Rapsody Talks ‘The Idea of Beautiful’ and Working With 9th Wonder

Life is beautiful for rapper Rapsody.

The North Carolina emcee has navigated through the male-dominated music world with conscious flows and an incredible handle on storytelling. Her debut LP The Idea of Beautiful, a follow-up to several mixtapes, stands as the example. “I named it that because 9th [Wonder] said, ‘What people love about you is you show them the beauty of hip-hop,’” she says.

Even though blossoming in a class alongside Mac Miller, Ab-Soul, J. Cole, Kendrick Lamar and a handful of other Internet generation lyricists, the Jamla Records artist still big-ups and collabs with the OGs: Jean Grae, Erykah Badu, Buckshot, Freeway and her mentor, producer 9th Wonder. “Just having 9th over me and to see how he stays up until four in the morning still, I can’t stop working,” she says. “I’m definitely enjoying the moment.”

Her life experiences riddle this album as she spews positive messages to a lost youth, all while stringing reality show references to subtle braggadocio of her skills and that of her IWWMG (It’s A Wonderful World Music Group) crew. It’s a soulfully produced (and much needed) body of work that paints several pretty pictures and actually connects to listeners.

Vixen caught up with Rapsody to explain her idea of beautiful and why she hates labels.–Niki McGloster

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