Meet Ortus Aster | Musical Artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Ortus Aster and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Ortus, what led you to pursuing a creative path professionally?
To be quite honest, I’ve always been around music to some capacity. Growing up, I used to sing in the church choir, and as I got older, I started getting more and more into Rap & Hip-Hop. But everything really changed for me when I went to college. It was at Georgia Southern that I discovered my real passion for music and creativity at large. I had a friend named Patrick (better known as Cowboy P), and we would constantly freestyle over YouTube beats day in and day out. After about a year of doing this, we decided that we should take our creativity more seriously, so we agreed that he would be “The Rapper”, & I would just work more behind the scenes as his Music Manager/Ghost-Writer. Unfortunately, my bestfriend passed away in December of 2018, and this forced me to come to grips with my own mortality, & to start asking some deeper questions. After about a two year hiatus from music, I took it upon myself to keep his legacy alive by continuing what we started, so I decided to pursue a creative career in honor of him. A couple years ago, I honestly never would have seen myself as a “Music Artist” but the music really saved me in a sense. When I’m in the studio, it’s as if the world stops, and I can use the mic as therapy to get these complex feelings & emotions out. For me, creativity is a spiritual thing, & in pursuing an artistic career, I’ve been able to connect more and more with my own spirituality, along with the spirituality of others around me. Everyone loves music, & I believe it’s because music is healing in a sense. So I guess in a nutshell, pursuing a creative career has allowed me to stay connected to my boy’s energy, while offering healing to myself, and those around me.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I guess what sets me apart from others in the music scene, is the fact that I don’t try to follow “trends” or be a “trendy” artist. When I think of my brand of “Ortus Aster Music” I see it as a timeless endeavor, to convey real, human emotions and responses to what’s currently going on in the world. I don’t say that to strictly regulate myself to being a “Conscious Rapper”, but I try to make real music that’s relatable (and socially aware) to the world at large.

Quite honestly, I’m most proud/excited about how far I’ve come in the past year. I’ve only been rapping for a full year now, and I’ve gone from a “virtually unknown artist” to receiving some Major Industry looks here and there. I’ve even gotten some co-signs from some big names in the Rap Game so that let’s me know that people are listening & paying attention to my brand of music. But the road to even this point was not easy. When you get serious about your goals, you start to find out what you’re really made of. It’s not that you start changing as a person, but the metaphor that comes to mind is that of a catipilar to a butterfly. This creative journey has forced me to undergo my own sense of a metamorphosis, in which I had to start asking myself hard questions, while looking at people, situations, & events not in the way I saw it, but in the actual way things are. So in a sense, I had to overcome my own laziness, my own lack of creativity, and my past tendency to judge, criticize, and compare myself to others. You can’t fill your cup with your dreams, if it’s already filled with jealousy, pride, and your ego, so I had to learn to empty myself, in order to be open to receive what I was working towards.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Monday – We’d have to hit up Stone Mountain Park, and walk up Stone Mountain for the views. Then end the day with ABW (Atlanta’s Best Wings).

Tuesday – I’m really into history, so we’d have to hit up the MLK National Historic Park, as well as MLK’s birth-home.
Then end the day with some Indian food from my favorite Indian restaurant, Cafe Bombay.

Wednesday – Hang out in Piedmont Park, go to one of my favorite low-key grunge bars (The Star), & hit up The Vortex for their burger challenge.

Thursday- The chill day, checkout the World of Coca-Cola, Georgia Aquarium, the CNN Center, & then we end the day at the Battery for some good food.

Friday- Check out Lennox, gotta hit up the Edgewood bars and bar-hop, then end the night at Magic City (they got some good wings) lol

Saturday- Hit up Jack’s Pizza & Wings, mingle with the young, local crowd, end the night at Moondawgs/an Underground Rave.

Sunday- Breakfast/Bottomless Mimosas @ The Blue Martini, then we check out The High Museum of Art.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Have you heard the saying, “It takes a village to raise a child?” Well, I want to remix that saying a bit further to say, “It takes the World, to raise a child.” I have an international background, & I’ve been blessed to have lived and interacted with multiple different countries, and cultures in my short lifetime. So this shoutout goes to everything that makes up my personal world: My family, my friends, my neighbors, & my college professors across the entire International Community. I also want to personally thank musicians such as: Cowboy P, Bob Marley, Tupac, The Notorious B.I.G, Nipsey Hussle, & Pop Smoke, for inspiring me to pursue a career as a Musical Artist.

Website: https://songwhip.com/ortusaster

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ortus.aster

Twitter: https://mobile.twitter.com/realortusaster

Youtube: https://youtube.com/channel/UC0NIYvfDXfOJZ3ZaW0Ph9cg

Image Credits
O.A. Records