Artist Profile: Ash the Author

Ash the Author, the Chicago-born, lyrically and melodically-inclined rapper, has known his calling since he was just a teenager experimenting with a free DAW, and now, as he has matured both personally and artistically, he is ready to settle into his full creative form, flexing the prowess he has gained from years and years of dedication to his craft.

As a child, Ash grew up in a highly musical family. His earliest musical memory took place in his Grandpa’s basement in Chicago, where the aging DJ kept a breathtaking collection of records and sound equipment. It was there that Ash heard his voice recorded for the first time: a formative moment in the development of his passion.

Moreover, both his father and his uncle were percussionists, and, through Ash’s childhood, their tastes in reggae and other genres continuously permeated his young consciousness.

Therefore, as he got older, it seemed almost a natural progression for him to begin experimenting with his own music. Yet, having already written raps for a number of years, Ash was lacking one thing: resources. He downloaded a free DAW and began the painstaking process of carving out a production style under the constraints of deeply non user-friendly software.

While he made songs periodically, and spent hour after hour refining his production capabilities, it was not yet something he took seriously as his calling. Yet, when the pandemic hit and he had a little extra money, he decided to take the jump, investing in the equipment to build himself a small home studio.

“I was constantly writing. I had all these ideas before the pandemic hit, and it just provided the landscape to be able to sit the f*ck down and think… It was kind of f*cking up my life. I went into evil genius mode… And I realized, during that time, that my job isn't going to save me. I feel like that's a shift for the whole country. The whole world realized like, why the f*ck would you waste your time doing something that you don't love?”

His 2021 project, “The Blue”, represented the absolute high water mark of his creativity at the time: a collection of five tracks that represented, in many ways, the creative burst and motivation he had come to find. Yet, despite his advancing lyrical abilities and growing confidence, Ash knew that he needed to continue to progress wherever possible.

“I have worked on my craft, doing vocal exercises, every day for the past three years… [With]  the mixing and mastering and my recording process, it's just a lot more ease, a lot more flow, now because I've been doing this shit for so long. I think that's the manifestation of [the fact that] I'm settling in. I understand my process, and it's starting to feel more comfortable.”

This work, and the possibilities it has opened up within his creative process, have paid massive dividends in recent years. His 2024 album, More Water, serves both as a manifestation of his melodic sensibilities and as veritable proof of his pure lyrical abilities. From the boom-bap inspired raps of “I’m Not Crazy” to the surrealistic synths of “Fuckucupid”, More Water represented a serious step forward in Ash’s discography.

Nevertheless, Ash has not let up creatively. In 2025 alone he’s released three separate singles in addition to his work on an upcoming album entitled NOW U SEE ME: a project that he feels fully represents the simultaneous comfort and competitive edge he has developed in his years of artistry.

“I think it's just more a full picture of who I am as an artist, all the aspects: the melodic, the wordplay… To me, it feels like a classic album from the bottom of my soul. I feel like this is something that you can listen to 20 years from now, 30 years from now, and it's still going to stand the test of time.”