Savannah-born singer BOSCO moves to the beat of her own drum as an artist who also doubles as a CEO of her own creative agency, SLUG. In the past, the singer has had her music featured on HBO's Insecure as well as been featured on everywhere from NPR to Billboard.com.
BOSCO's humble beginnings as a freelance artist and server/bartender prepared her for the arduous life of a recording artist and entrepreneur. Speaking on her experience working in both she notes, "you know how the game goes in the freelance world, it was important for me to have something that generated a steady flow of income." After college, she took up a job in marketing and creative direction at Factory Studios (now GUM Studios) in Brooklyn, NY. She remarks about that experience saying, "I grew so much during that time having a space that nourished my artistic endeavors on and off the clock.
Luckily for BOSCO, she had a key mentor at her job who pushed her in the direction of her dreams. "My boss, Carrie White, was a huge part in the turning point of my career encouraging me to really pursue music. She actually directed my video with DJ Speakerfoxx 'shooter' and my first real video ever 'Names' with producer and DJ Treasure Fingers was shot there."
Recently xoNecole caught up with the singer at a lowkey brunch spot in the West Hollywood neighborhood of Los Angeles to talk more about how she's grown in the past year and what's to come in 2019:
How would you describe your unique sound of R&B?
Cameron Kirkland / Courtesy of BOSCO
I would describe my sound of R&B being a mixture of influences I grew up with. I'm from Savannah, GA by way of Atlanta. Being from a coastal beach city, you get R&B, soul, blues, but then you get a bit of funk and rock because of the artsy scene around the beach. So I would describe it as feel-good alternative R&B.
Who are some women mentors that have supported you throughout your journey?
One of my mentors is Fadia Kader. She has been mentoring close to 10 years. I would say also my manager Danielle Quebrado. She's been an instrumental part in the elevation of my career. I've been BOSCO but sometimes it takes a certain person to elevate you and see your potential to get further. I would also say Lacey Duke. She's a director that's really coming up right now and I would say she is like my digital sister. In addition, my mom is my greatest supporter and my backbone for when I wanted to give up. She provided a safe space for me to blossom into not only woman I am today but also as the artist.
I grew up listening to Sade, Aretha Franklin, Patti LaBelle, Brownstone, and others in the back of my mom's Toyota Camry. Those were very pivotal moments in my life.
What is some cliche advice you received early on as an artist you embraced or dismissed now that you've grown and been in the industry for a while?
Salim Garcia / Courtesy of BOSCO
You have to stick to one thing. I think when I started doing music, social media wasn't as prevalent as it is today and being a multimedia artist, a lot of people didn't know how to package them. But I've always been dabbling in different mediums and I'm glad I didn't stop. Now we are in an era where as an independent artist you have to do everything yourself. A lot of artists do their own graphics, their own video treatments, cover art, etc.
You don't have to choose one thing. Yes, you can be creative in one lane but don't ever stop using other gifts you have that God or the universe has given you just because someone doesn't know how to package it into a box and use it for themselves.
What is a time you wanted to give up but you pushed through and kept going?
It was two times. Right before I got signed to Fool's Gold, I was recording and releasing records on my own. I did a video and the last video I did they reached out to me. Another time was...well, I have this thing where in-between projects, I begin to doubt myself. I start asking if there's space for me as an artist and if people want to hear me.
The internet has a way of making you wonder if there's not enough space for artists.
Granted, there is a lot of noise and it's harder to decipher one artist from another but I just have to remember that what I contribute to the narrative of the musical landscape is something that no one else can do but me or take from me. I really had to understand that there is room for my music and people want to hear what I have to say. It's about conditioning your mind to make the decision to do the right thing everyday and work towards that.
You recently premiered your video "Cruel" on NPR, which invokes nostalgia of the 90s and what many call one of the golden eras of R&B. What are some records you listened to as a child that stuck with you and you may have had in mind for inspiration while making the video?
During that time, I was listening to Brownstone's "Love Me", En Vogue, a lot of TLC, etc. I tend to lean a lot on the 90s sound because it's music that resonates with me. Total and TLC are my go to groups. For me, Pam and TBoz have parallels to me in being tomboys but chic. They were sexy and laid back. Left Eye was kind of quirky and cool. That's some of the people I was listening to and drawing inspiration from.
Why is it important for you to house your creative agency SLUG in Atlanta and how is the city significant to you in relation to your hometown of Atlanta?
Salim Garcia / Courtesy of BOSCO
The concept of SLUG came to me in two parts. Because I grew up in Savannah, there was a lack of resources [in the] media I envisioned myself looking like. I would go to Barnes & Noble and take pictures of things in magazines I couldn't afford and read books envisioning a world that didn't exist in Savannah. I knew there were qualities and characteristics inside of me that I know I needed to nurture but I didn't know how to. I ended up moving to Atlanta after college.
I always say Savannah birthed me but Atlanta raised me and when I say 'raise me,' I mean in aspects of my artistry in terms of visual art and music.
I wanted to create a platform in Atlanta because it's up and coming and growing to provide kids that look like me with talent that's untapped a chance to work with big brands and cultivate their gifts. Above all, it's like a family and a collective that sticks together and show the landscape of the south in a different way. It's not just grass, trap, and hood shit. It's also a wealth of knowledge, art, street artists, fashion designers, and more that's overlooked. If I can contribute my very small piece to the puzzle, then I feel like it's what I'm meant to do as part of my destiny.
In the context of the #MeToo movement, how do you feel about the climate of the music industry as a black woman?
Different parts of me feel different ways about different things. Looking at it on a very surface level, I feel there has been a big progression in the visibility of our talents as a whole, not as a narrow perspective of this one-dimensional way we are. I feel like the elevation of that is great. The other part of me feels like when it comes to sexual abuse or, things of that sort, when you want to wear a bikini top and some low rise pants, in the industry standards today it's saying, "Oh you want a guy to come touch you." This becomes the narrative more than another reason like, "Oh I was dealing with depression and I just lost 15 pounds. Therefore I want to wear something cute and go outside because I don't have that depression hanging over me today." Those types of things make me feel uneasy.
Then on another aspect, it feels like Black women are exploited, whether it's hair, skin color, or being called hyper-sexualized.
Even when a black woman speaks up about being violated or having something that happens to her in her life, society is not always convinced and believes the story [society tells] because of misconceptions of what a black woman is and her standards are.
What do you hope to accomplish in the next five years?
Exquisite Eye / Courtesy of BOSCO
I want to win a GRAMMY or be nominated. I want to definitely have my own record label. I want to have a brand of collector's items, be it toys or apparel. I would like to do more tangible things with SLUG. I might even throw my own festival. I always want to go on a world tour. It's an ongoing list for sure.
For more of BOSCO, follow her on Instagram.
For more of BOSCO, follow her on Instagram.
Featured image by Cameron Kirkland / Courtesy of the artist
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A basis for why I feel this way? Another quote immediately comes to mind. Famed author Jane Austen once wrote: “There is nothing I would not do for those who are really my friends. I have no notion of loving people by halves, it is not my nature.” You know, back when I also wrote “10 Things You Should Absolutely Expect From Your Friendships” for the platform, I shared that some of the traits of a friend — a real friend — include loyalty, honesty and compassion. And if you can’t say that your spouse is this way (as they say the same thing about you), chile…what is y’all doin’ over there?
So, why am I talking about marriage when this article is supposed to be about friendship? It’s because, something that life has taught me, kinda sorta the hard way, is we should vet potential friends — especially close friends — almost like we would a spouse.
And if you keep reading, I think you’ll get why I framed the intro in the way that I did.
Why Friendships Are Still Hella Essential
GiphyOkay, so before I get into why it seems that people have fewer friends than they ever had before, let me just say that, even as an ambivert who enjoys my own company and has absolutely no problem with being alone a good amount of the time, every personality type needs friends. That’s not just my opinion;science makes it a fact. Not only do studies support thathealthy friendships help us to feel more satisfied with our lives, but they can also reduce our chances of experiencing depression, stress, and anxiety and they increase longevity overall.
This is why — without going too deep because it’s kind of another topic for another time — it’s important to not allow past hurts and disappointments from former friends (or folks you thought were your friends) to cause you to build up walls as you declare that you don’t need anyone. When you do that, all you’re really doing is working against your own health and well-being. The saying that “no man (or woman) is an island”? It is absolutely true.
That said, even if it’s just a couple of people, make sure that you’ve got individuals in your life who you can call a friend and, in turn, they can say the very same thing about you, okay?
Are All of Those People Your Actual Friends? Or Do You Just Happen to Know a Lot of Folks?
GiphyAight but what if you happen to be someone who swings on the other side of few? Meaning, if someone were to ask you how many friends you had, you’d quickly declare that you’ve got too many to count. Listen, not to patronize or anything yet, but whenever I hear folks (especially if they are over 35) say something along those lines, it takes me back to high school — a time when so many of us thought that so long as we knew a ton of folks and/or we were popular, clearly, we had many friends.
Wisdom and pure ole’ dealing with humans on a consistent basis will teach you that an article that I wrote a few years back for the platform has a title that is spot-on: “According To Experts, We Only Have A Few Friends — Here's Why.” According to it, the average American (based on a survey that was conducted) has somewhere around 16 friends. Oh, but wait. Last fall, I wrote another article for the platform entitled, “What's The 'Five Friendship Theory' All About?” According to it, if you’re someone who takes the word “friend” and the responsibility that comes along with it very seriously and quite literally, as an adult, you can probably only maintain about five close friendships.
Why? Well, that brings in another article that I once wrote: “Life Taught Me That True Friendships Are 'Inconvenient.'” Chile, I don’t know about y’all but my friends know that if I call you that, you can call me in the middle of the night, and you can have money towards your rent (I’m not your mama but we all have hard times sometimes) and I’m gonna have your back in a way where you’ll wonder where you stop and I start — and no, I don’t have a lot of bandwidth for a ton of those people.
Okay, but what if you’re someone who is like, “I know that I have more than 16 and definitely more than five friends, no question”? The next thing that I would encourage you to explore is a theory by Aristotle (check out “According To Aristotle, We Need ‘Utility’, ‘Pleasure’ & ‘Good’ Friends”). Without even realizing it, many of us have people who we use the word “friend” for when…it’s kind of like how social media apps say “friend”: we’re familiar with one another and enjoy some of the same things, we might even have some of the same goals; at the same time, though, we’re not “all-encompassing friends.” We just get along really well at work (utility friends) or like to go to brunch at the same spots sometimes (pleasure friends).
Taking all of this into account, are you sure that you have a ton of actual friends? Or do you just happen to know a lot of people and you use that word for the lack of having another?
And that brings me to my next point.
There’s A LOT of Space Between “Friend” and “Enemy”
GiphyIf you read a lot of my friendship content, something that you will notice me saying quite a bit is that there is quite a bit of space between friend and enemy. It needs to be mentioned, as often as possible, because there are some people who get offended if you don’t consider them to be a friend — and that is unfortunate. I say that because the conclusion shouldn’t automatically be that they are your enemy just because “friend” isn’t what immediately comes to your mind.
They can be an acquaintance. They can be “cool people.” There is someone in my life who, while we’re not friends in the traditional sense, we are each other’s confidant; years ago, we agreed that we would be the place to tell each other whatever and it would stay between us — that is the main purpose that we serve in each other’s lives. Some people, you may consider to be spiritual family in the sense that you care for them and have some deeply profound things in common and still, they are not exactly a friend (I mean, a lot of blood relatives aren’t “friends” with each other).
All I’m trying to say here is we’re all too old now to only put folks in two boxes when it comes to this particular relational dynamic: friend or enemy. So, take some time out to seriously reflect on what you consider the various people in your life to be. I can promise you from personal experience that the sooner you know and the clearer you are, the easier it will be on everybody — because needs and expectations will be clear to you (and them once you articulate them) too.
What Got Folks to Having Less Friends? The Pandemic Plays a Significant Part.
GiphySo finally on to what inspired this piece to begin with. A part of it was an article that was published last year by Big Think entitled, “Americans more than ever have no friends. Here are 5 steps to make more friends.” Another was something that The New Yorker published back in 2021; it’s entitled “What COVID did to friendship.” Y’all don’t have enough time and I don’t have enough space to get into the fact that, just because the media may be talking about it less, that doesn’t mean that we’re not still in a pandemic.
In fact,one article stated my thoughts on it quite well when it said, “The real question, then, is not whether COVID is still a pandemic, but how much COVID illness and death are we willing to accept?” SMDH. And one of the things that has come with experiencing COVID is an interesting type of PTSD: detachment. There are plenty of articles out here to support the fact that my saying that is not merely my opinion.
Even according to the American Psychological Association, loneliness damn near skyrocketed, especially during lockdown and, unfortunately, a lot of people have not recovered from it. That’s why it did not surprise me at all when I read that more than ever, many people do not consider anyone to be a best friend; fewer people are relying on friends for any type of real support, and there is a semi-steady decline in people having friends, especially quality friendships, overall.
In fact, as far as close friends go, currently, close to 50 percent of Americans say that they only have three or fewer, and a relevant contributor to that was what the pandemic revealed as far as people’s proactive participation in other individuals’ lives (I actually read that young women were the ones who lost touch with friends during the peak of the pandemic the most). I also thought it was interesting that some studies cite that 12 percent of Americans say that they don’t have any friends at all.
Is the pandemic the only cause? No. So are things like people working more hours and spending more time online than they probably should (which also increased due to the pandemic, though). To that, Teen Vogue once published, “Social Media Is Impacting IRL Friendships” and Healthline once published, “Social Media Is Killing Your Friendships.” Then we also have to factor in having families of our own which can also take up a lot of time, and that sometimes can cause us to forget to nurture our friendships; so, before you know it, they fade to black. Not due to a fallout or anything, just…life.
And all of this? Some people are saying that it has led to what is known as a “friendship recession.” A huge flag about that is there are reports that a drop in close friends can cultivate a type of loneliness that is just as health hazardous as smoking a whopping 15 cigarettes a day. Not good, y’all. Not. Good.
Quality over Quantity Is Key. Just Make Sure That You Have a Friend or Two.
GiphyOkay, so what is my overall point? That’s a fair question. Just like sometimes “life life-ing” can make us forget to tend to our friendships, if you don’t stumble across content like this, you might not even realize that you’re feeling mentally stressed, emotionally strained, or super isolated and it’s all because you need to prioritize your friendships — because your mind, body, and spirit need them. Again, science has proved it.
At the same time, if, like a client of mine, you find yourself getting a little bit paranoid because you have noticed that over the past several years, your close friend count has been far less than what it used to be, this article proves that you are absolutely not (pardon the pun) alone. Honestly, there’s nothing wrong with having a very small circle of friends because quality is gonna beat out quantity every time; you just need to assess when it happened and why so that you can be sure that you are choosing it to play out that way and it’s not due to some underlying cause that you hadn’t taken into consideration — until now.
An Italian priest by the name of Thomas Aquinas once said, “The happy man in this life needs friends.” Even if it’s just one or two people, please make sure that you have folks who aren’t just your friend but your very close friend. You need them. They need you.
Everyone else, figure out where they fall and nurture accordingly. Life is a lot. We all get by with the help of our friends. Real talk, y’all. Thank goodness for them.
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