Inna Vision reflects on 2020 Vision album

Photo courtesy of Inna Vision.

Dailyreggae.com interviewed Koa from Inna Vision about his 2020 Vision album, Inna Vision’s evolution, and new music in the works.

Tell me about your path to becoming a musician.

I’ve loved music since I was a kid. My family was very reggae oriented growing up. I grew up going to concerts all the time with the moms, aunties, uncles, and cousins. We constantly went to shows. Maui is a big hub for reggae, so a lot of acts stopped through here.

My turning point for music was when I was about ten years old and my grandma got diagnosed with cancer and she passed away. She left me a ukulele and a grand piano. That ukulele stuck by my side everywhere I went, through school, playing at home, playing outside. That was part of me. I played that thing all day and all night. That got me hooked.

When I went into sixth grade, I discovered other people who played the ukulele and made some really good friends. I started performing in front of my school at that young age and started a little reggae group. I’ve had a few reggae bands created throughout my life. From 12 years old to Inna Vision of course is my longest-running baby. That was my inspiration. My family. Besides me just loving reggae music, it was always around. It was played in my household. It was always played here in Hawaii and here on Maui. It’s a part of life.

How has Inna Vision evolved over the years?

When we go out and play, the band members change now, because everybody is growing up. Not everyone can make tours all the time, so it kind of gradually outgrew having a set group of guys. I didn’t want to let the dream die if a couple of people couldn’t make a tour or make shows.

From the beginning, Inna Vision was my project that I put together in 2005. We had a list of singers (two or three), different lead singers before I took over the singing. I was kind of just the backbone, where I picked the musicians, I discovered the singers I wanted for the group. As we grew, each one kind of fell off on their own mission over time. 2005 is 15 years of music we’ve been pushing Inna Vision. I think about 2012 is when I took over the singing fully because the last of one of the original singers fell off and wasn’t into it anymore.

That was a tour that we were on with Fortunate Youth and it was our first big tour around the whole country. It was me singing and the other singer decided he didn’t want to do it after the first week and it was a nine-week tour. Everybody stepped up. That’s when the whole switch kind of went to me being the frontman instead of just singing a few songs or half a set. That was a turning point. When you’ve been going at it for as long as we’ve been, it tests how bad you want it and how much you want to dedicate your life to. And I’ve always been in it to win it since the beginning. I knew it was going to be a long haul and knew it wasn’t like we are going to do this to become famous or make a bunch of money. I want to grow this throughout my life. This music is going to be my side throughout my life. Inna Vision has been in the vision for 15 years now.

What does the name Inna Vision mean to you and where are your current bandmates based?

I have bandmates here in Hawaii that play with me on all the islands. I have some on the Big Island, Oahu, Maui. I have so many brothers that contribute to this dream and support me. They all are Inna Vision as well. They represent and push Inna Vision. I have a touring Inna Vision and guys in Long Beach, San Diego, Hawthorne on the West Coast. I also have guys on the East Coast out of Florida, Orlando, Jacksonville, Boston, New York. So, depending on where I’m touring and how I need to make things happen, having these guys that love to play music and support Inna Vision all over the country has made it very easy to access shows without having to fly six people from Hawaii to Florida. I’m blessed. I have Inna Vision family all over the country. When I come home and play on Maui, I have my brothers that have started the journey with me that play at home. At the time, when I was going through changes, I was stressed out. God always has a plan. Right now, it’s the best thing I could ask for. I have support everywhere.

As far as Inna Vision, what it means to me is pretty simple. It’s staying in a vision. Staying in your zone. Staying motivated. Staying creative. Staying driven. Being true to yourself. And not looking for answers anywhere else but inside your heart and soul. That is your Inna Vision. There are a lot of meanings for it. Staying on it. Being the best version of yourself. Live into the fullest potential you can. Staying happy. And doing what you have to do to stay happy. That’s being Inna Vision. That’s Inna Vision.

You released your latest album, 2020 Vision, in October. Tell me about the album.

I feel like the album has created a genre of its own. The core and the foundation of Inna Vision music is roots reggae, but I’ve pushed the boundaries with it to incorporate hip hop, dance hall, jazz, and reggaeton. This collection of songs together in one package has spoken very loudly. When you listen to an album and you can hear all the different styles and still bring it around to roots reggae, and still have that as the core, I feel like that was a job well done.

I did not plan too hard for the album. I’m a studio man. I’m always in the studio. I’m always recording. When the song feels right and I’m stoked on it, that’s when it’s done. I didn’t have too much of a, I need a song like this… It was more of a collection of songs I recorded over the past two years that I finally felt were all ready. It’s a 17-track album, so I wanted to make sure I had a lot, I touched on a lot of subjects lyrically, and the music hit a lot of notes sonically. It all came around at the perfect time because 2020 is a year nobody could be prepared for and the album represents healing, knowing yourself, and finding your rhythm. I think the biggest way I’d describe the album is an album for healing.

How do you balance singing and rapping in your music? What is your process for creating music?

My process starts by listening to beats that I like. On this album, there were five different producers, and they are all my buddies. I like vibing on the beats and when I hear a beat that slaps and that I can relate to it that’s when my writing inspiration kicks in. I very rarely write a song from scratch while playing the guitar. It stems from music that gets me inspired. I listen to how the music makes me feel, my emotions, so I can match that feeling.

As far as deciding whether I’m going to sing, or rap, I like songs where there are two or three different styles on it. One of my favorite artists is Sean Paul. His choruses and hooks are always very melodic so that you can sing along, but when he gets down to the verse, he’s chopping it up, flowing really hard. Same with Collie Buddz. Because I can do that, I feel like that’s my potential, why not use all of it? Singing on the hooks, rapping on the verses, and a mixture of both. I try to mix it up, do what feels good, and record what I’d have fun doing on stage. In front of a crowd, what’s going to get me hyped to do this every night for two months straight? Rapping, getting down, and spitting some lyrics, is why I love rapping so much. I grew up rapping. I used to be in battle raps at the community centers here. I have a big love for hip hop music.

After my lyrics and vocals get put on the track, that’s when I go and sprinkle everything else on. I know someone that can do some nice horns on this track, or I think I want some guitars on this part, and that’s where I go and formulate the final touches on everything.

Is Inna Vision on the Roots Musician Records label? Was E. N Young one of the producers of 2020 Vision?

Yes, E. N was a producer, and I’m a part of his label Roots Musician. E. N mixed and mastered the whole project and produced a lot of it too. The final touch producing. He’s very creative, so he does things that I might not have thought about like song structures, moving little parts around, or cool effects. The icing on the cake you know. E. N’s been my long time bredrin. He’s had my back since day one. I’m one of his brothers on the Roots Musician label.

I did a lot of vocals for 2020 Vision in my home studio, but I worked in seven or eight studious on this album. From here in Hawaii to California, Florida, and Jamaica. We got artists from Europe on it, The Virgin Islands; everyone contributed. So much is done online now. We shoot tracks together back and forth. Just today I’m working with a studio in California and it’s so quick to email tracks over, have your shared folders, and work from your studio.

There were a few studios that I went to voice final vocals to get better production and to vibe out with the producers more. COVID made that hard, so more was done online, but there were times that I made specific trips to work in different cities or countries because I like the energy. I like the energy of me out of my element. The energy of being far away from home puts a lot into perspective for me, my people, and what I want to represent. I just recently came back from Florida, where I was doing some music videos, recording and we also shot some videos in Puerto Rico. I’m a vibe seeker, so I’m always moving. Travelling brings out more music in me.

What’s the music scene like in Maui?

Well not too much now as we all know. It’s been very quiet and slowed down, but before all of this, there’s a lot of music. The hardest part is artists getting out of Maui or getting out of Hawaii. We are so isolated. It costs a lot of money to get everyone to the mainland, so it can put a damper on people’s dreams a little bit. Only a very few make it out. You have to be very ambitious and have financial help to get your crew out there. The lifestyle here is so irie that a lot of people don’t want to leave. People are fine playing here at the restaurant, at the hotel, doing their side projects. It’s easy to be comfortable here. There are other places in the world where life isn’t so comfortable, so that’s why people grind so hard.

There is a lot of music here. There are a lot of reggae stations that play reggae all day and night. I feel like Hawaii is a very thriving musical place. There is so much talent here and great singers. I eventually want to get to a place where I can help with artist development. That will be on my journey one day.

Tell me about your new video for the song, Understand.

We recently dropped a video called Understand from the new album. It’s shot here in Maui. It has amazing footage of our island. My good buddies at Valley Isle Visuals did it. There’s a very heartfelt message in the video and the song.

We also dropped a lyric video for the song Call Your Name on High Stereo Love. The official music video for Call Your Name was recently dropped too.

This is the other half of pushing the album. We are pushing all the visuals to help bring the album to life.

Will Inna Vision come out with any new music in 2021?

I’m always in the studio. I’ve got a bunch of songs that I’m fine-tuning. I’m going to keep the vibe rolling. I’m always dropping new music. Gonzo and I are working on a Curricular Style Part Two. We’ve got a bunch of songs already recorded.

I started a YouTube series called The Grinder, where I’m breaking down the songs on this album lyrically for everybody. The meaning behind the lyrics and also in studio breakdowns sonically on mixing some of the songs. It’s all the new album songs.

Where can fans go to support your music?

Innavisionmusic.com has all the links to where you can listen to Inna Vision digitally. It has the vinyl and cd hard copies that you can order. Everywhere that music is played, you can find Inna Vision. We dropped a 2020 Vision bundle pack, where you get a cd, vinyl, our signature coffee, and a couple of other little goodies.

Any other things that you want to tell your fans?

Thank you to everyone tuning in. We are so grateful that people are loving the new album. Just keep spreading the message, spreading the vibes.