Kentucky’s Next Superstar?

If you don’t recognize the name Anonimuss Rose right away, that’s OK, you will soon enough. Recently signed to Universal Music Group, Lexington, KY’s self-described country soul hop artist Anonimuss Rose is set to release her third full-length album, (and her first for UMG), The Anonymous Tape, on Friday, April 26 and is poised to become Kentucky’s next superstar. Drawing inspiration from musical luminaries such as Lauryn Hill and Erykah Badu, Anonimuss Rose infuses her music with a distinctive blend of soul, R&B, and country hip-hop, creating a sonic landscape that is uniquely her own. Anonimuss’s absolutely stunning vocal talents make her impossible to ignore, as evident in the hundreds of thousands of streams her previous albums and singles have already garnered. But this is no overnight success story — Rose and her husband/manager Clay “Supreme” Borne of LexBrand Development have worked tirelessly over the years to get this far, and they are far from done. LEO recently had the honor of meeting both Rose and Supreme in person and spoke with Anonimuss ahead of her album release.

(This interview has been edited for length and clarity)

LEO: It’s been less than a year since your last record, Lincoln Lounge pt. 2: The Juliet, came out, but listening to the new album, The Anonymous Tape, it sounds like you’ve grown as an artist. Would you agree?

Anonimuss Rose: I would definitely agree. And it’s crazy because I asked my husband the other day, “Where would you place The Anonymous Tapevs. the Lincoln Lounge pt. 2 album?” And he said; ‘It’s really up to you. Lincoln Lounge pt. 2 is my favorite, but I’m not a dancer.’ But I come with the element of dancing because I used to dance when I was younger. And with this album, I wanted to have fun. I wanted to be able to express myself; still embody me, but letLincoln Lounge pt. 2 be the precursor to the evolution. So yes, I definitely will say I’ve grown this album. It’s definitely more assertive of me and the sound that I want to go with.

What are some of the songs on The Anonymous Tape that you’re most proud of?

The songs I’m looking forward to everybody hearing are “Misery,” “Last Time,” and “Closer” because I know that those are a different sound for me and a lot of people won’t be expecting it.

Especially “Closer,” it has a great Latin feel to it.

Yes, the Latin Afro-pop with the country guitar underneath. I love being able to genre-blend. Shout out to Beyoncé because she has shined a huge light on what it means to be an artist. You’re not labeled by just your genre. For awards, I have to submit myself underneath a genre. But who I am as an artist, I just play, being able to be free and express exactly what I want to portray, and I definitely think that The Anonymous Tape is a big part of that.

There are a few recent singles that didn’t make the new record, why is that?

Simply because they didn’t flow with the element I was looking for on the new album. I love the songs, but they just didn’t match the element I was going for, so I’ll just let those be, stand on their own, and I’ll do this. [laughs]

So how did you get hooked up with Universal Music Group?

So back in probably last August, Sensei Nowa — who’s an A&R Rep for Universal, and shout out to him — he hit me up because Lincoln Lounge pt. 2 had hit over 50,000 streams and 20,000 listeners. And he was like, ‘Yo, if she can keep going, we’ll definitely tap in with her,’ because they have the highest of highest standards. I definitely have something to prove now. The Universal Music stamp can definitely change things, and it can change people too. So I definitely just try to be myself and to be grateful, thankful, and glad that they saw me.

During your speech when you were signing to Universal, you said you’ve been at this over 11 years now and at one point you were homeless and struggling to get studio time. Can you take me back to those days?

I was a young girl that made stupid, dumb decisions and let love knock me upside my head a few times. Some of those situations were domestically violent, and I always say I lost it all by my own hand because I allowed it. Understand that self-care is also acknowledging when you’ve messed up your own life, and knowing when someone is a danger to you, you should take that as heed. So I lost the car, lost the house, and had to move around for a little bit. Actually, I did that twice! I lost everything twice. But I eventually got back on my feet and recovered from alcoholism and drug usage. And when I say drug usage, it’s not the hard stuff, but hard enough. I wanted something better for myself, and I also had people looking at me like ‘Yo, this is not you. You know this ain’t you,’ and I always have that to look back on. Now that I have something to weigh it on, now I know that I have so much to lose that I can’t lose it this time. So I work hard day and night, in and out, with barely any sleep to make sure that I keep my foundation tight, and also stand on what I’ve learned over these years. It was a dark time, but I’m glad because I can look back on it and know I did that.

I know you paid out of your own pocket to record The Anonymous Tape, but is Universal helping you all financially, or is it still on you and Supreme?

It’s still just us, and I think that’s the shocking thing when people hear that because everybody was like, ‘OK, so you got a distribution deal, now what?’ I’m like, ‘We work harder!’ I have Universal on my side to help enlarge my marketing, enlarge the rooms that my name is in. I am grateful for that because that can take me to the next level. So I’ll definitely exercise those avenues and perks, but it’s still me clocking in at Noni’s Crown, [ed: Noni’s Crown Service is the natural hair care business Anonimuss Rose owns], working, doing hair, and making the best of it.

Speaking of that, what are you going to do about Noni’s Crown Service if you blow up?

I’m always asked that. ‘Who’s gonna do my hair?’ 

I’m like,” I’m still gonna do your hair.” In my eyes, I see myself as a mogul. I don’t do just hair, I don’t do just music, I don’t do just things that relate to spiritual counseling, or being a mom, or fashion design. I even take pictures in my free time for people because I love photography. There are so many hats that I wear, and I love being able to create in all those different elements. So I’m hoping to hold on to my business, enlarge it and expand it. And not just for the money, but for myself because natural hair and the business of it is kind of frowned upon. So making it to stay up here in Kentucky, but we got to open up some doors.

I admire that about you. You’re not trying to be someone you’re not just to make money.

And it comes from my past. Being a person that had to sleep couch-to-couch, ask for rides to get here and there. I don’t need you to hand anything to me because then you have something over me. Just understand and respect that integrity about me and I’ll give you the world. I’ll make us some money, but I want to work for it. Don’t just hand it to me. It’s a hard thing, but it’s so worth it. Look how far I’ve come. And it’s like are you willing to risk it all?  Hell yeah I am!

Have you ever tried out for “American Idol” or any of those types of shows?

No, because they put you under a contract that’s two-to-three years long and you can’t release any music. ‘That’s my music! You’re going to tell me what I can and can’t do with my own music?’ So I guess I’m not an American Idol then. I guess I’m not “The Voice.” But I’m grateful to say these words: I’ve never had a co-signer. Everything I’ve worked for, I’ve done hand-to-hand contact, my own money, my own character, my own being, who I am, and it has helped me build this brand. So the day that I do get that co-sign, I’m outta here! [laughs]

Do you think people in Kentucky’s music scene will get behind you and help push you to be Kentucky’s next superstar?

 I saw a post that said, “I don’t beg for support, I’m networking with strangers,” and it changed my whole view on things. I’ve never been one to beg for support. Have I been upset about it? Hell yeah, who hasn’t? But at the same time, I’m realizing now that it’s not that nobody likes you, you just have to be known on a larger scale. So that way the number of people that don’t like you is smaller than the number of people that do. So I smile, take it with a grain of salt, and I keep it moving. I know that one day it’s all going to fall together.

Are there any good tour stories from last year when you went out to the West Coast?

[Referring to herself and her backing band The Gardiners], Picture it: we hit the road to go home right after performing at Winstons on Ocean Beach in San Diego. I let my mom drive and I told her to follow Supreme because he knows the route to take. So I hop in the back and go to sleep because I’m going to take the next driving shift in the morning. The next morning I wake up, the sun’s up, and we’re in Arizona. Well, I realized my husband (Supreme) is not in front or behind us, so I text him and say ‘Yo, where you at?’ He was like ‘I’m still trying to find you all!’ I asked my mom, ‘Momma, where are we?’ She’s like ‘Baby, I thought I was taking the route that I was supposed to take.’ So we pull over to a gas station, and come to find out we’re on I-10, which is very close to the [Mexican] border. So while I went to sleep, she was supposed to lag back so that my husband could use the bathroom, but she hopped on I-10, not I-40. So now we’re riding adjacent (to Supreme) the whole time all the way back to Kentucky. Fast forward, so now I’m driving through New Mexico getting ready to get to Texas, and I’m hot. I’m trying to find a way to get to I-40, but I don’t know how to not obstruct from time because they had us still arriving at the same time, so I just keep driving. Then I see this brown tent, and the traffic is slowing down, and I look up and there’s a sign that says ‘Have immigration papers ready.’ I was like ‘Everybody wake up, we’re at the border!’ [laughs] Now, mind you, I am marijuana-friendly and marijuana-positive for the sake of a few of my family members’ lives, and it just so happens that my mother is a patient of it, so we had marijuana in the car. Now, I’m thinking we’re safe, so I keep continuing to drive past the checkpoint, and it was like, ‘Woah, stop the car!’, and like ‘Oh god!’ So the border patrol surrounds the car and it was like, ‘Ma’am, we need you to come out of the car.’

I’m like, ‘Okay, what happened? What’s wrong?’ He was like,’My dog picked up the scent, we’re just looking for immigrants, marijuana, or any type of illegal substance.”’I was like, ‘OK.’ So we’re getting out of the car and my drummer was like, ‘I love y’all. It was nice knowing y’all.’ My mom was like, ‘Oh my god, what’s going on?’ Mind you, our guitar player was asleep. So he’s still trying to wake up to the idea that we’re stopped and the dog was about to search the car, and he’s taking forever to get out of the car. And border patrol was like, ‘What’s going on with him?’ 

I’m like ‘Man, I don’t know. C’mon, c’mon.’ So they check the car everything was cool, and I’m looking at him like ‘Of course. We came from California. What did you expect? I’m Black. I don’t have no little children in my car. There’s drums, a guitar, a sub, some speakers, a microphone. I got an old lady and my band in the car with me.’ So guy was laughing at us because I’m freaking out. He’s like, ‘Everything’s good. You’re good to go,’ and we hop back on the road, but we had to stop at the next gas station and just take a break and breathe. I could not wait to get home! [laughing] It was hilarious! I was like ‘Oh my god, I will never take I-10 ever again!’ I was so mad!

So what future plans do you have coming up?

AR: Right now is to push The Anonymous Tape the same way we did Lincoln Lounge pt. 2. There wasn’t anything broken with the mold so we’re gonna keep the same motion, just 10 times bigger and better. Other than that, the band and I are preparing for our DiverCity Festival performance in Lexington, [on May 25]. It’s basically a really large festival of all different kinds of cultures, different food, different music, acts, dancing. I performed at it two years prior, so this year I’ll actually be headlining, so I’m excited about that. And I’m also working on a new music project with the band too. So, there you go. We busy, man!

The Anonymous Tape releases Friday, April 26 on all streaming platforms. You can find out more about Anonimuss Rose by visiting her website at anonimussrose.com