beatlanta.com

INTERVIEW w/ Atlanta rap artist Saintx Bre + info on his Album release party 3/5/17

by Marina Yelensky…
 

 
Saintx Bre, Robert Jabre Relaford, was born in Atlanta, GA on September 15th during Virgo season. Saintx Bre is a rap artist based out of the Southside of Atlanta, Georgia, from some of the city’s well-known areas, such as College Park and East Point. Saintx Bre’s music is a blend of hip hop, soul rock and melodic undertones. The Tri-Cities high school graduate, studied theatre and then film later at a private college. Saintx Bre’s educational experience broadened his unique abilities of approaching music like an “actor would a script.” He began rapping at the age of 15 years and has performed in numerous clubs in Atlanta, Savannah, Jacksonville, Las Vegas, and San Francisco. Saintx Bre’s education, exposure, and career developed him in such a way that allowed him to become the Founder and C.E.O. of his independent label ‘Haven’. Haven’s mission is to “Bring back a certain level of value to the rap artist name and to restore innovative efforts to the media platforms we have grown accustomed to. Saintx Bre is a visionary. He sees his independent label ‘Haven’ being a trusted source of entertainment and innovation in music and film in the near future. He wants the predecessors to know that their hard work wasn’t in vain, and that the art of living and being in their craft is in good hands.
 

 
I joined Saintx Bre at his home nestled in the heart of Old Fourth Ward on one of the three patios in the home. His dog Leilani, a beautiful husky, loved being a part of our interview. I had amazing time discussing his new album:
 
    
B: What is the meaning behind the Stage name Saintx Bre?
 
“I have had five different stage names, but Bre Fontaine is the one that lasted the longest. Until now that is. While under Bre Fontaine I worked with the producer Amon Tobin to create the song “Smurf”. “Smurf was featured on Adult Swim in the cartoon The Venture Bros in season six trailer. I have always used Bre in all of my stage names. I’m really an actor that happens to rap. Saintx Bre is Gabriel inspired as is my name Jabre. It’s an acknowledgement of the 4 horse men. My grandmother, Essie Mae, always said that I was a special child and called me a prayer baby. I was supposed to die moments before I was born. And my grandmother, Peggy Sue, was born with the extra layer of skin, special seeing as in the southern veil. I put the x in saint for a play on words. The x is anti-hero. In Hip Hop there are a lot of bad people and there are a lot of good people, I kind of feel like the reluctant good guy.”
 
B: …and “Ronin”, the album name?
 
“Ronin is a metaphor wandering Samurai with no home, no master, bandits. That’s how I viewed Atlanta. The made it attitude.  Everybody steals names and music. The music side of it is like the Wild Wild West here now. I come from a generation of honor. I’m from that mind frame. I’m really big into anime and Japanese culture.”   
 
B: The album was long awaited. Why the wait?
 
“I released the album Character Development about 2 years ago and it did not get a lot of attention. I didn’t really know how to brand myself. The music industry is always changing. So I took the album off line. I started to record my album Ronin over 3 years. I recorded “Think About It” about 3 years ago and “Camberry West” about a year ago. My sound took 5 years develop. I really wanted people to feel a certain way when they listened to the music. I purposely left parts in some songs that were off key because I like it that way. In the process I went homeless. A year ago I had a job offer in New York City so I sold everything and subleased my apartment to my graphic designer. When my plane touched down, I went to the designated location and there was a phone call waiting for me with the news that I was fired. I paid for my plane ticket to get there. I slept in the JFK airport for 3 days before I gave up on New York. Afterwards, I stayed in Atlanta for a year hopping from couch to couch, sleeping in my car mostly, staying with my brother, sleeping in studios instead of paying rent so that I could get this album finished. I released the album on Soundcloud on 2.14.17. But today, 2.23.17, my album became available on Google, Itunes, Spotify, all the mediums under my label Haven.”
 
B: “Too Bad” – who’s the lady in the song?
 
“An ex-girl over a year ago, I definitely do not want to mention any names. The normal relationship when one person tries to pursue ambitions and the other wants more attention. I wanted to make a point to defend myself. It couldn’t have all been too bad right?“
 
B: Who took the photo for the album cover?
 
“Brent Gates, Photos by Gates, took the photo. We have known each other from high school. Fun fact, Brent is actually Future’s cousin. What a small world!” IG: @photosbygates
 
B: “Love You More” – What is this song about?
 
“I wrote this song for my grandmother Essie Mae. She passed away 2 years ago but I couldn’t bring myself to write anything for a while. So I recorded this song about a year ago. “
 
B: What Sacrafices have you made to get where you are?
 
“You miss birthdays, phone calls, family functions, many firsts. It’s hard to think that you want to do this for your family and they don’t realize how beneficial it will be for them and they do not understand the process.  My first mentor, Freddie Hendrix, told me when I was 15, Jabre you are an artist, you are going to have a lot of lonely nights but stay with it. It will be worth it.” This changed my life. Freddie was my theatre instructor at City Hall East in the Art Program during the summer. This is where Ponce City Market is today. I went to Tri-Cities High School and Freddie ended up being my Theatre Teacher. Fun Fact Goodie Mob, Outkast went here. Slim from 112 was also a mentor later in life, earlier in my career. I was part of a group called Ivy Leegue (which consisted of Atl rap artist Villa and producer Outbreak of The Perfect Team.) We almost had a record deal and a tour in Tokyo but business went bad and the group split before we saw stardom.”  
 
B: When’s your next show?
 
My album release party is on March 5th, 2017 at 6pm at Loca Luna, 550-C Amsterdam Ave NE Atlanta, GA 30306 –
Look out for the flyer on Beatlanta.com in the next couple of days.
 
Social Media Info: 
IG | FB | TW :  @saintxbre
SoundCloud.com/saintxbre
iTunes: http://itunes.apple.com/album/id1208705697?ls=1&app=itunes