Welcome to another Spotlight Feature.
We had the opportunity to do what we love and that is connect with an emerging artist from our community, who is putting in a crazy amount of work to make sure his music career is off to a healthy start.
Rich Hefner, is an artist on the rise and it's only right that we share his light with our audience. He's recently had a successful Instagram challenge for his latest track "5 Mins," where he offered $150 and a FREE Photoshoot to the person who can send in the best twerk video with his song playing in the background. As you can tell, he is pretty creative with his approach to marketing his content. In this era of music, it is important to have an extra edge or someway of making sure that your music has a ripple effect in the community. His visuals, his flow, and his work ethic is what stands out most to us.
A couple members of the I Am Root® Collective, have connected with or worked with Rich Hefner in a number of ways. Fransisco Phoenics, had him on the RWRS podcast multiple times and often spins his tunes on the show. Dom Root has performed at one of Rich Hefner's events, The Sound of AZ.
Rich has been making some waves and laying the foundation here in South Phoenix, so let's check out a little bit of background information from Rich Hefner.
Artist Bio:
"I made my first song and started having passion for music in 2017, my favorite part about doing music is the collaboration process and the things you learn from others, the part I like the least is the disconnect between the industry and local artist. Some of my fav other local artists are Kap peezy, gold silk Fredo & Don Eyo."
[Artist from Phx, AZ - Rap/R&B]
Age: 26
Hometown: Phx AZ (South Side)
Accomplishments: Over 1,000 monthly listeners on Spotify, 5+ music videos over 1k views on YouTube, Nominated for Best new artist - 2019 AZ music awards.
Hobbies: love to play with my kids, love to play scratcher tickets, shopping, and collecting rare sports jerseys.
Music Strengths: N/A my biggest strength musically is being versatile & not having 1 particular strength
Interview Questions:
10 Questions for Rich.
RM: Rooted Minds Blog - Dom Root
RH: Rich Hefner
RM: In some of what we listened to from you, we hear a bit about lifestyle, the come up, and your perspective on your experiences. For those that don't make music, share what it's like being able to express yourself through music or how using your experiences in life can make for some good music?
RH: For those that don’t make music being able to express myself through my music is a form therapy for me. I’m able to highlight things I may not be comfortable talking about on the regular helping me see things from another perspective. Also life experiences are the best to talk about in music because it gives the listener a more in-depth relatable attachments to your songs, nothing is better in music than a direct connection to the listener.
RM: What would you say is the reason you make music? // The WHY behind what you do?
RH: The main reason I do music today is because my immediate family members (children & fiancé) are truly inspired by my creations as well as most people that I meet they give me a different level of belief that I can do whatever it is I dream of.
RM: In what ways do you want your music to impact the fans or the culture? What "A-List" artist today has the type of impact in the game that you'd like to have or one-day surpass?
RH: I want my music to inspire the others to be comfortable with being who they are & to give awareness to embrace everything & learn from it both negatives & positive. If I could model my impact after any artist it would be Nipsey Hussle.
RM: If you were giving a lecture to the next generation of music artists, what would be an important message you'd share with them about the Music Industry Grind or what has been the biggest lesson you've learned?
RH: The #1 thing I would tell the next generation about doing music would be create the type of music you enjoy the most don’t be too concerned with what’s popular or not; this will keep you happy on your journey through doing music.
RM: You mentioned that you really love collaborations, are there any artists out right now that you plan to collaborate with or would like to connect with?
RH: At the current moment there’s 2 artist I’m really looking forward to working with Sunny Kartel & John Cornellio they both have very different styles than I have & will challenge me to get better during the collaboration process.
RM: We got to listen to "Come Right Thru." How did you meet Kap Peezy and what how did y'all come together for that project?
RH: Me and Kap Peezy met through mutual friends in music during 2017 and we just had a lot in common in real-life and we both felt like our music styles mesh together so we continued to keep working even up to today’s date
RM: Where do you pull inspiration from in general? (other music, life experiences, family, etc.)
RH: I don’t believe I have a specific place I draw inspiration from I’m very easily inspired but if I had to pick one place I’d say the youth. Seeing how much they truly enjoy things & as childhood I’d say Is the best time period of life they are all in with their thoughts & feelings about stuff which is very inspiring for me it keeps me engaged simply by seeing how things effect them & how they react.
RM: I think it's important to show love and gratitude, even while your still on your journey, not just at the end. Is there anyone out there that has been an influence, blessing, or just a big help in your music career so far? If not, could be a great time, just to shout-out the people that you came up with.
RH: Music influence locally would be my son Terrance, he has autism and is non-verbal for the most part, but his responses to sound and music are out of this world. He can beat box, repeat his favorite words phrases and sounds from music better than he can actually speak at 4 years old.
RM: HOT Take: We've been seeing all the crazy Top 50 lists. Is there a greatest rapper of ALL-Time? If so, who would you give that crown to?
RH: Hot take, my greatest artist of all time would either be Drake or Chris brown, not because they are my personal favorites, but I just believe they could thrive as a top artist in any time period of music & the versatility they have singing and rapping keeps them above the normal mc.
RM: What are your music goals for 2020? Anything we should keep a look out for?
RH: My music goals for 2020 are actually to take a break from doing music this year and to grow my business/brand. As I’m becoming a better artist I really wanna take this next years time to save up money and invest more into becoming a complete artist opposed to the creation portion of music. Making a dope track is easy but I need merchandise, a web site, I need to do more networking/gaining resources & all the other things outside of music that makes a complete. I will most likely drop a pre recorded EP from 2019 in 2020 since I won’t be creating & I’ll be dropping a new video early in the year.
Come Right Thru - "Notes on the Project Standouts"
Gimmie the Link - a record with a beat that slaps and a hook that sits in the pocket perfectly. This one was fun to listen to and we recommend that everyone check this one out.
In My Zone - a vibe that highlights a lifestyle and professes a courageous and resilient energy. This could be great for a workout or if you getting some work done.
Trippin - feels like real rap, feels new, feels raw, feels, bold, feels necessary.
After a couple listens to this project, I am glad that we had the opportunity to connect with Rich. The production of this project is pretty solid, it was my first time checking it out, but I felt that Rich Hefner and Kap Peezy did a good job of keeping the number of tracks and total length of the project into a nice digest-able size. I'd like to throw out there that this has a nice amount of replay value to it. I've already added a couple of these songs to my playlists. The sound of the project was real gritty, dark, and had a heavy street influence. Some of the narrative we pulled from the lyrics revolved around experiences, goals, and lifestyle -- and how the journey has been so far. Come Right Thru is definitely something you should check out, don't say we didn't tell you...
Thanks for reading!
We hope that you enjoyed our feature on Rich Hefner. Throughout this process, Rich has been punctual, which is a true testament to his work ethic. That type of energy could help an artist go far in the business of music. His love for music, his family, and community definitely fits into the lifestyle that I Am Root® wants to celebrate. We'd love to work with him in the future and get him on some of our line ups. So stay tuned for future growth.
Be sure to like subscribe and show love to the artists that we put the spotlight on. It takes a community to uplift and carry our loved ones to the next level. Make sure to like subscribe and comment on this post, the more love we get, the further we can take this.
Rich Hefner - "5 Mins" ft. Gold Silk Fredo | Canon M50 Music Video | @directedbyroman
4,194 views • Aug 18, 2019
Rich Hefner brings the ARIZONA HEAT with hit single "5 Mins" Shot late July 2019 in Paradise Valley Arizona. Check out my Instagram: http://Instagram.com/romanwasntbuilti...
Street Fighter By Rich Hefner ft. Mboog | 4K Music Video
1,923 views • Jan 16, 2019
Directed by Isaac Email: isaac@opusvitastudios@gmail.com | Rich Hefner and Mboog share this record and equally go off on their rap shit, shouting out their hometown, their homies, and what they plan on doing in the industry.
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Check out more features at www.iamrootco.com/features
Subscribe to the I Am Root® Youtube Channel www.youtube.com/c/iamrootco1
Peep our last feature with J Buss
More about Dom Root
I am from Inglewood, California, currently working in Phoenix, Arizona as a Sound Engineer (Live, Recording, and Mixing). I am a Music Producer and Creative Artist looking to build portfolio and for live performance opportunities. I graduated from Arizona State University studying Creative Writing and Philosophy. I later studied audio production technologies at Mesa Community College, before taking on more freelance work.
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I Am Root®