Exploring the Journey of Rituals of Mine: An Electronic R&B Project with Heart and Depth

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Can you introduce your project Rituals of Mine?

Rituals of Mine is an electronic r&b music project that has evolved a lot over the years. The project has involved a number of vital individuals but is now a solo artist project. I'm heavily influenced by trip-hop, electronic music, and r&b. I've always viewed Rituals of Mine as an outlet where my love for music and passion for social justice issues can intersect.

Head On has such a powerful energy—how does it stand on its own compared to the themes you explored in HYPE NOSTALGIA? Was creating this single a different process or mindset for you?

Head On actually started as a completely different song with a much darker energy. My producer Wes Jones and I wrote the original Head On in a recording session in FL back in 2022 and loved it but it didn't quite feel "ready". He then reworked it one day and completely switched it up to a more UK garag-esque house beat and I fell in love with it. I love when higher energy/lighter tracks are paired with darker lyrics (one of my favorite things) so it was a perfect combination of both and I just the love the vibe. This track is for night drives with your friends or solo - one to gaze out into the open sky with and think about everything before you.

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In what ways has your personal identity influenced or reflected itself in your music and career so far?

I have only made music out of necessity - it's been my way of therapy for over a decade now. Writing music is how I process traumas and events that have occured in my life so creating is a very sacred thing to me. I usually write from my own personal experiences and that helps me understand the world, my world a bit better. I'm also heavily influenced by the social issues that happen around us and to the communities I am a part of so that inherently has always inspired my music and the videos that accompany it. I very much identify as an artist/activist and have always tried to use any platform I have to speak up for those that don't often get heard - whether that's through song, social media, on stage, etc.

Expressing such deep and raw emotions can be heavy and take a toll, how do you overcome this and keep yourself cared for?

Mental health is really important to me. I'm very open online about taking care of yourself and how I deal with depression and anxiety. Using music as an outlet for so many years did really help me cope in the moment but as I get older, I realized I needed more tools and resources outside of music. I didn't want to use music as a crutch anymore. I wanted to start going to therapy, finding proper medication, and meditating so that I could use music in a new way and come to writing with a sense of joy instead of pain. I'm still figuring that last part out.

How did your collaborations with Wes Jones and Dev the Goon come about? How did you know they were right for the project?

I've worked with Wes Jones since 2011 and I feel like we get each other, we understand one another, and we want to push the project as far as we can creatively always. I love his mind, his musical sense, and I feel very understood when creating with him in the studio. He's actually produced every Rituals of Mine release to date.

Dev aka Devowr is a longtime friend now that I met through Wes back in St. Augustine, FL during a studio session. He is insanely talented and a prodigy honestly. We immediately connected and it was a no-brainer to have him involved in the production of HYPE NOSTALGIA. Since that release, we've worked on quite a few tracks and he'll hopefully be a part of the next ROM release in 2025.

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I am so excited to hear what you have planned next! any chance you can give us a little sneak peak into what you're working on?

I'm actually flying out ot FL next month to work on the next ROM release. We have a lot of songs already finished and so this session will likely be dialing in the sound for the next release and also seeing if we can create some new material together.

Finally, here at Pop Palace, we all have our own little 'Royal Court' of artists who inspire us and keep us going. So, if you could build your own musical palace, who would be sitting on your throne, and who would be in your royal court of all-time favorite artists?

I love this question! Bjork would have to be the Queen of my musical palace - no doubt. She's my idol for music and life honestly. I'd have to also throw in Portishead, SZA, Charli XCX, Sampha, FKA Twigs, and Fiona Apple.