Tantalizing 23 year-old artist, Awkward St8, was born and raised in Orlando, currently residing in the relaxed, old money utopia of sorts in Fort Myers, FL. To the contrary, his music is youthful and energized, leading his sound with punk enthused, hardcore rap. He has quite an eclectic sound which he enlists came from all the things he found he could enjoy for himself and himself only.
"Growing up, I always valued the things that were just for me to enjoy and no one else. Unintentionally, I was always working on different sides to my artistry. I never envisioned becoming what I am today. In my adolescence, I was exposed to the traits that I currently portray in my artwork that led me to develop my current style."
First recording at Winlab, a smaller scale studio in Jacksonville, FL a few years ago, he became hooked having previously privatized his music. Bouncing around Florida and optimizing his thoughts and concepts, today he finds himself with a solid following, having only started releasing nearly a year ago. The namesake "Awkward St8" he procured during the plagued year of 2020, when he found himself in a contemplative, transitional period like many and moreover a turning point for his artistry.
He's never been one to fall in line, always challenging different sounds and himself, alike. "The artists I always resonated with most always stood for something bigger than themselves and created a movement of the masses. Chris Cornell, Kid Cudi, Lil Peep, and early soundcloud era." "FATHER WHOOPED MY ASS" aligns with this notion, a cacophony of bass knocking, St8's belting, and digitized clanks, spotlighting a dope concluding ballad of bars from Emotional Xan. His most notable song to date "Save Ya Breath" off his EP from earlier in the year (St8 of Decay) is an amusing play on punk, hyper-focused with elements of subtle harping .
Awkward St8 is coming fresh off recently dropped Rage Quit, a more hip-hop focalized project as opposed to his some of his others. Some of the beats carry that cadence that has been relatively popularized by the likes of artists like Yeat, Summrs like "LAG", but of course Awkward St8 puts his own shake on things with his clever lyricism. He does cater to some slower sounds with songs like "BENZODIAZEPINE", a lulling sped down, arcade-ish vibe.
Private Network is a recent venture into the collaborative world for him, a duo of St8 and Ike Offline. They too lock in on the convergence of rap and punk-rock with titles like their debut EP, P.E.T.E.. "Private Network definitely offers a more experimental side to my artistry and a more aggressive and energetic style of performing."
With another EP titled, LORD, set to release September 3, no sights of the artist slowing down. Some closing insight I found to be meaningful from Awkward St8: "Art is made not to be loved, It is made from a place of expression. My true inspiration and motivation behind this, is to show people the freedom of being unapologetically yourself." Go check out Rage Quit down below!
Follow Awkward St8:
IG: @awkwardst8
Twitter: @awkwardst8
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