Black women have been the highlight of this year’s music scene following the need to treat them with respect and love them even more for who they are and their creativity. Quarantine changed a lot of people’s perspective on life and other things. One of the many people whose creativity was influenced by the quarantine is Brooklyn hip-hop artist, Rocky Snyda.
On her quest to explore different genres and tell her story, Rocky composed a 10-track project titled “TRYPOP”.
Rocky answered 7 questions, telling us more about her attempt to TRY POP.
Rocky Snyda is a very striking name. Who is behind the name ‘Rocky Snyda’? Tell us a bit about yourself.
RS: Raquella George—my real name—is behind the name Rocky Snyda. Little Rocky from Flatbush: Snyder and Tilden to be exact. Hence, “Snyda”. I am a Capricorn with a love for musical theatre, my Caribbean (Haitian) family, finding innovative ways to do things and creating music that tells stories and makes you feel something. At least, that’s what I attempt to do.
What influenced the move to transition from hip-hop to pop. You left your comfort zone to do something different, and how difficult was it?
RS: I wouldn’t say I left my comfort zone. People, who know me personally, know that I’ve always explored genres for years. I’ve been writing all types of music. The world just wasn’t able to hear it before now. My hip-hop allows me to do that because it’s not confined. It explores theatrics. It explores melodies and things.
Tell us about TRYPOP? What went into the making of the entire project?
RS: We like to call the project a “quarantine baby”. I created one song and it felt good. I was encouraged to keep going in that direction by my good friend and business partner Jayprob. The first song that was created was “Build-A-Boy” before we even knew that TRYPOP was going to be a thing. Then, I created more music, that was exploring that sound and that side of me. Little before I knew it, I had an entire project. I, then, approached Ocean Cat and was like, what do you think? What can we do with this? I just knew he’d be the right person to string this together, to make it sound its best. Then, we worked diligently back-and-forth via Zoom, call, text and email for about a month. I want to say [it was] a month and a week, or two before we were ready to submit it to distribution.
This year has been tough for everyone, was this project inspired by any of your experiences throughout the year?
RS: A lot of this project is based on relationships that I’ve had throughout the years, including this one. Yes, quarantine does put a strain on romantic relationships.
Track 4 is titled “Pain Management”. Was the song written from a place of pain, a personal experience or just musical vibes?
RS: Honestly, I really don’t remember the place that I was in when I wrote “Pain Management”. I want to say that it was based on me feeling bad in a relationship that I loved. The highs and lows of a really passionate relationship.
It’s been over a month since “TRYPOP” was released, how has the reception been? Do you think transitioning to Pop was a good move or a wrong one?
RS: I think the reception has been pretty good. This project has allowed for a lot of dialogue with the people I know and I. People that I don’t know are reaching out to tell me that they took the time to listen. People are sharing what they thought about it. This also allows me to experiment further in the future. It just gives me a wider range of the things that I can do and allows me to connect with different brands now. I think that it widens the playing field.
Listen here