Meet Frank Vibes an Artist Dreamville Would Love

Meet Frank Vibes an Artist Dreamville Would Love

Frank Vibes started making music in 2009 but has been rapping since he was 10. He started out freestyling until he got to O.W. Huth Middle school where he met two individuals Jalen Bovia and Romero (SRT Shugg) Bounds. Through these two from their constant nudging and influence, Frank Vibes started to record his freestyles on actual tracks. It started out with him spitting the verses over the phone and Romie holding it up to the microphone to record until he put him on notice to cheap recording software that he could download and start recording on his own. From there at the age of 13 Frank Vibes built his own makeshift studio in his parent’s basement in the fall of 2009. He would record mixtapes and burn them on blank CDs because he didn’t know anything about online platforms yet. The older he got the more he developed and by his senior year of high school going into college, he dropped about 20 mixtapes on a now-debunked website called mixconnect.

Frank Vibes would describe his music as the voice of a normal man who’s seen the current scope of the world and has had enough. He’s not saying he’s a revolutionary or a second coming of anything but he hopes to use his music to leave a positive impact on the culture and world. Hopefully the impact is great enough to actually make some semblance of a change. He doesn’t seek to change no one he just hopes to talk to people and level with them on a very real and personal human experience. The genre he works in is Hip Hop but he incorporates many genres into his personal take of rap from blues to jazz, R&B, funk, soul, folk, rock, etc.

What is Frank Vibe’s Music Genre?

When it comes to Frank Vibe’s music he’s a very versatile artist. Before he deleted most of his early tapes he always showcased he was never afraid to play with styles and blend genres. He says he got more of a hang of it now compared to back then, if you don’t believe that you can see his discography. When it comes to Frank Vibes discography you can not only see the growth and the comfortability he developed stepping outside the box. After refurbishing and solidifying his musical catalog his portfolio begins with Black Coupe Blues (2020) a project that depicts a young mind searching for a semblance of functional happiness in a world that tells them to pursue everything but their dream and is not happy until they take matters into their own hands. Ebony Drive (January 2021) explores the true making of this culture we live in and contribute to from the injustice to the unfiltered power we possess. This project also began the relationship between him and Super Producer SHURIKYM 808 who produced tracks “Four Seasons” and “Hey Now” off the project. MoshPit! EP (April 2021) an EP that dwells more into the experience and injustice inflicted upon his community through the mixture of Metal and Trap. This EP was produced entirely by SHURIKYM 808. Frank Vibes & Wilderness Vol. 1 & Vol. 2 (Summer 2021) two freestyle tapes that he did with another Super Producer Vinnie (Wilderness) Murphy both tapes were produced entirely by him. Through these two projects we discovered a sound that both of us were very intrigued in and decided to explore more of together a relationship that still exists to this day. J-Park(October 2021) this is the project where all the ideas of the previously listed projects come together. Mixing Frank Vibes own personal story and experiences with the experiences of many in his community and how we as a people were always meant for even greater heights we just have to climb. The production was handled mostly by Wilderness and SHURIKYM while the mixing and mastering was handled by childhood friend and yet another Super Producer Shaun (Phyzical) Duncan who also produced the bonus track “Groovematic”.

Chad Freestyle Pro. Mar (Official Music Video)

When it comes to making the music he usually writes from experience or what he’s going through at the moment. Frank Vibes likes to give people real feelings and real time reasons which is why he called himself Frank Vibes. People think it has to do with his name being Franklin Simpkins but you’re only like 5% right the name has numerous meanings but there’s one dominant one. It translates to Genuine Feeling or Real Emotions Frank means to be honest while Vibe comes out to feeling. With that being said Frank Vibes likes to just really speak from where his head is at when it comes to writing his verses. Now when it comes to crafting the song he finds it more fun and challenging because this really sets the tone for everything, how the message comes across and how it is received. Like he said earlier it’s all about a genuine vibe and when crafting the musical element of his tracks he leaned more toward his jazz and blues influences to help create a piece that conveys those emotions in a way people can understand, internalize and dance to.

Where does Frank Vibes Born?

Frank Vibes was born in Chicago Heights, IL and raised in Richton Park, IL (J-Park) both South Suburban neighborhoods of the greater Chicagoland Area. He attended Cornerstone Christian Academy before transferring to district 162 the local public school system which he would start in 4th grade until his 8th grade graduation from OW Huth Middle School in 2010. It was at Huth where he started rapping and his freshman year at Southland College Prep is where he would get much needed validation from his English teacher Miss Nahm. She started an after school club for spoken word where he would begin to strengthen his pen game and overall lyricism. She was also a huge fan of Hip Hop, quizzing him on his knowledge and allowing him to turn mixtapes in for extra credit. After transferring to Marian Catholic his sophomore year Frank Vibes began uploading his projects online to mixconnect.com a now debunked mixtape site that was a hub for up and coming talent in the early 2010s. He started to develop a small but dedicated following and upon graduating in 2014 he had dropped a total of at least 20 mixtapes on the World Wide Web in the span of 3 years. When he started at the University of Wisconsin Parkside he saw even more success with his music from being invited into different studios to performing on different campuses to starting his first rap group with members Shawn (LSD) Allen, Eli (Big Smoove) Cook and Don aka (Little Bro). In his Junior year in 2017 Frank Vibes became a member of The Omega Psi Phi Fraternity Inc. with brothers Byron Brumfield, Tory Johnson and Lance Dorsey.

Also started a radio show with his friend Jaleesa Campbell on our college radio station. After graduating college in 2018 he started working full time jobs trying to use his degree to the fullest while simultaneously pursuing a music career. Being a hard to juggle task at the time he ended up dedicating more time to his passion then his job and ended up getting fired. Frank Vibes spent 2019 sleeping on his fraternity brother and dear friend Jeremy Cook’s couch doing his best to still chase the dream but after a while his vision got jaded. The opportunities stopped coming and the music started to fall of deaf ears mainly because it was representing who he was at the time, which was a broken individual. After a very low and dark moment that almost cost Frank Vibes his life he decided to pack it up and head home. At first it was rough not seeing eye to eye with his family on his path of life and feeling ultimately alone during the whole ordeal. It was around this time Covid broke out and while the world shut down he started trying to rebuild. He started seeing therapy for his depression and random episodes of self harm and started working out to alleviate his stress even more. Frank Vibes moved in with fellow friends who were pursuing music at the time and they started working overtime during the worldwide standstill. Producing two collaborative projects and numerous singles before they all went their separate ways at the end of 2021. Frank Vibes is now completely solo, he decided to start building his own team of individuals that can help him realize his dream from his photographer and visual consultant Rashod “BroGod” Witaker, to his creative director Chris (MISFIT Chris) Wilson and his manager Jaleel Owens. These are not only childhood best friends but men that have had his best interest since the very beginning and there’s no one he would want in the trenches with him more then these guys. Now with his music starting to find its niche audience and everything from his songs to his music videos getting thousands of views it’s time to build upon the strong foundation that was already made.

Frank Vibe’s inspiration outside of life comes from his oldest brother Phillip Simpkins. He was the first person he personally knew who could rap and once he saw he had an interest he taught Frank everything he knows. If it wasn’t for his big brother he wouldn’t have started rapping and if it wasn’t for his childhood friends Rashod, Jaleel, Branden, Jordan, Romie, Big Rob, and Jalen he would’ve never taken it seriously. Outside of his friends and family Frank Vibes also draws inspiration from artist like Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Roy Ayers, Marvin Gaye, Kool and the Gang, Thee Sacred Souls, Solange, Janelle Monae, Nina Simone, Patty LaBelle, Whitney Houston, Big L, Tupac, Biggie, DMX, Jay Z, Nas, Wutang Clan, Tribe Called Quest, Leaders of the New, Grand Nubian, Lord Finesse, Run The Jewels, Tech 9, Eminem, Hopsin, J Cole, Kendrick Lamar, ASAP Rocky, Mac Miller, Tyler The Creator and many many more.

Frank’s Recent Release :

As of right now Frank Vibes has just recently released his brand new mixtape “The Black Urameshi” exclusively on SoundCloud at the end of February. It’s been a month of being out, and it has achieved over 60k streams, 5k likes, 300 reposts and quite a few comments all together. As of so far this is his most successful tape with almost each song sitting over 5k streams a piece. None of this would be possible without God, the fans and an amazing team based out in LA named Team Leballoo. They are an outstanding group of guys and are doing everything in their power to help Frank Vibes gain the attention and notoriety he deserves in these independent stages of his career. He also has a Merch store with a new collection of products inspired by his most recent release. The Merch store has something for everybody, from babies to adults you can find along with his music and all his socials on his website https://frankvibes.onuniverse.com

For the rest of the year Frank Vibes has big things planned for now, he’s just focusing on his tape and Merch store until the summer, then he plans on dropping some new singles. All of this will be in preparation for his debut album that he will be releasing sometime in 2023. Right now he’s still working out the fine details but it is already written and ready for recording. Alongside this album he will be releasing a mini documentary detailing the creation and thought process behind the album, be prepared for every move from here on out which was carefully crafted. Frank Vibes has no aspirations to sign with anyone he enjoys his independence and freedom but if there was one label he wouldn’t mind getting down with it would be J. Cole’s very own Dreamville. He said that from his point of view that’s the only label that allows an artist to be an artist and still control their careers.

 

Written by Jessie Williams