A Conversation with Blvck Svm
Photo via @tiinley
In the ever-evolving landscape of hip-hop, some artists possess an uncanny ability to weave tales of their own journey, infusing each verse with an authentic touch that resonates deeply with listeners. Blvck Svm, a name that has gradually ascended from obscurity to eminence over the past few years, exudes this very magic. It's a magic that saw its inception during the onset of the pandemic, a time of unforeseen challenges and life-altering decisions. When many might have retreated to the familiarity of the past, Blvck Svm chose to march forth into uncharted territories, betting on his passion and vision for his music. Through a series of consistent bi-weekly releases, he laid the foundation for a growing following, each track a testament to his unyielding commitment.
Recent accolades, including his album "mangalica mink" reaching a staggering ten million streams, solidify Blvck Svm's position as a burgeoning force in the rap scene. His forthcoming project, a seven-track EP due to drop in December, promises to capture his growth, aspirations, and authentic approach to artistry. With a magnetic allure that draws listeners into his world, Blvck Svm's music is a journey through the complex yet relatable tapestry of his experiences. As he stands on the brink of headlining performances in Toronto and Los Angeles, he aims to bring his fans along for a ride through his vivid flows and dynamic beats, crafting a space of connection. In a world where every beat is a brushstroke, Blvck Svm paints a canvas of emotions, intricacies, and perspectives, all threaded together by his own captivating authenticity.
modrNation: What was your upbringing like? Has music always played a role in your life?
Blvck Svm: I grew up in South Florida. I was born in Florida, moved to New Jersey for a couple of years when I was very young, and then moved back to Florida right before second grade. So, I was there for a long time. Music was really significant, but I didn’t recognize it at the time. My parents had a bunch of CD decks, or stacks. And so, there was a lot of reggae, funk, a lot of soul, and they would play it pretty regularly, so I was familiar with Bob Marley, Luther Vandross, Erykah Badu, and a lot of those genres’ artists before I even really listening to rap music, and it was so constantly in the background that I didn’t think much about it. But now, when I hear songs that have certain samples, or when I go back to listen to older stuff, that music is kind of engrained in my brain. I got to rap pretty late, I would say. It wasn’t until middle school that I started listening to it for real, and “I’m Me” by [Lil] Wayne was a song that made me fall in love with rap music; I listened to it about 100 times a day when I first heard it in sixth or seventh grade. When I was home, it was mostly not rap that I was listening to, but it was a lot of black music and artists. I think that growing up in that and not really being exposed to rap until later meant that I got to rap at a time when I was able to understand it more than if I got to it when I was five or six years old.
modrNation: How did your move to Chicago for university and immersing yourself in that diverse and vibrant music community influence your artistic growth, and are there any specific Chicago artists you'd like to collaborate with in the future?
Blvck Svm: Coming to Chicago coincided with me wanting to pursue rap full-time. It’s a lot easier to get around here [in Chicago]; in south Florida and Florida in general, you need a car. Doing things like either walking to things on campus, taking the bus, or taking the train downtown to go to an open mic or whatever it was, were all things that were much more accessible in Chicago than they were in South Florida, and I think that definitely helped push me toward what I wanted to do. I don’t know if anything about the Chicago rap scene has shaped the way I make music because I didn’t start digging into Chicago rap music until recently, relative to when I got here in 2014. I think the only Chicago artist I knew besides Kanye was Chief Keef, and he’s always been an important artist to me based on how influential he’s been to other artists, and creating the sound in the 2010s that many artists have taken and made their own. So, if I had to name a Chicago artist that I would want to collab with, I think it would be him just because I think he’s a legend, and there are a bunch of others that I like that I listen to, but Chief Keef is on the top of that list.
modrNation: From songwriting to beat selection, what does your creative process typically entail?
Blvck Svm: To this point, I first get beats. My favorite producers will send me a pack, or they’ll send me one at a time, and I don’t write to beats if they don’t immediately capture me and make me stop what I’m doing to write, so that’s the first checkmark for me. I listen to the beat, and if it gets me hooked immediately, then I'm ready to go. I can’t really explain how I start writing. Sometimes, I'll have a line that I know I want to work in, like a line that I wrote absentmindedly weeks prior that I know I want to fit into a song. Sometimes it starts a song, sometimes it’s in the middle and turns into part of a hook, but if I don’t have that starter line, I just kind of start writing. It’s weird, I just snap into focus and stuff just starts coming out. Maybe I had a recent experience that I wanted to write about or something I ate, something I watched on tv, some form of media that I want to reference... it just all kind of happens. My beat selection process is straightforward. It has to be a crazy, captivating beat, then I start. I get to writing, and I write whatever I’m thinking of at the time. I just edit it on the way; I know some people will write the whole thing first and then go back and edit, but I try to do it as I’m writing, and then I’ll decide whether it’s worth recording or not.
Photo via @sologroup
modrNation: Music has the power to transport listeners to different places and emotions. If your music were a journey, where would it take your fans, and what emotions would they experience along the way?
Blvck Svm: To me, there are two main types of rap: storytelling, narrative-focused rap and there’s a form of rap that subverts both the storytelling and narrative aspects in favor of technical skill. I think there are a lot of mini journeys that a song of mine may take somebody on, because most of my songs aren’t really focused on a story that has a start, middle, and end, but I do try to make every song a representation of how my brain has been working lately, and I think a lot of my stuff is fragmented just because I have trouble focusing on any one thing for a long amount of time. So, I think it will be a pretty bumpy journey, because I talk about a lot of different things, and not for super long, and sometimes it seems like I’m going to talk more about something, but I switch to something else. I guess the point of it isn’t to tell a story, but it’s more just to show that my attention span is not the best, and if anything, a lot of the stuff I rap about, whether it’s food or fashion, is to bring an elevated sense of music to showcase an experience, not necessarily to flex money or prestige or anything, but to bring people into the fold in a pretty matter-of-fact way, like, this is what I’m doing. And it’s not even like an inspirational thing, either. I’m not trying to be a motivational speaker, but I’m also not trying to shit on people for not having those experiences. I’m somewhere in the middle, where I’m just explaining stuff and giving context to things happening in my life and the things that I’m doing. I guess the journey is trying to bring people there with me, and then the next location is four bars later, so I'm bringing them there, too. And then, we’re kind of jumping all over the map, maybe it’s first in the kitchen, and then we’re in the car, and then we’re in the studio, and then we’re in another country. So, it’s a bumpy ride, but I guess it’s kind of by design.
modrNation: Your influences range from MF DOOM to Lil Wayne and Gucci Mane. How do you balance the inspiration from these iconic artists while maintaining your distinct voice and style as an artist?
Blvck Svm: A lot of it comes down to beat selection. If I get a beat, like a more trap-style or trap-adjacent beat, I’m not really trying to mimic Gucci on a track like that. I do definitely take into account the types of flows and cadences I need to use because they can’t be the same ones I use on a boombap beat or a soul sample beat. One of the things I like about those three artists is that they’re able distill their essence down and fuse it into everything they make. Wayne has an unmistakable sound, and I would say the same thing about Gucci and DOOM, and I’m sure they have influences as well, as does every artist. The key is to take those influences and use them in ways that are helpful to further your own art, but to further your art in a way that is unique from them. Whatever the song or beat is, I’m trying to maintain a level of uniqueness that doesn’t point too much to any of those three, or any other artists that I listen to. But, if you listen to how I set up a certain rhyme scheme, or how I construct a particular simile, or a cadence where I'm kind of jumping around on the beat, then you might be like, ‘this reminds me of DOOM’, or ‘this reminds me of Wayne’, but I just don’t want that to be the prevailing thought when you hear it, you know? I want it to be like, ‘this sounds like Blvck Svm’. And then, ‘I can see how he’s a DOOM fan, I can see how he’s a Wayne fan, I can see how he’s a Gucci fan.’
modrNation: You've recently worked with artists like Mick Jenkins and Westside Boogie. Do you have anyone you'd like to collaborate with on upcoming projects, whether it be rappers or producers?
Blvck Svm: I would love to work with Action Bronson. I think we have a lot of similarities in how we rap and what we rap about. I would love to work with JID because he’s just one of my favourite bare-bones rappers. I think we would make a cool song. Larry June, also. The way he raps, especially in his more recent stuff because I didn’t get into him until pretty recently, but I think there’s just an easygoing nature to it. It’s him rapping about very plain things, but in a very compelling way, and I think that’s difficult to do, to make the regular sound amazing. I think he does that very well. I’m not saying he’s boring or anything; he’s very matter-of-fact about how he raps, so he’s one of the people I look up to in terms of style. I think Earl [Sweatshirt] would also be cool. Earl is one of my biggest inspirations. André 3000 would be nuts; I can’t even imagine what the song would sound like, but that’s definitely got to be one of my side quests when I get to where I’m trying to get, to get an André feature.
Photo via @sologroup
modrNation: You mentioned using music to detail and examine the intersections between high-end food and fashion, such as your 2022 LP “mangalica mink”. Have you explored any other unique themes in your recent work? What inspired you to delve into those themes?
Blvck Svm: I don’t think there are too many other themes that I spend as much time on as I do food just because food is a pretty dominant factor in my life. If I’m not spending money on music, then it’s food, and if I'm not spending money on music or food then I'm probably not spending money on anything. I spend a lot of time eating; I go to a lot of restaurants, and I’ve been cooking a lot more too, just trying to experiment. It’s something I hold very close to me, because outside of just enjoying food as everyone does, I think there are a lot of parallels between food and music that are underutilized in music, and probably in food, too. I think there’s something to be said about food that has stood the test of time, not because it’s super complex or up there but because it uses very simple, good ingredients and is put together and presented in a way that is compelling, like pasta for example. There are certain pasta dishes that don’t necessarily jump out on the plate; they may have about five ingredients and always taste good. I think that’s something that shows that while people are often looking for that next thing, it’s still quality over anything else, and that quality can come from simplicity as well as complexity. I think I’m still trying to figure out how to incorporate more of my political consciousness into my music without it sounding contrived. I think a lot of people would probably think that I’m big on conspicuous consumption and things like that because of what I rap about, but I think it doesn’t really reflect the way I feel about how things work here, and the way things work in terms of capitalism everywhere. I have a lot of thoughts on that, but I haven’t really figured out how to make them palatable or rappable, if that makes sense. I don’t want to sound corny rapping about a bunch of things because I haven’t really figured out how to do it with tact. If anything, I think those are themes I’d like to approach in my music more going forward.
modrNation: When can we anticipate a follow-up full-length project to “mangalica mink”?
Blvck Svm: In terms of full length, I’m not exactly sure. I’m still waiting for a few things to fall into place before I feel comfortable putting out a ten, twelve, fifteen-track project. To be frank, If I had the capital to put full force behind a project of that length, I definitely would. I’d want to get certain features on it; for my debut project, I’d want to be able to be able to promote it the way I need to promote it. I’d want to be able to put a lot of money into making that album pop. Right now, I’m working on getting to that capital. I feel like I'm pretty close to it. If I can secure that, then that’s the first thing I'm going to start working on. I do have a project coming up that I think I’m going to drop in the first half of December. It’s going to be seven tracks, so not full-length, but it is something I’ve been working on since a month after “mangalica mink” dropped. It’s fully produced by my homie pilotkid, who produced kyogo on “mangalica mink”, and we’ve been working on it for a while. I think it’s really good, and I think it’s my best rapping. I think sonically, it may be my best too. I think it’s a very ‘me’ project. Sometimes, it’s easy to get swept up in making different types of music that you know are going to sell well, but don’t really reflect who you are as artist, and I think this stuff reflects who I am as an artist better than anything else.
Photo via @tiinley
modrNation: You've come a long way since the pandemic hit and you took the leap into a full-fledged rap career. Looking back at that moment, what advice would you give to aspiring artists who are facing similar uncertain times and considering taking a risk to pursue their passions?
Blvck Svm: I’m all about taking risks and cutting loose safety nets, and that’s what I did. I think that works for some people, and it doesn’t work for others. I don’t think that’s great advice for everybody, but I think if there’s something that you really love/want to pursue for the rest of your life, then you should pursue it and by any means necessary. I also think that if you’re going to pursue it, then you need to be prepared to take a lot of Ls, and to fall down/fail a lot. Even when you’re doing well, your win/loss record is still going to be a lot more Ls than Ws, but learning how to adjust from those failures and those losses, and how to turn those into positives going forward is an important skill to learn. Have you ever seen that two-part meme of the dude with the pickaxe underground and he’s working at a lot of bedrock and there are diamonds underneath, and then he turns around and gives up? I think a lot of people get stuck right there. Those losses can pile up and they can make it feel like you're not going to achieve anything, but I think it’s important to keep in mind that those diamonds are still there somewhere. It might not be right around the corner; it might be five corners away. You might have a few more years of chopping away at that bedrock to get to the diamond, but it’ll be there, and I think it really is there for anyone who loves and truly cares for what they are trying to do in their life. That would be my advice, and I guess the biggest piece would be to get used to failing and taking Ls, and instead of crumbling with them, learn how to adjust and not make those mistakes again; it’ll be a good guide forward.
modrNation: As you prepare for your headlining shows in Toronto and LA, what kind of experience do you hope to create for your fans during these performances? Are there any surprises or unique elements you've planned for these shows?
Blvck Svm: I don’t really go to shows very often. I’m not a big crowd person, so live music was never something that I was super into. But when I do go to shows, I’m the type of person who will clap after the songs and everything, but I'm kind of just vibing to it. So when I’m on stage, the experience I'm trying to create is one of comfort. No shade to anybody, but I think there is this idea that when you’re on stage, you have to command the crowd by literally commanding them and telling them what to do, telling them to sing the hook with you for crowd participation, etc. I think a lot of people aren't really into that. Some people will be superfans and whatnot, but it’s a lot of people who are there for the vibes. My music is mostly that type of music; there is some jump rap stuff, but most of it is vibes, and head nod, body swaying music. I want to bring that to people but without the expectation that they must give me a certain amount of movement/cooperation because I'm just trying to give them the music as cleanly as possible, and I want them to enjoy it as much as they’d like. Usually, I get on stage and be like ‘you guys don’t have to do anything in particular; if you just want to bop your head then do that’. I like making it a comfortable experience for people so they can focus more on the music and less on me being annoyed with them for not jumping around, waving their flashlights in the air. It’s just supposed to be cool, you know? You come to the experience, and it’s a cool setting. Most of my stuff is pretty lowkey, low energy anyways. I’m excited to get to both places, I think it’s going to be a really good time. I can’t even remember the last time I was out of the country. I know it’s only Canada, but I'm excited.
modrNation: As you continue to evolve as an artist, what are your aspirations and goals for the next stage of your career?
Blvck Svm: I only get better at rapping, and I think that’s something that I hope will always be there; the desire to be better at writing and constructing songs, picking beats, and at some point, even producing for myself. I just want to get better at all of the constituent parts of making music. I want to have more experiences to feed into and inspire the music, which I think will come with travel and just being able to see different parts of the world and learning about cultures firsthand instead of just reading books and articles. It’s cool, but that feels more supplementary than actually being there. Also, I want to get to a point where I don’t have to do anything I don’t want to do. I think a lot of people have this idea that when you do what you love, you don’t work a day in your life, and that’s just not true. I was just kind of making a grasp at this yesterday; doing what you love over time, starting out with just making music, and then shit picks up, and there’s the business aspects, and then you may sell features, and then your stream money comes in so you pay the producers out, and then you’re doing all this stuff that is business, so interacting with people on social media frequently, posting things for engagement, responding to those giving you the energy you appreciate so you want to reciprocate, etc. At the beginning, it’s cool as you’re getting all this attention from people who love the music, but eventually, it burns you out and I'm speaking from personal experience. You get to a point where it kind of feels like work; the music part doesn’t, but all the things that are helping you stay afloat financially in the pursuit of being a financially independent artist, are business. I don’t think anyone cares about it nearly as much as the music, but you can’t be an artist full-time without contending with the business aspects. You won’t go anywhere otherwise. One could sell a deal where the label does it all for you, but then you won’t be touching nearly as much of the money because you signed those rights away. There’s this big chunk of time between starting out and getting to where you want to go where you are doing stuff that you don’t necessarily love but it's in pursuit of getting to a point where you are only doing what you love. Right now, I'm in that big chunk, and I feel like I may be a few years away from getting to that point where I no longer have to do any of these things that I don’t really enjoy doing to push my brand/marketing forward. That’s where I am, and I think that’s where a lot of artists don’t really want to be, but if you want to make it happen and be a full-time rapper, that stuff is ultimately important.