel about it before those spaces are acknowledging my art. 

You also once said, “I make bad songs, but they just don't come out.” If you could give another piece of advice to somebody that wants to become an artist, what would it be?

I would say to find a community of people who are like-minded, and who have similar goals and a similar amount of drive. Coming from Chicago, that was major for me to have that sense of community, like, “Oh, you feel the same way,” or “You're going through this, too?” Being able to relate to and have people champion you in that way is important. 

Things that are important to me always stem from the things closest to me, and that's family and friends. Making sure I’m being the best at those things, whether it's being a girlfriend, being a daughter, being a granddaughter, or a friend, because I think that's what matters at the end of the day, making sure that relationships are fed, and through that, I can approach music in a clear and pure way. 

Questions written by Sanni Brown and Julian Green 

 and more streaming now on carbonsound.fm and 89.3 HD2.

Julian Green built and manages the music library for Carbon Sound and oversees content creation.  


Julian Green

Acclaimed R&B artist Ravyn Lenae chatted with Carbon Sound after her energetic set at the Palace Theater in St. Paul on Tuesday, Nov. 8.


Jessica Fredette

Ravyn Lenae talks "HYPNOS," tour,  inspiration, dreams, and more with Carbon Sound

Ravyn Lenae - Skin Tight (feat. Steve Lacy) [Official Video]

Ravyn Lenae talks "HYPNOS," tour, dreams, and more with Carbon Sound

Each week, we add new music, older tracks, which are known as “Gold adds”, and tracks that might not fit our general format, but still deserve a place in rotation because they serve our mission of showing the depth, breadth, and influence of Black musical expression - These are known as “Variety adds.”

We’re sharing this to get you excited to listen and to open up the floor for feedback and suggestions. If you want to request a song, 

. If you make music and want it considered for rotation, 

All of the tracks added to rotation on Carbon Sound the week of November 21, 2022.


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