Up and coming Irish Hip-hop sensation Flexx Carter recently released his newest offering “Datenight”. We had the opportunity to chat with Flexx about the new single and other aspects of his journey to date.
Alan: Congratulations on the release of “Datenight”. What was the motivation behind the track and how excited were you to work with Chris Kabs?
Flexx: Datenight was pretty much born from the idea of searching for somebody online but then realizing that I much prefer communicating in person and that people are so much better in person than some online marketplace for “love” haha. Working with Chris was so cool man, I learned so much from that dude, I still do. I know I’ll work with him again when the times right, but even on set of the music video was just good fun and positive vibes, that’s what we’re about
Alan: What are your plans for the rest of the year? How are you planning on ending the year strong?
Flexx: I’m going to focus on doing live shows and also getting my work out to the mainstream so that next year I can become a household name in Ireland at the very least. I’m also going to be finishing a few tracks I’m working on at the moment so that next year I can really take over and push this whole thing to a level that’s never been seen before and inspire people to have a crazy life full of fun. I truelly believe I can do that.
Alan: How do you hope the listeners feel after listening to Date Night?
Flexx: To be honest I hope they feel interested in checking out my other stuff and following me to keep up to date with what I’m doing. My whole thing is inspiring others and making people happy. Streams are amazing and I love making the music, but when someone says you made them feel good or change something in their lives in a positive way (which I have gotten quite a lot) it just feels euphoric. I want to be a real life superhero pretty much haha.
Alan: Your music blends traits of old-school hip-hop with modern influences. Who are some of your biggest inspirations, and how have they shaped your sound?
Flexx: That’s a good observation my man. I gotta say my biggest inspirations are people like biggie, 2pac, eminem and from the more modern era I have to say Mac Miller, Tyler the Creator and Kanye. None of those people ever cared what anybody thought of them, that’s me too, I don’t care, I just want to make people feel good. I also gotta give a shoutout to Kojaque, he’s dope as hell and he’s also Irish.
Alan: You’ve performed live for many different type of events. What has been your most memorable performance so far, and why?
Flexx: I absolutely adore performing live whether it’s a crazy venue or a small intimate one, but I have to say performing with King Kong Company was easily the most memorable. It was my first sold out show and the crowd was just insane. It was like a drug that no substance could ever re-create. I just need to keep doing that but on a bigger scale. That night was amazing.
Alan: Your track “Who’s Flexx” introduces listeners to the personality behind the music. How much of Cian Walsh do you think is in the Flexx Carter persona?
Flexx: Oh I’m loving these questions. I think Flexx Carter is a caricature of Cian Walsh. If Cian is happy, Flexx Carter is insanely happy. If Cian is mad Flexx is furious. That goes for sadness and hurt aswell. I think it’s just my way of expressing myself and getting my points across whilst also having fun. I always feel myself becoming more of the character the more music I make.
Alan: You also have tracks with a more serious theme, such as “Intentions.” What inspired you to dive into social commentary, and how do you balance it with the fun, carefree vibes of some of your other tacks?
Flexx: I like to think all of my tracks have a level of fun to them, sometimes even comedy. Intentions was kind of the first time I went totally serious and that was down to being quite annoyed personally at how certain things were handled by the government and how we were lied to and treated like guinea pigs. I’m sure I’ll ruffle a couple of feathers as I grow my following, but ain’t that art?
Alan: If you could collaborate with any artist—past or present—who would it be and why?
Flexx: I’ll keep this one short and sweet, I’ll say Kanye. We could get canceled together haha.
Alan: How does being from Waterford influence your music, especially within the local rap scene and broader Irish hip-hop scene?
Flexx: Well I’ve always said that nothing to do with my music is an act, it’s all real life experiences or its been inspired by real life experiences, I had a pretty good childhood and a cool upbringing, I never sold drugs because I never had too, and in terms of a past time it seems pretty boring. I think a lot of rappers put on the persona of what they think a rapper is. With me, I’m just somebody with a lot to say who enjoys rap music and happens to be good at making it. I want to change the world and music is the way I’ve been enabled to do that. Growing up in Waterford has thought me to not care about the negative things people will say about you when you try to make it somewhere, but on the flip side, it also showed me that when you do what you want, the people will support it and show love. I love a lot of people from Waterford, there’s some old school heart left in the city for sure, and they show me a lot of love.
Alan: What would you say is your biggest accomplishment so far this year?
Flexx: I would say getting featured in Hotpress Magazine. I was gifted one of those magazines a few months back and it’s still in my room to this day, I always said to myself I’ll be in this soon, and then a while back I was featured for my song “Datenight”, so that was a cool moment. I also had an interview with RTE which was pretty dope.
Alan: With hip-hop constantly evolving, how do you see your sound evolving over the next few years? Are there any genres or styles you’re eager to experiment with?
Flexx: I’ve actually always wanted to make a big club song, one that makes people go nuts in the nightclubs. One that when you hear the opening chord, people just lose their minds, so definitely a club/dance track, and I also love rock music. I’ve been kind of studying Axl Rose recently, he’s a cool dude, so maybe some hip-rock kind of mashup. Apart from that, I want to keep evolving my writing skills and delivery to blow people’s minds in hip-hop, people need to remember I’m only doing this whole music thing a couple of months.
Alan: Outside of music, what other passions or hobbies do you have that help fuel your creativity?
Flexx: My number 1 thing outside of music is hitting the gym. I workout pretty hard most days of the week. I would also recommend that to anybody, definitely creatives but not just creatives, we’re all humans we need to move. I feel so much better after a solid gym session. I also like gaming from time to time. Personally it resets my mind and gives me a breather.
Alan: As an up-and-coming artist, what has been your biggest challenge so far, and how have you overcome it?
Flexx: My biggest challenge was letting everybody know I’m going to be a rapper haha. My friends who knew me my whole life, my family, to turn to them 1 day and say “hey, I’m not going down the college route and getting a stable job, I’m actually going to become a rapper, oh and also I have a stage name” haha that’s exactly how it went, that’s insane, but I want my life to be insane, so once I got over that I truelly since then have believed that they’re are no such things as limits, we’re all just living a human experience, so have fun with it. Nobody here gets out alive.
Words – Alan Robinson @alan_robinson_photography
Main photo credit – Vaz @vaz.mann