Features : Exclusive Interview with blockboydoo

Artist Spotlight: blockboydoo

New Orleans-area singer-songwriter and rapper Ra'Shon Harris, known as blockboydoo, is putting a fresh spotlight on "mollysantana (willubemine)," the self-written, self-produced R&B/pop single that quietly became his breakout. First released November 25, 2024, as the opening track on his project A Normal Day, the song borrows the name of a rising rap star as a creative device.

We sat down with blockboydoo to talk about their creative journey, inspirations, and what’s next.

FreshMusicWorld: Can you walk us through your typical songwriting process?

blockboydoo: My songwriting process often starts with an emotion, a thought, or even a random bar or line that I want to expand upon. Inspiration can come from almost anywhere—doom-scrolling social media, listening to another artist’s music, watching movies, television, or podcasts, or simply experiencing my day-to-day life. You can hear that my project, “aNRMLday,” where the inspiration came directly by my own experiences and emotions. Sometimes I’ll make a joke and turn it into a song while still preserving the energy behind the original idea, as I did with “IGBN.” I was supposed to say that line as a bar, but because it was funny to me, I went for a street yet crude approach that allowed for my personality to live. Expanding a bit more on that last line, I use music to express my personality and my feelings. However, if I feel like there’s a message that needs to be carried, whether it’s a political stance or something societal, I’m not going to bite my tongue. I want my music to feel honest to who I am and what I’m thinking at the time. Sometimes I’ll hear a beat and immediately know the direction I want to take it. Other times, I already have a concept in mind and I’m searching for the style of production that can execute that concept best. As Ray Daniels said, there are times to be magical with music and times to be scientific. I like allowing music to develop naturally, but I also understand that there can be a formula behind what I’m doing. There are also times when I’ll find a pocket and freestyle melodies, experimenting until I stumble upon flows that feel natural to me. That’s usually where the excitement kicks in and I start finding my strongest lines and ideas. I’m big on replay value and memorability. I want people to discover something new every time they listen to one of my songs, whether it’s a line, a melody, a detail in the production, or simply another side of me.

FreshMusicWorld: Where do you find inspiration for your lyrics and melodies?

blockboydoo: A lot of my inspiration stems from real life. I'm a wild boy and I tend to fall for wilder girls. I guess that about sums it up. I draw inspiration from relationships, experiences, conversations, things I see in my environment, and even random thoughts throughout the day. New Orleans, overall, has heavily influenced my perspective on how I approach art, whether I’m working on a physical canvas or creating something digitally. We tend to have a unique bounce and rhythm; we talk different, we carry ourselves different, and I believe that sense of individuality is why people love us. I also pay attention to how far repetition can take you in music. It stimulates a special part of the brain, so I love to let that live through the melodies and lyrics I create. I let my attitude flow freely when I write. I'm not afraid to express myself through these lyrics, flows, and melodies because I create what feels real. I HAVE to make the audience feel me even when it can be uncomfortable. I also get inspired by other forms of art: fashion, film, photography, animation, and visual storytelling. I tend to imagine far beyond the song itself because, to me, a song has to belong to something bigger. People eat with their eyes, so you give the people what they need. Other than that, old-school tunes or music I grew up around always tend to help with melodies. The melody is the biggest part. Without the melody, my words can have meaning, but they don’t necessarily carry the same feeling. The melody is what gives those words life.

FreshMusicWorld: How do you handle writer’s block or creative slumps?

blockboydoo: I don’t like to force anything that isn’t coming to me naturally. Sometimes you have to step away from the art and allow it to breathe. I’ll go listen to completely different music, watch nostalgic TV shows like Adventure Time, Regular Show, or The Boondocks, or simply go somewhere that allows my mind to reset. Sometimes you just have to live life. I think that’s also a reason why I don’t work with many people. If someone pushes me to force a piece of work, I can end up hating the song, even if they think it’s great. I could completely black out on a verse and someone might tell me it’s my best work, but if I felt like the art was forced and the feeling behind creating it was taken away, I probably won’t connect with it. Maybe I'll like it later on but for the most part, I can't lie, I won't. For me, enjoying the process is just as important as the final product. If I’m stuck on something, I’d rather back away from it, let it breathe, and come back to it with fresh ears. Sometimes the best thing you can do for a song is stop touching it for a while.

FreshMusicWorld: What comes first for you: the music or the lyrics?

blockboydoo: It can go either way. The music gives me a world to step into; the lyrics give me something to build around. I'll find a melody or a certain rhythm in the music and complete its construction from there. Other times, I'm taking notes of random lines and ideas throughout the day. A beat might bring one of those ideas to life, or I'll have to build around that idea myself. I like having both sides of the creative process available as it keeps things unpredictable. The same goes for how I write. I can write an entire song from start to finish, write a couple lines and freestyle the rest, or maybe the entire song is built off a hum, and the magic happens from there. I can't tell you what's bound to happen. I just "doo" it.

FreshMusicWorld: How do you know when a song is truly finished?

blockboydoo: I know a song is finished when it fulfills the purpose I had for making it in the first place. The main vocals are obviously the central idea of a song because they carry the subject, but the ad-libs, background vocals, and added instruments help fill that empty space and bring the record to life. Once I stop hearing things that need to be changed or spots that need to be built up, I know I’m getting close. I can be a bit of a perfectionist at times. A song has to feel a certain type of way for me. For example, on “pretty like u,” the subtle “ouu’s” toward the climax and end of the song helped create the feeling I wanted for it. I’ll listen to a song over and over, make small changes, take things out, and sometimes come back to it days later with fresh ears. Eventually, I reach a point where changing something is just nitpicking, and I have to slap myself on the wrist and say, “Aye, it’s good. Drop.” That’s when I know it’s done.
I want the final version to feel intentional, but I don’t want to overthink the life out of it. I spent years doing that when I was younger. Now, I’ve learned to let songs live for their time. If it’s ready, it’s ready.

FreshMusicWorld: How do you decide on the theme or concept for an album?

blockboydoo: I usually look at where I am in my life at that moment. Depending on who I am at that time is how I’ll approach the project. Every project serves as a chapter for me. I’m not interested in making just a collection of songs; I want the project to represent a specific period of my life and have its own identity. For example, aNRMLday served as a diary. It was about wanting to be understood; taking everything I had experienced and putting it into one world. It served as an introspective project. I wanted to create a sense of direction and take the listener from where I was coming from to where I was going. The biggest thing I wanted people to take away from that project was that my “NRML” day was bound to become a BetterTmr. I wasn’t going to keep dwelling on the same chapter. I used to care about validation. I used to want to be understood. I used to want support. But evolution has to take place. That’s where I’m at now. The next project is about self-validation. I said what I needed to say, and I’m done seeking approval or waiting for other people to recognize my vision. Sadness no longer gets the microphone.
Now I’m at a place of “This is who I am. This is what I’m doing. This is what it is. Take it or leave it. Get with it or get out of my way.” There’s more confidence, more aggression, more flexing, and more experimentation. I’m actually living in the identity I was once pleading for people to recognize. I went from seeking acknowledgment to moving like acknowledgment is irrelevant. People either experience the BLOCKPARTY, or they hear about it later. You can hear that attitude in “IGBN.” I’m okay with being an asshole. I’m okay with being unapologetic about who I am and what I’m creating. That’s really how I approach the concept of an album. Each project should document an evolution. aNRMLday was about understanding where I was and expressing what I had been carrying. What comes next is about moving forward without needing permission or validation from anybody else. The chapter changed, so the music has to change with it.

FreshMusicWorld: Do you write music on the road or only in a dedicated space?

blockboydoo: I can write anywhere. I’ll write in the shower if I have to. If an idea comes to me and I don’t trust myself to remember the cadence, flow, or whatever it is, I’m recording it on my phone. I’ll write it down and rap it over and over until it’s embedded in my head. Then, once I get to the studio and record it, it’s time to get saucy. Having a dedicated creative space does help me lock in, though. When I’m producing, recording, writing, and building the visual side of a project in the same space, I can disappear into the world I’m creating. There’s something about being surrounded by every part of the process that allows me to fully immerse myself in it. I think both environments serve different purposes. Being outside gives me the experiences to write about, while being in the studio gives me the space to turn those experiences, thoughts, and feelings into music. Every environment requires me to approach my creative process a bit differently. Sometimes I’ll go the traditional route and brainstorm or write in a notebook. Other times, an idea might come to me randomly and I’ll immediately pull out my phone. For me, the important thing is capturing the idea while it’s alive. The location can change, but the creativity doesn’t have to stop.

FreshMusicWorld: Have you ever had a dream to inspire a song or an album?

blockboydoo: Definitely. That’s actually how I made “bbygeekedup!” I remember it like it was yesterday (lol). I woke up after a crazy day, instantly found a beat, and recorded the song. Looking back, “bbygeekedup!” and “aBetterTmr” are basically the thesis for the entire transition from aNRMLday to BLOCKPARTY. “bbygeekedup!” is the song that helped me make “aBetterTmr,” and “aBetterTmr” became the song that represented the transition from ykdooske to blockboydoo. There’s a lyrical connection between the two songs that really shows that evolution. In “bbygeekedup!”, I say, “yesterday... yesterday was a day to remember I ain’t gon lie.” Then, in “aBetterTmr,” I say, “yesterday... anyways, yesterday. Yesterday was a day to remember I ain’t gon lie, so fuck it, I’m making tomorrow a better one.”

That “anyways” is important to me.

In “bbygeekedup!”, yesterday still has emotional weight. I’m looking backwards. I’m high as hell, thinking about a girl I loved in high school, regretting not choosing her, and imagining that if I ever saw her again, I wouldn’t let her go. I wanted something from the past. I was still connected to yesterday. In “aBetterTmr,” I took that same power behind the phrase and killed it with “anyways.” I still acknowledge that yesterday happened, but I’m refusing to stay there. By the end of aNRMLday, I’m not talking about getting her back anymore. I’m talking about becoming better without her. The album comes full circle: I started out emotionally negotiating with yesterday and ended it realizing that tomorrow matters more. That’s where BLOCKPARTY begins.
I’m not looking to be understood anymore. I already know what I’m becoming, and it doesn’t matter who agrees with it. They can either get with the movement or watch it fly. I’m not asking for an invitation—the party already began. Losing someone’s presence doesn’t mean losing myself, and that’s what I realized. BLOCKPARTY takes that same principle and applies it to everybody, not just a girl. Don’t you support me? Cool. Don’t you see the vision? Cool. You counted me out? Cool. You wanted me to be something else? Cool. I’m me. I’m really interested in the subconscious side of creativity because sometimes your mind puts things together that you wouldn’t consciously think to combine. I’ll wake up remembering a specific image, feeling, person, or situation and think, “There’s something there.” That can become a lyric, a visual, a title, or even the beginning of an entire concept. So yes, dreams and the subconscious absolutely influence my work. Sometimes I don’t understand what something means when it first comes to me. I just know there’s something in it. Then I create, and the meaning reveals itself along the way.

FreshMusicWorld: How do you handle a song idea that doesn't fit into your current project?

blockboydoo: I save it. Sometimes I’ll let it stand alone later on. I did that with “lemonadebyaaliyah.” I don’t believe every good song has to belong to the project I’m currently making. Sometimes an idea is simply too early for where I am creatively. I’ll keep songs, melodies, lyrics, and concepts around until I find the right place for them. I also think that’s a part of evolution. Something I create today might not make sense for me right now, but six months or a year from now, it could suddenly become exactly what I needed. I can’t force every idea into a current chapter. That wouldn’t be fair to the song itself. Sometimes a song just needs time to find where it belongs.

FreshMusicWorld: Do you ever revisit old songs to rework or find inspiration?

blockboydoo: Yes, but I try not to erase the person I was when I originally made those songs. I have vaulted songs that still hold some crazy energy, but the quality plays a part in it too. I can’t just say, “Man, I’m gonna remake that now,” because it wouldn’t hit the same. The person who made that song existed in a specific moment, and I don’t want to recreate that. Some of those songs might eventually be played on stream or kept as an archive. I do like pulling inspiration from my old art, though. Maybe I can’t capture the exact same hunger I had when I first made it, but I can give that feeling a new vessel to transcend through. Instead of trying to recreate the feeling, I’d rather make something better and appreciate how far I’ve come along the journey. That’s really all I do. I’ll hear an old song and recognize an idea that I still believe in, but I hear it differently now. I might take a melody, a lyric, a production idea, or even the emotion behind a song and rebuild it from a new perspective. I think that’s one of the most interesting parts about making music over time; you can hear the growth in the things you used to create. I’m not trying to become the person I was when I made an old song. I’m interested in seeing what that version of me can teach me now. I’m pretty sure several other greats like myself can say the same.