Heady Betty — 28 October 2020 on Rocket Shop Radio Hour

Heady Betty joined host Tom Proctor on ‘Rocket Shop,’ Big Heavy World’s weekly local Vermont music radio hour on 105.9 FM The Radiator.

On Wednesday, October 28, 2020, Heady Betty took the mic at the Rocket Shop radio hour with host Tom Proctor. In the midst of a female uprising in the rap and hip hop scene, the artist debuted her clean flow at the Big Heavy World music office. Bringing her rap game from the heat of North Carolina to the polar vortex of Vermont, the local artist is now an active member of the local rap scene. 

“I started snowboarding and really loving my time here,” the artist said to Proctor about her adjustment to the cold Vermont climate. Being a former UVM student, Heady Betty admits the Green Mountain state was not her first choice for college. Hunkering down in the winter provided the artist with the time to take on hobbies, music being one of them. 

“I was the only girl in the group and the only one who wouldn’t freestyle,” the artist said about her friends from home. Back in North Carolina, they really pushed her to come out of her shell, and soon found that the female rapper could spit back with unmatchable verses. 

“You’ve got to let go of sounding stupid,” the artist said to Proctor about learning to embrace the creativity behind freestyling. Rolling down the streets of North Carolina in her Jeep Cherokee is where Heady Betty found her voice. From this point on, she began to write down lyrics and gain confidence in her place in the local rap scene. Being a new artist in the rap scene was intimidating for Heady Betty when her career began a few years back. 

“Eventually I started just inserting myself into situations, prepared with a line or two.” The artist said this is how she began networking in the inner circles of rap groups. This is also where she has made friends that share her love for freestyling and lyricism. 

When faced with the various hurdles of music production, Heady Betty took on the challenge independently. With a chorus in mind, she began producing her own beats using Garageband on her laptop. The personal touches in the editing, mixing, and mastering of Heady Betty’s music shows her degree of skill, range, and utter confidence. 

“I had to get there to pitch myself to people,” the rapper said during the radio hour. The choruses, hooks, and verses that came together for her first track proved her ability to make great music while also engaging an audience. With the help of friends and fellow rappers, Heady Betty was encouraged to take on the scene, whether that be one, or ten, tracks at a time. 

“I truly work like a Gemini,” Heady Betty said in terms of her creative process. “It gets to the point where I’ve already started like ten projects.” With an archive of tracks ranging from close to completion to just been started, the possibilities are endless. The solo artist discovered that she really could do it all. 

“I do my best work by myself,” Heady Betty said about her collaboration with other rappers in the local scene. Her niche is so genuine that her collaborations are directed and produced in her own style. Luckily for the featured artists, Heady Betty is a master at what she does. In the future, Heady Betty is looking forward to investing in more collaborations. 

“I love the female rappers that are in the game right now,” the artist said to Proctor about the current wave of women in hip hop. Being part of the female rap uprise of 2020 has been something exciting and empowering for the female rapper. Heady Betty cites artists like Megan Thee Stallion and Cardi B as her influences, and she has been experimenting with bringing emotion forward in her songwriting. When COVID-19 took on Vermont, she was finally able to thread in some of these elements to her style and her music. 

“It was like a roller coaster,” Heady Betty said about her COVID-19 experience. A mixture of being on a productivity binge and losing the structure of normalcy was hard for her. Some great music came out of the experience, but cabin fever was a symptom that took a great toll on the creative flow of the artist. 

“I just want to get out there,” Heady Betty said on the radio hour when asked about her EP “Modest Rich Life.” She is excited to get it out in the world to share with everyone. Still in the midst of the editing process, she said November 15, 2020 is the debut date in mind. 

Text by Izzy Mousseau

Top photo by James Lockridge