My City: Orie is St. Louis Born, Chicago Bound Posted by Nathan S. on 03/04/10 | Filed under Top Stories, Features, My City, Orie

<As part of RefinedHype's ongoing mission to make boatloads of cash shed a little light on worthy artists outside the mainstream spotlight, we proudly present Orie (a.k.a. Orie the Producer), the young emcee and beatsmith we first heard on our Daily Re-Up Vol. 16. Born in St. Louis and now calling Chicago home, Orie joins our My City series to talk about his early days in the Lou, his fight to remember his roots while adapting to the Windy City, and his new project, the aptly-titled "What the Black Man Wants".

RefinedHype: Although you now live in Chicago, you grew up in St. Louis. How did those years in St. Louis affect your music now?

Orie: Living in St. Louis heavily influenced my music. St. Louis truly made me into the person I am today, and i'll never forget my city no matter where I end up living. St. Louis is really big on dance music, just not nearly as many people make it from there as Atlanta. After getting tired of the clubs, and the dance music played on the radio all the time it made me want to hear conscious music, especially rap. I wasn't able to find a lot of artists like that coming out of St. Louis, so I searched deeply for your Kayne's,Lupe Fiasco's Jay-Z's,etc. I've never been one to follow, so seeing all of the trendy dance music, one-hit wonders made me focus on conscious music, and real-life experiences.

RefinedHype: Has living in Chicago influenced your sound? How so?

Orie: Living in Chicago has definitely enhanced my sound. I'm a college student at Columbia College in Chicago, and the school is so diverse as well as the culture. I've been exposed to so many things that I felt were either non-existent in St. Louis, or hard to find. I had never really been exposed to House music, and even recently my first ever disco party. All this new music influences concepts and ideas that I add into my own. The culture in itself has taught me so much as well. I'd only seen a Chinatown in Rush Hour, but here I can actually hop off the red-line at Cermak, and study the culture.

RefinedHype: Where do you go to get inspired?

Orie: I get inspired by knowing that i'm a semester away from graduation. When I was little,maybe like 10...my mom used to always tell me, "No matter what you do in life, start your own business." That really stuck with me. My inspiration is knowing that i've got over $50,000 worth of loans to pay off when I graduate...and don't worry, they will. But honestly...I follow every move of the people I look up to. I'm a huge Ryan Leslie fan, and the lifestyle he creates around his work...Jay-Z, Pharrell, Kanye West, Wale, J-Cole and recently i've become pretty interested in Mos Def's work. I guess I never came him a chance, until I realized where I want to be in the game, and how much he reminds me of me...I could go on forever. I follow them, and I keep up with what they're doing, cause it's where I wanna be. My motivation is paying off those loans...I can't change the world if I have to worry about paying off those loans.

RefinedHype: If I'm rolling through Chicago where can I find you?

Orie: If you're in Chicago, you can catch me at Jugrnaut from time-to-time, even though I don't shop too much. On campus... or up-north in Lincoln Park, or Wicker Park, and The Shrine seems to be the new spot for me. Honestly...I've become more of a home body recently...I love to support other people and go out, but whenever I do, I realize, dang, I would've been sending out emails or been in the studio, or even reading a book.

RefinedHype: Last words?

Orie: "Follow What Makes Your Heart Beat Faster." I could preach or promote to you how great I think "What A Black Man Wants" is, but I'd rather let the music speak for itself. Ok....I will say this. My project was inspired by Frederick Douglass' 'What The Black Man Wants". I wanted to do a project that touched on issues that often aren't represented right or misinterpreted from the black community through the media. Subjects such as, religion, love, confidence,and even the army. Oh...and two last things. 1) WWW.DEMOSTL.COM 2) Follow me @orietheproducer. Oh yeah...I'm kinda new at this.lol. Thanks for the interview.