Meet Alex Cantu | Rapper, Producer, Songwriter & Model

We had the good fortune of connecting with Alex Cantu and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Alex, how do you think about risk?
As I’m writing this, I’m on the eve of my 30th birthday. And I’ve always been a big birthday person, so this certain birthday has become pretty monumental for me.

Thinking about how risk has played a role in both my life and my career, it’s not only played a major component in my life, it’s been essential and quite frankly terrifying.

Ever since I was 14 years old, I’ve had to carve out my own lane in life and figure out how to shine my light while I watched the rest of my siblings succeed in whatever they strived for.

As I’ve been reflecting on my life, I’ve noticed that I’ve either taken risks or have put myself at risk whenever it came to my dreams or aspirations. Many times, there are moments of success, leaving me feeling ecstatic and running around like a 5 year old yelling “I told you so!”. But then there are humbling moments, where things went so far south, that I’m left looking completely heartbroken over the thought of knowing I put myself in this predicament.

In those moments, I lay awake at night, going back and forth in my mind, if I should stop taking risks, or if all of these choices are bad. But as one of my mentors, Jay, would remind me, “It’s not that you made good or bad choices, you just made choices. You made choices you were meant to make. But you can learn whatever you need from them and become a better version of yourself”.

My relationship with risk used to originate from a place of scarcity. A false sense of believing I wasn’t good enough as who I am, to properly attain whatever I was striving for at moments. It took some time and ironically with more risk-taking, to show me that I am good enough, to attract whatever I want in my life. Risk be damned.

Once I stopped associating risks with failure and started maneuvering my life with abundance, things became a bit smoother. And don’t get me wrong, I’m still human, I live in a constant state of anxiety, but just know I’m forever working on that. I’ve learned a long time ago that, my healing isn’t ever gonna be linear. But I’m living my truth, operating on my own timeline.

And for me, that’s the number one risk I’ll always be willing to take.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
Frankly, I got to this point in my life professionally due to the countless people who believed in me enough to want to help and see me go forward in whatever capacity. It was far from easy, for how I perceive it, it’s always nerve wrecking.

The challenges never stop coming, but I’m able to face them due to my self-belief in myself, my support system including my family, other creatives, previous coworkers, mentors, mentees, and sometimes just random strangers who see what I see in myself: my potential and maybe, more importantly, the person I’m always to striving to be…..unapologetically myself.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Honestly, what I’ve learned from my dating escapades over the past two and half years is that, I’m super trash at being a tour guide Lol. You’re talking to a person who’s a homebody and who would choose to make music twelve times out of ten.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Honestly, equally both two of my older sisters, Fawnia & Elia. I wouldn’t be where I am in life without either of them, especially in the past 6 years of my life.

People are always so curious on what made me get my two neck tattoos. And I tell them that, each of my neck tattoos both represent and pay homage to my two older sisters.

It’s a constant reminder to myself that I didn’t get to wherever I’m at alone yet also a constant reminder that they’ll always be there for me no matter what.

They’ve equally supported me through thick and thin, always made sure I was safe, and always made sure I was making the right decisions. Even in the moments where they disagreed with my approach to things. But they know deep down, I cherished them with all of my heart and know I wouldn’t be the person who I am today without each of their presences in my life.

Love you both forever and always!

To my friend Zyi, thank you for everything you’ve done and continue to do for me, I forever appreciate your presence so much, you changed my life for the better. Your self-transformation continues to inspire me to be more myself and not to be afraid of what others say about me out here in the world. Thank you for being one of my creative role models out here!

To my friend Ken, thank you for believing in my creative vision as a producer, to see a piece of my art get co-signed by another artist warms my heart so much fam, it nearly bought me to tears. Your transparency as a person inspires me to stay on my path and not to give up! Without you, I never would have heard of Voyage LA and never thought being a model would be a reality for me.

To my friend Gary, thank you for being one of the most honest people in my life, never afraid to tell me what I didn’t want to hear and for showing me that I’m not the only abrasive person in the room. I love you and hope you are safe out there.

To my friend Vernon, thank you for always taking the time out to hear me out whenever I needed an extra ear to hear my demos and my finished songs, I forever appreciate you with all of my heart fam. Outside of my family and other loved ones, you have been one of the few people in my adulthood who continued to get me gifts, I appreciate that to the fullest!

To my friend Yotom, thank you for always believing in me, even in the moments when I even doubted myself. You’ve always been a person who continues to be a beacon of light for me, you don’t know how much that continues to inspire me.

To one of my mentors Jay Powell, even though, you are off the grid, grid, grid, grid, you continue to teach me so much ever since the moment I met you at Gucci. And whoever would have thought that I would get some man’s text messages tatted on my skin, who I met talking about milk for 45 minutes back in 2018 Lol. Love you to death fam, thank you always putting up with my insanity every day.

To my best friend/mentee, Ash, man, knowing if I ever had a car, I never would have met you on that bus! You’ve been one of the most consistent people in my life, I’m proud to call you a dear friend, a phenomenal mentee, and a brother. We changed each other’s lives so many times, our lives are movies at this point. The documentary of my life is gonna be wild, and I’m happy knowing you’re gonna be a part of it.

To my mentee, Elton, you remind me of myself so much when I was much younger when I first started doing music. One of the main reasons why I do my best is to be the best mentor I can be to you. Cause I want to make sure you know that you’re one of the best artists and producers out here. Never let anyone tell you otherwise! I’m proud to see you succeed and grow as a person and become more confident in who you are. I love telling your dad that it’s inspiring to see, it inspires me to keep going, especially in moments when my journey appears bleak. Thank you for being who you are.

To one of the dopest producers I know, Pudge, even though we haven’t spoken in a while for whatever reason, thank you for always believing in me, coming to my shows, recording some of my performances, allowing me in your creative space to work on bangers, and trusting in my insight, you taught me a lot. Thank you for everything fam.

To my friend Wes, thank you for always being another positive element in my life, being patient with my ideas, and believing in my abilities as a songwriter! You’ve always continued to look out for me and I forever appreciate that. Most people in life wouldn’t do that, and I’m forever grateful because of that.

To one of the most inspiring women I know in my life, Angie Churn, thank you for believing in me enough to have me tag along with you, learning the media side of the music industry, and being a part of your journey, you’ve taught me so much and I’m forever grateful for that!

To my friend Eric, man, you’ve been the only person off bumble bizz who cared enough to reach out and check up on me. And I don’t know if it was god’s plan / the universe but when you reached back out when I was on the brink of crying on Hollywood Blvd, and you were that positive element I needed that day back in December. Since then we’ve grown into friends, and someone who I can trust, not only with my music but someone who’s a genuine person who treated me as a person and not as just an artist simply paying for studio time. Thank you for always making time for me, being patient with my vision, all of your Pushin’ P references, and all of the moments we continue to create!

To one of my mentors and friends, Lance, I don’t know if I would even be producing if it wasn’t for you fam. I’ll forever be grateful for you allowing me to come over to your home studio and just randomly cook up. I cherish those moments so much man, I learned so much from just watching you cook up and asking you question after question about music, life, and LA. It took some time but you eventually believed in my vision when we made ‘Million’, thank you for always supporting and believing in me man. You changed my life forever fam. PS: our studio sessions when we were recording ‘Million’ were the greatest “I told you so” moments of my life Lmao

And finally to one of the dopest artists and producers I know, Shalymh, bro, the fact we met off TikTok is the greatest thing ever! You’re one of the dopest artists and producers I’ve ever met. I remember telling my coworkers about you and your page the first time I followed you and told them how much your beats were super fire. Then after we followed each other off IG, we eventually met in Burbank then now we have pending songs together and you’re always looking out when it comes to the music and just hearing me out whenever I’m going through things, I’m forever appreciative of your presence and to know you think I’m dope is the icing on the cake. I can’t wait to get our song out and show the world your talent, cause you deserve it man!

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/can2thaname/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexandercantu/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/AlexCantu

Image Credits
Sean Muse