Jay: It is August 11th, and I am here with Red Wizxrd. Red Wizxrd, who are you?

Red Wizxrd: Wuddup? I'm Red Wizxrd. It's an "x", not an "a". I also go by just Q, but I am a horrorcore and trap metal artist from South Carolina.

Jay: Let's Dive in! Where did the influence for the name come from?

Red Wizxrd: So I used to just rap under my real name, but I've been making music since I was 10 so I've had many aliases. Whenever I first started doing shows though, in 2018, I had a song called Rojo. I used a color scheme of black, white and red, so I made Rojo trying to hit a kind of branding. Not much these days, but I was into Marvel heavy as well. Scarlett Witch was one of my favorite characters by far, so Red Wizxrd was the play on words I found at that time of trying to find my branding.

Jay: Who would you say are some of your biggest influences musically or artistically?

Red Wizxrd: My biggest influence artistically is definitely Mac Miller. I love Delusional Thomas. It's probably my favorite musical project of all time. Also Earl Sweatshirt. 2016 I went through hardships and couch hopping. That's kind of the area of my life when I became who I am. I listened to Delutional Thomas, Watching Movies, I Don't Like Shit, I Don't Go Outside. Also the Alchemist is probably the first person I can remember having a favorite song by. At like 4 years old, my parents had "Hold You Down" on repeat. He really has always inspired my production.

Jay: Can you tell us a bit about your background and what drew you to becoming a rapper?

Red Wizxrd: Well my parents were listening to hip hop when I was a kid. That's probably how it starts for most. During my dad's presence in my childhood, he was actually in a rap group himself. I believe it was called "Sick Cypher". So as a kid, his friends would come set up the studio in our living room. Mattress on the wall, microphone in front of it. I'd sit in there watching their sessions, maybe grabbing the microphone and trying to sing something. So I grew up with it in my world.

Jay: Okay, let's go deeper than just the basics. Now that we know who you are and where you came from, we want to get into your mind a bit. You do your own graphic arts, engineering, and production sometimes too. What inspires your songwriting or producing process?

Red Wizxrd: So writing was always my first love. I love music for the self expression aspect firstly. I also started to feel like when someone else made my cover art or beat, that it didn't feel like self expression. So I got obsessed with making sure that I could do every aspect of it.

Jay: For new listeners, what songs or project would you recommend to get a taste of what you do?

Red Wizxrd: That's hard because I do jump around in sound design a good bit. September 1st I'm releasing my album "Omen 4" which is probably my best work to date, but until then, it's predecessor, "Omen 3" the mixtape on SoundCloud and YouTube.

Jay: Do you navigate the fine line between art and reality when portraying darker themes in your lyrics? If so, how do you go about that?

Red Wizxrd: Yeah, I mean there's definitely real and fiction in my music. I talk about some off the wall concepts, most times to reach an over arching point, not because I'm actually doing those off the wall topics.

Jay: Do you think dark rap plays in addressing societal issues, mental health, and other heavy topics?

 Red Wizxrd: Yeah, I mean that's why I love Delutional Thomas so much. He's saying some horrible things, yes, but the point of that project was a sense of self and being desensitized. Those things really do happen, and all points are met. Essentially, it's the same with my music. I know that I don't have the means to save the world per say. Through my art though, I can remove the filters that mask the world for what it is.

Jay: Honestlyn awesome perspectives. I personally feel like this is something that a community might really need to hear. Have you faced any challenges or criticisms through or because of your music? And would you like to talk about some of those?

Red Wizxrd: Yeah and I can even say that some of the criticism my music is met with are good points as well. I've had some people tell me that some of my songs are too triggering. Discussing self harm or things that heavy, I've learned to make people aware of what I do. Of course I get the complaints of it being too dark or too weird.

Jay: It's a great thing to be able to accept outside perspectives and hear people out. At the end of the day though it is your art and people have to understand that. Diving deeper, some musicians out today seem to love having alter egos but yours specifically are really interesting. Can you tell about those and how you separate them?

Red Wizxrd: Okay so there's Doubting Trevor and ENNOQ. Doubting Trevor might not be around much longer as much of that music is the same basis as Red Wizxrd and I recently released the Doubting Trevor album under Red Wizxrd which was in a sort of way, my Delusional Thomas. That name stems from my middle name being Trevor. There was also a story in the Bible about a Doubting Thomas. He didn't believe that Jesus actually resurrected from the dead until he felt Jesus wounds. So I started the Doubting Trevor accounts when I stopped believing in religion. Just as Doubting Thomas didn't believe in resurrection until he saw the proof, why wouldn't I want to see proof in what I believe in? Then ENNOQ is also my more experimental music. While I've also combined ENNOQ sound with Red Wizxrd, sometimes I just release under ENNOQ because I just released under Red Wizxrd, sometimes it's just way too experimental to be anything else but ENNOQ.

Jay: Right, so this is a really different music world than it was when we were younger.

Red Wizxrd: Tiktok.

Jay: Yeah thats done something for sure. The Business has grown a lot. How do you see the future of rap or music evolving? Are there any changes or developments you would like to see within?

Red Wizxrd: I think we will get to a point where, ya know, everyone asks who the big three are after Kendrick, Drake, and Cole, so I think there's too many sub groups, too many opinions in this world now so there won't be a big three. Maybe we won't have mega famous stars as much, the internet let's some blow up off of one song, and that can get you a fan base that will keep you going for a while. You don't need the millions, billions of followers. It won't be great for big record labels. It feels like it's headed in the direction of the underground getting tons of rising artists through semi large groups of fans.

J: Yeah we are living in a time with a huge population. There are listeners everywhere. Going back though, who would you consider your top three, personally?

Red Wizxrd: The three best in my personal opinion are Mac Miller, Earl Sweatshirt, and The Alchemist.

Jay: A solid three. Now, closing out, Red, let us know a bit about your coming album, Omen 4.

Red Wizxrd: Omen 4 is the fourth project obviously in my Omen line. I made the first Omen EP in 2019 with no intention of making it a series, I was just trying to be gritty and dark. Although it didn't come out as dark as I wanted, I tried again in 2020. I made Omen 2, the mixtape. 2021 I followed it with Omen 3 where I really entered the lane I was aiming for. Skipped a year to focus on "Magic Is Real..." but this year Omen becomes a full album with production by myself, Boyo Levity, Greydoubt, and Nttwxrk. The album takes a trip that feels like a bad one. So beware.

Jay: Awesome. We can't wait to hear what's to come. One last thing. We heard you recently got booked for a show. Where can people see you play?

Red Wizxrd: August 25th, Greenville, SC. Paper Moon Studios & Workshop.

Jay: A Wonderful Red Wizxrd Interview, Thank You. 

Follow Red Wizxrd: twitter.com/realredwizxrd 

Written By JAYD3D!: linktr.ee/jaydedofficial