By: Marianna Apazidis

Mari: Can you guys introduce yourselves? 

Renee: I’m Renee Majé. That’s technically my artist name, but my real name is Renee Majekford. I’m from the Bronx, I’m a junior, my major is unfortunately Business Admin. What kind of music I make…

Lauryn: Cross-genre!

Renee: I wish I could answer that properly but everytime I go to make music it sounds different. So, it’s anything, pretty much. 

Lauryn: My name is Lauryn Williams. My DJ name is DJ Lauryn. I’m from Long Island, New York. I am an Information Systems major, I don’t make music. I consume it. Too much. 

Renee: A lot. She’s a library. 

Mari: Is there a particular genre that you guys lean into in your work?

Lauryn: If Willow Smith was a genre. 

Renee: If Willow Smith was a genre! I make music that has a very neo-soul, rock, psychedelic feeling. Any music that feels like you’re on drugs or that feels out of body is what I’m going for. The main things I grew up listening to were soul, R&B, neo-soul, funk, very black heavy music. These genres are the main, grounding, fundamental part of my music identity. 

Lauryn: I would probably say it started with R&B, soul, neo-soul, old hip-hop, funk, mo-town, all that. Very black rooted, blues, all that kinda stuff. As I got older, I started to get into rock, psychedelic, alternative since it all stems from soul, neo-soul, blues, jazz: it’s black roots. . 

Mari: What is it like being a musician (Renee) and being a musician’s manager (Lauryn)? How did that come about? 

Renee: I told Lauryn that she was going to be my manager. 

Lauryn: Oh, it was a running joke!

Renee: No. I told you it wasn’t a joke. She took it as a joke!

Lauryn: Well I told her I didn’t have any technical expertise!

Renee: Neither do I! I’m just as much of a beginner. Lauryn also talks about how she wants to work in the music industry. So we’re both figuring it out! Making music has been a subconscious thing my whole life. But I formally started in the pandemic, around that time. 

Lauryn: Renee and I met freshman year in our finite math class. We both have this gabelli angst because we want to work in a creative industry but we understand we also have bills to pay. We always bonded over music, had dance parties, and she worked on her first music video in Long Island with me and my other friend, Chloe. It was so much fun! We had a backdrop and everything. It was so much fun. 

Mari: Do you feel like being a DJ helps you be a better manager? 

Renee: I think it does! I’ve met Abayomi through you and he works at the Boogie Down. And he’s an old-head DJ in the Harlem DJ scene. She’s introduced me to many people in the music scene. 

Lauryn: DJing has opened doors for me and I always try to include Renee in some possible way, shape, or form. 

Mari: What do you feel like your musical purpose is as you go out into the world? Where does your musical center manifest into your career and life?

Lauryn: I would just go down holes where I would always constantly feel the need to discover, discover, discover. It was very much a personal, internal thing where I want to know as much as I can. That’s when I realized I wanted to do something with ANR and music management. But it’s hard to get into. At the end of the day, I would love to be able to help developing artists. Not in a money-hungry way, which is why I’m conflicted about working at a major label. They push these people like robots to produce, produce, produce and then artists lose their love for making music. 

Renee: At the core of being a musician, I just like making things. I don’t know how to explain it… but having a product at the end of the process. Knowing I built something. Singing is more therapeutic. At the heart of what I want to do with music, Euphoria inspired me. Labrinth scored the show, which isn’t a stereotypical score either, in his room by himself. Doing what he feels in the moment. If that’s the only thing I do, I’m set. A score isn’t about numbers, it’s storytelling. That’s what makes it fun and liberating. 

Mari: Renee, do you feel like being from the Bronx has influenced your music? 

Renee: The influence from the Bronx had a latency to it. As a kid, you hear bachata and salsa in the bodegas. But at the time I didn’t speak Spanish, so I never really paid attention to the music. When I got older, though, and I started to listen to these genres I was like, “oh, this feels nostalgic for some reason.” Because that’s what I grew up on! I have yet to make a hip hop or reggae song but when it happens it’ll definitely have Bronx elements. It’s more of an undertone and not an overstatement. 

Mari: Lauryn, what was DJing at the Boogie Down Bronx like? 

Lauryn: DJing at the Boogie Down was really cool. When I initially went there to check out the space before I DJed, there was so much history. I met Abayomi through Connor (who goes here as well) and he’s a Bronx Native. He knows everything about the original hip hop groups, because in the beginning they had an emcee and groups would battle. So in the Boogie Down they have this massive wall plastered with all these posters of hip hop, rap, and DJ battles. But DJing was fun! It’s always nerve-wracking for me. Even if it’s your closest friends and you do the most horrible thing they’ll be like, “girl, you ate that!”

Renee: You did eat that. 

Lauryn: It was really fun and just a cool moment because that was my first, actual public set. And being in the Bronx was really cool because everyone flees the Bronx. It was nice to pay my respects in a way. 

Mari: Did I miss anything? Or is there anything else you would like to share?

Renee: Making music is hard. Because everything moves so fast, everybody wants something now. You’re expected to produce at a fast rate, but creativity doesn’t work that way. It could take me three months to make one song. It’s fun, don’t get me wrong. But it’s definitely hard. Especially while we’re in school. 

Lauryn: Sometimes people will come into the music industry and create bullshit. That’s why I’ve always loved Renee. She will take three months. She will take her time. She will not put something out that sounds bad. There’re so many passionate people that want to make a music career and can’t get recognized. What brings Renee and I together is our passion for music. Passion is what drives. I’m happy we both have this love and that we met each other.