SN: Can you give us a little background about yourself?
JS: I’m Jordan. My middle name is Asha. That’s where the Asha in Asha Oren comes from. I’m from Chicago, Illinois [Gang, you know we represent!] My major is Mass Media Arts, Radio, TV, and Film with a minor in Business Administration. I’m here to experience growth not only for myself as a person, but as a student. I don’t necessarily need a degree but having the discipline and strength that CAU holds will definitely push me further as far as my aspirations.
SN: You kind of already touched on it, but I just want to know “Why Clark Atlanta?” Because a lot of people have some kind of story about why Clark was their first choice, what inspired them, etc. You could be anywhere! Why here?
JS: My first intention was attending an HBCU mainly because I felt like I wanted to have a different experience. I knew I wanted to be around a whole bunch of black folk. I knew college was gonna be a hard time so me personally, being around a whole bunch of black people is a daily reminder for me to remember what I’m here for. Especially with being on a historic campus, it’s just a daily reminder to anybody who wants to go here but feel like they can’t. You can if you work hard and set forth an intention, you can make it here.
SN: We are on a historic campus! I just walk down the promenade and look around like, “Dang, a lot of great people have walked on these same streets that I am!” I feel like a lot people should advantage of their surroundings and resources here. Which brings me to my next question, what are some activities or organizations are you a part of here?
JS: So y’all. I’m not gonna lie…My first year I was not the most active student. I was and still am in Honors Program but I didn’t do too much because I was trying to figure out who I even was. It’s a lot of commitment to say, “I’m gonna come to this meeting every day at this time…” That’s a lot of commitment so like if I’m gonna do something, I wanna do it to the fullest. But this year I am definitely pursue my Radio/TV personality dreams. I really wanna focus on my voice, my message, and the ways I can reach people with what I have to say. Besides rap, talking is really important to me.
SN: So, I know you personally. You’re one of my closest friends, not even gone stunt! You are such an amazing artist! You are very prolific and profound with what you say and how you say it! So, we were listening to your song the other day, and it was BOMB so for those who don’t know Asha Oren and how you started rapping, how did that pan out?
JS: I started off with poetry. It was my first love! I found this book in the 3rd grade and was like “The lines are really short. Why are there only a few lines or one paragraph?” But then my teacher eventually taught us about poetry and how to write it. From that point on, I was like “This is something I like to do!” I like to make words sound good, I like to tell stories. But as far as music, I grew up in a musical household. My parents met at a house music party in Chicago…You know what I’m talking about! So I am a house head baby! My mama was born in the 60s so I was surrounded by soulful music that she put me on.
SN: What inspires you?
JS: I am inspired by everything in life. Conversations I’ve had with you, my mother, me being nosy and hearing things. Me watching music videos and movies, picking up on little things. Reading books and even scrolling on twitter! I get inspired by all of that because it’s all connected one way or another. My inspiration is communicating with people, just seeing different experiences that people that may or may not compare to mine.
SN: You’re from Chicago…and you’ve moved to Atlanta. From the North to the South…It’s a totally different vibe down here than it is up there so what’s the adjustment been like?
JS: I LOVE Atlanta! It’s slow here but in a way, it’s still filled with life. Atlanta has a vibe like no other place! It’s cool because the people are really nice here too. I’ll be walking down the street and have whole conversations with strangers and I love that! If I need help, nobody has an issue with helping me. I’m not saying that it’s not like that in Chicago but we can be a little standoffish sometimes. That’s mainly due to the type of people we’re around and the type of scene we’re in but Atlanta…I wanna move here but it’s nothing like Chicago, Chicago is home.
SN: That’s great! I can say the same thing about Atlanta. It’s a whole different vibe out here! But going back to your music, your artistry. I know a lot of times, people will try to question or downplay women—especially black women—who wish to pursue fields like Mass Media. They propose that you get a back-up plan “in case it doesn’t work out for you” or “Get a degree in something you can make money with.” What do you say to that?
JS: I didn’t choose what I love. I was here, on Earth just cooling and God was like, “Hey girl, here’s some lyrics, you can’t get them out of your head, write ’em down” and that’s just what it was. That’s my first love (music, writing, communicating) and coincidentally what my degree falls under. If you wanna have a back-up plan, you should. If you feel like you need it, you should do it! At the end of the day, it is risk. If you’re willing to take that risk, you’re gonna reap the rewards of it. I’m not gonna say it’ll happen in 2 months, 6 months, or a year for that matter. But you’re gonna reap the rewards from it because you’ve put your energy and time into it, you’re gonna make something of it regardless. There’s no shame having a backup plan. As long as you’re still putting an equal amount of energy in everything that you’re into. Like, I’m focused on school but I still make time to write. It’s all about time management and what you’re putting your energy into.
SN: Girl, I love you! If you could be any color, what color would you be and why?
JS: I would be a burnt yellow, orange, when the sun sets type of color. Yellow gives me warm, loving feeling. It reminds me of coffee, I don’t know why! It’s a statement color too, like I’m in a great mood, I’m shining yellow. I feel like the sun!
SN: What’s one of your favorite or most memorable childhood memories?
JS: I was like 3 or 4 years old. My mama had to work so she dropped me off at my great aunt’s house. I remember asking her for some cookies and she told me no, so I was like “Bro I’m gone call 911 if you don’t give me some cookies” and she didn’t, so I called 911 and instantly hung up but 12 still pulled up. I got tore up for that one!
SN: Give some words of advice to anyone who is pursuing the same major, same career path as you.
JS: Don’t let anybody try to tell you what to do. Trust your intuition more than anybody else. Absorb what people say but know what to decipher from what you need to do and what’s just a ‘filler’. Also, if one thing isn’t meant for you, something else is. It’s all about trial and error. Just follow your heart!
SN: I always take time to reflect the space that I’m in. I think a lot about attending an HBCU now in 2017 now…I’ve witnessed a wave of rising black consciousness. A lot of black people are finding out about themselves, learning true history, finding out their ancestry. Black people are really starting to love themselves, starting to take care of themselves. We’re doing so good! I have observed how the community is starting to get closer knit especially with the help of social media platforms. How important is self-love and self-care within the black community?
JS: I feel like it is number one, above everything else. You gotta love self, even if you don’t love you, people around you do. You have to take in and understand why they love you. Growing up, a lot of us weren’t familiar with self-love or anything like that. You gotta take care of yourself…and you can take care of others by taking care of yourself.
SN: “Take care of others by taking care of yourself.” I like that! That’s a quote! That’s a bar!
JS: Nah, that’s not even mine. I probably got that off of Twitter somewhere honestly. Twitter has some gems, you can’t listen to EVERYTHING people say but there’s some gems on Twitter!
SN: When people talk about where you’re from, they bring forth the negative stereotypes about Chicago. What’s something that only Chicago natives know that others don’t?
JS: I would say this about any city that has a negative narrative…there are so many people behind closed doors who work so hard to prove that narrative wrong. Spending so much money, getting ignored by the media, working endless nights to make sure that Chicago isn’t portrayed negatively. But you know they will portray it how they want it to be portrayed and we know that, we’ve been learning that but there’s so much positivity and negativity everywhere! In Chicago, DC, New York, everywhere! People are dying everywhere! People are getting shot everywhere! You can be in the suburbs of Chicago and still get shot. I feel like there’s a lot of sickness. It comes down to the food and what we put in our bodies. The fact that there are no grocery stores around, it’s all corner stores and food marts with non-organic food because they’re cheaper. That’s all people can afford. By my house, there’s only marts like that. You gotta go a little further, have a car, have money for a bus fare, and then have money for food. That makes people do things that they normally wouldn’t do if they had access to things that most people do have access to. When we put ourselves in the shoes of the people who live [in the negatively portrayed areas] it’s a little different. You start to understand why they do the things they do. When you’re in that area, you see that there’s no food over there, you see that the streets haven’t been fixed in three years…it’s just little stuff and it adds up.
SN: So last question, what is your mantra?
JS: It depends! Today it was, “I am abundant.”
Last words from Asha Oren: You are raw, you are worth everything you desire, it’s already yours! All you gotta do is work for it, and it’s already done!
Listen to Asha Oren x Affirmations (The Money) prod. Emani–> https://soundcloud.com/ashaoren/affirmations <--
Follow her on her Twitter: @ASHAOREN Follow her on Instagram: @lilbabyasha Listen to her on Soundcloud: Asha Omega