Bri Steves Is Doing Music Her Own Way
“Understanding that the thing you cannot waste is time— put into perspective how bad you want success and move to achieve it.”
Bri Steves changes gears for Wildfire: The Series. Catch the artist in a new light as she interviews creatives and guests about their event experience. The event, taking place April 30th, is aimed at providing a platform for emerging creatives and artists to showcase their designs and talents.
The 21 year old rapper/songwriter began her music career during her senior year of high school. “Writing poetry sparked my love for stringing words together, and listening to Camp Lo, Marvin Gaye and early Kanye West did it for me.” With encouragement from friends, Bri Steves decided to dive into recording. Like many other creatives, Bri Steves draws inspiration from her family, specifically her mother. "I looked to my momma. I know that sounds cheesy, but she's a formidable woman. I want to be the same." For everyday inspiration, the recording artists finds that she looks to anything out of the ordinary; colors, people, etc.
The summer of 2015 changed everything for Bri Steves. Originally, she planned on attending a fashion internship in New York, but instead she met her mentor, Dyshon Penn and manager, Dave Ghetto. The trio instantly had connection. "I finally got around people who understood the place where I was at musically and who could pour knowledge into me about getting better, that's what I was searching for." Very close to quitting music, meeting the new duo put everything in perspective for Bri Steves. She promptly called back the internship, declined the offer; she then purchased studio equipment and never looked back. She currently has several tracks on soundcloud. Some of which she has performed at World Cafe Live and Pubb Webb. With a list of growing events and appearance, you can find them all at bristeves.com
In the upcoming year, you can expect to see Bri Steves traveling much more and expansion within her brand. In the expansion, she plans to become more of channel for young girls. Also with goals to become more polished and respected within her industry. For the month of April, she has a few shows in addition to Wildfire, including one with REC Philly. Expect to see her at April 30th at Wildfire: The Series.
Quick Q&A with Bri Steves
We saw that you attended SXSW this year, what was your experience like?
Eye opening. I saw first hand how the music business is highly a relationship business. Networked with a lot of people down in Austin and made some great plans for the future. As an artist, I learned a lot; whether it was performance wise, watching other performers or having to first hand travel out of state to represent myself with my team.
During a set what is something you do to set yourself apart from other artists?
I have a pretty tight relationship with my Dj, DJHvnlee, and her scratching throughout my set is pretty important. I prefer a great show experience, so I'll rotate between drums and other instrumentation to make my set bigger. Mixing in whats hot now for my audience is very important to me, and being super interactive with the crowd.
What advice would you give to anybody who wants to do your job (or at least begin the journey)?
Quit your day job and pursue what you want all the way. It'll be lucrative if you put your time into it. But 10,000 hours is needed to be great at anything. Understanding that the thing you cannot waste is time-- put into perspective how bad you want success and move to achieve it.
If you could collaborate with any artists, who would it be?
In the city, it'd be Chynna Rogers and Joie Kathos, I admire their swag, flow and work ethic. J. Cole is definitely on my list for the big leagues, he's one of my biggest inspirations musically, alongside Kendrick Lamar.
Learn more about Bri Steves at www.bristeves.com
Curated by Niani Patterson (nianipatterson@aol.com)