LEXINGTON, Ky. — A Lexington recording studio is offering Black artists space to create and it’s all for free.
David Nappier is doing a soundcheck to adjust the audio. He goes by the name "Chill."
“I had that name since sophomore year in high school because I was a lazy football player,” Chill said.
He’s about to record a song called "Mother’s Words" which he wrote five years ago.
“My mother helped me to write this because we were, we were sitting down having a pretty, pretty deep, deep conversation just about being, you know who we are being, being raised as a Black man around this very country, this very kind of red centric area,” Chill said.
Even though the lyrics are a few years old, the artist said the song is more relevant than ever.
“It's about being Black in America, you know, it's about being, you know, one of the unseen faces, you know, walking around,” Chill said. “You know when it's normal to be ignored in a place where people don't necessarily want you there. You know, and I've felt that in more and more cases than the one, I'll tell you that.”
The artist can record thanks to the women who own Nitrosonic Studios. It’s a recording studio in downtown Lexington.
“Throughout history, music has been a vehicle for change. And we literally wouldn't have any genre that we have today if it weren't for Black people,” said April Edwards, a co-owner.
She along with Danielle Barkman are at work on the audio board capturing and mixing the sounds that bring the artists’ work to life.
“For the Black community they kind of understand what weird climate we're sitting in right now,” Chill said.
The studio space and professional gear are free for Black artists. Nitrosonic Studios wants to help amplify voices that may have not gained much attention in the past.
“Any kind of artisan poet, you know, whatever that you do that we can you can you can record sound for, they kind of want to, you know, bring some people in just to open up and give us a little bit of a voice,” Chill said.
The studio says they want to do their part to change perceptions.
They’re accepting lyrics from Black artists.
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