In the past year, Maya B has traveled to many cities spreading her music while releasing personal songs that have garnered a loyal following. She recently released her single “Dollar To A Diamond,” produced by Soulshock (2Pac, Usher) and “Selenas,” which she wrote and produced herself. Maya B spoke to us about her music, producing her own D.I.Y. publication, and what she hopes for the future. Read below:
Congratulations on the release of your newest single “Dollar To A Diamond”! The song, inspired by your time couch-surfing and wanting to be “balling” already, is a unique reminder of the difficult times you had to endure to get your music out there. How did LA inspire you to continue hustling to get your music heard?
Thank you so much- I appreciate it. LA is swarmed with creative minds and ambitious people. Just knowing that makes me wanna work on my craft to a point of cutting through the crowd. Hustle is the name of the game out here.
What do you hope fans understand/take away from listening to your songs?
I hope fans feel. I hope fans think. I think of music as a teleportation device. I hope my music takes them to a place, a person, a moment.
You were previously on tour with Summer Walker and Janiyah, what’s your favorite part of performing to a live audience?
My favorite part of performing is watching the audience. I love seeing the people who’ve never heard of me before reacting to the music.
How did you end up going on tour with them?
I was looking for a tour to hop on, Summer was looking for support. It was just incredible timing and I’m really grateful that was my first tour.
Before the tour, you hadn’t traveled to many places outside of LA. What’s the most exciting part of visiting new cities and interacting with the different crowds in each place?
The most exciting part of new cities and different crowds is the growth that comes with it. Cultures across the nation are so so different from one another and I’m so fucking Californian. So, I was pretty excited most of the time besides the flying.
What’s your songwriting process like?
I don’t really have a solid songwriting process. I just wait to get inspired haha. Whether it’s hearing something on the street and writing a song with music or being in a session and hearing the perfect chords. I hate structure, it does terrible things to me. So, when it comes to writing- anything goes.
Are there any artists you hope to collaborate with?
Oh boy. Here we go. Juice WRLD, Angel Olsen, Missy Elliot, Tyler the creator, Tierra Whack, I’ve been lucky enough to collab with Pharrell but I hope to work with him again soon.
The pop up in NYC looked so incredible! What inspired you to create something like that for your fans?
Ah, thank you so much. I’ve wanted to intertwine my art and music and the pop up was a perfect way. Also, needed a good reason to get 24k gold chicken wings.
Who are your biggest musical inspirations?
Biggest inspirations musically are Angel Olsen, Missy Elliot, Timberland, The Drums, and Alt- J. They all inspire me lyrically and sonically.
You began singing at the age of 7. How did you realize that you wanted to pursue singing and make it your career?
I knew it was what I wanted to pursue once I started to get all worked up about my sister singing lead in our childhood band. I kept working to get better, to learn more and more. My love and ambition for music have been in me since I was young I guess haha.
Tell me about your zine. How long did it take you to put it all together and share it with the public? How important was it for you to share your art?
I started taking my art seriously around 4 years ago. Since then, I’ve been working art pretty consistently so when it came to the zine it was mostly about which 20 pieces are gonna be in it. It was really important to share my art and it’s important for me to continue to do so. right now I’m working on tight ways to incorporate my art into my merch.
For my final question, what do you hope to accomplish by the end of 2019?
I hope to get back on a stage soon & I hope to keep working with amazing people. I’m excited to release my EP and the “Dollar To A Diamond” video.
If you haven’t heard “Dollar To A Diamond” yet, stream the single below:
Did you enjoy our interview with Maya B? Let us know your thoughts on Twitter @CelebMix
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