Controlling The Air with Solar Flight

Mustard had the pleasure of speaking with Solar Flight. Together we discussed their various names, influences, Nicholas Cage, and so much more!

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1. Mustard is thankful to have you join them at Music Shelf. How are you doing today? 

Thanks Mustard. I am doing well today. I have almost completed writing a new grime song and I look forward to getting it recorded! 

2. You began rapping in 2014 under various names such as yngcalico, Purple Flame, and Natural. Could you share more about each alias? How did this lead you to become Solar Flight? 

My previous aliases were me trying to figure out a name for myself but none really stuck. I first rapped without a name, but eventually came up with Natural, which intended to show my down-to-earth style, or at least it sounds good when I described that way in hindsight! Next it was Purple Flame, which simply came from the cool purple flame on a bunsen burner during a school science experiment. Then it was yngcalico, which I kept for a while. I was inspired by the pirate Calico Jack Rackham, as at the time I wanted to create a time-travelling rap and I had been a big fan of Sid Meier’s Pirates and Pirates of the Carribean growing up, and I added the ‘yng’ part because that seemed to be a popular thing for rappers to do at the time. However, none of these names really stuck, as they didn’t seem to fit my personality. Well, Natural did, but I got locked out of that Twitter account! The only one I thought about keeping was yngcalico and I even released a few songs on Youtube and Soundcloud under that name. However, as I grew older, I grew tired with that name too and decided to think of something new. I needed a positive name to fit a newfound mission of creating positive rap. I was stuck for some time, but eventually the idea of Solar Flight came to me – Solar representing light from the Sun and Flight representing a bird soaring – both positive images which showed my rhymes and indeed mind would be reaching for the sky. Since then, Solar Flight has been and will continue to be my hip-hop moniker. 

3. If you could have any plane be powered by solar energy which plane would it be and why? What in-house entertainment would be featured? 

It would probably be something by Tesla. I must confess, I’m not the plane expert but I really like what they are doing with new technology as regards electric cars, so if they had some sort of plane I could perform on, that’d be great. If I was to perform there, there’d have to be a stage of course, as well as gourmet food and drinks and perhaps somewhere for me to store my books of rap lyrics. 

4. What was your relationship with music growing up? 

Growing up, I listened to a lot of music from all genres, not just rap. My dad was the bass player for Some Kind of Wonderful and The Montoya Sound and my mum is now in her second choir and has written music for her upcoming book. All my family are musical or fans of it and so I heard Elvis, soul, ska, rock and more growing up. However, it was not until I was a teenager or near enough that I got really interested in rap. 

5. Who are some emcees you look up to and take influence from?

I look up to emcees who have a love for their craft and aim to educate. For that reason, I look up to rappers like Krs-One, Ice-T and 2Pac, as well as the three original great emcees – Melle Mel, Grandmaster Caz and Kool Moe Dee. I aim to have a positive in my work. 

6. Do you have a favorite era of hip-hop? Who are some of your favorite artists? 

My favourite era is old school rap and I love the early rap groups like The Cold Crush Brothers, Funky 4+1, Crash Crew and more. I like exciting rappers like Jimmy Spicer and Spoonie Gee as well. 

7. What is your songwriting process? 

I write as quickly as I can usually to try and get a song completed on the spot, but with a beat, it takes longer. 

8. Who (or what) influences you? 

I am influenced by the world inside and out. 

9. You’ve been described as having elements of Nicholas Cage. What Nicholas Cage films best describe you? 

Probably Vampire’s Kiss. Or really, the entirety of him is like the entirety of me. Him and I are the same! One rap-acting entity from the Dimension Q! 

Joking aside, he is pretty cool and a good actor. 

10. A human gets the chance to see you at an open mic. What can they expect?

An energetic performance. Deep lyrics too and not a chance to catch a breath.

11. How would you define love? How did love shape your single “What does love mean?”

Love is something I cannot escape and I don’t know why, hence the title. 

12. What is next for Solar Flight? 

More rap, more poetry, more art. Essays too, and other top-secret things! 13. Where can readers listen to your music?

On all platforms. I have just released to experimental albums (Robotic Blues and Move The World Again) and a non-album single (Out Of The Shell) exclusively on Youtube. Enjoy!