Today, we’d like to introduce you to Valley Floyd. Valley was introduced to us by the brilliant and talented Aj Byrd.
Valley, thank you so much for joining us today. We’d love for you to bring our readers up to speed – can you introduce yourself and share your story?
Well firstly I wouldn’t have even started or got to where I am today without my family and friends who’ve inspired me and helped me develop my vision. Whether through being directly taught to cultivate my skills, abilities, talents, or just by being intuitive enough to learn things on my own just by observation. When I was younger my entire friend group was all older than me by at least 3+ years, so as a teenager it was easy to know things people my age didn’t. Two of my best friends at the time Byron and Rashad, who in looking back, truly had a heavy influence on me. Byron was an artistic savant, has gift of gab and was always easygoing, and I took major exception to that. Whereas Rashad was more rigid, unwavering, you could say he more conservative and didn’t always understand why Byron did the things he’d do, even though rashad was great at drawing he didn’t have the artist mindset but he was exceptional at building things with his hands, a true engineer at heart. Soo with these two being the first glimpse of what I consider “finding yourself” or “self awareness”
I vowed to do the same and in some ways surpass even what they were able to accomplish. No one I knew at the time was making music. I discovered this simply based on my own curiosity, of course music was apart of life by this time, but my understanding was that you had to be special kinda person or come from somewhere that taught you how to actually make the music. I became obsessed with trying to make beats on any platform I could get my hands on at the time, this was when I was around 11-12 years old and I remember because I was surfing the web trying to download anything that’ll let me make beats, on the computer or my phone, it didn’t matter and ended putting a virus on my family computer. Of course I got in trouble and didn’t get to use the computer after that but that’s when I discovered FL STUDIO was a thing, just couldn’t quite get my hands on it yet. Soo it became just making beats on my phone for like the next year or two. I remember a day when I was hanging with Byron and was making a beat on my phone and he looked over at me and said “Bro you’re getting really good at that” and him looking really shocked I was able to do it because he knew how young I was and he saw my progress that no one else taught me. That gave me confidence to keep going. Byron in his free time was a creative photographer and would run tips and concepts by me eventually I got good enough to be a photographer as well. By the time I got into high school I was taking college classes on the path of receiving an associates degree in arts while still in Hs. It was a nice opportunity, one day my professor requested we meet in the computer lab for some assignments and when I sat down at my computer I noticed that it had FL STUDIO already loaded onto the desktop. In my curiosity and excitement I clicked the icon and sure enough, the DAW opened up and the rest is history. Since then I’ve produced soo many songs made soo many beats that I truly couldn’t tell you how many songs I’ve actually made and ones that’ll never come out. Probably close to the thousands. So while I was supposed to be focusing on my schoolwork everytime I went to that computer lab I could only make beats cause it was all I wanted to do. I got so good so fast with the DAW I started showing my classmates like bro I just made this right now. Then showing them how to do it but they weren’t getting like I was that’s when I knew I was gifted. As time went I got even better and my interest in school started to wane. After so long I began hanging with more people closer to my age who also were keen on music that’s when I met Khalid Highspeed who according to him at the time was the best rapper alive and we began to stay after school in the computer lab making songs and beats, I was only doing the beats while he recorded his vocals and had someone else attempt to mix them. We eventually developed a group that became NO EGO 56, I still represent this brand to this day because it’s apart of who I am now. We’d make songs shoot our own videos whatever we wanted to do, this is where I got my first taste of being in the “producer/engineer”chair and was the go to guy for those things. We kept expanding into a collective of artists who did different things like clothing, music, designing etc. Keep in mind we’re all teenagers with no real guidance on how to do what we were doing. There was a lot of conflict amongst the group but at the end of it, the ones who always stayed true themselves prevailed while others failed. Those who prevailed are still with me today too. After I graduated high school I wanted nothing to do with school so of course I had to work and work I did. now I’m on the path to being a licensed electrician. I still make music and will never stop or give up on my dream of becoming one of the greatest musicians and artists of my time but coming from that kind of background some would think that’s all they have to offer to the world when it’s not always true sometimes you just have to pivot and be in the right place at the right time and your life can just like that.
Please talk to us about your creative work and career. What should we know?
Valley Floyd is who I am and it’s my brand, if you type that name on any platform you’ll find me. I want people to who end up reading this to know that everything you see me do I really put my all into it, my heart and soul, no matter what it is and if say I’m going to do something I do it. My life is a passion project. I’m not one to separate the art from the artist because it’s a cop out. You have to be true to yourself and never give up.
Aj Byrd has been a great friend to us and I know you’ve got a great relationship as well. Maybe you can tell our audience a bit about Aj and your experience with them.
Well as a man with locs, not dreads, (makes her mad when you say that) I got to know AJ pretty well as that’s something we have in common and it’s part of how AJ makes a living. But my first encounter with her was at a music showcase, she was there supporting a mutual friend and eventually we hit it off. Now she’s someone who I love very much and wouldn’t take for granted. She’s a person who’ll put you in position for success no matter who you are and I admire that. Not only is she an amazing loctician and natural hair stylist, she’s an amazing artist as well, though her art is different from mine. A painter, event planner, designer, chef, DJ, etc she also makes her own products for her business, such s as candles, shampoos, conditioners, and moisturizers. I love everything she does.
Instagram: Floydtheoracle
Youtube: Valley Floyd / NO EGO MEDIA
Image Credits
Image credits belong to: NO EGO MEDIA
