Everyone wants to be the sun because it shines so bright, but who wants to be the moon? Scotty Valid wants to be the moon. He is on a mission to use music as a tool to connect with people and brighten up the dark days in their life. In a press statement, he describes his songs as “reflections of how I interpret my situations, relationships, and life.” The Atlanta-based rapper has consistently used music as an outlet to express the emotions he feels inside. Through this, he has proved that being the light in the darkest moments allows you to grow and adequately heal, even amid the pain.
In his catalogue, every song tells a different story, but everything revolves around the theme of self-discovery. Valid has accumulated over 2 million streams on all digital streaming platforms as an independent artist and earlier this year, his single, “Up" was chosen to be featured on NBA 2K21. He also released a single titled, “Heart Cold” (featuring TRAP) in February. We caught up with Scotty Valid to talk about his plans for 2021, NBA, and the music industry.
Sharing details about the recording process of his latest single, “Heart Cold,” he says, “I would say it took two days, but they were very spread out like most of my songs. I recorded the hook in Atlanta in May 2020. I recorded the verse in Tampa in July 2020.” So far, the song has been well received by his audience. For artists like Scotty, feedback and engagement matters. “It makes me feel good knowing people relate to my music! That's the best part of being an artist.” This is one of the reasons why he’s dedicating 2021 to grow and build his fan base across platforms. Nevertheless, he hints at releasing another project this year. “Maybe I'll drop one in the next couple of months.”
For any artist, getting featured on NBA 2K21 is a great feat and a chance to make some waves. It’s always interesting to know about the initial euphoria of such good news. In his case, he celebrated with a scream. “Funny story is I was sitting on the toilet (laughs). My parents heard me screaming from the bathroom. It's crazy being in one of the biggest games ever. The song has been doing pretty well since being placed. I feel like this is a new beginning.” A huge fan of the NBA himself, he tells us about his prediction for the 2021 All Star game and what team he’ll be supporting. “Team Lebron all the way. I look at Durant like Sonny from you got served.”
As an Independent artist in a competitive field, support means a lot to him. What keeps him going is everyone who presses play on his music. “Reading the paragraphs that fans send me makes me want to keep going more than anything. When I landed in LA for the first time, I got recognized at the airport, and they told me they loved my music. Stuff like that will stick with me for forever.” Addressing critics of his music and style, he says, “Criticism never really gets to me because I understand that I don't make music for everyone. I can't argue or get upset with opinions.”
Although his EP, Winter Blue was released during the early days of the global pandemic, it didn’t really affect the promotion plan for the project. He hasn’t been able to perform live in a long time, but he hopes to play every song on the EP to a live audience.
He cites Drake, Juice WRLD, and 6lack as his influences and we can guarantee that fans of the aforementioned artists will love Scotty Valid’s music.
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