Q&A: Vallé

Papua New Guinea-born, NZ-raised artist Vallé is currently making HUGE waves, but it hasn’t been an easy ride. After leaving his home for New Zealand with his mother to receive treatment for malaria, he’s continuously worked for the life he won back from death.

Describing his style as a fusion of R&B and hip-hop, he’s now been featured on The Ebro Show on Apple Music, the NZ Hot Singles Chart with three singles, Spotify’s iconic New Music Friday playlist and Apple Music’s equivalent New Music Daily playlist. His debut mixtape “CARE FOR ME” has reached over 150K streams, and now he’s about to drop his new track “Prodigy” featuring Auckland’s Sam V and Californian rapper/singer John Givez!

We’d love to know a little bit about your musical journey so far from when you first started!

I started writing poetry when I was about 10 years old, I recorded my first song when I was 13 in high school with my friend and I started pursuing music with real intention around 2018.

We got to hear a cheeky preview of your incredible upcoming single “Prodigy”, which gave us major Anderson .Paak vibes with live instruments, dope vocals from Sam V and a sick feature from John Givez! Can you tell us about the meaning behind this track and what inspired you to write it?

The song is really a self belief anthem! Sometimes you have to fan the flame yourself, in fact I’d say for anyone with any desire to do something great that requires travelling down a path less travelled by HAS TO BE THEIR OWN BIGGEST FAN! It's about backing yourself and rather than telling people to back themselves I thought shit, lemme just show you what it sounds like and let you feel that energy because I've been in that place and to be honest, still am! Still I get up and have to tell myself, g you got this! That type thing haha. 

What were your main highlights working on this track?

I loved the first day we made it, like literally everything musically and my involvement was done within 30 minutes because the vibe was so thick in the air. And those takes that you hear now are the first vocals I laid that night, they haven't been changed or re-recorded, it is what it is! I love that because listeners are literally hearing me in that moment when those feelings were strongest. 

Your debut mixtape “Care For Me” is an absolute masterpiece! How would you describe the overall theme of it?

Thank you. Overall theme, “honest”, transparent … it’s a raw snapshot of a fragile time period in my life with relationships.

What were some of your most memorable moments working on the mixtape?

Haha, having to work full time then go to the studio after hours and dig deep to stay awake and get it done.

Do you have any more new music coming out soon, and if so, what can you tell us about that?

YES, ALWAYS!! New song in December with Juwan, EDY and JARNA! It’s fire! Real fun bouncy joint for the summer!

Who are your biggest inspirations in music?

Van Morrison, Bob Marley, Eminem, Chris Brown, Lauryn Hill, J. Cole, & Kendrick Lamar

If there’s anything you could change about the current music industry, what would it be and why?

Wooooooow!!! What a question. I don’t have the answer but the streaming culture is controlling creators and compromising the integrity and substance of their work … It’s becoming like 2.5 min songs and how can we make the shit as catchy and intoxicating as possible and so if that's all that get’s elevated then providers (artists) start creating that shit just to compete with all the rest of the traffic … I'm not saying there isn't a craft to creating those type of joints but it’s funnelling all this diversity into playing one ball game and people get lost in this matrix of stream chasing, along that pursuit you can get lost and forget who you are and why you do what you do - that shit can be deadly!

Who are some of your favourite NZ artists right now and are there any songs in particular that you love or connect with?

JARNA, EDY, Aidan Fine, Sam V, what these guys are doing with Y$O is so cool and I can feel their sense of community in how they do it!

What do you love most about living in New Zealand? Do you have any favourite places to travel to or local spots to visit?

Tekapo, Hot Water Beach (Coromandel), and Marlborough Sounds!! I love that there’s so much opportunity here, where I was born doesn’t have that, not nearly in the same way. 

What are some of the biggest lessons you’ve learnt in your career so far?

To swallow rejection and keep it pushing.

Lastly, if you could say one thing to every person in the world, what would it be?

Figure out why you were put here and chase it faithfully.

Thanks heaps Vallé! Make sure to keep up with him on Instagram, Facebook, Spotify & Apple Music.