Spilling The Beanz | A Conversation With Rap’s Humble Femcee

Beanz

Beanz is more than a Rhythm & Flow mention. She’s musically inclined and confident as hell, but uniquely enough, her humility – off the record – is also her kryptonite. “Being humble isn’t always a bad thing, but sometimes it is when you’re an artist,” she admits over Zoom. 

For the Pennsylvania native, a career in the arts was predestined to happen. Growing up, Beanz had a “unique childhood” as she describes it. The present-day duality that exists between her fierce attitude and free-flowing charisma stems from an upbringing built on the foundation of balance. She’s a bit rough around the edges, but in a good-hearted way. At least Beanz is confident enough to be vocal about her imperfections, there’s power in that – especially when you never cared about the opinions of others from the start. 

At 11-years-old, a young Sabrina tried her hand at poetry and the rest is history. Beanz’s inception in rap is best described as an innocent discovery. Music was her shelter used to weather the storm of trouble experienced at home, but it wasn’t always doom and gloom, good days were present and accounted for too.

Beanz had barz long before she joined the cast of Netflix’s first-ever reality competition show. Before she developed the reputation as the best rapper in her city, she was known as “that girl who was spitting rhymes in the back of the bus.” Today, she’s no longer occupying the back of the bus, but her prowess as a bonafide lyricist remains intact. 

With a new album due this Summer, Beanz is ready to dive deep into her emotional bag as an artist. “Now, I’m trying to open up more in my music.” But this isn’t some premeditated tactic aimed towards attracting new fans, she’s just signifying change, a holistic type of growth.

With the world starting to open back up, what are you most excited about? 

Really what I’m most excited about is dropping the project, which will be this summer. I think we’re gonna drop it in May, so I’m really excited about that. And then my birthday’s in May, so it’s just gonna be a lit month all the way around.

What’s your sign? I’m a Gemini and I feel like we get the most wreck. 

I’m a Taurus, but my mom’s a Gemini and she’s my best friend, so you can’t tell me nothing bad about Gemini’s. They’re a bit crazy but it just goes back and forth. It really just depends on how you’re treating them. 

Would you say there’s any significance behind your horoscope placement and how expressive you are as an artist? 

I feel like it translates into regular life, because Tauruses are known for being stubborn and that’s definitely me, one hundred percent. Once I want to do something or wanna go somewhere, whatever it is, I wanna do it. Once I have my mind made up, I’m doing it.

Have you always been that way, even tracing back to your childhood, or is that something that has started to reveal itself overtime? 

As I’ve gotten older, I’ve paid more attention to it. Like now, I’m more aware and pay attention to my intuition, burn incense, catch a vibe, burn some sage – I got polycystic deodorant and all types of shit – that shit smells good by the way. I’m becoming more spiritual as I get older for sure. 

Let’s expand on this a bit. Talk to me about life early on for Beanz. What was it like growing up?

It was cool. I definitely had a unique childhood. My stepdad came into my life when I was two. My dad has always been around, he was a street cat. My mom was more of a big heart type of person, so I’ve always had a balance of my rugged side and then my good side. I feel like that has definitely helped me become who I am today. You can look at me and see that I’m rugged now, but once you actually know me, I’m a huge sweetheart – so I’ve been told. 

Where does your artist name come from? That’s unique.  

When I was younger, my dad would call me different food names. My real name is Sabrina so he’d call me Beany, Bina and Beanz was just one of the things that stuck. My mom, in sixth grade it was Easter, she got me a pair of Uptown’s with Beanz spray painted on the side. I wore ‘em to school and everybody was like, “yo, that’s your name!?,” so it just stuck. And then I started rapping so I just ran with it. 

With your art, do you feel like the process of creating is more personal than emotional for you? Your music covers a range of subject matter. 

It’s probably both. It doesn’t have to always be personal to me because I can use a story that somebody else told me – you can tell me a story right now and I can translate it into a song. So it doesn’t always have to be personal, definitely emotional though. I always try to dig into shit that I’ve been through. I always try to tap into that and translate it some way to the music. 

That screams vulnerability. How do you get past that natural fear of oversharing with your listeners? 

Now, I’m trying to open up more in my music. I don’t feel like I’ve overshared before or did too much, that’s just how I do it. I’ve never really cared whether people listen to it or not, at least I got my shit off and it made me feel better.

Would you say that music is a therapeutic in a sense? 

Fasho. I like to meditate and things like that. I like to sit in silence, like when I’m in a session, I prefer that shit to be just me and the engineer. I just like quietness. It’s definitely a way for me to express myself and write my ideas out. 

I read that you started writing poetry at age 11. In retrospect, do you feel more equipped as an artist now with being immersed in compositions so early on in life?

For sure. I feel like a lot of times you can hear when someone has just started recording. When I first started recording I was 18, so that’s almost ten years right there with me being a recording artist. Me starting so young, I just got the feel for it. Now that I’m older, I’m a professional wit it now. Shit comes easy. Not all the time, but majority of the time it does. 

How have you managed to not conform to trendy customs as a female emcee in what’s considered a male-dominated industry? I know women tend to receive a lot of unsolicited comparisons. 

The real is gonna overpower whatever bullshit is out there. When you’re authentically yourself, people can’t imitate you. I’m not that type of person, I won’t be at a party shaking my ass. I’m not the girl to talk about my coochie and ass all day, know what I mean. I’ve always felt that long as I stay true to myself, everybody already knows the talent is there – that’ll get me further than anything else. I’m not really concerned about what’s trending or what’s hot right now, that shit not important to me. I’m here for the long run, I wanna make this shit last. This is my career, not a job. 

With everything being so interconnected because of the internet, what’s your stance on social media? I think it’s essential for artists to have some form of online presence in order to stay relevant. 

You should definitely have it (social media) if you’re an artist, because when your video comes out, shit could go viral. People can’t just come see you and pop up at your crib, I feel like that shit would be weird. I feel like it’s needed, but I don’t think it needs to be overconsumed, that’s unhealthy for your subconscious. You’re seeing so much shit, and it’s really just what people want you to see, it’s not their whole life. A lot of people get confused by that. It’s like a secret competition. To balance it out, I get on social media and post what I have to post, then I bounce. If I got a few spare minutes, I’ll scroll through and like some shit, keep my algorithm going, but really it’s like social media is totally different today than what it used to be. I don’t feel like it needs to be overconsumed, that shit’s unhealthy. 

Throughout your career as a professional recording artist, how have managed to not get caught up in the results? I know there’s no such thing as an overnight success, especially with everything you’ve endured. 

It’s really just the vision. I have this huge vision for the end. One of the things, something so simple, taking care of my family. That’s a huge motivation for me. Just to be able to spoil my mom, move my family to L.A., it’s a lot to it but the vision is what has kept me hungry. That’s one thing about me, I’ve always stayed hungry and never let nothing get in the way. Whether that’s been a relationship, a hating bitch, road block, whatever the fuck it is: I never let nothing stop me. That’s something that I pride myself on, I feel like my work ethic is grand. When it comes down to it, this is the vision and I’m not gonna stop until I get here. I know what I want. 

Out of mere curiosity, what is your achilles heel or weakness? Something that you want to improve on or conquer. 

Sometimes I’m just too humble. Being humble isn’t always a bad thing but sometimes it is when you’re an artist. I’m always on some chill shit instead of being like yo, fuck this. I’m more vocal in my raps, but when I’m around people, I’m chill. That’s probably my Achilles heel, my humbleness. This time around, with this next project, fuck being humble. I always talk my shit, but with this one I’m really getting into it. Like I told you, I’m tryna dig more deep, get more detailed about my life, me and where I come from. 

With this next project, would you say that you’re finally introducing your true self to the world?

For sure. It’s probably going to be a mixtape. No matter what time it is in my life, when I’m putting out a project, I’m giving it my all. Right now, I have so much going on and so many opportunities, I live in L.A., all around – I’m a changed person and I want people to know that and feel that. I want you to feel the level up, like that shit is real, it really happened. 

Change just seems like the ongoing theme for this next project. However, it has been almost three years since your last release. Personally, what has changed the most for you during that time? 

A lot. I was on the show at that time. I was really pressed to put a project out after the show. I’m thinking, soon as the show comes out I gotta put a project out, and I didn’t, I released singles. Doing shit like my freestyles, it ended up getting to this point and now I’m about to drop my mixtape. If I would’ve dropped one then, it wouldn’t have been the right time. I’m just excited about it. The album is going to go crazy, shit is hard. 

Speaking of the show, what do you feel like was the most tangible takeaway from your experience with Rhythm & Flow

The whole thing was a great experience. I would never go back, I wouldn’t change anything about it, I don’t regret doing it. I met Ace through that, I feel like that would be the most tangible thing. That’s why I’m at where I’m at now. The show was great. It was something I never did before but I don’t know if I’d ever do it again, but it was great for my career at that time. 

How do you plan on outliving that shadow of being referred to as Beanz from Rhythm & Flow

Not many people know this, but I was working way before Rhythm & Flow. Not everybody knows me as Beanz from Rhythm & Flow. I developed a huge following, yes, but I was working before that. I was putting out projects, tapes, all kinds of shit – doing shows in New York. Like, I would drive to New York right after work, and I live in Pennsylvania, go do a show, come right back and go to work the next day. Get back by six in the morning and go to work by seven. The show definitely gave me the following, but at this point, once the project comes out – I got some crazy features on there, I can’t say it right now. It’s not just gonna be Beanz from Rhythm & Flow, there’s more to it. I have a long list of things to do, I’ve never banked on that in the first place. 

About the Author

Derrius Edwards
Derrius is a music industry professional with experience in content strategy and editorial writing, sharing relevant and resonating stories as a conduit for hip-hop culture advancement.

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