Can you tell us about your artistic background and how you got started in your chosen medium?

For me growing up I never really had much of an artistic background. I was always just a huge lover and fan of all different types of music. It wasn’t until Highschool when I decided to give writing my first song a try. I was trying to find out what I wanted to do with my life since I didn’t plan on going to college and the music just clicked. From there I started free styling in my car everyday, to writing full songs and then eventually to recording music in an actual studio.

What themes or concepts inspire your work?

For me I’m always inspired by life. Writing and creating music is definitely an outlet for me. It’s a place where I feel I can be free to be myself and express myself with no judgement. I like to be able to keep it real as possible in my music.

Can you walk us through your creative process, from idea to finished piece?

It varies for me. Sometimes I may here a particular beat that really resonates with me and I’ll start writing to it. Other times I’ll just start writing with no instrumental at all. I kind of just go with the flow and see what comes to me. Something I love doing is calling my music engineer and seeing if he has any studio time available that day. If he does I will book the session even though I don’t have anything written or that I could record yet. After I set everything up I proceed to go look for and write a new song. It’s just something fun for me to do. I feel it challenges me to go out and create something new.

Are there any particular artists or art movements that have influenced your work?

One of the first rap albums I ever listened to was, “Get Rich, or Die Tryin’”, by 50 Cent so he would definitely have to be one artist that influenced me. Over the years some other artists would be, Eminem, 2pac, Wiz Khalifa, and I would say Lil Snupe. Lil Snupe was actually the first artist that got me into freestyle rapping. He was so good at it and I wanted to be able to do what he did.

Can you describe a particularly challenging project you've worked on, and how you overcame any obstacles?

I would say one of the most difficult part of my music career that I worked on was the beginning stages of the recording process. I had never been in a studio or recorded a song before so stepping into that realm was like stepping into a whole new world. I was extremely insecure about my voice and wasn’t always sure how to properly finesse the microphone to get my song to come out how I wanted. Even trying out different things like using auto tune for the first time was extremely difficult. At times it was extremely difficult and frustrating but I was still able to push myself to grow and learn. I’m thankful for those beginning times because they helped me to become the artist that I am today.

How has your art evolved over time, and where do you see it going in the future? 

My art has evolved in so many ways in these past few years. I definitely feel way more free now as an artist to express myself as I feel fit when creating music. I don’t feel the need to hold back when it comes to the type of content, themes and language that I use in my songs. To try new things, different sounds and styles. And I finally feel I’m at the point where I’m just really starting to find my sound and who I am as an artist. Who I am as Nick Walker. I’m excited for the future and just to see what songs I’m able to create and the new skills and talents that I’m going to continue to unlock through my music.

Can you speak to any recurring motifs or symbols that appear in your work? 

Something I’ve always like to incorporate into my music is sports themes. I’ve always been a huge athlete and sports lover my whole life and sports are something I love to put into my music. Giving players and teams shoutouts and coming up with metaphors, bars and double entendres referencing sports is something I always love to do.

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How do you balance maintaining your own artistic vision with client demands or project constraints?

Something I’m starting to step into more now in the music industry is the business side of things. In the past I wasn’t as focused on it but now as I get further into my career I’m starting to see how important it is to be business savvy in this industry. I have had multiple things happen to me whether it be, a big time artist scamming Prince and myself out of money for a repost that he never did for us, to writing a verse for another artists song just for him to tell me, “never mind”, and that he didn’t want to do the song anymore. These were both learning opportunities as I lost money and time on both of them, but they were good benchmarks in my career to help me get more smart and savvy when it comes to this industry.

What do you hope viewers take away from experiencing your art?

I hope that people are able to relate to my music. That they are able to be inspired and impacted by it. That they are able to listen to my music and look at my career and what I’m doing and feel like they could do it as well. To inspire them to chase their own dreams and not feel boxed in or bound by some of society’s norms that try to tell you who you are or who you need to be. Aside from that I just want to put out good music that people can enjoy on a daily basis.

Can you share any upcoming projects or exhibitions that you're excited about?

Yes 100%! Just recently Prince J+R and myself created a collaboration project called, “Project X/Real Pop Star Sh*t”! I would definitely say that this is some of our best work to date and that this project is about to take over the game! I’m excited for everyone to hear these new songs and for them to get out to the masses. If you’re reading this it might even be out right now so make sure to go check that out! Follow me at, “@therealnickwalker_”, on Instagram!

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