Q&A With Calgary, Alberta Based Hip Hop Artist Omnom
Yo my man Omnom!! Much respect on your absolutely epic underground Hip Hop EP “Of Open Roads and Skies”! One of our main contributors BOOM ranked it 7/10!!! NOT BAD!!! This EP really fits well with our website!! Please tell us a bit about yourself? How long have you been an artist? How did you get your Emcee name?
I started writing raps in grade ten (2010) with my brother Oak. We went to a self-directed high school, which is composed mainly of either incredibly talented athletes who need time off for training and competitions, or artsy stoner kids who needed time off to scarf down all manner of new and exciting things. We were of the latter inclination.
Oak and I grew up together, and music was always a dominating influence in our lives. We’d always been interested in writing as well, and dabbled here and there in fiction, prose, and poetry. Him more so than me. When Oak moved to my high school in grade ten, we started pushing each other more and more creatively. We were also listening to a lot of rap at that time. Writing became rapping real fast. You could usually find us in the regular spots, rocking my hotboxed hand-me-down mini van, spitting over any beats we could get our hands on.
Please breakdown the creative process of the new EP “Of Open Roads and Skies”. Who produced the EP?
The Creative process was mostly just me sitting around Vancouver, wondering how to make something of my life. At some point Vancouver just became a totally unreasonable city to live in. I’d spend 10-14 hours a day slaving over a hot stove, for piss-poor pay in some posh kitchen. In the evenings I’d get fucked up at a bar or at a friend’s, make music well into the morning, get a couple of hours of sleep, and then start the whole process over again. I did that for the better part of 5 years. At some point I realized that something needed to change or shit was going to get real ugly. I’m hardly your mother’s poster boy now, but Of Open Roads and Skies was the narration of the turning point of responsibility for making music as a living.
Of Open Roads and Skies was produced by Unifier (another friend from high school). He also produced the first project I released, titled “Arts and Crafts”.
Everyone’s goal is to one day BLOW UP…..Let me ask you how do you plan on doing that? In today’s Hip Hop world, seems like social media, FB & IG especially, is blowing up and artists are doubling down on their personal branding not relying on labels anymore.
Does blowing up still happen? I’m not so sure… I’m a firm believer in the grind. Hard work and perseverance. People can get lucky, but I’m not generally the type to wait around. No natural talent can account for hard work. If you want your work to shine through amongst all the others out there, and stand the test of time, I think you have to put in the effort to make that shit shine. I definitely believe in the tried and true methods of promotion and social media and I certainly wouldn’t say no to “blowing up”, but I’m certainly a little skeptical of the idea.
I’ll be touring in the coming year, and I won’t be letting up anytime in the foreseeable future. I’ll be bringing my work to the people to the best of my ability. Once it’s in their hands they can do what they want with it. That’s my plan.
Please tell us about your mission statement regarding your music and movement. What do you want fans to walk away with after listening to your projects? Also, please describe your sound in the simplest way possible?
My mission is to express myself, and have fun doing it. My side quest is to never have to work a job that I don’t want to ever again. Or wait, maybe that’s mission….
I hope that people walk away with something engaging. Whether it’s personably relatable, thought-provoking, or just something fun for the hell of it. I want something that resonates.
My sound is my sound. It hails from all kinds of different influence. People can call it whatever they want.
Anything special for Summer 2018!!??
I’m actually just about done recording the next project.Yet to be officially titled, it’s produced by Sunberg and has quite a different feel than Of Open Roads and Skies. Space noises and shit. It’s going to be out of this world. I’m looking to drop it early this fall. I’ve also started writing some songs that are a little more folky while I mix this summer’s recordings.
Your TOP 5 Hip Hop artist/group list….?
Oh I can’t call favourites…
Now this is our most popular question, what is your definition of “Underground Hip Hop”?
Haha under appreciated maybe?
At this point in time, maybe it should just be called Indie Hip Hop. As in self-reliant. I think the birth of the internet gave a voice to artists that would otherwise not have an outlet, and I think that kind of nuked conventional genres in a lot ways. A lot of those artists can fly under the radar because they have access to niche demographics that provide a steady and reliable fan base. Why try to adhere to the masses, when you have a strong following of people who can relate to you?
Where can fans find your music? Drop all links!!
Music
Apple Music: https://itunes.apple.com/ca/artist/omnom/1299788749
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/0l0MmmROYuZVt7Cgd7fK54
Bandcamp: https://omnom-official.bandcamp.com/
SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/omnomofficial
Social
Twitter: https://twitter.com/OmnomSpeaks
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nomgoggles/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/OmnomFassbuke
Any Shout Outs??
Shouts out to Koko the Gorilla. R.I.P.
