Rapper 6lack is featured on a groundbreaking project — “Grounds Melody” — in partnership with Rémy Martin, where he shares how his hometown of Atlanta has influenced his excellence. Much like the Rémy brand, 6lack is grounded and inspired by his roots.
Rolling out had a virtual sat down with the rapper on the rise to discuss what drew him to the project and why it was so important for Atlanta to be one of the featured cities.
Being a native of Atlanta, what was your creative process for the “Grounds Melody” project?
I was able to peel back with the “Grounds Melody” project and talk about who, how and what specifically about Atlanta has influenced me. It gave me an opportunity to be able to dig into the topic and put layers to it.
How did you find the originality in the sound while creating this project?
I came across it honestly by not being scared. I had to figure out what… it took to be myself and figure out what’s not me. It was like a phase I needed to grow past. I think that I just got into who I was and the more I did, the more [clearly] I was able to communicate that sound in my music. I remember … a time in life where I wasn’t all the way together. My music sounded like I was trying to figure something out, so getting into myself helped me be able to communicate that better. With “Grounds Melody” it’s just been really cool to be able to put that into words and then to have a platform … to explain that.
Is there anything special that you do to help you stay on the leading edge of your craft?
I practice every single day. There’s no point where I’ve learned everything I could learn. So if I wake up every day with the intention to get better, then I know I’m gonna get better. I want to be better. I want to be safe, create a safe environment for the people around me. I want to express my creativity as much as I can while I’m here and I want to inspire people to do the same thing. So I think those are things that I kind of repeat.
For “Grounds Melody” what made the partnership with Remy Martin so important?
I think it was just like a super similar storyline. Like once we went over, what the idea of it was, it was two places that you can only get something very specific from and how that place makes that product so much better. Learning about Remy Martin and then pairing that with my story in Atlanta just lined up. When it comes to Atlanta as far as politics, music, film, social injustice when things happen, look how long and strong we have been standing through it all. We [have made] history.
