Soms was born in New York, though he left when he was young and moved to Florida and grew up in West Palm Beach, FL. He started music when he was 7 and learned how to play and read music in 2nd grade. He started as a singer before he became a rapper and used to perform in plays and at concerts. Soms made his first song at 14 and started to link with, up-and-comers from Florida. He used to work and be managed by Lil Pump and Smokepurrp’s old manager. He did my first show at 16 where he opened up for XXXtentaciona and Wifisfuneral. Soms is the owner and CEO of True Undiscovered Talent LLC.
- How long have you been in the music business and how did you get started in the first place?
Soms: I’ve been in the music business since I was 14. I was always involved with music since I was young, playing instruments and singing, but my first step into rapping was when I released a remix to Bobby Shmurda’s “Hot Ni**a”.
- Who were your first and strongest musical influences that you can remember?
Soms: My first musical influences were Frank Sinatra, Lil Wayne, and Michael Jackson. My strongest influence of the three is probably Lil Wayne because as a kid his music and storytelling captivated me and made me want to be a rapper.
- If any, which artists do you currently respect in the game, and are listening to right now?
Soms: Honestly I fuck with the new wave of artists but it’s not really for me so I wouldn’t say I respect any of them, but I do respect the OGs in the game. As far as what I’m listening to it consists of a lot of vibes. I just like to smoke and vibe out but recently I’ve been listening to myself a lot.
- What do you feel are the key elements people should be getting out of your music?
Soms: I’m just telling my story and talking about what I’m going through and how I’m feeling. I just want people to be able to relate my music to their own lives while getting to feel like they know me and feel me through the music.
- What do you think separates you from the massive crowd of up and coming young artists emerging right now?
Soms: I’m not with the fuck shit. I can’t put it simpler than that. I’m blunt, straight to the point and honest sometimes to a fault, and I can confidently say that I’m nothing like these other artist and hopefully people will come to realize that.
- As the owner and CEO of True Undiscovered Talent LLC, could you tell us something about this project?
Soms: Well it started as just me feeling like no one was listening to my music or paying attention to me even though I feel like I have a lot to offer. I just used that concept as motivation to push myself to make noise and get people to pay attention to my music. I made it into an official Record Label/Clothing Line where I have me and my artist Langston Brady signed to it and have been releasing hoodies and shirts.
- How did you get to open for XXXtentacion and Wifisfuneral at 16, and what was the experience like for you?
Soms: Well I can only thank my good friend and ex- manager Mateo Dorado for that. He saw my potential and really helped me get my foot in the door in the music industry and got me a little 15-20 min slot opening up for Wifi and X. That was a crazy experience for me especially at 16, I had just gotten kicked out of my house and was on some crazy shit doing whatever I wanted. I got all my friends to come out and support, and they got on stage with me, it was crazy. It’s crazy to think that X was an influential part of my career and we never even got to officially meet and connect…man R.I.P X.
- What would you consider a successful, proud or high point in your endeavors so far?
Soms: Well the first thing that comes to my mind is my first song to hit 100,000 plays on soundcloud which was my hit song “Drip”, right now it probably has around 450,000 plays and counting. Another favorite part of my career has been opening up for worldwide famous artists and performing in front of all those people.
- What has been the most difficult thing you’ve had to endure in your career or the music business so far?
Soms: People aren’t really there for you how they say they are. Once they get what they needed from you it’s just on to the next person and so on. I’m a really genuine and honest guy even the its bad stuff and the fact that people in this business can’t be straight up and instead just lie and use people for their own benefit is so lame to me.
- What key ingredients do you always try and infuse into your music?
Soms: I always try to keep my music authentic, every line of every song is based on truth and something I’ve done or am going through myself. My music is like a melodic book telling the story of my life.
- Do you produce the beats and write the lyrics on your songs or do you collaborate with outside sources in any of these cases?
Soms: I get my beats from different producers I talk to or I get them off of Youtube but that’s really the only collaboration I do because I write all my own songs, I record them in my home studio, and I engineer them all myself too, it’s all a one man show once I have the beat.
- What is your personal opinion of the status of the Rap and Hip-hop game right now?
Soms: It depends on what you’re looking at. All the mainstream artists that are coming out right now are absolute garbage, lil pump, lil xan, etc. so I choose not to listen to them and go beyond just the mainstream, and what you’ll find out is that there are a lot of really fucking good artists out there now that are going to bring the culture back once this bullshit wave dies down and hits shore.
- Which aspect of being an independent artist and label excites you most and which aspect discourages you most?
Soms: The most exciting part is being able to do music however I want and take career in any direction. The only things that really discourages me is when I work with people in the industry they all have more of a leg up because of their label or connections and such which makes them not have to work as hard and it makes me feel like I’m getting looked over or passed up on just because I don’t have a deal or a major cosign, but after a getting burned a couple times it just made me work harder and gave me the motivation to make it even more on my own.
- Are you happy about how the music business works right now, or is there something you would change?
Soms: I wish the music business was based on talent and potential, not likes and followers. The best artists could be right under your nose with 2k followers and society will completely write them off as garbage, meanwhile some bullshit artists repeating the same line over and over with 15k-20k will get more attention because of the image and the numbers. There’s so much good music out there and people are missing out getting caught up in the hype.
- If someone has never heard your music, which keywords would you personally use to describe your overall sound and style?
Soms: Melodic, Vulnerable, Jiggy and Honest. Its music for if you feel alone know that someone feels you, or if you wanna vibe out wit ya friends, or if you just like nice sounds. My music is all about creating a vibe and making people feel. Like actual feel.
- Do you consider Internet and all the social media websites as fundamental in building a career in music today, and what is your personal relationship with the new technology at hand?
Soms: It is a key part of being an artist today and me personally I suck at social media and it has been a detriment to my career because I haven’t given myself all the exposure that I could have if I had managed my social media better.
- What is your latest release called and where can fans find it?
Soms: My latest EP was the “Let Me Help You Out With That” EP and fans can find it on soundcloud now. But recently I’ve started releasing new music every Monday as part of my “New Music Monday’s” series and will be continuing to release a new song every week on soundcloud so fans can look forward to a lot of new music from me.
- What is your relationship with visual media? Do you think videos are important for your music? Do you have a video you would recommend fans checkout so they can get in to what you’re doing?
Soms: When it comes to my visuals I’ve been blessed with one of the best videographers in the game with Winchoz (@winchoz). He’s been a good friend and has always supported my music since the jump and he handles all of my visual content for my music. Visual media is good for capturing someone’s attention quickly rather than just a picture so I use it to help people get a visual of the person behind the mic as well as give them something to look at while they listen to the song. I would recommend watching my “Pull Up” and “Dreams” videos which are on Youtube right now if you search Soms, and I have some new videos coming on the way so they can watch out for those too
- Do you prefer working and creating in a studio environment, or performing live in front of an audience?
Soms: I prefer working and creating in the studio. I’m really reserved and to myself so I like to just be focused and comfortable creating and just letting vibes flow whether it be alone in the studio or with a couple friends. Don’t get me wrong though I love to perform I just don’t like being in the club or the venue after my performance is done. I just go perform, take some pictures, and then leave cause I wanna go chill and vibe out.
- What’s next potential milestone on the upcoming agenda for Soms?
Soms: A LOT of new Music, new videos, new merch, and working on going on a nationwide tour in 2019. There is a lot coming that people don’t expect and I can’t wait to shock them when it happens.
OFFICIAL LINKS: SOUNDCLOUD – YOUTUBE – INSTAGRAM – TWITTER – MERCH
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