Although his sound travels from coast-to-coast, RETROi$AWESOME keeps the heart of New Jersey on his shoulders. While running against the clock, RETROi$AWESOME finds himself on a paper route. And as a result, the emcee takes a bag home while others pickpocket. Still, his approach towards hip-hop and life contrasts with the average person’s way of thinking. Granted that RETROi$AWESOME stays on his P’s and Q’s, he’s able to weed out the fakes. Through a brutally honest tonality, energetic rhyme delivery and natural swagger, RETROi$AWESOME hints that the key to life is less stress and more checks. To add, he shows that it’s not hard to obtain. All you have to do is strive for greatness and the rest will follow!
Besides this, RETROi$AWESOME defines stardom in his way. The last piece of his moniker, AWESOME stands as an acronym: As We Experience Situations Our Minds Expand. Elaborating, he says “My message is always changing. The acronym means: as I go through life, my mind keeps changing and growing. It went from broadcasting my flyness to speaking about what’s going on in the hood every day. Sure, I mixed those two now. But as I get older, I become more conscious. Now I just take the conversations I have with my niggas and put it in my raps.” The turning point for his artistry, however, stems from self-realization, being in-tune with the universe and remembering that God is on his side, “Once I realized all of this, the universe started working in my favor.” he says, then drops a gem, “Trust what’s going on, even if it doesn’t look right. That’s how you truly win.”
His latest project, $WISHTAPE (Hosted by DJ Nick) gives listeners a glimpse of RETROi$AWESOME’s flexicution, money-oriented mentality (which is indicated by the “$” sign reflected often in $WISHTAPE‘s song titles) and fun spirit. To define his artistry as a whole, it’s otherworldly, pleasing and shows that RETROi$AWESOME refuses to be put in a box, “I just kick out that flavor and just swag it out.” he adds. As for his visuals, you can expect to be in awe. Since he’s hands-on, they always end up coming with transitions that make viewers do a double-take, literally. Before rapping, he was drawing. Music and fashion just so happen to be a facet. It’s safe to say that after every video ends, you too will want to be decked out like the rapper and slapping opposers with Franklin’s.
Sonically, RETROi$AWESOME goes the trap route but keeps things enticing by dabbling into different genres. All-in-all, Retro really is awesome. At least that’s what YouTube user, Victoria Ahlers says on his video for “Y We Ball“. This statement is hard to go against because RETROi$AWESOME proves this through his concepts, way of thinking and personally engaging sound. Down the timeline, you can hear his growth. Each song comes with a message that draws from a lesson or opportunity that’s helped him prosper.
New Jersey-based artist, RETROi$AWESOME was born into a musical family. When he was 5 or 6, his dad was already writing music. But once his family split, the rapper took the torch on his own. At first, RETROi$AWESOME just splurged out rhymes for fun. However, he began taking it more seriously at 16. Since then, he hasn’t looked back.
Photo Courtesy of https://retroisawesome.com/photos
Referencing to The Feature Presentation, “Def Jam and The Feature Presentation family do it yet again, as they collaborate with Sony Studios, ending off the night with another successful Dinner & A Movie with DJ Suss One. New York’s IPIC Theater was taken over on Tuesday, October 22nd by numerous star studded guests for the advance screening of Black and Blue. All things were satisfied from signature cocktails, a delectable dinner to personalized name cards sitting on the seats with snack favorites and popcorn.” For this prestigious event, RETROi$AWESOME said he just popped out. He was very content with the vibes, even the networking aspect of it, and went on to say that it was fire. Initially he thought the movie, Black and Blue was going to be done the wrong way. But after the screening, his mindset changed drastically. Once the artist found out who was behind it, everything started to align. To put it further, he says Black and Blue executed.
Additionally, RETROi$AWESOME believes that the movie is important for the culture. “Unity is the answer to everything and this could definitely bring the human race together.” he says. Speaking of which, RETROi$AWESOME describes a tear-jerking scene in the movie that highlights a black female cop coming into the hood and being shunned because of her job title. He adds, “To remember that everyone is a human, no matter the title can be tough.”
If you haven’t already, listen to $WISHTAPE here:
For $WISHTAPE 2, RETROi$AWESOME plans on doing things differently. In a word: It’ll be a satisfying digest. 😀
The movie, Black and Blue is officially in theaters.
