Photo courtesy of Phobia the Greatest.
Phobia the Greatest walks into the studio and listens to a beat. In 10 seconds, she knows if she can record to it. “I get in the booth, I get on the mic, I sing how I feel,” she says. Her craft, once manifested as poetry in composition books, has now erupted into an art form that leaves behind writing and comes up with songs on the spot. The contagious confidence of her high-spirited sound reflects the energy of this musical process.
Years ago, you would have found the independent musician around Salt Lake City, mainly in the West Valley area. Now you can find her playing pool party shows near the ocean in L.A. or filming a music video with
Photo: Kevin Edwards
youngassNICO grew up near Baisley Park in South Jamaica, Queens, the home of the artist’s love for music. He started listening to music in ’98 thanks to $5 bootlegged CDs from the Rite Aid parking lot. Nico grew up in the era of
Angie Martinez, DJ Kay Slay,
Jay Electronica and more. He would walk around the block and immerse himself in the music pouring out of apartments and cars, spreading the word that
50 Cent was making it big. “As much as I like the new shit, I am so knitted in that gritty New York rap where your bars have to mean something,” he says. “I remember freestyling in circles back in the day where if your bars were not correct, you couldn’t hang.”
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