Aberration Alley: The story of a new collective
All the big artists, businesses, and worthwhile ventures that you know most likely started as a small vision or just a dream. Over time, that dream developed into a viable career path.
Now with social media, creatives from all over the world can work together without ever actually meeting in person. This is the case for the collective known as “Aberration Alley.” A group of artists, producers, curators, stylists, photographers and podcast hosts that formed over Twitter with the goal of supporting each other in their solo ventures, but also collaborating on various projects. I had the chance to learn more about each member and their goals for the future.
What does Aberration Alley mean?
Barz da Lyricist: A collective that is different from the average set of creatives, a collective also in their completely own lane hence aberration alley.
Nikkay Shears: For me, it is a collective working together to uplift and support each other not just creatively but emotionally too. We all are coming up as a team.
Bootsie: the words “Aberration Alley” really just translate to saying “different or unique and in our own lane”
Millz: Aberration Alley is broken down into 2 words. Aberration means “straying from what’s normal”, so the first name represents how we are different from what mainstream might try to box us in to be. Alley is “a long road or street”. So, the Alley represents who we’re in our own lane. When put together it means, a collective of people who are differentiated from mainstream by paving their own path to success.
Jay Fortuna: AA to me just embodies the idea of being different and unique. None of the artists In AA feel pressured to follow conventional rules whether it be music or in art, and it’s beautiful.
Whose idea was it to form this collective?
Barz da Lyricist: I decided to come up with a name and make our twitter chat a legit collective.
Angie: Although AA wasn’t officially named until 4/20/20. Barz had already envisioned a collective that integrated like-minded artists of different backgrounds to share/support each other with their creative journeys.
Cam: Barz da lyricist, AKA the future goat.
What inspires you guys to make music? For those of you who don’t make music, what inspires you?
Tone: When it comes to music, I’m mainly in it for the sport. I want to rap, and I want to be known for doing it well. I wouldn’t mind innovating it a bit along the way. It’s that simple. When it comes to the podcast, I felt like nobody was researching as much as I wanted them to. I’d hear shows and nobody would mention the deep cut trivia I would think of or discuss topics that I felt were important. Everything was a gossip channel.
Cisco: Fashion, photography are my primary subjects my inspirations vary from various sources of fashion & visual pages on social media. Fashion wise I enjoy what A$AP Rocky does, he’s the main culprit for my style of dressing. GUESS brand also has that vintage aesthetic that resonates very well with my style. GUESS brand also has that vintage aesthetic that resonates very well with my style. Photography wise I look towards Dexternavy, Camsvisualart, and braylendion (all pages on instagram).
Zay: My main inspirations when it comes to artists would definitely be The Weeknd, Kendrick Lamar, Blood Orange, Tupac, etc.
Bootsie: I’ve always been a lover of great art, my dad is an artist and I’ve always known I was an artist inside me too but it wasn’t til high school I realized I wanted to put my art in the form of music… I get inspired by tons of other artists in the music industry and artists in my family to turn it into my own career path too.
Millz: When it comes to making music, I get a lot of my inspiration from my life. As a woman, and especially as a Black Woman, I gain a perspective in life that many others don’t get to see. I use my platform to explain to others how I see the world from my point of view. I’m heavily inspired by my personal experiences (whether that’s things that happen to me at church, school, work, etc.) and also my culture. A large part of who I am and what my music is about refers to addressing the plight of my people and dispelling any discrepancies about myself.
Cazh: The fact that I can relate to other human beings is the biggest reason I make music because I be feeling like an alien.
Nikkay Shears: What inspires me is 100% my pain but hopefully one day my happiness
How would you describe a collective to someone who doesn’t understand what that means?
Barz Da Lyricist: A group of individuals that share creative control and work together while allowing room for individuality.
Cisco: Think of a collective as a group of individuals who take time to master their crafts in order to collaborate together to push their common objective into mainstream ideas by applying themselves in different aspects of cultural trends.
Angie: A collective is a group of people who truly believe in each other’s aspirations and actively participate in the journey of their group members by giving constructive feedback, promoting work, asking questions, offering advice, and showering each other with compliments.
Rudy: The way I would define a collective is a group of people who all bring different things to the table and inspire and motivate others in the same collective to express themselves through their work.
Millz: A collective is a group of people that all do different things, and when put together, whatever they make individually is enhanced and made better as a group. To me, our collective is so special because we have people present in each aspect: rappers, singers, producers, graphic design, fashion, etc. As a collective, we transcend borders because we can’t be boxed into one category. We aren’t a rap group, we aren’t a singing group, we aren’t just artists, we are everything. We exist in all aspects of the industry and that’s why our collective is so special.
Do you have plans to meet in person one day?
Bootsie: We wanna meet up here in LA soon and also will for sure meet up in other places too in the future since we are all around the U.S.
Rudy: Of course, the people in this collective are all inspiring and wonderful that I would definitely like to meet them in person and take a bit of their insights and knowledge with me to fully understand each and everyone and what inspires them to put their work out there.
Jiggy: Of course! I regularly throw parties and always invite everyone on media so AA is no exception. With the pandemic, I haven’t been able to host a function but when this is over I’m gonna need all my people to show up and show out! I’ve only met Bootsie and Angie in person.
Do you any of you have plans to collaborate with each other on a song or other project?
Zay: There are definitely plans to collaborate, and I and Barz have already made a song together.
Tone: I’ve already sent out demos to a couple of members I’m working with and almost everybody’s been on the podcast at this point.
Jiggy: I sent a few of my beats to Barz and others in the collective for some remixes but we as a group have something that’s making convo and that we hope to put out before the end of the year. I’ve already curated a project cover.
Barz da Lyricist: Yes, we already have been collaborating on each other’s art here and there but we plan on doing a collaborative project as well.
What advice would you give to other new artists?
Nikkay Shears: Don’t give up no matter what those times you feel stupid for even pursuing it and scared of the risk understand that if you’re not scared of your aspirations, you’re not dreaming big enough. Keep going and find a purpose for what you’re doing and never stop believing in yourself and putting in the work.
Angie: My advice to a new artist would be to ultimately believe in the reason why they want to make art in the first place and then hold onto that reason forever. Never forget and work your butt off cause it’ll be so worth it.
Jiggy: Just go for it. There is a multitude of ways you can go about creating something and following what’s “hip” may get you known faster buts it’s not going to stick. Take your time to perfect your style and let time do the rest. Consistency is still key though, also, do what you do because you still love it, not because you think it’ll make you a quick buck.
Tiff: Do whatever you wanna do & never let anyone tell you that you can’t. Don’t limit yourself, take it easy and don’t be too hard on yourself. Just always be yourself and never forget your roots. There’s nowhere to go but up.
Barz da Lyricist: Keep your vision alive and dream huge. Manifest everything you desire.
Rudy: Don’t be afraid to put your work out there if you really love it. I guarantee there will be people that will appreciate it and feel inspired to put theirs out as well. Be proud of your work, you did that, and no one can take that away from you.
Zay: Take your time with your art and don’t rush anything. Also, express yourself fully. It’s your art, your expression.
Millz: My biggest advice to anyone coming up is to stay true to yourself. Be authentically and wholeheartedly you! Don’t try to make music based on what you think will be hot and trending at the time, make music based on your own personal conviction. Some more advice would be to listen to your voice the loudest. What I mean by that is, make sure that you are confident and proud in the work you put out. There will be a lot of people that will tear you down or try to make it seem like your art is not good, but as long as your inner self is proud of the work, then don’t worry about them. Somebody is going to be happy with what you create. Lastly, I would tell them to never stop creating. Be diligent and continue working on your craft. Read books to expand your vocabulary, study the people you deem great and see what they do that you’re not incorporating, and always keep learning. There’s so much room to grow but you must be willing to accept that you are not perfect, and every opportunity has a lesson to be learned.
To learn more about Aberration Alley follow their Twitter @Aberation Alley.