A boy named ROSA. Picks Out His Sonic Inspirations

The songwriters that light his creative fires...

A boy named ROSA. wants to make sure every little detail is correct. Fastidious in his studio processes, he blends astute electronics with woozy samples, all pieced together around a songwriting instinct which is R&B in tone, and deftly experimental in execution.

A flurry of singles across 2020 sparked huge online hype, with ‘BLOW’, ‘Eye Candy’, and ‘Drunk Girls’ going viral. Powerful and provocative, comparisons included those early Weeknd mixtapes, and left-field R&B voyagers such as Emotional Oranges.

Sharing his debut project today, ‘FEMALE’ is the end of one chapter and the beginning of another. Immersive and atmospheric, it’s 13-track span contains multi-faceted threads, startling in its inventive sonic palette.

Writing for Clash, A boy named ROSA. broke down some of his influences.

The Weeknd – ‘Loft Music’

His storytelling is so raw here. “Life’s such a movie, filmed independent, us against the city”. This definitely influenced ‘Indie Flick’. The fact that this was only one verse, and he didn’t really have his singing all the way fine-tuned yet gave it a charm you can’t manufacture.

This particular track was the first time I heard a somewhat true vocalist use certain slang and bravado I’d only seen or heard rappers use. When he goes “what’s good young ho, you about it?” I chuckled. That’s some real gangsta shit to say.

H.E.R. – ‘Wait For It’

When H.E.R. came out, I was already recording ‘FEMALE’. She came out, I was impressed by how she often left room for empty space on her tracks on those first two EPs. It was so airtight, so cohesive. This is how you get me stripping all the sounds in ‘Paranoid’ for the verses.

This particular song grabbed me because, again, a great songwriter. Her opening line is “Uber on the way, my phone is charging,” and I immediately envision her sitting there, wondering where this story will go…

SZA – ‘Supermodel’

SZA’s songwriting is top tier. When she goes “I’ve been secretly bangin’ your homeboy”, like how you do you say that? On your opening track?

Also, her cadences are very unique and she often attacks a track like a rapper would, giving her sound and singing a dynamic, one-of-a-kind element.

070 Shake – ‘Guilty Conscience’

070 Shake is one of the newer artists that I really like. This is actually a song I wish I wrote. I never have that feeling, but this was a “why didn’t I think of this” track for me.

After seeing her live, I made some tweaks to my own live show and rearranged some of the songs on ‘FEMALE’ to make them more dynamic for the live versions.

Frank Ocean – ‘Novacane’

The second verse floored me. Such detail in the lyrics. The storytelling and scene-setting is what grabbed me. The obvious reasons to like some of these artists are their voices. That helps, but sometimes I can see beyond the voice and see a mind at work that gets these visual stories out.

It’s truly a blessing to be able to write like that.

‘FEMALE’ is out now.

Photo Credit: Nella Ngingo