Saint Ripley: A Journey Told Through Music
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Saint Ripley, a Chicago hip-hop artist, shares much of what shaped his music on this episode of Feeding Curiosity. With deep roots in multiple genres, he opens up about attending punk shows as a teenager to his first exposure to hip-hop. On the rapper's first full-length album, Thoughts & Prayers, Saint Ripley shares emotions and stories that are a part of him and a conduit in being a force of change in the world. The album is a concept piece that will be released episodically, with a new song dropping every Friday until November 8th. The first song, The Man Who Gave It All, comes out July 26th. Featured artists on the album include showing regular Jordan Criss and well-known artists Mick Jenkins, Supa Bwe, and more...
Follow along Saint Ripley's Journey here:
Listen to Saint Ripley’s Music at these locations:
Also, check out Filthy Hands - A collaboration of Saint Ripley and Jordan Criss.
Show Notes:
[00:05:40] - Introductions
[00:06:25] - Country Music: Where does Saint Ripley fall?
[00:07:30] - Saint Ripley’s Thoughts on Taylor Swift (Favorite Album 1989)
[00:08:50] - Taylor Swift Cover of Earth, Wind & Fire's September
[00:11:10] - Where did Saint Ripley’s music interest start?
[00:11:25] - Growing up with the oldies and evolving from there.
[00:12:55] - Growing up as the Hansen Brother's
[00:13:35] - Slipknot Influence
[00:14:25] - Industrial Rock and Punk
[00:14:45] - Ringtone Rap Era
[00:16:25] - Opening the Door Into hip hop
[00:16:45] - Guns and Cigarettes by Atmosphere
[00:17:25] - Involved in the Punk Scene
[00:18:40] - College was an interlude
[00:20:35] - Music was still in the back of his mind
[00:21:10] - Around 23, Saint Ripley finally started taking music more seriously and recorded his first song.
[00:22:55] - Why Chicago?
[00:23:36] - Paying forward to the roots from punk scene collaboration and bring that into hip hop
[00:24:56] - Process behind the Album
[00:25:45] - Nate has always been drawn to concept albums. Filthy Hands allowed Nate to explore more creatively
[00:28:46] - Saint Ripley’s and Jordan's parallel growth as creative and collaboration on Filthy Hands
[00:30:40] - Learning as a process
[00:31:10] - Taking what you love doing and making money from it: Entrepreneurship
[00:32:25] - Where did Filthy Hands come from?
[00:33:25] - Chronology of stage names
[00:39:25] - Saint Ripley - Breaking down the name
[00:39:45] - Evolution of Music Industry and how much leverage small artists have
[00:43:15] - Paradox of Choice - TED Talk
[00:43:45] - Curated playlists for exposure to new music - Example on Spotify: Pollen
[00:46:45] - Stage Performance
[00:48:15] - Investing into the fans by giving them more than they give you.
[00:49:25] - How much effort behind the scenes is required to be an artist in any form
[00:50:43] - When it gets difficult to stay motivated, how does Saint Ripley keep moving?
[00:52:05] - Having a voice that needs to be heard
[00:53:25] - "Criticize by Creating" - Michelangelo (Not to be confused with the Ninja Turtle)
[00:55:15] - Remove people who have a negative attitude and try to bring you down
[00:57:35] - Golden Age of Audio
[00:58:45] - A culture of openness
[00:59:45] - The shift in how much people share - Mostly in the political realm
[01:02:40] - Saint Ripley’s View- We are privileged in the respect that we can choose not to engage in the political landscape. Therefore it is our responsibility to engage and provide a voice for those who don’t.
[01:06:15] - Erich's View - Change yourself first before you try to point to what needs to change at scale.
[01:07:55] - Jordan's View - He doesn't like black or white options. There is more of a gradient to the views being discussed. He's a floater.
[01:12:05] - There's too much that needs to be fixed
[01:14:30] - As a writer making people think and have a purpose "Have something to be said."
[01:16:15] - Album Release Information: Release Date: 7/26 and Episodic Release
