Interviews

Published on April 19th, 2020 | by Marilyn Reles

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A Q&A With Seattle Rapper MariBased1

Hailing from the Pacific Northwest, MariBased1 has held his weight with previous releases airing on BET Jams, while garnering over one million views cross-platform. His newest single, “Mystery Girl” dropped on March 23rd; produced by DJ Funk Daddy, the song comes off of his sophomore project  “MARIOTTO2”. I had a chance to sit down with MariBased1 to talk about Seattle’s music scene, his creative process and more!

Tell us a little bit about Seattle’s music scene. How do you feel living in Seattle has affected you creatively?

The Seattle Music scene is dope as hell! There’s a wide variety of talent out here in Seattle. What I like the most about the Seattle music scene is everybody is diverse, nobody sounds alike and everybody has their own unique sound. I feel like living in Seattle has effected me creatively by showing me the type of music my region pertains to. Such as Rock n Roll, Pop, & the street music. So I incorporated some of that style into my music by using Electric guitars and funkier beats. I created my own sound called “The Northern Flow”

You’ve experienced a lot of success in your career. Tell us about a memorable moment that stands out to you the most.

The most memorable moment that stands out to me the most is receiving a plaque from my label (BJNJEntertainment) for one million views on YouTube on my song Score’n. I appreciate them for acknowledging and recognizing my achievements and hard work! you gotta understand man we are independent from Seattle Washington ya feel me. We working teamwork there’s no I in TEAM. A couple honorable mentions: Going on tour performing on the Blueface ‘Find The Beat Tour’, Having 3 of my music videos being played on BETjams (Bouncin, Score’n, & Mystery Girl) charting on the DRT CHARTS top 200 top 50 top 150 indie charts just to name a few

What was the inspiration behind your new single/video “Mystery Girl”? We’d love to learn more.

My inspiration behind Mystery Girl was honestly my grandma Ma Smith. We was both sitting at the kitchen table just talking about life and I kept looking at her sweat shirt. Her sweat shirt had “Mamma keep ya head up” printed on the front of it. Me and my grandma Ma Smith always chop it up and have a few laughs you know laughter is good for the soul gotta keep our elder’s souls youthful. At the time I was in the middle of creating a new sound/wave and that quote on my grandma Ma Smith sweater kept popping up in my head, so I ran with it. I created a positive song about women empowerment young and old the reality/realness on what really goes on with in the inner cities and the rest of world. My goal was to create something for women young and old of the world to feel and relate to. And maybe even trickle down to the men aswell who mother sister grandmother or aunty raised them.

Do you work with several different producers and do you ever produce your own music?

Right now I only work with 2 producers out here in Seattle, DJFunkDaddy & BrandonTheProducer. Them two produced majority of every track on my latest album (MARIOTTO2). I’ve never produced my own music but I co-engineer my own music.

Tell us about the journey to your debut album. What was the creative process like and how long did it take you to put it together?

The journey to my debut album MARIOTTO2 was crazy. I went to the drawling board plenty of times because I was all over the place with it. It took me awhile  to finish the whole entire album. i wanted mariotto2 ti be special and one of a kind Throughout my process of creating the album I was going back and forth with my pop rock style of music and regular hip hop beats. But once I created a couple pop Rock songs. I knew that was a lane I wanted to dabble in because the sound was original and organic that northern flow vibe out the n.w  region I live. All you gotta do is stream or buy my album and listen to Score’n, No Chill, or One Million and you’ll see/hear what I’m talking about.

What have you been up to during quarantine and what do you most look forward to when the world opens back up?

Man during this quarantine I’ve just been staying out the way. Staying at home, consistently washing my hands, making sure I stay sanitized! This Covid-19 isn’t no joke! Mariotto2 album release concert covid series on Facebook & IG since the venues are closed down in seattle and surrounding cities. I’ve been working on new music as well. Making sure I keep new hits in the vault. When the world opens back up I mostly look forward to getting back on the road doing shows in different cities and promoting my album to the streets.

What are your dream cities to tour through? If you could go on tour today, where would you go?

My dream cities to tour in are Honolulu, Tokyo, Miami, LA, & Dubai, shoot all the places that are sunny. And if I could go on tour today honestly I think I’d hit Hawaii first just because it would be like going on a mini vacation.

What is next for the rest of 2020? We’d love to learn more about what you have in the pipeline.

What’s next for the rest of 2020 is more music videos dropping, more press releases, I have an EP on the way, I’m working on another album as we speak and more shows!  Y’all can follow me and my journey on all social media: Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, Soundcloud, Youtube and Facebook @MARIBASED1 & my label on Twitter, Youtube, FB, IG @MrBenjamin2008. Make sure you buy & stream my new album MARIOTTO2 available now on all streaming platforms such as Apple, itunes Spotify, Tidal, Amazon, Jpay etc.. Seattle Music Is Real!



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