01.Tell me a little about yourself, what do you do?

My name is Raymundo, from The Bronx. I’m a father, and a musician. Really, I’m just an artist. I paint, draw, make music, design clothes. I’ll try anything that allows me to express myself creatively.




02.How did you get into music?

Well my dad is a musician, he introduced music as a huge part of my life. He’s a producer so we spent a lot of time listening to beats, tracking samples to the original versions, just studying music as a whole. That’s what opened my ear up to different genres and helped me build my own taste for music. It wasn’t just hip hop for me.

03.What are your inspirations/how do you get inspired?

I’m inspired by life and different experiences I have. My peers have a greater effect on me than any artist. Whether it’s a conversation, spending time with my son, things that might go down in my family. I need to be touched by something personally to be able to draw from it and create.

“I need to be touched by something personally to be able to draw from it and create”

 

04.Whose one artist you would love to collaborate with? What artists do you look up to?

Timbaland. I feel like he could bring my music to a next level. He took Justin Timberlake from “Bye Bye Bye” to “Cry me a river” and “What goes around”. I would never have listened to a Nelly Furtado album before Tim. The way he can transform an artist’s sound and still keep it organic, it’s never forced.

Drake. He set the blueprint for being yourself and trying new things. I feel like a lot of artists get stuck on one sound and aesthetic and try to force it, he’s constantly innovating. He’s not afraid to go there with emotion, touch on some real life shit, make a dance track, or try to give you bars. I appreciate his multifaceted sound.

05.How do you feel your race and upbringing has influenced your music?

I’m Puerto Rican and Dominican. That has zero influence on my music if I’m being honest. It’s more my upbringing that’s molded basically all of my interests. I grew up on Watson Ave, I don’t speak Spanish AT ALL, my other Spanish friends were playing ball and listening to rap. Never bachata. So I was exposed to music like Michael Jackson, Jay Z, Kanye, Pharrell, Dipset, Usher, Anita Baker. My influence has always come from soul, rock, hip hop and r&b.

06.What’s your creative process?

I have to be going through something to write music. I can’t just up and write, I thrive on interpersonal exchanges. A lot of my songs are just rebuttals of conversations that I’ve had. So say I’m going through something with my fam, I get on the phone with my boy to talk about it. He could say 1 thing that will inspire a whole song. Conversations are crucial to my process. Then I’ll smoke some weed or get some liquor in my system, it’s the perfect recipe. I can lock in and write myself through a situation. It’s my therapy

07. Why do you feel like this is the right time to put out music?

The fucking stars aligned bro. It was just that time for me personally. A lot had transpired in my life that kinda made me find myself. I went through a bunch of eye opening shit and it was crazy. I had feelings I never thought I’d ever experience. That inspired the music, and now I had the time and space to really focus up and apply what I’ve learned. I linked up with my boy Tray and we started making the first real push to focus on the art in a way that I think I was too afraid to do before. Throughout that process I gained freedom of expression, and it helped me to build on relationships that I had maybe not been too careful with. Being away from my son and facing myself, knowing I was what was standing in between me and him, it just changed me. Me and Tray started to put the work in towards my career and it just seems like everything is falling into place. The business is going great, my relationships are stronger. It’s just that time for me.

08.What was your biggest learning moment ?

My biggest learning moment was making “Pick Me Up”. After we recorded, I felt like the world stopped. We sat in that studio for like 45 minutes fucking amazed at what we had just done. It was the first time I was able to channel my emotions into my work, and I knew what I needed to do from there. I found Raymundo’s formula. I’ve been making music for a while, but I never made my music. With a huge push from Tray because he didn’t accept anything from me. It was always “you need to be better, you need to be better”. Now I have MY sound and I’m gonna take it with me in everything I do.

09.When you aren’t making music what do you do?

I’m with my family. Trying to be a better father, better son, better brother, now I’m an uncle so I’m working on that too. I also paint, I draw, I like to utilize all of my time productively. If it’s not family time, or writing and recording, I’m working on other ventures with my team.

10.What does a regular day look like for you?

Stressful. I wake up to phone calls, emails, texts. A lot of searching for beats and making time in between catering to my son and my business. Juggling being dad and being Raymundo, because my son doesn’t give a fuck he just wants daddy to play. Then I go to work and I lock in on myself. I’m on a constant mission to inspire and be inspired. All while trying to be a better man.

11.If you could give your younger self some advice what would it be?

Use a condom, don’t put so much emphasis on basketball, be a little more understanding. Have more sympathy for people, try to be less hot headed, do better in school. Stop chasing girls and focus on your art. There’s enough time for that later in life.