What’s your stage name and where are you from?

My name is Xavior Black, and I’m from Fort Lauderdale, FL.

What’s the story behind your stage name?

My stage name is actually an English translation of my real name, with some symbolism added in.

Describe your musical journey in three sentences.

Hip hop is my body. Classical music is my mind. Jazz is my soul.

Share an interesting experience you had while creating your latest track.

My latest track, When A Good Dream Ends, was a first for me – it was the first time I’ve written and recorded spoken word poetry. Normally, I’ve already worked out the lyrics, I’ve composed most of the music, and I’ve clocked the sequencing of my productions before I go to the studio, but since the spoken word I wrote was not synced to the music in the same way that rap lyrics are synced over hip hop rhythms, the track felt far more chaotic and improvisational in terms of how I needed to approach the layout of the song at the studio. It was nice stretching myself to do something different like that – to basically experiment and build it all on the spot.

What message do you want to convey through your music?

I wanted my new project to be a reflection of how I, and many others, feel about what is happening right now, from both a personal and collective standpoint. There’s a duality in the album that wrestles with attempts to keep inner peace during external chaos.

Tell us about a challenge you faced during production and how you overcame it.

Outside of When A Dream Ends, the production recordings themselves went very smoothly (I have my friend and colleague Marc Karmatz at Insane Sounds studio to thank for much of that). The final mix and mastering posed an interesting challenge in terms of getting the vocals to have a sonic through-line: Since two tracks involve rapping and the third song has spoken word, we had to take care to ensure the qualities of the vocals worked from track to track.

If you could collaborate with any artist, who would it be and why?

I’m a huge fan of Raffy Bushman (jazz pianist) and Yazz Ahmed (jazz trumpeter). Raffy has this uncanny ability to fuse hip hop rhythms with amazing jazz compositions, and Yazz Ahmed’s texturing and coloring has long been an inspiration to me.

Where do you see your music taking you in the next year?

I’m very interested in expanding on the ideas behind track two from the new EP (American Dream) and pushing them further into the punk realm.

What’s the next big step for you as an artist?

Time will tell! I like to stay focused on the now. Let’s build, step by step.

Where can we hear/watch your most recent work?

The new EP is exclusively on Bandcamp. Link below:

https://xaviorblack.bandcamp.com/album/meditations-dreams