Content is everything in 2017. Everyone is either consuming it, creating it or promoting it. It’s easy for artists and creators to get frustrated when their art isn’t seen as successful. As an artist, the goal is to be able to pay the bills and keep the water running by solely producing and creating. It’s hard to feel successful when you’re creating your art before and after you clock in. Nick Weaver believes in several types of success when it comes to the reach of his music.
“If you are even lucky enough for one person in their day with Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, jobs, loved ones, family obligations, friends, hobbies, etc. to listen to three minutes…Fuck, even one minute of your song, that’s pretty good. That’s a lot of shit you’ve cut through to get YOUR art into someone’s ear,” Weaver said.
You can never think your art isn’t good enough for somebody else to listen to, Weaver relayed. Every artist can’t blow up to be Kendrick Lamar, and focusing on Kendrick’s success isn’t going to get you anywhere. Focusing on yourself, your impact, and your legacy is the surest route to success, that’s the theme of Weaver’s newest release Photographs Of Other People.
Nick Weaver has been rapping for over 15 years, but he’s only been releasing music publicly for about five of those. He started burning mixtapes onto CDJ’s and slinging them off a spindle for a $1 to his classmates. Weaver crafted his writing skills in the fires of hip-hip internet forums on the website Grey Tide. This was the first-time Weaver started saving and crafting rhymes that he wrote down.
When Weaver moved to Los Angeles to rid himself of distractions and to focus on his music, he found the first success. Linking with Hilsyde, an artist and producer from Los Angeles he learned the professionalism and dedication it takes to make music people want to listen to. Hilsyde produced Weaver’s entire Yard Work EP and that’s when the music took off.
“I owe more than I could ever put out to that guy,” Weaver said.
Photographs Of Other People is a change of direction for Weaver. Describing his last album “Prowler” as a written visualization of his life, Weaver wanted to show listeners a different side. Each track is meant to suck you in differently, and takes you on a journey though Nick Weaver’s mind on the back of his rhymes. Weaver talked about non-hip-hop musical influences of his including LCD Soundsystem, Frank Ocean, Kaismos and Mogwai to name a few. The EP reflects these influences by infusing singing in the hooks and instrumental sounds into the beats.
“It really has that ebb and flow and to shift energies on the listener,” Weaver said.
This EP draws hard line in the sand with many social and political issues, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t a track or two that won’t make you get up and move. “Soundbyte” is a political and socially charged slapper. You wouldn’t hesitate to thump this at a house party. When the hook comes in, it’ll make you want to jump out of a window, in a good way.
“That was the point with that one,” Weaver continues, “You could just blast this loud as fuck.”
Weaver wanted to keep listeners engaged for the entire project, something he felt he missed with his last album. Weaver believes taking listeners on a roller coaster ride through his mind was the best way to accomplish this, while simultaneously growing as an artist.
“It’s a whole new side of me that I’ve never written about. Focus on yourself, self-help, healing yourself, and creating the space you need to be a mentally healthy person,” Weaver continues, “If you’re taking pictures of other people, you’re not focusing on yourself.”
