Rising Stars: Meet Xotrey

Today we’d like to introduce you to Xotrey.  

Hi Xotrey, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
Music for me has never been an option. I’ve never come from a place of affluence, so therapy has never really been an option either. Before finding myself in music, my self-forms of therapy like substance abuse, self-abuse, etc. would drive me to the darkest places. I’ve been struggling with my mental health ever since I can remember. With music in my life, everything has been a lot more manageable. I still struggle with the temptation of relapsing and reverting back to my old habits. It’s an extremely hard reality to face as a 19-year-old. I’m thankful to my new producer, Elcee, who I met through the East Lansing Spartan Cooperative housing, for pulling me out of the depression that I was experiencing upon moving to East Lansing in August after breaking up with my girlfriend of nearly two years. Sometimes I wish that she could see the places I am right now that I always used to talk about. When living with her I was heavily addicted to multiple substances and apologize for putting that onto her. After picking myself up from rock bottom, my producer and I have put out three singles together and have created our first album. I’ve been living on his futon for a few months now as the album has been in production. We’ve worked tirelessly on this album and it has truly changed us as people. The album features two of my new best friends that I’ve met through the same housing system, Rosé Loxx, and Xo Don. The album title is “Things will Never Be The Same”, which we think encompasses exactly how we feel about these upcoming months. This project is set to release in the fall. Also in the fall our collective “Inner Ring Entertainment” will be going on our first tour throughout Michigan. 

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle-free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
The road has not been smooth. I’ve learned that my mental health is in complete sync with the success of my music career. It’s the first thing that I think of when I wake up, the only thing I think of throughout the day, and the last thing that’s on my mind before I go to bed. Even when I’m sleeping, I’ve been having this reoccurring nightmare where I have a mental breakdown in a large public setting and end up going crazy on the whole venue. Failure is my biggest fear. I put all of these stirred-up emotions into my music career. It is a struggle that formed who I am as a person. When I was really young, my mother had cancer and was bedridden for quite some time. During this time I occupied myself by watching a lot of MTV, which had music videos on it back in my childhood. When I watched people like Lil Wayne, Jay Z, and even Linkin Park on the television screen, I knew that the life they were living was the same one that was meant for me. Since a young age, about sophomore year, I’ve always been caught up in the mindset of living a “Rockstar Lifestyle”. This ideology has pushed me to act out and pursue things like drug use and outrageous behavior. I know that it’s been getting rougher because the idea of that rockstar lifestyle, to me, is just becoming Xotrey’s lifestyle. As I get more popular and more popular, my thoughts keep getting crazier and crazier. I’m losing my sanity by the day, but finding my sound and myself in the same time period. 

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I’m a rapper and I’m not afraid to admit that. I am a rapper. I’m an artist. I’m a singer. I’m a performer. Right now, I’m all of these things, but on top of everything, I am a rapper. I find that in today’s time that rappers get a lot of negative connotations from the public unless you’ve already found an abundance of success in the industry. Everyone likes to make jokes about you being a “Soundcloud rapper” or never getting out of your parent’s basement, etc. What differentiates me from the other rappers that get categorized like this is that I’m actually out here doing it. I’m out here being myself and making the music that I want to make. I’m not afraid to express myself in my music. I’m not the type to lie in my songs. Everything is true to me, the experiences that I experience are unlike those of any other, but I’m able to rap about them in a way that is relatable to most. Everyone struggles and I make the music that people listen to in order to convince themselves that there are better days to come, but the emotions that they’re feeling right now are valid and they’re not alone. This is what prides me. My Instagram inbox is constantly getting direct message requests ranging in all sorts of emotions. It’s the messages that tell me that I’ve helped them escape a dark place that keeps me going. I’m in a dark place myself and I think that making music for others like me is what helps me the most. It’s an even more amazing feeling knowing that my fans emphasize the fact that I’m not alone either. 

Can you talk to us a bit about the role of luck?
I’ve rarely ever believed in luck. In terms of the actual projects that I’ve been releasing, luck has never been a factor. I know that I’ve always had the natural talent to be a rapper, but even I know that I can get better every day. I look at where I was a year ago today and I’m astonished by how far I’ve come. The sound that I’ve found myself producing today is nothing like the sound I had a year ago and the sound I’ll have next year will be far from the one I have right now. The only really “luck” that I’ve experienced is meeting the people that are on my team now, but even then luck really isn’t a factor. It only makes sense that the most talented people within an area would link up and work together. These guys push me to work harder every day and I don’t know where I would be without them. I attribute a lot of my current success to working with these gentlemen. One more time, my producer is Elcee. The rapper that I’m bringing on tour with me is Xo Don. My tour manager/rapper is Rosé Loxx. My cameraman is Director Alec Gerstenberger. And the person driving us everywhere we need to go is Sam Haddad. 

Pricing:

• Booking: $2,000/show
• Features: $1,000

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/imxotrey/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/imxotrey?lang=en
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzzEqd-SiD8jnfpvcjy_WtA
• Other: https://open.spotify.com/artist/62GBjn3FxYQfiV8ssoQI6i?si=h_oudHbHRB6kRYg8GqBB1g

Image Credits
Elcee