Artists of Color: Breezy Supreme Knows What’s Up
It was a perfect, punk rock moment. I stumbled across Breezy Supreme at legendary Inner Ear Studios (Bad Brains, Fugazi, Foo Fighters) on Halloween night. He put on a performance that had everybody outside running inside to dance with the other punks dressed like ghouls and goblins. I made a point to look him up afterwards, and I’m so glad I did.
Hailing from Prince George’s County, Maryland, the young punk goes by many names and many sounds. Breezy Supreme’s latest album, BAD DECISIONS, is a high-energy serenade to the folks who were stuck moshing in their living room. It’s filled with pop-punk anthems that embrace the styles of trap music and promise better summers are to come. I recommend “Hopeless Romantic” and “I Don’t Get Much Sleep.”
Aside from his music and prominent social media presence (@Breezyxsupreme), he still seems like he has more to say. So I decided to see what’s up.
Breezy Supreme is definitely a fun, unique name. How did you come up with the name?
Breezy Supreme: My origin story sucks ass. I got my name literally because this dude was like, ‘Yo, bro, you too cool for school.’ And his homie was like, ‘Nah, he not cool, he’s breezy’ haha. And the supreme comes from the fact that I aim to be the best at whatever I do.
You’re one of the brave souls to put out music during a pandemic. What made you decide to release BAD DECISIONS this past December? How did the pandemic affect your process?
The album was actually supposed to come out in the summertime, but dealing with the delay of producers not sending stems and the engineer procrastinating on sending me my vocals for mastering it, took months for the album to get finished. And there were actually more songs that were gonna be on it, but I didn’t want to wait any longer. I almost didn’t drop it at all because I wanted that summer feel for it, but I just decided to put it out there anyway. And, luckily, people actually like it.
BAD DECISIONS is a far cry from your 2016 debut album, The Enigma. How did you go from trap/rap music to this blend of pop punk, rap and trap music? What or who inspired you?
I just be making whatever I want to be honest. Even on the first album, I already knew I was going to make rock songs at some point. I just didn’t have a band at the time, so I was focused on trying to make hype songs with the same energy of like metal and hardcore at the time. But I’ve always listened to a balance of both, like I listen to a lot of rap and a lot of rock—’80s punk, and pop punk just so happens to be my favorite genre of rock. Most of my favorite artists are actually terrible people, unfortunately, but they are who inspired me to create what I wanted to create and inspired my stage performances. So, I’ll name them: Marilyn Manson, GG Allin, Bad Brains, DMX, Lil Jon, and I’ll go and throw the queen Hayley Williams in there as well. Lately, I’ve been inspired by local drag artists; the creativity in their performances inspired me to do more with my stuff.
With the shift in genre with BAD DECISIONS, how did its production compare to that of your other albums?
It costs a lot more and requires a lot more time and patience to be satisfied with the finished product.
Despite the contrast in genres, your music sounds so natural and authentic. Like you know exactly what you want to sound like and how you want your listeners to feel. When did you start making music and when did you know this is the type you want to make?
I started taking music seriously in 2016, but I had already been making music while I was in middle school. I’ve always been real specific about my vision. If it doesn’t come out how I wanted it, I’ll just redo it until it fits my vision.
You recently took to your Twitter to point out the double standard Black artists often face when borrowing from other genres. You said white artists get praise for incorporating rap into their music but you were told it was “too hood” for your demographic. Can you shed more light on that and your response? What do you think your demographic is?
My demographic is literally the same demographic as all of the new pop punk acts, so for them to think my music is too hood is solely because I’m Black. Because they allow MGK and all these other pop punk dudes to use rap beats in their tracks, but when I do it it’s a problem because it feels too raw, I guess. Also, Black people don’t borrow from any other genres; we made most of them and everyone else borrows them from us.
Good point. Now let’s talk style. Even without your music, you dress loudly. Leather jackets, chains, dyed locs, and the whole thing. How do people react to seeing a big Black man dress like that? What are your fashion influences?
I mean, people be looking at me in amazement or they look at me like I’m crazy. I’m used to it, but like, I’m also a big Black dude, so most people won’t say anything unless it’s a compliment. My fashion influences are pretty much punk fashion and pretty much anything I think looks good on me. My sense of style is pretty broad.
You just dropped a new music video for the catchy emo song, “I Don’t Get Much Sleep” with Alice Crow. What was it like shooting the video and working with Alice Crow?
That’s like my brother for real, so it didn’t feel like anything unusual. [He’s] a genius for real when it comes to music though, people gotta stop sleeping on my boy. We bout to be like Shaq and Kobe with this, or any other super duo type haha.
In addition to Alice Crow, you also collaborated with Bunny Null and Mikey Polo on this album. What was it like working with them? Who do you hope to work with in the future?
Those the homies too. I had to drag Bunny to the studio to make that song because she had never recorded a song before, but I knew she had a good voice, so I had to bully her into recording that song haha. Me and Mikey been cool for a while through hood politics and mutual connections. He’s been trying get on his rock stuff, so he was the perfect option for that song in my opinion.
In “Change Your Life,” you sing about turning your life around for the better. It’s only been a month, but how has BAD DECISIONS changed your life so far? How would you like it to change your life?
Not really sure, like it’s pretty cool everybody is listening to it and giving me my flowers, but I won’t be satisfied until I personally feel like I’m not slept on. And I more so care about putting a spotlight on Black alternative artists, and I feel like I’m accomplishing that goal. So, it’s cool, but I’m far from done or satisfied. Also, shoutout to Billy Martin from Good Charlotte because he [liked] me way before most people saw the potential in me, and he produced that beat for “Change Your Life.”
It feels like a trap question by now, but pandemic notwithstanding, what’s next for Breezy Supreme?
Only thing I got planned so far is applying pressure. I can’t really tell you what’s coming up because then it won’t be a surprise when I do it, but I can tell you that we have a lot of music videos coming out. That’s it. That’s all the sneak peaks you get for free, bucko!
Breezy Supreme’s BAD DECISIONS is available everywhere you get your tunes from.
