We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Hantz Jean Francois a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Hantz, appreciate you making time for us and sharing your wisdom with the community. So many of us go through similar pain points throughout our journeys and so hearing about how others overcame obstacles can be helpful. One of those struggles is keeping creativity alive despite all the stresses, challenges and problems we might be dealing with. How do you keep your creativity alive?
While embracing and championing expressionism, I also push to build the structure of a practice. That’s my form of gratitude for God giving me the gift of thought, writing, and perspective. That I’m able to receive all the works that inspire me and that will inspire me. The consumer experiences the product but can never see the process. A documentary can only really show you a mere glimpse. So while I spend a lot of time listening to discographies, reading articles, sifting through hundreds of images/designs, I also spend time thinking about myself and my own history of existence. Using that as a starting point helps me create and research from a place more rooted in my curiosity and experiences rather than from something that’s already working. Also, Ibn Jasper had this really beautiful quote when speaking about himself and his peers (School of Ye).. he said “they created the lifetime childhood”. I think that’s so profound. The inner child must be a guiding force because it’ll scrape its knee and get back on the bike.
Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
My main practice is music. I rap, produce and song-write for others as well. I recently dropped a collaborative EP with producer/instrumentalist Reggie Volume, under our band name “BLACK MOSS”. A lot of that project centered around the inner child and fate. Both Reggie and I lost people close to us to gun violence and that informed the discussions we had in the making of the project. Really proud of the release and the roll out. Right now, I’m working on a few projects and delving into expanding my sound more.
I’m also a freelance creative director. I see myself as a world builder. I find joy in referencing what’s right in front of our faces. There’s an endless portal of direction in the mundane existence we tend to overlook. From concepts, to camera perspectives to styling. What informs my creative vision the most is literally whatever is right in front of our around me.
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
I think a lot traces back to my childhood. I never really went out a lot as a kid so I was often inside the house watching a lot of shows and movies, drawing or just thinking. That set a foundation for my curiosity which in terms of an actual skill, helped me understand research. Fashion designer Grace Wales Bonner said she “uses research as a form of transcendence”. I use that as a guiding force, especially when it comes to world building.
Also, referring to the mundane again, are those car rides with my dad where he would shuffle from his Kompa cassette tape collection and jazz radio stations. I became a sponge to a lot of the soundscapes and melodies. Writing. Frequencies. My taste derives a lot from those Saturdays driving hours in that red ’94 Pathfinder. That gradual molding of taste keeps me open to so many sounds and artists today.
Last, I would say remaining vulnerable. People speak to vulnerability being just what’s said. The stories. Which is really important and can carry you a long way. But vulnerability is also, not being afraid of expressing those words and stories within sounds and melodies that may be a risk. I’m not afraid of risk or even being “niche” because I know I can make that feel bigger than life
My advice for honing in on those skills is rooted in having a conversation with what’s honest to you. Learn about it. Speak about it. Locking in on that can help you define your artistry so much more than following what’s already working.
Thanks so much for sharing all these insights with us today. Before we go, is there a book that’s played in important role in your development?
I would say “Siddhartha” by Hermann Hesse. I’m not sure which one of my friends lent me that book. It was either Colin or Aziz. I read that back in the summer of 2018. A year prior, I was in a weird grey space with my artistry and life. I almost quit rap. I lost my grandmother and one of my cousins so that put me in a real reflective state. About purpose but also time not promised. After much indecision, I chose to move out of my folks spot to my friends’ couch (would end up there for about 2 years) and picked up a barista job. We would all record and create from that house too. Around that summer was when I got that book. Its inspired by the life of Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, but just served as a guide of self discovery, inner peace, and fulfillment. I resonated with the main character leaving home and searching for something within. After leaving home and even distancing myself from the church I grew up in, this had been the journey I was on. I was trying to find the omnipresence of God in other places. Something that stood out to me was a passage about the river:
“But out of all secrets of the river, he today only saw one, this one touched his soul. He saw: this water ran and ran, incessantly it ran, and was nevertheless always there, was always at all times the same and yet new in every moment! Great be he who would grasp this, understand this!”
I always held onto this perspective of internally pacing oneself.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://hantz.net
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lakesidevagabond/
- Twitter: https://x.com/LSVAGABOND
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@BLACKMOSSMOSSBLACK
- Other: The Youtube link is for my band “BLACK MOSS” and has my most recent visuals. Here’s my solo youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@LSVAGA
Image Credits
Justinnla
Christian “Yatu” Pelaez-Espinosa
Aaron Laserna
so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.