ASHLAND Being an Appalachian woman hasn’t stopped 24-year-old Rhiannon Wallin from pursuing her dream of sharing the rap music she creates.
“There is a certain narrative that is projected within rap music and a lot of artists in that genre are predominately men and usually from a lot larger cities,” Wallin of Grayson said. “It has been a challenge in regard that I come from a small city in Appalachia, not to mention I am a woman as well as a gay woman, so there are a lot of challenges there, but I think I can utilize those things from a selling point. People don’t expect that from who you are.”
She said she was influenced by the artists she grew up listening to, which includes classic rock and grunge, but she said rap music called to her.
“Around middle school, I started writing poetry and then I realized there was something rhythmic to the poetry I wrote,” she said. “Then I got the idea to start writing songs and I wrote songs in high school and at the beginning of college.”
The 2017 graduate of Ashland Blazer High School earned a degree in natural science at Shawnee State University.
“I thought, it’s time to try to actually put something together with the lyrics I’ve written,” she said.
With the stage name Bad Buddha, Wallin began searching for apps she could download to use to build songs, and found one that allowed her to use backtracks or instrumentals and included a studio so should could record vocals over it and mix it to complete a song.
“It took a while to learn it, but I was able to create a whole album on my phone,” she said. “The sound quality is pretty decent for an app on my phone and way more affordable than trying to buy a powerful desktop and getting the equipment.
“After recording it the one thing I needed was either A. Record it in a studio setting or B. Have someone tweak and master it.”
She was able to keep that work in the area when she found Gary Kesling’s Nine Lives label in Ashland. She said she chose him because he’s local, he has extensive experience in music and he produces a wide range of music.
“He was very professional and has a legitimate setup for recording and producing,” Wallin said. “I showed him demos and he said they sounded good on their own. He would go through and perfect some of the quality and master it to make it sound cohesive.”
She said her music is available on all streaming platforms: Nine Lives releases are distributed through a wide range of companies, including The Orchard, which aims to support emerging artists.
Emotional honesty is key to Wallin’s music.
“Writing hip hop music has made me come face to face with who I am and what I feel,” she said. “I think people appreciate the authenticity.”
Her first sing, “Old Old Days,” recalls her growing-up days.
“I wanted to take a different approach with this song and make it something that captures an atmosphere that a lot of my generation can resonate with,” Wallin said. “The song is a very 1990s hip hop-esque and talks about the nostalgic value of the ‘90s and early 2000s and how much better the economy was, how just in general people felt safe and happy and it’s so different compared to now.”
Many of Wallin’s songs are uplifting and contain a spiritual component, she said, as well as serving as an examination of her deep and personal thoughts and struggles.
“(My music) has more substance than what a lot of what people write about,” she said. “They talk about heartbreak; I’m talking about the struggle I face as an individual and as well as just being human and the woes of the world.”
Her purpose isn’t to complain about the world today, but to try to improve it.
“There’s so much wrongdoing going on,” Wallin said. “The faster we address it, the quicker we can fix it.”
