grafiXal: Hey! I'm so happy and excited for this interview and I'm honored to interview a great and kind user like you! Before starting the interview, I want to ask you this: How are you feeling right now?

ToxiPlays (@toxi): I'm feeling excited as well! Admittedly a little sick physically but, you know, what doesn't kill you makes you stronger and stuff. I'm very happy for this opportunity!

grafiXal: I'm sorry to hear that! :❪ I hope you will get well soon! <3 Well, let's start this interview! *Insert a late-night show cool opening with cool music*

ToxiPlays (@toxi): *Dances like a catgirl*

grafiXal: I'm going to start this interview with probably one of the most generic and basic questions you can ask a Genius user, LOL. How did you find this wonderful site and join the community? What influenced you on the decision?

ToxiPlays (@toxi): My reason to join is probably one of the most lamest things haha. I joined initally to make some small edit on a Blueface song (back when he was still a thing), since it just irked me so bad reading it. Then I guess it just all snowballed in the greatest way possible.

Back then, I was a huge fan of the rapper Quadeca, so getting to read all of the lyrics to his songs as well as read some of the fan theories and interpretations in the annotations was very special to me. Especially because, also back then, there was no built-in Spotify lyrics. Eventually I got more comfortable adding my own interpretations into the mix, interacting with the Quadeca fan circle and then interacting with Genius lovers in general. That all led me here ;D

grafiXal: That is great to hear! It can be really annoying to see and read incorrectly-transcribed lyrics of probably your most favorite artist's song(s). Annotations are not jusz great to write, but even to just read, I agree with you on that! I, myself, used to read many tates, and learned stuff I didn't know about the artists, etc. If you snowballing to being one of our best users on site isn't a prophecy…I don't know what to tell you. XD

Diving more into your Genius path, have you ever felt unmotivated to continue? If so, is there any thing that or anyone who inspired you to continue and not leave the site?

ToxiPlays (@toxi): This got pretty philosophical fast haha... undoubtedly there have been times where I felt like I shouldn't have gone on, and I feel like most of anybody is going to feel that way at some point in time with everything, not just Genius. I find this is a really bad setting to get into specifics in, but mainly the sense of community is one thing I love about Genius and is something I think is lacking from a lot of other music-focused platforms. Being able to bicker around in the Discord, monitor the Forums, even simply scrolling my Feed and seeing all the annotations from the hundreds(!) of people I'm following, all of that just feels so special. And that is mainly what I find myself running back to. Even in the worser times I've had, I've never felt like there wasn't a community I could turn to for support.

To name people in particular, I'm extremely grateful for the people who have worked and are currently working on Game Genius---they are the people that helped me continue to propel and had my back in so many situations. I think that I'll be eternally grateful for them.

grafiXal: I am sorry for the deep question. The main focus was your sources of motivation, hahaha, and you are absolutely right! Most of us will be feeling that way eventually, whether with Genius or other stuff. I co-sign this fact based on my own experiences haha. The sense of community in the site is probably one of the BEST! I haven't had any better experience anywhere else than on our annotating and transcribing community. Oh, and shout-out to Game Genius!!! 🔥 🔥 🔥

Okay, enough Genius talk, let's dive in to other aspects of you! Lots of us know about you being a rapper, singer, songwriter, producer…a musician basically. Do you think you can tell me and our audience about your path to your musical career?
ToxiPlays (@toxi): Sure thing! I grew up in a family of musicians. My dad was really into soul, and my mom killed the gangsta rap scene. They had a band together too, which unfortunately is disbanded now but they used to have rehearsals in our house. Not to mention my sister is a really TikTok-popular singer. I've been surrounded by music pretty much my whole life.

Me touching music for the first time myself was funnily enough making Team Fortress 2 remixes of popular hip-hop songs. Which ended up throwing me into the nerdcore scene. But I myself like making a lot of types of music—it ends up being experimental rap usually and that's what I'm known for, but I dabble in R&B and lately, I'm exploring the sound of hard rock. Music isn't as formulaic to me as people make it, and I've always loved pushing the boundaries to see how many lanes I have at my disposal.

grafiXal: That's really cool! I take that you guys had fun making music together, if you ever did. And I absolutely agree on your last sentences! Music is largely diverse and can take many forms; it's a phenomenon that makes the art of it interesting, whether as a musician or as a music listener.

Besides ✨ Geniusing ✨ and working on musical projects, is there any other hobby that you do (and enjoy doing, of course!)?

ToxiPlays (@toxi): One thing I'm getting back into is programming. I started taking this cybersecurity course and I'm excited to see how that plays out. Pretty clear path for me to take if God forbid this music thing doesn't work out, haha.

It's hard for me to word properly that I love writing since... music, but lyrics aren't just what I like writing! I have a couple of short stories and whatnot to my name, which I'm really proud of :O

Last but not least, gaming. But you could probably infer that a Game Genius member loves to pick up a video game every once in a while

grafiXal: That's really cool! Wish you the best on the path! I'm sure you'll make a great programmer one day. 👩‍💻 Whereas for writing, it's great; something I take interest in too sometimes haha. I didn't know you wrote stories as well. :O That's really cool!!!

Oh, and gaming, you can't just be a Game Genius member if you don't pick up a video game once in a while. I mean, their goal is game-related songs haha!

I think I will conclude this interview with one last question. Personally, I am not a big fan of planning for the future, I don't feel comfortable thinking about it generally, but I feel like there are people who are quite the opposite. If you are the opposite, do you think you can give us a sneak peek to your "plans for the future" regarding Genius or your musical career?

ToxiPlays (@toxi): I love thinking about the future a little. With music, I'm currently working on perfecting the sequel to my sophomore album Level Select... I can say already it's loads better than the songs on the original. I can't wait to show everyone! I can tell you that my songs "Order in the Court" and "Houdini" are on there. I wanna drop one more single—"Come Home"—before I say more about the album. But I also have been working on the album for a bit, so I started a side project called Fountain of Youth. Everyone loves the question, "What would you tell your younger self about the life you live today?" That will basically be my answer in musical form. And in honesty, I started it so I could buy more time for the album, this project won't take that long to release.

As for Genius, I'm pretty happy with where I am. I'd like to qualify for Tier 2 one day. My only plan is to continue being helpful to the community and to the artists I know, whichever helps me so that the best I can. I have even more wants, but I don't wanna jinx myself ;D

grafiXal: Ayo! A new album? Sequel to Level Select? That's amazing! "Order in the Court" has to be my favorite song by you at this point, you have made a wise choice to include it.
That's great to hear! :D And I'm sure you will eventually qualify for Tear 2. Keep up the good work because one day it will reward you. <3

It has been a pleasure to interview you! I and our audience learnt a lot of cool things about you today! I wish you the best. <3

That's all, folks! Good night / day. 👋

*Closing theme plays while credits roll*