Exclusive Interview: Ty Bru Delves on His Creative Tastes, His Inspirations & His New Single “A Single Black & Bloody Rose”

After Ty Bru exceptional single “A Single Black & Bloody Rose” was released, we caught up with an insightful interview with such a talented artist to explore his eidetic experience and what he had to say about his incredible musical journey so far. Read below to learn some interesting details about Ty Bru.

It’s an honor to speak with you today. Why don’t you give us some details about you and your story. How did you get to where you are today?

It started out 1999 at a fraternity function. I was a DJ at the time and then jumped on the microphone over an instrumental one night and the rest was history. I wrote songs before then, but never performed them outside of close friends or family. Since then I’ve performed in a dozen countries and received international awards for my music.

Congratulations on your latest track “A Single Black & Bloody Rose”, how do you feel about the newfound success?

I feel great about it. It was released on June 6, 2021 because it was the year anniversary of The Eastside March in Asheboro, NC. That march really helped bring a ton of light on the social injustices in the world and in turn the ones that are right here in our city.

A SINGLE BLACK AND BLOODY ROSE reveals the reasons why we marched last year and why we still fight and when it comes to music, this single has the potential to reach a much farther reach that what we can do in our community.

What was the inspiration behind the single?

The hook was written after all charges were dropped in the case of Freddie Gray’s murder. A form of protest and showing respect to him, with him being the symbolic Black and Bloody Rose. While making sure I kept the militant mindset that we all have to make sure we are armed and protect ourselves at all costs, that’s that the second half of the hook means. “Bring down the levels” means it’s time to be quiet, ya know like speak less, act more which leads into “Hand on my metal with my eyes to the devil” meaning that I’ll keep my eyes on “the man” while exercising my right to bear arms.

After writing and recording the hook, the song wasn’t necessarily abandoned, but it was stagnant until three years later when George Floyd was murdered, then I figured it was time to finish the song. So my verse on the record is directly related to that Heinous act.

I felt I needed to have a few other rappers on there so that they could share a common voice but from their perspectives. So I reached out to an old friend, Seven Da Pantha, who is a member of the Black Panther Party in Washington state and has always been at the forefront of battling social injustices since the day I met him well over a decade ago, as you can hear, it was a really good fit.

I then reached out to WuTang affiliate, Judah Priest because I admire his powerful, strong voice and his position in the industry. We met at a show in Greensboro years ago and we had played with the idea of working together, and this was the perfect chance. He’s such a professional, I loved working with him and hope to work again soon.

The fourth artist I reached out to, Shadow from Charlotte has been an extremely active solider in the fights that Charlotte has gone through on the civil rights tip, but COVID19 really threw a wrench in that, so he was unable to be on this single release, but will certainly be on the album edition, his verse is on point and I’m excited to let the world hear this song in it’s entirety, like it was intended to be.

How would you describe your sound to someone who just listened to your music for the first time?

At the core of my lyrics and beats I choose is the authentic boombap hip hop I grew up on in the late 80s and 90s. I do deviate away from that from time to time, experimenting, expanding my sound and style, but for the most part it’s very boombapish. It’s very heartfelt and/or very in your face, blunt and abrasive, grimy at times, elegant at others.

Who has been the earliest influence who inspired you to take the plunge in the music scene?

The older I get and the more aware I get of my past and the road I’ve taken to get here, the clearer my inspirations get. Early in my career, I thought it was certain musicians and artists, but at 40 years old I am here to confidently say that my community, family and friends inspired me the most to plunge into this scene, because all of the aforementioned cherish music so much and music can be so therapeutic, and also it has excellent journalistic qualities as well.

What would your ultimate dream gig be?
When it comes to music, most of my dreams have come true. My bucket list is pretty much been checked off. I’ve performed in stadiums, concert halls and bars all over the world with some of the best artists that have lived. So I guess at this point, just to finish all that I’ve started, and that’s a lot. I’ve got tons of works in progress, it would certainly be an ultimate goal to get those finished before my last day.

What goals have you accomplished? What goals are you still working towards?

In the past year and a half I have become a very active leader and advocate of civil rights in my city and I’ve seen some very positive change and progression as a direct result in my leadership while teaming up with others of my same mindset. I helped co-found THE HOPE OF EASTIDE, which is dedicated to helping the minority youth in our area.

I lived in China for five years and was able to conduct business, teach, share my art and perform my music during that time. I did an extensive tour in Europe in 2005 and also a 20+ venue tour throughout Asia and the USA in 2008. I’ve won an award for Hip Hop Album of the year in 2016 at the Independent Music Awards at the Lincoln Center in New York City, beating out hip hop legend Masta Ace. I’ve won the best of the best award for photographer in my hometown last year and received dozens of awards in the international film festival circuit after picking up videography and directing as part of my profession.

With the second part of that question, the goals I’m still working toward is similar to the last answer, I want to finish everything I’ve started, all those songs, movies, books, etc. I wanna finish them all.

For our final question, what’s next for you?

Releasing this new album, TRIPLE BYPASS: UNDER ANESTHESIA and I am so excited about it. It comes our June 12, 2021 and it’s my best work. I have simultaneously been working on a few other albums, which one of them will include A SINGLE BLACK AND BLOODY ROSE.

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