Love Is the New Gangsta<\/em>, and he needs to decompress.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\tIt\u2019s taken time for this five-time Grammy-nominated artist, who grew up in east Atlanta, to enjoy visiting New York. \u201cFive years ago I didn\u2019t like it because I was always here for work,\u201d he says. \u201cIt felt so high-volume. Everybody\u2019s beeping, folks are a little more aggressive, you go from venue to building to interview and traffic is soaking up all of your time. I figured out that I need space when I come here.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\t6LACK \u2014 whose stage name derives from his childhood neighborhood, Zone Six \u2014 loves simplicity and the finer things: spending time with loved ones, stopping by farmer\u2019s markets, and being near any body of water. When we meet for dinner at a downtown izakaya, he takes the lead in ordering. As the table fills with shishito peppers, cucumber salad, spicy tuna crispy rice, hamachi serrano peppers, steak, salmon, and oxtail rice, he contemplates the growth of his palate in all aspects: \u201cWings were always number one for me, but at this point in my life I think sushi is top, for sure.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\tOutside of food, 6LACK has grown as an artist, father, and partner, coming to understand his need for balance. Space and contemplation are not only themes in his daily life, but the ultimate foundation of Love Is the New Gangsta<\/em>, releasing May 22. The birth of this album came around a time when he and his partner, artist Bianca Leonor Qui\u00f1ones (a.k.a. Qui\u00f1), were undergoing a creative process of their own: the approaching birth of their now-10-month-old daughter, Blaze. \u201cBefore the pregnancy, our relationship was on the rocks,\u201d he says. He recalls that he had just gone back to Atlanta and begun working with rapper and producer Childish Major at the time. \u201cI just started to vent and have open conversations about what I was going through, and we just knew we had to make an album about it.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n
\t\tEditor\u2019s picks<\/p>\n<\/h2>\n<\/section>\n
\n\tIt was in these conversations that 6LACK began to have revelations about his mental health. \u201cIt was like this ongoing session of therapy, accountability, and being creative,\u201d he says. \u201cWhether talking or jamming to guitar and keys, everything just kind of meshed together, and songs started to spill out. We just started cooking up. It was fun.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\tGrowing up as the oldest of three, 6LACK, whose real name is Ricardo Valdez Valentine Jr., was introverted. His first time rapping was at age four to a song called \u201cBlues,\u201d written by his father, who is also a rapper. \u201cMy verses didn\u2019t rhyme or nothing crazy. It was just, \u2018When I grow up, I want to be somebody. I\u2019m believing God. I believe in me,\u2019\u201d he recalls. \u201cThat was my first rap on a beat and a recorded song.\u201d While he credits his father for being the one to introduce him to the art form, he honed his skills in private. \u201cMy seriousness, my passion, and curiosity really came from just being in my room to myself.\u201d He credits his knack for R&B to his mother, who often played artists like Monica, Brandy, and 112.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\tThose influences became the foundation of his taste growing up in Atlanta in the early 2000s. He describes his fandom in terms of eras, listening to artists like Jadakiss, Dipset, Jeezy, OutKast, and battle rappers Cassidy and Reed Dollaz. \u201cFrom there, once I had some space to myself, I just started venturing off into whatever I could find,\u201d he says. His current era involves genres like alternative and jazz, riddled throughout his latest project. <\/em>\u201cI\u2019m all over the place,\u201d he says of his taste. \u201cI\u2019m just curious and a fan. I think the biggest compliment that you can get from someone listening to your music is them having to stop and question, \u2018What is this?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n