GIRL GANG talks with Crystal Allen

Earlier in September, GirlGang had the pleasure of interviewing Crystal Allen, an LA-based musician and hip hop/neo-soul artist from Detroit, to talk about her upcoming EP Hemp and Lesbians, her musical beginnings, and being a creative amidst a global pandemic. At the age of 15, Crystal Allen left Michigan for Los Angeles to pursue her musical career, and has re-entered the scene with a whole new sound. Hemp and Lesbians is expected to release in October, and Crystal Allen looks forward to representing the Black and queer communities through her music.

Nadia: Where did your love for music come from? When/how did you first know you wanted to pursue it as a career? Who are your biggest musical influences? 

Crystal: My love of music came out of the womb. I don't know what it is, but I have always loved music, ever since I can remember. I remember being four years old in the car with my father and hearing Kool and The Gang, stuff like that, and knowing the words to it. I could not have been more than like three or four but it is a feeling, so it touches you. As far as your other question, where does the love come from? I am probably telling on myself, but back in the day, Shirley Temple was the shit. I used to watch Shirley Temple movies and just get crazy. I wanted to tap dance like Shirley, I wanted to be Shirley, I wanted my hair like Shirleys’s. Of course, that all went out the window as I got older. But it was that. She seemed to be in the worst state in all of her movies but in order to get past whatever she was going through, she would always sing or dance her way out of it. And I thought, well that’s pretty cool. I wanna do that! Hopefully not dating myself but totally dating myself, Shirley Temple is what really kicked it off for me. If I can say that and not sound lame! 

Nicole: Not at all, that is so cute. 

Crystal: As for my music influences, Prince. Definitely. Missy, of course. And Jill Scott. I have a thing for Jill Scott, I don’t know what it is. Also very into Fantasia and Rock Stewart. I know that is an eclectic mix.

Nadia: Those are great influences, especially Prince. I recently saw ‘The Sign O’ the Times’ movie for the first time. Fantastic. 

Crystal: It was DOPE! The fact that he plays all the instruments and didn’t even need a band… it was so dope that he documented everything too and let everybody in on it so that’s pretty cool.

Nadia: Sheila E? Man…

Crystal: In the 7th grade I bought a drum set and you couldn’t tell me I wasn’t Sheila E. I still can’t play the drums to this very fucking day but I went and wasted all my money trying to be Sheila E. It was cool to see a female up there doing it. And with Prince too? Ah man, that was great. 

Nadia: Great influences. I love it. Your move to LA - you were 15 and chasing dreams. What prompted you to make the move? What were your expectations of LA and the music industry there and what has it been like breaking into the music industry? 

Crystal: I started out on this quest fully fledged. I really wanted to get out here and get on the hip hop scene. I was working a series of really shitty jobs in New York and that made me move to Vegas. So I went to Vegas actually on this quest to become this hip hop star. But then I got to Vegas and there was no hip hop or studio scene. Then I came here (to LA), and I put an ad on Craigslist. I met this guy named David, we got together to make a demo once a month, whenever I could come up with the money to actually go into the studio. He and I came up with the conceptualization for this project. Out of nowhere, I called Joel. I hadn’t talked to Joel in 25 years actually. Out of nowhere, I gave him the demo thinking if anyone is going to hate it, it's going to be him. He will tell me the truth. I expected to get a fair response from Joel in a nice way. But that is not what I got at all. He called me and he loved it. So he actually contacted me and got together with me and David and from there it just kicked off. 

Nadia: Are you still residing in LA?

Crystal: Yes I am. 

Nadia: What was the experience pitching yourself as you were getting started? I know that is very difficult to do. What is it like being signed to a label now? 

Crystal: I had problems with people taking me seriously. The style of music I was doing. Because I was being open as far as my sexuality was concerned. And I had never done that before. I had always hid those lyrics or not say them at all in order to not be separated in the hip hop space. For this project, excuse my language but I was just like fuck it. Do what you do and see what happens. And Joel was digging it. Once he put his paws on it we kinda just got going. I had been struggling for a very long time. 

Nicole: I really love what you said about taking a moment to be like “alright this isn’t working, fuck it, lets change the angle.'' What was your experience doing that and what is different now about your approach to your music and your artistry?

Crystal: Now, there is a LGTBQIA+ community that is out and very visible. Whereas before we were hidden or told to hide ourselves. Some of this shit you cannot place behind a box or a shield and have people not see it. Some of it is natural and is just going to come across. I got tired of trying to do the ghost writing thing and write as if I was writing from a male perspective. Or if I am writing lyrics that could be considered aggressive I’d have to give myself a male moniker to be taken seriously. Because they don’t want the lyrics coming from a female. And they really don’t want it coming from a masc identifying gay female. So, I got tired of moving around in these boxes trying not to be seen. I was like, this is obvious. I am just gonna be obvious, so how about that. So I just did that. If it sticks to some people it sticks, if it falls off to some people it falls off. But I am no longer trying to tick myself off in certain boxes anymore. I'll be in this box, that is where I’ll be if you want to find me. I'll be over here. I just got tired of being in boxes for other people.

Nicole: I respect that so much. 

Nadia: With your new EP Hemp and Lesbians, what was your experience putting this project together and what was your inspiration for the EP? What track are you most excited for fans to hear? 

Crystal: The one I am most excited for them to hear is ‘Useless’. I think I wrote that in the perspective of breaking up with someone or you finding out someone is not as involved in the relationship as you are. So now you have to make a decision because it's being done in your face. So it's pretty much you identifying with your self esteem and what you feel you are worth. Are you going to speak up or are you going to sit around and let this happen? It's in your face! You gotta do something! I hope everyone can listen to the line where you know this person who is cheating on you accidentally tells on themselves. Which I think everyone can relate to. Oh, like really, you got drunk and said his name? In my face? Like oh, okay. You gotta go. I feel like everybody has had one of those moments in a relationship. The process going into this was very scary. I smoked a lot of weed. I tried to figure out what exactly my thoughts were and how I wanted to say them. 

Nadia: I am excited to hear that as well. When is the release day? 

Crystal: We are trying for October because that is when National Coming Out Day is. 

Nicole: Your single ‘We Don't Have To Be Friends’ is out now! What was the story behind that song? 

Crystal: You meet people online and you don’t really know these people, but they give you a great facade of who they want you to think they are. And you know, they give off this facade that they are popular and they can have who they want, but then they are beating you down on every account you have. Saying “why aren’t you calling me back? What are you doing? I see you are here? I see you taking pictures.” Like damn I thought you had a following what are you doing over here bugging me to death. Not just in romantic relationships but just in general there are a lot of people giving out falsities online like you can be who you are online but we don’t necessarily have to be friends. We can be social online, that is what it is for. But just a lot of people inadvertently open themselves up to be seen for who they really are, unbeknownst to them. You can see who they are on social media. Especially if they are trying way too hard. It just became apparent. So I just made a parody of it. It's half comical / half real if you listen closely enough. It's kind of tongue and cheek. 

Nadia: Yeah, people can really make an entire persona online that is very different from themselves in real life. I really enjoyed that track when I listened to it on YouTube. Is it available on all streaming platforms now? 

Crystal: Yes, it's on everything! 

Nicole: A general life question: how have you stayed motivated to keep creating during quarantine? 

Crystal: Honestly, it's been no different than anyone else’s experience. It's been extremely hard to be creative with all the shit going on around me. It's very hard to try and write and come up with positive and quirky lyrics because...I don't know, I think everyone is half worried but half holding their breath at this point in time. So quarantine has been half-exciting, half-scared to death, and half people trying to keep going and growing. It's been like that for me. I have been trying to stay sane. Thank god we have dispensaries out in California. Between the edibles and trying to come up with lyrics, turning the news off, and just trying to stay sane and keep a vibe going. Just chilling at this point. But it's definitely been up and down. 

Nadia: I remember at the beginning of quarantine, everyone was like “Yes! I have so much time to invest in my creative pursuits because we are stuck at home! But wait...I actually don't want to do that?!” 

Crystal: Yes, we had all the time in the world but we were all worried about going on. It's a lot. 

Nadia: I was talking to somebody yesterday about this. It doesn't have to happen now, but there is going to be some collective trauma unpacking in the foreseeable future.

Crystal: We have been in this since March? February? We need to start decompressing now because in a minute, it’s going to really get bad. 

Nicole: The winter…

Nadia: I can’t even think about it yet.

Nicole: Bringing it back to the positive side...Any advice to budding artists out there trying to make a name for themselves in the industry? 

Crystal: Yeah...don’t stop. Don’t stop. Ever. You can beat up on yourself but even give that a time limit. But don’t stop. If you really really believe in yourself and what you are doing, something that you want the world to see, don’t stop. Don’t give up for nobody. Period. 

Nicole: What does the future look like for you?

Crystal: I am going into the studio very soon. I am trying to regain my creative juices and let it flow in the studio. I am working on new material and try to keep creating an audience for myself and get out there to get my perspectives heard. 

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Crystal Allen’s single “We Don’t Have To Be Friends” is available now on YouTube and all streaming platforms. Her EP Hemp and Lesbians is out this October.