21 Questions: Nodis, His Style, His Music, His Crush And His Ex
Nodis: Photographs by Tiffany Kumar
Questions by Cassell Ferere
Hailing from the D.C.-Maryland-Virginia area, the V.A. native is living life according to his vision for himself. Following in the footsteps of the music greats from his hometown, Pharrell, Timberland, Missy Elliot, and The Clipse, Nodis is fusing pop sounds with hip hop flow.
Nodis found music at the tender age of 12-years-old. But at that time, in a city where there wasn’t much else for him to do, Nodis found himself into drugs just as he discovered his song.
A recovering drug abuser, he is humbled by his past and uses it to propel his music and life forward. Making his way to Los Angeles, Nodis uses music to get his feelings across with the help of the Beat House LA label. Speaking on his past relationships and toting his ambitious character, Nodis music exemplifies a young man who is understanding of who he is and where he wants to go. His style reflects his diversity in his music, and clothing isn’t a challenge for him but an opportunity to sartorial express himself like in his emotive music.
1. Where are you from?
I hail from the land of Pharrell, Timbaland, Missy Elliot, The Clipse. 2 up 2 down. VA baby.
2. How have the past 6 months been for you with quarantine and protest?
The worlds fucked up.. I pray for better days, you know damn well i was out there protesting, fuck the police.
3. What was life like growing up in the DMV?
"Well from ages 12-20 all I did was drugs, party, and bullshit since in VA there's nothing to do but that & make music.
I started writing music when I was 12 cause I was getting high with all my older friends, they rapped, and I wanted to be better than them (which I was)."
4. Are you a different person from living in the DMV - usual old places hold certain stress?
"Nah no stress. The DMV has its own lingo, swag, and fashion and I love it. You got clothing brands like Solbiato in D.C. and everyone wears Helly Hansen jackets in the winter. People be saying "Fool" & "Endless" a lot. Like, 'Fool there's about to be endless girls there im trying to tell you we got to float.' I'm not about to let LA change me."
5. Is Los Angeles the city that city everyone says it is now that you live there?
"I put making music above sex. If I never came here I would never have access to unlimited studio time, I would of never of created “All About Cake”. I’d be stuck in VA, doing drugs, working at bum-fuck AT&T."
6. What was the starting point for making music and finding your fashion style to go with it?
"I think I always had sauce. I grew up skateboarding so I was rocking skinny jeans, girl jeans, all that tight fittin shit when I was like 9-10. I was always into weird shit."
7. What did pop music and rap do for your younger self and as you grew?
"Well my mom was a drummer in a punk band, so growing up she got me hip to all different types of shit... Earth-Wind & Fire, Smashing Pumpkins, Nirvana, NWA, 50 Cent..."
8. Which had more influence over you, pop music, or hip hop style?
"Hip Hop for sure. 50 Cent - In Da Club was the first rap song I heard... I was hooked. I also remember really fuckin’ with Kanye's - Gold Digger, then Lil Wayne's Carter 3."
9. Who did you look up to growing up?
"Different skateboarders, foreal... But when I was like 15-16 I started looking up to artists like ASAP Rocky, Schoolboy Q, TDE… Mac Miller."
10.Why “All About Cake”?
"I heard the beat and I knew what I was going to do to it immediately. All my songs have some detail about my real-life scenarios. Shit that people my age have experienced, details that girls and my friends will recognize. 'It’s all good, it’s ok, she throw smack then she throw shade, where you at girl, on my way, snap me pics she my top 8, tell her friends that we best friends but yes I hit like yesterday'."
11. What fashion brands do you wish you could collaborate with and why?
"Young & Reckless, The Hundreds, Thrasher, Pink Dolphin… Cause I was rocking there shit growing up and I still fuck with them, I think it'd be dope to collab with them."
12. Did you see something missing from pop music and hip hop before you entered it?
"A lot of artists portray a facade. I write about my real life and real funds. I write about the actual shit a kid in high school, or college kid goes through. I write about how I don't have everything figured out, I don't have all the money, cars and girls."
Nodis participating in a peaceful protest for the justice for the death of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, as well as the many other who have lost their lives due to police brutality.
13. How does your style reflect who you are and your experiences?
"My music is a direct representation of my story. I speak for the generation I speak for the kids who didn't have shit do but drugs. I use to smoke pills off of tinfoil like the shit I’ve overcome is insane. And I talk about all of it in my music. My life is still fun, I have those crazy nights still. YOUNG CRUSH LORD shit."
14. Which musicians or artists do you want to collaborate with and why?
"Dua Lipa, Pharrell, Post Malone. Dua Lipa 'cause that's my baby, Pharrell cause he's from VA, and he's just a fucking genius, legend, etc..."
15. How have you been able to stay focused away from the negative things life has offered you - off drugs?
"Long story short... I was caught in a sting operation selling prescription drugs to an undercover cop... Went through the whole court system shit. I was put on probation, then I got a job at AT&T, then eventually said fuck all this and moved to LA. So I always remind myself of all the wild shit I've overcome and that's what keeps me focused. I got to fucking make it. Not for myself but for the people around me. My manager Tiffany Kumar, My mom, My Aunt, My producers, Engineers, BEAT HOUSE. I got pressure on me."
16. Is there a particular style you are organically attracted to; where you pull ideas from?
You can have all the Gucci and designers in the world that doesn't mean you got style though. I wear a lot of custom 1 of 1 pieces that my boy Different Breed designs for me, it'll have symbols that I like on them, my lyrics, name, numbers that I like."
17. What would you want others to take away from your presentation and in experiencing you as an artist?
"I want other brown kids to chase there fucking dreams, they don't have to be doctors and lawyers like most indian parents force on them. Fuck that."
18. What is the craziest thing you may want to wear one day to a show or event?
"I might just pull up naked. Dead ass."
19. Do you dress to please yourself or do you get dressed to inspire others?
"I dress to stand out. If I realize I’m wearing some shit that makes me a basic bitch I got to switch it up & wear something that stands out."
20. Is creativity fluid for you or something you think about during a process?
"When it comes to music, I write, rewrite, then rewrite again. I happened to write and record “All About Cake” in 2 hours. When it comes to fashion I do the same and switch it up till it’s right."
21a. How do you define your fashion style?
"It's mostly inspired by people who leave their clothes at my house and I just put it all together, even girls shit. My ex left these fire ass "I am Gia" sweatpants at my crib and I rock them endlessly."
21b. And as a rapper?
"As an artist, a girls gonna know my lyrics are about her even if I don't say her name, cause that's how detailed I am. I leave clues for them. I don't like singing but I do put pop melodies in my shit because it's not just about bars."