A'Sean

The Kansas City music scene has held significant importance over the last several years. There are notable artists such as SleazyWorldGo, Kye Colors and most prominently Tech n9ne. Not to mention the artist’ who have had “Kansas City” under a musical headlock. Not only do they represent the Kansas City culture and lifestyle, but they also represent the Kansas City experience. The artist A'sean has been at the forefront of it all for several years. From his dynamic and choppy presence on his instrumentals to his diverse musical sounds. He, himself, is his own entity and has put his city at the forefront of Hip-Hop. A'sean was born in PG county, Maryland. He moved to Kansas City as an adolescent and has been there since his initial departure. Growing up, A’sean was surrounded by poverty and crime. I asked A’sean how he avoided becoming a product of his environment, and he most humbly replied, “I always had something to live for and believed in myself. I won’t rob myself of being the person I know I can be. I have been blessed to have the mindset that I do have. I’ve almost became that product a few times.” He attributes a lot of his childhood success to his mother. He states growing up, his mother was a community activist. She raised him with humble beginnings, which included the knowledge of black excellence and triumph, as apparent through his career. During his high school years, he attended Blue Valley North, he exclaimed, “I got to see a different side of the world that was nothing like my upbringing. I witnessed both sides of the spectrum” says A’sean. That experience made him see himself as “More than a winner”. Going to a predominantly white school brought the best out of him, which concluded in A'sean creating his clothing brand ‘SWAN’. This brand was created in effort of inclusivity, inspiration, and creativity. which is why the acronym stands for "Secretly We're All Nerds". A’sean says, “I believe that we all have something that we nerd out about.” The idea came to him because of his surroundings. One thing every great artist does is observe and it is apparent that A’sean does plenty of it. A’sean soon began to capitalize on those observations. He went on to say “The athletes that bullied the “nerds” went onto study things like computer science, design, photography, etc. So that peaked my question to why kids 12-17 have a hard time being themselves? Why did they think it was necessary to shame other who could identify with who they were in social settings?” SWAN represents individuality and being yourself. SWAN is a collective of artists who produce music, clothes, and events.

From the likes of Schoolboy Q, Kendrick Lamar, to Nipsey Hussle. A’sean draws inspiration from being a major fan of all three artists. The majority would say it is a formidable group to draw inspiration from. You can hear Schoolboy Q’s “Unorthodox” style in A’sean’s music. If we take a quick glance at A’sean and the SWAN brand, we can see he keeps a nice, clean, simplistic look that you can get out of an artist like Kendrick Lamar. When regarding Nipsey Hussle, we can see a lot of Nipsey’s “Hussle” in him (no pun intended). A’sean states, “Being an artist is beyond writing songs. I feel like artists are messengers for the people. To me it’s the only universal language. There’s a lot of power and responsibility in being a good artist.” The artist he looks up to all represents his statement, and he does a good job of representing them. Schoolboy Q even went to the extent of allowing A’sean to open for him and represent Kansas City on a larger scale.

The influence A’sean has had within the community is a major one. He not only is an influencer of music but of activism as well. Since 2019, I’ve been a follower of A’sean. Each and every year he does a community outreach around thanksgiving holiday. He teams up with the likes of Kye Colors and his team over at Wasteland, which has allowed him to give back to the community. They go around in the cold weather handing out food to the less fortunate. As I stated earlier, A’seans mother brought him up on humble beginnings, He says “I remember being a kid and my mom was a street minister, she would have me out there with her setting up tables and giving food to the homeless people. While she preached, I would serve them.” From an early age he has just had a natural knack for giving.

I do not believe I am alone when I say I cannot wait to see what all ‘SWAN’ and A’sean have in store for 2023, we can only imagine big things are on the way.

(Get tapped in by tapping the link!!! https://www.swan.team/ )

Author: Kyron Keys

Editor: Calvin Smith