This year’s Lollapalooza was everything attendees could hope for. The 4-day festival offered a vast variety of artists and genres for festival goers to enjoy. On the 4th day, San Antonio’s own, Xavier Omär rocked the stage. Xavier got the audience pumped and ready for the final day of the festival.
Is this your first year at Lollapalooza?
“This is my first year performing. I attended last year. I love telling this story, I was watching J. Cole, and I looked over at my manager and I said ‘In two years we could be here.’ We got the call 7 months later to be here. You still don’t believe it until you do it. Seeing all the people that came out to see me, it was just beautiful. I can’t wait to come back in maybe 2 years onto a bigger stage.”
Do you still get nervous on stage?
“This particular show wasn’t nerves, it was more like ‘Let’s do it !’ We are finally here, with all the hype and waiting for the 4th day. Other shows, honestly I still get very nervous. It’s the fact of; you don’t want to let people down. You don’t know what the vibe is going to be like, that night. Every city is so different. I’m not nervous because I’m scared or not sure of how I’m going to do but it’s one of those things where you love what you do. It’s like when you see that person you love, it’s still there a little bit.”
As a kid did you always know that music would be your future career?
“It wasn’t until I was 12 that I really wanted to do it. I just thought I was going to be the next Bow-Wow and rapping hardcore. I was rapping until I was 20. I sang a couple songs that people liked. I didn’t want to be a solo artist, even when I was rapping; I was in groups. So, as much as I wanted to do music, I never wanted to do it this way. It’s a new world, because you have to think of branding yourself and doing everything yourself. I always wanted to do it but never this way.“
Did you have any musical influences growing up?
“Definitely, Pharrell Williams. “
Xavier proceeded to show me his “Get Lucky” tattoo with daft punk on his forearm.
“James Blake, Kanye West, Chris Martin, Chris Brown, Ceelo Green.”
Anybody you hope to collab with someday?
“Hopefully Pharrell, Pharrell and Ceelo. I think they would blend well with how I work. “
Who have been some of your favorite people that you have collaborated with?
“My best friend Elhae. I love working with him. He was the guy that I was in a group with in Highschool, so everything comes natural. The collaborations for the most part don’t happen frequently, the only person I have frequently collaborated is Sango. We have another one we are working on. I am really open to it really; there are so many people I’m willing to work with.
Do you think switching your name from SPZRKT to Xavier Omär was a smart business move?
“SPZRKT had 200,000 monthly listeners, and Xavier Omär had over 1,000,000 monthly listeners. The music never changed, just being able to share it. No matter how you pronounce it, it’s easier to share than with SPZRKT. That small change, changed everything and it was for the best.”
Do you have any tips for someone following in your footsteps?
“Know what you want to be known for. Don’t release records that you don’t love, unless everyone around you absolutely loves it. Trust your team, and get a team to trust in. All of those are every important. My team and I are all learning together, you don’t have to find a big team, just find people that you trust.”
What would you say separates you from different artists?
“ Besides my absolute stance of being anti-misogynistic. However you want to call or label, I am pro-people. I am here for the best interest of human dignity. We don’t want to do anything derogatory or negative towards anyone, and I haven’t even dissed guys in my songs.
I also honestly believe that because I don’t make as much music as everybody, I know when I put records out I believe in them. I ‘m not just making song after song; I have taken the time to think through my lyrics. I love song writing; it’s my favorite part. The passion of writing, being anti-misogynistic; I think the combination of those things make me different“
Ultimately what’s the biggest message you want people to get from your music?
“Personally I have always tried to point people towards God. I have songs like speculate or afraid where I can be very vulnerable but it comes from a place of strength. There is no strength if I don’t have an anchor to pull that from. I am not strong in those times but God is strong for me. We have an end, and I want to point a person towards something that doesn’t have one. It’s been best for me and I believe it can help them to. “
Any projects that our audience needs to keep their eyes out on?
“ Me and Sango are working on a second one. I don’t know when it is coming out but just know that it’s happening. I am working on mine. Naturally I think after those two, there will be an album out too.”
What does True Urban Culture mean to you?
“I never really loved the word ‘urban’. It is a much more diverse word now but it used to just mean ‘black’. Now I think it means ‘new and young’ the truth is in what they are doing. There are a lot of trailblazers in our generations. We have a lot of negative things come our way but we made Uber and Lyft. We have made the best of the Internet. We have pushed technology to work better in our daily lives. Our generation has made rights be made official. I think True Urban Culture is what you see the youth doing around you.”
Make sure to follow Xavier on his social media platforms
Instagram : @xvromar
Twitter : @xvromar
