Similar to the early 2010’s rap renaissance in Chicago, Detroit is now having it’s own moment. Over the past few years, the city continues to hit major strides introducing new artists to the music community. From familiar names like Tee Grizzley to rising stars such as Sada Baby, Detroit has quickly turned into the newest hotbed where rappers of all ages continue to offer their fresh perspectives of life in “The D.”

We recently caught up with neighboring artists Whiterosemoxie, who at just 18 years old is paving his own lane in the Motor City’s music scene. Whiterosemoxie delivers one of the most versatile sounds you’ll hear as he’s able to seamlessly steer from singing euphonious pop/R&B hits to bold hard-hitting trap records. On his latest project, white ceilings, he showcases his multifaceted style across 15 tracks that will have you enthralled and eager to explore the rest of his discography.

Read our Q&A with whiterosemoxie below, and be sure to follow and listen to him on Spotify and Apple Music.

For the readers who don’t know yet, who is Whiterosemoxie and how did you start making music?

I’m an artist from the West side of Detroit. I just turned 18. When I was 8 I had a bad asthma attack that left me in a coma for days, and after waking up the first thing I wanted to do was make music. I had never had the interest before, but for some reason after that it was all I could think about. I got some equipment and got a setup built over the years and engineered everything myself out of my basement until whiteceilings. Moxie means “to get back up” and my grandpa’s name was I.E. He always represented getting back up to me. MO (modus operandi) is a term people use to describe the way they navigate the world. For me, “MO x IE” (moxie) describes my operating mode: I’m always going to get back up. “White Rose” is a symbol for innocence and represents the childhood mentality that you gotta keep when making music and art. People grow up too fast. “whiterosemoxie” encapsulates all that shit to me.

white ceilings has a really wide array of production and musical style throughout the project. What inspired you and what was the creation process like?

The creation process was super raw and freehand. The first day I met Kaleb we made trix and from there it was a done deal. We always started with something new because we could put the songs together so fast. Most songs are freestyles, like white ceilings for example. Kaleb was doing the melody and I was just freestyling ideas and he just was like get on the mic so I freestyled for like nine minutes (like for real) and we just picked the best parts. Some days I would bring my boys through, some days it would be just me, but it was always just coming from the soul letting out how we feel, taking breaks whenever, eating hella coney and having a good time.

You’re only 18. How have you balanced going to school and making music?

When I was making the project life was just going so fast. I was waking up going to school, doing whatever I had to after, then going to the studio before coming home and having to ‘do homework’. I feel like I work best under pressure though it definitely put me in a place where it was easy to put in the hours. I didn’t even realize how much time we really spent working on it until after we turned it in and me and Greg (videographer) went through all the footage.

How does being from Detroit reflect in your music? How do you feel about a part of the music scene that’s currently burgeoning at this time?

I think it’s the best feeling. The one thing that this new generation has on older artists if nothing else is the fact that we watched their careers. We seen how they took the industry and culture global and made it as big as it is today. But we also seen their mistakes and how they move, so now we come into the game with knowledge that they had to gain through living it, if that makes sense.

You pull from a lot of different sounds for white ceilings and even in popular music today, we’ve been seeing a lot blurring of the lines between genres. Do you think genres in music are still important?

I think it’s about how real people want to be. I know what I’ve been through, who I am. When i’m in the studio I tell stories from my experiences and the way I’m feeling so if I make something that sounds new or different, that’s still a part of me. It’s just another side. I’m trying to connect with people at the end of the day so whatever form the song takes if it’s got that feeling then I’m dropping it.

How have you been taking care of yourself during these times?

It’s been tough but I’ve been staying at home for real. After all that’s happened I can’t let COVID be the reason I don’t get it all.

What should fans expect from you in the future?

We got music videos dropping soon for the tape, and more music dropping very soon.

Why should people invest themselves in whiterosemoxie, both the artist and person?

Because it makes them feel something. If you listen to my music and it doesn’t give you some type of feeling then I wasted your time. I want people to listen to me because they want to listen to me. I’m trying to do something different and not everybody is going to like it. But the smart ones will.

Whiterosemoxie is Paving His Own Lane in Detroit's Rap Scene