"Although I didn't write this song, it spoke to me in a way that made me feel as if it was my own story,” Brandon said. “I found myself playing it over and over again in my bedroom, remembering situations that I've been through.”
Check out the video for yourself below.
The female vocalist’s acclaimed discography connecting soul, rap, funk, and now, a self-imagined “southern apocalyptic” genre has planted her under our microscopic lens and has kept our eyes peeled. Last time office sat down with Kari, she detailed her previous record, Laugh now, Die Later, which as you could imagine by the title holds to a lackluster pillar. “I just had to get over my teenage angst, to be honest. And I think with "cry 4 help," I definitely did that. This new music is really fun and I'm a fun person, so I feel like I'm kind of going back to the essence of like who I am in my core. I'm not a sad girl,” she tells us.
Nonetheless, things have shifted for Kari. The newest record flips the table and explores the contrasting complexities of life. Lowkey Superstar proves her newest commitment to modern testaments of life through rule-bending sounds. Along with this, her honest lyrics and eclectic sonic style have led her down the pathway to superstardom with no return—showing fans that the soulful rapper embodies excellence and isn’t afraid to wear it, as long as it’s lowkey.
It's been a few months since you dropped your EP cry 4 help. Why this time now to start dropping music?
Well, it's crazy because I've been working on music, like from June to January. I had just been making a lot of stuff and I actually ended up making an album that I was like, "Oh, I'm going to put this out in April of next year." And then, I kinda sat on the album and was like, "Mm, I could keep working on this." So then I kept working on the album, but then I ultimately just ended up making a whole 'nother project, which is the mixtape that I want to put out. And, so I was just like, "Well, why don't I just put out the mixtape in April instead of putting the album out in April?" I was just like, April feels like a good time, like it's spring. I thought people were going to be outside, you know.
So what are some things you've learned since cry for help that has helped you get ready for your newest music?
Honestly, it's just that I have to be more consistent. The reception for cry 4 help was overwhelming because I wasn't expecting a lot of people to connect with the music as much as they did. So I think it made me just realize how much people fuck with me as an artist. So I was like, "Damn, I really should stop being sad and just give people music, you know?" I just had to get over my teenage angst, to be honest. And I think with cry 4 help, I definitely did that. This new music is really fun and I'm a fun person, so I feel like I'm kind of going back to the essence of like who I am in my core. I'm not a sad girl.
But don't you think that's what people really liked about your music? That you kind of showed a more relatable side to you. Are you scared of neglecting those people that are attracted to that sound or do you think they're ready for a fun Kari?
Well, the thing is—it's funny because at the end of the day, the sound may be different but the content is music. It's still me. Like, even though I'm not sad, I can be cynical, you know? I've always been that way. So even like in the earlier days, when I put out "No Small Talk" and "Goddamn," that was me being very snarky and just talking shit. So it's like, I'm still the same person and still the same artists and you're getting the same content. It's just different packaging. I feel like with this newest single, I have one line where I talk about how my mom stole my birthday money when I was 10 years old and ultimately that's why I don't really trust people, but it's over like a rock beat.
I know growing up in Little Rock, you talked about having a wild imagination and creating worlds and how that's helped with your music. What world are you taking listeners to?
It's Southern, but there are different sounds. A few of the songs feel like Southern apocalyptic music if that makes sense. It's like if the apocalypse was happening in the South and like, you know, people just brought out their like cars for the last time and are like, "Fuck it, we're just going to have a party." It's like that kind of the feeling, it's kinda on the darker side but it's still fun. So that's the world that I'm in right now. I've been listening to a lot more Southern music. I realized I haven't really been doing that as much as I used to. And so, I'm just kinda getting back in that bag. But then also it's like the world is doing whatever the fuck it is and it kind of feels scary a little bit. So I'm just merging those two things together.
If you could only listen to three southern rap songs, what would they be?
Oh, only three. Oh my goodness. "Coming Up" by Pimp C, that's like one of my favorite songs. Probably "Blunts To My Lips" and then "Respect My Mind' by the Hot Boys. Yeah, like that was a deep ass question.
So with "While God Was Sleeping," we hear a different sound from you. In cry 4 help, it seems as the title speaks for itself and we hear a manifestation of sound based on less than pleasant experiences. With this new single, we hear a more revengeful or resilient sound in the messaging with maybe some punk undertones to it. How did you get your confidence back?
Honestly, by the time I had put out cry for help, I had made that like eight months prior to it coming out. So by the time it came out, I was already kind of in a better space. And then, with this new music, the producer that I'm working with, his name is Daniel, and he's an Italian guy—he lives in London and we met through a friend. And we just started working together, and it was something different about him because I don't really work with a lot of people. I like to feel safe when I'm working with people. I'm very shy, a little bit. And so, he just thinks everything that I do is so brilliant, you know? And so it's like, when you're working with somebody who really admires you and really thinks that you're doing something different and innovative and you have that person by your side to like create this music with you, you, you'll try just about anything. And Daniel has a band himself. He makes pop-y music, but he does make garage and rock stuff, too. So with us, like starting to work together, we just try everything. Like the album that we made, it was so strange. I made a garage song, I made like a UK dance song. We hope to put it out this summer, but we just tried so many different things and if we didn't like it then we were like, "Okay, you know, let's just try something else." And that's really where I got the confidence to do a sound like that and just put it out there.
You talk about this idea of being safe. What does that take? What does that "being safe in order to make music" look like?
So usually, I'm the kind of person where I say things out loud, and I may not be necessarily talking to anyone. I'll just be saying things and making weird noises or just whatever. It's just something that I do. I don't understand it sometimes, but, while we were recording, I would do those things. I would be saying different things and he would catch me. So if you listen to the mixtape, all those little phrases that you hear me saying throughout, he would just catch me recording. He would put it in the song and put it into a beat. So he takes all the little quirky things I do that I think are weird, and he finds a way to put it in my art and make my personality shine in the music more. So I think that's really special.
It seems like you're always trying to push yourself to these limits, whether or not that's intentional. Like on Twitter, you talk about not drinking and practicing celibacy. What importance do you place on these actions and how have they helped you?
So the whole drinking thing was not by force. I just happened to be in the house with no alcohol. So it was like, all right, I guess i'm not drinking now. But the celibacy thing, I've definitely taken super seriously. I find that when I don't participate in sex, I'm very focused. I'm a very focused person, like there's no drama. I'm also not like obsessing over a person to come and fulfill my sexual needs, you know? It's just like, I'm good, you know? I'm focusing on what's important. And right now that's music, so.
You seem like a very spiritual person and on a track name like "While God Was Sleeping," it must allude to your relationship with God or to spirituality.
So it's funny because the title goes so many different ways. I actually got the phrase from a friend of mine who just kind of casually said it like years ago. It was something that it had caught my ear and I wrote it down. And so, I ended up writing like, just writing, not even really a poem, but I just kind of wrote the things down, which ultimately ended up becoming the chorus of the song. And to me, it just kind of signifies the times that I was looking for like something or someone to save me from like this misery that I thought I was in. Like, when I was just so like depressed or when I didn't understand why life was going the way it was or why I always felt the way that I felt in spite of my circumstances. I feel like I kind of grew to realize that God gives you the tools that you need to create the life that you want for yourself. So in the song, I'm basically saying that while God was sleeping, I was doing all these crazy things. I tried to figure it out myself in life, saying, "Why was this, and why was that?" I have to be self-reliant in a way and I have to make sure that I'm okay. I can't wait on somebody else to do things for me or make the things that I say I want, happen. So, through all the crazy shit or whatever happens, like I'm still here and you know, God meets me halfway every time. I just have to pick myself up and meet him halfway.
What are some of the craziest things you've ever manifested before?
It's kind of a big deal for me to not be in Little Rock. Like to not have to live there if I don't want to or to be able to travel the world and meet people and have people listen to my music. That is like the biggest manifestation because like you got to understand, nobody really makes it out of Little Rock. And so for me to have done that—I didn't come from a wealthy family. I only traveled so much as a kid. So, everything else was just by pure will. Just being like, "I'm going to get the fuck out of here." So like in hindsight, looking back at all the things that I did and how they just kind of worked out is just crazy. Right? Yeah man, manifestation. You never know how it's going to happen and you can't be really concerned with how it's going to happen. You just got to know It's going to happen.
You talked about being more of a fun version of yourself. What are you channeling with your newest music?
Kari at this age, I'm having fun. When I was younger, I had my fun, but now fun to me is just being mentally healthy and financially stable. I'm having a lot of fun. The songs are just channeling a younger me like when I put out Laugh Now, Die Later. I'm kind of channeling some of that energy while being just a little more mature. So yeah, like I said, it's very Southern, it's a lot of 808s and drums and things of that nature. But it's also very musical cause Daniel plays guitar on almost every song.
You're very tight with your fans. It seems like you talk to them on Twitter every day. What are some things you want them to take from your new music or what are some lessons you'd like to teach them if you could?
I just want them to remember that you don't have to be a part of like the weird social hierarchies that are just present. Mostly on Instagram, but I feel like everything just looks the same. I know for me, like growing up, I was always the outcast because I just didn't really care to fit in with people. So if people feel that way, I just want them to know you can be a lowkey superstar. Like, you don't have to be flashy to be a superstar. You could be lowkey as long as you know that you're cool and you have people that love you. That's it.
As the days pass by, many of us are zoned into survival mode (with good reason, of course). Mondays blends into Saturdays and all the days feel like a Sunday—a lazy day off. Meet HoodRich J, AKA Jamont, whose playlist is here to change all of that.
office.mp3 thrives on spreading and uniting music: oldies and new ones. So it's no shock that this week's takeover is with HoodRich J. This week's playlist features songs like Solange's "Time (is)" and Isaac Hayes "The Look of Love." They even feature a plethora of amazing QTPOC artists to "expose people to the historical excellence of the entire QTPOC." This playlist was created in hopes of alleviating people someway, somehow. "I didn't want people to feel restricted or stuck in this crazy time", says Jamont. A lover of music, HoodRich J's free-spirited and funky playlist is exactly the pick-me-up that you, your house plants, and even office, needed.
“Songwriting was never something I was proud of in the past,” she tells us. “I’m starting to own that it is part of my story. I always wanted to be the artist because I’m an artist through and through. But what really took off for me was songwriting. It paid the bills and that gave me the time to build my art—financially. That [songwriting] is what gave me the accolades. But there is something to be said about these powerful women calling upon me to help them. I had to realize that was a gift. Especially someone coming from where I come from.”
Diana hails from Southside Jamaica, Queens. New York. Foch Boulevard. Baisley Park. Eight people living in a two-room house. From early on Diana had a lot of responsibility, pain, trauma, and lots of religion. “I’m trying to step away from being ultra-humble. I’m so used to being a servant because of my life: helping others, having so many siblings. I got into this role of how can I help you opposed to how can I help myself. I got into a role of downplaying my greatness.”
Left— Shirt, jacket and tie by GUCCI; Boots by Y/PROJECT; Panty, jewelry: model's own
Right— Jacket by AREA; Boots by GUCCI; Tights: model's own
But fate can’t be fooled—there is no stunting her greatness. Diana’s first big break came in 2005 when she was contracted to write for Mary J. Blige. She went on to create for other multi-platinum selling women (J.Lo, Dua Lipa and Beyoncé to name a few), which aided in her career as a professional singer. She signed with Atlantic as Wynter Gordon. However, with every passing year, Diana learned who she did not want to be.
“Everyone wanted me to make R&B songs about love, and dance like Chris Brown. By my eighth year, I had my eighth A&R and each one had a vision for me. I got stuck doing dance music, which is what they wanted me to do. I had yet to explore anything because I was fully busy on tour with Flo Rida, on the Hot 100, making crazy money, touring the world, playing the biggest festivals…and I hated it. I was making $20k a night at 5AM. I never drank and I don’t smoke, so it was not my life.”
On New Year’s Eve in 2011, Diana sat down with her label president and explained to him that she was not looking to be the next Katy Perry. That wasn’t her. After hours of back and forth trying to convince Diana to stay, he agreed to let her walk away. “Real things happen on the ground. Real things. The people say what’s hot, not the radio. That’s what I wanted. I wanted the people. And walking away from millions of dollars was part of that shit.” She used the money she acquired to pay for studio time—her way.
“I have crossed a bridge and I’m not in the same place anymore. I can’t continue to use the pain as fuel. I have to find something new, something positive and exciting. Build new memories, meet new people, and be inspired by different art.”
Right— Blouse by CHELSEA MAK; Boots by PRADA; Socks by CALZEDONIA; Panty and gloves: model's own
Whether Diana knew it or not, every YouTube single and music project, made way for future success. Her cult following grew. She was ahead of every wave that would follow. Though Diana was still underground, she was becoming the tastemaker, and people were tapping in. “It’s like when you know you’re the mood board. For once, I don’t want to be the mood board. I want to be the main thing.”
You ever get turned out by an artist for the first time after attending their live show? Maybe you had heard of them before, perhaps they never crossed your path. But somehow, some way you ended up at a venue. From that first note, they captivated you. You experienced all the glory and magic, then…poof!! You are a diehard fan. That is the effect of Diana. She is the main thing.
Not only is Diana’s voice cut from the same cloth as Tracy Chapman and Joni Mitchell, but her pen game and star quality are on or above that caliber —she is fresh as fuck. From being mentored by the late Jazz whiz, Hugh Masekela, to mentoring young talents like Chloe and Halle, Diana has range –vocally, artistically, spiritually. She’s an all-encompassing boss. “This is my jump into consistency. This is my jump into doing beautiful visuals consistently. You can be the only one to take power of your life.”
…And what a powerful life force she is.
“I am very happy. I’m in a place where I don’t give a fuck. I am really committed to making things that feel real to me. I want people to hear my voice because it’s special. I want to tell the truth in my music and my lyrics. I want to be raw and bare.”
Before the world was thrown for an overwhelming loop due to COVID-19, Diana Gordon was set to open for Yves Tumor and play a handful of select venues. Sometimes it takes drastic measures for us to find solace in simple pleasures. May you be healthy, productive and as peaceful as possible during this time.
If you don’t know where to start, get into Diana’s discography. She will take you places.
