American hitmaker Blxst came through to the Mai studios and caught up with Fame before his Auckland show.
He talked about his early musical influences, his world tour, keeping authenticity in his music and being able to take his mother around the world.
'My cousins was the first people that introduced me to like, actually being able to record yourself. Yeah. As soon as I heard my voice, I fell in love with it. It was no looking back after that,' he said.
WIth a style that blends both rapping and singing, Blxst's first focus on rap came from his genuine love of words.
'I'm a fan of lyrics', he said. 'I feel like I naturally fell in love with words from my uncle. I used to ask him, how do I become a rapper? He was like, 'Look in the dictionary and tell me a definition of a word everyday. So I just always loved putting words together.'
'Seeing how one word can mean something or mean something else is just dope.'
That uncle had a stong presence in his life both in and outside of music. 'Just the integrity he had behind it, like just the message I told you as far as being intentional with your words. That was one thing I always carry for him from him that I still use today,' he said.
As far as authenticity goes, Blxst is as real as they come.
'I stick to my circle. I'll make sure everybody around me hold me accountable as well, making sure I'm not out the loop, doing that and crazy, talking crazy.'
His close relationships with his family have continued to strengthen his career.
'My dad and my mom, the biggest fans ever, they come they come to all my hometown shows. They love what I'm doing. I never had a job, so my support system was always solid with my family.'
'I took my mom to London last summer. Actually, she loved it. You know, she she was trying to hang out with us, but she can only do so much. I was gonna tell her to chill out. She was trying to hang with the big dogs.'
Check out the full interview up top.
