Today we’d like to introduce you to Rehd.
So, before we jump into specific questions, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
Getting to this point where I feel comfortable enough to create my own sound has been quite the journey. I’ve ventured my way through various forms of art. Since I was four years old, I was quiet but loved to sing and move. Still an introvert, but there has always been a rhythm in my heart like no other.
Though music has been my initial entry into the arts, I placed it more to the side for some years after elementary school. I had stopped singing in the choir and entered junior high in a bubble of insecurity. I did get to play my dad, Anthony Hamilton, in his music video, “Comin’ From Where I’m From” in 2003, but other than that my involvement in music and any other craft had faded as middle school set in.
It wasn’t until my sophomore year where I joined a production of Bye Bye Birdie that I began to experience performing again. Eventually by my senior year, I dove into activities trying to find out what truly makes me happy: joined the wrestling team, the step team, more theatre performances, even the school choir and men’s acapella group. A very sweet moment shortly lived as I graduated high school and moved to Los Angeles seeking more happiness. I could have stayed in North Carolina but felt I couldn’t fully be myself, whatever that meant, so I left.
I ended up getting my bachelor’s in Theatre and Dance at Cal State LA. Co-owning a theatre company (Circle Squared Collective) for roughly three years, while performing with two separate dance companies (Collabor8 Dance and Hae Kyung Lee & dancer) quickly followed college. I pulled away from them all-around 2015 as funding these dreams all at once became too much. All in all, a brotha was broke! Not to mention, at that time, I was being compounded with multiple events which knocked me physically, mentally and emotionally. As Trumpism started to really become a thing, I started experiencing conflicts that met me all the way to my doorstep. I was being attacked, literally. It was made clear to me as I read a message in sharpie on my car window left by an anonymous predator. Things like this carried on heavy for months from having my tires slashed to being met face to face in front of my house with that exact person. Even reaching out for help to the authorities didn’t feel too comforting as they’ve stopped, questioned and searched me being in my own neighborhood on separate occasions. I had to take time to get myself together before I lost it.
2017, I started Black Excellence LLC with my co-producer Vicky Ansah where we produce pro-black visual and performance content. I’m currently still with the company and am very proud of what we have produced over the years. Being a part of Black Excellence has taught me a lot more about investing more time into celebrating Black people and our culture has in turn taught me to celebrate and love myself. With that being said, starting 2019 I took a leap and jumped back into music but now as the music artist REHD. Ten years ago, I came to LA and only now feel I really have my voice. I was living for others and it was driving me into a complicated depression. My first music single and these next upcoming songs I plan to release soon symbolize my emergence from darkness into the light of acceptance of myself, Rehd, Romeiro E. Hamilton Davis.
Has it been a smooth road?
Not fully loving and believing in myself was the true struggle. Simply enough, I’ve spent a heap of time and money towards looking for love and putting attention towards other’s interests and not my own which would leave me overbooked and tired. I juggled as much as I could, doing things with my head high in hopes of finding someone or something to love me for who I was. Then again, I fully didn’t know nor loved myself. I was definitely making some positive steps, but not really in a direction that brought me real joy. I was not able to really share and express myself. Eventually, too much work and depression turned my usually present smile artificial and endangered. I was moving but not really really present. I felt like I had nothing to lose and wanted to give my art a push for me to heal.
We’d love to hear more about your work and what you are currently focused on. What else should we know?
I, Rehd, am a hip hop music artist. My music is like no other! It’s just like me, all over the place with a range of emotions and a positive decoding overall. When listening to my sound, you can get a good picture of myself, a mixture of: animation, dancer, trilingualism, southerner, 90’s kid with influences of numerous styles like house, old skool hip hop, soul, etc. My work is an out pour of heartfelt organized chaos; aspects of art with a message in display never seen before adding in my dancer’s touch.
How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
In the next five years, I would have hoped to release three full music albums. I aim to have two full tours visiting all six continents. In addition, I would like to fund more into Black Excellence LLC with its productions making its shows more nationwide. By the ten years mark, it would be nice to have a dance studio/ recording studio facility in my hometown of Charlotte, NC helped ran by my older brother and music producer, Odii-8ight.
Pricing:
- Quiznii – Rehd (Apple Music / Google Play / Amazon, etc. – .99$)
Contact Info:
- Website: www.rehdprojects.wixsite.com/rehd
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/rehd.projects
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/rehd.projects
- Twitter: twitter.com/rehd63099009?s=09
Image Credit:
Dillon Kinkead; John Portis
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