Rising Detroit rapper and 300 Entertainment and Assemble Sound artist whiterosemoxie has had quite the year. In the midst of the world turning upside down, he released his debut full-length white ceilings two days before his 18th birthday, graduated high school, and is already hard at work on new music and projects. We talked to him about being influenced by Nirvana before Jay-Z, making the decision to stay in Detroit, growing up between two worlds, and the origins of his unique name.
The following interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.
What influences you?
When I can just feel passionate: Passionate about music, passionate about art, passionate about a piece of clothing. When I can feel that somebody was behind the object or product, like really pushing a part of themself into it, then I feel like I can feel it. That inspires me. The artists that I listen to tend to be people that were hated on at first, or hated at some point in their career because they were never afraid to speak up and be themselves. So that type of stuff influences me.
My mom had me listening to artists like Queen and Nirvana super early. I recognized the Nirvana sample when Jay-Z sampled it because I knew the Nirvana song before the Jay-Z song. As far as rappers, I’ve always been into storytelling abilities. I love DMX, and I used to listen to Lauren Hill all the time in the car. And I also love modern rap like Travis Scott, A$AP Rocky, and Playboi Carti, you feel me? I’m just 18, so they’re my inspiration right now.
When it comes to clothes and being influenced by clothes, Virgil Abloh is my favorite designer right now. All his accomplishments over the last few years, going from Pyrex to Louis, that’s crazy, and especially to be doing it as a black man. I like a lot of different brands, too. I love BAPE. Ever since freshman year, I’ve had something BAPE in my closet.
What’s the most overrated?
Most overrated right now? You know, I can’t really think of anything right now. I have to think about that for a minute. Maybe I’ll text you something [laughs].
What’s the most underrated?
Assemble Sound in Detroit, Michigan. When I first walked into Assemble Sound and understood what it was, I said, “This is going to be crazy.” Just the infrastructure that they have and the intention behind everything to grow it into what Assemble has become is amazing. Working at Assemble Sound makes you do a double-take, like how is this type of place not everywhere? I had to make a decision when I was looking for places, to move to L.A. or somewhere, or stay in Detroit? Assemble was a huge part of my decision to stay here in Detroit.
What are you excited about right now?
Man, I got a project on the way. I just dropped a video, and I graduated high school! I’m about to go crazy. And I have probably, like, 50 or 60 songs I just recently made that I’m ready to drop.
What’s next for you?
I’m just trying to build up my audience so that when touring is back on I can just go. I’ve got a lot of music and a lot of visuals, too. I’m finally out of school, so now I can spend all my time actually working on my music. I get to dedicate all my time to it. So y’all going to see my vision.
Bonus Question: There’s a very eclectic mix of sounds and influences paired with very personal, very introspective lyrics. It’s like you’re claiming the right to pull from the world of music, without that world making claims on you. How does this wider world of music influence your art while you’re able to maintain your own singular point of view?
I think that’s what separates my music and creative process from a lot of people is the concept of the wider world. I grew up between two places. I grew up on my block, went to school in DPS [Detroit Public Schools], but when I came home it was different. My parents were always involved in the city, and my mom teaches college. So I would go home and be in this bubble. So it was like I was living in two worlds for a second.
For high school, I went to a private Catholic school. I went from DPS, which is damn near 100% African American, to this private Catholic School, which was not. I never even noticed the school before, I just thought it was a church until my mom told me that’s where I was going to high school because I had tested in. So when I got in there, it was really like living in two worlds. It was so weird at first, but then I realized how similar everyone is. Even the people that seemed like they had the biggest differences between them, they were all still going through the same shit. Everybody was living similar lives. That understanding is what I took away from all of that. So I feel like when it comes to music, my experiences have made me unafraid to try new shit because I know who I am.
One more bonus question: Where does the name, whiterosemoxie, come from?
“Moxie” means to get back up after you’ve been knocked down, and my granddad’s name before he passed was I.E. So I took the idea of how people act, their “MO” and combined it “I.E.” So it’s “MO” x “I.E.” which means to me to always get back up after you’ve been knocked down. That’s what my granddad always represented to me, “moxie,” and told me to always get back up. The “whiterose” part symbolizes the fact that people have to grow up quick in my city. They don’t get to enjoy their childhood, for whatever reason. So the “whiterose” is for keeping that childlike innocence and purity that you need to create art and music. That’s how you get whiterosemoxie.
