Ezzah Rafique | February 19, 2022 Photo creds: Dylan Mitro Q: Hi, how are you guys? We'd love for you guys to introduce yourselves and who you guys are and tell us a little bit about yourself. ​ All We are Valley. I'm Karah. I play drums in the band and sing a little bit. I'm Rob, I sing and play guitar and valley. I'm 26 years old. I don't like growing up. Peter Pan's my spirit animal. I'm Mickey and I play guitar and keys and digital production and stuff. I am also 26, unfortunately. I'm Alex. I don't identify with a certain age. And I play bass in the band. Q: For those who haven't listened to your music, what would the perfect setting be to listen to it? Alex Driving. Rob Definitely driving. Alex Yeah, anything like moving, I think we're commuting band or I call ourselves like commuters man. I feel like we're really good at like 7pm, 8pm coming back from a ski trip suns going down. That's a Valley moment. Maybe the subway, you know, just a day off is a Valley moment. But we also have a lot of sad music. So I guess if you like lose your job or some Valley’s there for you, too. So I would just say all-purpose, overthinking, or commuting and just going about your day where we're good for you. Mickey Certain tracks are really good to fall asleep to or just like lay in bed, eyes closed listening to because there's a lot of ear candy. Emotionally on the songwriting front, it's like very nostalgic, you know, late-night drive kind of vibes. Or like summer, summer evening drive vibes, but then like sonically, there's a lot of stuff that you wouldn't be able to hear in a car. So having headphones in like closing your eyes and paying attention to them is like, cool, a little nerdy, but like really cool, as well. Q: So definitely something you can listen to throughout your day. Perfect. I want to comment on your most recent release the After Party. So y'all have mentioned that the songs on there: Last birthday, Seven Stories, and Papercut are some of the most important songs in your lives. Is there a backstory to each song regarding their importance? Rob Yeah, actually, each one is very specific. So Last Birthday, we wrote originally in 2019, at an air b&b in LA. And it was like the last day of our riding trip and our friend Ash came over was amazing. And we just wrote Last Birthday together and the whole day we were drinking wine and eating cookies. And for the first hour or two just watched compilations of When Harry Met Sally, specifically, the last moment of the movie where there's that like a compilation of the old couples talking about how they met and stuff. So we just kind of like start talking about like being there for people from the beginning, unconditional love and referencing all these kind of like feelings from movies. We ended up writing Last Birthday, which is a favorite song. Paper Cup was like a very eight-minute-long journal entry that just came out one day. That was like one of the only songs I think that came together like came out of the sky. Like you're not even thinking you're just like singing it. And then it just... Alex That song was like a therapy session. Rob And they're really special. And then Seven Stories was like crazy. So I was like going through a little bit of a breakup this year & Mickey and Alex and Karah got together with our friend Danny and started working on this song. And I was actually away taking time off. I wasn't really working with the band and they just like sent this demo over and it was unbelievable. So I just started working on it. And then we finished it together in like one day like all songs, other than 'Last Birthday'. Karah The Last Birthday chorus. So, when we were putting together the Last Birthday song, I was looking through my voice notes, and there was never a clear moment of like how we wrote the chorus, which is weird, like that one sort of did fall out of the sky [and] we just held on to Last Birthday for a long time. But honestly, I remember writing that chorus, and we [were] looking around and being like, so, who wrote the chorus and none of us knew. So it was like just there, it was so weird. And obviously, we wrote the chorus, but it becomes one of those situations where it's like, you get into this, like very much trance state when you're writing sometimes. And I feel like those are really when the best songs come because you're truly not thinking about anything else. But just like carving out the song that we always say just already exists, you just kind of have to find it and take away pieces and stuff like that, but it is there. You have to be ready to take them in because like for instance, Seven Stories. The melody of that chorus Mike wrote in college, but there wasn't an opportunity, and it just wasn't the time for it. And then like all of a sudden, they're writing this kind of new song, and then Mickey was like, Okay, this melody works here. Like, you just never know, when all that stuff is gonna align. That's why I always say, never give up on an idea or like a melody. Because we're the best example that like, even years later, something that you, I don't know, came up with while walking down the street, just blurting into your phone is going to end up on a record. Alex So I feel like the songs actually kind of mirror the like the theme of the record like nostalgia and stuff because we did take like a lot from older stuff that we like melodies from college or songs that we'd written seven years ago, and brought those back. So I feel like there's a lot of mirrored nostalgia with this record. Q: What was the creative process? Like you guys described it, but was there a creative process for the song that wasn't used to like your normal style of writing songs? Alex There was one, I think Seven Stories is really cool & is getting quite a lot of love. It's cool to explain that song. I'm really proud of how the lyrics build because you kind of have this one perspective. And then like the last chorus, everything flips for a second. It's like, oh, this is what would happen happily ever after. But then it also at the very end, it just doesn't. And I don't know, I just like the way we've lyrically built that song I'm really proud of like, kind of the twist, and then it kind of lands back on its feet to the original intent. And that was really fun to write. I remember like, it's the saddest song ever. But it was enjoyable to like, let it out and like build that song together. Mickey And we went back and forth a bunch with perspective too. Because like, Alex and I had kind of written it from not Rob's perspective. But then naturally, Rob coming in, like, mid break-up starts kind of like adding to it and adjusting to it. And then we were like, Okay, how do we make this make sense. And then by the time we finished it, they were back together. So there were all these like perspectives and moments kind of happening. We kept going back and forth, but I think where we landed was like the right spot. Alex Yeah, like Last Birthday. We all have the same favorite moment in the song. There's this instrumental bit after the second chorus, where it's just like these lucky bells. It's like, dun dundundun dun. And it's the best, I think, instrumental piece of music I think you've ever done and it's just so simplistic. I remember when we made that it was like it happened again. In the moment, we had this little like synth that we just like played the little bell melody on and it instantly felt like classic, vintage and that part just feels like driving through the desert. Karah I literally remember you doing that, you just like plugged in and it was the first sound on the synth. And yeah, first take too, and Rob just like literally came up with that melody, like on the spot perfectly. And I remember like screaming at him being like, "if you re-record that, I'll kill you like it was perfect. Don't even think about re-recording that" and he was like, okay, okay, so when we just we like heaven, it's great. Like, I think those are the moments you truly like should not redo or try to make even better like those are the moments that make the human aspect of music really shine. Q: Do you have a favorite song that you prefer to perform? If you could pick one song to perform over and over again from them, which would you pick? Mickey For me, it would be Oh Sh*** because it's so engaging with the crowd. It's so simple. And we teach them the chorus before her before the song was that we taught them the chorus. But now we just do it. Because it's fun to get the crowd to sing. And, to be honest, it's so simple for me to play. So I get to just like, be there and not really think about what I'm playing and stuff. I get to just vibe out, it's just really fun for me. Rob I like Tempo as of recent because we like get Mickey to jump on the kit now. So we do my favorite because we do like a swap. And then me and Karah just get to like run around and sing, which is honestly really fun. It's just a way less pressure. You don't have to worry about a guitar bar or whatever. You're just like singing. And it's just fun. It's like the most easygoing song we have. It's just a jam for three minutes. Karah We recently started rehearsing Last Birthday, because we had a couple sneaky videos that we were doing. I just like love playing Last Birthday. Honestly, it[s] just a time machine back to like the 70s I feel like I'm just on the drum just like grooving since we wrote that song. I would literally go down in my basement and like play it on drums strung along to it on guitar for like, literally hours and the band would like to walk in on me and be like, Why are you still playing this? I'm like, I just love it. It's just so fun to play because it's nothing crazy. Like it's not a crazy drum part. But it's just fun to play and like, it just feels like something that like my favorite band like Fleetwood Mac might have played. You know what I mean? So it just feels really nostalgic. And just like feel good to me. And yeah, I just like watching Rob at the front just like chopping away as he's like so good. Alex Last Birthday for me too. I feel like it's a very, very fun representation of us live. And it's just, it's just so fun to play. Yeah, I love it. Q: I want to also talk about the music video for it. I loved it! What was the story behind it for you guys? Rob So we worked with this amazing director, genius Dylan from Trento, he's done videos for our favorite band in the world called Baby Girl. We want to work together for a while and finally, the stars aligned and he kind of ran with the concept in a beautiful way. It's kind of like we're showing up to I guess Karah's like birthday party but it's no one else showed up in a way but we're so in tune and just happy just that it's just the four of us. And I don't know I feel like there's a lot of room for interpretation in the concept because who knows what happened maybe like it's a don't look up situation like the whole world fell apart. And it's just us having this like final hurrah. It's cool that people can kind of run with whatever happened pre this party? And what kind of what caused us to be in the situation? Why didn't anyone show up? But I think it's also just a beautiful sign of showing our character and our chemistry. It's just a beautiful video about friendship and just kind of being there, which is just the intent of the song is just being there no matter what. Dylan just has a way of making things look really like beautiful and cute Alex It looks the way it sounds. Rob Exactly like Karah gets like drumsticks and like there's just a lot of like cuteness in the video, but it's presented in a way that's genuine and I think very truthful. Alex And visually too like we shot the whole thing on film, which is the first time we've ever done that. And if there's any song to do that for its Last Birthday, because it's such a 70s kind of inspired song just like drum tones and melodies and arrangement and stuff. It just looks like when we got the film back. It just couldn't have been better. Dylan is so talented and it just looks the way it sounds visually it just feels good. Rob Yes, the visual representation of friendship, I would say. Q: It looks exactly how it sounds. Did you guys create it with the intent of retro-themed and have the film camera used for it? What was the creative process like behind it? Mickey It was always going to be retro. Yeah, like the song from the get-go? Yeah. It's always felt classic and like vintage shows from the day we wrote it. It's always been like oranges and yellows and we were like, okay if we're gonna shoot this video, it probably should be on film. It should compliment kind of the organicness of the song. The song is very much like drum, Bass, acoustic guitar, beautiful vocal harmonies like it's kind of the Fleetwood Mac formula that we put into that song. Q: So one of my favorite parts in the video was the transition between like receiving the gift and then Karah when you like twirled the drumstick, then you went into like performing. Do you guys have a favorite part in the video? Mickey Mine is when we walk in. It's very, it's very news anchor-ty. It's like, what's up channel eight news like, it's the whole time. We're like, yep, we're Anchorman. It's just the vibe of it. We're like shredding like, oh, like it's just funny. And then I think a lot of like, like, turn it up. And the performances [with] confetti was fun. Dylan had a really good crew, just amazing people to do lighting. So we had a lot of like silhouettes and like haze moments and stuff that just look really nice. And like a lot of shadow work. Q: Do you guys have an inspiration behind your music? Whether [it’s] artistically or based on your life? Do you use mainly like your experiences? Or do you pull inspiration from other places? Karah I think it just kind of depends on like parameters of like where we wrote it. When we wrote Last Birthday, for example, we wrote it with Ash, who is like an artist herself. And she's incredible, she's got a very sort of retro 70s, 60s kind of vibe to her. And like, we knew going into that session with her that we could write a song about something very simple, but something very beautiful. And she would be able to translate that very generic feeling into a song that we could stand behind that wasn't kind of already said, but said in our own words. And like, so I think with that one, it was very much the person that we wrote it with, provided that sort of energy to the song and provided that overall hue to the song that we wanted to capture with that one, but then a song like Seven Stories, it's like Alex and Mickey, were thinking about their best friend. And I wasn't in that session, but and neither was Rob. But they were sort of thinking about that and their hearts just kind of hurting for him and Becca. So that song sort of comes from a personal experience. But other times songs like Tempo, for example, just kind of come from a place of like, I don't want to write a sad song that just honestly gets exhausting emotionally. And sometimes you do want to write a song like Tempo, where it just kind of is about vibing. And there's no deeper meaning to sort of pair with that it truly just is like a vibe song. But then Last Birthday, there's so many roots to that song. And I think that's kind of the beauty of creation is just, you know, allowing your mind to go wherever it feels like on a given day, it's always changing. Q: I also know that this is also your first headline tour. How are your feelings about that? How's it been so far? Alex Pretty good. Yeah, there's like a specific group of words; proud, excited, terrified, kind of like that. Because it's, you know, cuz, you know, we're very excited to play for just our fans for the first time, not just, I mean, like, we obviously have a fantastic time coming with this. But we've sold this out, essentially on our own, and that's pretty cool. So it's just really cool to create an experience that is entirely our own. Now, we've toured the US a bunch of times only as an opening so like, we had no idea what we were worth because there's a lot of artists who do like 5-10 opening tours and can't even sell a venue out. And then there [are] other people who like, have never opened before. And there they sell out 5,000 cap rooms just from the internet. Like it's so hard to know how many tickets you're worth until you just do it. And we have been very, very, very pleasantly surprised because we're kind of at this stage in our career were like, things are changing so quickly, and we don't really know like, not everything is you know, at the same level like streaming is different than touring is different than press is different than everything. So we went from putting up a 250 cap room in New York on sale to selling out, I think like 1200 tickets at Irving Plaza, and we had no idea what was gonna happen. I honestly was scared we were gonna sell like 10 tickets and then just like NAFTA canceled tours but it's sold out now. So we've been very, very pleasantly surprised and just really stoked to get out and play for fans who have been waiting so long to just hear a Valley show exclusive. Q: Yeah, that sounds amazing. I have a lot of friends who love your music, and I know they're going to be at your show, and they're very excited. But for those who maybe haven't listened to your music yet, what song would you tell them to listen to first? Mickey Last Birthday, it just checks all the boxes. Thank you guys so much for sitting down and talking and, with everything going on, I hope everything goes the best for you guys! All Amazing. Thank you so much. Photo creds: Dylan Mitro

photo cover by team photographer: Annie Shutz interview: Jewel Fiorillo How was your first time performing at Forecastle festival? “ This is my first time performing at Forecastle festival and music festival in general. The crowd was amazing and it was a hometown crowd. We also had just miss the rain which was great.“ - Shloob “I felt like we looked great, sounded great and overall had a great crowd. It was an experience I won’t forget forsure.” - 2ForWoyne “ It was a great time. I had an amazing time with my brothers up on the stage. We’re ready to get some more going for sure!” - Quiiso Do you have any big plans for the rest of the year or festival season? “ It really is to be determined. We’re trying to get as many shows to get our music out as much as we can. We really wanna get some cool things going so hopefully it works out.“ - Shloob “Honestly with time comes opportunity and it’s definitely in the works to have more live performances.” - Ace Pro Do you have any new releases coming out soon ? “We just dropped a new single called ‘Shake”. So we are really focused on promoting that at the moment. It was dropped right before the festival. When we work on a new project we put our all into it. The music video gives a lot of life too. So for people who are not aware of us they can see our energy and care for the music.” - Ace Pro How did you guys all meet? We all met back in 2012. Shloob and 2forWoyne are twin brothers. Ace and 2forWoyne used to play basketball growing up as kids and as for me I met them all in college when I moved from Chicago.” - Quiiso What are some of your aspirations as an artist? “As an artist it’s hard to be original, and everybody wants to take from their favorites and make it their own. My aspiration is taking as much from experiences and from any favorites to make it my own. But I want to be the one to inspire people eventually too. I love being original and I love making music.” - Shloob

Photography & Article by : Josue Cambara | Aug 8 – 10, 2025 Doechii performing live at Outside Lands 2025 photographed by Josue C for HAZZE MEDIA On August 8–10, another edition of Outside Lands transformed Golden Gate Park into a vibrant celebration of music, food, and culture. With the iconic Golden Gate Bridge in the distance and San Francisco’s signature fog drifting across the trees, the festival once again reminded everyone why it’s one of the most unique live music experiences in the U.S. This year’s lineup featured the likes of Doja Cat, Hozier, Tyler, the Creator, Gracie Abrams, Doechii, John Summit, and many more. Bringing rock, hip-hop, pop, and EDM together in one place. The roster ensured there was something for everyone. One of the best parts of Outside Lands has always been the venue itself. Surrounded by towering trees and moody fog, Golden Gate Park provides an atmosphere that no other festival can replicate. The grounds were packed with amenities: photo ops with Ranger Dave, the festival’s mascot and Instagram-worthy art displays. There was a massive variety of food options—from Mexican street food to Asian treats and smoky barbecue. A clever new addition this year was TV screens in the food areas, allowing fans to keep up with main stage sets while grabbing a bite. Energy was high all weekend long, even spilling onto public transit, where festivalgoers buzzed with excitement. Security lines also moved smoothly, keeping spirits up and the vibe positive. Day one kicked off with Mannequin Pussy on the main stage, using the livestream’s Amazon Prime sponsorship as an opportunity to call out corporate billion-dollar industries like Amazon. Thundercat followed, showcasing his funky basslines and soulful grooves, while Bay Area native Still Woozy treated the crowd to what he called his “biggest hometown show ever,” full of energy and crowd interaction. But the day belonged to Doechii, who delivered one of the weekend’s most talked-about performances. With choreographed dance numbers, creative stage design, and undeniable star power, she set a new standard for what a modern hip-hop act should look like in a festival setting. Doja Cat performing live at Outside Lands 2025 photographed by Josue C for HAZZE MEDIA Doja Cat closed the night with a powerhouse headlining performance. She ran through hits like “Kiss Me More,” “Say So,” “Paint the Town Red,” along with deep cuts from her Scarlet (Deluxe) album. At the end of the night, she confirmed a new album is on the way, leaving fans eager for her next era. Saturday began with a rare treat: Vampire Weekend played two sets at different times, giving fans flexibility to catch them without conflicts. LaRussell shared his inspiring story of going from struggling to book gigs last year to performing at Outside Lands, even joining fans in the back to dance mid-set. Bakar performed his viral hit “Hell n Back” from the soundboard, thrilling fans too far back to see the stage. Ludacris transported the crowd to the early 2000s with a nostalgic set that felt like a time capsule of hip-hop’s bling era. Later, Gracie Abrams drew one of the biggest, most dedicated crowds of the weekend, with fans camping at the barricade all day. They sang every lyric back to her, making for one of the most emotional moments of the festival. Gesaffelstein delivered a mesmerizing visual set in his signature metallic suit, pairing pounding beats with cinematic light design. Then came Tyler, the Creator, closing Saturday with tracks from his new album Don’t Tap the Glass. Songs like “Big Poe,” “Sugar On My Tongue,” and “I’ll Wait For You” (featuring Yebba) had the Bay Area crowd in awe. Tyler proved once again why he’s considered one of the best live performers of his generation. The final day had a more relaxed vibe, with Finneas showcasing his solo work for fans who knew him primarily as Billie Eilish’s brother. BigXThaPlug brought Texas-sized energy to the Twin Peaks stage, while Bleachers encouraged the crowd to let loose with sing-alongs and crowd surfing. Glass Animals lifted spirits with their infectious energy and even shared a touching moment with a fan they recognized from one of their earliest U.K. shows. Hozier performing live at Outside Lands 2025 photographed by Josue C for HAZZE MEDIA Closing out the weekend, Hozier delivered a stunning set that was both musically rich and socially conscious. Using his platform, he spoke passionately about women’s rights, the LGBTQ+ community, and ongoing conflicts in the Middle East. It was a rare but powerful reminder of how music and advocacy can come together on a massive stage. With its breathtaking setting, diverse lineup, and seamless mix of music, food, and culture, Outside Lands 2025 once again lived up to its reputation as one of the country’s premier festivals. From Doja Cat’s commanding headliner set to Hozier’s moving finale, the weekend had something for every kind of music fan. Here’s to another unforgettable year in Golden Gate Park—and the anticipation of what 2026 will bring.

Photos and Review by: Will Smith and Seth Brown | March 22, 2023 The 3-day festival event was packed full of people, hyped energy and some wild surprises. Everyone there was enjoying everything the festival had to offer from the wild carnival rides/festival amenities to the crazy lineup of hip hop/rap superstar performances. The event also featured a VIP section for vip festival goers to enjoy, this included closer stage access, GLAM Beauty/Barber services, Tattoo parlors, exclusive bar/food vendors, lounge areas etc. The main event however came from the crazy big named performances on the festival grounds. Divided by three different stages, all the rap musicians gave an outstanding performance for the audiences to remember. A few of the big names that performed earlier in the days included stars such as Amine, Bia, Moneybagg Yo, City Girls, Destroy Lonely, Saweetie, Ken Carson, Ice Spice etc. Every performance was full of high energy that rippled through the crowd as everybody in the crowd rapped to their songs but the real surprises showed up during the sets of legendary rappers Travis Scott, Future, Lil Uzi Vert, and Lil Wayne. For the first-night Playboi Carti had the whole stadium screaming with excitement. Everyone’s phone lights illuminated the crowd like fireflies as people attempted to record the moment. Thick smoke started rolling off the stage and lights began to strobe as you could hear Carti yelling and screaming into the mic. From that moment, the crowd went chaotic and the energy skyrocketed with people moshing in waves. The second night was headlined by Cactus Jack aka Travis Scott. After waiting in immense anticipation for the titular rapper, the wait was finally over and the mosh pits formed fast like a tornado. Travis's performance had the crowd hyped and moving all around the stage that night. Everybody in the audience matched the chaotic and high energy that the rapper sent out that night. On the third and final night, Lil Uzi Vert came out rocking they signature long spiked hair, different colored eye contacts, and an all-red outfit designed by MUSIKA. They set had everybody dancing and moshing around the stage at high frequency. Once Uzi performed "Just Wanna Rock", the popular TikTok trending song sent an even bigger rush through the crowd and everyone started going crazy. Uzi then started showing off dance moves to the crowd and they loved every second of it. The final headlining performance of the entire festival came from none other than the legendary rapper Future. After a series of surprise guests showed up for a few other performers’ sets (Justin Bieber, Kali Uchis, YG, etc), the crowd was patiently waiting to see what special guests he’d bring out for his performance and he did not disappoint. Halfway through his set, the crowd started going wild once Future playing New Level by A$AP Ferg and then Ferg emerged from the back of the stage. Both rappers started performing the popular throwback song out and the whole crowd was amazed. Overall, almost every performer on that lineup gave some unforgettable and iconic performances. With the powerful lineup of artists and festival amenities combined, the California 2023 Rolling Loud Festival successfully delivered a time to remember for its festival goers.

Photos & Review by: Willam Smith & Seth Brown | July 21, 2023 - July 23, 2023 | Miami, FL This year, Miami saw Rolling Loud come back with a bang! While the weather was a complete scorcher throughout of the three days, audience’s were able to witness some iconic and heavy hitting performances from some of the top Rap/Hip Hop artists of our generation. Some of the artists included Ice Spice, Latto, Bryson Tiller, Turnstile, Lil Yatchy, Nav, Playboi Carti, Ski Mask The Slump God and Don Toliver, just to name a few. The legendary rapper Offset came out and delivered an amazing set, which included a heartfelt tribute to his late brother, Takeoff, and a special guest appearance from his wife, Cardi B. The last two days of the festival, people were anxiously waiting to see the highly anticipated acts, Travis Scott and A$AP Rocky. During Travis’ act, which included him performing on an elaborate mountain top set, fans were able to witness history being made as the artist delivered an electrifying performance which included new hype and experimental material from his highly anticipated UTOPIA album. Fans also were treated to fever dream-like visuals from his newest A24 film supporting the album. On the last day, A$AP Rocky came out and gave a blow out performance that hyped everyone up to the max. The stage was decked out with a large cityscape set pieces and a crew of masked-up hypemen surrounded the stage as he performed songs from his catalogue such as Peso, A$AP Forever, and Praise The Lord. The crowd was even more hyped when he brought out fellow rapper, SNOT, to perform their hit song, Doja. Overall, regardless of the blazing heat, Rolling Loud Miami gave people a few nights to remember with some iconic and jaw-dropping performances from the world's most renowned hip-hop artists of today’s generation. A Closer Look into Rolling Loud Miami Photos & Review by: Johnnie Lear | July 21, 2023 - July 23, 2023 | Miami, FL As we close out another season of Rolling Loud, Miami was a movie like no other. The stars were out and the vibes were like no other. Tariq Cherif made sure all his supporters were well taken care of and for 3 nights straight, all no matter what state color or age you are you could kick back and have the time of your life. Night one was a way to kick off their Miami venture as stars like Polo G, Lil Yachty, Ski Mask the Slump God, Ice Spice and more all took the stage. Artists were swapping the 4 stages back and forth keeping the crowds active and engaged. Performers would even bring out other fellow talent and creatives to tag team on sets like when Kai Cenat and AMP would make an appearance on stage. There’s no better feeling than starting the weekend with some good mosh pitting and highlight of the day 1 would be the full team of Opium all taking stage. Homixide Gang, Ken Carson, and Destroy Lonely would start the day to go into the final member and leader of the label Playboi Carti who would close out the night and put on an hour long set performing old and new songs as they set to go on their Antagonist Tour in the fall. The new song Pop Out would spark the crowd in a roar which would go on for the entire set. Night two was just as star studded as Rae Sremmurd, Trippie Redd, Nav, Glorilla, and the City Girls were just highlights in an electric follow up. As the day went on people would gather at the end to see the main event and icon Travis Scott to close out. The Rolling Loud team would set up an interesting stage display that would make one feel as if they were in another world. You could almost call it Utopia when the set started. Travis would play all hits like Highest in the Room and Sicko Mode but would give us a taste of his highly anticipated album Utopia set to release on July 28th. By the end of the night only one could truly think, “can the last night follow up on two nights prior?” We were given our answer and were not disappointed. To close out the festival, we got to see a hype that seemed to only grow as the nights went on. Pierre Bourne, Central Cee, and NLE Choppa would put on day time performances and had the crowds in the palm of their hands and keep them there til the moon would start to come out and the main events would come on. Don Toliver would start the main events at the Go Puff stage and would bring out Nav again which made the people go nuts. Most would stay for next main event star Lil Uzi to come out to give us a taste of his Pink Tape set as he will be going on tour in the fall as well. The last two performances of the night would not disappoint with Bryson Tiller and Asap Rocky closing out another Rolling Loud for us and leaving us all with a sadness when it was all said and done. As the final fireworks set off signifying another Rolling Loud in the books. All one could do was look around and say to themselves, “I can’t wait til next year”. The best part of Rolling Loud is the memories made, the friendships started, and the love of music being shared by peers from all over the world. This is an event that can be appreciated by everyone and that is the true beauty in making Rolling Loud possible. The biggest take away after experiencing Rolling Loud, is that the festival wouldn’t be possible without the fans and supporters who sell out the ticket office every time and from the looks of it only will continue to be a normal thing. See you at the next one!

Photos & Review By: Will Smith Seth Brown Rolling Loud 24 in California was a weekend filled with incredible performances, surprise guest appearances, and anticipation for upcoming music releases. On Thursday, as I made my way through the festival grounds, I caught a glimpse of Kanye West getting ready to release his highly anticipated album Vultures 2. The energy in the air was palpable as fans eagerly awaited new music from the legendary artist. Friday kicked off with a bang as Sexy Red, Lil Tecca, PartyNextdoor, and Nicki Minaj took the stage for the opening night of Pink Friday 2 Tour. Each artist brought their own unique flair to the show, setting the tone for an unforgettable weekend. Saturday was no exception, with Big Sean, $uicideBoy$, and Post Malone delivering show-stopping performances that had the crowd on their feet. The energy was infectious as fans sang along to hits old and new, creating an electric atmosphere that lasted well into the night. And finally, on Sunday, NLE Choppa, Chief Keep, Ski Mask the Slump Guy, Don Toliver, and Future and Metro Boomin took the stage, closing out the festival with a bang. The highlight of the night was when Future and Metro Boomin previewed their new album "We Don't Trust You," bringing out Travis Scott to perform songs early. The crowd went wild, with fans eagerly soaking in every moment of the exclusive performance. Overall, Rolling Loud 24 in California was a weekend to remember, filled with incredible music, surprise guest appearances, and anticipation for upcoming releases. I can't wait to see what the future holds for these talented artists, and I'm already counting down the days until Rolling Loud Miami

Photos & Review by: Johnnie Lear As we open another festival season, Rolling Loud comes as strong as ever in Inglewood, California, to celebrate 10 years of entertainment, bonds, and fun. Matt and Tariq have made it a tradition to deliver only the best and give their fans an unforgettable experience. They even treated their fans to a special treat, extending the festival by one extra day to give a special guest the floor for Thursday night. And that was only a fragment of what was to come. On night one, Rolling Loud would open with the duo of Ye and Ty Dolla $ign as they are set to release the second part of the Vultures Trilogy. Fans would gather in the middle of the festival grounds where they built a special for Ye to perform an array of songs all from the first part of Vultures. From Stars to Carnival, he would run down the tracklist, bringing out guests like Rich the Kid and Little Miss North West. Even after his performance fans stayed around and sang to old Kanye songs to bring in the first night of the true festival experience.  Friday was a beautiful day, which meant a good vibe was naturally set for the performances to tear the house down. The main show kicked off with Luh Tyler coming out to bring his Florida vibes, and then Sexxy Red followed up. She would enter with her “Make America Sexyy Again” and have the crowd interact with her the whole time she was on stage. After that, Lil Tecca would end his tour with one more performance at the Go Puff Stage after the release of his album “TEC”. He showed why he deserved a late time on stage and it shows his growth from where he started. Right before the main event for Pink Friday, PartyNextDoor would have the last spot at the Go Puff stage and do a solid RnB performance with a live band that made fans dance and sing from start to finish. It also got fans excited to see his next move as he is set to release PND4 soon. To wrap up the night we were graced with a performance from the Queen herself as Nicki Minaj closed out night one as she is set to go on tour following Rolling Loud. The stage was immaculate and her outfit changes were as flawless as her performance. The Barbz were stretched out for miles, and she definitely gained some new people in the fandom after that show. On Saturday, it was a day to really cut loose and turn up. Fans were given great showings from artists like BabyTron, Jordan Ward, and Kaliii. Larry June, during a lyrical and chill set, even brought Jordan Ward back out to do some songs together, which shows the good path they are on. When the sunset finally set and Big Sean hit the stage, though, it felt like we were back in time almost. Hearing songs from Dark Skies Paradise always feels so nostalgic, and then mixed to hear his current songs off of Detroit 2 really brought the set together, and it is a true testament to paying flowers to an artist who has dominated the rap game for years. Following him as it was finally nightfall it only meant it was time to mosh pit and have some fun. The $uicideBoy$ came out and the crowd reacted in typical fashion, to rage and have a good time. Ruby da Cherry and $crim have done ten-plus Rolling Louds, and it is understandable why. The emotion in the music in a festival setting puts it on a whole new level because their relationship with their fans is so intimate that it makes the whole memory of the show unforgettable. To close out the show Post Malone would enjoy his whole set with his fans and show how much he really appreciates the love they show him. He played songs from Psycho, to Zack and Codeine, and even brought out Quavo to perform “Congratulations' ' which feels like it just released every time you hear it. As the last day fell upon us after three days of fun and great music the Ethika stage would have a star studded lineup follow each other all day. NLE Choppa riled the crowd up with his contagious energy and he would play his normal discography, but gave the fans a treat with some unreleased music. Chief Keef would follow behind him and it is safe to say he is solidified in the rap hall of fame in his own right. The amount of anthems he played that had the crowd harmonizing was a true sight to be seen. He even brought Sexxy Red out for another performance, which had the people going nuts. The energy would take a huge spike once Ski Mask the Slump God came out next. He just released his new song ‘Shibuya’ and it is always nice to get an X and Juice Wrld tribute. They are the pioneers of the Rolling Loud brand, and it's a beautiful thing to see their memories and attributions not go in vain. Don Toliver would follow, and he personally had one of the best shows at the whole festival. His tracklist of songs of “The Life of Don,”  “Heaven or Hell,” and “Love Sick” is always guaranteed to be a great time when there are no misses in the music. He even got to play his new song, “Bandit,” which is streaming now and killing the charts. Fans got their money's worth too, as Don would play unreleased songs and would bring out Ty Dolla $ign, Kodak Black, and Travis Scott to tie his whole set together giving his fans more than they could've asked for To close out our journey in Inglewood, Future and Metro Boomin who are set to release their new album “We Don’t Trust You” closed us out with an array of anthems from ‘I Can't Save You” to “Monster” to “Stick Talk” and “Mask Off” it goes to show Future’s longevity in the music industry as well as Metros’. Think how far “If Young Metro don't trust you we gon shoot” has truly come, and these two would make music for over 10 years. They even brought Travis Scott back out to perform some unfamiliar songs, which only got the crowd excited. Plus it would not be a show with Travis Scott if he didn't play “FE!N” at least one time.  Overall, Rolling Loud is always a great time and guaranteed memories, but seeing 10 years of work put into it only makes you appreciate it more. It teaches you that it is more than just a music festival. Rolling Loud is about community, friendships, and living in the moment. Not everything is guaranteed, so when you get to experience a Rolling Loud, you live in the time you make it, and you make it the best time of your life. See you guys at the next one in a few months.

Photographed by William Smith | Oct. 17, 2025 After dropping yet another critically acclaimed album, God Does Like Ugly, JID is back on the road, embarking on a massive multi-international tour, with Cincinnati being the second stop. After witnessing some incredible bars from the openers (Yung Nudy, Swavay, and Baby Kia), JID hit the stage performing what I’d call rap gymnastics all around the venue. Every word that left his mouth was nothing short of lyrical. His bars, rhymes, insane breath control, and gravity-defying flow poured into the audience as he performed, and the crowd went wild. With the vast amount of lyrics in his catalog, he managed to rap all of them without missing a beat. Overall, JID continues to prove why he’s one of the most impressive rap voices of this generation, and with the talented support he has on this journey, audiences will definitely be blown away by the incredible rap talent this tour has to offer. JID photographed by William Smith @illwill17

Interview by: Ezzah Rafique Malik McIntyre is the designer behind the bold and innovative brand, ' MCINTYRE '. Designing for Chicago based rappers such as Dreezy, Queen Key, Lil Mouse and Katie Got Bandz, McIntyre has also created pieces for other well known rappers like Latto and Asian Doll. He talks with HAZZE MEDIA about his journey as a designer, his inspirations, NYFW, & campaigns. Q: Tell us who you are and what you do! MM: My name is Malik McIntyre. I’m a fashion designer and creative director. I love transitioning visions into realities within the form of clothing. Q: What inspired you to create your own clothing brand, MCINTYRE? MM: I sewed my first garment in high school. I was fascinated by the entire process of creating something from scratch. The possibilities are endless as a fashion designer, you have the creative license to do pretty much anything. Q: Where do you get inspiration from when creating pieces for your brand? MM: Some of my best ideas come to me when I’m not trying. For example; I was watching a show with my ex boyfriend called Manifest, about these people who time travel on an airplane and no one knows how. I became really fascinated with space and the ideation that aliens or some other form of intelligence is out there somewhere. I designed a whole collection inspired by different planets and used it for my NYFW debut. The audience loved it and I was featured in 2 print magazines, Harper's Bazaar, Elle, etc. Q: You share a lot of your process on TikTok, what role has social media played in marketing your company? MM: Social media plays a HUGE role in how I present my collections. I spent a whole 5 years being stationed in Hawaii while pushing my brand. There really isn’t a fashion community in that state at all, so in order to reach my audience I relied heavily on Twitter, Instagram, etc. Most designers or entrepreneurs rely on networking in person to get their name out there, and that wasn’t an option for me. My online presence had to be great. Q: Let's talk about the 'MICASSO' campaign. How did the campaign come to be? What was the most fun part, for you, during this collaboration? MM: So I had just closed my February 2022 show and I was scrolling on twitter and I stumbled across this art that literally jumped out at me. It’s been awhile since I had been that moved by something. I went through the artist’s gallery and my head filled with so many ideas, it came so easily to me. The first thing I did was contact her directly with the collaboration pitch to see if she would be down, and when she said yes I got right to work, immediately. The most fun was definitely shooting the campaign, and seeing the art and the ready-to-wear collection side by side. It’s such a great feeling seeing a vision come to life beautifully like that. Q: I saw MCINTYRE had a show at NYFW, how was your experience throughout that week? MM: Because I’m in the military, I only get a small amount of time to prepare for my shows. The time constraint can add a lot of stress into the planning/execution but overall I love the process. I’m starting to get invited to high end shows, which tells me that I’m heading in the right direction. I met some stars that I idolize such as; Saucy Santana, Devin Habal, etc. NYFW is literally the most exciting 10-14 days of my year. Q: As a designer and creative director, what has been the most valuable lesson you have learned? Whether that be in the sense of styling or along your business journey. MM: You cannot quit. I say it all the time, everyone has a target audience. Just because a collection isn’t selling well or a project doesn’t seem to be perceived well doesn’t mean it’s bad. There’s a designer out there for everybody, you just have to find people who love your work and market to them. Q: Do you have a favorite article of clothing that you cannot live without? MM: My Micasso Puffer (pictured here) . I get so many compliments when I wear it out and it’s such a good testament of who I am as a person and a designer. Fun, out of the box, and colorful. Q: What kind of message do you want to spread with your platform? MM: I grew up in the south and west sides of Chicago, IL. It wasn’t popular to be artsy, and there were not many opportunities available for me to excel in the field. I created my own opportunities. I sacrificed a few of my golden years to the military, but I built my brand from the ground up. My message for others is, you can make it out of your city too. People normally look to Chicago for Athletes and rappers, and hopefully with me they’ll start looking for creatives too. Q: What has been your biggest accomplishment in 2022? What are you most looking forward to in this new year? MM: Honestly, healing. 2021 was a hard year for me personally, I put my efforts into my art. Stepping away from a lot of things in 2022 to focus on bettering myself and focusing on curating a great collection. Previewing my work from 2021 and comparing it to Micasso, you’ll notice the growth.

Camila C. | March 26, 2021 Charlotte Bolton, the founder of Rate Cute, talks about sustainability in fashion, repurposing clothing, and advice to create a repurpose-clothing brand. What inspired you to start your shop? I’ve always been a creative person & I’ve always known that I’ve wanted to work for myself, so starting my shop was literally just a way for me to try and kick start my self-employment whilst I was working - I never initially had a solid idea of what my brand would be or what I would sell in particular, I just knew I want to make and sell whatever I could, and obviously from that, it has developed into what it is now - an eco-conscious fashion & lifestyle brand! What is the best part about the platform and community you created? ​ It’s given me faith and hope in the world! I feel so lucky to have a little community growing around my brand that cares about sustainability, the environment, and mindful shopping. Of course, it’s also important to remember that it can be a bit of an echo chamber, but it’s very reassuring knowing that there are people out there who care about the same things you do and want to make a change. It’s also great because we learn so much from each other, and I get to know so many lovely people. What is your ultimate goal? Well my ultimate goal would be to abolish fast fashion, billionaires and make sustainability accessible for everyone right?! Ok so I know that’s probably never going to happen, but imagine? For now, it’s to keep campaigning for garment workers to be paid properly, to raise more awareness about the fashion industry, and hopefully encourage people to shop more mindfully. We need to focus our energy on the CEOs and the brands themselves, and not shame people who shop fast fashion out of necessity. How will you continue to grow your platform? By keeping the conversation around sustainable and ethical fashion going, growing my little community, and continuing to do what makes me happy. Was there ever a time you wanted to give up on your shop/how did you overcome this? All. The. Time. I have my inner saboteur always there telling me I’m not good enough and that I should give up, but then I think - what would I be doing if I wasn’t doing this? I’d be stuck in a job I absolutely despise, miserable as hell. Taking a social media break always helps me reset, I’ve noticed that my self-worth really declines when I spend more time on socials, as I start to compare myself to other people. I have to remind myself of how far I have actually come and that everyone has their own timeline. What are some projects you have coming up? I’ve actually been planning some collections I want to release this year - hopefully some fun collaborations with other brands/illustrators. I think collaboration is so important! & I have a lot of upcycling planned. What is the process that goes into repurposing clothing? If I am selling on preloved/vintage, I check all items before selling in case they need any extra care - I wash everything, repair/sew any holes, replace buttons or make buttons more secure, etc. When upcycling clothing, I try to plan an idea out of what I intend to make, however, I like to be quite spontaneous with what I have. I have so many secondhand clothes, fabrics, trimming, embellishments that I have hoarded over the years - I like to have fun with it and see what I can make with what I’ve got. I save all fabrics scraps because this can also be reused for something. I really try to minimize waste as much as possible and make a post of everything I have. What is some advice you would give to another creative who wants to use fashion as a creative outlet? I would have a good think about your current values and what’s important to you - I think when this is portrayed through your work or business, it makes you a lot more passionate about what you’re doing. Also, pinpoint what you enjoy doing the most and focus on making things that you like doing, rather than sticking to trends. More importantly, consider how your business will impact the environment - because the fashion and textile industry is so detrimental to the planet, I think all small brand owners should really consider sustainability as an important value to their brand. We want to be making the change, not adding to the problem. What is some advice you’d give to another creative who wants to advocate for sustainability? ​ Do your research. Follow activists/sustainable fashion influencers on Instagram (I personally adore Aja Barber, Venetia LaManna & Tickover). Follow campaigns such as Clean Clothes Campaign, PayUp Fashion, Labour Behind the Label - & try to keep up to date with current affairs and what’s going on. Don’t be afraid to use your voice, keep people informed & also engage in conversations and ask questions. Recognize your privilege & remember that sustainable fashion isn’t accessible for everyone. What is the hardest part about being a shop owner in the midst of a pandemic? I’ve really been struggling with my motivation! I struggle anyway, to be honest, but being stuck inside 24/7 on my own becomes really difficult. I also really love doing markets and fairs, so not being able to do any for over a year has been awful! It’s always such a good opportunity to meet new people, meet other makers & also grow your business. I really wanted to organize my own events last year as well and I was so gutted that I couldn’t - end of this year maybe? Fingers crossed! How has your shop shaped you into who you are today? I believe that it’s made me a more mindful, conscious person - I think carefully about everything I do in life now, as I really want to have a positive impact on people and the planet. I am also so much more confident than I used to be, thanks to pushing myself & doing things that have always completely been out of my comfort zone - I opened a pop-up shop, I talk on my Instagram stories, I’ve started a YouTube channel!? Charlotte 5 years ago could never. What is your favorite type of clothing to repurpose? I honestly don’t know if I have a preference clothing-wise, but I enjoy adding frills and ruffles to just about anything!

Photos & Written by: Orchee Sorker | July 17, 2024 | Nashville, TN In the heart of Nashville, where the sound of music fills the air, Meg Elsier's journey as an indie-rock artist shows the city's vibrant and supportive indie/DIY scene. From her early days in Massachusetts, Meg's path to music was paved with a diverse array of instruments, from piano to flute, and eventually, the guitar. In high school, she realized her true calling was in music, a realization that was catalyzed by her experiences in the school's jazz band and musical theater productions. These formative experiences were pivotal in shaping Meg's growth as a performer. They provided her with the opportunity to confront and eventually overcome her stage fright, a common hurdle for many aspiring artists. Meg's advice to those struggling with similar fears is both practical and encouraging: "I spent so many years waiting to perform until it wasn't scary anymore and that just didn't happen for me. I think the only advice I really have is that it doesn't get less scary, but it gets easier and becomes more fulfilling and worth it." Meg's debut album, "spittake," is a deeply personal project that showcases her evolution as an artist. The journey of creating the album was filled with self-discovery and the expansion of her musical vocabulary. The process of writing and demoing the songs herself was a revelatory experience, with moments of clarity and connection that she describes as "the one time in my life that I feel everything click into place." The challenges faced during the album's creation, such as the physical demands of working with aerial silks for the "iznotreal" video, were balanced by the joy of collaborating with close friends to bring her musical worlds to life. The result is an album that not only reflects Meg's growth but also invites listeners into her unique sonic landscape. Meg's live shows are a dynamic blend of emotional intensity and fun, a reflection of her desire to connect with her audience on a deep level. Meg reflects on the emotional exposure that comes with sharing her art. Her hope for her audience is that they feel understood and not alone, that they are energized and moved by the experience. She wants her shows to be memorable, leaving a lasting impact that resonates long after the final note has been played. "I want people at my shows to join me where I am and hopefully all connect. I want them to feel understood and not alone. I want them to feel in their bodies and just move or feel whatever pops up for them. I want them to feel energized enough after my show to go out to a second location, you know? I want it to be one of those shows where you leave really feeling something!" Fashion and visual art play a significant role in Meg's artistic expression, serving as an extension of her music and performances. They allow her to convey her artistic vision in a multifaceted way, complementing her music with visual narratives that reflect her inner world. Fashion, in particular, helps Meg to express complex emotions and thoughts, providing a visual language that can communicate feelings that words sometimes cannot. "I’m an incredibly visual person just in general. I feel like I can see a lot more factors in music than necessarily hearing them. I can see the scenes in my head when I write a song, or I can envision and remember a scenario that helps me actually figure out what I was feeling. I feel like I can express so many things through visuals and fashion." Through her music, performances, and visual art, she continues to carve out her unique space, inviting listeners into her world with open arms.

Photo by: Matt Weinberger Eliza Lesser, Founder & CEO of NFSHE, talks with HAZZE MEDIA about how her company merges NFT technology with the luxury fashion industry. Read her story and goals below. Q: Tell us about NFSHE and what you do! NFSHE creates products that integrate NFT technology, combining fashion and the blockchain, while helping expose customers to the web3 industry. Q: What is the backstory behind creating NFSHE? NFSHE is rooted in my passion for fashion, technology, and the web3 industry. I grew up in New York City and attended Cornell where I focussed on my passion for design in a more academic setting. During my summers and after graduation, I worked in the fashion industry on the design & development side and then in the buying division at a luxury retail store in NYC. While I loved my time in the traditional fashion world, as I started to learn more about NFTs I uncovered an incredible network of builders and artists that I knew I wanted to be a part of. Over time I started to realize the potential applications NFTs had in the fashion space, and that’s when I got serious about NFSHE as a brand. I recognized that the fashion space, and specifically authentication, was ripe for disruption, and given my background in fashion I felt I was the right person to start trying to disrupt it. Ultimately, my goal was, and continues to be, to tie my fashion background in with this growing digital space, while also educating others in the process- after all, what better way to learn than through shopping? Q: How has the experience been being a business within the crypto community? My experience building a business within the crypto community has been unique and exciting. The crypto community is filled with forward-thinking individuals who are open to new ideas and technologies. A huge focus of my work has been connecting and building relationships with other entrepreneurs and artists in the space. Although crypto is known for its volatility and unpredictability, I have found these forces encourage creative problem-solving and deep critical thinking when it comes to establishing a business strategy. I am very excited about blockchain technology’s integration into business, particularly in luxury markets, and I think it will transform the way we think about products, ownership, and authenticity- pillars of luxury goods. Q: Let's talk about projects. What's the backstory behind the two pieces released: 'ELAINE bag' & ‘CRYPTO NEVER SLEEPS... BUT I SHOULD...’ NFSHE has released 2 projects, to date. The ‘CRYPTO NEVER SLEEPS… BUT I SHOULD…’ NFT + sleep mask and the ‘ELAINE BAG’ NFT + tote bag. Photo by: Emma Skakel at Wilhelmina Studio The ‘CRYPTO NEVER SLEEPS… BUT I SHOULD…’ sleep mask collection was inspired by the fast-paced and always-on nature of the crypto community. This piece is a reminder that while ‘crypto never sleeps…’ it is important to find personal balance. The collection was meant to be thought-provoking and a friendly reminder to encourage people to maintain balanced lifestyles. Photo by: Ricardo Andre The ‘ELAINE BAG’ was designed to focus on clean lines, high-quality materials, and a minimalist aesthetic to create a stylish yet functional item- a staple for anyone’s closet. This collection was named after my grandmother Elaine who has been a constant inspiration throughout my fashion journey. Both collections are not just NFTs… Each of the NFTs in these collections comes with a corresponding physical item. The physical collectible items are all authenticated by having the digital twin NFT. Q: How would you describe NFTs to someone who is not active on social media? NFTs (non-fungible tokens) are digital assets that exist on a broader ledger known as the blockchain. They each possess unique properties that make them “non-fungible” meaning they cannot be exchanged 1 for 1 like traditional currency. There are many ways to utilize the technology- however, in the case of NFSHE, we apply the concept to our physical products. Traditionally, when you buy a designer bag, the bag comes with a piece of paper that establishes the item to be ‘authentic’. That piece of paper can be easily lost, damaged, or unfortunately… copied. As a result, counterfeiters can create products that can be easily mistaken for the real thing. Moreover, even if someone has a real designer piece, they may struggle to sell that item for a deserving price if the certificate of authenticity is missing. In my view, this is where NFTs should come into play. NFTs can act as digital certificates of authentication. Under the NFT model, the problems of counterfeiting and/or losing one’s certificate of authentication disappear. NFTs exist on the blockchain, which means owners and consignors can easily see ownership and transaction history. In other words, it will be abundantly clear if the piece is an original or a fake. NFSHE is using NFT technology to renovate the authentication process and bake this new technology into the foundation of the products. Each physical bag has a corresponding NFT and vice versa. This is something that sets us apart in the industry. Q: Within the crypto community, what would you say was the most challenging obstacle as a brand? The crypto market is still a relatively niche market and it can be challenging to reach new customers who are not actively participating in the world of NFTs. To help overcome this challenge, we have focused on reducing barriers to entry and educating our audience. For instance, NFSHE recently partnered with Paper.xyz to allow customers to pay with a credit card for their NFSHE products, and a crypto wallet is automatically set up for them through their email. This enables the shopping experience to be as familiar as possible, while still allowing the customer to get crypto exposure. Q: What has been the most valuable lesson you have learned? As the founder of NFSHE, the most valuable lesson I have learned is the importance of networking. The crypto industry has a strong focus on developing community, and building relationships with other entrepreneurs, artists, and enthusiasts have been invaluable in terms of learning new things and getting feedback. Q: Let's talk NFSHEvents. NFSHE hosted a networking event during NYFW, what was that like? Especially as it was one of the first events NFSHE has hosted. Hosting a networking event during NYFW was a great opportunity for NFSHE to connect with other industry professionals, especially during a time when there were a lot of people in New York City for other fashion-related events. The event continued to position NFSHE within the fashion and innovation space while networking and encouraging conversation between individuals in the NFSHE community. The goal was to create a space for everyone to expand their careers and meet new ambitious people. Q: What has been your biggest accomplishment in 2022? What are you most looking forward to in this new year, any new projects? My biggest accomplishment in 2022, aside from just launching the brand in general, was the NFT NYC NFSHEvent hosted in June. The first ever NFSHEvent had 14 speakers broken out into 3 panels discussing Web3 Fashion, Women in Web3, and Web3 Marketing and Content Creation. The event was sold out and brought together people from all over the country, making it a huge success. The event was a great opportunity to connect in person with industry builders and enthusiasts. As we look to 2023, we are excited to continue growing the brand, building the NFSHE community, and releasing new products! Q: Where can people find more information about NFSHE? For more information and to shop our collections, visit NFSHE.IO. The website provides information on the brand, our vision, and our products, and also lists our past/upcoming events. Also, to stay connected with the brand and hear the latest NFSHE news, follow NFSHE on social media!

Photos and Interview by: Danny Chung "Just Because" is a debut album that encapsulates the artist's transformative coming-of-age journey, featuring an eclectic mix of tracks created in spontaneous moments, from car rides to late-night reflections. The album's upbeat, dreamy sound mirrors the artist's 18-year-old adventures, from carefree beach days to navigating newfound complexities. Collaborative efforts with songwriter Paul Phamous fostered a safe space for vulnerable songwriting, adding depth to the album's emotional resonance. Read more below. Congratulations on your debut album. What was the creative process behind creating your new debut album? This one was so all over the place, some of it was done while I was driving my car, some of it was done in my bathroom, or I’d be in my bed at 3 in the morning. I’d have Siri text my number certain lyrics that popped into my head in the middle of the night. All of it was done very in the moment as I was experiencing whatever I was writing about. I experienced something, and then healed from it, and then wrote about it. I was experiencing it and then going straight to the studio and processing it by just making songs about it. The reason I called it “Just Because” was because I thought it was so random and was so deep inside it that I didn’t think anything went together, so I thought “I’m just gonna call it ‘just because’ just because I want to.” I look back at it now, and it kinda feels like a healing journal. I was going through some stuff at that time, and most of the songs are so happy so you wouldn’t really think that they’re that deep. But I think part of the reason they are so happy is because I was in a time where I kinda felt like I was drowning, so if I made a song that sounded like I was drowning on top of feeling that way, it would’ve been too heavy. All those songs counteracted those more painful emotions and honestly pulled me out of those feelings, so that's why it's so bright, happy, and bubbly. It has a lot more purpose to me than it did when I was making it, it's the way that I healed. Q: Do you have a favorite memory during the creation of the album? My favorite part of writing this album was experiencing all of it while I was writing it and the people I was making it with. The main writer I was working with on this project was Paul Phamous, and he is like my big brother. I feel so lucky to be able to make music with people I feel so close to. Songwriting is such a vulnerable thing to do, and to be able to do it with people that make me feel safe is so important. Q: The tracks on the album have a very fun, uptempo, and dreamy-like sound, what would you describe the album to be like to people who are hearing it for the first time? What would be the perfect scenario to listen to it in? I would say it is very “coming-of-age movie”. The whole album was written when I was 18 years old and everything that I went through at that time. It was probably the first real transitional year that I experienced, and I grew and learned a lot from that time. So that's kind of what a coming-of-age movie is. I was also hanging out with my friends and doing all these fun, random, stupid things. Cruising down the PCH and offroading, going to the beach, and just doing all these really fun things with my friends. And then also going through the lows of being an 18-year-old girl and being exposed to things I hadn’t been exposed to yet. Q: What song are you looking most forward to perform live? So I started to perform some of them live already, and I would say I really like performing “Banksy”. It’s my favorite one honestly, but it changes all the time. Right now it’s “Banksy” or “Swinging at the Stars”. Q: Honing in on the dream-like vibe from the album, do you have a memory of being in this sort of dreamy state of mind? Probably while I was driving down the PCH, at the beach, or offroading. Q: What would you say are your top three songs off of the album that you are most excited to finally release and why? There are so many it's kinda hard to choose one. I think maybe “Screw Time” and “Swinging at the Stars” represent the feeling of the album the best. Each one of those songs showcases the highs and lows of my journey last year. But I think about “Screw Time”, and that song is very coming-of-age. It’s about my friends and those same experiences of just being a young, dumb teenager. I still like to listen to that song and relive those memories. Q: Was there a specific location or time in your life when you were writing the album? What was the prior inspiration behind songs such as "123" and "Dreamer"? No, everything was everywhere, like the car, the bathroom, taking a shower, in the studio, at the beach… it was everywhere. Even on a plane too—I remember, I think “Pools and Palm Trees” I had a voice memo of that. Everything was written while I was experiencing those things, so it was wherever I was at the time. Q: What would you say are your top three songs off of the album that you are most excited to finally release and why? My personal favorites are “Banksy”, “Polarized”, “Mess”, and “Swinging at the Stars”. The first one that comes to mind is in “Swinging at the Stars”, I say, “Wanna be tired when I get to my grave”. That song is all about the fullness of living and doing it with somebody that you love. Sometimes I'll put myself into situations that are maybe not the best for me, but I do it because I just love to feel and experience a lot—I’m obsessed with the abundance of being alive. So the idea of “I wanna be tired when I get to my grave” means I want to feel everything. The fact that I’m capable of feeling this many emotions and experiencing as much as possible in all these things is amazing. Q: From songs like 'Pools and Palm Trees', 'Dreamer', & 'Swinging at the Stars', it's as if you're embracing the feeling of living your life to the fullest through not only relationships but also just having fun. What song do you think would describe your life at the moment? Definitely “Swinging At The Stars”! My life feels very full right now, and I feel so alive and connected to myself. I feel like I am experiencing everything when I’m supposed to experience it, and I feel very content and centered at the moment. “Swinging at the Stars” is about knowing yourself, going with the flow, and being happy with wherever life takes you, and that’s how I am feeling.

Photos By: Jaden Johnston | October 20, 2024

Cover Shoot Team : Photographer : Maegan Grendell @Maegangrendellphoto Model/Artist : Gnash (Garrett Nash) @gnash Makeup Artist/Groomer : Lana Hrachian @lanaharachian_mua Wardrobe Stylist : Chechel Joson @chech_joson BTS Photographer : Nadja Aumueller @omillershots BTS Videographer : Connor Fornes @fornesfilm Journalist/Interview by : Jewel Fiorillo @jewelfphoto What is your new album "The Art of Letting Go" about? The Art of Letting Go dropped on 3/23 which is the area code that I grew up with. The album's about LA, where I'm from, and about my family. It's a very personal body of work. It's like opening up my journal which is a bit of a departure from the normal lyrical direction of The gnash Project. We played with changing my name to Garrett Nash last year. We switched back to gnash. I think we're gonna double tag the album on Spotify to both Garrett Nash and gnash. It feels like a very smart step into adulthood for me. It also is something outside of the wheelhouse of the norm for my project. Nice, it'll be cool also so that way you can almost separate your past work from your future work. Yeah, totally. Moving forward, I'm sitting on a lot of records that I've been teasing about lives and stuff. That I feel is a little bit more in the wheelhouse of what people may expect from the next step on the gnash project. This project is something I'm super proud of. I made most of it over the pandemic with my buddy Gabe Simon, who recently did all the Noah Kahan stuff. He's the producer on a lot of that stuff. It's a really beautiful body of work. I'm extremely proud of it, and I'm just excited to have it out in the world so people can hear it and heal from it … just like I did making it. Awesome. Reading from the excerpt about this album, you mentioned struggles with letting go of certain emotions, relationships, or issues of situations. I was curious when you're like sitting with those emotions that you can't seem to let go of, is writing music a way for you to fully process the situation that you're going through or help you work through those emotions easier? Yeah. I was struggling with resentment, frustration, and anger during the pandemic, just in general. I was also being forced to face feelings of potential imminent loss and doom. All of these things that I think we all kind of universally felt together. The way that I chose to deal with that and knew how to deal with that was through writing. So I just started writing songs about how I was feeling and for the first time in a long time, using music as therapy. It's me saying that I don't have the answer, but I think this is kind of the process, you know? The album goes through a journey. It talks about me personally, my personal relationships, my thoughts on life and death, and things like that … kind of goes through this story. At the end of the day, we all end up at the same light at the end of the tunnel, and the lessons you learn along the way can come up in different ways or directions. Your soul will reflect those differences. I'm a big believer that we get popped out into this existence as souls with a certain set of lessons to learn. How we receive those is kind of at the discretion of the choices we make in the past that you choose. At the end of the day, we're gonna learn those lessons one way or another and then carry those on to our next life. This project summarizes a lot of those feelings and also at the same time letting go of these things that I've been carrying. During the process, I found out I have a genetic disease called hemochromatosis, which is a thing that makes too much iron in your body. I'm a big believer that everything has a spiritual connotation as well as a medical connotation. It has a lot to do with your liver. Your liver carries a lot of resentment. I think that that was a huge wake-up call for me because this isn't something that activates in everybody's body that has the double gene but it did for me. I was like “What am I carrying?” It really forced me to look in the mirror, reflect on those things, meditate on them, and genuinely do my best to let go of them. I've done a lot of purging and releasing. It's been really beautiful. It's a catharsis method. You're doing it also to cope with your emotions, but also to really process what you just recently found out about yourself and be open about it. Bringing awareness is so important because you don't know who's gonna hear your music and maybe they can relate in so many different ways. It's a blessing that I have a perspective like this. I've been involved in a couple of the biggest songs of the last decade. I'm very grateful for that. Something that I've taken away is that you don't really get to choose how music impacts people. Once it's out in the world. It's not really yours anymore, it's up to them and their vibration and how they reflect that back onto you. I'm really looking forward to seeing how “The Art of Letting Go” helps people in their own healing process because it definitely helped me. I'm excited to have it out in the world and move on to new stuff. I try not to ruminate too long on anything in particular anymore because our attention spans are just getting smaller and smaller. I'm really focused on just releasing a lot of music because that's the best way I have to communicate how I'm feeling and people seem to really resonate with it. Seriously. I like what you said once you release the album or the project, you don't wanna fixate on it because you wanna keep growing … almost like transitioning from how you learned “The Art of Letting Go” It belongs to everyone else, you know? I now need to continue my creative journey but we're still gonna keep dropping a song at least every month for the rest of the year, if not the next two years. I made about 180 songs for this project. There are only 12 on the project. I've got a lot of things in the backlog that I'm gonna drop, but I've also got a lot of new stuff. I mean make new songs every day. That's the best way I've learned that I make a difference in the world. People are so afraid of death because they fear leaving a legacy, what they’ll leave behind, and people’s opinions. I touched on that a little bit in a song on the project called “Be Here Now”. It was right after Kobe died. I wrote about that. It felt like everybody had an opinion about him. Some people were negative, and some people were bringing up things from 15 years before. It just made me think, “What are people gonna say about me?” Then the chorus is like, “I don't really have much say over that, so I'm just gonna be here now.” What does this project and the music that you're creating with this project mean to you? What would you want it to mean to your listeners? I don't really have any say over what people think of the project or how it affects their life. I hope that it encourages people to be more present, kind, live in awareness, and be open to spirituality, other lifetimes, and soul-level lessons. The core of it is that I hope that people are more present when they hear it. I hope people listen to the whole thing from top to bottom. It becomes their bedtime, meditation, or their road trip music … Or they like one or two songs and the rest of it isn't for them. I've got two favorite songs on the project … “Money, Love, and Death” and “Family Man” are amazing songs. I hope it is what the light means to them … whether that's the inner light, something in the sky, or something you learn in a book. I don't know any answers, but I hope that it encourages people to be more present. There's a song called “Rainbow” that I love and the chorus is, “When did my darkness get all of this confidence? I was an optimist holding onto half full. Where did my happiness go? If you find it, let me know cause I could use a rainbow.” That song's just me looking out the window and feeling sad today. Reflect on being so you can become - you have to do the being. I hope when people hear they also wanna focus on being, even if it's just for five minutes of just sitting with yourself … the noise that goes on in your head without the noise of the world, you know? It’s gonna be a personal journey for everybody who listens. For example, this year I've been taking cold showers for the first time and it's been changing my life. I love it. It gives me a whole new kick in the morning. I made my, um, alarm on my phone, “Three Little Birds” by Bob Marley. When my five minutes are over, it comes on, and I start dancing. I don't know what combination or cataclysmic order of events caused me to want to do that. Maybe it was just the right amount of “10 things all Billionaires do” on Instagram or whatever it is, right? Taking time to myself, being in my meditation practice, and saying, “Hey, something still isn't clicking here.” Then, bringing the cold showers. That might only work for a week. But because I was present I was able to add a new thing to my routine to expand my horizon for myself. Onto the next area, I know that you were on tour not too long ago. Do you have any plans for touring again or any live performance? Yeah, I would like to play one more show in LA so I don't have to go very far. I started a label in the last year in partnership with Atlantic, my fiance and manager Rosabelle is my business partner on it. It's called “Overall.” We have four amazing artists assigned to it. I'd probably like to do a short showcase hybrid gnash show moment where they play upstairs at a venue and then I'm downstairs. Possibly later in the year. The concept of touring is a bit antiquated to me at this point, just because I am crossing into 30 and have a cat. I am open to it depending on the calling, right? The best use of my brain is here at home developing these projects. Creating music and putting that out in the world as fast as possible. No concrete plans. What made you want to start your own label? I've always been super passionate about artist development. That's horribly overlooked in the music business. We have a couple of artists on the label that are incredible and have all started in different positions. Over the last six to eight years of the gnash project, it really kicked off in 2015/2016. My creative director Max makes all my art and helps me with all my videos and things like that. He's fantastic across all these other projects too. I have a really great understanding and have really great taste for things that I like. My value on the label is finding things I like helping develop. Rosabelle is an incredible business person, extremely well organized in a way that my brain will never be. Between the three of us, it’s a nice team. Partnership with a company as incredible as Atlantic to help fund that has been amazing and it's allowed for me and Rosabelle and Max to serve as this nice buffer zone between what could be a big scary label and a small developing artist. It helped bridge that gap and show it’s not all that scary. I care about creatives. I've had a really wonderful experience in the music industry and a lot of people don't. So I'm just trying to shine that light on artists that maybe need a little bit of that perspective. Do you have any large inspirations that you plan to work with in the future? Is anyone that you were really inspired by and now you get to make projects with them? I work with amazing people that I grew up on all the time. This Monday I worked with this artist I grew up listening to, Donovan Woods. I got to make a couple of songs with my buddy Shwayze last year, and I grew up working as his intern for him and Cisco Adler. I'd love to work with Ben Gibbard. I'd love to do a song with George Harrison. Uh, I'm a huge George Harrison fan. His first album was hugely inspirational for me. I have a whole box set of “All Things Must Pass” down here. I got the collectors box. I'd love to work with Jack Johnson. There are a million people I'd love to work with. Then beyond that, I'm obsessed with Taylor Swift. I think the Harry Styles stuff that's happening is amazing. I'm a huge fan of his stuff. I'd love to write with Ed Sheeran. I met him once. He's a really good guy. I'm always open to whatever. How did you get into songwriting and becoming a musician? I've always loved music since I was a little kid. I started DJing when I was 13. If my grandparents had a wedding anniversary, I was the performer when I was two or three years old. I've always been like the center of the show. I ended up going to college at USC and started putting out little covers. I was going through my first breakup, so I had this idea to make three EPs about the journey through that breakup: finding someone, finding myself, and then finding something new. On the other end of that process, I thought I was just gonna go to law school, but people started to really like the music by the time “i hate u, i love u” came out. I had a record deal with Atlantic and I guess I'm an artist. That's where the universe put me. I dealt with inevitable imposter syndrome and all the things that come from that. I'm just extremely grateful at the end of the day. How did you meet Olivia O'Brien who's featured on “i hate u, i love u”? Olivia covered my first single, and I heard it was like, wow, this person's voice is amazing. We connected over that. She started sending me demos. One of them was “i hate u, i love u” . I thought it was incredible. Her dad brought her down to LA, and we recorded it. I put my verse on it, and I dropped it hoping to drive her a bunch of fans cause I was ready to throw in the towel on the gnash project and just kind of develop her as an artist. Then it did really well and all of a sudden everybody was looking at me and her. We met through music. I loved that you helped you use your platform to help a small artist grow. What does your ideal studio session look like? What does your whole creative process look like? It happens here in this room. I write my stuff. I have a couple of key collaborators that I tend to cycle back to. When I write for other people, I usually like to play a middleman between the artist and a producer. I play a little bit of songwriter, production, and kind of just giving pointers. I can only really work in house setups. I like a good studio hang from time to time. I feel the most comfortable here at home. If you could choose anywhere in the world to perform, where would it be and why? Usually, the places that I'm most excited to go to, the shows are not the most fun. I haven't done any in Sweden. I'd be open to that. There have been a couple of really cool venues that I love. When we go to Brussels, we play in this very cool botanical garden venue that's a part of this garden. I love playing the Roxy. My favorite place to perform is here at home with my pets. We make up songs. all the time for them. They all have nicknames obviously. It's all like a moment of inspiration, funny songs. Those are my favorite venues: kitchen, bedroom, and front yard while I'm watering the garden is nice. That is hilarious. What is your favorite thing about being a musician and what's your favorite thing about music? I don't actually consider myself a musician. I consider myself someone who has listened to a lot of & loves songs. Being a musician gives me an opportunity to share my opinion. It kind of is this selfish and selfless process at the same time because it's cathartic for me. It’s how much music can mean to people and how far music can reach. Maybe someone hasn’t used the Internet before, but they know who the Beatles are, you know? That's a beautiful thing about music. It’s one of the oldest forms of creative expression. Music has been here forever, and it will be here forever. I'm just a little tiny part of that story. I'm a grain of sand in the beach of music. Also, I just wanted to share that there's an amazing animal organization that we're gonna be working with on this project called “Best Friends Animal Sanctuary” which is leading the end of kill shelters in America by 2025. They have a wonderful sanctuary in Utah that we went and visited. We're really obsessed with them. I'm a big supporter of animal adoption and all of our pets are rescues. Just wanted to put a little seed in someone's brain that maybe they could. The place feels like a national forest when you go. There are sanctuaries for different types of animals: dogs, cats, pigeons, lizards, ferrets, etc. They put them in habitats that are natural for them because basically, the sanctuary is where animals go when they can't be adopted and they need special medical care. This organization refuses to put animals down so they will send them to the sanctuary to be cared for forever. The food is completely vegan and it's just a wonderful experience. They have tours you can do and you can meet the animals. We had a great time. A whole era of my life is finding ways to give back directly and animals are huge for me. Eventually, my dream would be to have a studio at the Utah location. Artists could go and they have a hotel. I'd love to make one of the rooms a studio and name it after Hazy. Then artists can go and they can help with the animals and can record and then kind of do it as a trade. Amazing, I'm gonna look them up. That is really cool. It was so great to meet you. Thank you so much for your time! Yeah, of course. Thank you!