Life has a beautiful of connecting you to people. So many people I’ve met and connected with over the years and I’m still pretty much cool with majority of them. From 2014 to about 2019, I was a student attending Hostos Community College here in The Bronx. Those are my glory days both educationally and creatively. I had a lot of fun during those days but the real fun I had was outside of the classrooms. There was a studio upstairs on the third floor and when I used to go to the studio, it was such an amazing experience being in there with everybody that I knew. We laughed, we chat, we created, we debated, and most of all, we were the same crowd that was a big part of the talent shows that was created way later during the day. Seeing everybody performing and having fun was the greatest. There’s also a political side of how things used to work at the school as far as the people and the events but that’s a whole other story to tell. Anyways, so much talent was there at Hostos Community College. One guy in particular who I always thought was super cool and of course talented, every time we seen each other it was always love and respect. This guy even hired me to DJ one of the very last talent shows I performed at and paid me cash and said “I gotchu bro!” One of the coolest, realest, and most talented dudes I’ve ever met. Smooth with it too with a bit of seriousness that didn’t intimidate you but enough to show this guy respect. He goes by the stage name Ondré. Born in New Rochelle on January 25th, 2000, Nashon Deondré Headley was raised here in the Boogie Down Bronx. BX stand up! Represent, represent! LOL! This is where the real story begins. Headley talks about life growing up. “Life was full of music for me growing up. I grew up in the church so I was always around gospel music and instruments. I picked up an acoustic guitar and started learning chords. I picked up drum sticks and started learning rhythm. I pressed piano keys and learned melody. I even plucked the bass and learned to groove. My whole life growing up revolved around music and God. I then used my skills that I learned from a young age and brought it over to the digital world. Producing beats, mixing vocals & mastering tracks was the next step I took to elevate my skillset. From there I became an artist, writing about real life things that many can relate to, while still mentioning God and how he’s helped me.” That incredible! Very inspiring. The only instrument I learned how to use was piano. Took a class on that while I was at Hostos. I remember feeling so good and elevated as a creative. I learned quick too. Music always came easy to me so to hear about someone knowing how to play so many musical instruments is truly inspiring. Makes me wanna relearn the piano again too. He continues, “Growing up I listened to a lot of gospel rap like Lecrae, Andy Mineo, Tedashii. I even started to listen to Chance the Rapper (my favorite rapper at the time) and I was inspired to make music with a message. Today, taking my music more serious and stepping into the industry, I learn from people like Russ, who talks about gaining leverage by doing things independently and without a record label. I’m also inspired by many of my mentors and friends, Brandon Jhon, Mark Ferg, Eric Penn, Kyle McEvoy, & Professor Joesph Carvhalo.” Nice! I love the confidence and wisdom that’s pouring out. Doing your thing and learning the ropes along the way, that’s very important. Headley also tells me about his start as an artist. The exact thing that makes one truly inspired to step into their greatness. He says, “There was an old cartoon called Class of 3000, where Andre 3000 was the teacher and had a band. They made an online game that allowed you to have different instruments and drums and put it together and make a whole song (and save it as well). This sparked the digital creation of music for me. Also In high school, I saw a couple of friends making music and rapping, when I saw the support they got and how good their music was, a light flickered in me and I told myself, I could do better (not in a bad malice kind of way). In high school I started to make music and I never looked back.” Of course it isn’t in a malicious way. That’s jealousy and spite, this experience is authentic, pure, organic, and truly from the heart of just wanting to be great. Big difference! Sad to say though, there are people doing music for other reasons besides it being something they’re passionate about but that’s nobody’s business but there’s. I love a purely talented individual with a drive to match. It hits differently. Especially when you actually have music out for people to hear. Headley talks about his projects. “Right now, I have an EP out called “Two Emotional” and a single called “I Can’t Breathe.” In the future, I’m releasing a song called “Love Talk” for Valentines day and a song called “Limbo” in March.” That’s exciting! Can’t wait to hear them all. Only dope talent makes me excited. Being an artist takes so much time, money, and patience to be. Definitely to prefect and hone your skills too. It’s a great feeling when you’ve been doing it for some years now and are able to acknowledge that. Even in this journey as an artist, we sometimes have regrets. What’s yours bro? “I regret not being more consistent. You could make the best music, release it and get amazing feedback and stats, but if you’re not continuously doing it over time, your hype starts to die out.” Yes!!! That’s wisdom right there! I quickly learned that as an artist, you definitely have to be consistent but you have to learn to keep the people’s attention by showcasing other sides of you. What others talents you can showcase? Keep doing that until you have new music coming out. It’s like having side jobs. Your main thing is being an artist but you have something on the side to keep you going while still keeping your main audience. So many loopholes to this artist thing, especially in the social media/digital age now. Completely different ball game but yes, super relatable. Consistency is the key. With consistency and hard work, your talent definitely shines through and keeps you in the game. That’s called longevity. You want to be here for more years to come so what are your goals years from now? “Years from now I see myself in my own commercial media studio. A studio that has many different rooms for different purposes, recording, photography, videography, live room with instruments, etc. I see my self managing various artists under my new record label Sound Supply Records.” Much respect! Incredible. Follow this talented brother on all his social media outlets. IG: @soundsupplyrecords & @thatsondre, Twitter: @thatsondre, Facebook: facebook.com/thatsondre & Soundcloud: soundcloud.com/thatsondre.
Written by Jalen Hemphill