AiDAN.THE: Inside the Mind of a Yung Pavarotti-Q&A
AiDAN.THE is undoubtedly one of the most innovative people in Massachusetts right now. Easily recognizable by his bright orange beanie, AiDAN.THE is paving his own path in two industries. He has produced and performed many tracks including my personal favorite; Interstellar feat. Tom the Mail Man. In addition to music, Aidan has his own clothing brand/collective/record label/EVERYTHING called LOOKOOL. LOOKOOL has held shows all around the South Shore and Boston area. Aidan was named in “2019 BostInno’s 25 under 25” for his ingenious work on LOOKOOL.
Johnny Dube: How did your musical journey start?
AiDAN.THE: The day I was born I screamed really loud when I saw the oxygen tubes up my mom's nose in the hospital and sh*t and the doctor told my mom you got a yung pavarotti on your hands so it's been destined my guy. (google pavarotti if u dont know who that is he looks like a pimped out shel silverstein w hair)
JD: How did you get into fashion?
AT: I wanna say i studied the coolest motherf*ckers alive but I don’t know to be honest in my 18 years i realized it's really just a taste thing its not even like “fashion” that i'm crazy into in my opinion its more of a style type beat. like i don't own a lot of couture designer sh*t even tho like yes i am an appreciator of it and one day imma get the raf and rick and margiela and allat when the money comes in buckets but for now i'm just like whatever will make me lookool.
(id honestly get paint or food all over my designer sh*t anyways lmao it's all material shit we care too much about because it equates to like whatever the f*ck in peoples heads. but don't get me wrong i appreciate THE F*CK outta the real like artwork that is produced by these designers. Like some archival pieces are literally pieces of wearable art that belong in like museums and not on grailed for any kid with money to like clout up and flex you know but it's a part to a whole and there's levels and politics and to everything i think sometimes we have to just remind ourselves to see the shit for what it is)
JD: What does LOOKOOL mean to you?
AT: LOOKOOL is a world/religion/cult/creativesolutionscompany/recordlabel/business/brand/groupofeverchangingkidswhojustliketodokoolshit/collective/family/mission/passionproject
JD: You frequently work and perform with your closest friends, what have you taken away and learned from those thrilling experiences?
AT: I’ve learned that like everyone has their own destinies you know. Not everyone is gonna be what you want them to be. Not everyone is gonna follow the leader their entire life and that’s totally valid. I wanna be around leaders, i wanna create leaders, put that battery in peoples back to be better. Although I've learned some things you want for others they don’t want for themselves which can get messy at times but regardless I have so much love for each and every one of the artists that have done shows w/me and trusted my ideas enough to give the effort they did into contributing towards this bigger picture.
JD: What experience, either performing or with LOOKOOL, has been most memorable?
AT: I always think about how the pop up shop was literally a perfectly executed idea like i have the f*cking drawings from detention when I schemed it up and drew it all out in a notebook with markers and crayons. good sh*t.
As much as it really was a team effort like all hands on deck type mentality that is me patting myself on the back and being cocky because nobody had/has done that type of shit where i'm from and brought those type of kids together in a place outside of school to just hang for a weekend.
it was mad successful from the turnout to the sales and honestly just all around good vibes.
Aidan at the LOOKOOL pop-up shop, April 2019
JD: How has living in Boston this past year for school impacted your artistic pursuits?
AT: Being real it gave me mad anxiety. I went from being and thinking i'm THE sh*t where i'm from. to NOT being and thinking im sh*t in the city. I was comfortable back home sitting on my little mountain then all of a sudden that mountain crumbles and you are below sea level tryna stay afloat… i had to figure out how to swim real quick and im still like tryna perfect my backstroke if u pick up what im putting down. it made me wanna just lock in and go harder than ever. i'm my own motivation at the end of the day so like i take the time i need ya know this is a marathon not a race. I have my own goals and versions of success in my head and school made it feel like there were implementing an infrastructure on top of my pre-existing infrastructure. Which makes me laugh because i've just been like smoking weed and making weird beats and art for the past month lmao but in all seriousness i'm driven i’m talented and i know how to use what i got to get what i want.
I became a totally new person in my head but i know i'm still the same motherf*cker as always just like in the process of becoming way more amplified. It's funny because I'm totally in this huge paradigm shift in my life right now and I'm tapping into myself more than ever.
(due to having the experience of all these new energies I was allowed the luxury of being in contact with from being in Boston last semester you know?)
My School is very tight and the resources there are f*cking minty. But that had its own trials and tribulations too like i think there's so much value in doing things yourself and figuring things out yourself. It gives you ur own sauce and ur own approach but with that being said you HAVE to be a student of the game. Especially in the art world like the majority of the people we are studying and look up to in these industries didn’t necessarily get a college degree for what it is they are known for nor do they really need one because they were expressing their truths thru their work its intertwined with their life. But you have to be brutally realistic with yourself. I'm not kanye west, I'm not tyler the creator, I'm not Pharrell, I'm me AiDAN.THE and I know I'm gonna be great . I decided that a long time ago.
I had/still do have a hard time taking criticism, don’t get me wrong like my visual art needed critique in like the areas i was taking classes in at school i'm aware that not everything i touch is gold ya know. But like my work in music and like the finished ideas the public sees and that i will champ myself on till the day i die are my statements to the world they are already finished ideas ya know like these aren't up for critique because they’re done they’re finished they're not going to change like i appreciate some peoples words and thoughts put towards them but most of the time i'm not really looking for that validation more just for the appreciation which sounds quite egotistical to some (most) but it's really just MY sh*t so thank u very much.
It's been a weird time for everyone so it seems but i've been trying to remind myself that life doesn't stop moving for you to like practice your lines and rehearse everything so you just gotta trust yourself and do what you wanna do without thinking about; “but what if” too heavily. Don't overthink sh*t. shoutout kenny beats.
(Broookay believe this or not but i've been called the white kenny beats more than once its fire as f*ck to me.)
One of Aidan’s recent art pieces, modeled after a photograph of Pharrell Williams
JD: What are your favorite spots in the city?
AT: Evans way park.
JD: Who are some of your inspirations, and why?
AT: My exes, my ex friends, the cesspool of corny rap artists that all sound like travis scott or like uzi or some sh*t. (even tho i have a handful of tracks in the vault that may or may not ever come out where i try to sound like travis scott and they're actually so gas imma have to send u the gems).
My everyday life/ experiences too mostly.
Why? Because It’s all tangible material to me nothing is ever off limits. The ideas are endless.
After reading Aidan’s answers, I was debating whether to edit the grammar and make them more “physically appealing”. After short thought, I decided not to. Aidan is a very unique human and to truly understand what he is about, reading his answers, the way HE answered them, is the most beneficial way. Producing music at 5am while the sun rises over Boston is something only few, if any, have ever experienced, Aidan is one. Aidan’s unique ambition will surely take him to great heights.
His plans for next school year are uncertain, but what it is certain, is that he will continue chasing those same ideas that he dreamt up in detention.
Listen to AiDAN.THE below, his music is also on all streaming services
Instagram: @aidan.the
