Episode 166 Sonreal (part 2)

Aaron Hoffman, aka "SonReal", is a Canadian rapper, singer, and songwriter. He took the music world by storm in 2013 when the music video for his song Everywhere We Go went viral on YouTube. His name became known internationally almost over night and within weeks he was signing a deal with a major record label in Los Angeles. The music video currently sits at over 44 million views, but his success certainly didn't stop there.

SonReal's earlier albums consisted mostly of rap songs, but as his career evolved so did his sound. In 2017 he released his first acoustic song "My Friend" which had initially underwhelming results across streaming platforms. However, as his career grew and he released more acoustic/folk music his audience continued to grow and to this day "My Friend" has become one of his biggest hits. Throughout his career SonReal has bent genres and released songs that could be considered, folk, rap, hip-hop, pop, and more.

Feeling the urge to write more rap music again, he created his first primarily rap album in years titled "All Things Aside" which released August 16th, 2024.

We first met and recorded an interview back in March of 2023. Since then we have both seen our careers grow and felt compelled to record this follow up interview the day after his show in St. Paul, Minnesota during his latest North American tour.

In this episode we discuss his latest album, performing on stage, writing new music, choosing to become an independent artist, collaborating with friends, staying true to your vision, not being too precious, connecting with fans, and much more.