'I just love to create music'; Rapper Iamsu! wants to leave a lasting impact on the Bay Area
WALNUT CREEK -- Bay Area Iamsu! has deep Bay Area roots -- a rich family heritage he draws on for his music and his life.
KPIX 5 caught up with Iamsu! at one of his favorite spots in the East Bay – Rooftop Restaurant & Bar in Walnut Creek.
"I just love to create music, and that feeling is like discovering something every time," he said.
Iamsu! was born and raised in the East Bay.
"Number one is that we all got the belief that we can do everything ourselves," he said. "Independence, that's the number one thing for Bay Area artists. I think that's our biggest strength – independence and consistency."
Iamsu! also feels at home at Youth Radio Media in downtown Oakland. This is where he learned to make beats and it's a place he says was pivotal for his career.
"The culture and just the confidence to rap," he said. "My first raps, I was writing. I would be performing them, I'd be saying them to guys that were up here, they'd be giving me constructive criticism."
For Iamsu!, his inspiration comes from the most important thing – his family.
"It's everything. It's everything. It's the reason I do it, it's permanent motivation," he said.
What people may not know though is his grandfather is James Andrew Harris – the first African American to be credited in the discovery of an element on the Periodic Table. He helped discover elements 104 and 105 at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in 1969 and 1970.
"He was the first celebrity in the family going around and speaking," Iamsu! said.
He was a father figure for Iamsu! His grandfather passed when he was about 12 years old, but Iamsu! carries his voice and advice with him.
"He had a phrase called PIT. Acronym for patience, intelligence, timing. I repeat that to myself all the time. It's instilled in me," he said. "You can't ever rush it, you got to pick your spots, timing is everything.
They come from different generations, but both have left a lasting impact.
"I feel like we both discovered something. As far as breaking music down, being a producer and artist, you see music in a different light. I discovered my sound, he discovered elements," he said.
So what's next for Iamsu!?
"New music. This year, I have plans for new music. A lot of new releases on deck. I want to be clever. I want to expand my vocabulary as much as possible. Have unique references, I want to make a lot of local references. If you know, you know. If you grew up out here or if you just know me personally," he said.
And through those lyrics, he hopes his fans can take something away.
"Always going back to inspiration but hopefully some knowledge, some ways to go about life," he said.