Meet Soul 859 | Hip-hop artist, visionary, and entrepreneur

We had the good fortune of connecting with Soul 859 and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Soul, how do you think about risk?
I’ve heard from many people that “chances make champions” and I whole heartedly believe in that statement. Over the years I’ve come to find that every time I played it safe, I broke even at best. The game of life, much like physics, has an equal and opposite reaction to every action you take. The more you give, the more it takes. The more you take, the more it gives. When you TAKE a risk, life GIVES you a chance. The bigger the risk, the bigger chance. It’s quite a lovely song and dance to behold once you get the hang of it. While I may have taken many risks in terms of violating rules and laws for the better part of my adult life, it was only over the last 3 years I finally decided to take a risk by investing in myself and pursuing a career in music. I recorded my first album around 21 yrs old but never out any focus or effort behind promoting the music and creating a career. I believe that was in large part due to my misconception that simply because I’m a phenomenal lyrologist I would just magically get a record deal with out having to put in any of the hard work or play shows for crowds or crickets.
Luckily for me however, that all changed in 2019. Following the release date from last incarceration, I moved an hour away from my home town city in order to start over and be closer to my then 5 year old daughter. I decided to try to be a “normal” working stiff and just raise my kids, pay my bills, retire, and then die. Gee, how thrilling. I even landed a well paying temp position during the pandemic that turned into a full time position with an amazing benefits package. For some reason though I felt sick with worry about the prospect of just working and retiring. I guess the universe agreed because a week later my background check finally came back and I was fired.
Being fired is probably the best thing that’s ever happened to me besides my two daughters. The timing was perfect and I was able to rake in a substantial amount of money from unemployment. It was during that time I decided that if I didn’t want to end up going back to work like everyone else then I had better find a good investment for all the extra income I was receiving. I’ve always known I was talented but lacked the guts to really take a chance on myself. Thankfully, the Covid “band-demic” gave the time and money needed to put in action and plant the seeds. And now here I am only 8 months after forming my own label, Elevated Music Creators and Company, LLC., and 4 months after distributing my first single through TuneCore and I’m doing an interview for a magazine about independent creatives and entrepreneurs. That’s pretty amazing if you ask me. I wouldn’t being typing these words right now if I hadn’t started taking more risks more often because that’s the only way to level up.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I fell I love with hip-hop at a young age and by my early teens had began freestyling on a regular basis. My buddies used to bet people that they couldn’t come up with something that I couldn’t rap about. The only time I recall losing the bet was only by a technicality. The person had said for me to rap about their living room. I did in fact kick a freestyle all about a living room. When I finished he stated that while I was definitely dope, I hadn’t rapped about HIS living room. Shortly after high school I began recording with a “garage” label called Night Shade Records and released my first album, “ A Beautiful Mind”. I believe it sold around 12 copies. I did however get to open for Tech N9ne during his Ever Ready tour. Unfortunately due to a lack of motivation, that would be as close as I came to really following my dream for another decade or so. During my wandering years I would slip into a major pill addiction that eventually grew into a major heroin addiction.
After several extended stays in county and state facilities in KY and GA, along with 3 attempts at rehab, I had an odd conversation with a stranger I was getting high with inside of a hotel room bathroom at a casino. For the week following that conversation almost every basic conversation I had with people was suddenly full of this amazing enlightening information I never noticed before. At the end of that week I threw away my needles and haven’t shot up heroin or any other substances since 8-21-17. Drug counselors will try to tell you that I’m not clean and that weed is a drug and so are shrooms and blah, blah, blah. I disagree. A few years ago I spent my days chasing a high i would never get as my life stagnated around me. Today I smoke pot so I don’t hit stupid people, have my own LLC, am an active father and provide financial support for my kids and their mother. If that’s not clean that I don’t know what is.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I am a Lexington, KY native and so I haven’t really explored the city much yet. I can recommend Kiwanis park as a great outdoor activity as well as a short drive to Sedona or Black Canyon City.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I’m fortunate enough to have another highly motivated individual for one of my best friends who keeps me pushing and focused when I need it. Robert Johnson, who owns “Local Legend Printing Co.” in Lexington, KY, not only motivates and encourages me through his words but also through his actions. I’ve watched him start and grow his own business over the past year as well and it is truly inspiring. Even with a full time job and a full time t shirt business he still manages to find time to create the amazing album and graphics you see on my social media or streaming platforms. Thanks for everything you do to keep this dream alive homie. I love you bro.

Website: https://open.spotify.com/artist/2CxjuWAaRrckIPsphYZU9e?si=nDN__H9tS8ybl1RvUHjn4Q

Instagram: soul_859

Youtube: https://youtube.com/channel/UCBBYqHn9eqEackbGmERE23A

Other: tiktok – @soul_859 Apple Music – https://music.apple.com/us/artist/soul-859/1549979274

Image Credits
Soul 859