Get to know the Atlanta fire-starter whose fans include Lorde and Andre 3000. “I graduated from high school three weeks ago and it’s the best shit ever to be free.”
Faisal Mohammed.
Raury is a new kind of artist but when you hear him you understand. In the tradition of Kanye West or, say, Taylor Swift, the very existence of the 18-year-old singer/songwriter/rapper/guitarist/producer seems to represent another nail in the coffin of the idea of genre. His songs are seamless amalgams of a dozen strains of American music stretching back half a century — all woven together by someone who never saw them as separate.
Last week, Raury held an event in his native Atlanta called Raurfest, which doubled as both his first ever official performance and his 18th birthday party. This morning, he was announced, alongside Kid Cudi and Childish Gambino, as an opener for Outkast at their homecoming show there in September. Later this summer, he'll release his debut EP, Indigo Child, which he characterizes as a kind of call to arms for the YouTube generation. We caught up with the rising star the day after Raurfest, the buzz from which had yet to wear off. This is his story in his own words.
Raury: Everything went so perfectly. I used to be so nervous about performing to the point where I was worried about how it would affect my career. But I kept practicing and now I love being on stage. When we got to the venue before Raurfest, I wasn't nervous or scared. I just felt like "It's time! Let's fuckin' do this shit!" It was like something took over my body. I was in the zone.
The venue had a capacity of 300 people and it was packed. We had to turn away a lot of people. There were A LOT of girls. I crowdsurfed for the first time and the crowd almost dropped me! And a girl threw her bra up on the stage, which was awesome. I want to make Raurfest an annual event and bring other dope artists to play next year.
Backstage, I got a medieval sword with my name engraved on it from my photographer. And Andre 3000's niece Malia gave me some Pokémon cards, which was dope. After the show, I walked to the after party and everybody followed me. It was a crowd of like 200 people filling the streets.
Raury live at Raurfest. Photo by Vashtie.
I grew up in a town called Stone Mountain, which is sort of the suburban outskirts on the east side of Atlanta. It's like the same area where Childish Gambino grew up. There's nature and not too many big buildings — lots of lakes and woods and trails. I'm an outdoorsy person, so I prefer that anyway. Instead of moving to New York or L.A., I could see myself in, like, a cabin in Alaska 10 years from now.
When I was little I used to look up to Michael Jackson and Michael Jordan. All I knew was that I wanted to be that fucking awesome. I wrote my first song when I was like 3 years old. It was called "Oh little fishy." Since then, I've always been doing my thing. I'm the youngest in my family — I have an older brother who's 27 and in the Marines and a sister who's 20 and has her own fashion line called Black Pool. Nobody else in my family was musically inclined.
My mom works at the post office, and when I was 10 years old I begged her to buy me a guitar. When I was 11 I finally got it. I taught myself how to play using the internet and watching YouTube videos. With the internet now, there's so much kids can do to make something out of themselves. I still have a lot to learn, though. I could be at a way better level than I am now, honestly.
I always had an ear for all types of music. I used to eavesdrop on my older brother who would listen to cool shit like Red Hot Chilli Peppers, System of a Down, Kanye West, Bloc Party, all kinds of things. And my mom would listen to Sade and Anita Baker and Celine Dion and Beyoncé. And of course Tupac and Outkast. I picked up on it all.
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