Crafting Retrovision: Oblé Reed's Meteoric Rise from a Treehouse Studio to Becoming the Pacific Northwest's Next Big Thing
By Lorcan Stokes
Musicians from all genres often trace their career choice to a pivotal moment of inspiration. For Oblé Reed, that moment came when his father brought home a CD by Christian rapper Lecrae.
"When I heard it, I was like, oh yup, I'm gonna do this," Reed recalled as the beginning of his career and passion for singing and songwriting.
From then on, music became an outlet for Reed, with songwriting becoming his voice, primary means of communication, and self-expression. His first taste of performing came in eighth grade during a church camp, where he stood in front of an audience for the first time. Recognizing his talent, a counselor suggested he needed a stage name.
"I was like, okay, so he gave me Moon Drop. I just ran with it, but it meant nothing to me," Reed said.
The camp experience offered more than just a name; it provided a critical connection to shape his future. A studio owner at the camp invited a then-young Moon Drop to record, introducing him to the intricacies of music production. In that studio, Reed learned everything from microphone etiquette to discovering his unique voice. This experience marked the beginning of his artistic journey, one he would continue to nurture and evolve.
"I found my voice," Reed said.
Reed's journey in music continued until he entered college, where he studied pre-med biology to become an epidemiologist. Yet, even as he pursued academics, music never left his side. He continued to work on his craft, recording, and writing whenever he could. But then, the COVID-19 pandemic hit, and studios nationwide shut down.
"I ended up building a studio in a tree house in my backyard and teaching myself how to engineer so that when the studios opened again, I could end up working at one," Reed explained.
Much of Reed's debut album, Lindenave!, a four-year project that included hard-hitting tracks like HOMETOWNHERO. and BLACKKIDS., was crafted in that tree house. As studios reopened, he found work at a professional studio, where he assembled a team that would propel his career to new heights. Shedding the Moon Drop moniker, he reintroduced himself as Oblé Reed, fully embracing his evolving identity as an artist.
From his first performance at a church camp to building a treehouse studio and ultimately creating his debut album, Reed's journey has been relentless growth. With the release of his 2024 EP, Retrovision, in June, his rise has been nothing short of meteoric, firmly establishing him as a force in the Pacific Northwest's hip-hop scene and beyond. Converge Music recently spoke with the Shoreline-raised musician about his latest work, the creative process behind his biggest hits, and the next step in his journey.
Christian rap was your introduction to hip hop. What were some of your main influences early on?
Oblé Reed: It was really like the whole Christian rap scene, like Lecrae, Trip Lee, Tedashii, and Andy Mineo. Nothing that was super crazy mainstream, but in the Christian hip-hop realm, those were the dudes. And it's a big reason why I don't cuss in any of my music. Growing up, I didn't say a cuss word until I was, like, a senior in high school. It felt like the whole time I was learning and perfecting my craft, it was never a part of it. Even though, like, I cuss now, it's like, when I go into writing mode, it's not my natural instinct. It feels forced. It's been cool to see how that has influenced me and still plays a role in my music now, even though I listen to a lot of other music and am not super into listening to Christian hip-hop anymore.
Coming up in the greater Seattle area, what challenges have you faced, personally or career-wise?
Oblé Reed: Here in the city, we have had quite a few people that have made it out and been very successful, but there is a lack of infrastructure here and a lack of understanding. I think I was in that boat, and there's not a lot of accessibility to the industry up here. A lot of people feel like they need to go to LA or to New York to make it, which I don't think is true, especially, you know, with the community and the history that we have here in Seattle. But I think with that, with that being the truth, it's created kind of like a crab in a barrel type of mentality, where people think that there's an idea of limited success and that if somebody else is popular and making it happen, "that's less success for me." We hear about the Seattle freeze all the time, and I don't think it's different in the music industry. But it's starting to break, and people are more collaborative. People are coming outside and wanting to educate themselves, understand the industry, and make a career out of this rather than just be neighborhood famous.
Your most recent project is Retrovision. Listening to Lindenave!, it was a more aggressive sound out of the two. How has your sound changed from dropping your album to this EP?
Oblé Reed: I think less of a change, more like an elevation. Lindenave! was a compilation of music over like three years. It was just my experience, and then I found a way to package all of the music into one thing, and it was created over a lot of different moments, whereas Retrovision was intentionally created for a project. And so there were more moments of musicality and more intention behind the structuring and the topics, whereas Lindenave! was just like, "This, how I feel, I made a song about it. Oh, it fits on here. And now, let's make it all cohesive." I do agree with you in some sense. More of the songs on Lindenave! were in-your-face, but on Retrovision, there are still songs, like 20.
It was kind of reminiscent of it (Lindenave!), especially compared to Split Ends and Salad.
Oblé Reed: It's crazy because I actually made 20 when I was 20 three years ago. That was the one track off of Retrovisionthat felt like the whole thing was about looking back and looking forward. It was cool to have a track where only the hook was made when I was 20. It was on a completely different beat. And then Evergrxn sent me the beat that's on 20 now. I was like, Dang, the hook from three years ago fits on this. I've always wanted to do something with this, so I laid it down and made the rest of the song. It feels cool to be able to utilize something that was made so long ago and have it still feel new and fresh. It just affirmed that I'm making timeless music. It's not trendy. It doesn't need to be put out in a specific moment. It's on divine timing, and when it comes out, that's perfect timing.
What does starting a track look like for you?
Oblé Reed: I like to start with the title of the song. I got a bunch of blank notes that are just titles of songs, and then I'll hear a track, and someone will play me like a beat or like a reference or something, and I'll go through my notes, and I'll find a name that speaks to me at that moment. Then I'll lay down some like scratch melodies or scratch flows. I look at a lot of my voice memos, and I have a video that I got to put out that breaks down the process. Then I go into writing, and I fill in those scratch vocals. Starting with the title gives me a them. A theme gives me an end goal of what I want people to understand at the end of the track.
What would you say are the connecting themes through Retrovision?
Oblé Reed: For Retrovision, it was about looking back but thinking forward, and it was a lot of speaking things into existence, covering topics that I've dealt with throughout my career, and reminiscing on moments. Like Split Ends, for example, the first half is about right now and how I'm feeling in terms of just everything that has been happening in my career. Then you get to the second half, talking about my hair and how I used to be bald-headed. I was not very confident, and I really didn't understand myself. But then, as my hair grew, I felt like I was growing with my hair, and I found myself. It's like taking that journey, and Retrovision is all about the journey and how I got to where I am now. Ending with Ave, that references Lindenave! and what that project did for me. It's been a crazy journey, man. This project was a small EP, and I just wanted it to be like a snapshot of the moment that I'm in right now.
Speaking of the journey, what was the whole creative process and progression of the EP in terms of making it?
Oblé Reed: So Retrovision, the actual idea, was made in March of 2023. I made a rough version of the intro, Retrovision, called it that, and then just let it sit. I came back after Lindenave!, and I was really feeling like, 'Dang man, how do I follow this up?' It was my first project. I had no expectations, and it did so well that now I feel like there's this pressure, mostly, that I'm putting on myself. I was like, 'Oh, this went really well, and I don't want people to be disappointed with a second body of work.' And so I was in writer's block for a while. I had already made Pushem. (Freestyle) and Downsize.during the process of rolling out Lindenave! so those were already done and that was kind of when I was in a flow state of creativity. Other than that, it was really hard for me to write music. I looked back on the Retrovision intro song and was like, wow. It felt new and fresh to me and almost awakened something in me. After that, I was like, Okay, I want to make this a project. I want to make this a full thing. Once I set out to do that, Evergrxn sent me the track for Circle Theory, and I wrote that whole song in about an hour, and that was the first thing that I had written and recorded in, like, mad long. After that, the ideas just kind of started to flow; the project started to come together.
ARDN's your only feature. Was that intentional?
Oblé Reed: Salad was the one song that I made that felt like it needed a feature. I'm a big fan of ARDN's music, and I was down in LA, and he and his team were like, 'Yo, this is good.' We ended up making it work. It felt like this one makes sense for the project. Split Ends was supposed to have a feature on it. I'm not going to say who because it's still gonna come, and I want it to be a surprise for everybody.
Are you picky about who you collaborate with?
Oblé Reed: I wouldn't say I'm necessarily picky with who I work with, but I am intentional. I want there to be an energy and a vibe that is created. I don't just want to do features with anybody because I want to maintain artistic integrity, but across genres, I'm doing collaborations. I'm working with people in the city, outside the city, and I got a lot of collaborations that will be coming out very soon.
What do you think your favorite song on Retrovision is?
Oblé Reed: Probably Lookwhatyouvedone. That's one of my favorites. Split ends grew on me, for sure. I think Ave; that middle breakdown part where I name drop all the all the tracks off the project is definitely one of my favorite moments on Retrovision.
What projects, shows, or collaborations do you have in the works right now that you can dive into?
Oblé Reed: I don't want to say too much about what I got coming, but I just want to say I got someone coming in the fall, very collaborative, and I think it's going to shake up a lot of things. Retrovision was very musical, and I did a lot more singing and a lot of melodic stuff. I don't want people to forget that I really rap like that.
Visit Oblé Reed's official website here to stay updated on his latest performances, projects, and merch drops.
