So much of being an artist is often about opening up your own vulnerabilities and inviting your audience into your personal space and your personal life, laying out your inner questions and conflicts and welcoming fans into your inner worlds.
But for Norman-based hip-hop artist S. Reidy, that’s actually become more literal.
The indie rapper has built a loyal and increasingly large following from his open-hearted rapping and production that often incorporates emo, punk, and singer-songwriter styles into hip-hop.
But it’s a following that also grew at the forefront of the modern house show resurgence, with Reidy throwing his doors open and hosting blowout concerts right inside his own home.
The result, he says, was a deeper sense of community among his growing fanbase, and a deeper connection to the intimacy and emotion in his songs.
S. Reidy: That really changed the whole trajectory of my career, is when I started doing the house shows.
Like it's kind of cliché to say, but I definitely never imagined it would grow into what it was. I never thought that I would throw a house show with 500 RSVPs to the point where it's just like “guys, I'll literally rent out a warehouse.” I never thought that would happen. And so it's cool to be, like, part of the history of Norman music.
Where I'm at right now with it, I really feel like I'm, you know, making a positive impact on the community that shaped me.
Brett Fieldcamp: That shaping and development has been about a lot more than just rap for Reidy, though.
While Oklahoma’s hip-hop community has embraced and pushed his sound and stature forward, he’s also found himself inspired by the punk rock and emo scenes, forging friendships and collaborations across genres and encouraging Reidy to expand his sound more confidently into all of the styles that have influenced him.
S. Reidy: I decided to start making rap music in 2014 because I was listening to so much of it at the time, but also because I really wanted to make music with a message and a purpose, and I just felt like I had a lot to say, and so I felt like the thing that gave me the most freedom to do that was hip hop music.
I've been doing it for 12 years now, so I really have no rules as far as introducing the music that I love into the music that I make. Like you know, I don't think it's weird to have 70s hardcore or 90s emo or 2000s pop music. I want to include it. I feel comfortable doing that now with the experience that I have.
Brett Fieldcamp: All of those elements – and the experiences that have driven them – come together more fully and more expressively than ever on Reidy’s newest album, “?YouShouldWait?”
A surprise release with no buildup or pre-promotion, it plays as a concept album exploring Reidy’s own questions of life, death, and the complex gray areas in between.
Even for someone that regularly invites full crowds into his home, the album represents a whole new level of vulnerability and openness for Reidy.
S. Reidy: I've been telling people “I've never worked this hard on anything in my life,” and I truly mean it.
I really set out with a vision, and I really had this thing on my heart, and it was truly just an idea about a year ago. And now it's this thing that people can hold in their hands and put in their ears.
This album was very different for me, though. It's very conceptual. This time is the first time I ever did intentionally have an outline and like a very strict outline that I knew that these things needed to fall in place for this thing to make sense and for this to be what I want it to be.
It was just really on my heart to really just do something that was truly uniquely me and like could only be conjured up from my life experience and, you know, my interests and the things that I want to bring into the world.
Brett Fieldcamp: Those experiences are the building blocks of the life and the career that Reidy says he’s been constructing for more than a decade in the game.
The house shows, the cross-country tours, and the persistent output of deeply emotional, community-conscious raps and albums have all been in service of creating something real, something that forms genuine connections between fans, and something that might last longer than hit singles and streaming success.
S. Reidy: You can, like, force a hit song, or you can force a moment, but you can't force a career. You get a moment, or you get a song, or you get whatever.
But the community of it, and the, like, growing with your audience of it, and living a life worth writing about is what helps you win in the long run.
And so, actually building a world with your music is going to-it's going to win every time.
Brett Fieldcamp: S. Reidy’s new album “?YouShouldWait?” is available now, and he’ll be performing the album in full a special release show Friday, November 6th at Resonator in Norman.
For more, follow @sdotreidy on Instagram.
———————————
KGOU relies on voluntary contributions from readers and listeners to further its mission of public service with arts and culture reporting for Oklahoma and beyond. To contribute to our efforts, make your donation online, or contact our Membership department.
