Catching Up With Tierra Whack (Q&A)

Hello, everyone.

[Audience Member] Woo!

I hope you're all having a great day, feeling enlightened.

I am thrilled to be here today to introduce

Grammy nominated, Tierra Whack.

In 2018, Whack released Whack World, a 15-track album

with 15 minutes, with an accompanying music video.

Although she's consistently been putting out

music ever since, we are anticipating

her sophomore album out next year.

And most recently, she has worked on Cypher,

the film that chronicles her early years

and then turns into a thriller and much more.

I'm gonna cue the trailer for us all to watch now.

[Tierra rapping]

[Person 1] Everybody talking.

[Tierra] I think sometimes I just can't believe

this is all happening for me.

[Person 2] Tierra, do you really know

where your thoughts come from?

[Tierra] All pop cultures a form of my control.

[Person 3] Systems of power never go away.

They just evolve.

[dramatic music]

Please join me in welcoming Tierra Whack.

[audience clapping]

[Tierra] Hi everybody.

Woo!

Tierra.

I'm sorry, I got to act like I didn't see you backstage.

So, hi, how are you? [host chuckling]

I'm great, how are you?

I'm good.

I'm personally a huge fan.

Thank you. I love your music

and even more so, I love the visual thread

through all of your work.

Thank you, I really appreciate it.

When did videos and visuals

become such a part of your creative process?

I would say early on, just being a kid and watching TV,

I was like glued to the TV. If it wasn't cartoons,

it was music videos from Missy Elliot to Ludacris,

Busta Rhymes, Eminem, they were my favorite people to watch.

I'm like, they just had this, like, I don't know,

the colors, the patterns, it just drew me in.

I'm like, I want to be like them, I want to be in the TV.

I want to do cool, weird stuff, you know?

So it just always has been my thing.

Mission accomplished.

Yes.

You've been quoted as saying that

when you're working on a song,

the visual comes with that process.

Can you talk a little bit about

how things work out for you while you are building out?

I think that it always starts with a beat

most of the time and I just have to start kind of like,

I have to see something, something has to be,

whether it's an image, a color, a pattern, just anything.

And I just have to feel,

and then it's like I start to form this

almost movie clip in my head.

'Cause everything I'm doing, I'm like,

it has to be like a movie, it has to be a film.

It can't just be, you know, I'm a rapper at heart first,

that's like my first talent, but overall,

I like to consider myself and see myself as an artist,

which means, you know, as you can see in the film,

like I started off just trying to get my rep

and I'm like just rapping to whoever would listen, you know?

Like, Listen, I can rhyme words, I can do this.

My favorite books growing up were Dr. Seuss.

I love to rhyme words.

I remember my mom buying me my first rhyming dictionary,

and I'm like, Oh my god, I didn't know

that these many words rhymed, you know?

So with that being said, I'm sorry

I'm going all over the place,

but I get so excited talking about this stuff

'cause I'm really a nerd with the music and art.

Yeah, I just have to feel something and then

just images appear and then the words come,

and then I'm just threading along the story as I'm going.

In 2017, you released a lot of music

and were nominated for a video in your first year,

which is amazing.

Rare. My first year, MUMBO JUMBO I dropped,

I released a song and a video with no lyrics,

and somehow I got nominated for a Grammy

and that was like, whew, it was mind blowing.

But, you know, it was innovative, so of course,

I felt like I deserved something.

I didn't know it would be a Grammy nomination,

but yeah, it was cool.

I think I never really get a chance to talk about

how nervous I am during the process

of doing something innovative,

doing something that no one has ever done.

But, yeah, I like, throughout the process,

I'm always like, I'm not sure if this is gonna work,

but it feels right. And it's like,

I got one foot in, one foot out,

but eventually I just do it because I'm brave

and yeah, you never know if you don't try.

Totally, and I feel like that's very much

in the wire to ethos,

which is why we're so happy to have you here today.

Thank you.

You've come to be known as somebody who can really

jump between different musical genres with ease.

Is there a common thread through your planning

when you are putting something together,

like how you did with Whack World?

I don't know if it's a common thread.

Like maybe two and a half years ago,

I was on Netflix just scrolling,

and I saw this documentary pop up about Dolly Parton,

and I didn't know much about Dolly Parton

being from a black girl from North Philly,

like I didn't know much about her,

but I always knew her name.

And I'm like, you know, she does what I, you know,

we both make music, let me just check this out.

And I watched the whole film and I cried

and I'm like, wow, this lady is really powerful.

And that's when I was first introduced to bluegrass

and I was listening to it for like two weeks straight,

and I'm like, this is amazing, this is like, I just,

so I got in the studio and I'm like,

I have to make some bluegrass

and I find myself mocking my favorite people,

like I'm just trying to be as cool as them.

And I made a song called Dolly,

and it's one of my most favorite songs.

You guys should listen if you haven't.

Yeah, but I don't know, I can just draw inspiration

from anyone, anything.

Yeah, I just, I don't know, it's all about a feeling.

Totally. With Whack World,

that was a very loose in the sense that every song

really did have its own identity,

but you have this overarching concept where every song

was going to be one minute, 15 minutes total.

So the beginning process, I was just experimenting,

just going to the studio every day,

showing up and just recording.

And I didn't really have any direction, but all I knew was

the common thing was that none of this really goes together.

And at first I looked at that as like a negative thing,

but me and my manager/engineer, he's like,

You know what, let's make this a thing.

You know, like all of these different styles and genres

that you're tapping into, like, it's all a part of you,

so let's not, why not put this all together,

package it and just, you know, give the world a demo

of all the things that you can do,

all the many things that you can do.

And then we created Whack World.

I came across Whack World in 2021,

and I feel like it made a lot of sense post

the COVID landscape, and when I learned you made it in 2018,

it's incredible how ahead of your time you were.

Now, five years later,

you're working on your sophomore album.

Are there any follow up concepts that you have in mind

or are you taking a different approach?

Well, I think that we did a really good job

with the first project, Whack World.

Like I think a lot of artists,

they kind of put themselves in a box.

We don't even, we don't know what a box is, you know?

So it's just like, I can do anything and everything

all at the same time and it's just no limit.

So yeah, you can always expect the unexpected from me.

Has that been liberating going into the next album?

Just having the proven success?

Yes, because I mean, like I said, I'm always taking risk

and I've proven that there is reward, you know,

in some risk, not every risk, but yeah.

You know, I always say you just never know if you don't try.

And, you know, I feel like I've inspired a lot of people

and to like, just when people walk up,

like people think like artists, well some,

I can't speak for every artist, but I love when people

walk up to me and tell me like, you know, how my music

or something I did influenced them, or you know,

it changed their perspective, like, that makes me feel good

because once again, throughout the process

of me creating music or whatever I'm working on at the time,

I'm nervous, like I'm nervous right now.

I don't, I get like, you know, they were like,

You gotta walk on stage, and I was like, How do I walk?

Like I forgot how to walk, you know?

I'm just like, I don't know what it is, but-

Relatable.

Yeah. Like, I started walking like a robot and I'm like,

why am I doing this, this is not the way to walk.

But yeah, I'm just, it's about being brave, you know? Yeah.

Your new song, Chanel Pit, dropped last month

and has generated a lot of buzz,

particularly for the music video.

Yes.

I think we're gonna get a little peek into that now.

Ooh.

[playful hip hop music]

♪ Mosh pits smell like Chanel ♪

♪ Yes, Microsoft, I'm an Excel ♪

♪ Mm-hmm, nine, ten, eleven, fuck twelve ♪

♪ Yes, your house looking like a motel, yes ♪

♪ Oh, I don't play fair, well ♪

♪ I don't like to show you my tell, yes ♪

♪ Oh, what is that shit I smell, me ♪

♪ I am that shit you smell, yes ♪

♪ Mosh pit smelling like Chanel ♪

♪ Microsoft, I'm an Excel ♪

♪ Nine, ten, eleven, fuck twelve ♪

♪ House looking like a motel ♪

♪ I don't play fair, well, I don't like to show you my tell ♪

♪ What is that shit I smell, I am that shit you smell ♪

♪ Niggas acting like they don't see you ♪

♪ But deep down, they really want to be you ♪

♪ Turn this hoe to Resident Evil ♪

♪ Rocking unreleased from Needles ♪

♪ Pull up in a Bentley truck ♪

♪ You pull up in a little ass Beetle ♪

♪ Yeah I like to drive so fast ♪

♪ Feeling like the homie Vin Diesel ♪

All right.

Amazing. Thank you guys.

[audience clapping] Thank you.

You have to talk about the logistics

of putting that together, the inspiration.

Yes. How you found a car wash

that coordinated your hair.

[laughing]

Okay. My hair stylist was shitting bricks.

She was so like, I don't think you can do this.

Like, I don't think you should do this.

She wanted me to do it, but she was like,

I just want you to be okay.

Okay, so when I was 18,

I lived in Atlanta, Georgia and I wanted to pursue music,

but I was afraid to just put music out,

so I was like, you know what?

I'm gonna save up for a laptop and a microphone

so that I could experiment by myself, you know,

and keep my ideas to myself.

So in order to do that, I had to get my first job.

My first job was at a car wash.

This was the hardest job, it was like hard labor.

I was the only girl, but I was killing 'em.

Like I was getting, my tips were, ooh,

I didn't even care about my check

because I was just like leaving with like,

I was the only girl, so, you know, I kind of like,

it was like, yeah, it was perks to it.

But yeah, so I worked at the car wash, I saved up

for my laptop and mic and I started to record

all these ideas and from the beginning, like I just,

I could never find like a correlation.

And like one day, Monday, I would make a rap song.

Tuesday, I would make a rock song, Wednesday and so on,

like, it just was no pattern.

And I moved back home to Philly

and I found my old engineer Kenete, who's my manager today,

and he was like, Let's just do it.

Like he, you know, like I was playing people my music

at school when I was in Atlanta,

but they kind of didn't get it, you know?

But he was the first, all I needed was one yes.

It was a bunch of no's, but I needed that one yes,

and I was like, all right, let's do it.

Because I felt crazy and people told me I was crazy.

But I couldn't help it, I was just doing what I felt,

you know, if I feel, if I want to be a rock star today,

I'm gonna be a rock star.

If I want to be a blues singer tomorrow,

that's what I'm gonna do, you know?

Just going with the flow.

I say all that to say, sorry guys, I can just go on a rant.

But my first job was a car wash and yeah,

I just always wanted to go through.

That's it. [audience laughing]

We've got a few minutes left.

Yeah.

Last broad question. No, no,

but everybody thinks it's CGI, I was scared.

Another, yeah, just example of me being terrified,

like, I was terrified. We had to rehearse.

We went through, I went, well not we, I did it,

I went through I think like four or five times

and the first time we had bubbles and I was like, no,

we can't do the bubbles. My eyes were burning.

It looked cool on camera, but I need my eyes.

Blindness isn't worth it.

Yeah, it's not worth it. And then we went through

and the director, Alex, he's amazing.

He's like, Yo, we're gonna do two shots straight through.

You're gonna go,

I think I started backwards on the dolly and then I went up.

And he's like, Two shots, three, you know,

if we're feeling good. We did the first shot.

The music stopped in the middle of me killing it.

Somebody just walked, they had the music playing

and they just walked away from the iPhone and it went dark.

And I was in the middle of the,

stuck in the middle of the car wash, like, oh my god,

like what the, 'cause I was killing it, you know,

like, I gotta, and then the hardest part was like,

I was trying to prepare for when the waterfall

would come down or when the sprinklers or the,

I could never, and I'm just gotta,

I gotta look like straight at the camera.

It was, it was the hardest, the hardest music video

I've done so far, and I've done some crazy music videos,

but that was really terrifying.

And then we got, we did the second take and I got it.

That's the second take right there and we killed it.

We nailed it and I'm really proud of it.

And it just kind of brings back memories

because like I said, my first job was working at a car wash

and I was jealous of the cars. Yeah.

It is amazing. I recommend everyone go and watch it

right when you leave this talk.

Please.

Final question. I do want to hear more about Cypher.

I had a chance to watch the film.

It's amazing how it mixes your own personal experiences

with other genres, that seems to be a trend for you.

Talk about the experience

and how you got involved with the project.

So I met with the director, Chris, I think that was 2019.

And my team kind of ran over the idea briefly with me,

but they were like, We want you to meet Chris,

because he's like, he's the real deal.

And he came to a show and his eyes just lit up

when he saw me, and he's such a kind, sweet spirit.

So passionate, and he's just like, You know, Tierra,

I really see, like he asked me to be in the film.

Like he didn't have to choose me, but he did

because I'm special, but no, I'm just playing.

But no, I am special, but I didn't want to be cocky.

But yeah, I felt, I just felt like it's a reason

that he chose me, so once again, I was like,

ooh, I never really, you know, I've never really

done any acting, but the trick was, it's like 50/50,

you know, it's really about my life,

but then there's a twist and then, you know,

that's when the acting actually comes in.

But it was a smooth, fun process.

He, you know, like it would be times where I would be

kind of nervous and like, Chris, am I doing it right?

And he'd be like, Tierra, just keep going. You got it.

Just be yourself. And then, yeah, it turned out great.

Like we're getting a lot of great feedback.

If you guys haven't seen it,

I think you really should go watch.

On Hulu now.

Yes.

That's all the time we have.

Thank you. Tierra will be back

later to perform. So stick around.

Thank you. Thank you all so much.

Thank you so much.

Thank you.

[audience cheering]