The post-Hurricane Harvey rap song, Blessings, is an uplifting track to remind us to count our blessings in life. After a period of misfortune and being displaced from his home due to flooding, My’Key Iso slipped into a slight depression. The country’s relief efforts and the abundance of support he received from loved ones revived his spirits. Blessings masterfully articulates his highs and lows during this time period.
In this interview spotlight, I chat with My’Key Iso about motivations, challenges, the new project and more.
Full Q&A along with music and links below.
Where are you from and what style of music do you create? (In your own words, not necessarily in marketing terms or by popular genre classifications.)
I’m from Houston, Texas. I make music that I feel feeds the soul. As a hip hop artist I take pride in my storytelling and wordplay. It’s inspiring when someone can relate to the messages in my songs.
What led you down this path of music and what motivates you to keep going?
I started writing at a young age. When I spent a year in Nigeria (punishment for being a trouble child) that was when I started to actually try and put my words on a beat. I later came back to the states and thanks to friends who at the time had the same dream basically lit the fire in me to take it serious. I believe once you find your purpose in life it’s very hard to abandon it and this is my purpose.. it keeps me going.
How is this new release different than previous ones? Were you trying to accomplish anything specific?
I’ve grown as an artist and as a person. I’m constantly learning new things about myself which I’ve presented on this tape. I hope to acquire new fans and more opportunities to travel, perform, and network with this tape.
Name one or two challenges you face as an indie musician in this oversaturated, digital music age? How has technology helped you (since we know it does help)?
I would say the marketing side. I’m really only active on twitter. On top of that, I tweet basketball majority of the time so I need to clean that up a bit. I need to be more active on all my other ones (Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook). Technology has made networking easier and i’m able to reach just about anyone. I can reach thousands of people with a simple tweet, picture or song due to technology. It’s dope!
Where is the best place to connect with you online and discover more music?
My website mykeyiso.com, SoundCloud.com/Mykeyiso and all music outlets (Apple Music, Spotify, etc.)
Anything else before we sign off?
My tape, Last Name Iso, will be out in the first quarter of 2018 and a lot more content of music videos and collabs with other artists.
