Remy St. Clair
INTERVIEWER: You're listening to WTJU Charlottesville. We talked to Remy St. Clair for our new COVID-19 arts exhibition titled “We Hope This Art Finds You Well.” Remy explains how the pandemic provided time and space for valuable reflection.
REMY ST. CLAIR: I think that the fact that we have to be so distant from everyone else helps us to center ourselves and not be clouded by what's popular right now, what the person next to us is doing, or how they sound on stage, or what they're doing on stage. It actually helps us to wipe the slate clean and paint our own canvas how we want to be in our life. Because so often in music, we want to just go off of what's popular right now, what's making people dance and move right now, rather than being an individual and finding out what's going to give you that longevity in whatever it is you're doing, which is being true to yourself and not true to somebody else. So I believe COVID gave everyone that opportunity to rediscover who they want to be.
INTERVIEWER: You're listening to WTJU Charlottesville. We talked to Remy St. Clair for our new COVID-19 arts exhibition titled “We Hope This Art Finds You Well.” Remy talks about how COVID and the lack of live performance impacts hip hop artists, especially.
REMY ST. CLAIR: Hip hop, especially on the local level, was really hit hard. The majority of the time, if not all the time, how we make our income is off of stage shows. So if we're not able to perform and hit the stage, we're not able to really nurture ourself. If we can't nurture ourself, we can't feed ourself. We can't feed ourself, we can't think. We can't think, we can't produce that creativity that everyone knows us for and loves us for. And I believe that what doesn't put you under the dirt should always make you stronger. I've been to quite a few of the live performances here in Charlottesville, and it's like people aren't just getting on stage to perform. They're really entertaining. They're giving the people what they've been missing out on for so long. And it's like, this is what we need. This is when your heart and your soul and your spirit is put into your performance.
INTERVIEWER: You're listening to WTJU Charlottesville. We talked to Remy St. Clair for our new COVID-19 arts exhibition titled “We Hope This Art Finds You Well.” Remy explains the evolution of hip hop as an art form and what he hopes to see in its future.
REMY ST. CLAIR: Hip hop is not just about lyrics. Hip hop has never been about drugs, about guns, about disrespect of women. That has been included, but that's not what hip hop is about. Things have changed a great deal and some acceptance has come in. And we've seen a lot of women, and I love my goddesses. A lot of women come in and rip the microphone like no dude could ever. But they also have those principles and that knowledge of where hip hop has been and where they envision hip hop going in the future. So if we have more people that know about those nine pillars and know about the true construct of hip hop and all those things, you know, we'll have those persons that can lead the next generation into something that's absolutely beautiful.
INTERVIEWER: To find out more, visit artfindsyouwell.org. This is WTJU Charlottesville.