From Child Prodigy To Being Not 'Just' A Rapper: Reintroducing Soliloquy

pRhymetime sat down with a good friend this week. An artist with quite a unique story that I think is worth sharing with you all in light of his recent endeavours. From being a child prodigy to his now coming of age identity, Soliloquy gave me the low down on where he’s been at and where he’s going next.

"Well, it all started when I was 13. I had just started writing music and hadn't even put out any songs. My brother gave me a beat that I had written about three verses into when we had a dinner with Pharoahe Monch and his crew…"

Wait, wait, wait! I had to stop him here. How dafuq you having dinner with Monch and crew!?

Soliloquy laughs, "Oh my brother (Prequel) was friends with the promoters bringing him out!" Still chuckling he continues, "So we were at my dad’s restaurant and my dad made me rap for him. He was all, ‘Oh, this shit is crazy, you gotta come play a gig!’"

"Literally a few days later Pharoahe invited me up on stage to a sold-out Espy Hotel and I did my thing. It was crazy! But honestly I need to thank the Espy, so many artists I listened to, and loved, played there and they really kick started my career. I met M-Phazes, Jean Grae, DJ Boogie Blind… One year Pharoahe's management came to a Christmas lunch — the whole thing was a trip."

Triple J had unsurprisingly caught wind of the young emcee by now, where Soliloquy went on to be a finalist in the triple j Unearthed High competition. He rocked shows with just a couple of (not so) small names like The Pharcyde and De La Soul when suddenly, he just disappeared. In my experience, artists never just fall off the map — they stray from the path with conviction — so I was intrigued to hear where his path had lead.

"It was a number of reasons, and it was really hard to walk away but there was a part of me that knew it was the right decision. There were so many opportunities being presented to me which was incredible, but I was so young and I knew I needed education behind me. It's definitely something my parents wanted. But also I didn’t feel like what I had achieved was a one time thing — there was no rush, you know? I knew I could keep doing it sometime, so while it was really hard, I knew it was right and it brought a whole lot of clarity and perspective now. 

"Jump ahead like four years, I realised there was so many things happening in my life. So many things that I was starting to question and that's really what made me start writing again, just to sort of, make sense of it all."

Soliloquy recently dropped a beautifully artistic depiction of love (and its daily heartbreak) in single Spell On Me; a refreshing perspective naive to the usual rapper squats and hand thrusting Aus hip hop is rife with. The clip questions whether we're being offered insight into an episode of the artist's personal life or if he's actually narrating one of our own experiences.

"When I finish a piece of work, the whole idea of inspiring creation in another medium kind of becomes full circle to me. Whether it's merch or design or a video clip, I really value my art so I really appreciate creating that inspiration for someone else. It was a little different to the original outline but I find it incredible how art evolves and develops. I'm so proud of the collaboration and grateful to my awesome team that helped me paint the picture."

I've personally been treated to a few little snippets of Soliloquy's yet to be released work and it’s surprisingly optimistic in its address. Even when he’s discussing the harder moments in life you can hear genuine and thoughtful concern in his portrayal. It's somewhat revitalising to a hear an upcoming artist discussing how the world isn’t always doom and gloom and it's here he began to tell me about his upcoming album, There We Were.

“The album took shape because I had a lot of stuff going in my life and I wanted to start writing again. At the time I kept waiting on others or opportunities to present themselves to me and when I sat down with my brother at House Of Beige with Remi and Sensible J, they basically opened my eyes to the fact I had everything I needed to start working and writing, so I did! I wrote and I wrote and got as much out as I could, so really, this album is me finding my place in the world. It's me finding myself, which music is a huge part of.

"The title itself actually came from my aunty. [It is] a quote she used to say, 'Wherever you go, there you are' which I loved [it's also the title of an excellent book on mindfulness for those of you playing at home]. So towards the end of creating the project, my brother and I played with it for a bit and it just kind of came to us both at the same time — it just made sense. I usually like to start my work knowing what I'm doing and where I'm going but I guess finding that out was kind of half of it."

I find it nice to think of how a journey can become an adventure. How plans change, characters walk in and out, and the destination at the end of it all is as inconsequential as the beginning. So what does this narrative address? The lyricism is witty and explorative in themes, yet somehow succinct and concise…

“The main theme is love. How we go out looking for it, but moreover it's about self love. How my decisions as an adolescent have affected the way I look and perceive relationships and connection, how that impacted on me as an adult — both musically and personally. The body of work, I feel, really encapsulates the transition of adolescence to adulthood and I’m really just trying to investigate love as a concept.

"That said, I write whatever is happening in my life, so it’s also about how love introduces itself to me as I get older. My music is a reflection of who I am as a person; I am honest and I am vulnerable, because there's no point being anything else or something I'm not. The music is me discussing who I am. The pen flows free, I wear my heart on my sleeve, so however I'm feeling, you're going to know about it."

In a genre that so heavily relies on bravado and 'being a man' (whatever the fuck that means…) vulnerability is not something confidently discussed in rap culture. I don’t find it easy at 31 years old let alone at Soliloquy's 21…

"The vulnerability is mostly about releasing the music. Writing the music alone in the studio is therapeutic but actually allowing that vulnerability to be heard, and judged… People are so judgemental of creatives, or of art. You're quickly condemned before they think about the actual process and what’s involved in creating the piece. I think we can all be a bit more respectful there."

Artists are constantly telling me writing is an escape for them in music. But when you really think about it, it’s actually quite confronting. It’s the unavoidable address of how you’re really feeling so I wonder if this representation of “love” he speaks of is the artist’s way of dealing with the confrontation.

"Well it’s an outlet," he responds. "Writing is therapeutic and it resolves a lot of things in my subconscious or things I mightn’t have acknowledged. So yeah it’s confronting, but what better way of addressing something than confronting it with something positive?"

It’s a damn fine way of looking at it…

Recently I’ve seen a whole lot of outrage from up and coming artists expressing their disinterest in having their art labelled. That is, "I'm an artist, not a rapper." From Kanye to our own local acts, it’s seems to be a real sore point for… artists… so I asked Soliloquy if he related to the topic.

"I think it’s very much an Australian thing… Hip hop in Australia seems to be painted with one brush stroke and it's not something necessarily all inclusive. That's not to say it’s [rapping] something I'm ashamed of but I don't feel like it represents what I want to be as an artist.
The other part is that hip hop often isn’t taken seriously. I was bullied as a kid — there was an element of mockery when I called myself a ‘rapper’. Sometimes I feel wounded by that, but also there's so much involved in music from lyrics to production to clips to features to mixing and marketing so why do I just have to be a 'rapper’? I don't want that preconception. Sure, I'm a rapper, but that's not all it is."

Soliloquy confirms with me There We Were’s release will be later in the year, detailing the way in which we should consume the music.

"I want people to listen to all of it, start to finish, no skipping. Get a beer, smoke a spliff — whatever I don't care — but actually listen to it as a whole. Sit with it and reflect on it, I want people to listen to it in its entirety.

"I got a few things up my sleeve. The album isn't far away now, but there's a couple things coming soon, might even be next week! I just can't wait for you all to come on the journey with me."