Madrid-based Alejandro Agudín Arribas, a.k.a. XEINN is a young, rising R&B/ trap/ hip hop influenced artist with real talent, ambition and a relentless energy to succeed. Ever prolific, he released his debut album ‘Pride of the Weak’ last month.
In his formative years XEINN was inspired and influenced by his grandmother and mother, who are both singers, but also by many eclectic high-profile artists from different genres. Justin Bieber was his first really big influence and started him on the path to becoming an artist. Renowned R&B /Soul singer Bryson Tiller taught the fledging XEINN a lot. However, his biggest influence is the Weeknd who heavily influence the rhythms and melodies in his current work. Other influences include cool, Independent, artists like NBDY (American) or Anders (Canadian) and hip hop and trap luminaries Drake, Post Malone, and Travis Scott.
‘Pride of the Weak’, is composed of both high energy and deep emotional vibes, unafraid to explore the ‘dark side’ of human emotions whilst also extolling the confident, bright light in human nature. The track ‘The Leaving’, is a song about a painful situation caused by a break-up and is from the point of view of the abandoned person. It is a dark but cathartic song with a melancholic spirit underscoring our human weaknesses. Equally, there are bold and confident songs that exude a positive, vibey energy: ‘My Way’, proffers a bold, carefree attitude towards reality, alluding to luxury, success and doing things on your own terms. The lead track‘Runaway’ has an enveloping dark sound that intrigues. It ‘explodes’ in the chorus, at the sharpest, tense climax where there is a clear allegory between temptation and psychological games.
XEINN is an artist on the rise: a bold, emotional, adventurer who is happy to wear his feelings on his sleeve. The album title track ‘Pride of The Weak’ exemplifies this.
“I feel pride over all kinds of feelings – love, pain, betrayal, party, joy, sensuality – which we think are often feelings from a weak person, but I expose them with complete pride”.
– XEINN
Read the Full Q&A with XEINN below.
Q: Hey there XEINN, how are you?
A: At the moment I am very happy, we recently released the video for “Runaway” and launched my album “Pride of the Weak” – I’m hoping for a great reaction by the public!
Q: We are almost half way through 2021, how has this year been for you so far?
A: Well it’s been a weird year in every way and I think it’s something that is happening to all of us, however musically we have been working hard with the releases of my promotional singles, and now with the release of my album “Pride Of The Weak”. It has been a year full of experiences and feelings because it is my first studio álbum, where I have set all my expectations at a professional level and we want everything to go as we planned.
Q: How did you get into music?
A: My history with music began when I was 10 years old and I was chosen to sing in the school choir, however, it wasn’t something really serious. At the age of 12, I played the violín for two years and learned music theory. However, in 2015 I decided to go back to music as it was something that I was passionate About – especially singing. I decided to sign up for singing classes to improve my technique and start uploading versions to digital platforms. After three years uploading content and becoming more and more professional, the moment came when one of my videos went viral worldwide “Changes” by XXXTENTACION.
I started to get a large number of subscribers from all over the world, who began to see all the content that I had uploaded so far, and it was right there when I met the big talent of Mr Worth, who has been with me for 4 years in my musical adventure , with whom I produce and compose all the songs. So we began to write original songs with the aim of becoming an artist known for my own compositions. After months creating songs, at the end of 2018 I released my first EP known as “Diversity”, a presentation to the world of my 5 original songs, which was received really well! In 2019 we decided to start a new project but without the goal of creating an album. We were composing songs for about 2 years, until we finally came up with the idea for “Pride Of The Weak”, with the intention of composing songs based on my lived experiences, expressing my deepest emotions.
Q: How would you describe your work?
A: My music is characterized by the R&B/Soul sound mainly, however, I like other genres such as hip-hop, pop, funky or electronic music. I like to try myself in a multitude of genres, that ́s why I will never be able to make music of only one genre, I like to change, innovate and dare with new sounds, It is part of the artist’s job to have the ability to be open to new challenges that take him out of his comfort zone, this is the only way to improve as an artist as well.
Q: What do you want people to take away from it?
A: It is an album where I show myself as I am, with everything I have been through during my life and it makes me the person I am today, and that is why I think people are going to feel they identify with “Pride of the Weak “because I’m talking about feelings that we have all felt at some point in our life and that make us look ‘weak’ in the eyes of the rest, but nothing is further from reality, that is what makes us strong and learn about what you lived and how you want to be.
Q: What inspires you and who are your influences?
A: My inspirations are diverse, for example, in “Pride of the Weak” they come from my own experiences as I have mentioned before, but currently, when composing songs I start from a different idea, I usually imagine hypothetical or fictitious situations that do not have to be necessarily real, but in my world they do. I can mix my feelings in a different or invented context and story, it is something I enjoy the most because I tell a story where I am the protagonist but I give it the way I want to the story. But it ́s also true that everything has a meaning and a reason for being, many times related to what I am living or have lived.
Regarding my influences, I have always listened to English and American music since I was a child, since my father is a music fanatic and he played me music of many genres, such as rock & roll, blues, hip-hop, electronic music, funky and soul, this music is what really influences me. As I grew up, I began to enjoy many musical genres, such as: R&B, Trap, Pop, House (Deep house, Future house), Electro, Dubstep and Synthwave (Synth pop too). All these sounds influence the music I make today, having as reference artists: The Weeknd, Bryson Tiller, Craig David, Daft punk, Kavinsky, Anders and NBDY.
Q: What advice would you give to your younger self?
A: I would tell him not to waste time and take advantage of it above all in all training related to music and his later musical career. I would also tell him to be patient and to take things slowly, although knowing myslef, it would be complicated.
Q: What’s next for you? What are you most excited for?
A: After this album, I want to release everything new that we’ve been composing that has nothing to do with “Pride Of The Weak”, we enter a less intimate stage but where XEINN talks about experiences and stories never explored before for him, using new sounds that we have never used before and writing about what I have never talked About! This is a very nutritious and happy moment for me on a compositional level, but we have to be patient . At the momento we are very excited about “Pride Of The Weak “and that’s what we want to spend time on for the moment, at least publicly.
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