SOULFUL HUES OF ORANGE: AN INTERVIEW WITH SINGER/SONGWRITER, REGGIE BECTON

by Ramona Roberts

Music for the soul is a phrase we can all relate to. Outside of it being just something we hear, music is something we feel. It can heal, heighten, or flip our emotions, trigger our decisions, and facilitate our vibe. So, when it comes to the music that makes us feel good, Reggie Becton is on it serving those soulful hues. Between his unique ear and 90s R&B style, music is who he is, and according to the DMV native, has been a part of him since he was a child. I had the chance to talk with the soulful singer and learn about his artistry and how he’s coping with the times.

Reggie: It’s literally like when it’s good, it’s good, and when it’s bad, it’s bad. Everybody is going through it from my videographer, content manager, producers to my publicists... So, it makes it harder to want to create.

I remember when I wanted to release something, I could just release it. Now it’s gotta go through this person to make sure the production is great. It’s gotta go through me to make sure the vocals are great. Then I have to send it to mixing. The quality now has to be a certain standard. It doesn’t make it less worth it or make me not want to do it, it just makes me want to throw my phone ten times a f*cking day. Like I want to buy a new phone just so I can throw it every day. And I got a stress ball, [but] I don’t want to throw that because I want to see the phone crack. I want to feel

M: So, what has been helping?

R: Candles help. I keep some sage on me. Working out has been a part of my routine in quarantine. Meditating and stretching all those things help. I told myself I can only handle what’s in front of me, just trying to take on one thing at a time.

M: How is Reggie with the orange beanie different from the Reggie your friends and family know?

R: I think it’s the same. Right now, on my social media, I’m really focused on spreading the word about my musicianship and where I am as an artist. So, I don’t present those things at this time because I want people to focus and fall in love with my music... more than my life. There’ll be those moments where you can see more of Reggie as a person, but I think that it’s very important to establish myself as an artist first.

M: Do you feel like where you came from helped formulate your connection to music?

R: I remember music was such an integral part of our childhood. Like at parties and road trips, my dad would have this mixed CD with 22 songs, and it was like something he just bought off a bootlegger, but it was just the greatest CD ever... My mom, she would listen to a lot of Lauryn Hill and gospel [like] Trin-iTee 5:7 and Fred Hammond and Kirk Franklin. And my sister, she was a lot older than us in the 90s. So she would listen to a lot of Brandy and Usher.

So, all of that played a part in what’s going on in my ear, and I think it formulated my foundation of music. To this day, when I create, I always lean back to those sounds rather than the sounds that I feel like were present when I grew up. I don’t find myself leaning on sounds of current artists that are mainstream right now. I’m more so going off the Brandys and Aaliyahs and Ginuwines and that era of music. And Avant, my dad’s like a huge Avant fan.”

M: When it came to college, did you find yourself at a crossroad between furthering your education or starting a music career?

R: To a certain extent I feel like if I would’ve started like after I got out of college and I started hitting the ground running with music, had I [done] that after high school I would’ve been way further than what I am now. But, I also feel like I needed that development and that space because it makes me a better musician in today’s world. You have to do what you feel, you have to follow your instinct on that one. I would tell anyone to just go to college, get that experience and

M: You moved to L.A. shortly after graduating college. How was it facing your fears and emotions taking that jump?

R: “It was literally crazy. I think initially even before I took the jump...I bought a one-way ticket to L.A., and I was like ‘I’m moving in August.’ As it got closer and closer, I got nervous. If it wasn’t for a tribe –all my friends and family– If it wasn’t for them, I may have not ever moved like actually got on the flight... I got on a flight to L.A. and didn’t even have a place to stay, that was the craziest part. We didn’t have an Airbnb booked, didn’t have a hotel booked or anything...We found an Airbnb for that first week and then just made it happen after that.”

M: So let’s talk about some of the progress you have been making with your career.

R: Yeah, so we just got our first song with 100,00 streams, so that’s great. Sold out a show in DC… that’s a great notch under my belt, super proud about that. Went on a small east coast tour, last year, [videos dropped] and projects have been streamed over 50,000 times on Spotify. Different things like that that seem a bit small but (right now) hold the magnitude of winning a Grammy.

M: With the ups and downs, what have you incorporated in your life to stay true to yourself in the industry

R: I think one of the most important things is keeping genuine people around me. I guess I’m the front person of all this creativity and artistry, but it takes a team to make it. Other than that, I would say staying grounded. One thing I always do is practice gratitude. So, every morning I’m waking up just saying I’m grateful for different things. Saying what I want to come from the world, what type of energy I want to put out, and the type of energy I want to receive. I think daily affirmations are super important. I’m a big fan of dream/vision boards.

M: What do you think separates you as an artist?

R: I think the one thing that I’m realizing that’s really setting me apart is like I choose to spread love and show support for even people I don’t know. It takes nothing from me to retweet something that can help someone get seen that may be able to change their life.

Even when I’m like in a low moment, and I’m feeling a little competitive or like I’m better than this person. As soon as I feel that nature in me, I click retweet because I feel like you gotta spread love and just follow the love… not get caught up into whose gift is what and what gift is better than the other. To me, it’s like there’s a place for everybody’s gift. And once you realize that, it’s you-against-you in this world. I think that you can do all things through prayer, gotta have passion behind it, persistence, perseverance.

M: If you could choose any festival you could perform at, what would it be and who would be your headliners?

R: I’m gonna say Made In America because I feel like it’s such a staple [for me] being in Philly when it first started. I’ve been to every one. If Stevie [Wonder] and Prince headlined that be epic. I would want to see Kendrick there. I would want to see Soba, I would want to see Miguel, one of the goats... And I would want to see Rihanna—with a new album.

M: Who have you gotten to or would like to work with in the future?

R: Recently, I’ve gotten into the studio with Jordan Hawkins. He’s a male singer too on the uprising and plays guitar. So that’s super dope. He is super cool to work with. Rae Ali. The way he creates is just so different, and the way he creates is just so free and vibey.

People I would want to work with; PJ Morton. He’s great. I got a chance to meet him on his GUMBO tour. He was cool, and that project literally changed my life like it was a huge inspiration to my My Beanie’s Orange honestly. H.E.R. is like another person.

M: Do you want to be signed or do you want to remain independent?

R: I have friends who are signed who are like they can’t release the song they feel passionate about because someone feels it’s not a hit. I don’t want to be signed to something like that, but if it was somewhere where it’s like we believe in the vision and we want to support it... then I think that’s the key. Creative control is big for me.

All of my music is made off instinct. And how I feel at the time and the vibe of that day. I haven’t made a song yet thinking, ‘This is going to be great, and it’s going to be a hit.’ You know what I mean... I think people will just love it. To me, that’s a hit.

M: Which of your projects are you most passionate about.

R: The one I’m working on now, I’m literally already so proud of it. It’s called California, and it’s all about my

journey in California for the past four years. It reminds me of the music I listened to when I first moved to L.A. I could listen to it when I wake up in the morning, and it gives me ambition and motivates me to accomplish my dreams, and to go hard at whatever I’m doing and grind. Literally, makes me be like ‘I could quit my job tomorrow, and fuck the world up.’

I think the sound of it is unlike anything I’ve released thus far. It has a hip-hop-infused sound to it, but also rock at times. It doesn’t come out until [the] top of 2021, and nothing that comes out this year will be on it. I feel like my writing on this project has been the best... A good merge of the projects that I’ve dropped thus far, it will be something that encompasses all of them.

M: What would you say has been the most rewarding part of working in your passion?

R: The most self-fulfilling or rewarding part of it has been people seeing what I always saw in myself. You start out doing something like a magazine or a podcast... And at first, you have your family’s support and close friends, like 12 people. And for the whole first year, that could be all that supports you. Then…100 people come out of nowhere, and people start to see you how you see yourself. Now people see me as a singer. It’s no question about it anymore.

It feels good that I can say I did this sh*t on my own. And not to take away from anyone who supported or helped me like my team. When I say on my own, I say with the belief in myself because that’s what it started with. Me believing in me. Everything came after. So, my last piece of advice would be you have to believe in it. If you believe in it, you have to want it, and if you believe it’s for you, nothing will stop you from accomplishing it.

PHOTOS BY MEGAN JORDAN