How did you get your name?

I have never been one for nicknames or alter egos, but my real name is Bob Nsámá. B.O.B was a nickname of mine as a kid, prior to the Rapper, whose real name is actually Bobby lol, but then he came out. That effectively shut down that idea. So it was literally just ME, but try introducing somebody name ME lol so I added the space and it's pronounced eM Ee.

How did you get into creating?

I started making music at 9 years old in Salisbury, North Carolina. My homies who lived next door to us had found a speaker with a mic plug-in and recording capabilities so on the spot we created a group called the Rugrats! I didn’t know how to write rhymes and my homie actually helped me put words on the page; he effectively ghost-wrote half of my first verse ever lol I still remember that verse word for word. It’s cringy now, but then it was mind-boggling to our peers. From there I just couldn’t stop writing. I started out experimenting with double time and flow and over time I perfected it. I would add other skills to my writing over time, but it’s crazy to see how each of those skills evolved over time.

How has creating changed your life?

I've met some amazing people over the past 20 years! It has afforded me opportunities and platforms, I wouldn't have had otherwise. It gave my experience a voice.

Where are you from?

Burlington, North Carolina

How did growing up in your neighborhood/city affect you?

Burlington/ Bucktown/ B-Town lol Burlington gave me my hustle and hunger. We grew up on the historically Black side of town. To this day, that side is still comprised of working-class families. So never had much, but I went to school in West Burlington which was middle-class and country club types. The blend really shaped my experience and approach.

What did you do to advance your skills/knowledge?

10,000 hours perfecting this craft lol. At 10 I would spend HOURS in my older brother's room recording myself and writing songs. I used Acid Pro then, I learned that program in and out. Then I would compare my songs to the songs of my favorite artists, this is before youtube was as huge as it is now, so it was legit editing by ear. I didn't have a music mentor, it was that same setup for years. As I got older, in high school, I started focusing on my delivery and lyrics through freestyling homies or other rappers in school. I would practice freestyling for 15-20 minutes continuously, adding different topics during that time. After high school, it was performing. How to take performance and turn it into a show. I moved to NYC after graduating college and kept sharpening my skills. Here we are.

What does your current setup look like?

I work with logic now. So iMac, Focusrite 2i4, Behringer Condenser Mic, Kaotica eyeball, full-size piano, and Akai Pro MD32 controller.

Who inspires you? Why do they inspire you?

This list gets complicated. I find inspiration in damn near everything, everybody, all the time. As for career trajectory, I'm sure I'm 1 of a million artists who use Jay Z as a target. Thinking business prowess as well as the music. There honestly aren't many others in Rap who achieved what he achieved and is still achieving.

What is your goal when you create?

Clarity and relatability. I need the listener to not only bounce and vibe to the music but to feel it. I want the listener to understand why the narrator makes certain decisions if I'm telling a story. If I'm giving a slice of myself in a verse, I want the listener to understand the context in which those lyrics live. I aim to do that in each song.

Why do you create?

That shits in my DNA to be honest. Before rap was the medium I used, I was always a creator. Whether it's creating my own games as a kid to pass time or imagining an entire narrative for my toys, which I'm sure most kids lol. It's just the way I'm wired, just so happens that I'm really good at rapping. Look at my music videos or even the shows we put on, the same thing I aim to do with my lyrics is I try to recreate that experience through multiple mediums. It's just who I am.

What's your go-to song right now and why is it important to you?

This question can be interpreted a few ways lol My own song, one that I love to perform, is called Fringe Freestyle. After spending time on Virgil Abloh's (Rest in Peace) Free Game website, I wrote it. In that track, I explore a variety of literary elements and rap in double and triple time. It's quite the live performance.

As for somebody else track, I'm more of an album person. A project that I keep going back to is aptly named "A place I'll always go" by an artist named Palehound. Their songwriting does an amazing job at creating a landscape for which the lyrics live. Very different from rap and hip hop, but again, inspiration from anywhere.

What is your dream as an artist and what steps are you taking to reach your dream?

To be self-sufficient. To achieve this, I'm creating multiple outlets that stem from the art. Whether it's something as trivial as merch, or more on operations such as services rendered, hosting our own events, or collaborating with brands as an entity. The list runs on. The idea is to become vertically integrated, thanks to NIP.

What is the best advice you would give someone with a dream?

Treat your dreams like a garden. If you want to enjoy the fruit, you gotta put the work in for it to grow.

Tell us about your most recent release

A music video and track called "BQE"

This track is a result of the many late nights we had in LES and all over Brooklyn heading to Staten Island. I lived in Bay Ridge at the time, which is right across the bridge from the Island. Somehow we always ended up speeding down the BQE heading to an after-party or late-night food runs after being out the whole night. This particular summer night there was a supermoon and we definitely had too much tequila. I remember kinda leaning against the door listening to some unreleased music from one of the homies and I wanted to capture that feeling; feeling free. The first words I could think of was “Thank you God/ on my spiritual sh**/ Shanti like Sanskrit” Shanti means Peace and Love. The first verse was to capture the vibe of those nights. The second verse was to juxtapose the sweetness of living fast and the baggage that carries; i.e. survivor’s guilt. In the second verse, I used part of my brothers’ stories, a couple of close friends of mine who didn’t get to reach adulthood and created this almost written letter/ prison phone call conversation to them highlighting the parallels in our stories and trying to decipher where we went separate ways. Really just trying to make sense of their outcomes and fate.

Check it out: http://youtu.be/lR_m0RqnM-I

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Photography credit: Maya Jackson