Today we’d like to introduce you to Ashley Bowden.
Ashley, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I remember being really young watching my mom on the motion picture “A Thin Line Between Love and Hate” and saying, “Mama I’m gone be just like you when I grow up”. Oh how things have changed since then…
I’m originally from Long Beach, California, the home of the Dogg Pound. The LBC is recognized for many greats such as Snoop Dogg, Daz Dillinger, Kurupt, Lil Cstyle, My mother South Sentrelle and the list goes on. All my life I had been surrounded by music. I remember being really young watching my mom on the motion picture “A Thin Line Between Love and Hate” and saying “Mama I’m gone be just like you when I grow up”. Oh how things have changed since then.
I’m originally from Long Beach California, the home of the Dogg Pound. The LBC is recognized for many greats such as Snoop Dogg, Daz Dillinger, Kurupt, Lil Cstyle, My mother South Sentrelle and the list goes on. All my life I had been surrounded by music. I grew up in a COGIC environment so HipHop and Gospel music played major parts in my life and actually got me through some of my more difficult times. When I moved to Houston, I didn’t expect to be introduced into such a dope culture. HOUSTON IS A CULTURE! I started off singing in my early years but when I got here my surroundings influenced me. I was put on artists like Z-Ro, Dj Screw, Slim Thug, JustBrittany, Trae Da Truth and more.
The flows, word play, delivery the melodies just were fire to me. It’s was something about that southern touch I was infatuated with so I started rapping. I would rap at school for the longest but I hadn’t really found my identity and was super shy, but once I got to college, I started stepping out of my shell. That’s when I started recording freestyle videos. It got to a point where my “Roll In Peace “ Cover hit a million views on a reshare page giving over 800+ subscribers in a few months. It was at that moment I knew I had to keep going. I knew that I could build a audience. I’ve been dropping them ever since making viral videos and building my fan base. This year I’ve decided to go a little harder! I dropped my very first official single as well as the music video to it (shot by 2030 Visuals and produced by Aredd). I have really BIG plans for the rest of 2020 and I can’t wait for everyone to see what I’ve been working up.
Has it been a smooth road?
My mother always told me that it’s easy getting into the industry but it’s even easier to fall off. So far so good. However I think the biggest obstacle that I have if I could really pick one is something I think every artist runs into. Investments and PR. I feel like in order to really make a big splash in this industry you have to be able to invest in yourself and make sacrifices and that’s scary. It’s scary putting your savings into a project not knowing the outcome you’re going to get. Always wondering, “are they going to like this ?”, keeping up with stats and analytics cause you want to see the good in your investments. It causes a lot of anxiety for me and money management gets hard at times with all of life’s obligations but I just keep pushing. When you really want something you gotta keep pushing. It all pays off in the end.
Can you give our readers some background on your music?
I am a certified female MC and lyricist. I became a thing after I dropped my famous “Roll in Peace” cover on YouTube. There’s no one else with my sound or style. I’m kind of in my own lane and that’s what I’m most proud of. I don’t want to be compared to anyone else. And I haven’t heard nobody compare me yet!
How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
In the next five years, I’m going to be one of the biggest rappers that the world has ever seen. Imagine if Left Eye and Aaliyah shared a brain… well that’s what I’m bringing to the table for the next years to come and I plan on being one of the first and best to do it.
Contact Info:
- Address: Caliashent@gmail.com
- Website: https://youtu.be/2jIuD4PaqMg
- Instagram: Instagram.com/Theonlycaliashhhh
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