Today we’d like to introduce you to Noah Baker.
Noah, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
My story is very similar to those of any other musical artist in the world. At the young age of four, I was blessed with the opportunity to share the stage with my grandmother, who at the time was a prominent jazz vocalist in Tuscon, Arizona. Ever since that day, I’ve been fascinated with the scene and the artistry behind music. It wasn’t long until I started dabbling into musical arts myself. Around the age of ten, I was already writing lyrics and poetry and recording them off a basic computer headset. Recording covers of popularized rap songs such as Drake’s – “Best I Ever Had” and Earl Sweatshirt’s – “Centurion.”
A lot of my earlier works consisted of experimental hip-hop songs, narrative-driven lyrics, and low energy deliveries, rapped over various Lo-Fi & Boom Bap beats. Reminiscent of artists like MF DOOM, Ab-Soul, early Kendrick Lamar, and hints of J. Cole; my music starting wasn’t received too well. Didn’t help that I was also searching for my voice in a sea of established artists who have been doing it way longer than me. You can find most of my old works on my Bandcamp! (www.realvenom.bandcamp.com)
Around the ages of 12 to 13 is when I discovered producers: DJ Fusion, Raisi K., Natsu Fuji, and Killing Spree. Their anime-infused instrumentation enabled me to be more valid with the nerd side of me, and that’s when I started uploading nerdcore tracks up onto SoundCloud. From there, I entered a relatively large community of nerdcore artist and met amazingly talented rappers and singers, who I’m still friends with today. Finding those producers randomly on YouTube opened my mind and ears to a whole new perspective on music… and thanks to an artist like Kryciz, AGenius, CyanideRyan, and Yamato; I was able to find my voice and polish my craft to what it is today.
Around the age of 17, towards the beginning of 2015, I had a massive falling out with one of the producers of said community. This led to discord and strife between my close friends and me, against the rest of the community we were part of. From that day, I associated myself less and less with that pocket of the nerdcore hip-hop scene and expanded my reach outward; networking with various other artists around the world and experimenting with different sounds, specifically grunge, trapmetal, and distinct dark R&B sounds/genres.
Fast forward a few years to 2017, I was stuck in Houston, Texas, on the verge of becoming homeless. Luckily one of my artist friends I had stayed in contact for a while came to the rescue contacted another fellow artist to ask if I could stay with him. Kryciz allowed me to stay with him for that year. For that entire year of 2017, Kryciz and I became brothers; recording music, playing games, and overall just experiencing and enjoying life. Got to meet a few other music friends in person as well during that time, and my sound was getting more and more refined. A few projects and collaborations here and there, including a colossal community rap battle between 4 other artists and me, my name was slowly becoming more and more known in the internet rap scene. I then decided to move to Atlanta to help my mother and grandmother, while continuously searching for that next push for my musical growth.
Luckily, I had terrific friends already established here, with solid collectives of talented and driven artist. Yvng Lvffy invited me to be a part of his music collective, “TEEMHOLLOW,” and through him, I was introduced to Hak7m Faraji. Hak7m also encouraged me to join his art collective “Yakuza.Slumbr.Party” and from there my escapades in ATL began. The three of us joined forces and was dubbed the “Hollowboiz” and ever since then, we’ve been running a brutal gauntlet around the ATL Metro area; tackling venue after venue and releasing track after track. Thanks to them and a handful of other ATL artists such as T.R.E., Ichiban_Tez, Jamee Cornelia, and more, I was able to make ATL my home and truly pursue my musical career.
Now, I’m here. Able to share my story with you all and continue growing and evolving my state of mind & sound.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
The road to get to where I currently am was not an easy one — consistently battling an uphill battle against other artists who wanted to demean my passion and craft, family and friends who belittled my work and called music a waste of time, and various run-ins with producers and other artists who used and abused me; taking my art, copyright striking me, and stealing my money. The challenges I faced in these long ten years or so shaped me into the man and artist I am today. I’ve donned a shining plate of armor, impervious to all negativity. I’ll continue to grow and work with my close friends and family to ensure my musical career is the best it can be!
So, as you know, we’re impressed with RealVenom – tell our readers more, for example, what you’re most proud of and what sets you apart from others.
The name: Realvenom, started as DefinitionVenom, meaning I was the official definition of poisonous music. My nickname: “The Black Sage of Wind,” is a character I created that encompasses all that I represent and stand for in the realm of music. The Black Sage hails from the Temple of Zeke (The God of Rap & Wind) in the Megacity of Hip-Hop. He (meaning I) specializes in the genres of boom-bap, lo-fi, trap & various alternative sounds. Artists who profoundly influence my music are J. Cole; Earl Sweatshirt; Lil Uzi Vert and XXXTENTACION.
My debut album, titled “Dreadful Transcendence,” details a laid-back narrative of a young man coming to age and facing his demons one step at a time. I wanted to showcase my somber flows over Lo-Fi Hip-Hop beats and my refined lyrical ability to rap circles around the usual stereotypical rap artist. Now I spend my time experimenting with southern rap, trapmetal, and dark grunge sounds, a vibe you can hear on my most recent albums such as: “Save Yourself, Forget About Me,” “Death,” “HallowsEVE, Vol. 2” and my latest project “Hollow Form.”
I want to say what sets me apart from most rap artist and musical talents in today’s day and age is my ability to continually adapt to any genre shift and sound, my consistency in releasing music and collaborating with my fellow peers, and my willingness to give this music 110%. Music is my life, my pride & joy, I’ll dedicate giving my all to it until I die.
Since moving here to ATL, I’ve been working closely with my collectives: “TEEMHOLLOW” & “Yakuza.Slumbr.Party”, and polishing my stage presence with every performance. My overall goal and mission in life are to influence the world through music. To be a conductor of positivity, unity, and individuality in the best way possible – spreading the anarchistic toxin to change the universe one bar at a time.
So, what’s next? Any big plans?
My plans for the future? I’m not good at organization or over planning things. Right now I’m focused on killing these shows with my team and releasing amazing musical & graphical content for the small fanbase I currently have. Hopefully, that leads to rapid growth and overtime in the next year or two I see myself further along than I am right now. September through December, I’ll be working hard, lots of shows coming up and plenty of new projects on the way, can’t wait to share all those experiences with you all.
Pricing:
- Photo Edits + Graphic Design – $15
- Video Edits (M/V + AMVs) – $35
- Audio Engineering (Mixing + Mastering) – $50
- Features – $45
Contact Info:
- Website: linktr.ee/realvenom_sage
- Email: noah.baker@jibmarketinggroup.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/realvenom_sage/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/realvenomsage
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/realvenom_sage
- Other: https://open.spotify.com/artist/13WM5L5huIsi7JMOCvABsA?si=-ZWvt43GQHWaE7QmNBRSVQ
Image Credit:
Dazy King, Anthony J. Long, Charlie Denton, Kemiya, grvndmvsterwvve
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