Courtesy of Reggie Goudeau
College second-year Reggie Goudeau: The Musician
What inspires you to create?
The biggest inspiration for me is my emotions. Whenever I have a complex emotion or thought that I can’t express concisely, it is usually a song’s topic. I typically create or finish a song after a big revelation in my life, a significant positive or negative life event, or something similar that impacts me. Occasionally, I’ll be driven by deadlines — such as with my articles or my album I did for my first Winter Term project.
A song from my “Past Present Future” EP (from the future section if we’re being thematic.
What is the function of your art?
My art serves to do many things, but the most significant things are healing and educating. I hope that my poetry, music, articles, and other works can inform and heal others and myself. Creating tends to have a healing and grounding effect for me, whether I get to vent and have relief or be prideful in a solid verse or piece.
What role does artmaking play in your life?
Artmaking happens whenever it happens, and I already mentioned how I’m usually just driven to write after a significant thought or event. It grounds me and helps me put a lot of my ideas into tangible action. Once I have some dope nuggets of wisdom dropped in a song or article, I’m more calm and ready to think of action steps.
Would you say your artmaking is a healing experience?
Absolutely. Honestly, I write a lot of my best work whenever I’m at my lowest, and doing some great work helps me to feel less depressed. Some of my poems talking about darker themes and my melancholic music, such as “Sad Clown” or “Happiness,” reflect these dark moments of my life. Creating has helped me retain a bit of sanity amidst the pandemic and other nonsensical events of the past year.
The Consistent Melancholy by Reggie Goudeau
Where do you want to see your art?
If I could become a famous rapper someday, that would be awesome, but I don’t expect it to happen realistically. Some may read that and see it as self-defeating, but I see nothing wrong with honesty and realistic expectations. I want to go into healthcare, and the likelihood of me carrying a rap career and pursuing medicine is low — we can’t all be Megan Thee Stallion. For now, I’m content seeing my music being enjoyed locally by friends and family. But if someone way bigger sees something in me or helps me to start a real career, I’m up for taking this more seriously.
A single from last year about my trying to remain nonchalant in the fact of a doomed world.
Who are your influences and inspirations?
I take inspiration from many rap artists, and although I’m usually conscious enough or whatever, I love trap music the most. For more technical stuff, I enjoy listening to Pusha T, JID, Denzel Curry, CHIKA, Kendrick Lamar, and Cordae, just to name a few. Call me uncultured if you’d like, but I started doing more poetry after rapping, so I’m still familiarizing myself with poets — though I do love the work from the talented members of OSLAM. I need some sauce too, and for that, I like listening to people such as Future, Flo Milli, Megan Thee Stallion, Lil Uzi Vert, 6lack, Young Thug, and Lil Baby. I could go on way longer, but I’ll halt here.
To what degree does your art reflect the world around you?
My art reflects what I’d like to see in the world around me or myself. Most of my work is based on educating or healing because I feel [that] the world needs that right now. It also reflects my state of being because I’m on a constant learning journey to heal and educate myself.
Articles by Reggie Goudeau: