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Blazer BALENCIAGA, boxing gloves DENIM TEARS, sunglasses GENTLE MONSTER
I came to know you and your music during the first quarantine—I would go for runs on the bayou by my house in Texas and listen to “260” and “Frozen River.”
Yeah? What part of Texas?
I'm from the Houston area.
I love. My family lived in Houston. I’m from New York, but I moved to Houston in like 2011. I lived there for like six years.
Well, I'm from Sugar Land. Do you know where Sugar Land is?
Hell yeah! Yeah. My family lives in Mission Bend, so not too far.
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How did you get started in music?
It's funny that we just started talking about Texas, man. It really started when I moved there. I've always loved music, just from being in New York and just being around my older sister—she was really into going to the club and stuff, you feel me? So, she was like download- ing music on LimeWire, and I was just watching all the time. But then when I moved to Houston, it was like the beginning, maybe November of my 11th grade year in high school, and I had this friend, he was just always freestyling in the hallway and stuff. Then our relation- ship got really close whenever I moved to Houston and we just used to talk all the time. And then he would just send me beats like, ‘Yo, bro, spin over this beat. Yo, rap on this part. Yo, just rap on this part here.’ So, I decided to freestyle with him there and just started building confidence through that. Then as I kept exploring my sound for the next two years, I was just trying to develop a plan like, This year I'm going to do this clothing thing with my two friends from seventh grade, and the music is going to be like the second portion of the whole collection. Like, we'll push the clothes first, and the clothes will drive the music, and then the music will balance it out. By this time, I was still figuring out my sound. I was like, rapping, changing my name in different places. I had this one name, it was LARA, which means money in my mom's dialect. And it was just like playing around, just figuring it out, and also just living life and shit too, you know? It was maybe around 2013 when I figured out that I want to do this alternative kind of sound. That's what just started coming out of me, and I just kept running with it.
I feel like that intersectionality is kind of the base of your work. You’re kind of like a Renaissance man in that way—that you do clothing, modeling, you make furniture, music, but it all plays into each other. Where do you think that comes from?
I just like doing stuff, period. I think I get excited just to do things, make shit, like making things makes me excited. Music is my first thing that I got super excited about because I was able to watch it on TV and just get fully excited around it like that. I feel the same way even just about playing basketball, you know? Watching my favorite player gets me excited. Yeah... I think maybe it's just my competitive nature, period. I'm like, Damn, I want to do this too. I can freak it this way. My competitive nature and also just growing up in New York, that was just a big part of my life, like always wanting to do the next cool thing.
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Was there a vibe shift when you moved from New York to Houston?
That was the biggest shift in my life, you know what I'm saying? And that made me who I am. Houston's like, a big part of me. Because yeah, I was in that fast-paced lifestyle, but my parents, I feel like, always wanted calm- ness. They have that dynamic nature about them, too. My mom and my pops, they just both love having people around and stuff, but also love their peace. And again, my parents are both Leos, too. I'm a Leo as well. I'm an August Leo. My mom is August and my pops is July. But I think that also plays a big part of the intersectionality we were talking about—they just really love both sides. But [moving to Texas] was a culture shock, like not being able to get anywhere by foot really. The weather. No one understood me from my accent, and their accent was like, a language barrier. The teachers didn't under- stand me. So, a lot of the time—like, that whole 11th grade year—I was just adjusting really, because I wasn't really talking to people. I was still figuring out who my crowd was. And it was weird because it was the same thing in New York, and it just started to get that balance. Once I got into high school, I thought I started to figure out, Okay, this is my crowd and shit, because growing up, it was that same thing of like, Okay, I'm too African to be with the Americans, too American to be with the Africans, you feel me? Like when you look at me, my features, you wouldn't be able to tell, unless you're African. So, it was always this weird finding my place kind of thing. Going to Houston, that was happening again, which also just led me to dive into myself more and listen and go back and forth with my friend doing music stuff, because I was just in the crib.
What does the name Angelnumber8 come from?
Man, one day I was just in my room chilling. I think I was thinking about Dragon Ball Z, and there's this character—her name is Android 17—and I always liked the way she looked and her ‘fit. The haircut was sick—it was like, this blonde bowl cut. I was just thinking about the name and trying to change my name from the rap name that I had before, and I was like, Man, I'm going to just do a twist o this name. And I was like, Okay, Angel Number... And eight is my favorite number. So, I just added that to the ending. But then I found out a year and a half later that it’s actually a thing, and people started telling me like, Oh, yo, there's a whole story behind this, and everybody has their own angel numbers. And I was like, Oh, that's pretty cool.
I love your video for “Last Laugh.” In terms of music videos, who do you think is the best to ever do it?
Yeah, I don't know if I've seen enough videos to even put that statement out there. I've seen some cool ass videos, though. Of course, growing up, young Hype William videos were cool to me. My favorite video since I was a kid was “Put Your Hands Where My Eyes Could See” by Busta Rhymes. I remember seeing that... You ever seen it before?
I don't think so.
It's like super, super creepy. There's like elephants in the video and stuff. But I just remember seeing it as a kid, just bugging out, wondering like, Yo, why does this look so futuristic? But then it has, like, a real African kind of tone to it too, and that was super cool to me. That played a big part in what I'd be thinking about video-wise. I just like making shit that is just like crossing two different lanes where you're like, Okay, this music sounds like this, but this is a whole different kind of movie or visual put to it.
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I was watching your videos and listening to the songs, and I feel like you kind of have this overall mysterious energy. It just got me thinking about mystery in today's music age. What do you think about the concept of mystery for artists today?
I think it's cool to see artists like Frank Ocean and stuff. Like, it's pretty hard to know when that person is going to drop something, and you're going to want to pay attention to it, you know? But I think we got this shit kind of fucked up, man. I think you got to enjoy life, and life kind of takes time. You got to go see the people you want to. I think all that shit, as well as your experiences — what's surrounding you and stuff — plays a big part into what you create. So, sometimes, you need to be on the down low for like a month. Sometimes you need to be on the down low for a week. Sometimes for like, half a year, you know what I'm saying? I just be trying to keep the balance and see what feels good to me, really. So, if I don't post a certain thing, or I don't drop something, I try to just remind myself to trust in the process of life, period. You know, try to apply that to what I'm doing, because I know that what I'm doing is me, so it's always going to stand out and be seen, because I'm not trying to pull it from nowhere else.
What about your furniture brand, EA Design Studio? How does that work tie into your music?
I feel like I just started doing it heavily. Like, with the furniture, I'll make some sounds that'll go with it. Or if it's like the whole concept of what the album is, just like this play on nature and things morphing into other things, it felt necessary to make a chair that was covered by grass and stuff. So, it just kind of played with the same theme. It's kind of like, Yeah, I'm already doing this, why not just involve it in here? We did a show last Friday in Venice for the album release, and I made this book installation. But again, it was kind of playing in hand with what the album was, because I made this poetry book for the album. I was like, I might as well also show people that this is part of the album concept. So, let me make something that's even more attractive rather than you just holding the book in your hand, like, let’s see it in one room.
Who's your favorite writer? Are you into nonfiction and poetry and stuff like that?
I haven't explored enough, but growing up, Edgar Allan Poe was the first person that made me feel some shit. I was like, Man, this is crazy, because I remember just always not liking to read books and shit—there was nothing that was interesting to me. But once I heard him, I was like, Okay, this is creepy for me. What is he about to say next? He's the person that made me feel some shit. Music-wise, I like Joni Mitchell. She's cool, how she writes.
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What era in music would you say you're most obsessed with or that’s had the biggest impact on you?
I feel like as a kid and early teenage years, I was just figuring out who Marvin Gaye was, Luther Vandross, older singers like Michael Jackson and stuff. But then, later in my teenage years, SoundCloud stuff really captivated me—and Kanye, what he was doing, as well. But I definitely think the older shit, like the ‘80s stuff, for sure had me feeling some type of way.
If you could make up a genre, what would it be?
I did that already! What I did with the tapes and stuff for Soundmath—the genre that I created is called alternative poem and electronic poem. And then the genre for this project is called DiTri. It’s like a whole concept that kind of embodies the music.
Das Risiko is an exploration into Family Time’s relationship. The first song the pair ever recorded in German, Das Risiko howls and growls at the listener, bringing them into a world of hands on fire, illuminated microphones, and falling anvils. The dark and brooding tone of the song is suddenly juxtaposed by the soft and gentle nature of the chorus, a plea to resist falling into a trap of living life in fear. Shifting from the moods and tones of their former work, Das Risiko is only a glimpse into what Family Time is capable of.
Check out the Das Risiko video below.
In an exclusive interview with the up-and-coming rapper, we get a proper insight into a hard-working, dream-making, GenZ artist who has gone through it and came out on the other side hungrier for success. Get ready for Zepkins, because she’s here to show all of us what she has done and will only continue to do.
Continue reading for an exclusive interview with the multidisciplinary intergalactic artist.
Hi! What have you been up to recently, what's been going on?
Well, I dropped my project, April of last year, and it was my debut project. Now since I'm independent, I'm just working with the visuals and just really learning the industry and learning my way through all of this.
Why don't you tell us a little bit about yourself? Who is Zepkins? Where does Zepkins come from?
Zepkins is a multifaceted artist from DC. I moved to LA when I was 13 and I'm a trans woman. So, you know, that's a big part of my journey. I started rapping in 2018 when I was 17. I've just been taking it very seriously as of late, and also have been working on a lot of different creative projects, and just pushing myself and the limits with everything.
You said you moved to LA when you were 13. What made you move from DC?
My mom really just wanted to start a new life for me and my brother. My brother does music as well. He was in acting and everything when we were younger. So it just seemed like that was best.
So you guys decided to make the move West Coast?
Yeah, and when we moved here, we didn't have anything. My mom literally moved out here, didn't have a job, or anything, and she made a way. We'd sleep on air mattresses for such a long time. It was really, really bad. She moved out here with a friend and her friend ended up leaving, so we were homeless for a little bit, like six months. But you know, we made it.
You made it and you're out here. Let's talk about your "bedroom content”: not really having a lot of different things, making your beautiful artwork, and the creations that you have kind of out of nothing. Would you say that you kind of took that from your upbringing, like making something out of nothing?
Yeah, for sure. When I was younger, my mom would only give me crayons and stuff for Christmas and my birthday. The only stuff I got was crayons and paper. The fuck am I going to do with this? I don't want this. But, you know, when I was younger, I would draw. I always would draw beautiful women. Women with like, colorful hair and just doing all the crazy shit that I do now. So it's so crazy. The bedroom content was for OnlyFans, it was for Twitter, but the aesthetic that I had, and still have, is not based on the sex. You know, anybody could be on here fucking and sucking, and that's just that. But mine is really off of my look, off of my quirkiness, off of my aesthetic.
So let's talk about your debut project FOREVER THE MOMENT. What was the process of making this, and then what is your process when it comes to writing tracks?
Well, when I first started this project, it wasn't even like I was trying to start rapping. It never was something that I even thought I could pursue because my brother, as I said, he does music as well. So, I just never felt like that was me. But, how I started rapping is, I already wrote a song before and it was like this Foxy Brown remix. And it was just like, okay, cute, whatever. So then I was like, "No, I'm not going to drop it." So, then I was talking to this girl on the phone and she lost the song that she wrote, so I was like, "Girl, let's do a song together." Long story short, she did some shady shit and in her verse, she was talking about me. She was throwing shots at me, right?
While you're on the track, though?
I didn't even get to show her my shit that I wrote. I was supposed to call her the next day, but she never answered the phone for me again. She never called me again, never texted me again. She just dissed me and was like, "Okay, fuck it." So I made a whole song about this bitch which has yet to drop. But in the song, it just shows how hungry I was and just my aggressiveness, and my competitive spirit. It was just like, "I'm not playing with these hoes." So then after that, my friends around me were like, "You can really do this shit." So I was like, "Really? Boost my ego. Alright, bet." So I just kept on and wrote songs like "THE BEST" and "Forever the Moment." I dropped "TOP NOTCH" in 2020 and I said, if I'm gonna do this, I'm taking it seriously and I'm not going to stop until I get to where I want to go.
And where do you want to go?
I see myself as a mogul when it comes to music. I feel like the door that I'm opening for me and for other people in my community to be able to express themselves on a scale that we feel like we're not able to express ourselves on. But I don't want to just solely base myself on music, I definitely want to get into the fashion industry. I'm already modeling, I'm already doing my shit. So you know, I'm already doing it all from my bedroom as well. I have pieces in my room that I created that you guys will soon see in the "Showstopper" video. So I see big things for myself, for sure.
What was the inspiration behind the music video for "Peekaboo?" I watched it and it was so incredible.
My real name is Naomi and I have this Naomi Campbell book that my mom gave me with all of her old pictures throughout her whole career. And she has a picture of herself as an alien and I just loved everything about it. When we think of female rappers and we think of just icons, female icons, we just think of somebody who was daring. When you think of Gaga, when you think of Grace Jones, when you think of Nicki, when you think of Kim– daring. And I'm just like, if not me, who? Who else is going to put a bald cap on their head and really eat this shit up?
You were talking about earlier how you don't have a team, and you don't really have much insight into the industry. But you've definitely gotten yourself where you are right now without that. What are some of the lessons that you've learned along the way to get to where you are right now?
I mean, I definitely learned that you cannot do all this shit yourself, you will literally drive yourself crazy. I'm sourcing a team and I'm so blessed to have people that really believe in me, be around me, and see a light in me. That they would love to, you know, help be a part of but you can't do this shit all yourself. You have to be careful with the people that you keep around you because a lot of these people are around you only to suck the life out of you. They're only around you because they're waiting for you to pop. They really don't like you. They really don't fuck with you. They really don't have good intentions for you. So I would just say keep a clear mind. Keep your circle small and focus on the goal. It's hard day by day especially when you're independent. You don't have a manager calling your phone like "I got this, this, this, for you." When it comes to everything you're literally out here grabbing it.
When it came to the "Peekaboo" video or my album cover, I'm just a real ass bitch. I had no money in my account and I prayed to God. God makes all this shit happen. I was able to get every single prop for that and make that happen within 24 hours and that's really a blessing from God. I'm so thankful for my relationship with God because if it wasn't for him, I wouldn't be here today. And what I'm doing would not be manifesting into what it's becoming.
You're just starting out and you're already doing all of these things. Just keeping that hunger will get you to anywhere you want to be.
Yeah, because some days we wake up, and even me, I'm guilty of it, like waking up and just being like, "Is this really what I want?" Not feeling like things are happening fast enough for us, but we have to understand what the goal is. And when we started this, we already knew it was going to be a journey. We did not know what type of journey it was going to be, but we knew it was going to be a journey. So we just have to rock and at the end, we're gonna be good. We will be straight. As long as we keep our souls clear.
Would you say there's something that you know now that you wish you knew when you first started?
I would tell myself to take advantage of every moment and stop overthinking yourself. Stop criticizing yourself because eventually, that's self-sabotaging. Stop running away from the things that you don't want to do because those are things that are going to propel you forward. I wrote Forever the Moment when I was 19, I first started writing music when I was like 18, and now I'm 21. So, you know, I'm definitely learning a lot of things along the way because I'm growing as a woman and growing as a person.
If and when the opportunity presents itself to have a management team, would you want one?
I definitely would want a management team if the time was right, and the situation was the right situation. It's all about the right situation. People who understand me and who are not going to try to control me, or try to have me conform to some type of standard that they think that I should conform to. People fuck with Zepkins because Zepkins is a character, that's who she is. She's a character. I'm also a person, which people will get to know more about as I continue on.
On top of music, you also created ZEPSTARZ. So do you find that your creativity when it comes to designing clothing inspires your music or vice versa?
I wouldn't say that my creativity for clothes inspires music, but I definitely feel like my music inspires that because it's just like what else can I do? And you guys haven't really seen anything that I've been working on right now. But you guys will see it and it's nothing like you guys have seen before.
Who did you create your clothing for?
I don't want to say boy or girl, but truthfully sexy girls who are just bold. Who just don't really care, who love to show off their body, love to show skin, and don't really give a fuck what nobody thinks.
If there's anything that you've created that you think, "This is Zepkins, this is the direction that I am going in from now on," what would that be?
I feel like that would definitely be a song. Well, we can just say the project Forever the Moment. Forever the Moment is definitely where Zepkins is going. I feel like that is such a small, small aspect of me as a person. It's my project, so I listen to it, I critique it, everything.
I feel like you can do anything you want, you know yourself. Any direction that you go in, you're just gonna put that Zepkins twist on it to and make it you.
That's very true, I definitely feel the same way. That's how I want to display my art. I don't want to just sit here and feel like I have to conform to something. The biggest thing for me is not conforming to anybody's standards. Of course, I can sit here and be a bad bitch in a 40-inch weave all day, it's obvious, but I don't want to do that. That's not what I want to do. I want to wear a bald cap with crystals all over my head.
Well, why not?
Why not? If not me then who?
No one, no one's doing it. Have you always found that you've been this confident in yourself?
No, I wouldn't say that I was always confident with myself. I feel like I dealt with insecurity for a really long time. People would point out my insecurities and they would try to bully me. So it became a point that my mom took me out of school so I could further my transition and things like that. I was in eighth grade and when that happened, I just really stopped giving a fuck about anything that anybody had to say. My family, my brother, my mom, my grandma, I didn't give fuck about nobody. And if you have a problem, then what's the problem? But it came to a point that I still wasn't confident in myself and I still did not believe in myself. But to be honest with you, when I started making my music, it wasn't for anybody else. It was for me, I was talking to me. So that's what really made me confident and I'm still a work in progress. I don't think any of us are 100% confident. It's a work in process, a day-to-day thing, but I push myself every day. Zepkins is who pushes Naomi.
If you could have anyone featured on one of your tracks or wearing your designs, who would it be?
Girl...we already know the answer– Nicki of course! I would love to work with Nicki, of course, she's one of my biggest inspirations. I feel like out of the new girls, I love Doja. I love the direction that Doja is going. I feel like she just is very aware of herself and knows exactly who she is, she's like a chameleon. So I'm here with both of them. They're like chameleons. I would love to see my pieces on Amanda Lepore, Lil' Kim, or Cardi B.
So everything you do is otherworldly and has this intergalactic beauty. What does planet Zepkins look like?
Planet Zepkins is full of little rhinestones all over. The ground is filled with crystals. The girls are walking around with big titties. You know? People are just happy, carefree living their life, blasting Forever the Moment from dusk to dawn. And you know, we just livin' our life. We're sipping a peach bellini on the beach with our titties out.
Take a peek at Zepkins latest music video "Peekaboo" out now.