12 minute read
Cover Story: 6LACK by Mike Miller
6LACK & PROUD.
Words by Victor Davies Photographs by Mike Miller Editing by Kno One Styling by Danasia Sutton
Advertisement
The city of Atlanta has played a major role in the direction of soul music with artists such as OutKast, Ludacris, Gucci Mane and Usher - who 6LACK credits as a major influence - paving the way for others to emerge, and leave their own legacy in music.
Today’s industry has birthed more categories of music of black origin, enabling artists to branch into alternative forms of rap, hip hop and R&B, bringing together an array of artists from various backgrounds. But in this new age of music, true artistry should be defined by how you carry the name of your community, beliefs and culture into what you create, not simply trying to make the next Spotify number one. This has become the focus for Ricardo Valdez Valentine Jr. - or the world the world has come to know him – Grammynominated artist, 6LACK.
Summer 2020 saw the release of the ‘6pc Hot’ EP, 6LACK’s first release in two years and the follow up to his 2018 sophomore album, ‘East Atlanta Love Letter’. Known to be selective when it comes to collaborations, trap god Future guests on the album, while the new school king of the sub-genre, Lil Baby, features on the new EP. Appearing on a prominent song on the project, ‘I Know My Rights’, the combination is stellar. Speaking on the creation of the track 6LACK says, “I started the song on my own and I drove around for maybe a couple of weeks listening to it unfinished, trying to figure out what I needed to add to it, until I came to the conclusion that I didn’t need to add anything, it was something for someone else to do.” When asked why Lil Baby he replies, “I already had in my head whose cadence would fit it, and the producers too. We didn’t discuss Lil Baby but everyone mutually knew Lil Baby, he’d just been on a feature run so it made sense. We’re both from Atlanta, I like putting people in a bit of a different world from what they are used to, or who they’re used to working with. And yeah, he killed it.”
DURAG: TELFAR TOP: LOST DAZE PANTS: RTA BOOTS: RTA NECKLACES: WHEN SMOKE CLEARS & ARTIST OWN RINGS: CROWN COLLECTION BRACELET: CROWN COLLECTION
Both artists have risen to prominence in Atlanta in recent years. While Baby has made moves in the trap scene, 6LACK swiftly changed the sonics of R&B in his city and beyond. With his sparse, moody production, songs like 2016’s ‘PRBLMS’ and ‘Ex Calling’ became modern day classics that sent the genre into a new soundscape. Things could have sounded very different. Born in 1992 in Baltimore, Maryland, 6LACK and his parents moved to Atlanta in 1997. It was around this time that the young Ricardo Valdez Valentine got his first taste of studio life, recording at his father’s studio at the age of four. Becoming a battle rapper in his teens, he was first signed in 2011 to Flo Rida’s International Music Group and Strong Arm Records. In the early 2010s, he met fellow musical mavericks EarthGang, J.I.D. and Mereba and became a part of the musical collective Spillage Village, who released their latest album, Spilligion, in September 2020. As a solo artist, he signed to LoveRenaissance and Interscope Records, before releasing his debut studio album, ‘Free 6lack’, which peaked at number 34 in the Billboard Charts.
Staying true to your craft is also about staying true to those who inspire you, and 6LACK’s affinity to his hometown is deeply rooted in the city’s music scene, building his foundations with Atlanta-based record label LoveRenaissance (LVRN), which houses the likes of DRAM and Summer Walker on its roster. With his music entrenched in various concepts of love, 6LACK’s sound very much aligned with the LVRN’s objective of making love cool again. Together, they created their own lane, as 6LACK explains, “I mean we kinda created our own world and it was at a point where we didn’t really see a place for what we were doing specifically in Atlanta. There were a lot similar things going on in the time we came up in and we kinda took the other approach which was emotionally-driven with love. It ended up working out even better.”
Life is a journey of discovery - a journey that begins with a name. VIPER asks for one difference between 6LACK and Ricardo Valdez that people may not yet know. “Hmmmm, difference between 6LACK and Ricardo Valdez Valentine? It’s just a name, really. If anything, Ricardo was in grade school and 6LACK just ended up being the adult in the situation. Everyone started calling me 6LACK around seventh or eighth grade and that just sort of ran through college until I dropped out of college. I would’ve been 6LACK regardless, music or not.”
Many musicians choose their stage names at different stages of their life or career: sometimes based on how they develop as an artist, others outgrow and replace their monikers, and a select few prefer their birth names. But 6LACK, he seemed find a multitude of rationale for why his name meant so much to him, something he’s embraced every step of the way: “I feel like it’s always had different versions as I’ve grown up — you got the colour, you got what the colour means to me, you got symbolism, you got what I am… I was born Black, I’ll always be Black, my art comes from Black culture, it’s just a Black thing.” In retrospect, it made me wonder why no one had thought it about it before. Despite the various uses of the world ‘Black’ in the history of music culture, there was just something genius about the simplicity. And when you add the stylisation, ‘6LACK’ — and what it means to the man behind the name — you begin to piece together the artist with his art.
6LACK’s humble beginnings - from battle rapping in Atlanta to leaving Valdosta State to pursue a career in LA - have been anything but easy. His experience, above anything else, is something that has always determined the direction of his craft. “The journey has been a rollercoaster, there have been really great highs and really deep dark lows,” he reflects. “That’s where the music comes from sometimes. It’s become a little bit more mindful but that’s a good thing. I’m always more mindful of what I’m saying, what I’m doing, whether it’s message or growth-related. If I need to be polishing or learning things, or adding new things to the repertoire, I just look at it as something to observe, learn from and add new tricks to the book.”
His perpetual love and commitment to his city through his music has remained a dependable source of inspiration for 6LACK personally too. 6LACK welcomed his daughter Syx Rose Valentine in February 2017. Syx appears on the album cover of East Atlanta Love Letter, an ode to Zone 6, the area covering the Eastside of Atlanta which is also home to many other legends of rap and R&B.
As an artist who forges personal connections through an exploration of vulnerability and relationships, parenthood has helped 6LACK further develop a sense of individuality that sets him apart from other artists. When asked what effect becoming a father had on him and creating music, 6LACK replies, “[I’m] more critical and more clear with everything that I do and say, if I’m not clear or if I’m not making as much sense that can be made from it, then I kinda put the breaks on it.” He adds, “It’s the same thing being a father, like I can’t be in a grey space with my kid, if she needs to know something I gotta be able to say yes, no or why it’s in the middle, or why it’s in between. Being a father definitely helps you out with clarity, helps you out with maturity, helps you out with decision making, helps you out with just
HAT: ARTIST OWN TOP: GUCCI PANTS: RTA SHOES: NIKE NECKLACE: WHEN SMOKE CLEARS
LEARN. AND THAT GOES BEYOND MY CAREER’
being a better example, not just being for your kid but for yourself.” Even the most accomplished of us are guilty of falling victim to emotional vulnerability, and that’s no different for 6LACK, who is beginning to master an almost effortless ability to deconstruct candid reflections on paper.
6LACK celebrated his birthday with the release of ‘Float’, his favourite single off his debut EP, ‘6pc HOT’. Of the track he says, “it was just the most fun to record, Ant Clemons helped me with that one and it was the most representative of how I feel right now. It didn’t get too detailed into what’s going on. But the overall mood was just, there’s a lot going on and I’m just trying to stay afloat. I think that’s my favourite song out of the ones on the EP.” Postponing the release in honour of the death of George Floyd and ongoing protests, the EP’s artwork pays homage to Atlanta’s culture and community.
This year has been difficult for us all, including for 6LACK who up until now, has depended on his ability to produce an unfiltered account of his creative experiences. But we live in different times, days where many of us have been starved of the inspiration that leads us to create. “I get to make a bunch of different music and get super creative” but I had some dry spells. I think I used this time to learn a little more about myself and recentre and figure out what’s important and what I’m supposed to be pulling from this time, versus trying to make music just because I’m in quarantine. It was like, wait, stop, how do you feel? What do you wanna write about, when it is time to write?”
There’s a lesson we can all learn from this - the inspiration to create can’t be summoned. External pressures often lead us to feel a sense of urgency to create or accomplish something we may not yet be prepared for. But there’s much more to the art of creativity than meets the eye. “Instead of it being a moment where it’s just an automatic, creativity overflow, it was a moment of actual thought for me. I’ve been finding inspiration in different things. I will say that over time it’s only going to become more difficult.” 6LACK continues, “I think everyone’s itching for something whether it’s music related, entertainment, art related, at the end of the day we need to be outside experiencing something in order to be able to contribute to the world. So, we just been having to deal with the back and forth of wanting to, but knowing that it’s not the best for all of us to be outside.”
Away from music, the global pandemic has helped shaped the American response to the death of George Floyd and the subsequent protests around the world. The outcry from supporters of the Black community has led to a call for leaders, organisations and
JACKET: BOSSI SPORTSWEAR JEWELRY: ARTIST OWN DURAG: TELFAR JACKET: DES PIERROT
celebrities to use their platform to highlight structural racism. But much like his music, 6LACK sees personal relationships as a means to initiate that change. “It starts with conversation, I think that being able to sit down and have conversations with the people who are in the positions that we’ve been having to reconstruct - I think having those conversations, having those meetings, having those community things. I think that it starts with the community first and it starts internal first, then we can worry about all the external stuff afterwards. I think while all of this is going on, it’s easy to get worked up about so much and about everything but if we start it at home, then everything will be better for us,” he states. “It starts at home, it starts with community, it starts with friends, family and peers, it starts with local electives and officers. I think it all starts local and then we can figure out the hard stuff later on.”
Given the global impact of the Black Lives Matter movement, it’s all too easy to expect immediate change. We must acknowledge that Rome wasn’t built in a day and the road to true equality is long. 6LACK shares this ideology, saying “We all should, I don’t think it falls on any one specific group or any one specific movement, I think that it’s great that movements pop up and there are things to be able to latch onto and champion. But it’s literally for all of us, it’s not a Black Lives Matter thing, it’s not a certain organisation, a these people, those people, it’s a me, you, everybody.”
When asked who should be held responsible in leading the fight to equality, 6LACK’s response was as conspicuous as his lyrics, “We all should” he replied. “I don’t think it falls on any one specific group or any one specific movement, I think that it’s great that movements pop up and there are things to be able to latch on to and champion. But it’s literally for all of us, it’s not a black lives matter thing, it’s organisations, people; it’s me, you… everybody.”
We’re all guilty of questioning the influence we can have on others, but in the conversation of racism, we all have a role to play. Micro-aggressions, bias and prejudice are all proxies for racism and they exist in all areas of society. Given the mass appeal of the Black Lives Matter movement, it’s all too easy to expect immediate change. When it’s all said and done, 6LACK’s aspirations are simple. “To teach as much as I can teach and learn as much as I can learn. And that goes beyond my career; there’s no moment where I’ll feel like I’ve learned it all and there’s no moment where I feel like I haven’t been able to give them to somebody else.”
Two words — 6LACK excellence.
FIN.
6lack eastatlantaloveletter.com