Brent Faiyaz’s ‘Sonder Son’ was inspired by Lauryn Hill.
The 22-year-old singer’s debut solo LP was a smash hit last year and Brent admitted Lauryn’s ‘The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill’ has had a huge influence on his career.
He told Billboard: "She’s one of my favourite artists. The whole plane ride over to DR, I was listening to ‘Miseducation’. That was it. I was like, ‘F**k that, I gotta make some shit that’s not out right now.’ Everybody’s making the same shit, I gotta do something different."
Brent has gone on to find huge success in his career, after switching from rap to singing.
He explained: "I was doing both, on my Lauryn Hill s**t, I guess. There’s so many rappers out. I remember sending music around, sending emails all day everyday for damn near two years. Nobody was really giving me the response I wanted. The thing is, because it’s so many rappers, if I’m not referred by somebody, I don’t even wanna listen. Versus singing, somebody can press play, and like three seconds in you might be somebody’s favorite singer off of one song. You don’t gotta hear a whole catalog. It was a no brainer."
However, he hasn’t completely given up on succeeding as a rapper too.
He said: "I still got bars, I just use ’em differently. I’d say I’m a better singer than I am a rapper at this point because I’ve been sharpening my sword. If I really hopped back into rapping, I’d f**k [everyone] up."
Inspirational Lauryn Hill
