Nearly thirteen years ago while scrolling through YouTube I stumbled upon a video of a then 18 year old talent named Barbare Mchedlishvili aka Bako titled ‘Kreyshawn Got Competition’ -which eventually changed to Iggy Azalea Got Competition’-free styling on the street.
She had a special energy that immediately grabbed my attention, but the video didn’t end there though because she then proceeded to bust out -Amy Winehouse like vocals- and seamlessly back to freestyle rhyming. It was incredible and clear that despite the title of the video, this individual was a different type of talent. Initially the video had only a few hundred views and no information on her but I knew I had to track her down for an interview – which somehow I did back in 2011– before the video would explode to over a million views within a month. While we’ve kept in contact over the years we have finally both been able to sit down again and catch up on all things Bako!
Soooooooooo what have you been up to the past, um, 13 years? I remember after we ran the interview I believe Sony and Warner bros reached out and Pete Rock. Can you tell us more about that.
Where do I even start?
My memory might be fuzzy, but I don’t remember Pete Rock reaching out. However, I met him at an event in the Bronx around that time. He was DJing there. I remember Dante Ross contacting me and finding out he signed Pete Rock. That might be where the connection comes from.
Photo Via Mark Elzay
Has there been anyone else that’s reached out? Any encounters over the years? Where you do call home these days?
Around 2012, YouTube was still kind of new, and I think that’s where A&Rs and industry folks were scouting out new talent through viral videos, etc. I remember meeting with an artist manager named Chris Smith and Gita Williams. I’m honestly not sure what happened with that. I just never heard back, and I never followed up (same with Donte Ross), Even after talks about paperwork and signing. In retrospect, I know I wasn’t ready. And even then, I knew. But it made me realize these people saw a lot of potential in me. I remember producers from X-factor reaching out, but I declined that. I had 0 desire to participate in a nationally televised competition show, potentially. It wasn’t hard for me to decide on that. I was so naive back then, but I was sure this wasn’t the right move for me. Let’s just say I was like a fresh piece of clay, ready to be molded into whatever, but, in some kind of way, I was aware of that. I was aware that I wasn’t developed yet. At around 18/19 years old, my imposter syndrome was so strong you could say that it held me back, but I’m strangely relieved that certain things didn’t work out for me at that age.
Shortly after all that, I started working with local producers and mostly hip-hop artists. I frequently traveled back and forth from South Jersey to New York and North Jersey. I had more of a hip-hop / R&B style back then. I was also heavily influenced by neo-soul artists like Erykah Badu and 90 R&B during those years. Eventually, I met a talented producer named Synematik, whose studio was based in the Upper East Side at the time. The studio itself is called “Music Works.” Long story short, he ended up signing me up for a couple of years for a producer deal. We recorded a lot of songs together -I want to say close to 40 songs-. We also had some cool opportunities come up from Sony, which ended up fading. I came to realize that was just how the industry works sometimes. Offers can go just as fast as they come. I think It was just enough to stimulate me to keep going.
I was still living in Atlantic City at the time and traveling roundtrip on buses back and forth every single Tuesday just for the studio. We ended up releasing a 4 track R&B/pop EP called “Good Strain Vol 1.” I’m still really proud of all those songs, even though they didn’t get the push they deserved. I also didn’t feel like I was in my complete form in terms of style. I was still figuring that part out. Then, I flew to Tbilisi, Georgia, and Amsterdam. I did some cool underground hip-hop and jazz stuff there. That took me into a different element. I was hungry for live music at that point. And the universe answered when I arrived back in the States and discovered a great live jazz scene in NYC. The people I met there helped guide me, and the rest is history.
NYC feels like home for me. Even before I lived here, it always felt that way. Even as a small kid just visiting. I always imagined myself eventually here. I think my feeling of belongingness here is because there are so many people with a similar story. Immigrants or children of immigrants. It’s a melting pot of all kinds of stories, flavors, music, and eclectic humans just floating past and connecting at the same time. NYC is the place where I can blend in yet also feel like I can shine if that makes sense.
Makes a whole lot of sense. I know when we first met you were definitely doing the Rap/R&B thing -which you mentioned- How has your style evolved since then?
In my song “Home,” which is on my upcoming album, there’s a line in the first verse where I say, “I’m changing, and this space between us is speeding up the process, yet I’m being brought back to myself, little Barbara (Me) hugs me” That’s the best way I can describe it. In recent years, I feel like I’ve been going back to my indie and folk roots that I developed as a tween/adolescent. Like when I was 12 watching The Strokes “Reptilia” music video on TV while temporarily staying in Tbilisi, Georgia, and thinking they were the coolest band ever. So many channels would re-run music videos all day. I wish they still did that. I also distinctly remember watching Massive Attack’s “Teardrop” and “Unfinished Sympathy” music videos, which were often aired. And Coldplay’s first album, “Parachutes,” made me cry a couple of times, haha. I’m grateful to have been in Georgia at that time. I owe so much of my development as an artist to my native city, Tbilisi. I also dove deep into Jamiroquai’s catalog and soul artists like Corinne Bailey Rae. Her debut album was one of the first albums I ever bought myself when I got back to the States at 13.
My taste has always been diverse. One second, I’ll put on ska/reggae, and the next, it would be Billie Holiday and Stan Getz. It took me meeting Caio Carvalho, who’s producing my album, for him to dig that 12-year-old indie-folk girl out of me. And thank God he did. Recording my new album has made me appreciate my uniqueness. I intentionally numbered my album with 12 songs in honor of that girl and that time in my life. That’s also the age I picked up the guitar. I guess that’s when the musical seed was planted. I started the album demos during the pandemic. Albums take time!
Photo Via Nahida A
Just like most teens, I went through a couple of phases. At some point, it was 50’s doo-wop. I would watch the reunion concerts on TV, haha. I even wanted to start my own doo-wop group. 50’s outfits and all. I have been enamored by the past for as long as I can remember. Motown artists and 60’s jazz. I’m an old soul, and soul music has always been the core. I distinctly remember discovering Otis Redding either on YouTube or Limewire. I remember laying down in bed with my MP3 player and my pirated music and crying to “A Change Is Gonna Come.” Around that time, I also fell into a 60’s hippie culture craze. I would watch Woodstock footage on YouTube in awe, just wishing I had a time machine. Artists like Bob Dylan and Nick Drake also influenced me heavily.
Then 10th grade happened…and hip hop happened. And boy, did it happen. When I watched Common perform “I Use to Love Her” live a couple of years ago, first at the Roots Picnic, then at my favorite venue, Nublu, it was such a special moment for me. That was a tune that influenced me as a teen. It took me to that time. Which was 2009 for me, when I truly fell in love with hip-hop. And I’ll never forget the first time I heard “Can I kick it” with that Velvet Underground bassline sample starting and Q-tip’s buttery style starting on the beat. I also loved the up-and-coming rappers like Tyler the Creator, and my fellow schoolmate Mac Miller’s rise motivated me. I even enjoyed watching rap battles on YouTube, as if I were watching a favorite sport.
As an adult, I started getting back into my alternative/ indie roots. I even recently dropped the extra K from my nickname/artist name, Bakko. I just want a fresh, clean start. Bako feels more authentic to me now. I’m going through a complete rebranding—a metamorphosis in some sense—shedding the old skin.
Photo via Irma Mchedlishvili
In the freestyle video from 2011 it showcased your rhyming capability and your singing capability do you rap anymore ?
Yes, I still rap! But I don’t do it as often anymore. If it’s a long car ride, you’ll hear me pull out a freestyle in the car, haha. I will always love rapping. In my single “Come And Go,” I have a verse that is more of a spoken word style. I got more poetic over the years. I’d say that’s more of the direction my rapping went into. I love getting creative and playful with verses, and rapping allowed me to get better at that. Rapping will always be a part of me. I’ve just been singing more these days.
Who would you like to work with?
I love singers/songwriters like Alice Pheobe Lou and Soko, as well as Jessica Pratt. their writing is so honest and playful. I’d also love to work with the bands like Zero-7. I know they often collaborate. I’ve always been a fan of their dreamy sound and production. BADBADNOTGOOD comes to mind, too. Massive Attack and Portishead would be a dream to work with. Even just to sit in a session with them. I also can’t exclude Thom Yorke from my dream-collab list. I just need to go to the UK already. What is in the air? Magic with slight rain? So much soul.
In terms of solo pop artists, I’m a big fan of Rosalia. She’s incredible. I would love to collaborate with her someday. Her voice is filled with emotion, I love how she incorporates her flamenco roots and how she mixes modern styles with classics. She’s super creative. Honestly, there are too many to think of. In terms of Hip-hop, I adore Doja Cat, and I feel like she would be so fun to collaborate with. I connect with her lyrics and quirkiness. She’s super creative and diverse (and a great dancer) 🙂 I love the sound of Hermanos Gutierrez, those brothers are cool. I love their Latin Western sound. I’ve been in that bubble these days. I love indie artists like Connan Mockasin, Nilufer Yanya, and Skinshape :3 I tried to keep this short but couldn’t! haha.
Love it!!!! Do you have any projects you are working on?
I’m almost finished with my debut album, “Dreaming Again.” I often joke that it’s like my baby, and I’m in the last trimester. Which is about how long it took us to record. I recorded it with a label called Pinch Recording based in Queens. Produced and mixed by Caio Carvalho. I think It’s the proudest work I’ve ever created. We built everything one by one, instrument by instrument. Demo by demo. Caio is so creative, and he believes in a very organic approach, which I think we captured. I think the style of this record would best be described as Indie/soul, indie/pop, and folk.
There are some dreamy, ethereal, nostalgic sounds and some tracks that have more of a Western folk vibe. The common theme is dreaming. There’s a mention of dreaming in almost every song, and that was just by coincidence. So it all came together really naturally. The last song on the record is called Saburtalo, which is the name of my neighborhood in Tbilisi, Georgia. You’ll hear a combination of the most recent audio from there featuring my mom and grandma’s voice as well as a clip I found from a camcorder in 2005. My intention with this record is to have the listener escape into their daydreams, which music has always done for me while diving into my world, memories, and dreams. Most of the tracks are love songs except for “Saburtalo” and the interlude “Toko’s Place,” Some of the audio was recorded in Tbilisi. I think It symbolizes the album’s beginning and end so well. I recorded “Toko’s Place” At my friend Tornike’s apartment around 2018. I mention my guitar teacher named “Tengo” in the track Saburtalo,” So there are a lot of personal pieces there.
For the most part, it’s a down-tempo record, but there is a playful, upbeat track on there called “Who Woulda Knew.” You’ll hear some Georgian lyrics mixed in there, too. I wanted to embrace my Georgian roots on this record, and you’ll hear a lot of that, too. I got really into Georgian Folk and Georgian musicians from the’ 60s/’70s during the pandemic. The pandemic allowed me to slow down and listen, and I’m grateful for that.
In the past, I struggled to put myself in a box. Maybe that’s why I was all over the place, and people didn’t know what to do with me. It’s good to have your style figured out in terms of marketing. I can finally say that I found my little lane, aesthetic, and primary sound. Maybe it took meeting the right people and starting this album to finally figure that part out. I guess I’m a late bloomer. And I’m still blooming. I want to create something timeless and something I can be proud of. I think I finally feel that way.
Final Words?
Everyone can follow me on Instagram @bakoliketaco and vote for me via tophitmaker.org/2024/bako