5 QUES TIONS WITH
CRE ATIVES SAVON- M
BY S EA N WI L L I A MS
Local rapper Savon Morris is at the start of his music career and has already seen the release of one EP with more on the way. A Pensacola native, Morris has been involved with the music scene in one way or another at various stages of his life. He began singing in a church choir and later moved on to form a Christian rap group called the Messengers with his friends. After at decade break, Morris is back in the rap game with his own blend of numerous genres. Morris sees his music as an extension of his life story, using rap as a means to express his closest emotions. You can find Savon-M on Spotify, SoundCloud or Tidal. Pensacola has a budding music culture and a strong Christian influence. Did those elements impact the beginning of your rap career? I used to do music with my cousins back in 9th and 10th grade. My cousin B.J. had the bare necessities of studio quality equipment. We made songs in his closet filled with clothes. It was a humbling beginning. My career went nowhere fast. Mom made me choose between Christian Hip-Hop and Secular Hip-Hop. I chose Christian HipHop. I was in a group called “The Messengers.” The members included Wellington Burns, Nik English, Ashton Woods and me. I birthed the group at New Dimensions Christian Center. We opened up for Christian artists like Pastor AD3, Suzy Rock and DA T.R.U.T.H. Making this a career never dawned on me. My biggest influence is Drake. He panders to both sides: the pop and dancehall heads, the lyrical rap and hip-hop heads. That’s what I strive to do. Drake has killed the game for 10 years, so when people hear Savon-M, I want them to say, “Oh, he can do it all.”
Pensacola has a unique sound that embodies the southernness and bop of Florida. In most regards, people consider Pensacola an Alabama city. Even cities further down the turnpike consider Pensacola a city of Alabama because we’re on a different time zone. I think we are hybrid between the two, and you can hear that in the music. Your music seems to blend some hip-hop, rap and lo-fi elements together. Is there any particular style you’re trying to go for? I think that when I first transitioned back into creating music I didn’t have a set sound. I was in search of my sound. I listen to music 10 hours out of my day. I’m influenced by Drake, Miguel, Andy Mineo, Wale, J. Cole, and so on. I listen to those artists daily, and when you don’t have your own identity in music, you will sample styles. I implemented this idea in not only music but also my everyday life. I don’t want to be onedimensional. I always strive to be efficient, so my style covers every facet of music. I have pop music I haven’t released yet. I have indie-style music I haven’t
released yet. I pride myself on the versatility of my music. One of your songs, “To My Pops,” is devoted to your dad. Has he been a major supporter of your rap career? Yes, my dad supports anything I do. My father, Ronald Morris I, sacrificed so much for our family. He placed his dreams on the back burner so that he could be present in our lives. He was always at our sporting events, and he led by example. I wanted to pay homage to a great man and father. I grew up the youngest of seven. We grew up closeknit and became each other’s biggest fan. I gauge support by time. If you took the time to critique me, listen to a song, direct me to a producer, and paid for studio time, then you’ve supported me. The beats for each track stand out to me. Do you produce your own beats or have someone else produce for you? I’m super picky on my beat selection. I spend hours on top of hours finding the right beats. It’s a tedious process but a rewarding one because the beat selection stands out to the listeners.
As an artist, you’re a consumer and a product, so if I wouldn’t want to hear it, then fans or listeners wouldn’t want to either. I love beats that can make me go through something. The feeling doesn’t have to be identified, but as long as the sense shoots throughout my body. Most of my beats came from YouTube in the beginning. Starting off, I didn’t know many producers, and YouTube is accessible. They’re plenty of brilliant producers via YouTube. You have an EP releasing soon. What was it like getting songs together for it? I have an EP release in June titled “Connection.” I have an LP dropping in October called “Ascension: Freshman Year.” For “Thoughts of an Open Mind,” coming up with concepts was a simple process. The name of the EP is broad, so it allowed
songs like “Travelocity” to make the cut. The first song I wrote was “Just Go With It.” I wrote the song in one night, and it’s the song that ignited my music career. It’s also the song that’s very popular. I’m a poet at heart, so most of the songs were from my past poems. I write a lot. Some days, I can write thirty song concepts. They don’t have to be great, and I don’t want them to be. I created “Thoughts of an Open Mind” as a platform to vent about certain things like love, people saying I travel too much, student loans, college and my music career. My creativity stems from my life experiences. Rap is poetry to beat. It’s expressive and gritty. Overall, rap is a platform for me to convey my story. I want my story heard from farther than Pensacola. DOWNTOWNCROWD.COM | 7
