Vel Nine x Sirrealist
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Vel Nine BioEffortless flow, female-forward ferocity, and captivating swagger: Vel Nine is a hip-hop original who has emerged from Southern California’s San Gabriel Valley to become a worldwide touring artist, performing from LA to Austin; from Paris to Ibiza, Barcelona, Tokyo and beyond.
Full length collections including Nina, Freakjet, Trophy Wife, and La Sena Ave., her homage to her Baldwin Park neighborhood, plus a multitude of singles, collaborations, EP’s and videos project her tattooed Cali-girl charisma, and savvy urban edge. Rare among MC’s, she is also a gifted vocalist whose silky singing voice creates musical hooks to embellish her songs. Val Nine (aka Vel the Creator) transformed from painting graffiti with her girlfriends to rhyming. “I enjoyed painting trains. You can paint a train tonight, and tomorrow it will be on its way to Kansas.” Music was a constant soundtrack: her father DJ’d, she sang in school choirs and select performance ensembles, and played baseball on the boys’ team. “Since my brother was one year younger, my mom thought it was easier to put us on the same team rather than having to take us to two different parks,” she remembers. “ She began painting graffiti in eighth grade and gravitated to freestyling before inscribing her first written lyrics. “I was on the Foothill Silver Line, coming from Baldwin Park into downtown LA. I had DJ Premier on Pandora. His beats were playing, and I wrote my 11 bars in my notebook. After that I was consistently writing to beats that I didn’t have yet, but I would find a beat from one of my friends and record my rap over that.” Her combined worlds – graffiti and hip-hop – were passports to a wider audience, as her friends connected her to international opportunities. “I’d say, ‘I want to go to Peru. Can you hook me up?’ And there would be someone there, waiting at my Airbnb, ready to show me where to buy spray paint, where to eat the local food, to get some decent weed, and take me to a hip-hop shop or a graffiti store where I would perform. I got to experience touring different countries in a local way, which was a blessing.” Now, she tours more strategically in both the U.S. and international markets. Having a track on the HBO hit series Euphoria was a major boost, and generous inclusion on a multitude of playlists has increased her listenership exponentially. In 2024, she is collaborating with hip-hop originator Sirrealist, with singles and corresponding videos from a forthcoming series of EP releases under the auspices of Silent Giant Entertainment. Gratitude continues to glow in everything that Vel Nine touches. “People might think that they can’t accomplish things because of their situations, or their backgrounds or where they come from,” she concludes. “But anyone can do what they want to do, if they listen to themselves – to their hearts. I thank God that I found making music, because it’s saved my life multiple times.” Sirrealist BioComplex word play, hardscrabble realities, and introspective observations: hip-hop provocateur Sirrealist spins rapid-fire rhymes and graphic narratives, transforming anger and redemption into spellbinding urban chronicles.
Remarkably prolific, he engages his audience through an outpouring of full-length releases, EP’s, singles, videos, and collaborations. As a solo artist, a member of a collective brotherhood, The Dawgz, and now in partnership with iconic female emcee Vel Nine, Sirrealist radiates with the power of a vibrant music-making community. He projects his lyrics across a compelling sonic soundscape, splashed with garish spray-paint, and shaded in old school hues. Central to the sound is the production of his close friend Whose, a key collaborator who also sings melodic hooks and injects imaginative textures into tightly-tuned arrangements. Sirrealist was born to the beat as Jordan Rios in Oxnard, CA. His earliest musical memories were as a baby behind the board, as his music-making father laid down tracks in a converted garage studio. “Watching him make music gave me the knowledge,” he confirms. Before he rapped, graffiti was his art. In his freshman year of high school, he processed emotional drama, depression, and anger through poetry. Hanging with older homies, he discovered his innate gift for rapping. He says it all begins with the words: “Throughout the day, I’m thinking. I come up with a punch line or a metaphor, and invent what comes before it—it’s like writing backwards.” An avid reader, he avows that he also extracts imagery from watching horror flicks. “I like to be diverse and I can rap over anything, because of the way that I structure my lyrics.” Because the tough, tattooed Sirrealist is a daunting on camera presence, the vulnerability and raw emotion that informs his themes may come as a surprise. As he explains: “Someone once described me like this, ‘He looks like he wants to kill me, but instead he wants to hug me, talk to me, and understand me.’” Rapping in multiple voices mirrors what he deems multiple personalities - from goofball to gangster. “I’m able to adjust to what I need to be in the moment, and I can put on any hat; From Jordan to Sirrealist, from a hardcore rapper to a graffiti artist. But there is always that vulnerability – my emotions are always present – even in the sometimes grimy stuff I rap about.” Forward motion continues to motivate Sirrealist in his evolution as an artist. “I just want people to see that regardless of things that have hit me, to hold me back, and shit that I’ve been through, I didn’t stop,” he concludes. “And I never will.” |