Today we’d like to introduce you to Reej Bawstun.
So, before we jump into specific questions, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I was born in Boston, MA. My mom died when I was seven then I moved in with my aunt in Douglasville. I didn’t jump into music first I was actually a dancer apart of a dance crew called Illmatic High. I started doing music because I just couldn’t find anything to dance to, so I started to record my own songs to dance to. I never danced to any of my songs but I did fall in love with recording and ever since then I’ve made music. I grew up with producers XL, Chase Millie & director, Jamil Carroll So I got blessed by the universe with them because I never had to use a YouTube beat and I always have access to a Director who understands my visions without me going into super detail. I remember in November 2015, I was basically on the verge of homelessness.
My homie invited me to the studio to record because he had got some new plug-in. I had this poem I had written for this girl on my phone and I had JUST got a beat that morning from a producer named KEANU. I recorded the song “For You”, I released it a week later and a week after that it basically went crazy and gave me my first song on Pandora. It connected me to many people in the industry I know today. But I really didn’t find my “sound” until recently because I stopped trying to be a rapper and told myself to just have fun. I like to play with my voice a lot on my songs because when I was younger, I would make a lot of voices to try to prank my family that someone else was in our home.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Not AT ALL. I was homeless for five years because basically it was live normally as a regular human at home with my family or struggled chasing my dreams in the city. I chose my dream. I use to sleep in my car just to save money from my job to pay for features, studio time, album artwork &, etc. I’ve been in bad contracts with managers that made empty promises.
Can you give our readers some background on your music?
I make music. I’m an artist. I also do graphic designing and working on a clothing line that will not be just a basic graphic tee. I have my own sound and heart. My mission with music is to destroy depression because in 2014, I lost my best friend, BJ to depression (suicide).
Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
My friends and I were performing our single at a party and the Dj cut our song off 30 seconds into us performing but EVERY girl in the building started singing every lyric. It felt like I won the Superbowl. I want that feeling every day.
Contact Info:
- Website: reejbawstun.com
- Email: info@reejbawstun.com
- Instagram: reejbawstun
- Twitter: twitter.com/reejbawstun
Image Credit:
Jay Neilson, Benny Commas, Greg Douglas, Tonio Howard
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