Young artist, producer and songwriter Asha Imuno will accompany Austin-based artist BLK ODYSSY on his upcoming “The Fantasy House Tour,” which stops in Austin this Saturday at Antone’s Nightclub. Their tour follows the 22-year-old from Southern California’s South By Southwest festival debut in Austin this past spring and the artist’s increasing music experimentation. The Daily Texan spoke with Imuno about his latest work.
The Daily Texan: You rap, sing and produce music. Which came first?
Asha Imuno: Music production definitely came first… I originally just wanted to produce for other artists, but in my area, it was hard to find people. I started rapping because I wanted to hear full songs… Toward the end of high school, I started singing, too. It has been this wave back and forth… I’m arriving back at the point where I’m getting back behind the boards, producing full songs, writing for other people and just doing it all at once.
DT: What sparked your passion for creating music?
AI: I had a super musical family. My brother was a rapper, my uncle was a producer and I was in a music program as a kid so I wanted to do film score composition. I would watch all my favorite animated movies and listen to the scores as much as I was watching the characters… That opened my mind up to the colors of music. I started to blur the line in my mind between (music such as) the “Spirited Away” film score and Tyler, the Creator’s Wolf… I (had) a curiosity (to understand music).
DT: You recently released a new single, “eXCiTING :),” which feels different from your previous album, PINS & NEEDLES. What inspired this change, and what can be expected from your upcoming EP, BLKSUGAR?
AI: That’s a sound I’ve been experimenting with for a while, that I love… A lot of the new music has that uptempo, industrial feel. It’s an R&B, futuristic funk and soul take on trap… Lyrically and melodically, it’s a different direction than I’ve taken before. (It’s a) stream of consciousness… Whatever comes upon me in the moment… (BLKSUGAR) is an experience that is very visceral, visual and dynamic… It’s going to all feel like something new.
DT: You made your South by Southwest debut this year. As an artist, how does it feel to reach a milestone like that?
AI: It was crazy. It was my first time in Austin, too. (There was) so much love there… I always wanted to go (to SXSW) as a kid.
DT: What do you most look forward to as you accompany BLK ODYSSY on his North American tour?
AI: (I look forward to) sharing the stage with some of my favorite musicians working right now. I’ve been listening to (BLK ODYSSY’s) music for a while, and they’re another artist I would name as somebody that really inspires me… The whole experience around this being my second tour, this being the longest tour so far — we’re just going in with a little bit of a head change. I’m always trying to steal the show, so we’ve got to come with something creative, something different. And it’s been so much fun getting prepared for it.
