Portrait of an Artist: Zak T. Aossey '14

Wearing a backwards Harvard baseball cap and jeans, Zak T. Aossey ’14 sat down to speak with me about his current experience as a “pioneer” of the rap/hip-hop scene at Harvard. Expecting to release an original rap album co-produced with Carlton J. Bailey Jr. ’14 this summer, he also plays for the varsity football team and has started a nonprofit called Athletes Against Assault.

The Harvard Crimson: How did you get started with music?

Zak Aossey: When I was a kid, I used to just write stuff, write down my feelings or what was wrong with the world. It was more poetry, and I’d hide it in my closet so my parents wouldn’t find it. But I’ve always loved hip-hop and rap so it just kind of developed—I started off with a lot of poetry, spoken word, and then I got into rap.

THC: What’s that like in the college environment, specifically at Harvard?

ZA: With Harvard, I feel like the fan base isn’t as big here. I feel like I’m limited in who I can market to. A lot of the athletes are very supportive of it, but it’s hard to find a lot of people who enjoy rap and hip-hop.

THC: Because you have to divide your time, do you feel like your music is sacrificed at all?

ZA: It definitely is. Some days I’ll want to just write all day and go record but it’s like, ‘oh, I have this paper due tomorrow.’ I find myself sacrificing a lot of sleep. Especially because we have to get up for football practice at 5:30 A.M., there are some nights when I only get an hour of sleep. It’s tough.

THC: What is your plan going forward?

ZA: Right now we’re focusing on my first mixtape, which will be released this summer. And then we’re going to work on an...EP as well, with the goal being that we’ll develop a lot of momentum and a fan base this summer together.

THC: Tell me about your writing process.

ZA: I’m more of a socially conscious rapper. Think like Lupe Fiasco, Nas, that type of storytelling, and then I pair that with the Slim Shady kind of stuff. I also like to write smooth tracks about relationships, stuff people can relate to.

The writing process is interesting. I’m big on freestyling. I always carry a pad of paper around with me because I never know when I’m going to get that next cool rhyme.

So that’s kind of how it starts, and then if I get a cool idea, a cool rhyme scheme, I just go with it. If I get really disturbed about something… Like with the bombings, it hit me hard, it was very emotional. I’m like, “Okay, I need to lay these feelings down into something.”

THC: What do your parents think of all of this?

ZA: They’re split. My dad was a jazz musician back in the day before taking the family route. Obviously they want some of my material to be a little less explicit. But as long as [my music] doesn’t take away from the important things, they’re supportive.

—Staff writer Anneli L. Tostar can be reached at annelitostar@college.harvard.edu.