Eager college students filled the concrete room, a stagehand turned the lights down and a sound check commenced, signaling the guests to move closer to the stage where 24-year-old WKU graduate assistant Mic. Carr, from Dickson, Tennessee, was performing ā a scene that was familiar to this local artist.
Carr, an R&B singer, has performed at various local venues, such as the A-Frame, 6-4-3 Sports Bar and on WKUās campus at an event hosted by the Campus Activities Board. Heās also performed at venues in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, and as far away as Denver.
āOh man, [performing] feels ā¦ it feels crazy,ā Carr said. āItās like that half anxious, half super excited feeling, like when youāre getting your name called for starting lineups, [running] through the tunnel, giving high fives to everybody, that feeling you get in your stomach. Itās like that but the whole entire time.ā
Carr found his start in music at a very young age but didnāt formally record his first song, “Cheers,” until freshman year of college when he attended Christian Brothers University in Memphis, Tennessee to play basketball.
āItās still one of my favorite songs,ā Carr said. āWhenever you do something like that it kind of just finds you. The art in an organized fashion just finds you if youāre passionate about it. I draw [my music] from my life experiences, whatever Iāve gone through in the past, whatever Iām going through presently and then just different experiences Iāve seen other people go through.ā
Music took precedence over sports once Carr transferred to Middle Tennessee State University.
After obtaining a bachelor’s degree in exercise science at MTSU, Carr came to WKU to receive his masterās degree in sports administration, and a coworker introduced him to his current independent record label owner, Justin Eckerd of NF Records Studios.
Xzaveion Price, a WKU alumnus and Bowling Green native, is a friend of Carrās and a fan of Carrās music.
āFor me, Mic.ās music is really raw in the sense that you can relate to just about everything he is saying,ā Price said. āHeās definitely the type of artist who gains inspiration from his life and the people around him.ā
Carr said he plans to take one day at a time, putting in the work and continuing to draw from the inspiration he witnesses around him. Heās found his place within Bowling Green and is finding ways to balance all of his interests, studies and personal projects.
Carr is putting the finishing touches on his newest project, āCosher,ā and he plans to drop the album June 16. Carr recently sat down with the Talisman for a Q&A and a track-by-track analysis of the project.
Q: Tell me how āCosherā got started.
A: The first song of āCosherā wasnāt even the intro. The first song was āSomeone New.ā I remember telling my buddy, Evan, right when I was in the middle of finishing āCarrtunes,ā my last project, that I wanted to make my next project primarily singing. I didn’t know what story I was going to tell, but I knew I wanted to tell a story start to finish. It started I wanted to have just a little five-song EP of all singing, and now Iām about to put āCosherā out, and itās 11 songs.
I remember telling my buddy, too, that I want it all to sound really, really cozy. I said to him, āYeah, itās going to be called āCozy.āā And it wasnāt but like two months later, ASAP Mob comes out with a project called āCozy Tapes.ā I was like thereās no way I can call it āCozyā now because theyāre going to think I got it from that.
Music is crazy because even though itās sonic, to [me] itās still physical, as well. It hits me in the chest, like certain drum kicks and certain sounds really kind of make [me] feel a certain way physically and then also emotionally.
Track 01 – āThoughts of Youā
I remember talking to [my friend], Xzaveion, I told him āIām trying to think of other things that would still coincide with cozy music. And he was like, āWell, what kind of story are you telling?ā And I was like, āWell, it starts off with āThoughts of You.ā” That’s the intro and it just goes,
Time after time when I think bout you / I wonder how we got here / How can we grow if we canāt communicate, baby / Time after time when I think bout you / I wonder how we got here / A healthy dose of understanding is all it takes
Itās just like, Iām thinking about you basically and for anybody listening to it. So with thoughts of you, it kind of sets the tone. And then the next song is the title track from the project, āCosher.ā
Track 02 – āCosherā
So the next song is called āCosher.ā It kind of picks it up and itās like,
Everything is cosher
So itās basically me saying, no matter what happens Iām thinking about you, right, but still everything is cosher. Know that everything is cosher because thatās the first thing [I say.] I was still trying to incorporate the word cozy [in the song] so I say,
Hereās something cozy for you to wake up to / Just know that things are cosher, at times I think of you / No hard feelings, nothinā but good riddance / I gained more than a little and I hope you did too / Everything is cosher, itās alright / Everything is cosher
So everything is all good; Iām thinking of you. The next song is called āLemmeluhyuh.ā
Track 03 – āLemmeluhyuhā
So itās like, really you should let me love you. Youāve got your friends in your ear making you think I donāt care about you the way I do. And, like I said, itās just different experiences Iāve been through. I donāt want people to think āAh, heās telling Ā aĀ story about this one girlā or āWhoās he talking about?ā Iāve been through stuff. Everybodyās been through stuff, and I know different people have been through similar situations, so Iām just telling their story all the way through. So āLemmeluhyuhā is like,
People talkinā like they know me / All I want to do is love you / But you just donāt see / I donāt care about the things your girls say / They say I donāt care about you / But thatās not the case, lemmeluhyuh
Once āLemmeluhyuhā is in there itās right before āSomeone New,ā so it really starts making you want to dance. Thatās what I like about those songs in particular. After āLemmeluhyuhā comes in, it makes you want to jig. I like [the] line too,
I find solace in your eyes / Just being honest, Iām trying to get to know you
I like the word solace. I find peace within your eyes, basically. I think itāll be cool for the summertime too. Top down, it makes me want to be somewhere on the beach or something. Iām telling this story that everything is all good no matter what happens, but I still want all of this stuff to be uplifting.
Track 04 – Someone New
The first song, āSomeone New,ā was the song I recorded right before I came [to Bowling Green]. Itās the single, and itās upbeat. How it went, the chorus was like,
I know that weāre falling off / I know that youāre seeing someone new / You think that I want you gone but here is where I always wanted you
And then it has the little āyeah, yeahā party feel to it. Iām going to tell the story start to finish basically whatever you go through, everything is cosher. Weāve all been through relationships, and my story isnāt about one girl all the way throughout. Itās just about different experiences Iāve been through, seeing other people go through that I know everyone goes through. Whenever weāre in here creating and somebody starts making a certain riff or tune, sometimes youāll know exactly how your first line should go because the feeling it kind of evokes in you as soon as you hear it. And after āSomeone New,ā it goes to āLost It All.ā
Whenever weāre in here creating and somebody starts making a certain riff or tune, sometimes youāll know exactly how your first line should go because the feeling it kind of evokes in you as soon as you hear it. And after āSomeone New,ā it goes to āLost It All.ā
Track 05 – āLost It Allā
So itās like, you should let me love you, but youāre kind of letting your girls get in between it or whatever. Itās all good. Then āSomeone Newā hits, and itās all good, as well. And āLost It Allā comes, and thatās when Nick Lawson, another WKU student, comes in with me, and itās basically we were lost in love and now we lost it all. Thereās this slippery slope [with] anybody
Thereās this slippery slope [with] anybody, really, because everyone has that person that you like a bunch or even love, and I feel like, also, everyone should go through something like that. Because a lot of times, people take a lot of stuff for granted until, and itās almost cliche, until itās gone and then you realize, āAh, s—. That was something nice.ā
Me and my brother were talking about it, I feel like for sure every man should endure something like that. I donāt necessarily think to the same degree that girls should go through that, and maybe thatās just ’cause Iām a mommaās boy, and I donāt like the idea of hurting girls like that. I donāt want people to get hurt, but I think men should go through some form of, not necessarily heartbreak, but some form of that so they know, āBro whenever something good comes along cherish itĀ because all girls arenāt like that.ā So thatās what [āLost It Allā] is about, Iām like,
This slippery slope of falling in and out of love with you has my mind going / I want your heart to have not to borrow / one thing that I gotta know / when the rain comes will you stay or will you go
After āLost It All,ā it goes into āButterflies.ā
Track 06 – āButterfliesā
So we āLost It All,ā but you still give me butterflies. Still, nothing is lost. And also it goes perfectly into butterflies because of how I said [in āLost It Allā] weāre in the same chapter, but weāre just on a different page.
Same chapter, different page / Iāll always look after you the same / No matter what happens, I know weāve lost a lot but if we just look past it / All that was what lost can surely be gathered
So thatās why I think it goes into āButterfliesā really well because youāre still being optimistic. I said that in the intro as well.
Pardon me if Iām not the best at apologies / Thereās part of me that is quite the eternal optimist
I feel like I am super optimistic and have grown over the years to be a very positive person. It was all lost, but could still be gathered, so thatās why it goes into āButterflies.ā Iām letting her know you still give me butterflies, so you know that. And at the end of āButterflies,ā itās like
But if you want to go, Iāll let you fly
You just have to let them go. You hope for the best for them, hope for the best for yourself and go. And so then, āQue Pasaā comes around and picks it back up.
Track 07 – āQue Pasaā
Now youāre back. Youāre back just trying to see someone new yourself. You hear me in āQue Pasaā like, āLook at her. Sheās beautiful. I have to go see whatās up.ā And thatās the interlude into āTell Meā because Iām like,
Que Pasa, mi bonita / Whatās up, itās nice to meet ya / You’re different and I peeped it / So many people around but I feel itās just us
I picture a video for that where weāre in a crowd full of people, at a party or a concert or something, but you feel like itās just me and you there. I feel like everybody has had that too. And if you havenāt, everybody deserves that.
Track 08 – āTell Meā
Itās one thing to just hear a story, but itās another thing to tell somebodyās story and really do it justice and tell it in a way where you were almost telling it like you were them. That is deep because it takes a lot to be able to absorb it all inĀ as if youāre really going there with that person ā like youāre trying to get into my mind. I said that in a song, on āTell Me,ā actually. I said
Let me scuba dive behind those eyes and ease inside your mind
And I said that in particular because I want to give the visuals, me scuba diving behind your eyes like Iām really trying to go deep and really get in your head, really see whatās going on up there. But I like āTell Meā because it goes really well from āQue Pasaā into that. Itās like a play on words on this one,
You say you donāt know who you are but you know who youāre not / Donāt know what you want but you know what you donāt want
So with that, itās like I donāt know, and most people especially at our age and younger, we donāt know exactly who we are yet, but I know what Iām not. You donāt know exactly who you are yet. Youāre still figuring out who you are and finding out who [you] are every day. And you embrace that.
Even though I donāt know exactly who I am right now, I know for d— sure who Iām not. So on that same note, I flipped it. I donāt know exactly what I want. You may not know exactly what you want in a man/woman or your future husband/wife but youāre like, āI know for d— sure I donāt want this kind of person. I know for d— sure I donāt want this kind of girl/guy who acts like that.ā [Youāre like] I donāt know what I want, but thatās good because you shouldnāt know exactly who you want. Thatās the point because the person who will come around, itāll be like āOh, thatās exactly what I want.ā
āLost It Allā and āButterflies are more like ballads and really melodic. They still have that groove to them but āQue Pasaā picks you up and makes you want to move again along with āSomeone Newā and āTell Me.ā āQue Pasaā is whatās up, and then āTell Meā is tell me whatās up. Then the next song is āCurrents.ā
Track 09 – āCurrentsā
This song, chorus-wise, couldāve been named so original, but I wanted to name it āCurrentsā because a certain line it. And because of the beat. I think currents, water, flowy, waves. With āCurrents,ā I thought āQue Pasaā being what’s up to āTell Meā saying what’s up and then the first thing you hear on āCurrentsā is like, āYou know what’s up.ā So now you know what’s up. It went from tell me what you want to me telling you what I would do. I’m basically like,
Can’t get you out my mind, you are one of a kind / Such a rare breed, youāre so hard to find
I’m going off of what I was saying on āTell Me,ā and then the chorus is me still trying to get at this girl, but I’m also just telling you what I see in you.
You make it look easy from head to toe / Best believe it, baby, by the way / I just want to hear you say my name
And I just say that because ā¦ this may be weird, but I don’t think it’s weird. If there is a girl that I think is attractive, and I like her, I want to hear her say my name. I want to hear what it sounds like. And I tell her this story,
Remember the first convo that we made / You dress to kill everyday / Thought you’d be stuck up, I guess I was just stuck up in my ways / I dig your wave, I could get lost within your currents /ā¦
Like waves, water, so that’s why I can still name it that.
Let’s move in conjunction baby / Our psychologyās concurrent / If love was a form of currency, I’d have plenty cheese / Currently cupidās sniping at heights only birds can see
Whenever I think of cupid like on the cartoons, I think of him flying by but you can almost see him, and he just shoots you with the love bug. And how Iām painting [this] is itās more out of nowhere. Thatās why I wanted to say
Currently cupidās sniping at heights only birds can see
So heās way, way up there. We canāt even see him. It really came out of nowhere. It was super organic.
No inhibitions, girl, let down your guard / indulge yourself could be good for you / Let me love you, baby /
So thatās āCurrents,ā and then itās almost over, and goes into āExpectations.ā
Track 10 – āExpectationsā
It kind of still goes back to the first girl before we ended it. I feel like people, in general, sometimes go into stuff with too many expectations instead of just appreciating the present for what it is. I rap a little bit more on this one, and I like the beat.
You say you donāt want to waste time / I know weāre not getting younger but I wonder what weāre rushing for / I feel like all we got is time / The glass is half full not half empty but you got too many expectations /
The second verse, too, is more rapping, and then [it goes into] āPushin.ā [āExpectationsā] and āPushinā are kind of precursors to what Iām going to do next because I rap a little bit more and with the next [album] I put out ā I donāt know if it’s going to be called āHosts of Positive Energyā or not — but I know itās going to be more rapping again. It goes into āExpectations,ā and Iām saying
Find you a girl thatās solid / never put your grind on autopilot / may your next move be your best move / but you never let āem know cause theyāre watching
We donāt realize that most times people, especially when youāre in the moment or get overwhelmed or something, a lot of times people focus so much on what we donāt have or what isnāt going right instead of [finding] a blessing in everything. And overall, if youāre good, I feel like why wouldnāt you focus on stuff that is positive?
Perspective. Thatās why I say āPerspective is everything.ā Itās like the glass is half full not half empty but you got too many āExpectations.ā Itās all good, everything is still āCosher.ā And then after that, it goes into āPushin.āĀ
Track 11 – āPushinā
The last song is āPushin.ā So no matter what happens to you, through all of that shit, itās all cosher. You just gotta keep pushinā. Itās like regardless of what happens,
You got to keep it pushin
I wanted to make sure the first verse wasnāt necessarily about a girl or anything like that. I wanted to just give you some bars, give you some wisdom but what I call āism.ā I wanted to give āem some ism. I was like,
I got some wise words from a man I respect / He told me spread your wings but donāt spread yourself thin /ā¦
The wise man was my brother because I really do look up to my brothers and my sister.
Youāre a wordsmith so let your heart bleed through your pen / Iām bleeding within, depleted is this nation we in / Dividing races is just gonā lead to segregation again / Done congregating with those who donāt deserve my relation / Iām young but an old soul moves me / I console the souls of those who need soothing /ā¦
Ā Every king and queen has a past so use it to better your present and live lavish in the future / Even in our darkest days we transition to color /ā¦
Thatās just painting the picture, and itās true. Even in our darkest days, we transition to color as long as we keep pushinā.
If you stomach adversity, your blessings will come in abundance / If they aināt made it create it / If they donāt get your vision make them mad they aināt listen / Invest in the youth because somebody invested in you / Support your supporters and watch as the blessings pour onto you / Gotta keep it pushinā, pushinā along
And then the second verse is just like,
I know times get hard and life gets harder / Wisdom comes and we grow smarter / Wallowing in self-pity and sorrow, brought this all on ourselves like martyrs / The ultimate goal is nirvana, sheer happiness, so I keep it pushin forward, never backwards / Good vibes is the pack and, weāre never lackinā / ā¦ My girl’s been on that bulls— lately, I call her Paxson
In the 90s, [John Paxson] was one of Jordanās teammates that helped him win the finals. Jordan was double teamed, and it was one of his staple moments in his career. Jordan passed the ball to John Paxson, and he made the game-winning shot for the Bulls to win the finals, so that was just a play on words. I was like, āMy girlās been on that Bulls—- lately, so I call her Paxson.ā
Ā Where thereās pain thereās pleasure / Where thereās me, thereās you / Girl, we got the leverage so what we gonā do / Letās keep applying pressure so these feelings wonāt sever / Time is of the essence so letās spend it together / Letās keep it pushin along cause we got it going on and on and on and on and on
And then you got to keep it āPushin,ā thatās how it finishes.
Q: Why is this album appealing to college-aged kids? What sets āCosherā apart?
A: I definitely think it will be appealing to college-aged kids because for one, everybody, especially at this age, weāre all going through a point where youāre going to end up finding somebody that you like. True love really young ā thatās harder to come by because people, in general, are all really fickle. Weāre all fickle, and thatās okay, but itās just kind of the nature of who we are.
I know that all of us go through something similar to that as far as you like somebody a lot. I also know it will be appealing to [college kids] just because of the groove itself. Where we are as far as generations, people are looking for the next thing that sounds like something theyāve never heard before but familiar to them still. But also while Iām writing, I want to give you some gems. And thatās what [appeals], especially to college kids. And obviously, even just people outside of college as well. I donāt want to just put it in a box, like thereās one demographic that Iām going for. I know that just the general public overall will be able to relate to it because everybodyās been in love, everybody has loved, and everybodyās also felt loved, and if you havenāt felt love you can still relate to that type of music because you want that at some point.
As far as college kids, I think theyāll definitely be able to relate to it because itās always nice whenever you can hear something totally different, and it sounds familiar to you all the while because it relates to you right off the bat. It already resonates with you. You ever hear a song, like the first time I heard that Bruno Mars song, āThatās What I Like,ā it gives you that at-home feeling that even though [youāve] never heard [it] before, [youāve] already had that feeling. Itās nice when somebody can put that feeling into words and then also make you groove.
With āCosherā I really just wanted to tell a story, and I hope I was able to. I hope whenever people listen to it, they can understand that story. And if they can, I feel like I did what I was supposed to, for real. But I would feel like that anyway because whenever I am able to create something and walk away feeling I recorded some lyrics that somebody else is supposed to hear, I feel like I did my job.
Being able to illustrate a story all the way through for somebody with words, [in which] they can really understand it just by reading/hearing what you wrote, thatās special, for sure.
Anybody that can tell a story, thatās poetic. I just try to make [people] truly think in some fashion. And if you can do that with one person, you win.