ARTIST SPOTLIGHT: WAYNE

Late last year I did a review on Wayne’s introduction to world with his mixtape “The Reformation” and with the upcoming released of his follow up, “Reformation 2.0”, I thought it was time to really let you guys know about this extremely talented and multifaceted young man. With that being said, I had the chance to sit down and have a conversation with Wayne about his background to his love of music and all that helps creates this force in the making.

Born Anthony Dewayne Reaves Jr. in Mullins, SC, “Wayne” as he’s known by his supporters gained his passion at a very young age. Realizing how much of an influence music had on his life he began to really take notice in his interest in it and started experimenting with singing and writing music. However it wasn’t until he got a change of scenery that he really began making it top priority. With the release of his first mixtape and doing spot gigs around the Florida area as well as becoming one of YouTube’s most popular and most watched personalities, the newly 21 year old is coming into his own and is ready to take control of his career and show the world why they need to listen up.

• How long have you been singing and writing music?

Oh wow… Okay, lets see… Singing… I’ve been doing that forever. To me it feels like something that I just did, like an instinct or something. I can remember doing fake concerts in front of my bed, pretending it was a sold out crowd. I’d put a cd in and perform the WHOLE thing. And I thought I was doing it big too! {laughs}  But writing, I can’t remember where it started, but I’ve always been writing, whether it was stories or poems. But I think I can remember writing my first song in 7^th or 8^th grade and it was called “Changed”. I believe that’s what it was called. I loved it!

• Who would you say has been your biggest inspiration and why?

My biggest inspiration has to come from Janet [Jackson] and Prince. Prince because I love the way he writes. He doesn’t allow anything to restrict him. And I love that. He pushes the envelope, he thinks outside of the box. And musically he just takes you there. And I think that’s how men should be. He inspires me to take it there and just be myself and not restrict myself to just one type thing or genre. Janet is just on a another level of inspiration. She inspires me musically, and personally. From her music, to her just being her. You can’t help but watch her and just feel a type of closeness to her. It’s like “the light”. You see the light, and you want to step into it. Janet is the light!

• How does your passion for music differentiate you from other artists trying to establish themselves in the industry?

Well, I’m not sure about everyone else that is trying to get where they want to be, but I know for myself, I have drive and determination. I can get so wrapped up in doing what I want to do that I can kind of block other things out. Some people wanted to grow up and go to college and become doctors, while I wanted to have a number one movie and number one album on the charts at the same time. I’ve come to learn that if I don’t do what I have to do, then I won’t get anywhere, and that’s why I work so hard to get myself where I want to be. I also think that my passion for music as a whole will allow me to go far. As I said before, if you typecast yourself into just one genre, then you become limited, and I don’t want to do that. I want to go as far as I can.

• Describe the meaning behind “The Reformation”

Reformation means, starting over. Coming out of a situation, whether, bruised, broken, or stronger, and starting all over again. Picking up from where you left off, but doing much better than you were before. When I started working on the Reformation mixtape, I was battered, confused, messed up, tore up. And working on those songs helped me out a lot. They got me through. They gave me confidence and they helped mend my heart. It made me realize a lot of stuff about myself that I never knew before.

• How long did it take to compile the mixtape?

It took about a good month and a half. I remember I started in late August. I remember I wanted have it finished before my birthday to show someone, but it didn’t make it, and that kinda made me keep going. So I worked on it all through September and I finished in early October I believe.

• Did you work with any other writers or did you each song yourself?

I wrote everything myself except for the covers. I guess you could call “H.A.T.E.U” a co write because I wrote some parts, and The Dream wrote the rest.

• Where do you draw inspiration from when writing these songs? Are they personal experiences?

Most of my songs do come from personal experience. Or something I thought about before, or maybe even something that I saw before. I think it’s best to write about what you know, or what you’ve been through, because that way other people will relate. I’ve noticed that if you just sing about something that you have no clue about, people notice it, and they don’t really care too much for it.

• 
  

• First live performance? What was it like?

Oh My God! It was amazing! It was crazy because I’m extremely shy when it comes to things like that, but it just seems like all that went out the door. It was like floating on a cloud, or laying on a bed of feathers. It felt like home, where I was meant to be. I did not want to get off that stage. It was fun as well. I did a little Christmas song at the beginning and sucked!  But I laughed it off, and just kept going. And then I performed my songs, and the rest was a piece of cake. It was great to just be in the presence of Grammy nominated artists [3x Grammy nominee BeatNik Castle], it kind of intimidated me a bit, but I felt like I held my own! Amazing is the only way to say it.

• Do you prefer performing or recording?

I love them both. Recording is great, cause it allows you to play around and do what you want to do and if you mess up, you can go back and fix it. The only thing that gets annoying about it is mixing.  That can take forever!! And it’s so tiring sometimes because you just want to hear what you did. But I love it. And performing is just amazing! You get to take what you did and bring life to it! Make people see the music in a whole different light. A performance can make someone who hated your song love it. And that’s amazing! I love them both! I can’t choose

• How far along are you with the new mixtape?

The new mixtape is not quite done. I’m a couple of songs in. I’m gonna try something different with this one. I don’t want to say “Okay, I have this amount of songs so I’ll just stop here.” I’m gonna keep going and put them all together and see what I have and then make the decision there.

• With the little time between the first mixtape and the new one, do you think you’ve grown as an artist? How so?

Oh HELL YES!! I’ve grown soooo much! When I go and record a new song, I’m surprised!! It’s like wow! I feel that I’ve grown mentally, and vocally, lyrically as well! I’ve been writing songs with deeper lyrics. Also I’ve been doing more with my voice. Trying different sounds, trying to hit different notes. I’ve been using different music as well. Taking it to another level. “Reformation” was more R&B and it had it’s moments where it would try something different, It was safe. This time I’m playing on the edge of the cliff. And I like it.

• There was only one collaboration on the first mixtape, are you planning to feature more underground artists?

As of right now, I haven’t worked with anyone underground. I loved Skank Dogg on the first one, and I would love to work with him again. I’ve been thinking about it. I got my sister involved a little bit, and I may get her more involved. I’m not sure at this particular moment, but you never know. However there is this guy I know, and his voice is amazing! I would love to do something with him, if he ever has the time.

• What direction are you going with this mixtape? Will it still have the variety that the first one had?

I like the word variety! I think “Reformation” had a lot of variety! It had love, hate, heartbreak, happiness, and pain. That’s one thing I want to keep there. I want to take people on a journey with me when they listen to my music. Show them things they never heard before. Make them look at something differently. I’ve done some tracks that are so different from the first mixtape. In “Heartbreaker”, I put myself in the shoes of someone who has problems committing to relationships. In a way I could see a little bit of myself in the lyrics. But not as blunt as the song is. This mixtape is very different from where I started off, and I’m falling in love with the material already!

•  What do you want to become of your career right now?

Right now, the only thing I want of my career is to get established. Because when that happens, I’ll know that all my hard work has paid off. All the years of chasing a dream will come to an end, and the dream will be mine! THEN, I’ll relax! [laughs] but not too much!

• Is there any particular artist you would love to work with?

I could go on and on because I love almost everybody! But Janet, Prince, Beyonce, Shakira, Alicia Keys, Chris Brown, Missy Elliot, Timbaland, JoJo.. The list is long, and gets longer with everything I hear.

• With such a natural talent for songwriting would you consider writing for other artists?

Yes that would be awesome!

Wayne is set to release "Reformation 2.0" in February. Check out his new remix to "H.AT.E.U" and be sure to stay up to date all he's doing because you're sure to hear his name and music all over in the future!