On The Come Up: Flyana Boss
By Ciara Lee Thompson | Membership Manager, ASCAP Rhythm & Soul • April 26, 2024
Congratulations to you both, I know you’ve been extremely busy lately on tour, and we’ll dive more into that a little later. Congrats on all of the accolades you’ve received thus far and in such a short time. It’s incredible to see! Alrighty, let’s jump into it! For any newbies to your music how would you describe your sound and identity as a duo?
Cute girl rap, really playful and quirky, whimsical!
With two different environmental styles, because you both come from two different regions (one from Detroit and one from Dallas), how has your environment played a role in your individuality and who you’ve come to be as a duo?
Our environments were very similar. Although we come from different places, Black women, the Black community in general we share a cultural connection. Detroit is the home of Motown and my mom loved Motown. I grew up around that music too and Bobbi was immersed in legends like Erykah Badu. All of the Texas greats were influences for Bobbi as well. It was really easy for us to join forces! We’re just like two weird girls who wanted to be big stars and we relate on a lot of personal levels together.
Nice. Speaking of your styles, differences and similarities that make your duo so dynamic, you veered away a little bit with your single “Candyman.” It’s still upbeat with your vibrant style in the mix but it’s lyrically quite different. What inspired “Candyman?”
We’re both lover girls at heart. We love romance, relationships and partnership and stuff, but we still talk our mess. Sometimes it's just easier to talk our mess and every now and then we’re little sweethearts.
Nice, I love that! Especially in the culture we live in, it's great to show every aspect of yourself. So, ASCAP got wind that you have a new EP coming out, This Ain’t the Album. Let’s get into it. Why is this not the album and what do you want your fans and supporters to take from it?
This is just a bunch of songs that we made and we like and wanted to just put together. There’s no real concept behind it, which is why we wanted to be very transparent with our audience in naming it This Ain’t the Album because when we do get in our album mode, be prepared for the era! Flyana Boss era, looks, storylines – the whole shebang!
Nice! I also see you were touring. Touring can be an exciting time for artists. You all made your tour debut as tour support for Janelle Monáe’s The Age of Pleasure Tour, and now as new artists literally fresh off the road of your first headlining tour. What will you remember most about it? How is it different being tour support versus headlining and what will you do differently on your next run?
We have the best fans! That’s what we take away. We love our fans and it’s more solidified now going on the road and going to all these different cities. Similar vibes of human beings coming out to support us, that’s so special. As far as it being different from being tour support, we were gaining more fans. With Janelle’s tour, everybody was there to see her and for ours they were there to see us, that’s the biggest difference. Something different we may do in our next run is maybe just bigger stages and more time. We wish we had more time with our fans so we’ll probably also set up meet and greets next time. Designated time with them would be great.
That’s definitely exciting! Now that you have a solidified fan base, you have your own core followers that will come out and support. Love that! We are absolutely proud to have you part of our ASCAP family! How important has it been for you to be part of ASCAP and connected with us as your PRO? I happened to receive the inside scoop that you met your management through ASCAP.
Yeah, we’ve been going to ASCAP events prior to COVID and it’s a great networking opportunity to meet other industry professionals. We were invited by one of the reps in the past to a "Pass the Aux" event and that’s where we met two of our managers while participating in that event. We played a verse and a chorus and they asked “Well, what are you all doing with that project?” and they’ve been managing us ever since. ASCAP is very helpful in building a community and to meet others and grow.
That’s amazing to know! I’m glad we were able to make a positive lasting impression for you both! When I say that you all are on fire, blazing a trail with no sign of letting up. Can you speak on your rise to fame and what keeps you both aligned for this journey throughout your career?
Still feels unreal even though we’ve worked really hard for this and we’ve been wanting this for a really long time. When we’re out shopping and someone's like "Oh my gosh, you’re the most famous person I’ve met,” we’re like are you serious? It's just unbelievable. It's very surreal. It really does feel like our dreams are coming true. Everything is aligning and the universe is putting everything in its place. We keep each other aligned through our friendship. We keep each other accountable for what we actually want to do and who we want to be and how we want to represent ourselves. We also give each other a lot of grace to be normal people too, to take naps, and rest and have a good balance with each other career wise and just regular life.
That’s great, it’s always great when there’s a friendship involved, and someone to have victories and challenges with. Tell us a little bit about your single “Yeaaa,” what inspired it and how did it come about?
We were just with our producer, Marky Style, and he started the beat from scratch that day and we brought in a writer, Jessie Saint John. The three of us were going back and forth with silly bars and then it just came together. I barely even remember it because it was like a whirlwind in a way. Which is our process in general – we throw a bunch of paint at the wall and see how it comes out. Yeah, just a fun dance song for all the femmes out there. It’s a femme anthem.
And you just released “Money At,” so can you tell me a little bit about that song?
That song came about because we were working with our favorite writer, Ellrod. He was kind of upset the day he came in to write with us, so we were like “What’s going on?” And as a songwriter, a lot of songwriters have a lot of trouble with money and how they are getting paid and how they are getting noticed in the industry – especially amongst big corporations, so that’s basically where the concept came from. It’s like if we were to walk up in the CEO’s office like where’s my money at? So it’s still very playful but comes from the plight of a songwriter in the music industry.
That’s incredible! A really good take especially for those that don’t always understand publishing, royalties and rights, that they can go to their PRO and find these things out and it’s real life! So one thing about culture and society is we all have dreams and wishes. You all pretty much manifested “swimming in brand deals” through your single and colorful video “You Wish.” You all have partnered with amazing brands from Cheetos, Meta, Ray Bans, Nike, Pizza Hut and DoorDash. How has “You Wish” and your partnerships elevated your career thus far?
It’s like we tricked our audience in a way with that line of “swimming in brand deals.” It showed an authentic side of partnering with brands and our fans cheer us on every time we get a new deal. Our fans are always commenting “swimming in brand deals.” So brand deals now are a part of our overall brand. It elevates visibility in general anytime we partner with a brand and our audience it just like, you did it again!
I think that’s super cool because you’re in that space where many artists are wanting brand deals. They are trying to find synergistic ways to partner and to add that level of visibility, and Flyana Boss is knocking it out the park and they are flooding in for you all.
Being new to the industry and true to your craft, co-signs in the industry add a little more pizzazz to your credibility. You’ve received shoutouts from big names like KeKe Palmer, Lil Nas X, Timbaland, Hayley Williams and Amy Phoehler – but how has the co-sign from legendary fellow ASCAP member, THEE Missy Elliot impacted you?
Missy Elliot is THEE co-sign of all co-signs for us. She's been one of the most influential people in our lives since we were little. That also doesn’t seem to feel real at times, we have to pinch ourselves like this is something that actually happened in our reality. We are very thankful for her! We know that she genuinely supports us for staying true to ourselves. She even messaged us to continue to be authentic and do what we want to do. So we’re going to do that and make her proud!
Lastly, is there anything else you want your ASCAP family, fans or other aspiring artists to know about you?
NEW EP OUT NOW! There’s more music to come, This Ain’t The Album but the album is on the way! We appreciate the support and want to be the biggest duo on the planet! Just thank you to anyone who supports us, streams a song, makes and posts a video. We’re extremely grateful!
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