Exclusive interview with A1

Born and raised in Ontario, A1 are an exciting Canadian rap duo that show raw emotions through every line in their lyrics – they burst onto the scene earlier this year and have been causing quite the stir since then, with their infectious melodic rap styling and cinematic visuals on fan-favorite tracks like ‘Margeila’ and ‘Safezone’. Made up of childhood friends Milly and Sincere, who’ve virtually become family, A1 began their journey into music at the age of eighteen, when they went into the studio for the first time – the rest as they say is history!

Today we had an exclusive chance to interview the duo:

Raptology: Who are A1?
Sincere: We are a music group, Milly and I (Sincere), coming out of Toronto, Canada.

Raptology: How did you come up with that name?
Sincere: You’ll always get the best of the best out of us. We know what we’re capable of, we know where we’re going and anything less doesn’t cut it.  

Raptology: Tell us about your latest release ‘Again’
Sincere: Again is about the experiences that we’ve both had with females that have come into our lives. It’s about having a connection with somebody who, due to whatever circumstances, may not be fully invested in you despite what they say. We know the feeling of hearing music that you could fully relate to, so we put our own real-life experiences into our music because we know there are others out there going through the same.

Raptology: Why did you first start making music?
Milly: Growing up, I always had a lot on my chest, and making music was like my release. A good friend of mine, who also made music, got killed which motivated me to take that extra step forward in this industry.

Raptology: Who would you say inspired you the most, as an artist?
Milly: The people I keep around me inspire me the most. I’m just one voice but I speak for 100 others through my music. I try to tell not just my story, but ‘our’ story; hoping it reaches out to millions of others who can relate.  

Sincere: Like Milly said, it’s the people I keep around me. There’s not one specific person that inspired me. I admire how certain people move, how they carry themselves. How certain people use their words when they speak, or how they use their words in their music.

Raptology: Talk us through your creative process.
Sincere: My notes app. If I’m in a conversation and something that’s said stands out, I’m pulling my phone out and writing it down. If I’m listening to music and I hear something I like, I’m writing it down. If I’m going through something, if someone around me is going through something, I’m writing it down. I just take from my life and use this process to just express how I feel about things that happen to me every day.

Milly: It’s a constant change. Sometimes we know what kind of sound we want to make, and other times we’re at the studio playing around until we find a note, string, or flow that sticks, and we run with it from there. It’s important to try new things that are totally left-field because you never know what might come out of it.

Raptology: Where and how do you work best?
Milly: Doesn’t really matter where I am as long as I’m somewhere comfortable with good energy around me, and I just move off of that. I try to pour how I feel into the mic without holding anything back. That’s what makes our music so authentic. I’ve written some of my best songs when I’m isolated somewhere, alone, and quiet where I could just transfer my feelings into words.

Sincere: Put me anywhere I’ll adapt. I’m a worker. If something needs to get done, distractions won’t stop me. I’ll find a way.

Raptology: Have you heard the theory that some musicians write their best music while they’re depressed or going through a bad time? What do you think?

Milly: Usually I write the best on my worst days. It’s the feeling you get when you turn the ugly pain into a beautiful song. That doesn’t mean you gotta be depressed to write a good song. Your team might have just won a championship, so you go write a championship hit. As long as you get your feeling across in a way where others could feel or relate to.

Sincere: A lot of people don’t speak on how they feel in general. Having music as your outlet works like therapy. It allows you to say things you wouldn’t usually say. When you’re put into that space, personally, I find ways to fully express what I’m feeling. I might be feeling depressed but you’re getting more than that. All those heavy feelings will have you expressing yourself in ways you never thought you could. It’s a blessing and a curse.

Raptology: What do you think is the most important thing you need to be an artist?
Sincere:  Persistence. Throughout your life, things will come in and try to throw you off your path. You’re going to go through every emotion. You can’t give up. You gotta thug it out.

Milly: Be Authentic. Be yourself. Don’t try to portray an image your not because that’s when your music loses its authenticity.

Raptology: How have you been able to circumvent or navigate through 2020?
Milly: Sometimes I ask myself this same question. How the hell am I still keeping up with all this?! But the truth is, if you believe in yourself, nothing’s gonna stop you. Not covid-19, not – not having enough time, and definitely not the money. For example, we shot two videos during quarantine and it was much harder than usual. It was harder to get the props we needed because everything was closed, it was harder to get videographers because most people weren’t down to work since they were worried about catching covid, it was harder in general. Through it all though, we still made it work, we got it done, and you could go watch ‘Margiela’ on YouTube as proof.  

Sincere: Just paying attention to how everything is moving. I don’t live in a bubble, some people don’t know it’s real life out here. Set yourself up so that you’re not affected by what’s going on. If you’re not set up, find a way. If you can’t, keep trying you’ll get it.

Raptology: What surprising lessons have you learned along the way this year?
Sincere: That things can change in the blink of an eye. It’s a lesson that I’ve learned many times, and it hits every single time. You just gotta be on your toes. Stay ready so you don’t have to get ready.  

Milly: People don’t support you until you’re popping. Back in the day, if I heard a good song, I would support it by posting it, showing my friends, and throwing it on my playlist. That was all because I genuinely liked the song. It didn’t matter if they were small artists or big artists. Nowadays, nobody’s down for the come up. They just want to support you when you’re already up. Hop on the bandwagon.

When we drop music, we get 100 DMs telling us that the song is amazing and asking if we need promotion. I tell them all the same thing: “the song is on the internet you don’t need my permission to promote it.” People are always looking for something to gain from you.

Raptology: What’s the best advice you ever received?
Milly: However much you spend to make a record. Make sure you put up the same amount or more to market the record.
Sincere: Don’t expect anything from anyone. Expectations lead to disappointment if things don’t go your way. I think a little different and no matter the outcome, good or bad, I can’t see it being anyone else’s fault but my own. Learn how people move and just treat them accordingly.

Raptology: What is still your biggest challenge?
Sincere: Finding a way. We’re just starting so a lot of this is trial and error. We’re going to fall a lot and we’re going to get up just as much. This is more than music. We have family that we take care of and this doesn’t stop until we’re able to do so comfortably. We’ll get there eventually, that’s probably our biggest challenge.

Milly: Marketing. It’s not that it’s difficult to market a song because you can easily pay everyone in your DMs to promote it. I’m saying the challenge is finding the right platform to use to your advantage. Finding the platforms that hold value and can get your music heard by the right ears. It’s like finding a needle in a haystack. Then on top of finding the right platforms, another challenge is actually getting a hold of the people who run these platforms.  

Raptology: Do you have a mantra that you live by?
Milly: All or Nothing. It’s either give your 110% or nothing. A1.

Sincere: Take ownership of your failures. Things happen that will be out of your control. Especially things that don’t go your way. You gotta focus more on what you have control over – like how you react to these situations, how you decide to move after the fact. You have control over your actions and emotions so use that to your advantage.

Raptology: How would you describe the music that you typically create?
Sincere: Personal. No matter what type of song we create – fun, sad, slow, fast – it all comes from experience. Some relate to one song of ours, and some relate to more. It’s all real.

Milly: Music for the real. Music for the hustlers. Music for the happy. Music for the hurting. Music for the champions. Music for the ones fighting battles. Music for the lovers. Music for the heartbreaks. Music to celebrate too. All in all, it’s music to motivate.

Raptology: How do you currently feel about the state of Hip-hop in general?
Milly: Like everything, hip-hop is evolving. I just feel like it’s missing something, and I strongly believe that something is A1!

Sincere: I think it’s in a good place. Everybody’s doing their thing. The 1 thing I love about this hip hop thing is that there’s room for everybody. It’s a feeling. You can hate it or love it but that comes with it, you know