RAMILOU

Some musicians write about falling in love, and others about heartbreak. For local hip-hop, R&B and trap musician Ramilou, it’s the heartbreak — and the pain and depression that go along with it — that provides the primary inspiration for his songs.

“That’s just my vibe,” he said, “I think that’s my best music, whenever I write about that type of stuff. It’s just me; that’s the artist that I am. That’s what people like to listen to, so that’s what I’m going to keep on making.”

Even if the young rapper has a go-to topic, he says that his tracks never begin with the lyrics. It always has to start with the beat, which he enlists from other people.

“Whenever I look for a beat, it’s got to click with me right away,” Ramilou said. “If I hear a really good beat, that I’m really vibing with, then I barely even write my lyrics.”

And even though his songs begin with the beat, which come from collaborations with other artists, Ramilou maintains creative control for the end product. He writes, mixes, and masters all of his own tracks. Last week, he released his latest heartbreak hit, called “Hurt Now”. Despite his relatively new appearance on the music scene, the track garnered over 6,000 listens in just two days.

“That was the fastest pace a song’s ever gone up for me,” he said.

But he hopes that success will only grow. With hard work, and some good contacts, Ramilou has big dreams for his future.

“I’m just going to continue to keep on working, putting out music, network with bigger artists, and just keep on growing,” he said. “Hopefully I start reaching out to [record labels], start working my way up and start making big money off this stuff, and just make it my full-time lifestyle.”

As a musician who is newer to the industry himself, Ramilou has some words of advice for anyone else wanting to get started with their own music career.

“You’re going to get haters, you’re going to get people that are going to talk bad about you, definitely going to get people that laugh at you,” he said. “You got to make sure that when you want to do this, to just be confident — not cocky or arrogant, but be confident in your craft. And make sure when you tell people about it, that you keep that confidence, because if you don’t believe in yourself, then nobody’s going to believe in you.” - WABE: Where Atlanta Meets NPR