By Damilola Grey
Dami: What pushed you to start making music?
Notty Taylor: I was most directly inspired to do music by Terence “t.ANT” Pitchford. We from the same neighborhood, and he was the first person that I knew that had his own clothing line, and rapped on his own beats. The first person popping his shit for real, and who embodied what an artist is. He taught me everything I know. Being inspired by OutKast, Lil Wayne, and T.I early on in my youth pushed me to become more of a fan and student of music. Then when Kanye West and Drake broke through, it gave me a different type of inspiration. I actually saw myself a major label artist for the first time and wanted to create music that felt like theirs.
Dami: With all these inspirations, how would you now describe your sound?
Notty Taylor: Ideally, the journey I’m on right now has a destination of making sounds that feel like late nights in a city near you.
Dami: Is there anything else that inspires you when making music apart from the intention of making soothing, mellow tracks?
Notty Taylor: My environments inspire me every day. Whatever it is I’m currently experiencing or have past experiences with, I try to draw from creatively.
Dami: How are you able to handle growth as an artist while sticking to your sound?
Notty Taylor: Keeping the Purple Room Creative family as close as possible. Having a support system is important, and I work with extremely talented creatives and visionaries.
Dami: Can you tell us more about the Purple Room Creative?
Notty Taylor: Purple Room Creative is best described as an idea(s) company that was founded by me and t.ANT. Everything from creative design, culture curation, fashion, food, live performances, music, production and videography. Literally everything.
Dami: On your previous projects like Cutlass, Getmethru, and Nottyhrs, you’ve kept your sound while adding elements of other sounds too. Should we expect more from future projects?
Notty Taylor: Every project is an extension of me and t.ANT and what we’ve built. Overall, I stay the same but how I’m feeling at any given time is subjective. The music has to embody that. I’ve never heard the same exact sound from CD to CD or even song to song from Ye. He’s always finding new ways to express himself, so a lot of his most ambitious ideas drive us to do the same things: create with boundaries.
Dami: Can you tell us more about NOTTOBER?
Notty Taylor: THANK ME Thursdays are back. It’s like a bonus season to the series.
Dami: Tell us more about THANK ME Thursdays?
Notty Taylor: I’ve been doing these runs since 2018, where we drop something new from Notty Taylor every week for 2-3 months straight. New concepts, flows, and styles- new everything. Vault therapy.
Dami: You’re starting it with a single titled “Driveway”. What should we expect from it?
Notty Taylor: It sounds like a late night in a city near you. Styles and flows. Fun and to the point.
Dami: What has been the most challenging part of being an artist?
Notty Taylor: Funding my ideas.
Listen to “DRIVEAWAY” by Notty Taylor HERE.
ROUNDHOUSE MUSIC 