Alexx Cloud - Artist of the Month - August

This month we dive into the personal story of Alexx Cloud. He's a young cat from Santa Fe, NM and has been through ups and downs throughout his musical journey and his own life. I wanted to talk to him to hear how he has dealt with some rough times and to ask him questions about his upcoming project and past work. Often times we don't realize the sacrifices artists make to continue doing what they love! It's not easy to become a music artist or an artist in general, especially in NM when you're art may not fit into traditional fine art practices. Alexx Cloud is currently out in Florida, but remains loyal to the state that he once called home. Here's what he had to say:

Art by: Trae Perry

What got you started making music and recording?

Escape. And filling voids. I was a fucked up kid. I had issues. Whether it stemming from adoption issues as a kid. Or the fact that I felt like I didn't have a sense of belonging. When I first released my music publicly back when I was 17. People loved it. It was trash. But they really did fuck wit me. That's when I knew I was doing what I was born to do. I'm a entertainer. As humans. We crave validation. And I needed that shit. Still do.

What's the idea behind your name Alexx Cloud?

When I first started out, I used to go by "Cloud Nine". My fans from the beginning will remember that. But as my music started to evolve each month and each year, so did my name. Cloud Nine is kinda soft. Haha. I ain't soft. Probably when I was 21 is when I changed it to "Alexx Cloud". And that is actually my real name. My government. I added an extra 'X' into the mixx (see what I did there?) And now that's what I go by.

Now explain why I hear Turquoise Papi is also your nickname?

Ayeeee. That's just something I have fun with. Every artist got some type of nickname. I chose Turquoise because it's our states color. And I chose Papi to keep it in the culture. Being half Spanish and being from a predominantly Spanish and Mexican culture. It was only right. I also go by Yung Tortilla God or Lil Guacamole. I like to have fun. Those names are fun.

How long have you been creating music?

Ever since I can remember. The first rap song I ever heard was, or that I can remember, was "Hit Em Up" by Tupac. Bruhhhhh. That shit resonated with me so hard, I was like, bruhhhhh I NEED to create music. Me and my first crew back in the day, we called ourselves Three High Crew or THC for short. We had the weed on lock back in high school. They was my crew from Freshman year to Senior year. Matter fact there was this one time when we got the entire high school lit off these weed cookies and I hit the principal with my car. But that's another story. Anyway the crew was me, Lucas Salazar, Kevin Valdez, Mick Gonzales, and Joe Alvarez. We always recorded songs off of Kevin's MacBook built in microphone and garage band, and that's how it all started. Then later on my first mixtape was recorded in my boy Josh Gonzales' room off a karaoke mic and that's what really started it all.

I have heard of the Italian Mafia and the Chinese Mafia, what's good with the Turquoise Mafia?

Good question. Turquoise Mafia. That's like my squad man. Consists of a bunch of people back home. A very powerful street team. John John. Abel. Mitchy Malcolm. DeAndre 3Hunnit. Lito (RIP). And then my right hand man and best friends out here in Florida Brandon Canizares and Cole Cassidy. Turquoise Mafia does not represent the color turquoise. It represents the word turquoise. That's our culture. And the mafia part is because we move like bosses. We are organized. We are one giant machine. Everyone plays they part. No overstepping roles. We a well oiled machine.

Tell me a bit more about why you're in Florida and not in New Mexico......

Lol. Well, mainly because I'm not allowed in the state of New Mexico until 2020 due to my current sentence. I'm on probation for 5 years. It started in 2016. And hopefully over in 2020 with good time. It's a 15 year suspended sentence meaning if I fuck up. I go to the big house. But I wont. I got my head on straight. I actually came out to Florida with a ankle monitor on. But Everything happens for a reason. Geographically, I am in a very good place and Florida has been very good to me career wise.

What was it like going through addiction and then to recovery? How did that affect your music?

I ain't ashamed of my past. At all. I'm very open about it. It started off with pills in highschool. After highschool, I graduated to heroin because it's cheaper. That's when my crime started to pick up. In and out of jail and rehab. I was finally introduced to crack. And I lost everything. Friends. Family. I was homeless for a long time. My favorite place to sleep was at the Sprite courts back in Santa Fe. BUT. I still managed somehow to continue writing music and recording. I still managed to stay relevant. I went to jail for while back in 2015. The judge let me come out to Florida for rehab. I took advantage of it. Relapsed once. But now I'm sitting on 21 months of sobriety. And everything is falling into place. I'm not a recovery artist. I'm just a artist in recovery. A symbol of hope to my people. Because Santa Fe and Albuquerque are beyond fucked up on drugs man. I should be dead. But God ain't call me home yet. I got work to do.

Has the response to your music been what you expected?

Absolutely. I believe fully in manifestation. Everything that is happening to me is as exactly as I projected. The energy you put out, is the energy the universe delivers back. Ten fold. I don't have a Plan B. Plan A is the only that matters. And the only thing that will ever matter. I will make it. Currently am making it. There's no other option. People give up to soon or don't have the perspective on life that I have. The 1% is not only the richest people in the world, but they are people that posses a state of mind that are different from everyone else. People are always satisfied with working a 9 to 5. Satisfied with daily routines. That's just how society is. You cant be afraid to break out of the norm. Fear is a pointless emotion. You can be whatever you want to be in life. Just make sure you're good at it. Practice practice practice. Think hard. Play hard. Only listen to those who have what you want. And never stop growing. Then watch things come to fruition.

What was the motivation to make the song "LIKE SH!T"? It's real hype.

Just wanted a high energy song that went along with today's hip hop song. Hip hop has evolved into something different than it was a couple years ago. Now it's about the energy and the beat. Not so much lyrical content. Do I think it's a phase in hip hop that will eventually die out? Absolutely. But in order to remain relevant you gotta evolve with hip hop and sometimes that means going out of your comfort zone. But when you go outside your comfort zone, that's when growth happens. And it's a beautiful thing.

What producers do you like working with or maybe even want to work with? Local or non-local.

Shout out to Kash Keyz from my hometown Santa Fe. That boy working. He done sold like 20 beats in the past month. People really do fuck wit him. Shout out to Che. I love my local people. There is SO much talent back home its ridiculous. I wanna be the person that opens the industry to New Mexico. I feel like we are up next for the new culture in hip hop. I be working with a lot of different producers from LA, NY, Florida, Chicago, and of course New Mexico.

Every artist needs a good team behind them, do you feel you've found that yet or is it a work in progress?

Yes and no. From a standpoint of having a dope ass and loyal team regarding the Turquoise Mafia. Yes. Those my dogs. And they support me. But as far as a music collective of just artists. Then no. I tried back in the day with a team called "The Inner Circle" that consisted of artists from NM and Cali. But it eventually faded away. I find that I work better solo for now. But currently scouting out talented and hard working artists like myself to form a collective.

The song you have that is titled "T" featuring Emily Morris sounds personal. Can you explain the creation of that song?

It's a two part thing. It is titled "T" because that's the first initial to my ex girlfriend of 2 years. Trenna. Unfortunately we are longer together but I will never have anything bad to say about her. Maybe a couple things. Haha. But regardless it was two years of a beautiful relationship in which we both helped each other grow. I love that girl. Always. I hate her. But I love her. It was basically a song to Trenna and at one point speaking thru one of our best friends (Emily Morris) that passed away from an overdose. I was actually the one to find Emily, and she is one of the reasons why I remain sober today.

How do you think the place you're in now, Florida, affects how you make your music?

It's just a completely different vibe and culture. There are a lot of artists coming up out of Florida. It's a hot zone right now. I have sort of adopted the culture but at the same time keeping my New Mexico roots. You gotta be able to evolve but at the same time not losing your self if that makes sense. There are very very very few opportunities in New Mexico if you stay in New Mexico. I was in Miami recently. Paid for hotels. Food. Travel. All that. They brought me out that way to discuss business. A label sees my potential and are willing to put money behind me for the next 8 to 12 months. That's the kind of thing that happens in a music industry growing environment. Like I said before, I wanna open doors for my people back in New Mexico. That's one of my goals.

What would you tell your younger self if you could go back 10 years?

I would tell him not to smoke crack. Haha. Just kidding. There is honestly nothing I would tell myself at 16 years old. It was all a learning process and growing process. And my story is what makes me who I am today. I don't regret anything. I'm not ashamed of anything. Everything happened how it was supposed to. I'm here now. At 26 years old. And that's all that matters. We can only go up from here.

What was the thought process behind putting together the newest project "The Grey Area"?

In a world that's black and white. We are the grey area. The black and white state of mind is slowly being pushed out and the grey area is becoming more and more of a real and daily thing/lifestyle. Change is inevitable. It is actually my freshman album. It consists of new school hip hop. It consists of lyricism. And it consists of radio type songs. My goal is to bridge the gap between these new school artists and the old school artists and hopefully add some filler in the huge division between the two. It's like if Kendrick Lamar and J Cole had a baby with Lil Uzi Vert and XXXtentacion.

Red chile or green chile?

Turquoise. No but really, green Chile. All day. No competition. If you like red i don't trust you.

Do you plan on performing more or trying to grow your fan base via streaming platforms and the internet?

I believe in growing your fan base to the point that you know you can pack a small venue. Am I at that point now? Probably. But, shows aren't top of my priority list. Growing my fan base is. Marketing myself is. Promoting myself is. Getting that strong following is. Once you've established yourself as someone that's worth paying to see perform. The shows will follow. Shows aren't going anywhere. They're extremely important to the music industry. I'm going to continue to be patient. I opened up for Bubba Sparxxx last year and my following in Florida showed up and really fuckin' did they thing in the crowd. That was beautiful. But as for now. I'm getting my fan base up. Then the shows will follow.

Do you prefer solo work? or collaboration? and why?

I prefer solo work to be honest. I really like being able to be in full control of the direction my songs go in. I do better when another artist sends me a collaboration rather than the other way around. I rarely send out songs for other artists to get on. That will probably change once I'm more established in the industry. But for now, I prefer working on songs solo. I'm very unorthodox when I write and when I record. I do everything backwards in the studio. But, I am also very versatile. There's not one beat in the entire universe that i cant write to. I'm very confident in my craft. I'm getting to that next level. Once that has happened. My mind will be open more to collaborations with others. But for now. When it comes to creating a song. I like to be solo.

Anything else you would like to mention?

Yeah shout out to you for taking the time to ask me these questions and talk to me about my music. Also, I'm very excited to be under contract with a label in Miami. I wont get too much into that. But I'm very grateful they see my potential and putting a lot of money, time, and energy behind me.

Theres a lot more to me as a person that goes deeper than music. I came from a hard life. But it doesnt define me. I have overcome addiction. I have beat the odds. And if anyone out there that is reading this. And thinks theres no way out. Please reach out to me. I got you. Much love.