Vancouver-based hip hop artist SonReal will be performing at this year’s CityFolk Festival. Despite two Juno Award nominations and two Much Music Video Award nominations under his belt, the Canadian had a humble start and amassed the beginnings of his fanbase on YouTube. SonReal sat down with The Charlatan to talk about his music and touring.
The Charlatan (TC): What was your single “Can I Get a Witness” about?
SonReal (SR): Well, the song basically is about me telling everyone “Hey, I’m here to stay!” It’s kind of a fun song. I pretty much free-styled the whole song. I didn’t really have anything written up, just a little bit of the chorus. It’s pretty much the only song I’ve ever done without writing it down. I’m really proud of it. It doesn’t really sound like anything else. There’s no other song out there that sounds just like this.
TC: How is it . . . being with Capitol Records?
SR: Everything’s good. You’re just dealing with a lot of people. People think that when you sign with a record label you become the biggest star on the planet. That’s very wrong. I’m still working the same way if not even harder than I did before. Things have changed. I’ve definitely got a lot more outlets. Other than that, I still have all my creative control. I make the same music and I still have my creative control.
TC: How has touring been?
SR: It’s amazing to know that I have a following in America too. I met a bunch of new fans. The fun thing about me is my team and I try our best to connect with our fans. We go on a way higher level than just going out there and doing the show. We did things where we were cooking hotdogs for fans. We brought them on the bus and played new music. We love connecting with our fans. We just know how much it means to them and us too. We had a blast doing those kinds of stuff. I’m on tour right now in Canada. I’ve done two shows so far and they both were absolutely insane.
TC: Which artists did you grow up listening to?
SR: I grew up listening to like Nas, Kanye West, Jay-Z. I like listening to a lot of underground music. I like listening to all sorts of genres actually.
TC: Have you ever had a moment in your career where you felt like you were going give up?
SR: Definitely. I’ve had a few moments in my career where I’ve felt like that. People always ask me “Oh, how did you get this far?” The only thing I’ve ever done right is not give up. In 2008-2009, I had quit rapping . . . There’s been moments where I had felt like giving up. Sometimes I feel like I’ve been defeated. It’s those times that kind of make it special and you are doing something good. It’s amazing to see how far we’ve come. I’m touring around with my best friends to all sorts of new places. All these perks just make me keep my head up. I just want to take my music to the next level.
TC: What has been your best work so far?
SR: I’ve a couple of full length mixtapes and two EPs. My best work so far and the one I’m proud of is my latest EP The Name. The work I’m proudest of is my album, which is coming out the first quarter next year called One Long Dream. I’ve really switched up my music. There’s no genre to my music as well. I love all types of music. I just try to make whatever I really feel.
TC: Looking back, what would you tell your younger self?
SR: I would tell myself to keep going. Back then, I was terrible at rapping actually. I might’ve told myself to quit. I was horrible. I used to try and rap like my favourite rappers. I sounded ridiculous. Maybe I would’ve told myself to take up dancing or maybe being a [physical education] teacher instead of rapping.
TC: If you could pick an artist to tour with, who would it be?
SR: I probably would tour with Chance the Rapper or Beyoncé. Actually, we all just agreed we’d tour with Beyoncé. I would like to go on tour with Beyoncé.
SonReal will take the BMO stage at CityFolk on Sept. 17.
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