The Panther Exclusive: B.o.B aka Bobby Ray
By: Anastasia Semien
Issue date: 2/2/10 Section: Arts & Entertainment
|
And he doesn't enjoy confinement- especially when it comes to his style of music. "I feel like my style is many styles. I don't even feel like my style would be a style. I don't know- I feel like even me saying it's a mixture of like rock and R&B and rap and rock is kind of limiting it because I don't necessarily go for a certain type of style. It's just whatever comes out," said the 21-year-old Atlanta rapper, who is steadily making a name for himself in the national music scene.
"So I may do something and it'll come out straight rap, but it wouldn't show every genre. Then I may do another song and it'll be straight rock. Or I may do another song and it'll be reggae and R&B. So it just kind of varies depending on how I feel and what the situation is," he said.
The thing that sets B.o.B apart from other young artists is his constant defiance of the current definition of southern hip-hop. He shows the world with each extraterrestrial verse, concept and performance that southern rap is not one but many things. It can be as diverse and out of this world as the artist desires.
Even though B.o.B has a much to celebrate, including his national hits "I'll Be in the Sky" and "Haterz Everywhere," his being on the cover of a XXL magazine's "The 10 Freshmen: Hip-Hop's Class of '09 Attacks" issue, being recognized by other major media outlets such as VIBE magazine, BET and MTV and most importantly, the immense, yet extraordinary mark he is making on the entertainment industry, he is determined never to get complacent.
"I have the same type of motivation that I did when I was an open mic artist and I was like, 'Man, I gotta do better,'" he said.
"It's that same voice in my head like 'Man, you gotta do better.' I'm grateful for everything. I look back and realize that I've grown, but that voice is still there. It stays there, so I never get too comfortable," he added.
He encouraged up and coming artists to remain loyal to themselves and to their personal development. "You have to be true to yourself. You have to really grow as a person to be able to reflect what you do, because your artistry is a direct reflection of your personality," he said.
