Meet Chicago-based FURY

We sat down with Chicago-based artist, FURY, to talk about her EP Black Magic. Keep reading to learn more about her creative process, how she’s creating space for her community, and where she’ll be focusing her energy in the new year.

Your EP is out. Can you tell us about the thought process behind the project?

The EP has been a really collaborative project.

I’m a solo artist, but two years ago I met my current bass player. He wanted to put together a hip hop-fronted live band. 6 months later, he got his band together and sent me 10 tracks they recorded. Of those 10, I chose 6 and I wrote to them. So the band composed the music and FURY the solo artist wrote the lyrics - it happened very organically. It’s really a collaborative project where I have live musicians, so my next one might be something different. Some people think that we’re all FURY but it’s actually just me.

My EP is titled Black Magic for two reasons. I love Halloween and everything spooky, and it’s a nod to the concept of black girl magic - I love that movement and how positive it is. I wanted to play on both of those.

Can you tell us a little bit about Queendom Come?

Queendom Come started off as a monthly showcase, and now I host it every 2-3 months. At each showcase, there’s usually 4-5 Female-fronted acts from various genres. For a lot of my career, I was on male-dominated lineups and I got tired of it.The purpose of Queendom Come is to give womxn their time to shine.

You mix a lot of different genres and sounds into your music. Society still has a hard time wrapping their heads around womxn of colour in the indie-rock or alternative scene. Have you found this to be the case?

I definitely see how womxn of colour can be type casted.

I try not to pigeon-hole myself. My main focus is: Do I like it? Does it make me feel good?

After all, I didn’t grow up only listening to hip hop. I grew up in the suburbs, 30 minutes from Chicago. I was also listening to The Fray, Linkin Park, etc. My writing style actually comes from jazz, alternative and rnb.

I do see how they try to typecast womxn of colour - I just try not to focus on it. I took me time to get here though. I spent a lot of time in hip hop clubs and spaces that didn’t feel right for me. Once I stopped trying to fit in, my music sounded better too.

You mentioned that you’re a Chicago-based artist, how has Chicago influenced your music?

I think being from Chicago gives me an edge. A lot of Chicago rappers (and midwest rappers in general) rap really fast. Think of Twista, Da Brat, Bone Thugs-n-Harmony - those are fast rappers. I’m not Twista fast, but it’s intense for sure. Being from Chicago also give you a certain attitude - that chip off your shoulder. It’s always been East Coast vs. West Coast so people say that you can’t make it in Chicago - I don’t think that’s necessarily true.

What’s the next chapter for you?

I’m excited to see where the EP will take me. I’m trying to get a tour set up for the spring. Also going to get some visuals done. I’ve done a couple festivals this year but I’ll be looking into more. I also want to do more work in the community - I’m very passionate about empowering womxn and young people.

Black Magic, an album by Fury on Spotify

Special thanks to FURY for interviewing with Solidarity in Sound. SIS is an educational platform for the global, music community. Find out more about us by clicking here!