Hip-Hop Lives Here
Hip-Hop Lives Here
Hailing from Bronx, NY, HULKSICKO! is an artist that you’ll surely become familiar with in the next couple of years. The independent artist describes his name as being derived from a childhood nickname for always lifting weights after basketball practice. He added the exclamation point for emphasis, so that people could “feel him.” Anyone who listens to his music will certainly feel his distinct uptempo and melodic style along with meaningful lyrics that reflect the trials and tribulations of growing up in the Bronx. Having lived in Section 2 in the Co-op City of Bronx until age 14, HULKSICKO! would find trouble often. His mother, who immigrated from Liberia,found it best to move their family upstate so that her children could focus on staying on the right path.
A music career wasn’t always on the artist’ radar. HULKSICKO! was a star athlete, having received two Division One college basketball offers after his freshman year, but after a traumatizing hip injury, he ultimately decided to retire the jersey and pivot his energy toward the studio. He reminisces and says, “I found myself recording more. My sound started to get better and I saw myself transitioning from athlete to artist.”
Like any skilled musician, HULKSICKO! had the natural ability to connect with his fans. His potential in music didn’t become clear until he received a DM (Direct Message) on Instagram from someone in Germany saying they cried to his song on the night of their mother’s funeral. He realized that if he could provide an emotional experience from a random overseas fan, there’s no telling where his music could take him.
The Bronx native started to gain international recognition when he ventured to China to further grow his music career, something uncommon for new artists. If you follow him on Instagram, you’ll see the Chinese characters as captions for all of his highlight reels.He adds. “The fact that I speak Chinese influences some of the harmonies that I think of while making music.” He visited twice and went to 10 different cities while there and lived there for a whole month at one point. He even had planned to move to Shenzhen, the “Miami of China”, according to HULKSICKO!.
HULKSICKO! joins a grip of artists who recently moved West for his music. He is currently living in Los Angeles using the COVID Pandemic downtime to adjust to a whole different coast, work on video content and edit his unreleased music. “After I created a routine [in LA] and I had the right energy around me, I knew it was going to be a better fit than New York for what I wanted to accomplish. There’s a lot of temptation in New York, when you’ve got time on your hands you could get yourself into something you might not want to.”
What does the future hold for HULKSICKO!? He’s been listening to alot of UK artists, so a collaboration is up his sleeve. One of his goals is to have a platinum record. After music he says he sees himself expanding his artistic vision toward architecture, perhaps investing into real estate.
You can check out HULKSICKO!’s music on Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube and all the major platforms!
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Livestreaming has quickly become an essential part of being an artist today. More rappers and singers are either teaming up with well-known streamers or hosting their own multi-hour sessions on personal channels. This past week, Justin Bieber joined in by launching his official Twitch channel and streaming several days in a row.
Between lighter moments of him shooting hoops or chatting with his circle of friends, the streams became most interesting when Bieber stepped into the studio. Whether he was alone in the vocal booth or sitting behind the mixing desk with his crew, he used those times to tease smooth, R&B-inspired songs—tracks that could easily belong on a potential third installment of Swag, if they ever get released.
The most fascinating moments came from the unfiltered footage of Bieber working through ideas, producing himself, and perfecting a lyric or melody. On the fourth day of streaming, he was seen testing out what could become a new hit, improvising melodies and playing around with different tones and lines until something clicked.
The behind-the-scenes studio moments offered a rare look into Bieber’s creative process, especially for someone once viewed as a pop star with little control over his music. In these streams, he appeared open and confident, freely exploring ideas in real time—even with thousands of fans silently tuning in.
Still, Bieber admitted the experience made him anxious. During one session with a few collaborators, he spoke candidly about what it feels like to create publicly.
“Going on Twitch is vulnerable as hell because people who just feel shitty about themselves project and then they write mean-ass things. It’s already hard enough to put yourself out there and then you gotta read all this,” he said.
He recalled reading a comment after coming home from playing basketball one night, when he was completely drained. “They were like, ‘Justin is not as exuberant. He will never be his exuberant self ever again. He’s lost his charisma.’ I was like, ‘What? I just played basketball last night, I’m just tired.’ And we’re talking about emotional things … And I start getting in my head, like ‘Ma, did I lose my charisma? My exuberance?’ I have a zest for life … It just sucks that you can have a million people say the nicest thing and then the one comment gets in there.”
In other parts of the stream, Bieber appeared more at ease, playing golf or practicing the drums—experimenting with the format as he figured out how he might continue sharing his world with fans in the future.
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