Every so often a new artist comes along with a sound so innovative, they are able to help reshape the barriers that confine mainstream music. Meet Outasight, the Yonkers, New York bred musician who brilliantly weaves together the cadenced sounds of popular hip-hop and indie rock with the poignant sensibility of classic pop and soul music to create a fresh, new sound that is all his own. “People are conditioned to see certain images for different genres of music,” says the 27 year-old songwriter. “So if something looks or sounds out of the norm, it’s more difficult to understand at first.”
Growing up an only child in the suburbs of New York City, Outasight’s parents encouraged his insatiable love for making music from a very young age. When he was 8 yearsold, he taught himself to write songs on a guitar passed down from his father. “I was surrounded by thousands of records as a kid,” says Outasight who grew up emulating the diverse sounds he was surrounded by all his life. “I listened to a lot of classic rock, and pop, like the Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, The Who, and also soul artists like Stevie Wonder and Marvin Gaye. My friends and I would form bands and practice in someone’s basement and then I would go to school and write raps and spit raps on the playground. They were like duel personalities in a sense.”
During his junior year of high school, Outasight started venturing into the city, seeking out open mics where he was able to fine tune his own material in front of live audiences. “I used to perform a lot in Brooklyn at a place called Sputnik,” says Outasight. “It would be a very diverse crowd and I would rap and start singing and they would be like, what the hell is going on right now? Who is this White kid acting all crazy? But there were always people that liked it so I always took any type of acceptance as the fuel to go further.” After performing in the big city for a couple of years, the resourceful young artist started to gain confidence and create some extremely valuable music industry connections. He toyed with the idea of going to college but after taking classes on and off for close to five years, Outasight realized it was foolish not to capitalize on the name he had created for himself in the City’s burgeoning independent music scene.
In 2006, he decided to drop out of college for good and pursue music full time. The following year, he released a mixtape called Employee Of The Year with the help of his friend and business partner Dre Bond. The two started a new company to help promote Outasight appropriately named Daily Grind Music. After promoting the tape on Myspace and up and coming music blogs, Outasight and Daily Grind released his second project, Radio New York in June of ’08 which was featured on the Myspace Home page for three consecutive days—a tremendous feat for any new, unsigned artist. “The amount of people that I got exposed to was incredible,” says Outasight. “We were getting like 50 thousand plays a day! Dre and I made a video for one of the mixtape’s songs, ‘Good Evening’ that fall we got the video on MTV after winning the MTVU Freshman competition.”
In March of 2009, Outasight released his third mixtape, From There To Here, with world renowned hip-hop DJ Mick Boogie and a month later was asked to open for Ryan Leslie at NYC’s SOB’s. After winning over the packed house with his live show, Outasight’s manager, Norman “Storm” Bell of Purfek Storm Management, secured a meeting with Asylum Records CEO Todd Moscowitz who was instantly taken by the multi-talented MC’s growing body of work. That October, Outasight signed a deal with Asylum. Soon after his signing, Outasight released his latest mixtape Further. The project was sponsored by LRG clothing and was his most successful release to date, garnering over a hundred thousand downloads and counting. Due to its overwhelming popularity, Asylum is set to release Further as an EP exclusively on ITunes in March 2010 while Outasight continues to craft his first full length commercial release, the aptly titled, From Here to Eternity. “The concept behind my album is one person’s quest from the present moment to being timeless,” he says, “It’s something that lives way beyond me, it’s about the quest.”
On August 17th, 2010, Outasight released his latest mixtape, Never Say Never, again to much critical acclaim.
Perfect Words
Outasight Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Oh ohh, oh ohhhh.
Ah, she takes a look in the mirror but can't recognize who's staring back (back)
Couple of years bad luck with more down and ups like the glass that crack,
Bright lights in the city what a pity that I don't recall your name
In every single town, we think we overcame,
The clouds come around and it fall some rain.
I mumble out the words, jumbled inside my head
It's time to make things better but they get worse instead
When your left to fight some things that never end,
Well do this again
[Chorus]
You'll say what I am (I am), Ill say what I'm not (I'm not)
You know I'm no good when it's on the spot,
I've looked everywhere to find the perfect words.
Oh ohh, oh ohh, oh ohh, oh ohh.
You'll say what I am (I am), Ill say what I'm not (I'm not)
You know I'm no good when it's on the spot,
I've looked everywhere to find the perfect words.
Yo, take one look in the review, can't recognize what's staring back,
If the past is the past, I can't hang from now so cut me some slack
And it's easy to jump than get up and walk so we sit around and wait
For the words to come up that might inspire us,
To stop fucking up and change our fate
I mumble out the words, jumbled inside my head
You're looking for answers, I'm looking for a pair
I'm gonna sleep this one away and come back in the end
Well do this again
[Chorus]
At the corner store, the liquor store or around the block
Go the wind down town or at the mall at the check out stop
I search far and wide and try to find the little things
That I can say back to you to make everyone understand
[Chorus: x2]
The song begins with the singer trying to recognize himself in the mirror but failing as there have been several ups and downs in his life. He refers to these events as a couple of years of bad luck which have caused him to crack just like a glass. Despite being in bright lights, he cannot remember the name of the person he is thinking about. Every town he goes to, he feels like he has conquered his problems, but still, the clouds come around, and rain falls as he tries to overcome his troubles.
The chorus is all about the struggle the singer faces in finding the perfect words to express himself. He feels like he is not good enough when put on the spot, which makes it impossible for him to articulate what he wants to say. The verses continue to emphasize this struggle, with the singer trying to find the right words to inspire others to change their lives. However, it seems like he is not doing a good job himself as he admits to mumbling jumbled words that only make things worse instead of better. The song ends on a hopeful note, with the singer promising to keep trying until he succeeds.
Line by Line Meaning
Ah, she takes a look in the mirror but can't recognize who's staring back (back)
She looks at herself in the mirror but doesn't see the person she used to be.
Couple of years bad luck with more down and ups like the glass that crack,
She's had a run of bad luck, with ups and downs like a cracked glass.
Bright lights in the city what a pity that I don't recall your name
In the city, surrounded by bright lights, he can't remember the person he used to know.
In every single town, we think we overcame,
We believe we've overcome our problems in every town we visit.
The clouds come around and it fall some rain.
The bad times always seem to come back just like when the clouds bring rain.
I mumble out the words, jumbled inside my head
He struggles to find the right words and ends up mumbling and jumbling up his thoughts.
It's time to make things better but they get worse instead
Even though he's trying to improve things, they only seem to get worse.
When your left to fight some things that never end,
When you're stuck dealing with problems that seem never-ending.
Well do this again
We'll keep trying again and again.
You'll say what I am (I am), Ill say what I'm not (I'm not)
You'll label me as something but I'll tell you that I'm not what you think.
You know I'm no good when it's on the spot,
He's not good at thinking on his feet and reacting quickly.
I've looked everywhere to find the perfect words.
He's searched high and low for the perfect words to say.
Yo, take one look in the review, can't recognize what's staring back,
Looking at his past mistakes, he doesn't recognize the person he used to be.
If the past is the past, I can't hang from now so cut me some slack
He knows he can't change the past and needs people to give him a break in the present.
And it's easy to jump than get up and walk so we sit around and wait
It's easier to give up and wait for something to happen instead of putting in the effort to make things happen.
For the words to come up that might inspire us,
He's waiting for the right words to come to him and inspire him to take action.
To stop fucking up and change our fate
He wants to stop making mistakes and change the course of his life.
At the corner store, the liquor store or around the block
He's searched everywhere, from the corner store to the liquor store and around the block.
Go the wind down town or at the mall at the check out stop
He's looked for the right words in every place, from the downtown area to the mall and even at the checkout line.
I search far and wide and try to find the little things
He's searched everywhere for small details that could help him find the perfect words to say.
That I can say back to you to make everyone understand
He wants to find the words to make everyone understand his thoughts and feelings.
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Written by: A. SCHWARTZ, JOE KHAJADOURIAN, RICHARD ANDREW CONTE
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind