Some wordsmiths prefer the gracefulness of poetry while others may prefer to feel a beat and produce raps from it. Wordsmiths like Rian Neely, however, likes to indulge in both. The 20-year-old out of Kansas City, Kansas has been writing since the age of 13, making it seven years since beginning to grow his respective crafts. What had started as just a “test run” to see if he had any potential or liked to write ended up being much more than that. Neely began simply listening to beats with his friends and writing along to them. Soon after, he would go on to join his school’s Poetry team which allowed him to be more open with his writings. Rian would preform his poetry at different events and in front of large crowds of his peers. To perfect his skills, he’s started to write every day for hours on end. The networking of peers from Canada to Trinidad has helped him maintain his relevancy with music as well as the attendance of multiple open mics and poetry shows. He’s stayed hungry, investing in himself by building a home studio set up and pursuing his associates in Audio Engineering which he’ll be obtaining this Fall. Rian sees knowledge as power and wants to know as much about his craft as he possibly can. Like everyone else, however, Rian has seen struggle. Often time he finds it hard to believe in himself but he constantly shakes those feelings by realizing that no one else can do what he does as he can. Another struggle, as seen with other KC artists, is that a lot of people in the city don’t support one another. The music scene in KC is seen more so as a popularity contest rather than a who has the greater skill. Neely says that regardless of this, the city continues to produce quality artists with different styles and creative approaches. Neely believes that KC has one of the most diverse music scenes in the nation, mentioning artists such as JoJo Ali, Trae Curry, Sammy, Mac Infinity, AyEl, XVX Paris, Kye Colors, Dirty Dom, and himself of course. Of all the artists mentioned, NONE of them sound the same and bring their flavor to Kansas City’s musical buffet. Within the next couple of years, Rian Neely sees himself only growing as an artist and taking up other skills such as Producing and Engineering. He draws influences from various artists like Biggie Smalls, Drake, Kendrick Lamar, Schoolboy Q, Joey Badass, Eminem, Lil Wayne, Juice Wrld, Denzel Curry, J.I.D, J.Cole, Young Thug, Lil Uzi Vert, Big Pun, Wu-Tang Clan, A Tribe called Quest, 6LACK, A$AP Rocky, A$AP Ferg, Brent Faiyaz, Miguel, Mac Miller, Machine Gun Kelly, Action Bronson, Bas, Big Sean, Travis Scott, Chance The Rapper, Smino, Saba, Noname, Childish Gambino, Future, XXXTentacion, Ski Mask the Slump God, Joyner Lucas, Jay Z, Jay Rock, Jhene Aiko, SZA, Summer Walker, The Weeknd and that’s “just scratching the surface” he says. Neely draws support from his parents and brothers, crediting them for keeping him going! He plans on giving back to the community who has given him so much; saying that he’ll open a Recording Studio fashioned after the Boys & Girls Club with emphasis on writing and music. Rather than the usual school to prison pipeline, he wants to create a pipeline to success. “I find myself to be quite confident as a person but you’re going to have that piece of doubt in the back of your head because we’re human. We all have it. It’s just I like to address it and not keep it bottled in because I don’t know what it could turn into.” – Kendrick Lamar. Rian Neely, the Chief will be a pillar of the community in the coming years. Always move #CloserToYourDreams.

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