Brandon Scaletta Interview

Photo by Jaxon Buzzell

modrNation: Where are you originally from?

Brandon Scaletta: I was born in Illinois but I grew up in Saint Louis.

modrNation: How has growing up there influenced you?

Brandon Scaletta: Saint Louis influenced me in a lot of ways, the way I am the way I talk. Just being from the midwest in general makes you a certain type of way, I’m very proud of where I’m from and I’ll never be one of those artists who doesn’t rep my hometown. Like Smino, you know he’s from Saint Louis, and I want to be like that because there’s so much talent there.

modrNation: What was it that got you into making music?

Brandon Scaletta: I’ll start with just how I got into music, I was at Walmart with my mom and there was a bunch of CDs so I asked if I could get one, and I was only like seven or eight so I only knew what was on the radio, but I recognized the Kanye West CD and my mom let me get it. That’s when I started getting into music, I grew up listening to a lot of Kanye, he really led me to find so much more music. When I started getting older I started grasping the concept of rapping and chopping samples so I got into writing and that just slowly led to me rapping. It started as a passion and a hobby, but as I got older I knew I had to find a way to make music professionally in some type of way.

modrNation: Who are some of your biggest influences?

Brandon Scaletta: My favorite rapper is Isaiah Rashad, that’s my favorite rapper ever. He’s unique and he’s inspiring, he really just checks all the boxes for me and that’s always important for me if you’re gonna be my favorite. Having great videos, rapping well, a unique sound, he covers everything. Smino’s a big influence on me too because it’s just inspiring for me to have someone from Saint Louis doing something different and being successful with it. Saint Louis has a lot of street music and I don’t really make that, so it’s cool to see someone like Smino thrive being so unique. When I was younger, I’d say it was Kanye West, and I had my Eminem moment too just being a white kid trying to rap. I also loved The Game and 50 Cent. Drake, A$AP Rocky, 6lack and ANDRE 3000 were also big for me growing up. I always thought it was cool that they could do everything. 

modrNation: It’s been a bit since your most recent single Blue Sueno, how has that track aged for you? 

Brandon Scaletta: I think it aged well, it definitely has a west coast vibe to it. It aged well, we did a remix for it too, sometimes I don’t love my tracks after they’ve dropped, but for me Blue Seuno is one of my favorite songs. That was in the summer so it’s been a minute. This year I really want to be more consistent, as a small artist in today's age you have to be consistent. 

modrNation: Take me through your creative process?

Brandon Scaletta: Sometimes it’s hard for me to clear my mind, but I do my best to go off completely how I feel. How I’m feeling that day, how I felt last week, I really just find a beat and say how I feel. When I try to make a certain type of song and I’m not feeling it I feel like you can tell and I don’t like forcing shit.

modrNation: What is the intention behind your music?

Brandon Scaletta: I want to just connect with people, and that doesn’t have to be in a specific type of way. A better way for me to answer this is to say how the music I like makes me feel, I want to replicate that and that’s always been the main goal. I want to be famous and successful, but first and foremost it’s about connecting people and getting to a stage where I can just have fun with it. Right now it’s not always like that if I’m being real, eventually I want to get to the point where it’s always fun so people can relate to it in that way, but right now I’m just speaking no my experiences and hoping that some people can relate. 

modrNation: What would you say is the importance of finding your own identity and individuality as an artist especially in a time where making music is so popular?

Brandon Scaletta: People in Saint Louis share a lot of similarities, but you can’t box a whole group of people into one genre or stereotype. For me being an artist is just embracing who I am as a person and being myself. I think as an artist to find yourself and your identity and be that to the fullest extent, some things about me are typical Saint Louis traits but some things are completely different and there has to be artists like that from every city to put them on the map. Outside of my city, being unique is the most important thing as an artist, it’ll always work out best if you’re being yourself. 

modrNation: Where do you see yourself five years from now?

Brandon Scaletta: I can live off my music comfortably, I’m connecting with people and I have creative control over what I’m doing. Hopefully I’m rich by then, especially so I can take it back to Saint Louis to help people and bring some resources to the people out there trying to make music. Inspiring and helping people is really what will fulfill me, whether we like it or not we can help people a whole lot more with money, that’s just how it is. But overall I see myself connecting with people and being able to give back to my community.