Immersed Zine

by Ben Matthews

Below are some questions I formulated while listening to 50 shades of Rage. The intention of this interview is to examine the work of an artist to develop deeper understandings of the motives, groundings, and general framework for which you approach both your life and your creations. 

I am someone who profoundly values the labor of artists as they imprint their lives onto the canvas of their choosing in attempts to connect with something, be it the world & the others around them or themselves on a deeper plane. In the digital age of music where streaming platforms and major music labels leave independent artists at the margins, struggling to upkeep their creation without seeing the fruits of their labor returned to them monetarily, I believe it is important to give people their flowers and remind them of the worth of their creation & the importance of them keeping at it. 

Feel completely free to answer as openly or honest as you see fit, there are no guidelines or qualifications to match. You can include any recollections, memories or anecdotes in any of your answers.

Thank you for your time & congrats on your work & thank you for sharing it with us.

• Ben & the Immersed Team

1. To ground ourselves in a view of how you got started & what brought you to music – What are some of the first sounds you remember loving? (early memories of music, sounds from video games, literally any sound that has stuck with you through life and into your foundations as an artist)

B – I started falling in love with music listening to artists like Usher, Korn, Rage against the Machine, Pharrell, Wu-Tang Clan, Busta Rhymes & More. Most importantly though, I fell in love with video games which opened my eyes wide to the different styles of music. Some of my favorite video games are ; Metal Gear Solid, Final Fantasy 7 & 8, Super Mario kart, Jet Set Radio and Tekken. All of those had incredible soundtracks to me. Those Sonics had a huge impact on my childhood and those things stayed with me into my adulthood. Now I use those sounds for ingredients for the things I create now.

2. In the multitudinous nebula of human emotion, Why did you choose to bring Rage to the forefront of this work? Was it an intentional choice or do you feel that Rage has been forced to the surface of your consciousness by external factors? 

           B – I chose to bring rage to the forefront because of how frustrated I am with capitalism and everything surrounding it. I grow tired of working for crumbs to make ends meet. Having to put on a mask just to keep a job to be able to provide for my family. Spending 9 hours at a place where I don’t want to just to still struggle with debt, bills, car issues, grocers, and all the other things life tends to throw at me. I really just want to exist and create music full time. The different levels of rage stem from the minor things to the major. All while feeling trapped in an insidious cycle that we all strive to get out of. Shit sucks.. I guess it was intentional because I wanted to express my feelings towards the feeling of entrapment.

3. You had a line in Food that might just be one of my favorites that I’ve heard all year, “I know we running from something, but I don’t think that something is grease.” Can you speak a little to how food & love intertwine and serve as a terrain of resistance against the advances of Rage for you personally? (Can also be expanded into a question of what sustains you in your life & keeps you going despite everything that wishes to hold you back) 

          B- those things intertwine because at the end of the day, I want to enjoy the ‘fruits of my labor’ by spending time with my girl and being able to do things with her. The rage comes from bills unexpectedly coming out and the card declining once it’s time to pay for the check. Which ties into working for crumbs and not being able to fully enjoy life despite working 40 hours a week and sometimes even overtime.its frustrating to feel stuck on a hamster wheel which is basically a metaphor for being stuck in a system that expects us to work until we die. With the idea of financial freedom working a job that keeps us on a pay scale that isn’t enough. 

4. What role does music play in your life? Does it allow you a sense of freedom from the varying oppressive systems you encounter, Is it more of a therapeutic effort to release that which might consume you if it were all kept bottled, Does it grant a sense of worth or help to connect & identify with others?

          B- music is my life. It’s really therapeutic and it allows me to express myself in ways that I otherwise couldn’t. Producing music makes me feel excited. Creating something from scratch that literally

Manifested in my brain. Being able to create music that I’m really into makes me feel a nice bit of self worth. A lot of my feelings stem from music. I really want to striving to be an amazing artist and I want people to hear it through my music. I feel like I have a point to prove. Like I know I can be great and now I just have to get it in front of the right people and let the music do the talking. It allows me to speak my truth while relating to others who are going through similar things in their lives. I create music for me and stories for other people to relate to. 

5.  What is next for BlvckHndz?

B- Tour and some really cool collaborations. I’m also working on turning my art collective “Ravish Norfolk” into an artist management company and touring outfit. I want to help other artists understand some of the things behind the scenes that are really important. I also want to help smaller artists tour and start branching out to different makers. I fund and plan all of my own tours and festivals and I feel like I can pass that knowledge on to other artists who are ambitious and interested. 

You can see him perform Saturday, January 24, 2026 at Luna Caffe in Wilmington, NC. with Local favorite Sheme Of Gold.