The Evolution of the Rose is an appropriate title for an artist always looking for ways to bring their art to the next level. Multi-platinum artist Lil Skies demonstrates that constant state of evolution on the 14-track burst of eclectic energy that is The Evolution of the Rose, which is out now from Big Noise Music Group. With elements of hip-hop, emo, and pop, the genre-diverse record is dedicated to an expansive sense of artistic expression. Songs like “Burn” and “2Much2Fast” with their big, emo-inspired hooks from Landon Cube demonstrate an ability to touch hearts while tracks like “Ganja” and “Benjis” demonstrate a talent for a well-deserved hip-hop bravado.
“A lot of my stuff, my older projects and stuff from my older music, I was just like freestyling going off the top of my head,” explains Skies about his past material. “But this album, I really put thought into, and I sat there and wrote every single thing and took everything into detail, and was very picky about what songs I put on the project and stuff like that.”
Helping with that thoughtfulness about the album is the influence of producer John Feldmann. Known in the rock world as the frontman for ska-punk project Goldfinger, Feldmann’s production work spans a number of big hit pop projects ranging from Matt Skiba-era Blink-182 to Avril Lavigne to 5 Seconds of Summer. “John is crazy,” Skies exclaims about his producer. “I never seen him sad or down or nothing. He’s got all this energy in the world. He’s always excited and ready to work. So it just like it hypes me up when I get with him in the studio. He was giving me new beats, beats that I never really worked on before or tried but, at the same time, still make it be me. Like what I talked about, relatable music for the people as well. So it was a good challenge.”
Known for his abilities as a co-writer and for his almost magical ability to get the best writing out of other people, Feldmann’s influence can be felt in how he coaxed the best work out of Lil Skies. “When I go (into the studio with John), we normally do at least three songs every session,” Skies recalls. “I might go in there and thinking, damn, I don’t got nothing in my mind, like, I don’t know what I’m gonna say, or I ain’t feeling this today, but then I come up with stuff, and then we get three songs done an hour. It just be fun; it’s magical.”
As for now, Skies remains focused on building his fanbase, but also itches to put out new music as soon as possible. “(With) this album, I gained some new fans,” Skies says. “So I’m thankful for that. If you could put that in the interview, I’m thankful for the new fans I gained, because some people never listen to my music and heard this kind of music. So that’s cool, getting new fans. But still hopefully, before the year’s up, (I might) drop another project. I feel like the more I drop at this point, the better it’s going to do. So I just kind of want to keep my foot on the gas on that aspect.”
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Photo Credit: Nick Jandora
