21-year-old Vernon Powe, known by his alias vzathegreat, began writing poetry in elementary school and thus began his interest in lyricism. From Groton, Connecticut, VZA dove into his musical journey around 2014 but was unfortunately halted for a few years due to depression. Finding his way back to the music, he has since developed a unique sound which makes it hard to draw any comparisons. VZA is in a lane of his own and approaches each song with a different flavor, this allows his ever changing flow to comfortably find a home in each instrumental he raps on. Vernon’s style is humble yet transparent, however, he takes pride in striving to be real in his lyrics and being himself.
“I guess the easiest way to put it is: I’m not corny and I’m not a cookie-cut-ass nigga. I do me.”
This young artist has defied odds by becoming such a unique character coming from a place like Groton. VZA tells us about his strange town: safe yet populated by alcoholics, drug addicts, fake people, and the rest just seemingly odd. “I was just the kid that everybody knew of but nobody really knew, you know? Man this town is weird.”
Nighttime arrives and in a dimly lit lamp in the corner, the random urge to create takes over vzathegreat. With no one around he gets in tune with his inner creativity and begins to work. Sometimes inspired by beats he hears, sometimes inspired by other rappers’ bars, sometimes inspired by moments and experiences, he dives into his music. He doesn’t have any idols, and though he admires artists, he is not heavily inspired by them. He does mention currently his favorite artists are JPEGMAFIA, LUCKI, Saba, Phoelix, wifisfuneral, but that pretty much changes from week-to-week.
You should check out vzathegreat’s music if your looking to relate to someone who shares that feeling that most think they are alone in feeling. It’s not only real but its personable and gives listeners insight into the man behind the music.
“I’m not from the streets, I don’t have a benz, I don’t have bitches, I don’t have racks. I’m just another black kid with issues I don’t feel like I can talk to people about, so I put it in my music. But it isn’t all sad either I still have plenty of fun on plenty of songs.”
Vza shows his versatility consistently and understands the process that comes with making music and the patience it requires for things to develop. His relentless work ethic will absolutely play a role in the successes bound to be found in vzathegreat’s future. His main goals are to have a fan base that genuinely loves and understands his music and that lets it become a part of their lives.
As for now vzathegreat is about 80% done with his new EP as well as a part of a group named Black Burbs. Previously known as Black Suburia, they split and later reassebled but adapted the new name. Consisting of VZA, Exodus Freeman, Fame, Twayne the Kidd, Dougie, N/A Alias, and our video editor/graphic designer Schroeder; they haven’t collectively dropped new music just yet, but its on the way.
“I’ve known Exodus and Alias since I was in fucking 1st grade, those are my two best friends…I went to high school with Twayne, Fame and Dougie…one day Justin hit me saying that he was trying to start a rap group, Now we’re all cool.”
With his real, personable style the young rapper has set himself apart and created his own lane. Check out his newest video for Buzzfeed above and stay tuned for his newest music coming soon! Drawing from a wide array of musical styles, he is sure to impress with his flow and energy when in the booth.