An Interview With RZ Shahid
This spotlight interview is with RZ Shahid, a multifaceted creative, and skilled hip-hop emcee in the local scene. He spoke with Cedar Commissions program manager, Robert Lehmann, about the inspiration for this work from the uprisings and the following months of community and mutual aid work; his creative projects; and how he’s grown into his artistic voice through this Commissions process.
You can listen to RZ Shahid live Friday February 9th during our Cedar Commissions concert.
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RL: How would you describe your roots? Whatever that means to you?
RZ Shahid: I guess the best way I would describe my roots is I would look at my family tree. My roots are powerful and it's probably the best way to describe it, to be honest, with everything that evolves through my family and my bloodline. It’s creative, as well, because I have a lot of creatives in my family.
Can you tell us a little bit about yourself as an artist?
Sure. For me, I started out wanting to be a songwriter and a producer that stayed in the background. I was never too big on getting in the spotlight, which is ironic now. A lot of my music and creating in general revolved around having that for me – just having freedom to express what's on my mind when I didn't feel like I could express them to anybody else or in any other way.
Creating, writing, and even just recording myself – it seemed very easy, to release like that. There wasn’t a lot of pressure to overthink, or too many worries about what somebody else might think. It started out as therapy for me to a certain extent.
I wear many hats. Songwriter, recording artist, I run my own business, I do a lot of creative direction in videos I've made, and I’ve helped make merchandise and my clothes. My art is my freedom of expression, in hopes that it might resonate with somebody who has a similar feeling. Outside of that, it would be trying to create a vibe as well. I know that's an overplayed word, but I love to create that vibe & energy that you can enjoy through the deeper lyrics. You can still find a groove with everything I put out, and it's similar with clothing, being comfortable and fashionable. My art is being authentic with what's on my mind and what's in my heart.
For your personal business, are you talking about your clothing line?
Yeah - AOX or the longer phrase would be Art of Xanadu, and that company was built back in 2020. And even the Xanadu aspect was inspired by my first tape that I ever dropped in 2018, which is called “Journey to the Xanadu.” The word Xanadu means a place of beauty, luxury and contentment, and I view that as another word for paradise and it's a place you can be at ease. So that's what I try to express through art as well – where I feel free, despite hard topics at times.
I've revolved the company around having that freedom to express art. For me, a paradise is being free and not worrying too much about what everybody else is thinking and doing. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder - so what that means to you or anybody else is different. I started a sort of label with that concept in mind, but I really don't view it like that, just because I'm doing multiple things within Art of Xanadu. A lot of my music that I've done has been dropped under the Art of Xanadu, then the clothing line, and then eventually I plan on jumping back into short film ideas in 2024 and that’ll be under Art of Xanadu. I’ve curated some shows including art shanty projects for a couple years under it, too.
It encompasses a whole bunch of different artistic expressions in general. It's my creative umbrella, and it’s based on telling stories through artistic expressions.
Could you tell us about your Cedar Commission's work?
Sure; it’s called “I've Got Something to Say.” In 2020, you know, we had the lockdown, the uprisings, all of that went down. It's still going on technically, but with all that went down, I felt for a while, I was tunnel-visioned on all the community work that I was doing. It felt very weird to go back in the artist mode and start to release music again, because I felt like there were a lot of things bigger than that. I found myself in a depressive rut for damn near a year and a half? It was like I felt weird to put out art or to try to promote anything or sell anything, because part of me was angry at the aspect of how the world just went back to normal, as if nothing really happened like “alright, well back to work.”
I was sitting with it all for a long time, because I was in the thick of everything that was going on. For a while, I didn't know how to talk about it. I had this weird, I don't know if it was imposter syndrome or if it was a feeling of, “I should be doing something bigger than this,” that was in my brain. It eventually took certain family members and close friends of mine to remind me that what I'm doing is still important, because I have a voice.
The Cedar Commissions put a battery back into my back. I think you're the one that reached out to me to remind me, “Hey, deadline’s coming up.” Because otherwise, I wasn't really even thinking about it or even about creating anything like that for a second either. It almost feels like that was meant to happen – to kind of smack me in the face, saying, “Hey man, get back to doing what you do!”
“I Have Something to Say,” is letting out all the stuff that's been on my mind that I've had bottled up since 2020-2021, up until now even. It’s taking that time to really allow myself to be vulnerable and honest about what was going on, what is going on, what’s been on my brain from dealing with the police brutality, to the lockdown, to relationships, to just watching the world shift. It’s all been on my mind and I was pulling myself away and isolating myself. Sometimes I came back because deep down inside I always want to create and be an artist, so I dropped something every now and then, but there wasn’t much intention behind it outside of dropping music to drop music and be “consistent.”
Thinking back to why I’m an artist, this project reminded me that it’s important to actually craft something special and meaningful to me. I have things I do want to say, and this whole project has been allowing myself to release bottled up thoughts, and people can take it how they want to take it. There's nothing crazy, but it’s my way to let things out beyond a circle of close friends who were in it with me. This is the first time in a while where I'm actually sitting down and actually crafting a whole project.
As you were talking, I was thinking, “Wow, it's kind of crazy that your project is coming out in this window, because at least for me, there's so much being out in the streets and mutual aid and solidarity that's been happening to support Palestine, and it feels very familiar to many of those actions during the uprisings.
Yes, indeed. This is kind of a reminder too, because what we're doing locally right now brings me back to that headspace where I was always looking over my shoulder, watching people who are genuinely supporting, and then people who are there, but up to no good; then the people that are clout chasing for the sake of trying to seem down. It brings up the questions, “What are you doing this for? What are you really fighting for? What matters to you?”
Could you talk about your process for creating the work?
I've got a few producer friends of mine where, we’ll work together to craft up some sounds and turn those into loops. That gives me an idea of the direction I'm trying to head. It's been easy and hard at the same time, because I don’t have to really think about what I want to say. I just feel like I can spill it all out and ride the beat.
For each song I'm thinking, “What message am I trying to tell on this song that fits the overall project?” In 2021/22, I performed with a collective called the Cherry Pit. I had made music at that time and then had a band learn it, so I'm doing a similar process right now to where I’ve been collaborating on making music, I'm writing, recording my demos, and then putting the stuff in the folder, turning to the group chat, and letting them learn that, and then diving into rehearsals. The big process has been figuring out how to do that live, and then also tweaking the original audio with the group until it gets to the space we want it to be.
How have you grown during this Commissions process?
My confidence levels have grown. I think with this, I've pulled myself further away from that imposter syndrome mindset that beats around in my head from time to time. It’s a reminder to me of one, my talent and two, the importance of the art that is being produced. And even certain family members that have talked to me and congratulated me. But it's starting to be more of, “Hey, when's your next project coming out?” Hearing my cousin tell me how she's a big fan of my work and wants a project coming from me soon and my last project was dropped about four years ago.
I've grown to feel like it's easier to just be vulnerable. I'm not overthinking as much as I used to. I'm not concerned about what somebody else might think. I have an intention on the message I'm trying to convey and the emotions I'm trying to convey, but I'm not concerned about hoping that other people will like it.
It’s been really helpful having the meetings that we've had, and listening to everybody else talk and recognizing that other artists feel similarly and have the same worries at times. It’s helped me recognize my own strengths and power. And then the growth has been even just building community, too. With the meetings we've done and me getting this band together, because I've been isolated for so long, it's almost like stepping back into the real world. It's made my brain work, and made me think way more about how I want to perform live, not even just the music itself but the delivery, and asking myself, “How do I want to express this?” That's the best way I can describe all that.
What are you looking forward to sharing with the audiences?
Myself. It sounds vague, but it's really about showing myself. In performances I've had in the past, I knew my lyrics and had good stage presence, but I felt like there was still that part of me that was afraid to open up fully and not overthink, hard on myself a lot. I want to show people who I truly am, what’s really been on my mind, and to showcase the ability I have as an artist, my songwriting, the way that I can perform, what matters to me. I’ll be sharing with everybody who RZ is and why you should be paying attention to him.
RZ Shahid on “Local Vibes.” Courtesy of RadioK770’s YouTube Channel.
Sonically, I have a live band, with a drummer, Jimmie, Quinlan on the keys, Soulflower on bass guitar, and Freakwhensee / Matt on guitar. And if you want to talk genre, it's, definitely high and heavy hip-hop, and it has a lot of sprinkles and touches of jazz, gospel, and R&B elements to the music. One song even has a rock element based off of how I created it, and the way I plan on delivering it. You can call it alternative hip-hop, and you can expect to feel some emotions.
Visually, probably a lot of eye contact, looking people dead in their face. I created this intro video, that's inspired from one of my favorite TV shows, The Boondocks. There's a scene with Huey Freeman, and his friend had a lemonade stand and he was sitting on a soap box, and trying to preach the truth to people that walk by. That scene’s just funny to me, but it also reminds me of myself where it feels like everyone’s distracted, and I'm like, “Yeah, but do you know what is actually going on?” and things like that.
Come to the show; that’s when you'll find out. What else do you want your audiences to know before the show, RZ?
I want the audience to know, and anybody that's involved in this whole process, that I am grateful for the opportunity. Around the time that you reached out to me, and you reminded me about the submissions and finding out that I got it… I was in a very low space myself. Like I said, it put the battery in my back. I had been in a space of questioning a lot of things, and I was depressed, struggling with questions of “I want to do this, but I don't know how to do this, what should I do?”
I want people to know I don't take any of this lightly. And none of it's a game to me. Art is everything to me, outside like wellness and health. In a sense it’s things that bring me peace, joy, and make me feel like it's just like a part of me. The opportunity to be able to do that and share that with everybody means a lot to me. I want people to know that I am not afraid to speak my mind. So, be ready to enjoy that.
Catch RZ’s performance of "I’ve Got Something to Say" premiering live at The Cedar on Friday, February 9th as part of the Thirteenth Annual Cedar Commissions.
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The Cedar Commissions is made possible in part by a grant from the Jerome Foundation.
