Life & Work with Josiah of Buckeye

Today we’d like to introduce you to Josiah.

Hi Josiah, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I’ve always been a very creative person. Even in grade school I would be apart of the theatre programs and loved writing poetry and song lyrics to “type beats” on YouTube and SoundCloud. Me and one of my closest friends, David, would hang out at a park or one of our houses and just share lyrics we thought of and would try give eachother input. I’ve always appreciated his opinions on my artistic works, I hold them in very high regard, not only because he has an open mind but because if it wasn’t for him learning how to mix and master through Fl Studio first (which is one of many DAWS) i wouldn’t have picked up on making my music as quickly or have been as confident in what I produced, because I was using a very different DAW when I started out called Audacity. Honestly not a bad free-to-use program for music but can’t take you as far like other paid ones can. All in all, I’ve always had the need to express my self artistically, because in my eyes it’s the most open and honest I can be. After I graduated though I chose to focus the majority of my creative effort on music as I felt like it was the most DIY thing I could do, I have complete freedom in what I sought out to do. Although, I love implementing other mediums into my musical projects, such as film and photography. Another huge inspiration and good friend to me is my homie Auntie Killian, who actually introduced me to a lot of other artists who were passionate like me, and he also made every music video I have posted for my projects. His creative direction and ability to adapt to any situation is unmatched. His ability is something I truly took note of and apply to my endeavors today. I haven’t officially put out an album or song in almost 2 years, which isn’t a big deal in the grand scheme of things but it worth keeping in mind to light a fire under me, which is why I started exploring other artistic avenues such as painting, story writing, and acting again. With acting I have to be able to provide my help and abilities to a project that is beyond just me or any one person. It’s great and very much important to be able to be of service to others. It’s a give and a take and it’s actually helped me come closer to finishing up an album I’ve been working on that I’ve been pretty quiet about. I’ve just been taking my time with it because I’ve had days where I’m completely blocked and can’t get a cohesive message across in my music, and I just want to cry out of frustration. Consistency is one thing but burning yourself out is another. So my new album won’t be out until end of this year or January of next. “Captain Master” is the name.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Most of my struggles and hardships came in the form of simply not being able to come up with anything worth continuing. Ironically, I feel like overthinking kept me stagnant. Like if I can’t see the next 20 steps ahead after this move, then that move is a waste and I give up, instead of just taking it one step at a time, little by little. And I feel like I’ve been feeling like a narcissist in some way for even pursuing music. Because I can tell you “this is for me, I don’t care if I make it or if people see me” all I want and convince myself of that but at the end of the day I’m seeking some sort of validation through this, and I want the applause and praise even though that doesn’t have to be the main reason. Sometimes this artistic stuff can be so self-serving and it’s had an effect of making me a bit disillusioned in it all. With that being said, I also have been having the worst anxiety these days and will trip over the smallest things, making me fall into a total slump about myself. These things can be fixed with modern medicine and God but I think actively seeking these things and admitting that you need that help is almost half the battle. First world problems, I don’t know.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I am an artist, through and through, but I mostly pursue self-expression through music. I don’t really care what I’m called—rapper, singer, songwriter, musician, etc. I’m just here. But I am glad I’ve been able to gather an audience through my music and people who actually show love and show up for what I put my best foot forward in. I think being acknowledged and respected artistically is one of the best feelings for me. When I get a message or sometime telling me in-person that they miss hearing new things from me, that means a lot. I believe the most-liked project I have is “October Money!” or “Lemme Dance” because of how many different styles I’m able to pull off and the clear focus and relatability within those projects. I also had the mindset of drawing in the most listeners I could with those projects, in contrast to my latest album “It’s a different kind of grief we share honey” because I didn’t really care about attracting a variety of people, I just had things to get off my chest with that album. Kind of a “one for them, one for you” type of deal. I truly believe that my absolute adoration and love for art and the freedom it brings sets me apart from others, because i believe you can feel that in that creative work I do. Even for my music, i utilize my love for visual media and film for any music videos I do or audio clips that Implement in my songs. Also, I reach out to different visual artists for the cover art on my albums. I just have such artistic collaboration for the sake of making a great project.

Are there any books, apps, podcasts or blogs that help you do your best?
The Bible app is very helpful because without that anchor I don’t think I’d be able to function properly for anything, much less my creative endeavors. But also there’s a channel on YouTube called Horses that does a great job in the covering historical and literary topics. Me and my cousin love that channel. Watching that helps me relax and figure out what theme I’m trying to go for in my songs. I’m not sure why though. I’ve recently seen an article that’s been floating around and being talked about on social media that says that scrolling through social media for a long period of time, like doom scrolling for instance, has a negative impact on the brain similar to alcohol and drugs. This is weird to me because doom-scrolling actually helps me out in my music I believe. I’m inspired all the time by random things I see on the internet. That definitely bleeds into music and has been for a while now. So I don’t know, I’m gonna need confirmation on that study.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://solo.to/prettyghetto
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/somebrownkidddd/?hl=en

Image Credits
Auntie Killian
BrassTuna
Pauly Steez
Yaoting Wang