Interview: Colt Williams Talks About the Music Video For "Evolve", Off His EP "LAJ"
If you had to describe your music to a stranger in three words, which ones would you select?
Thoughtful, Personal, and Dope of course.
We're huge fans of your single/music video "Evolve"; tell us about your creative process for the development of the song itself, and who produced it?
Thank you. The talented NK Music produced the song. Some may know that name from a lot of lo-fi and chill music playlists on Spotify and Youtube.
Anyways, this was early in the planning for the EP and I was just getting beats together. I was looking for a particular sound, a particular mood that I wanted to evoke. I was on Youtube listening to one of those chill/study playlists and this name kept coming up and the beats were so smooth and something to vibe to. I went to their page and began listening and there was one in particular that caught my attention. The rest is the “LAJ” EP.
The visual matches the song perfectly; how did you and the director, Ryan Sellers, come up with its treatment? Also, why did you choose to film a video for this song?
Surprisingly it was one of my coworkers who listened to the EP that influenced me to make some visuals for the song. Ryan and I know each other through his cousin that I went to school with so the connection was easy. I had already known that he made music videos and other types of media like movies and gaming stuff for some time now so why not keep it in the circle? We got together, had a brainstorming session and came up with the story beat for beat, scene for scene, basically going through what we thought could work and what wouldn't work. The end product is something amazing that I am proud to share with everyone.
"Evolve" appears on your 4-track EP "LAJ"; how long did the project take to complete, and were there songs that did not make the final track list?
The project took a little bit to finish up. The recording was easy, but putting together all of my thoughts and feelings from that situation into music form took some time. There was a lot of bringing up past memories and hurt that went into it. Whenever you get your heart broken it takes you to a dark place. If you don't get help or deal with it, it's like you can find yourself constantly falling down a hole.
This project and the therapy it provided me with getting all of my feelings about the situation out was like grabbing a rock and climbing myself out of that hole. We Hurt, we Evolve, we Accept, we Live. We HEAL.
With the "Evolve" visual now released, what are some of your goals musically for the remainder of 2021?
For 2021 I'm focused on the new EP “Expensive Tastes” releasing and to keep pushing the video and that project. I might release some more stuff before year's end. Who knows?
What are your thoughts about the state of rap music in Upper Darby/Philly metro in 2021? Would you say that it is in a good space heading into 2022?
I would say that it's in good hands. There's a lot of talent looking to make moves going into 2022. I think people tend to downplay or look over the influence and part that this area has played in hip-hop over the years. Like 3 Stacks at the Source Awards though, we got something to say!