I take notes from them to add to what I do. Elevator Jay is another Charlotte artist who just welcomed me in. But Lute West was one of the first people I met and he showed so much love. I moved here in 2016 for a job promotion. The Charlotte hip-hop scene has been so supportive. How has this community of hip-hop creatives assisted in your development as a musical artist? Cyanca (Photo by Darian Carlos)Ĭharlotte’s hip-hop scene has really been buzzing the last few years. It’s a tempo count from jazz, that kind of old school influence I picked up learning about folks like Chuck Berry. On the song “Eat,” that 808 bass line is old school. This is why in the song “Badu,” you can hear the tambourine in the background ever so gently. When I went to college, I majored in music at UNC Greensboro.
I don’t even think he knew how much he was really investing in me. My grandmother and the Baptist church are definitely my beginnings, but the car rides with my dad were like training school. I was playing the drums, keys, and organ at a very early age.
There was Sunday service but there were also church meetings, choir rehearsal, fundraisers. We were at church three to five times a week. The drum set my dad bought me prepared me for playing at church, which my grandmother was really big on. I used to take my grandmother’s shoe boxes and make a drum set with those old wire hangers. My dad bought me a drum set at the age of 6. Simple, but good living.Ĭan you share a little about your musical background? You’re a vocalist, but you’re also a musician. He was always bumping some hip-hop - a lot of A Tribe Called Quest. If a storm came or it rained, we hung our clothes in the basement. Then there’s things like us having a clothesline growing up. My dad is 50 but my grandparents were born in the 1930s. It was a different kind of upbringing for someone my age. I was in Smithfield up until 18 and it’s definitely a small town, so as teenagers we hung out in Southside Raleigh. My grandparents raised me alongside my father. What was growing up in Smithfield like for you?Ĭyanca: Smithfield was country living. Lamont Lilly: Your original beginnings were in a small town just outside of Raleigh called Smithfield. Before that occurs, Queen City Nerve contributor Lamont Lilly recently sat with Cyanca at Mert’s Heart & Soul in Uptown to discuss her roots, her recent signing with Infinite Companion, a new upcoming project and more. We expect next year to be the one in which the world learns about Cyanca. Building on the strength of songs like “Patti Mayonnaise,” the 2019 summer jam with a deep message that earned her “Best Song” in Queen City Nerve’s inaugural Best in the Nest issue, the neo-soul singer has carved a lane for herself since moving to Charlotte in 2016.Īs much of a standalone talent as Cyanca is, she’s also shined in collaborative efforts with local hip-hop artists such as Erick Lottary, Elevator Jay, Lute West and Deniro Farrar. Save for DaBaby, one would be hard-pressed to find a Charlotte musician with more momentum than Cyanca in this moment.