Afterthought – 'that's who I am, I can't run from it'
By Run That Again
We noticed from the early days of Run That Again an artist called Afterthought who kept popping up on our radar. We kept listening out for his music and putting it on during the day and were continuously impressed by his body of work. His west-coast inspired sound, oozing retro honey, with its clear influences from ‘Pac and beats that Alicia Keys would warble over, compelled us to get in-touch with him to chat about his thoughts on music, his inspirations and the changes needed in the music industry right now.
How would you describe your sound and influences?
“My sound is very much based on my upbringing and the people who influenced and impacted my life. I was raised in San Francisco during the hyphy era, so the hyper activity, super energetic part of my sound comes from that, but at the same time I was raised around hippie culture, and so I have a lot of low-key tendencies, those two sides of me shine through in my music.
Politically, the Bay Area is home to so many activists—Oakland the home of the Black Panthers. So all of that went into the mixing pot of who I am as an artist and heavily influenced that new bay area bounce that is my sound. Mac Dre was a huge influence on me, as well as 2pac and the Jacka.
When I was younger, Lil Wayne was pretty much all I played and I still consider him my favorite rapper. In terms of my sound, it's a mix of all of those artists. I have no problem experimenting with sound, noise, audio clips, different instruments, genres, etc., but at its core it's hip-hop, my reinterpretation of West Coast hip-hop mixed with some of the early 2000’s R&B melodies I grew up on, and from a songwriter's perspective, artists such as Alicia Keys and Keyshia Cole.”
How did you come up with the name Afterthought?
“I chose that name when I was prolly 14 or 15. I’m adopted and that’s a big part of my story, and my identity and music is me dealing with my identity—facing it, having a dialogue with it—so I thought it was important to lean into that with my name as well.
When I was younger, an afterthought was something people would say that I was, “oh you're an afterthought, your parents didn’t want you,” and things like that, so when I was thinking about names and thinking about how powerful an artist like 2pac reclaiming nigga was for me and him redefining it as Never Ignorant in Getting Goals Accomplished, I wanted to do the same, so I chose Afterthought, ran with it, reclaimed it, and now it makes me happy when people call me Afterthought. That's who I am, I can’t run from it.”
“I’m adopted and that’s a big part of my story, and my identity and music is me dealing with my identity.”
With the world’s attention drawn to the Black Lives Matter movement right now, how do you think the music industry could evolve for the better?
“I think that all of these music labels are not doing the work they need to do and just simply posting or changing the vernacular of how you address the cultural black music in the US from “Urban” and global from “world” there needs to be more institutional change.
I’m not business end so I can see exactly what needs to be done but I do know that it goes beyond just the actual music that’s just to start; it’s the ownership of music for black people, giving money to the black artist, the black communities.”
Which artists empower you at this time?
“A lot of artists are giving me hope. I’m seeing a lot of artists that I listen to who I don’t necessarily go to for political aspirations, speaking on their blackness and their struggle with police brutality, which is obviously the main issue at hand, or with any other sort of issues that they’re dealing with as a result of racism and other ‘isms’ in this country in the world on a global scale, I see a lot of dope dope artists come out and say things within the music and just using the platform to speak out against injustice, but it is really family first and I listen to my friends and family. I have some [music] coming out with two artists kaly jay and ozer and I’ve been listening to both of them a lot and their music has been guiding me.”
“it’s the ownership of music for black people, giving money to the black artist, the black communities. ”
Best piece of advice you have received so far musically?
“Put shit out that someone wants to hear, keep trying till you find what you like to do and what they like to hear. I think about that all the time, because I feel a lot of folks have dope shit but wait for “fans” or “for the one song that will put them on” or whatever it may be, but everyone's journey is different and everyone's growth is different so I think about that whenever I feel stuck.”
You're based in San Francisco right? Would you say that has had an influence on your music?
“Frisco is forever my home and so much of my game and just the way I move is based on the culture of the city and the bay, the music of the city and also my experiences growing up here. I’m always quick to say I’m from San Francisco, especially when folks assume I’m from Oakland, because there are black people in San Francisco, there are working people living in San Francisco, period. To me in my travels a lotta people don’t seem to realize that. There are not a lot of movies filmed here that show people just living here, it's always about visiting or moving here not just living here, being raised here.
“So I feel rare in that way and wanna make sure we are represented. And there is a lot of dope music coming out the city right now and I wanna make sure it's heard. Empire has done good work with that—shout out to them—and artists like 2kGoldn. The movie The Last Black Man in San Francisco put a lot of dope context to the black history of the city and to the gentrification happening here. And the organizations and people who shaped and guided me, Youth Speaks, Project Level, my big homies who gave me guidance.”
Favourite pastime when you're not making music?
“Cooking. BIg Chef Gang. How I became a big nigga ;)”
Has anyone been negative about your desire to pursue music?
“No one in my personal life that’s close to me, but there are always haters and I just use hate as fuel. For me, if it's dope I don’t care how many people are talking about it imma post it. Everyone has different tastes and you never know who is gonna like what, so support your homies, support local, support black n brown, non male, non straight, etc. Imma always preach that and live that.”
What do you hope people will feel when they listen to your tracks?
“I just hope they feel something. I make music and have my feelings and thoughts about it, but music hits everyone differently. As long as it hits you, I'll be happy.”