Vory is typically quiet and elusive when it comes to press, but today he’s ready to talk about his Lil Wayne fandom. He can’t remember exactly when he first started listening to his music, but as we reminisce on the days of Wayne in Ice Cream shoes and BAPE attire, he specifically remembers how Wayne’s nonchalant attitude rubbed off on him. “He just didn’t give a fuck,” Vory tells Audiomack World. “He just stayed in his own world. He made it look so cool.”

The Louisville-via-Houston artist strived to apply this same individualism to his solo music. Some of Vory’s earliest successes came as a songwriter, particularly as a co-writer on Bryson Tiller’s 2015 breakout single “Don’t.” While that song was taking off, Vory was struggling to find himself as an artist: “When I came in, they were like, ‘Oh, we don’t need another Bryson Tiller,’” he explains. “I had to go back to the drawing board. I had to go back to my church days.” From there, Vory treated recording like therapy. The honesty and soulfulness of 2018’s Lucky Me and 2020’s self-titled project revealed an artist on the cusp of defining his voice.

His efforts eventually caught the attention of artists like Kanye West and Meek Mill, who featured Vory on their respective 2021 albums Donda and Expensive Pain. The profile boost that came from those features ensured that his June 2022 full-length, major-label debut would have more eyes on it than ever before. On Lost Souls, Vory is unafraid to bend and twist the sound he’s been cultivating for nearly a decade. “As an artist, at that relative rookie point, you got a lot to prove,” he says. “A lotta people think that talent is all you need—that’s only half of it.”

Growing up, who were some of your favorite artists?

Lil Wayne, man. I got introduced to all these artists like Future and them through Wayne. Everything Wayne was on, I was on. I’m a diehard fan, I’ve seen every documentary. If it had his name on it, I’d check it out. Like when he was doing the DJ Scoob Doo documentaries. I was on it all.

I remember when Wayne first started skateboarding for real, and then everyone was into it all of a sudden.

And everyone wanted to dress like a skater, too. With the Ice Creams and the BAPE. DC clothes and all that.

When you first started making music, were you writing, singing, or rapping?

I started off as an artist and then it just ventured into writing for real. The sound wasn’t what it is now. So then, I would start writing for other people and they thought it was sounding crazy. The more I would write, the more I would lock in my own sound.

Do you remember when you first landed on that sound?

It was hard. Me and Bryson [Tiller] were brought up in the same music shit, but he was already doing his own thing. When I came in, they were like, “Oh, we don’t need another Bryson Tiller.” I had to go back to the drawing board.

I had to go back to my church days. If you can take a church melody and make it a song, every church melody is catchy already. If I went through anything in life, I’d just talk about it.

You’ve written songs for everyone from Bryson Tiller to Drake and Beyoncé and JAY-Z. I feel like everyone thinks they know what being a songwriter is like, but it’s pretty slippery. What’s the easiest and most challenging aspect of writing for someone else?

Understanding [an artist I’m writing for] is the most challenging part. Most people know what they want to say but don’t know how to say it, if that makes sense. Once I get you, I put my mind inside your mind, and then the music becomes the easiest part. When I write with people, I like to build with them and maybe know personal things about their life so I can get some of you in me.

You dropped a self-titled solo debut album in 2020, but the bulk of your fame came after your features on Kanye West and Meek Mill’s albums. Do you feel like Lost Souls is your second shot at making a first impression on your own terms?

Yeah, big time. Sometimes, you just gotta keep your foot on their necks. As an artist, at that relative rookie point, you got a lot to prove. And like you said, people had heard of me off the Kanye and Meek shit. With top-tier spotlight features, you got a lot to prove. It’s not easy, but I’m already on to the next project from here.

Even with [Lost Souls], that’s why I’m doing interviews now. Usually, I just be a shadow, bro. I feel like whatever you need to know is in the music. But now I feel like the more you give yourself something to do, the more there is for you to talk about.

What do you feel Lost Souls says about you that the self-titled didn’t?

I feel like they say more or less the same thing. I’m as vulnerable as I was before. The only thing that changed is the instrumentals.

Actually, I’d say there’s more toxic stuff on here. Real talk, I had to go Vory Hendrix. Future actually gave me that name. He said that on one of these tracks we did.

Has there ever been a time in your career where you’ve felt pigeonholed into just one sound?

Nah, and that’s why a lot of these people don’t like me. I never boxed myself in. That’s why me and my last label didn’t see eye-to-eye. They wanted [me] to be like a Black Post Malone vibe. And I love Posty, that’s my dawg, but that’s not my vibe.

You can’t box me in. I can go acoustic, country, trap, rock if I got to. I’ll even learn Spanish and do some Spanish songs. I feel like I’ve mastered my craft of hip-hop and R&B and I be wanting a challenge. I be recording these songs in five to 10 minutes, all freestyling off the top.

What would you want the first different kind of music you write or perform to be?

That’s a good question. Where Bad Bunny at? Tell him to hit my line. Or Anuel AA. He’s pretty dope, he played me a few records. And my friend Rvssian, too. He’s incredible. I be tapped in with these other genres. It’s deeper than the kind of artist I am—it’s the kind of person I am.

Do you have any advice for other Black artists who might feel like they’re being pigeonholed and the tension of navigating being a Black person in entertainment?

Don’t give up, save your money, believe in yourself, and don’t take no advice. Best advice I was ever given.

Photos by Chris McCoy.

“I Never Boxed Myself In”: An Interview With Vory