By LAUREN KASZUBA
Co-Arts Editor
This past weekend, I took a day trip to New York City to see Outasight perform, alongside my friend, junior communications major, Leanne DeMartino.
Richard Andrew, better known as Outasight, is a rapper born and raised in Yonkers, New York. His most popular song, “Tonight Is The Night” was released in 2011 and was featured in Pepsi’s “Who’s Next” campaign. He went on to release his debut album, “Nights Like These,” in 2012. From there on, he’s released an EP, “Stay Gold” (2013), and two albums, “Big Trouble” (2015) and “Richie” (2017). Singles such as “The Wild Life” and “The Bounce” have been featured in Bud Light Lime and Google Assistant commercials, respectively.
I got into his music through YouTube personality and comedian Ray William Johnson. Back in the day, meaning years ago, Johnson had a vlog series titled “Breaking New York” and Outasight’s song, “Good Evening (Dream Big)” was featured in the intro. Since then, it’s been history. This was my third time seeing Outasight in concert and I can confidently say that I never leave a concert of his without feeling as if a rush of happiness just went through me at rapid speed. This was my first time seeing him since I was a freshman in high school. To put things into perspective, I have three semesters of college left. It’s been awhile.
The concert, held at Mercury Lounge in Manhattan’s lower east side, was to celebrate his new album, “Future Vintage Soul.” Back in the summer, Outasight had made a post on Instagram, saying he was “seeing things differently.” This was prior to the release of “Future Vintage Soul” – but these new views impacted the album greatly.
“This album was the first album I ever really had the title first,” he said. “It actually came to me in a dream. I had a dream that I just put out this album and it was called ‘Future Vintage Soul’ and the name just kept going. So, I woke up, and it was just in my head and I’m like, ‘Okay, what is that?’ So, at first I thought, maybe it’s a song title, then I was working on some music and I told my homie that I work with all the time, Shiben, I was like, ‘I got this cool title, I don’t know what it is.’ He was just like, ‘That sounds like an album title, a genre.’”
Outasight said he had a vision from there on when it came to how he wanted the record to sound and feel. It’s quite the different record from his past ones. He described his first album as “hodge podge,” the second album as half and half (one half of it being from a prior album he was working on and the second half being completely funk), and his third album as his “LA album.” He said with “Future Vintage Soul,” he wanted to create a great dance record. I had to ask what his inspirations were for the album, and there were many.
“Kool and the Gang, Earth Wind and Fire, Justin Timberlake, Bruno Mars, early Kanye [West],” Outasight said. “Daft Punk, Jamiroquai… ‘Extra Special’ was definitely super inspired by Jamiroquai.”
“Future Vintage Soul” was also inspired heavily by classic dance records he grew up with. I feel as if it’s an album where if you’re having a bad day, or if you’re just looking to continue a good day, it’ll help you cheer up or make your day even better. It’s a feel good album that sounds like something he’s never put out before. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a big fan of all of his work, including his older mixtapes, but this is definitely a new era for him. Outasight stated “Moonlight” was one of his favorites off the new record.
“’Lost’ or ‘Moonlight’ are my two favorites. They both mean something to me personally.”
He went on to say that his grandfather was a big fan of Frank Sinatra and that Sinatra’s music was some of the earliest music he ever listened to. “Lost” was inspired by Sinatra, and he mentioned that crooning was a good fit for the beat of the song. “Moonlight” was heavily inspired by Kool and the Gang. While the original demo went through about three changes, the hook always stayed the same.
During the concert, Outasight performed songs from way back when (I’m talking his “Radio New York” days) all the way up to his current day songs. “Tonight Is The Night” performed live, never gets old. Hearing “Radio, Radio” for the first time live, was perhaps a dream come true. He even asked me at the end of the show if I had fun. This man cares about his music, his fans, and he is so passionate about being an artist.
And trust me, there isn’t anyone stopping him, either. Outasight already has big plans for the future.
“[I plan on] starting my own record label,” he said. “I’ve been putting out all of my records independently, but with a partnership. It’s been great, but now I just feel like I’ve reached a part of my career where I want to just have my own label, put out my records, sign talented young artists.”
“I’d like to do more shows, keep touring, just see where it goes. I’ll get the creative spark when it happens, but right now I’m kind of just working this record because I believe in it. I have a ‘Bounce’ video coming out, ‘Bounce’ is in a Google commercial so it’s been really great.”
As a longtime fan, I have to say that I am extremely proud of where Outasight has gone with his music. I can’t wait to see what the future holds for him.
