On January 6th, 2015 I had the pleasure of discussing music, explicit vision and the meaning of happiness with an enchanted soul who has already graced the cusp of legendary expression just eight months post graduating high school.
Raury, better known as the Indigo Child, erupted from a Stone Mountain suburb just outside of Atlanta, GA. On the shoulders of his creative team, Love Renaissance Co., and impassioned music he describes as going, “…from folk to metal rock to ambient 80’s stadium music to regular hip hop”. Raury has managed to garner the attention of over 25 thousand fans internationally to include the raves of support from fellow artists Kanye West, Kid Cudi and Outkast.
On the heels of a radical 2014 with the success of his project “Indigo Child” and the cult response to singles “God’s Whisper” and “Cigarette Song” Raury began 2015 with his first US tour, the Indigo Child Tour, venturing to six cities, the first being Birmingham, Al.
Within a few moments of our conversation I am overwhelmed by his gratitude for his talent, his upbringing, and the world that exists around him. Raury recalled noticing the passion to create musically as early as age 3. Statements such as, “I imagined being 18 and wearing this sun hat” and the effectiveness of his team who are primarily under 23 years old speak as a testament to the effects of a clear vision and an undeniable understanding of ones purpose.
He credits his involvement in a leadership program powered by Coca-Cola during his formative years as the catalyst for his ability to gather inspiration from everywhere and work within a team successfully. “In those C5 experiences I can honestly say that I learned exponentially more valuable information than one semester in school” he said.
As for the description of an Indigo Child Raury said, “I advise any and everyone to tie their own definition to it. I’m as right as you are and I can be as wrong as you are.”
After listening to the project and sitting down with it’s creator I’d gather my definition of an Indigo Child to be the presence of awakened knowledge that lies buried in us all. But the first step to discovering said knowledge must have been accepting ones indigo name before playing the game on indigoproject.com and downloading “Indigo Child”.
The passion and fire that exists in Raury’s music is only further expanded after understanding how rigorously he fought for his dream. There are recordings throughout the project of arguments he had with his mother about the perils of perusing a dream versus establishing societal norms of stability. Raury revealed the recordings were added just weeks before the tape dropped and although he was apprehensive about telling his mom their talks would appear on the project, she was “Actually pretty cool about it”.
His performance on the theatre stage in WorkPlay was intimate, as riveting as Rock N’Roll but endearing like Folk and R&B while remaining as familiar as Hip Hop. Accompanied by an electric guitar, drums and a vocalist; the skill that paraded the stage captivated everyone within earshot.
“Seven Suns” one of Raury’s favorites off the project was a true experience to witness live. Raury shared his thoughts on life and happiness during brief transitions between songs. “Happiness comes from literally being in the moment”, Raury mentioned to the audience before diving into “Woodcrest Manor”. Before closing the show he stated “The music you listen to is a reflection of what your soul is about”, as the drums and hand claps began to roar, ushering in “God’s Whisper”.
All photos courtesy of Dez Wilson.
