Rising Artist Bymaddz: The 70s RnB, Soul, and Funk Adjacent Warrior
If Bymaddz could describe herself in 5 words, it is: colorful, whimsical, quirky, awkward, and growing. Much to my surprise, she didn’t label herself as grandma (what she nicknamed herself on Instagram). Though it was not listed, Bymaddz describes herself as “an old school person. The music I grew up listening to is old school, like everything around me is old school that's why.”
The New Jersey based jazz, alt r&b, and soul singer is the laid-back songstress that you need on your chill playlist. In her biography, it mentions that she “often uses shapes and colors to understand and describe different musical motifs and ideas'”, and that statement couldn’t be more true. Bymaddz discography is truly a work of art, singles such as “If You Try To Flap Your Wings” and “Just Be Friends”, both songs being from different moments in her career, not only showcase her ability but her evolving sound with a nostalgic sound.
In Bymaddz earliest discography, you can sense a more lo-fi, dream indie vibe to her music. But as the years progressed and she grew into her sound more, you can find her music to be more soulful, alt r&b like with a distinct bass line. Her music is the perfect blend of oldies, mixed with an alternative indie and dream-like vibe that has you feeling like a main character in a coming of age movie.
During the interview, Bymaddz described her music creation process as “a runway to an airplane at an airport. You know it's got to ride the runway before it can take off, so a lot of my songs have like a little intro where I harmonize, or I create a little motif and then I get into the song's runway and then it takes off.” She was extremely passionate about this analogy and I truly believe that it is an accurate representation of her music. I definitely suggest checking it out!
*Fun Fact: You can find Bymaddz vocals on Beyonce's Black is King Movie!*
When asking about her experience as a queer Black woman in the music industry, Bymaddz said “When I look at myself I'm a dark skin queer woman, you know. Those are three things that the industry doesn't really like. So I've had to find and seek community and I'm having a hard time with that. But I'm also learning I CAN be the first representation. Sid the Kid fromThe Internet is definitely somebody I look up to you know black queer female presenting.”
What’s Bymaddz's biggest advice to independent artists? Bymaddz says, “Keep finding your sound! Understand that you are somebody else as an artist, before you are yourself. Unless, of course, you find yourself as an artist like ASAP, for me at least it took a while for me to find my sound like my scene and stuff. That would be my biggest advice. BE YOURSELF!”
You can stream Bymaddz latest single, Baptized, and discography on all streaming platforms.
