By Dalila Bevab
Anastasius Lauderdale, better known as “Stasius,” is a senior communication major with an art minor who was born and raised in downtown Louisville, Kentucky.
He said, “I definitely want to make the change in music in this city, at least, just because I’m not knocking the music, but that music only lasts for so long, you know? You can only listen to those types of songs so many times to where you get a headache compared to listening to something where it’s like, ‘He’s speaking facts. He’s speaking the truth.’”
Lauderdale said he was influenced by the music his mom and dad listened to. “On the weekends, my mom would play gospel music and Mary J. Blige whenever we were cleaning up. Kirk Franklin, all of those type of artists,” he said.
“My dad on the other hand was the total opposite. He was the one on the ‘gangster stuff’ and the hardcore rap music, so that’s kind of what I grew up on,” he said. “Seeing him being around the house freestyling and stuff like that, I guess, it kind of just dragged down to us and that’s pretty much what started it.”
He said he likes to rap about the stuff everybody sees but tends to overlook. He said instead of talking about stuff many people don’t have, such as money, cars, a big house, and nice clothes, he prefers to talk about topics people can relate to.
“I like talking about the feelings part instead of talking about the materialistic things just because I know for a fact that a lot of people don’t got it, and for myself, I don’t got it, so it’d be no reason for me to talk about it,” he said.
Along with rapping, Lauderdale makes his own beats and writes his own material.
“I write everything, and everything comes right off of the top of my head, whether I’m walking or whether I’m at work,” he said. “I could be doing whatever and I could find a little rhythm. I speak it into my phone and come back to it a couple of days later to probably a year.”
He said he doesn’t sit down and write music unless he’s focused on finishing a song or making a song within a specific timeframe. He said, “Then I’ll have my sit-downs, but usually, they just come whenever they come, kind of like a feeling and I just rock out with it, and if it doesn’t keep going, then it doesn’t keep going and I move onto the next one.”
Lauderdale said he doesn’t have a specific studio he can call “home” at the moment. “I’m pretty much opening all the doors that’s in front of me and meeting more people. So, I’ve been going from studio to studio,” he said.
Lauderdale said he recorded his first song in a home basement, pictured above.
He said one of his favorite songs is an unreleased collaboration with friend Kiara Brewer-Caroll called “Kind of Love.”
“We got together one time in the studio, and I was actually finishing one of my songs and she (Brewer-Caroll) was there finishing her song with the same producer,” he said. “He (the producer) was like, ‘Hey, are y’all trying to make a song together?’ and I was like, ‘I mean, we can.’
“He pulled out some of the beats that he made, and we listened through them and we were like, ‘Oh yeah, I like this one,’ and we just started flowing off that.”
Brewer-Caroll said: “One thing I admire about his creative process is that when he has a vision or idea, he doesn’t walk away from it. He makes sure that it is articulated well.”
She said Lauderdale’s passion and his ability to tell a story through poems and songs inspires her.
“He makes you feel and understand his situations or the topic without having to go through the physical but just the emotional side,” she said. “As an artist, it’s important you stay true to your story so that you can help those who identify their struggles the same as you.”
She said her favorite song of Lauderdale’s is “Dear Momma.” She said she helped him with the accompaniment and she enjoyed helping him see his vision through. “He asked me to use my voice for the beat so that he could rap on it. I’ve never done anything like that before, so he pushed me out of my comfort zone,” she said.
Brewer-Caroll said, “Stasius is a unique guy and his genuine humble personality will take him far places. I can’t wait to see all the great things God has in store for him.”
Kesric Mason said he’s known Lauderdale since 2018 and has seen him write his music.
“A lot of times you would not know that he is working on a song because he is able to get in his creative process anywhere that he is at,” Mason said. “From what I’ve seen he puts his earbuds in, opens his notes and starts free styling and writes down different bars that he may like.”
Mason said it’s inspiring to see how Lauderdale is passionate about his music. He said, “It really made me think about the different ways we as people can use different outlets to express our thoughts and feelings about what goes on in our lives.”
He said his favorite song from Lauderdale is “Letter to the Youth,” because he said it’s refreshing to hear music that addresses an issue.
“Most of the time, songs that we hear today all talk about the same thing, so ‘Letter to the Youth’ was something like a breath of fresh air,” Mason said.
Lauderdale said he’s already lived through what many rappers talk about and he said he feels like that artistic route will not get him far.
He said: “Yeah, you’ll probably get the fans and all that stuff, but I don’t really care for the fans. It’s more of the music and the meaning behind what’s actually being said, what’s actually happening and what’s actually being seen and what’s not being seen. Words are important especially when we sing them.”
He said he dreams of collaborating with rap legends such as Meek Mill, J. Cole, Kevin Gates and Nipsey Hussle. But he said his top collaboration would be with Rick Ross.
“He’s (Ross) a boss man. He’s about his business, he’s about his time, and not only that, but he’s not going to let anybody that’s in his circle fall off,” Lauderdale said.
He said he’s always seen videos of the Rolling Loud festival online and would like his music played at the festival one day because of the atmosphere.
Until then, Lauderdale said he hopes to remain independent. He said, “I’d rather just stick to what I’m doing by myself mainly because people can’t change what I’m trying to do, and they can’t even try to tweak it. Nobody can put it under their rules or regulations."
He said he believes “not knocking their talent” helps secure an artist’s longevity in the industry.
“I didn’t really gain my confidence until about sophomore year of college, honestly. I feel like having confidence in yourself is the biggest thing because so many people are going to doubt you,” he said. “So many people are going to be in your face like, ‘Yeah, I like this,’ but at the same time, they’re doubting you in the back of their mind. So, to have that confidence is telling yourself, ‘I’m going to go that extra edge and go that extra route. I’m going to try to do something different.’”
Lauderdale said: “Whether it flops or not, as long as you keep trying to do whatever’s different, then I feel like the time will come. As long as it’s not lame, as long as it’s truthful, it’s gotta come out. It may not be the biggest thing in the world, but somebody will hear you.”
Follow Lauderdale on Instagram, Apple Music, and Soundcloud for information on upcoming shows and releases.
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