Shaped by Sound combines performance and conversation to capture the depth of the North Carolina music scene.

As a young boy in Charlotte, North Carolina, Reuben Vincent dreamed that one day he would be a rapper.

That dream became a reality when he was discovered by legendary hip-hop producer 9th Wonder at the age of 13 and he hasn't looked back since.

Today on the Shaped by Sound podcast, Charlotte-based rapper and producer Reuben Vincent.

Reuben Vincent from Charlotte, North Carolina.

Is that right?

Yes, sir.

Charlotte, born and raised.

I am so pumped to have you on this show.

Likewise.

Thank you.

Thank you for being here, man.

Let's, if we could, I'd like to start out with Charlotte.

So you were born and raised in Charlotte?

Yes, yes.

Born and raised in Charlotte, on the east side of Charlotte to be exact.

I was born, I do not remember the hospital.

I wish I did.

I think that's okay.

Yeah.

I was born in East Charlotte, North Carolina.

Born and raised there until I moved to South Charlotte when I was 16.

But yeah, Charlotte overall.

Yeah.

What was it like growing up there for you?

It was pretty, I feel like I had a pretty cool childhood.

You know what I'm saying?

I feel like, you know, I have, you know, we all as teenagers, kids, we have the experiences of growth, you know, whether it's on like the side of like, hey, everything is fun.

But then you also had the things that every teenager goes through, which is like anxiety, peer pressure, all the extras, which, you know, I feel like I had a pretty common childhood, but also unique in a way of like, I grew up in a African home.

Like specifically my mother, I live with my mother my whole life.

My father, he lived like 15 minutes down the road from me, majority of my life.

So like, you know, I seen him on and off, you know what I mean?

Like, you know, sometimes I go see him on the weekends, like, or there might be a year where like, I really don't see him on the weekends.

But my parents were very much there, you know what I mean?

And, you know, I'm the only child from my mother and father before they, you know, got married afterwards.

So I was the oldest.

I'm the oldest son from my dad, but I'm my oldest mom's child, period.

So, you know, being the older brother, you know, you're getting, you're getting pushed out there first.

You're getting the first experience of everything.

Right.

From school to like how to interact with people, how, you know, especially my mom didn't grow up in America.

Well, she grew up in Liberia and then moved to Maryland when she was 16.

Okay.

And then my father didn't, he grew up in West Africa, period.

Yeah.

So I was, I'm first generation.

Right.

You know what I mean?

So just being a first generation African-American growing up in the South, Charlotte, where it's a lot of, you know, culture, I can say, and growing culture.

I feel like, you know, Charlotte has grown so much from when I was a child.

But like the vivid memories I remember, like being a kid is like my dad used to pick me up in his Cadillac Northstar V8 2004.

He used to play like Tupac and like Biggie and like, you know, you know, Nas and 50 Cent and all them things.

And then, you know, I go to my mom and my mom wasn't necessarily like the biggest on rap, but she was big on like, you know, just evolution of her children doing better than her.

Yeah.

And the growth of that, you know, so I think I had a good balance where like my dad, I got all like my hip hop sauce and like swag from like my dad and like his, maybe his like charismatic traits and like goofiness.

But my mom is like always been very grounded, like a very much a disciplinarian.

Okay.

And like, you know, she was big on discipline and like, you know, keeping us grounded and like being mindful of what we ate and, you know, being like, you know, making sure like she made sure I read books and like she was like always being like, you know, having good handwriting and like having good diction and spelling and all of that stuff.

So I had like a balance to that and then going out into school and learning and picking up my own traits from kids my age.

Right.

So it seems like you had a really great mix of culture.

Yeah.

What was it like for you, you know, being a first generation American and having these different influences?

I think for a long time, I think it was a little bit of a split in identity because you're a first generation child.

You know, you go out to school and you go into the world thinking that you're just like every other kid that's living in America.

Yeah.

And then like, you know, even from people who share the same skin as me, but the parents that might have their ancestors might have been far removed from Africa.

They're looking at you a little bit different because your mom just now moved here, you know what I'm saying, and dad.

So I had like a weird dynamic of like, yo, I'm in is weird because it's like, yo, I'm African-American for real.

And I think, you know, the set the set kind of shows that of like the duality because it's like I go home, I go to school and I'm thinking I'm just like y'all.

But then you're like, no, you're African.

You know what I'm saying?

And it's like your mom acts a different way or y'all eat different foods.

So it was like a split in culture.

But then it's like I grew up a hip hop kid.

I grew up a kid who loves sneakers.

I grew up a kid who loved basketball.

I grew up a kid who loves the same things you guys like, you know what I'm saying?

And I live here.

I was born here.

Yeah.

You know what I mean?

But then you go there and people are like, you know, telling you you're a little bit different.

So it was like a little bit of a split in identity.

But, you know, as I've gotten older, I've been, you know, more secure in who I am just overall.

And I don't think no human is one dimensional.

Yeah.

So, you know, all these dimensions make me Reuben Vincent.

Absolutely.

And I was going to ask you about that.

Like, does that sort of mix of things, like how does that influence you with your music?

Yeah, I think that's a big priority now for me in my music is to showcase that duality, showcase who I am as a person, because I feel like one thing that I was trying to learn in this game or like in this, you know, industries when I first got in is like, who are you?

You know what I mean?

I feel like that's the big question that people either ask directly or indirectly.

You know what I mean?

Yeah.

And I think, you know, at one point I was trying to figure that out.

And, you know, I think another thing I feel like, you know, a lot of times you're like, man, maybe my life is like boring.

You know what I'm saying?

I think that all the time.

Yeah.

You know, it's like who cares what, you know, I might have to say.

It's not always extravagant.

Like I'm not sitting here like, yo, I'm in the streets, you know what I'm saying?

Or I'm not.

And nothing's wrong with that.

You know, if that was what your experiences was or like, oh, I did this or did this.

But I think my experience was unique when I started to realize that, like when I started to put out songs that like necessarily was tailored to who I was as a person.

And I had people coming up like, yo, I grew up just like that.

So it's like your life isn't boring.

You know what I'm saying?

Like there's somebody who relates to your story.

It's just about how you convey it.

So I think, you know, me just being more comfortable in that has allowed the music to like just be more sound like me.

You know what I mean?

Yeah, for sure.

Yeah.

I want to backtrack just a little bit and kind of go back to when did you fall in love with music?

You were kind of talking about your dad earlier.

I feel like I fell in love with music early.

Like as far as I can remember, like I feel like there's like a picture of me like two years old.

And I'm like holding a microphone and like it was like attached to a boombox.

But like I was holding it like a rapper.

Like I was like so it's just funny because as far as hard for me to like be like, yo, this is the pinpoint of where like it started for me because I feel like it's always been there.

And I've always been like so in love with it.

That makes sense.

Yeah.

And I feel like as far as my early memory, like one of my early I think I was having a conversation with somebody in the car the other day.

And I was telling them that, you know, like there was there was like, you'll be dancing for like you don't dance a lot, but you like you actually know how to dance.

And I was like, oh, it's funny because like one of my first core memories and life is like I was like at the park.

And that's another thing.

Like with the African community, the Liberian community, like they throw parties, they throw cookouts, big cookouts.

Whether it's like Liberian Independence Day, whether it's somebody's graduation or whatever, you know what I mean?

And they used to throw cookouts in the park and it was in Sugar Creek Park because I used to stay on Sugar Creek.

And I remember being three years old, three or four years old.

But my very first memory, like one of my very first memories is there was playing music and I was just dancing and I was just like rocking.

And like there was like this older girl and it was like we was all surrounded in a circle of people and I was just dancing, like doing this stuff.

But I say that to say like I think music has always been embedded in my brain.

And like my very first few memories is like my dad picking me up and playing like hip hop and like me being like, who is this?

Or like even being so infatuated with hip hop that I was scared of it.

Like I was scared of Tupac's voice.

Really?

Like I thought his voice was like super strong.

You know what I mean?

Or like so like when my dad would play him, like it kind of scared me.

But at the same time, it's like I forgot to say, but you know how some things like people are scared of, like they're also infatuated with it a little bit.

Right.

Like that's what that was for me.

Yeah, it was making you react, right?

Yeah.

And that's what you're attracted to.

Yeah.

And I didn't know that.

It just was like because I was so young, it was like, why am I so reacted to this?

And maybe like now that I'm older, it wasn't fear.

It was just more like, what is this?

Yeah.

You know what I mean?

Like, you know, those are like my very first memories, but I cannot recall like a day where it was like, yo, this is the day.

Yeah.

But I can recall my first rap.

Okay.

Yeah.

What was the first rap?

So I was in preschool and there was this girl named Mikaela and I don't know why I'm in preschool having a crush on a girl at the time.

I need to be focused on squares and learning my letters and stuff like that.

But anyways, there was a girl named Mikaela in the school, in the class.

And there was another boy in there that I ironically like ended up growing up with more and more.

His name was Shamar.

He actually passed away, though.

Rest in peace.

And but Shamar, for some reason, like I saw Shamar and her was like playing on the playground together.

And like I wrote like a diss track at home, like dissing like her and dissing him and the whole situation and stuff like that.

I don't know what I was thinking, but it was funny because my mom had a babysitter for me at the time because she used to work.

And the babysitter was like, OK, write out your spelling words.

And I was like, OK. And I was writing them out and I was getting bored and she fell asleep.

She took a nap.

And instead of me being like a bad kid and like messing up the house, I sat there and wrote a rap.

And that was my rap.

It was like a diss track to like Mikaela and Shamar.

Wow.

Wait, well, did it work?

I never showed them.

Yeah, I never showed them.

I like I think I wrote it.

And then I was like, I'm over it now.

Yeah, I mean, which is kind of crazy now that I'm a little bit older, because like that was like my first sign of release of like, you know, that's how you do a journal.

And that's how you do it.

Like, so it's like music has became a place where like if I'm frustrated about something, if I'm feeling a certain way about something, even if like a lot of times I try to do better now with addressing it in person.

But at a time where like if I didn't want to address it, I would address it in song and then just let it go.

Yeah.

You know what I mean?

Which I think is like a dope tool that I was even like thinking like that at four years old.

Right.

You're finding catharsis.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Exactly.

Yeah.

Which is incredibly advanced.

Yeah, I'm like super shocked now that I think back about it, but I've always been like into writing, like even in preschool, like the first thing that like even before I went to kindergarten, when I was in preschool, my teacher told my mom one time because I like wrote a story.

Like they used to do this thing where like every weekend they'll take let a student take a teddy bear home.

OK. And like treat it like it's a person.

And like you have to tell the story about what you and the teddy bear did and all of that stuff.

So like I wrote this real like concise story of like what me and the teddy bear did.

And like I told him we tried rice and African gravy together and all this all this stuff.

But the way I wrote it, she was like, like his storytelling is really good.

That's what she told my mother.

So, you know, now that I'm like thinking about all of these early moments, those are things that like was like very like prominent early on.

Yeah.

Well, it's it's I feel like it's really consistent with your story, though.

Right.

Because it seems as a four year old, you were sort of workshopping your early hip hop.

And then but that seems to continue.

Right.

Yeah.

So so how did you kind of take that early stages of writing and sort of develop even as a as a young person?

I think as time went on, I just continued to like write whether it was like sometimes I'll draw album covers.

Like that was a big thing I did from like kindergarten to like second grade of like I'll draw album covers and I'll write like I'll do like a back track list and I'll be like, oh, featuring 50 Cent.

And like, yo, it's funny, even before like I wrote that real concise rap.

I have a notebook still from when I was like three years old where I was like writing the words didn't make sense.

Yeah.

Well, like I was writing raps like Bow Wow or like I was a big Bow Wow fan.

So like one of my raps, I was like, Bow Wow, wow, I'm a dog, pow, pow.

Wow.

Like it was just random words that rhyme.

But they were like, I was three.

I know I'm saying I didn't know what I was doing.

I said that to say as I got older, I was starting to write in my room a lot.

That's like how I like that was like my release form.

You know, I mean, like, you know, a lot of kids were like playing with toys and like Pokemon cards.

And I was too.

Like I had Xbox and stuff like that.

But like more so I was listening to music on my Xbox.

Yeah.

And like writing raps and stuff.

And then I remember I used to go with my uncle, Uncle Debon, to his soccer games because he used to play soccer.

And one day they had to drive like an hour, hour so far.

But he was playing a little Wayne in the car and little Wayne just dropped dedication three or two.

OK. Yeah.

And I just remember they were like, yo, little Wayne, you're here like he's rapping.

He's and then they was like, he can freestyle.

And I was like, I can freestyle, too.

And so they was like, show us.

So then they play one of the beats.

They play Canon, which was on dedication to.

So it was dedication to actually.

And I just remember I started freestyling and I wasn't making sense, really.

But they was like, yo, there's words there and there's like flow there.

Yeah.

So, you know, he took me.

There was this lady who used to cut my hair off, Central and the east side of Charlotte named Mia.

And he took me to her house and he was like, yo, like my nephew can rap.

And she was like, well, let me see.

And she played Biggie Juicy.

Oh, the instrumental.

And I just rap for her in her living room.

And she was like, well, he actually, yes, he can rap.

And she was like, well, I have a guy who has a studio in his house that he can go to tomorrow.

So like that night, that's like another early moment of me writing that night.

I think I wrote like four songs.

Wow.

Yeah.

And it was actually I was with another dude kid named Mateo, who's actually an audio engineer now.

But Mateo was trying to rap as well.

He was like a kid as well.

But I remember like I was so like and this is also an early moment of leadership for me, where now that like it's so funny.

We're talking about it because now all of this like playing back in my head, like, oh, this was a moment of leadership.

This was a moment of like you said, catharsis of like finding that I think, you know, I was like, yo, you have to come spend the night at my house because we got to write these raps because we're going to the studio tomorrow.

So like he like I sat there like stayed up all night writing these raps.

I didn't have no beat.

So it's like.

I'm just writing raps with like in my head of like what I think is going to be the beats.

So we get there and none of the beats he played matched could match with my rap.

So I was just like, I got to kind of scrape these.

And Mateo got nervous.

And I was like, no, no, this is my moment.

We're going to take this.

So we get in the booth.

He gives us both two headphones.

And I'm like, bro, let's just rap.

Let's just figure it out.

Yeah.

And Mateo's like he like backed up.

And then I was like, all right.

I was like, press record.

And I just rap for like three minutes straight.

And they were like highly impressed.

And, you know, that's when they taught.

That's when I was taught how to write a 16 because I was just rapping straight through.

Right.

And it was like, yo, you got to like learn how to do a hook.

You got to learn how to like write a 16.

You got to know the bridge, a chorus is all these things that, you know, that catapulted me into like going back home and like writing my own stuff.

And I started to continue to write, continue to write until, you know, being 13 years old and me and like.

Yeah, that's incredible.

And so wait, so how old were you in that moment where you were in the booth?

I'm eight years old.

So as an eight year old, you're like, this is my moment and just launched into it.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

A hundred percent.

And then you haven't turned back since.

No, no, never turned back ever.

I mean, there's been moments of like, oh, man, like, you know, maybe I shouldn't rap.

I'm a kid.

You know what I mean?

But then I'm like, my mom's like, you know, like at first my mom didn't understand, you know, when people used to tell her like, oh, your kid can rap.

She just like, like whatever.

I mean, my mom's African mother, like you're going to be a doctor or a lawyer.

You know what I'm saying?

Like, but once one day my uncle came to the house and he was like, no, like he can really rap.

He played and he played the song that I did at the studio.

And she was just like, oh, wow.

I mean, so she caught on and started believing.

Yeah.

You know, and then that's when she started to support.

And, you know, without her support, without my father's support as well, because he was supporting as well, everybody around me, I think your environment plays a part.

I probably would have like stopped, you know what I mean?

At one point, you know, but even when I was like 11 and I was like, I'm a kid, mom, like, you know, I started to like be like, let me be like realistic.

Like I'm a kid.

I'm in Charlotte.

Nobody's really here like to like cat like and I still have a lot to experience.

So I was like, I'm going to just be a kid and go to school and like maybe go like play basketball or something at the time.

And she was like, Reuben, you have a gift.

Like, don't run away from that.

I remember that day Vivalie was in the car, was going back home.

She was like, do you still want to rap?

And I was like, I don't think so.

And I was like, I'm a kid.

Like nobody's really trying to pay.

I felt like, you know, you have kid rappers like, you know, Bow Wow was one.

These other artists were one.

But I wanted to be taken serious like a grown man.

Right.

You know what I mean?

Even at eight years old, I didn't want people to be like, oh, he's a kid rapper.

That's so cute.

Right.

Like I wanted them to be like, no, he's a rapper.

Right.

So I was like, I'm a kid.

Nobody's gonna take me serious.

And she was like, no, let's just just continue.

And then she bought me a microphone for Christmas and I ended up starting to record at home.

Man, that must have felt so good to have that buy in from your mom.

That trust, right.

That like you are talented.

Yeah.

Like you can do this.

This isn't just a dream.

For sure.

And she didn't like like for years she didn't get it.

You know what I mean?

She still was like in the back of my like, I see how much he loves this.

So I'm not going to get in the way.

But let's see how long this is going to be like a thing.

You know what I mean?

But instead of her like and that's one thing I'm grateful for instead of her worries or like her throwing out negative thoughts of like, I don't know if this is going to work.

She's like, let me put my biases aside or my pain aside and still point to him.

I'm going to buy him a mic.

I remember one time she like took me to like this Disney audition.

She did.

Yeah.

And like my mom was like we were far from like fortune.

We didn't have no fortune.

Like my mom was a hard like she worked three jobs at one point, but it was like I'm going to do whatever it takes to make sure my kids dreams, you know.

Man, your mom rocks.

Yeah, for sure.

Superhero mom.

Yeah.

Shout out to her.

Yeah.

So as you're starting to kind of progress, like what happens then?

Like so you're you're you have this buy in from your family and friends and a community that's really supporting you.

Yeah.

And then you start developing even more.

Right.

Yeah.

So, yo, it's so crazy.

Like it's all coming back to me and is coming back to me in a in a different way.

Like it's not like I forgot any of these things, but like it's all coming back to me in a different way.

Now being, you know, 24 by the time this comes out, like seeing it and being like, oh, this was a moment.

Like I say earlier, this was a leadership moment.

This was like when my mom bought me the mic when I was in middle school or like sixth, fifth grade.

I begged my mom for twenty dollars to go buy burned CDs and I recorded a whole mixtape, 17 songs.

Wow.

In my bedroom and burned the CDs and passed them out to kids at my school.

You know what I'm saying?

At first I was charging five dollars and I was like, OK, kids don't have no money.

So I was like, I'm just about to give them to everybody so people can go listen to my music.

Yeah.

And just even listening, thinking back now, I'm like, whoa, to be like in sixth grade, like thinking like that was like.

You know, like, whoa, like, you know, and, you know, I have to like give myself credit for that, you know what I mean?

But I say that to say so then that happened and then I started to like go on the Internet and realize like, OK, this is the blogger like mixtapes and all that stuff.

Yeah.

So like I'm seeing the rise of like the J.Coles, the Drake's, the Kendrick Lamars, the Kid Cudi's, the Wale's and seeing like, OK, they're putting stuff on that.

OK, Mac Miller was Khalifa.

They're putting these on that.

Right.

I might not be their age.

They're like older than me, but I'm going to try.

Yeah.

So and I wish I still had them up, but I was like 12, 13, putting mixtapes up and there is still one up that ended up getting me the recognition from 9th Wonder.

But I was putting mixtapes up, putting them on Dat Piff, putting them on Hot New Hip Hop, putting them on SoundCloud, putting them on all these websites, just trying to see if I can build my fan base, putting music on YouTube.

Yeah.

And I remember it was like I was three mixtapes in by this time I'm in seventh grade, 13 years old at this time.

I put out a mixtape called Idol Lesson, which was like a play on the word adolescent, but with an idol in the front.

I put it out and then this was another moment of me being like, man, I'm a kid, man.

Nobody's going to take me serious.

Like, let me just not.

And I remember I put the mixtape out and I was sending it to all of my favorite producers, my favorite artists and stuff like that.

How are you sending it?

Looking for their emails.

Yeah.

Which now I realize maybe some of those emails are like fake and the Internet made them up.

Like what's Pharrell's email?

Like why would Pharrell's email just be randomly up on, you know?

Yeah.

But anyways, I was sending out these emails and the last person I was going to send one to was 9th Wonder.

But I did not because I was like, he's never going to see it.

All these people out of this in the emails, they're not replying.

And then I was sending like I was making a comment show.

I'm a 13 year old from Charlotte, NC, making real rap.

Check me out.

Like I was putting these comments under pages.

Yeah.

And my favorite mixtapes.

No, I was getting no replies.

So one day I was I went to school and I was like, I'm going to just be a kid.

Why am I so like ambitious?

Like, you know, like I was asking myself, like, why am I being so ambitious about this?

Just be a kid.

Go to school.

Maybe when you graduate, you know, it'll work yourself out.

Yeah.

So but before I did that, my cousin was like, you should make a Twitter because that's how all these artists are starting to rise up.

Yeah.

So I made the Twitter and then I gave up, quote unquote.

And then I like for seven days I wasn't on my social media.

And then I went to school.

I came back home and then I logged in to Twitter and I seen like 17 notifications.

And I might barely had any followers at the time.

So I was like, why do I got 17 notifications?

So I click on it and then I scroll down and it's like 9th Wonder has followed you.

Rapsody has followed you.

But before that, it was a tweet of somebody from Oakland.

His name is Milan Drake.

He actually he actually teaches at a school in California.

I think it's USC, actually, if I'm not mistaken.

He was like, I don't know this kid from anywhere, but I just randomly stumbled upon this mixtape at 9th Wonder at Rapsody.

You guys should check him out.

He's from North Carolina.

I think you guys need to pick him up.

Wow.

And they, 9th just so happened to be on tour in Europe, bored in the room one day and was like, let's listen to this.

And he pressed play and he was impressed to the point where he tweeted, yo, this kid is the truth.

When he when he asked me, when you see this, send me, shoot me a DM.

So then I hit him.

The first thing he was like, where's your mother?

You know, which is fair.

You're not talking to no kid, you know, 13 year old on.

So I ran to my mom, my mom, my mom, my mom.

And my mom's still not like fully in tune with what's happening in hip hop.

She doesn't know who 9th Wonder was.

Right.

But I'm like, 9th Wonder just tweeted me.

Oh, yeah.

She's like, who is that?

So then I like, oh, like put put up his Wikipedia.

And she's like, well, reply, reply.

And then I'm like, he wants to talk to you.

So then they start talking.

He's like, yo, your kid is super talented.

You know, I'm not trying to promise him anything, but I love for you guys to come up to the studio because, you know, I was recording.

My mic was terrible at the time.

My quality was trash, but he heard the potential.

So, you know, one, he was like, yo, I'm in tour in Europe for these next couple of months.

When I get back in September, you guys drive up to Raleigh.

I'll book you guys a hotel.

You know what I'm saying?

And I just want to see like record with him for a weekend.

Wow.

We drove up to Raleigh first night.

I think I recorded two songs.

But by the end of that weekend, recorded nine songs, nine songs and three days.

So can we take a step back for a minute?

I just want to I want everybody to understand like how big of a deal it is to be working with 9th Wonder.

Yeah, for sure.

Can you kind of give a little bit of backstory on 9th Wonder?

Yes.

9th Wonder is a pillar in hip hop in general, a legend, one of the top, one of the greatest producers to ever do it in hip hop.

But also a pillar to North Carolina's music.

Grammy Award winning producer started off in a group which was started in Durham, North Carolina, by the name of Little Brother, who did very much successful things.

And then that catapulted his career because right after the Little Brother album, he got a placement from Jay-Z, which then trickled into Destiny's Child.

Right.

Which then trickled into Mary J. Blige, which trickled into Erykah Badu and then Kendrick Lamar, even Drake, even Wale, you know, all of these names, Mac Miller.

Right.

You know, all these people that ended up being a part of my generation.

I looked at him like a legend.

But, you know, he still, you know, is a very advocate for Carolina, still lives here, you know, and he started a label called Jamla Records, which is what the home previously to Rapsody, you know, and me as well.

You know what I mean?

And, you know, he's very, very special in hip hop and he's just very special in what North Carolina music is.

So to get acknowledged from him by 13 is like, like very super alien, like it's a very alien story.

You know what I mean?

Yeah.

Because he wasn't even working with kids or working with anybody younger.

Like for him, like, I just feel like it's so divine for me to meet him at 13 and then him to be like the mentor or the person that's kind of helped me and ushered me into the game.

Right.

And I mean, you just said it right.

The talent list for him is just unbelievable.

And all of a sudden you're a part of that list.

What did that feel like?

Honestly, like surreal.

And it still kind of feels surreal now that like I think about it because it's not by coincidence, but it's like also like almost fairy tale how the story sounds.

Like even when sometimes I tell it in interviews, it's like that really happened.

You know what I mean?

Because it's like I didn't have no connections to nobody in the industry.

9th wasn't my cousin or my uncle or whatnot.

One of my uncles or aunts knew him or nobody in my family dated him or, you know, like some random like connection.

Right.

Yeah.

He just saw your talent.

Yeah.

You know, in the thanks to the Internet, from somebody who never met me still to this day has not met me.

Yeah.

But just so happened to stumble across my music on the Internet and 9th just so happened to be on Twitter and was like, I don't, the dude was like, I don't know this kid.

That's how he started off.

He was like, I don't know this kid.

But I think you guys need to check him out.

Yeah.

Like, you know, so it it it's like a confirmation that what I'm doing, like little moments of like that, I feel like is like a wink from God.

Like you're you're you're doing what you're supposed to be doing.

So you and your mom go up to go up to, sorry, you and your mom go up to Raleigh and you're in the booth and you're kind of in this moment game where you're seizing the moment.

Yeah.

What happens?

The first time he was like, well, do you have something?

And I was like, yo, you know, it's crazy.

Actually, let's just backtrack.

9th was like, write seven songs before you come down here.

Oh, he gave you homework.

Yes.

I lost my notebook right before.

Lost everything.

I was so crushed.

I was so crushed.

That drive there, I tried to write as many verses as I could.

Just like I did that first time when I first went to the studio.

Yeah.

Being prepared.

So I get there and I'm like, he's like, you ready?

I'm like, I guess I'm nervous because I just lost all my work.

And you're 13.

Yeah.

Yeah.

And I remember the first verse I recorded, it was like.

I'm out of this world with the flow that I will be artists trying to start beef, but it seemed more like beat.

I'm different.

So they copy cut my lines, be hard to compete.

So if you copy and paste it, then I'm pressing delete.

As you see, rock and LG with Jays on my feet, Duncan from the free throw line, every time spit a line from the sheet that's unique, never spit in bars with fatigue.

A lot of you artists must be jealous of the dude's technique.

They can't take this away from me.

Just like Sinatra for you is we Marada's breaking down beats like pinatas.

This is evidence ever since I designed my wings like Daedalus reading the Exodus.

Check my last name.

I'm heaven sent.

The style is not like the other Ricky's trying to touch the mic.

You hear my extraterrestrial style, but yours is I. I wanted to best some seeds you heard in a while out of this world style.

Call me extraterrestrial.

That's the first verse I ever recorded in front of 9th at 13 years old.

Yeah.

Yeah.

That's kind of crazy.

But it's crazy.

It's amazing.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Yeah.

So he was like very impressed.

And then, you know, they just kept feeding me beats, feeding me beats like my mom when it stayed in a hotel.

But I slept in the studio every night.

I obviously wouldn't go take a shower.

You know, I end up sleeping at the studio and then it ended up becoming like an ongoing habit for me.

Yeah.

So so after that session, sort of what happens, are you going to going back and forth from Charlotte to Raleigh and recording?

Not necessarily as much.

So right before we left, he talked to my mom and he was like.

I don't want to promise your son anything.

I just want to give him a place to record, you know, and he was he was telling her, he was like, you know, can your son be a millionaire, make millions or make money out of this game?

Or he was like he was like, I'm not going to promise that he's going to be a millionaire, but can he make some money out of this game?

A hundred percent.

And then that's when they called me to the back and he was like, now I think you're very talented.

Can you be as big as a Drake or Kendrick Lamar?

I absolutely believe that.

Can can you reach certain heights?

I absolutely believe that.

But you're still 13 years old.

You know, I don't want, you know, to be, you know, trying to bring you into something too early while you're still you have a lot of life to experience.

Right.

So go home.

But think about this question.

You can't.

There's two options you can do with this resource.

This can just be a source of release and you can come down here and record whenever you want to record.

Or B, you can want to do this for the rest of your life and we can help you, you know, in that way.

And he was like, think about it, though.

I already knew what I wanted to do.

I was like, I wanted to be like B, let's go right now.

Right.

But, you know, I went home, thought about it, thought about it, thought about it.

And I remember I see him a text and I was like, yo, I want to do this.

Like, I really want to do this.

And he was like, well, all right, you know, let's go.

But I'm thinking that when I say I want to do this, he's going to be like, all right, let's go.

Game action.

Let's go right now.

But then it became being still and being patient because I would blow up 9th's phone.

And if I am like I'll show you after we get off here, like if I go to my old Twitter threads, like you see just mad messages and me just texting them.

Yeah.

Like blowing them up.

Yo, what you think it is?

Yo, just asking them random questions just to get his attention.

I started going up there like every five months, every four months, five, six months, like every like every other season, almost because he was busy.

You know, he's working on Rhapsody, working on his other artists.

And, you know, at the time, again, like I'm still a kid.

I still have to experience life.

So it was like, yo, I hit him and I beg him, like, can I come up to the studio again?

Can I come up again?

Can I come up again?

Like, hold off, hold off.

Like I'm busy running around.

Like he doesn't have the time to like be sitting and paying fully attention to a 13 year old.

Sure.

He has kids of his own.

You know what I mean?

Yes.

And, you know, as a kid, as a kid, I'm like, man, like, do you not rock with me?

Like what's going on?

And then he'll be like, yo, come up.

So then that turned into me starting to be eager to do stuff on my own while I was playing the waiting game of getting back into 9th's, you know, presence.

So 13, 14, 15.

But when I every time I'm going up, I'm learning a little bit more.

OK, you're over rapping the beat, learn how to do breath control, learn how to give yourself space in the song, learn how to rap.

Rhapsody taught me how to take off fill the words.

OK, this is how you construct a hook.

This is how you do this.

This is how you do this.

This is how I'm learning all these things.

Every every time I'm coming up, you know, six months apart, I'm learning something new.

Yeah.

Each time.

So you're going to the school hip hop.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Basically.

And I wanted to graduate early, like, you know, like I realized later that like I had to go through the school, but I wanted to come in and just be like graduation time.

I'm here.

I remember I was 15 and this is years of us like, you know, I'm going up there.

I might not hear from him for months.

I'll go up again.

I might not hear from him for months.

I'm going to go up again.

15.

I put up a video.

On my Instagram of me freestyling.

He was like, man, he was like, you sound he's like you sound real polished, you sound like you're starting to get it.

And he was like, man, when can you come back up?

And I was like, I can come back up spring break.

Right.

And he was like, OK, bet.

And I was working his job at Chick-fil-A at the time.

And I remember I asked him, I was like, yo, can I get spring break off?

Because like I need to like go.

This is like my opportunity.

And this is around the same time.

I was 16 at the time, matter of fact.

And this is around the same time Kendrick Lamar's album came out.

Damn.

And well, right before it was like the week or two before.

And I remember my job was like, no, you like you can't.

So I remember like that night I was like washing dishes or like squeezing lemons for the lemonade or something.

Yeah, I was probably squeezing lemons and I hated squeezing lemons in my hands.

I hurt.

He's at his little squeezer and you had to like take the lemon.

And I'm just doing that for hours.

But I hope you quit that job.

Yeah, I left that night.

I left.

I left.

And around this time to like from 13 when around the same time I met 9th, like my mom's house had went on foreclosure and her and her husband, she was with, had divorced.

So we were going through like a tough time.

But I feel like at the same time that helped me be so hungry for, you know, what's going on.

Like to chase the like music.

Yeah, that opportunity became as such a it became all the more important.

Important.

Yeah.

Because you don't have a source of income anymore.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Absolutely.

Like my mom's like and then my mom is like working super hard.

Like she this is where she started working three jobs and stuff like that.

And, you know, I'm just seeing her like be in despair.

And, you know, so now I'm by the time I got old enough, that's why I start working at Chick-fil-A because I'm like, OK, mom struggles to like buy clothes for us for school and Christmas.

Let me take a burden off her and buy my own stuff.

Yeah.

But I quit.

It was like, no.

So I went up there for the week, recorded a whole bunch of songs.

And that's when 9th was like, yo, do you want to be a part of JAMA?

And I was like, yes.

And, you know, one thing I also give him grace.

I mean, I'm grateful for is even in that moment, he never let me sign a contract, which I was underage at the time as well.

But I never signed a contract directly to him of like JAMA.

But I think that helped me because it made our relationship not just like a business transaction.

Right.

Which obviously later on the contract came when I signed the Roc Nation and we did the joint venture and stuff like that.

But it was more so of I'm just here to help.

Yeah.

You know what I mean?

Instead of like, all right, this is the contract.

This is how much money we're going to give you.

This how much you're going to owe.

This is how much like, no, we're just going to I'm just here to invest in you.

And then when we get the big bucks, that's what we all going to eat at the table together.

You know what I mean?

So there must have been kind of freeing.

Yeah.

Right.

Like you have this partner.

Yeah.

Truly.

And not necessarily through a contract, but just through like life.

Yeah.

Yeah, for sure.

And just partnership with the whole community, the whole JAMA community.

And so that week I recorded my whole project, which ended up being my first project, which was called Myers Park, which was a school I was going to at the time.

And that was like the same week that Kendrick Lamar's album came out and 9th was on it.

But I remember he played it for me right before it came out.

And I was just like, and that was like a first moment of like, I would come around the studio, but they were not playing me songs that like, oh, if like Mac Miller came to the studio, they weren't playing me the song they made or like, you know.

So this was like a first time of him like playing me unreleased.

And he was like, welcome to the family.

Yeah.

And then, you know, it just history happened after that of like, I just took that and it just ran with it.

Yeah.

I mean, it still was in school, still learning.

But now I'm fully confident in what was going on.

And now I'm building my identity of who I am as artists.

Who do you what do you see as yourself as what do you see as your identity right now as an artist?

That's a great question.

I feel like my identity right now at in 2025 at 24 years old, I am.

Mostly.

The most authentic I've been in a while, and I say that in a sense of early on in my career, I feel like I was trying to fit in searching, always being strong in who I was, but I was always in the back of my mind like, OK, I have to fit into a mold of something.

How do you fit into the mold when the mold is you?

You know what I mean?

So I feel like my identity is getting back to who I was, getting not back to who I was in a sense of like trying to be stuck in the past.

But.

As you grow up, there's all of these outside opinions, all of these, you know, certain things that, you know, influence who you are.

And, you know, I think a lot of us as adults are trying to return back to that inner child inside of us.

And who are we at our full authentic place?

Yeah.

And I think, you know, it's still a journey.

I still have much more to get back to being authentic.

But I think.

My identity right now is for those kids who are on that search or who even the adults that are on that search.

All I mean, all of us are starting to search, get back to that kid.

But even my my identity is being that kid who was a little bit different and being OK with it.

You know, I feel like.

Growing and I was just having this conversation with one of the homies at one of our homegirls birthdays, but he was like growing up.

He was hood adjacent where he was like he didn't grow up with the most resources.

He didn't grow up in the best neighborhoods, but he wasn't a product to that.

You know what I mean?

Like he was into arts and like skateboarding and like, you know, all these other things.

And I've always felt that way.

You know what I mean?

I feel like as a kid, I always kind of.

And there's no right or wrong.

So I want to prove because I don't want to make it an ego thing of like I'm different.

I see things better than other people.

But there was a certain you're you're you're dealt cards when you're born.

You're dealt cards when the environment you live in and is either up to you to accept those things or.

Realize what you want for yourself and try to, you know, accumulate that, you know what I'm saying?

And I think that's the message that I'm rooting for right now of, you know, being authentic to who you are, no matter what's around you.

You know what I mean?

I think there's a lot of things in my life that are environmental, but it's not who I am to my core or at least who I think I am called to be.

Yeah.

Do you feel like you're called to be someone that is going to try their like put everything into something?

Yes.

Yes.

And beyond that, have a sort of a sponge of a brain.

Yeah, for sure.

Like being open minded, but also putting my all into who I am as a person.

I think, you know, I think your circumstances make you who you are.

And I think because of the circumstances of what I've lived through, what I've experienced, I've wanted to always I've always saw better for myself.

And I feel like those little early moments of like writing at four years old, telling my friend, you know, we have to stay like here and, you know, record or like write these songs to go to the studio.

Like I was always seen better for my circumstances.

I was always wanting more out of my out of what the circumstances I was given.

Even when I think of like my family and like, you know, generational curses that are put up on my family.

I've always not been pulled to those things, you know, because a lot of it is genetic and a lot of it is like a common cycle of things.

But I feel like I've always been pulled to like redirect certain things that I might not necessarily agree with.

Yeah.

That I feel like is affecting me.

You know what I mean?

And I still, you know, deal with.

But is this what I want for myself?

No.

How do I redirect that?

You know what I mean?

I didn't grow up.

My father was present in my life, but I didn't grow up with him in my house.

So it's like.

There's no right or wrong answer, but it's like, OK, you can either be this type of guy, whereas like in my profession is also a big thing of like, oh, you're like the rapper, you know, it's hard for you to settle down.

And it's like, are you in it?

That's what you're at peace with.

That's fine.

But it's like, are you do you either want to be that or do you want to be, you know, a father?

Do you want to be in a one woman, one woman relationship?

Do you want to you know, these are questions now that I ask myself now for like, obviously, I'm still 24.

But like young guy.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Far from it.

But these are things that I'm like prepping myself for when I get to like 30 something years old or 10 years from now.

Like it starts with habits.

Yeah.

You know what I mean?

So I think, you know, my identity right now is just setting myself up.

And I think, you know, it kind of ties in with like.

What about his time, the project that's going to be coming out at this time, like a lot of it is like real college theme.

Like and it's not about college, but like, you know, the rollout is like type like tiny or like university and school.

But I feel like a lot of people go to school to set themselves up for their life.

You know what I mean?

And some people don't, you know, sometimes you just go to college and you just party.

Yeah.

Which, you know, I've experienced as well.

But now that I'm a little bit older now, I'm like, OK, how do I want to prep myself and set myself up for success?

Yeah.

You know what I mean?

And I feel like that's where I am in my mind now with like my habits, how I'm relaying myself, how I'm handling my my love relationships, how am I handling, you know, my relationship with my parents, my relationship with my friends?

I'd rather just, you know, set myself up for success right now and then tell and then also be a voice of advocate for people who do look like me or people who don't look like me of like it's OK. You know, it's OK to follow who you are at the core or in like be content with what's in here and not, you know, be always searching for the outside sources to like validate you.

Yeah.

You know, absolutely.

I know that was like long winded, but I had it like I was trying to bring it back to there.

It's it's a identity is a search that will happen through our entire lives.

Yeah.

A hundred percent.

And it's never going to stop.

You know what I mean?

It's never going to stop.

So I'm whatever I'm saying now might change 10 years from now, but that's OK. That's where I'm at in my life in this moment.

Yeah.

So I want to also talk to you about where do your songs come from?

Life.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I mean, my life, they come from my life, they come from my experiences or experiences adjacent to me.

Sometimes they come from me already having a clear, precise vision on where I wanted to go or.

B, I might just let my pen flow, you know what I mean, and just see where it takes me.

But, you know, I think even more than ever now.

I try to write from a very authentic place, so all I can do is broadcast my life or be let this be a diary to what I experience or talk about my experience.

I can't talk about your experience better than you can.

I can't talk about his experience, your experiences.

You know what I'm saying?

Like I can probably write a song about it, but it's not going to feel as authentic better than you could.

You know what I mean?

So I think, you know, a lot of my music now has been, you know, at least these last couple of years has been trying to be authentic to who I am at my core, back to the identity thing.

You know what I mean?

Yeah.

My life, man.

And if if it's somebody else's story, it might be like, oh, that story moved me.

Or like that's somebody that I like if I do write about somebody else, because not always me.

It's like a homegirl I knew who like had a story that just made me feel some way emotionally that I'm like, man, I have to tell her story because I know the emotions that she went through through this process.

I know that the emotions that she went through in this moment or I got a friend who went through this and he's doing this thing.

And, you know, these are the emotions that I'm seeing, like I'm internalizing, seeing them go through and how do I, you know, but it's all adjacent to my life, you know?

Right.

So it's autobiographical in a way.

But also sort of you're sort of seeing other people and sort of filtering it through the lens of view.

Yeah, yeah, for sure.

So, yeah, that's where my music comes from.

A little bit about that.

So I want to talk a little bit about Charlotte, too.

704.

Yeah.

What's it like to be a part of that scene?

Charlotte is what made me.

Charlotte is what gave me my my swag, my emphasis, my the person I am.

So I think me being a part of that community is me paying my forever debt to the home that I'm from in a in a way of like it is not a debt in a way of, oh, man, I got to pay like the bill collector, you know, my credit card debt or whatever.

But it's in a sense of like, oh, everything to Charlotte.

And I remember being a child and not having as much resources in Charlotte, not seeing visually what the arts look like in Charlotte.

So to me, to be in the Charlotte community now while it's growing, while I feel like it's finally kicking the door down in the industry in my generation and the one maybe before me, a mixture are going to be the first pillars of what represents Charlotte.

I might just super grateful to be like a part of that.

Like, you know, like, you know, I talk about when they talk about Charlotte's music.

I want to be like first in like at least one of the names first in conversation and not just for the the grace of my ego or, you know, me.

But I want to be able to pay it forward, you know, like when there's another generation like being to be like, OK, Reuben kicked down the door for me.

And they even being able to pull a generation up or like, OK, this kid, he's he's from Charlotte.

Let me pull him up and give him the ropes, even if it's like you don't even have to be signed to me or whatever or whatever.

Like, you know, I envision being have my own label later on in my life.

But, you know, even just being a person that people can call and give them experience out of industry is and I do that now.

You know what I mean?

But I think it's very important because my mom always says this quote, and I think it's from the Bible.

The streets don't buy you if the house can't sell you.

You know what I mean?

And I think it means something like you go out in that world and people are not going to you can't get people to, you know.

Buy into you and when I say buy in, not in the sense of like buying like money wise, but like, you know, trust you.

Yeah, exactly.

If you don't know where home starts, you don't know what home is or you don't know what your home is.

So it's like if the streets can't buy you, the house won't sell.

You know what I mean?

And it's like, I feel like I will be doing myself an injustice if I didn't pour back into Charlotte.

And I'm wondering, too, I mean, it seems like Charlotte's in a very interesting place right now as far as hip hop goes.

Yeah, I feel like it's kind of gone in waves a little bit.

But now there's like this really strong presence there that you're a massive part of.

What's it like to be a part of that wave of people that are making music there?

I think it feels good because more so than ever, it being about me being one of them.

I think when I was a kid, I didn't see as many representations.

I'm not saying there weren't no rappers in Charlotte, but it wasn't a representation of like, yo.

There's kids right now that can say I saw Reuben Vincent on a BET Hip Hop Awards.

I saw Reuben Vincent on at Dreamville.

I saw Reuben Vincent on Swayze.

I didn't see that from a Charlotte rapper up until I was 17 and trying to chase it myself when I saw the baby, you know, doing it.

I remember being five and eight and six.

And I had to look at Jay-Z.

I had to look at Kanye West.

I had to look at, you know, Nas.

I had to look at Tupac.

You know what I mean?

I think me being a pillar, like it's like even you saying I'm my old snack.

I go, I'm like an important name, but it's like it's dope because then you get to pay it forward and be a representation for the next generation.

And I think, you know, me doing that, it just reminds like I feel like a lot of people we run away from responsibility sometimes, including myself as sometimes in my life or the fear of responsibility.

And I think, you know, responsibility is attached to purpose.

And I feel like the purpose I'm fulfilling, I have to be mindful of my responsibility in being a pillar of Charlotte's hip hop and how I maneuver through that.

That's a lot of pressure.

Yeah.

I know.

But pressure make diamonds, right?

Is it really pressure when that's what you're designed to do?

You feel that way?

At one point in my life, I used to be like, yeah, it's pressure.

You know what I mean?

But I'm starting to think like, is it really pressure if that's what you're meant to do?

It's scary.

It's definitely scary.

On the other side of fear is freedom, right?

So it's like anything purpose is never going to be easy.

Anybody fulfilling a purpose because there's going to be tests is going to be like the universe is going to work against you to see how strong you are and challenge you into like nobody's ever born that has a purpose.

And it's like, all right, I just like skip to my purpose.

It's like, no.

On the way to that journey to reach my purpose, there was a pit stops.

There was, you know, I might got to go fill up the tank.

My car might break down.

You know, I might go realign the wheels.

You know what I'm saying?

Like all of these things happen on that journey to your purpose.

So it's like those things are very precious.

That's pressure, too.

Yeah.

You know what I mean?

But I've been just trying to redirect my mind on that of like, you know, yes, it is pressure.

But is it really when it comes with the territory almost?

You know what I mean?

Just like my field and your field, there's going to be pressures, but those pressures are only there to make us better.

I want to talk to you a little bit about this set that we have for the show.

And it's been really fun talking to you about what you imagine for the Reuben Vincent universe.

Yeah.

And early on, you kind of said, hey, like, I'm really inspired by my bedroom.

Yeah.

Yeah.

My childhood bedroom.

I just like think that like if I were to say this is this is my set, it would be that.

Why?

Why is that?

What was it about your bedroom that really inspired you to build a set around it?

A lot of songs people hear was recorded in my bedroom.

Yeah.

I have like this tendency, like.

I do better working alone in my bedroom than I do in like a big studio, except 9th studio.

Like I can get off in there.

But I realized that and I'm not saying I can't go in a bigger studio and make songs, because I still do.

But.

I feel like my most authentic songs, my most real vulnerable songs have came from my bedroom.

So I felt like I wanted to bring that to this set because I wanted to be able to be fully.

Ingrained in who I am.

In a way of like.

Like in a funny way, you got to see my clothes off, like, you know what I mean?

Like like to be funny, like is is like I want to be that.

Exposed in my performance of like how raw, how authentic, how true to Reuben Vincent I am.

So when you guys like said, I was like, let's bring my bedroom so I can just in my mind can trick myself into like being that Reuben in his room and recording and being super passionate behind that microphone.

And that's also the place where I journal a lot.

I journal in my room.

I meditate a lot of my thoughts that I have before I think about or say them to the world is usually sitting on my bed.

You know what I mean?

From when I was a kid all the way up to now.

And even when I think about it as a kid, like a lot of the times when my mother was going through things or when I was going through my personal growths, a lot of my self realization, which like probably other kids as well, was in my bedroom.

You know what I mean?

But then that just became a sanctuary for me.

So do you feel like your creativity can really flow?

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

A hundred percent.

I just I think I just work better alone sometimes, but I don't want to be like a guy that just like, oh, I don't work with nobody.

But it's like I just do.

I just feel stronger.

Like, you know, it's crazy because there's this like app called Pattern.

And it's like, you know, you put your, you know, your birthday in and like all your extra stuff.

Oh, yeah.

I know this.

Actually, we have a horoscope expert in this room with us, too.

Really?

If we want to go there later.

I'll text you a chat.

But in the app Pattern, there's like this one thing that's like it was like this one thing and I like I resonated with it and I try not to like fully like live my life off like an app or like whatever, like even a horoscope thing.

But like I read once I put all my stuff in my information and it read my chart and it was like, which I do feel like there's a truth to that, you know.

It was like you do best working as an individual.

Your strongest ideas come from when you're alone.

And then you then once you bring those once you get strong idea, then you can share it and, you know, build community around it.

And I fully, fully believe that to like 100 percent because that's how I was as a kid.

Like and I and it might even be programmed because when my first ever ideas, that first mixtape I've heard, I did all by myself at my house.

Yeah.

Nobody was around.

Those mixtapes I burned when I was in sixth grade passing out were at my house by myself, you know.

So I just felt like, you know, that individual, you know, I just take pride in being able to craft something as an individual and stand on it before I, you know, share it out to the world.

One of the things we like to ask folks that come on the program is, you know, how they're shaped by sound.

You know, I think we believe that music can affect us as people.

Right.

And can help define us as people.

Also can help us define ourselves as a community.

Yeah.

In many other ways.

And I'm curious, you know, how do you think that you are shaped by sound?

Sound has shaped my whole life.

I'm shaped by sound because sound comes from energy.

Right.

And at the end of the day, we're all made from energy.

The energy your mother and your father used created you.

You know what I mean?

And I feel like sound, if not, is one of the most powerful things on Earth.

There's healing sounds.

Music can heal.

So, you know, sound can disrupt.

You know what I mean?

Sound can, you know, alarm you.

Sound can also calm you down.

You know what I'm saying?

So I think sound has been very important to me in my life because I don't know if the person you see in front of you is who I am without sound.

You know what I mean?

I don't know if I am the same Reuben if I didn't listen to the music in my father's car.

I don't think I am the same Reuben if I didn't listen to Kanye West and he's talking about how fly he gets and stuff like that.

Like those things shaped me into being the person I am today.

I'm also not the same person if I don't utilize the sound of my mother's voice, my father's voice.

You know what I'm saying?

The sound of reasoning from my counsel, even the sound of closing my eyes and hearing the sound of God sometimes.

You know what I mean?

I think all of those things shaped me.

And I think, you know, I've also been big on healing frequencies lately and just meditating with those.

And I think those are super healing.

So, you know, your life is shaped by sound.

Your life is shaped by everything you consume.

But most importantly, sound is like probably top two, if not top five and top one, if not two.

When it comes to, you know, how we are shaped every day, you know, because it reaches into your subconscious and stuff like that.

So that's how I'm shaped by sound.

Music raised me, man.

So, you know what I mean?

I ain't Reuben without music.

Yeah.

Well, at this point in the conversation, I'd love to go through the set list with you and talk through some of the songs you're going to play for us, which we're really, really excited by.

So we'll start with "Butterfly Doors."

"Butterfly Doors."

"Butterfly Doors" was created in my room, like majority of these songs.

It was created in my room at a time I was just getting back home from campus.

COVID happened, so we got sent home.

And it was the summertime.

And I remember this is a time where I had been recording at 9th studio and I was like, you know what, I'm going to buy myself some equipment again so I can start recording at my house.

So I bought my mic and this was one of the first songs I ever did.

I didn't write it, but it was just a very braggadocious song.

Very grand, very like, I'm him, you know, type of song.

And I think, you know, at that time, that's like what I was trying to convey to myself and, you know, gain that confidence back.

So that's what "Butterfly Doors" is.

And, you know, it's funny because that's one of the first songs I recorded around that time.

And I also sent that to Young Guru, who ended up being, you know, one of my other mentors before me and him even got close.

But I knew him through 9th.

And I remember I was like, yo, I think he's going to like this, you know what I'm saying?

And I ended up sending it to him.

And then, you know, the rest is history.

But, you know, and then also, too, like at this time, like before I got signed to Roc, I was like a big, big J. I was like diving into Jay-Z a lot.

Yeah.

And I loved how Jay just like had them braggadocious like songs that were just swagged out.

So I feel like "Butterfly Doors" was like my version of that.

Yeah.

Yeah.

And "Looks Just Like a Dream."

"Looks Just Like a Dream."

This is a song I recorded when I went out to L.A. and I started working on my project when I first did "Sign My Deal."

I just remember looking at this song, you know, a place of how far dreams can take us.

Like my my family had American dreams to be to America, coming from a village in Liberia.

You know, then that dream turned into, you know, the dream of a family.

Then that dream turned into, oh, I have kids now.

I dream for them that they get to fulfill their dreams.

Now, my dream was to be a star, be an artist, be somebody who's living their life fully through music.

And that's what you hear in that song in the verses is me connecting those dreams.

You know, that's why I started off as in the village, the dreams occur, paths defer.

You know what I mean?

You know, and it just goes deep into the bag of like different family members, maybe my parents, myself and how our dreams are all simultaneously connected.

Yeah.

Into one larger vision.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Can you tell us about "Time Flies?"

All right.

"Time Flies."

This song came to me at a time where I was starting to date a lot heavy in my college days, you know, having fun and stuff like that.

And, you know, picking up girls and, you know, kicking it with them in the wee night of the hours when I should have been home.

Yeah.

But I'm a little bit I'm like, oh, I'm grown now or at the time, you know.

So, you know, one of these this song actually comes from a moment where and it's so funny.

I have a Jeep now.

I did not have a Jeep when I wrote this song.

Oh, you manifested that.

Yeah.

Like I was thinking about getting a Jeep, but I did not have a Jeep when I wrote this song and I have a Jeep now.

But it's funny because the song starts from like this moment of like this girl.

Basically, like we were we used to hang out late in the night at hours and not like we were doing crazy stuff all the time.

But like sometimes we just sit in the car and play music and I look at the stars and stuff like that.

And, you know, when you like somebody and you're in the first stage is like the honeymoon phase.

Yeah.

At least in that time of my life, we'll be in the car like 11 o'clock and then we'll look up is like 4 a.m. And we're like, oh, we sat in the car for as long listening to music, talking, just doing stuff, being kids.

Yeah.

And, you know, that's what that song resonates with.

And, you know, it just we took the Janet Jackson sample because I used to play a lot of R&B in the cars with girls like 90s R&B.

Yeah.

And we used that as the like the backtracking for that.

And you're smooth, huh?

Yeah.

A little, a little, a little.

Sometimes, you know, I can't I'm going to be I can be a little, you know, suave.

Yeah.

Can you tell us about point of view?

Yes.

Point of view is like a that self realization moment.

You know, I feel like you get, you know, every year you're going to have self realization about yourself.

But I think, you know, at this point in my life, no pun intended.

I was starting to look at different point of views and realize that everybody has a different point of view on how their life, you know, goes, how your life looks or just even in general of, you know, looking past those point of views and just fulfilling what is called for you to do.

And I think at that point I was starting to become more grounded in myself and become confident in myself and realize that like.

I've made it to a different threshold in my life where like now I've reached this plateau of like people are acknowledging me for who I am and, you know, trying to we out different point of views and then also trust my point of view.

You know what I mean?

So it's just very like a affirmation for myself.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Big bank.

Big bank.

So big bank don't take Bubba.

Bubba is a word that they say in like, you know, my stepfather, he's from Sierra Leone.

And, you know, this is a word that they used to use as a pigeon that means small boy.

Right.

So, you know, the same big bank don't take little bank.

It was just a play on that, but just making it, you know, West African.

And, you know, Big Bank to me is a song where I'm asserting myself in a way of like I'm I'm here, like I'm here and I'm not playing around no more.

You know what I mean?

I'm not playing around about my culture.

I'm not playing around about who I am.

Like I'm standing here and I'm standing firm.

And, you know, that's why the song connects both of my cultures.

Like you hear the southern drums at one point, but then you also hear the African rhythms.

You know what I mean?

And that's what Big Bank was for me was a affirmation again as well of like I'm not I'm not taking nothing.

I'm not taking nothing smaller than the big levels that I'm supposed to be at.

And, you know, just poking my chest out in that way.

So, yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

And Fufu.

Yes.

So obviously Fufu is a West African dish.

Yeah.

But if you look at it, it looks kind of like doughy.

Yeah.

So I was like playing on it and taking Fufu and like attaching it to money and like financial freedom.

And so that's why I say like I've been outside all summer trying to grind on some of the cut of mula.

I won't make it.

I'm with the tribe all summer.

Can't divide.

I got to make it multiply.

I got to bring back Buku.

I put my hand in that Fufu and it's like, yeah, everybody's like, oh, you're talking about food.

But it's like, no, I'm talking about money.

Yeah.

And I'm talking about bringing financial freedom and financial literacy back to my homeland, back to my family, back to my village, back to my tribe and being able to spread it.

You know, yeah.

Yeah.

Man, what a cool idea.

Thank you.

And I'll be honest with you.

That's the first Rima Vincent song that I heard.

Really?

And it was absolutely floored by it.

Oh, wow.

And it's one of those where it's like if I need to turn up a little bit, I put on Fufu.

Hey, that's fire.

That's fire.

Can you talk to us about Jump?

Yes.

So Jump is a more personal song.

You know, I feel like, you know, me being an advocate for young men, I feel like a lot of times we have a hard time vocalizing sometimes when we're going through stuff because it's like, you're a man.

Be strong.

You know what I mean?

Don't you know, a lot of people, at least, you know, in the culture that I come from is like, don't cry.

You know what I mean?

Be tough.

You sound soft when you start, you know, vocalizing how you feel.

And I started to realize that's not necessarily healthy, you know, as going through therapy and, you know, going through, you know, my journey in life.

And I realized that that was no longer serving me the best and not serving some of my friends the best.

You know, I have friends who was coming to me like, yo, I'm suffering emotionally, mentally, and I don't know if I want to be here.

And I was like, whoa, you know, so when I was writing this song, I started to feel these emotions and I felt like, you know, this song was for me to help anybody who is going through something and have a hard time vocalizing it.

Because, you know, a lot of times we'll be like, what's wrong?

Nothing.

You know what I mean?

Right.

And instead of being like, no, this is what's wrong with me.

And, you know, a lot of times that leads us to destruction.

And, you know, I had a girl come up to me at a show I did in Atlanta last week.

And when I did this song, she was like, I cried.

She was like, it's funny because it's so like it's like a little bit like bouncy.

But she was like, I cried because her husband passed away and, you know, he, you know, took his own life.

But she wished that he would have vocalized what he was going through instead of doing that.

So "Jump" was for me just like, please don't let me jump.

That's like an affirmation myself.

But it's like also, please don't let the pain overbear.

Don't let it hold you.

You can bring some change if you tell them what you're going through.

You know, you could bring some change for yourself.

You can make some change for somebody else.

You just have to vocalize what you're going through.

Yeah.

And that was the message for that one.

And "Blessings."

Yes.

"Blessings" is a song is very Afrocentric, has a lively African beat in it.

But that song was done in Atlanta and that song was created in a sense of vocalizing where I've been in my life, the things that I've seen.

And instead of being like, oh, these things affect me.

Oh, man, these things, what are we doing?

Oh, man, I'm hurt.

This is like, no, all of these things were blessings in my life.

You know what I'm saying?

From struggling, from my struggles to my triumphs to, you know, me still trying to figure it out as a young man.

All of these things are blessings.

You know what I mean?

And being grateful for where you at, where you're at in your life.

That was the message for "Blessings" for me.

Yeah.

And I think this is the last one we have on here, but "Grand Cherry."

Yes.

So "Grand Cherry" is about my car.

It's not really, it is, but it's not.

Right?

"Grand Cherry" is a metaphor, it's symbolism, which it is my car.

I have a Grand Cherry key Jeep.

Yeah.

But it's more about enjoying the journey, enjoying the ride instead of the destination.

And it's funny because I feel like I have to continue to remind myself of that instead of getting caught up in where the destination is, because I feel like sometimes I get so attached to the outcome that I don't enjoy the journey.

Yeah.

You know what I mean?

And this song was just like a message of that.

That's why I say like, whenever that day comes and they say, "I'm going with the wind, stand over me and kiss my cheek, hug my friends to the grave with grace, hope the bonds don't bend."

So like, "to the grave with grace" is just saying like, to the end of this journey, I'm going to move with grace, you know, and enjoy my ride.

And, you know, my car is not like, you know, I don't have like a Lamborghini or like, you know, a car like a Maybach or, you know, nothing crazy.

But I felt confident in calling this Grand Cherry because I was like, yes, this is my car and this is where I'm at in my life.

Yeah.

And I'm going to enjoy this car until the wheels fall off.

And then vice versa, when I do get a Rolls Royce or, you know, when I do get a nicer car, I'm going to enjoy that.

But right now in my life, I'm at the Grand Cherry level and I'm going to enjoy that journey.

Yeah.

Yeah.

We're going to get you some of that Jeep Cherokee money, man.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Hey Jeep, call me, man.

I'll promote the new Grand Cherokee if y'all want.

I won't get another car if y'all going to advertise and pay your boy.

You know what I'm saying?

I'll be Grand Cherokee'd up until y'all stop paying me.

But y'all got to hit my phone first.

Yeah.

Reuben, thank you so much for being on the show.

Thank you for having me.

Absolutely.

It's a pleasure.

It's all ours.

And this is our, we've done 13 episodes.

We might have a 13 episode first season.

So I just wanted to kind of give a quick shout out to some of the crew here, if you're okay with that.

Let's go.

This show wouldn't be possible without all of these folks.

And I'm going to make sure I spell everybody's names right.

So, or say everybody's names right, because I'm terrible at this.

But thank you to Brad, Matt, Nick, Jodi, Dan, Isaac, Billy, Nathan, Eric, Glenn, Stephanie, Drew, Bob, Trey, Emily, Steve, Shannon, Jen, Brad, Izzy, Bryce, Josh, our marketing team, you know who you are, our CEO, David Crabtree.

And of course, Laura Kieler.

And of course, of course, our sponsors at NCDNCR and Come Hear, NC.

We truly couldn't have done it without them.

And obviously to viewers like you, thank you for 13 episodes of season one.

Thank y'all.

Y'all the greatest.

Let's go.

Shout out to everybody involved.

And I appreciate y'all for having me.

And if you're watching from home, thank you for watching.

Thanks for joining us on the Shaped by Sound podcast.

If you'd like to hear some of the songs we discussed today, you can find them on our website, pbsnc.org/shapedbysound.

Or find us on the PBS North Carolina YouTube page.

Thanks for listening.