Introducing Tabby Wakes.

Brooklyn born and raised and LA based rapper Tabby Wakes sat down with us in a live-form interview to talk about her career and the changing landscape of the music industry! Her music combines elements of rap, hip-hop, pop, and even hyper-pop while acting as a therapeutic vessel for Tabby to process the world around her. Tabby released her debut EP “Over Night” in 2019 under the label, Fools Gold. Since then, Tabby has explored different parts of the music industry, working as an artist, producer, studio owner, and most recently starting her own independent label “Weird Friends” under which she’ll release her upcoming project.

Q: How's your day and everything going?

Oh my God. Today. I mean, I like woke up pretty late today. My friend had like a release event yesterday. It was like a small thing. It was really cool, but so we were kind of out just having fun and celebrating that. So that was cool. 

Q: How do you describe your music? What's your genre?

I would say. Okay, so this is a good question. It's very me like, if you do know me, it makes sense. Like it's like fun. I just like having fun and just like bringing good vibes. So I think that. One of my main things. I try to like portray in my music. The way I do it is kind of like off of experiences. So when I record, I'll make a song and I won't realize exactly what it's about, like how it pertains fully to me. Like it does, but, it's like a manifestation kind of thing going on. Like, so I'll make a song and I'll listen to it again, like a few weeks later, a month later. And I'll be like, wow. You know, like that's what I was talking about. So it's more of like a vessel therapeutic way for me to like, get my emotions out. And I know people feel how I feel. So it's so much I can like talk all day, but I can also just make a song.

And like, you can feel that you can interpret my music the way you want to. It's kind open book. When I first, one of the first few songs I dropped, uh, Tabby night. Right. some people thought it was about like Instagram and like, you know, life like culture. And then other people could think it's about a song about my relationship with my mother or something like that.

So I just thought, I just think it's really cool. It's kind of like, you can get a range of reactions and like it's up to, it's up to the people. It's what they think it's it's on them. Yeah. It's good. 

Q: So stylistically, I did a little bit of digging and some of the artists that you say inspire you are: Mariah Carey, Lady Gaga, Mary J. Blige, Alicia Keys, Missy Elliot, Jay-Z, Busta Rhymes, and the Rugrats. So that's a pretty diverse range of artists. And you can definitely hear some of that influence in your music, but I'm interested, from your own perspective, are there specific aspects of your music that you feel you get from one specific artist? One genre, like hip hop?

I'm doing rap, hip hop fusion, I think so. It's like, kind of like it's in between like pop and rap, cuz I, the first project I did was more like experimental vibe kind of. Just like, you know like, "ha", like that energy, like balloon or something. I don't know. And now I'm more like, okay. Like, I feel like when I dropped my first project, people expected maybe, I don't know, like maybe more rapping. Cause it was like the rap era point. So I don't know, but that's fine. Now on what I'm like dropping, gonna be dropping and started dropping is more like rapping, but like still fun as fuck. Like I'm just trying to make sure it stays fun. Like I really, you know, like just as a creative, fun is just, it's like kind of just messages together.

So I try to keep that. My genre should be like fun. 

Q:  Can you talk me through your process since each song is so different? Are the processes for writing and producing the same? Do you have a hand in the production basket? What is that process from conception to release, like for you?

Okay. So I don't write. Um, I usually don't write, I just like, I guess it's free styling, but it's more just like checking my own vibes. So I do that and then I like kind of like come up with like a hook or chorus or just something like that. I feel like is gonna start this song. And then I build from there. 

So it's kind of like, I don't know, building like a brick wall. So I just bring in every piece that I need until it's done. Which is pretty dope. It's like super fun. My process is hella fun. If people did my process, they might like feel better just about making music. I dunno. Cause when you write, so you start, you overthink a lot. 

So if you're not writing, it's kind of like, you're just like pulling like raw. Thoughts and emotion versus like, I don't know all the songs I've written, I've never recorded, but I will. So that's, that's cool, but still it's really interesting. Yeah. 

[That is really cool. Do you have freestyle experience or is that just kind of like how your brain works that it just kind of comes to you.]

I probably have like super ADD or something, but, it's just like, life is life. Is life like, yeah. Cause I don't know. Like I feel like some artists, as an artist, as a person, you go through things like pain and like happiness and glee, whatever. Right. So if you go into the booth or sit next to your producer or engineer, whatever you get to kind of just like, let it all go.

And I feel like even the biggest, the biggest artists are carrying the most, we don't know what's going on, you know, so, that's probably how they get to just release. It's literally just like releasing, like you can try free styling and you might not be like good at it, but still it's just fun. It's just fun. 

It's, it's literally that, like, I know it's like making like, you know, great songs and stuff like that, but too, but sometimes just go make a song with you're homie and just like for shits and giggles, like, why not?

Q: That's actually a solid transition to the idea of collaboration. So you don't write, you go into the booth, you're free style, are you working with specific producers? The same producers? Do you have a role in the production and beat making process? How does that work for Tabby Wakes?

Okay. So sometimes I'll do co-production, which is where, you know, I can like play a melody. I'm like more into co-production just because I produce, I just like, don't really use my beats for myself, which is like totally fine. I think it's more just for me to like, be able to create all the time, consistently and not like, you know, lose that momentum of just creating, creating.

I like co-producing my first project had a decent amount of co-production between like me and Bren Mar. He's really dope. We made amazing music. I would like go to Miami and just like go to his studio. And we would just like make music for like 10 hours a day. It was pretty fun. A Track introduced me to him.

That's when I was signed to Fools Gold. So it was just kind of like the perfect match for us. And we just really clicked. I did a whole bunch of stuff with Tony Seltzer on that project, which was dope. That's like my bro from home. This new project I'm working on has a lot of production from this kid named Sham. He's dope. I really like him a lot. And he engineers as well, and he is a beast, so I respect him and, I appreciate him just like taking time and just. Dealing with me for like the last two years, trying to figure out what I want to do and like how I wanna do it. So shout-out to Sham. He's not watching, but if he was, I hope you could see that. 

I'm down to work with like whoever, I'd like to just go in and like create in the moment versus someone like send me a beat and then I'm, they're like, you know, do your thing. I think that's like not- it's cool. It's just not fun. 

Q: So you had your first project on streaming services and stuff. And, you released that with the label Fool's Gold. I want to talk about that project as a whole. And then also the business side, how that came to be. Musically, would you say the music that you're making now fits within the same category as that stuff? 

I would say. The music I'm making now is like the next step to what was there before. Cause it's my story. Like it's all really pieces in my story. So there's like songs from that time that I'm like, damn, I should just like put them out just so like things make more sense. But also I don't have to do that, which I think is like a blessing too. Um, cuz I've evolved as an artist from, I was way younger when I made that, like it was like three years ago or something.

So it's very. I have like, grown so much from that project. And honestly, that project did wonders for me. It changed my life. Um, and like the way that even came about was so like interesting. Like I was in my basement, like room renting a room, like, uh, I spoke to my friend Lewis. I was like, "yo, like, you know, what should I do?"

Like, I'm working at a coffee shop. I was like, this is, you know, I'm not, like I was like, nah, this is, yeah, it's cool. But it's not, it's not fun. It's not what I want. Um, and he kind of just. She told me to lean into it more and I was already doing music. So it wasn't like, like I did it in college with my friend Max. And like, it's just like all these little pieces until I kind of came to this point where I like, all right, I'm take it serious. Like I own a studio. We're like opening up another studio now. So I was like, all right, let's just like, get the ball rolling. Um, and I dropped a freestyle in a Tony Seltzer mix. It's like in a fader mix, it's in the archives and fader mixes. Like if you find it it's, uh, about 40 seconds, maybe. From that Gary Vaynerchuk found me and Mike Boyd and then they hit me up and Mike was working with Fools Gold, that's how I got to Fools Gold. 

[Yeah. Gotcha. Cause I did a little bit of a dive on the IG and I saw Gary V and who else? Like Cardi B and ZAYN and stuff. ]

Before I did Fools Gold, I was in a skate collective called Brewhouse and we would throw events. And, um, this is when I was like, starting to perform like more so before I signed with Fools Gold, I think I already had, I played like a bunch of shows at that point, which is like fun music. Like at the Cardi B show, I played like all unreleased music, like I opened for her. And that was the night she dropped Bodak yellow. So she went viral on the boat with us. Like she was still on the boat as the song was like blowing up. It was insane. It's an insane experience. So that was like really cool. I got to meet her, which was dope.

We did another one with Young M.A. Where she ended up like, she didn't open for me, but she didn't feel well. So our, set time switched. So she played and then I played, which was pretty fun too, it was like a red bull event. It was insane. 

It's it's all really crazy. I did a show in Paris. That was nuts. It was, yeah, it was crazy. It's definitely a crazy experience for me. 

It was dope. I think it was a stepping point for me and things might have been a little different. Maybe I would've done another project or still could honestly. But, would've done another one if COVID didn't hit, but at the end of like, my thing COVID hit. So it's like, why would you sign? Like, you know, it was kind of just like, yeah.

Q: So you worked as a signed artist at label capacity. Have you also worked and released independently?

I just started releasing. I guess it independently. I have a really good situation where I basically founded my own label and now I drop under that label and I haven't really announced it. So this is like the first time I'm even really talking about it. 

[Big exclusive announcement here on Busker.]

Yeah, lit. I just have like a cool distribution team, like company that I just like merged with. And, I can have artists and like drop their stuff too, but I need to focus on like me right now before I do that. So yeah. It's really cool. I do wanna go to major, but I think it's cool to have like what I have established myself, which is like my own kind of like it's called "Weird Friends", my label. So it's cool. Hopefully I get like a joint venture or something like that. That would be nice. Just like to help. 

[Is that somehow, intertwined with your recording studio?]

I have recording studios closed now, cuz of COVID and just like a bunch of things happen like in, in life. Like I had yeah. Own the studio with like some of my old best friends. At first. And then we kind of like, you know, separated. It was a very interesting experience too, which, you know, we all live and learn and like, you know, maybe you shouldn't do business with your friends, but like you should, because like, how else do you do business? Like, I don't know. So that was cool. And then I ended up getting the whole studio like myself, so it was like four partners and then it ended up just being me, and that was for like a good three years.

We had a big studio spot in Ridgewood, Queens. It was like this two story garage type thing. And we like built it out and turned it into like two studio rooms with like upstairs. It was pretty cool. I kept that for a year or two after we separated. And then, um, what happened then? I moved from there cuz of COVID. I was like, dude, I am not paying X amount for like this space right now. Like I won't even be there for like a year who knows? Yeah. And then we moved it to Brooklyn and I put it in like an artist living. Like I had transformed my business and I had like three roommates on the top, in the studio on the bottom, like separate, separate entrance. So that was cool. But then that closed too. So now I'm in LA.

Q: You’re an entrepreneur as well as an artist. So much of what goes into being an artist is entrepreneurial skills, and I don't think people that are not in the business realize how much business acumen it takes to make it as an artist.

It's like 300% business, then it's like a hundred, then it's everything else. But for it's really get your business straight and then you can like move forward. You can also do it in steps and get your business like a little straight and then do a little more.

But I would just say like, figure out like what works for you business wise and then go from there. Being that I did move to LA. Now I get to do like more creative stuff or direction videography with like other artists who like bigger celebrities and stuff. And that's really cool cuz I get to like.

It's almost like chameleoning, like, you're just like in the background, they don't really know like what you do either, but you get to soak up all of the like knowledge. It's just like really just go put yourself there and then learn. It's the easiest way to like, figure anything out in this industry, in the music industry 

[Do you normally get in those rooms to soak it up through friends or labels? ]

It's really off of work. Um, it's it's off of like networking, like work, um, yeah, no, it just it's really word of mouth. Like out here, it's like you it's like, I have like a good portfolio now, like great portfolio for videography and creative direction and also like TikTok management and stuff like that. So I can like do more for not even just like myself and for others too.

I'm really like about helping other people. Like, that's like one of my main things I help other people maybe more than I would help myself in some ways, which is a blessing and a curse, but like you live, learn, and that's part of being an entrepreneur. A good one. Just, it's just, it's a part of the game. Like you take your L's, you take your wins, but you can't really cry about either in this whole thing, you just gotta keep like moving forward and like adapting to what's happening, especially in the music industry, especially in business and just in your lifestyle. Like, if you take that, not like, take that mindset, you'll go farther than just like, you know, being or thinking stagnantly.

Q: What role do you see social media playing as an artist in the industry?

Social media right now is like key to everything. That's how you, like get out there. Um, I just started doing Reels. Uh, I'm just like finding my niche in there. I'm just making like funny videos, trend stuff, just to like, kind of like figure out where I want to go with just Reels itself. Like not even TikTok, haven't like started building out how I want to use TikTok yet. Um, but it's all you, you just like, kind of get in a rhythm and once you get in that rhythm, it gets really good. And then you're just like, saying like yeah, it takes two weeks form to have. If you spend two weeks posting on TikTok, you're gonna see some results. Like, I mean, like, I don't know what you're looking for. That's how I feel about social media. I feel like it's, it's what you, you get outta social media, what you want from social media. And if you have like some crazy expectations, That's totally fine, but like don't beat yourself up about whatever, it's okay.

[I mean, on Instagram, I think I saw you at like 11,000 followers. Has that helped you in any way so far in the industry? ]

Like once you get over like 10K people are like, more Interested to like, I guess like brand- now everything's so like brand deally and stuff. So they do wanna see stuff like, like those numbers.

I don't really care about the numbers. Like I did so much, with my Instagram, when they had like 3000 followers, like, it's fine. You know, it's about who's following you. It's not really about the amount of people. If you have a hundred fire, good followers who are like, you hit them up, like talk to them, like whatever, that's like more valuable than having like 30,000 followers who you can't connect with in any way.

Q: At Busker we aim to connect emerging artists with fans through NFT technology, giving artists an opportunity to fundraise, propel projects forward and give them a little bit more independence, make them a little less reliant on labels. And then also give fans a way to have a little bit of ownership beyond just listening. Do you have any experience so far with this crypto web three world and what’s your take so far being an entrepreneur and an artist?

So the plus side of this whole thing is, realistically, most people don't know that artists come out of pocket for like every single thing that they do. Even if they have a label, they still have to pay it back. there's no free money. It's not, it's not free money. So that's like one thing I feel like that needs to be like, de-stigmatized like, no, like if I want to shoot a video, edit a video, whatever, get it all done. Like I'm coming outta pocket for that. If I wanna pay for ads, I'm coming outta pocket for that. Like I'm coming outta pocket for everything I do. If I wanna own a studio at some month, you're coming outta pocket. Like, it just is what it is, like, it's really it's, it's like the purest form of investing in yourself.

Like actually, a Web3 is good because now I can do like, a music video, NFT, and like, I can upload my music video and then sell it as NFT, like a few editions, which would then recoup the cost I spent on the music video itself. So that's kind of the most important part about the music industry. You do wanna like spend what you can and then also kind of get it back if you can. And before that was a, there was a huge gap between that. Now you can just do some NFTs, give your ownership away a little bit, like few percent or whatever. And then now you have, like, you can continue. You don't have to like, like I would do like odd jobs. and then use that money and like go drop a song. You know what I'm saying? Like that's what you do when you have no label. That's just how it works. Like you just gotta hustle, keep it going. And Web3 is a new hustle. So that's the only, like that's the best way to look at it for a mu as a musician. It's like, you could, you could do it yourself. Ish. But there's also people out there to help you. And Web3 is a whole community of people ready to help you out and like help your career, which is dope. Cuz they also win from doing it too. Like you get incentives and whatever you feel like as the artist or as the person creates this NFT, it's what you want to give back to the people who invested in you and people aren't like understanding that there's like all these like rug poles and just. You know, like that stuff is like ridiculous.

I, I get it. I don't nec- I don't agree with it or anything. But as an artist, you can't rug pull yourself. So it's kind of like if I buy, Tyler, the creator NFT, and then like there's tiers, and then it's like, okay, the third tier, like I need to go to one concert a year, like free. It's basically free. Like that's an incentive that would make me be like, alright, I could spend $350 right now on this NFT and get all these perks. And I get to go to the concert for free and be in like the NFT section or whatever. It's just like, we haven't gotten to that place, but that's where it should go. I can talk about NFTs and stuff and web three all day so, yeah, it's, it's really interesting.

I think Spotify just added a, is adding a feature where your NFTs are gonna be integrated with your Spotify. That's dope. Like cool. As an artist, you're a product. So not a product that like sounds bad, but you are. You are your business, like you're the business as an artist. So you have to like think in a business way, if that makes sense.

There's like there are like the newer project I'm working on is called "Lobby" and this is more like Web3 and Web2. Like a fusion of it in a way, and that kinda will touch on like what, like, cuz you know, you can use it for music. You can use it for art. You can use it for film people aren't understanding it. Film is gonna be the biggest like thing in Web3, you can fund a movie, like what? You know what I mean? Like that's, that's insane. With music videos. Awesome. A movie. 

[Let's see a crowdfunded blockbuster movie.] 

Yeah. Like, like if they can crowdfund for like, you know, people make like new inventions and like, it's like this thing I see all the time, it's about a pizza. It's like a portable pizza maker, vending machine. Right. And they crowdfunded so much money for that thing. Okay. You could do that for a film. You could do that for a nonprofit. You could do it for like anything. It's just the new version of crowdfunding, crowd sourcing. It's just way cooler. It's like GenZ.

Q: You mentioned your upcoming project. What's that like, are any of the singles that you've released in the last couple years part of that? When do we expect it to come to fruition? 

So "Lost" and "Uptowns" would be on the new project. Right now, the name I've settled on is called damage control. I just feel like the world's fucked up and that just resonates with like, it's like damage control for me. Damage control in general. That's like how I feel about it. That's um, and it's just EP eight songs. I think I'm trying to drop it in September. I'm just waiting for some masters. so I'm gonna have to hit up sham again and be like where it's at. The first project I'll not label, I have to like do something better. I just have to do some stuff to like really make sure my- like make a website and like, all that cool stuff for the label part. 

Q: Where do you want to be in 3, 4, 5 years?

I just wanna get back to like playing shows again. I think that's pretty much the- it's like a sport. I was an athlete, so it feels like a sport in a way. And like, I'm not performing cause I haven't dropped. So it's like I have to drop so I can perform. So it's like, I'm like trying to get there, but yeah, it's dope. I'm I'm just waiting for that, honestly. And then in the next few years, honestly, I just want to tour tour, tour, like just perform, perform, perform, travel. I like to travel and eat really good food. So as long as I can like do those two things and this I'm chilling I'm content.