It can be tough to find yourself evolving and developing as an artist when you’re bumping up against the expectations or assumptions that you feel you’ve boxed yourself into.
So what’s an artist to do when their new influences and new aspirations feel at odds with the old name that they’ve made for themselves?
Well, they join the growing number of local performers that are casting off the past and rebranding themselves to emerge newer, fresher, and wiser than before, even if they’ve already spent years driving one of the city’s most vibrant scenes under an established and respected name.
That’s the case for the rapper, songwriter, poet, and community organizer rising from the ashes of the one called Original Flow, now newly christened and freshly formed as Flow the Wise.
Flow the Wise: I've been Original Flow since high school. I mean, at that point it really is time for a change, you know.
You got to be authentic, you have to be yourself. And I really took it in, and Original Flow became my moniker, and it has carried me for a very long time.
Brett Fieldcamp: After more than a decade helping to drive the OKC hip-hop and arts communities with that “Original” tag firmly in place, Flow says that a gradual evolution in sound and style, and a greater openness to new influences and emotions, made the change feel like a natural, and necessary, new step.
Flow the Wise: The reason why now is I really did feel like, in my core, it was time for change.
People have always said I had an old soul, and all that kind of stuff. So I'm like, for me to finally adopt that into my being, into my name, it’s, you know, Flow the Wise.
Brett Fieldcamp: For a lot of artists that tackle a rebrand or a name change, it’s a way of granting themselves the license and the freedom to explore new sounds and to jump into new styles, but for Flow, that change has already been happening, in no small part because of his backing band, the Wavvez, marrying soul, hard rock, classic funk, and electronic influences into something unique, often unpredictable, and miles away from the more straightforward hip-hop that he started out performing.
Flow the Wise: My music actually changed first. I've been evolving, and I didn't even know that, to be honest.
Original Flow was very, like, East Coast-inspired, you know, just hardcore “boom bap,” where Flow the Wise is a lot more inspired from Neo Soul, funk, you know, a good amalgamation of Black music.
It’s more than lyricism now. I've expanded.
Brett Fieldcamp: And that’s the same wide stylistic net that Flow and his band are casting in their new recurring showcase series at OKC’s Blue Note that they’re calling House of Wavvez, providing a platform for other artists that are similarly exploring the outer limits of their styles and inspirations, with Flow and the Wavvez curating, headlining, and hosting, with the next installment kicking off Friday, June 5th.
Flow the Wise: The idea of House of Wavvez is really just like a homebrew, like, live session.
It's also a way for me to introduce new artists. That's what I've always done to try to give local talent the ability to perform, because I remember being a brand new, wet-behind-the-ears artist on the scene, and I had to work hard for my reputation.
I want to help to make sure that we have a network of talented artists that actually can have a chance to perform and to be booked for stuff.
Brett Fieldcamp: Taking on that kind of responsibility for his community is part of the wisdom that Flow says inspired his new moniker, but it also comes from the understanding that age and experience bring that he doesn’t have to be all things to all people or be constantly trying to prove himself or to justify his place in the scene.
That was the original Flow, but now he’s older, wiser, and more focused on what he can give back.
Flow the Wise: People are gonna like me that are gonna like me, and people are not, they're not. They're gonna move on. Having that mindset allowed me to free myself from that burden.
I feel like, instead of a change, it's more of an evolution. I feel like I'm finally in this new transition of, like, a new perspective, you know, for Flow, and I have to take on this new identity, because this is what I've evolved into.
Brett Fieldcamp: The next installment of the live House of Wavvez series, hosted by Flow the Wise, is Friday, June 5th at the Blue Note Lounge in Oklahoma City.
For more, follow @flowthewise on Instagram.
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