Interview with Oliver Francis

We had the pleasure of interviewing Oliver Francis over Zoom video! The Columbia, MO rapper, singer, producer, and multi-instrumentalist Oliver Francis creatively nods to Blade Runner and The Fifth Element as much as he nods to The Weeknd and Travis Scott. Now, he presents a bold blockbuster vision without boundaries. After amassing 100 million-plus streams, selling out shows, and receiving acclaim from Elevator and more, he widens the scope of the genre, fusing sci-fi ambition to gritty trap. “I had a bit of a breakthrough,” he admits. “I wanted to mix these great sci-fi movies with melodic hip-hop, trap, and pop. Once I struck this balance, I was on a roll. This phase took a conceptual turn, and it tells a very loose story. Thinking conceptually allows me to say things a rapper wouldn’t normally say. At the time, I was sick of saying all of the same shit about Balenciaga bags over and over again. I was tired of using the same drums too. I wanted to break out of the box and try new thi