Farrah Fawx X Wordplay Interview
Photo Credits: Ivan Guajardo
Originally from Virginia, now based between Los Angeles, California and London, Farrah Fawx emerges as a vivid original—equal parts nostalgic allure and futuristic edge, rejecting the notion of algorithm driven mimicry and manufactured persona. In our conversation, Fawx opens up about her genre-defying sound—rooted in what she has once described as electro funk glam and an unapologetic commitment to authenticity and fluid inspiration. Speaking with Farrah felt less of an interview and more an insightful experience, where her radically introspective self-expression expands into a vision that’s impossible not to resonate with.
Curating a sonic revolution, Farrah Fawx isn’t here to blend in—she’s here to break molds, electrify stages and continue crafting the next evolution of her sound; embodying feeling, not a formula. In doing so, she’s making music that dares you to feel something too. You can pre-save her upcoming project But Did You Die, releasing 16th May.
Farrah Fawx is your performer name. What's your real name?
Audra Green-
That's a really nice name, that sounds like a star name in itself.
Thank you, I actually used to go by Audra.
Okay, so how did you settle on your artist name?
I’d say like 2018- it's interesting 'cause I feel like as artists and performers journey longer, they tend to get rid of the monikers and go to their real names. I was the complete opposite. I was like, I wanna become this character. Farrah came from Farrah Fawcett the American actress from the 70’s who was just known for her hair. I just love playing with hair and switching it up all the time; two friends in particular, they used to call me Farrah Sawcett (laughs). And and then Fox came along because I love the alliteration, but also I just felt that any Black woman with Fox in her name could not be fucked with.
I have to agree-
Vivica A Fox, Foxy Cleopatra, even the cartoon Foxy Love, Foxy Brown, you know, you just knew not to cross anybody with Fox in their name. So that's how that came about.
I love a story behind a name because when artist’s choose it, it’s like stepping into that other identity and world you embody. What does your creative process like from first idea to finished work?
I try to keep it the same and embrace the first idea before I get into overthinking or imposing my worldly conceptions behind it. I feel it's spiritual and it's crazy because I don't make spiritual music or anything like that, but I do think the process of creation itself is spiritual. It's outside of ourselves, or as we know ourselves anyway. So I try to keep whatever I release similar to what that first inclination was. My creative process with music, it always starts from I want to say freestyle, but it's really not words to it, it's just melody, whatever melody feels natural. And if I don't hear melody to it, or if nothing's coming, I just move on. I don't force it, which is way different than how I used to be. I used to write first, like have my notepad, and try to force those words on the page to the song. That removes a lot of feeling from the process, so now it's completely opposite.
How has your sound evolved from when you first started making music to where you are currently?
I used to want to be the rap-i-diest rapping rapper! (both laugh) I idolized Lil Wayne and Pusha T growing up, Cam'ron from Dipset, and I just thought they were very barred up. Even in idolizing them I think I took on such a masculine energy when I was younger. I would say now I'm prioritizing my femininity and recognizing the power within that and upholding that in my concepts and my lyrics a lot more. And also, I prioritize what feels good, what lands on the body good more than what is the hardest bar ever. You know, it's still there because rap is my first love, but yeah, I'm letting all parts of that creative process into the room more than just prioritizing how can I be the rap-i-diest rapper of all time.
That's very fair. So how were you introduced to those artists- who is it that you had around you? I'm also a massive Dipset fan-
Yeah, that was my first rap CD. I wasn't even allowed to listen to rap or hip-hop growing up; my mom and my grandma raised me, and that was her way of protecting me 'cause we all know there's a lot of misogyny in it and I think women just weren't prioritized within rap, especially when I was growing up. I think rap shifted a lot more around the early 2000’s and everything to being more like male, money, bitches, bottle -popping focused, and she was like, ‘Uh -uh, not in my house.’ So rap was like this illegal commodity in my household where my friends used to sneak me CDs; the first rap CD I ever had was Diplomatic Immunity. And yeah, it was just via friends, trading CDs and burning CDs. Also I was allowed to listen to R&B, [mom] didn't care how sexually explicit the R&B was as long as it wasn’t rap-
(laughs) People always make exceptions for R&B, right?!
Right! And I remember the first verse I ever learned was a Lil Kim verse on an Usher CD. It was his My Way CD and I think the song is called Just Like Us and the first line is like strictly fuck with those six digit niggas. Like I'm six years old. (laughs) So I was getting micro-dosed rap through R&B features; that was my introduction to it.
Sharing a personal story, when I was six-ish my favourite song was M.E.T.H.O.D Man; I grew up in the UK and in a predominantly white area so was an interesting experience going to my first school disco. I'm there thinking the music I'm hearing at home with my older siblings is going to be at this party. It definitely wasn't! (laughs) I walked all the way home solo in protest. I could’ve got down with some Madonna or something, but it absolutely was not that, culture shock for sure.
That's hilarious! Until 10 years old I was kinda sheltered so my neighborhood wasn't predominantly white, but the school was. Yeah, I wasn't going outside my mom wouldn’t let me hang with the neighborhood kids or anything when I was young. So I was going to those school dances and everything and I was eating that pop shit up (laughs) I loved it. Then I moved to Richmond, Virginia, which is the Tottenham of Virginia, where I'm from, right. So, it was that culture shock and that's where I got introduced to a lot more rap. That's why I met the friends that were being like, ‘Nah, you gotta listen to this.’
I hear you- so is there a particular environment or vibe that helps you get into the creative zone?
I mean there are some artists that are like, I need these circumstances to create, but me, not really. I noticed my pattern is I tend to be by myself. It's just me and the producer. I don't really have anybody in the room. I don't have anybody in the room that's not contributing. So that's my pattern. But always uphold that.
Well that's the vibe; just like you and the music and the producer so you can hear the music as opposed to having outside distractions. You can really focus and narrow in, so I would say that in itself is a vibe.
Yeah and I'm such an empath energetically that I would consider everybody's input or energy or or response before I consider my own, you know, so I think I become less removed from my own process if there's not so many people in the room.
Too many cooks spoil the broth, they always say.
Yep that part, that bit.
Your recent single Chop Chop has a unique energy. What was the inspiration behind that track in particular?
I wanted a high energy record. I went into it knowing that I'm like, okay, the BPM that matches my feeling right now is like 150, 160. And I've been really inspired by drum and bass artists a lot lately. I did that song the day before I had to turn it in, the day before Christmas. (laughs) And it was funny 'cause I had to send it to my whole team and I'm like, ‘Hey guys, this plan we have, we need to rewrite it because I did something I like.’ But yeah, I just wanted this high energy record, that's how I was feeling. And I did it with my best friend who I live with. He produced it, mixed-mastered it. It's interesting because he's more into creating Dembow and rap, like various other genres, but he never stepped here and I'm like this is what we're gonna do. This song had just come after Hi My Name Is. This record, I absolutely love; it came the day after Notting Hill Carnival and I had just seen Shy FX perform, they are a huge inspiration for me, and I had just landed back in L.A where I was working with this producer Stari for Hi My Name Is and that was kind of the first time we stepped into mixing what I know with what inspires me right now. And Chop Chop was me wanting to remain in that world. Wanting to remain in okay, cool, how can I introduce elements of me being an artist from the South with these heavy 808’s, and this kind of flow and the style that is natural to what I've been doing, but also with these elements that are heavily inspiring me right now with rapid break beats and these drum and bass elements, this160 tempo, me wanting to to stay in that rhythm of what was really feeling good to me.
I love that! Going into inspirations and collabs, your track with DUCKWORTH. was 10/10, loved it. Are there any artists that you're currently vibing with or you would love to collaborate with moving forward?
Yeah, so the projects I have coming up, I collaborated with three artists on the project. One is from the UK, Miraa May. I love her- that's like my sister. Like we go on holiday, you know, to Caribbean together, everything. I've known her for, I want to say eight years, but this is our first time collaborating. I was really excited about that because it just came so natural, it wasn't forced. She was staying with me, I was playing her a record that I had just finished. And she was like, no, I need to be on it. And I'm like, yeah, you do. So that came about. Another artist who was on Hi My Name Is who is going to be on the project, Spanish artist Carly Gibert from Catalonia; and then the third one is Devin Tracy. He's somebody who I know through the years on the LA scene. I've been working a lot with Aluna Francis from AlunaGeorge, her and I have a collab coming out. It's our first collab of a few, but the first one comes out this soon for a collaboration project that she put together. And then we have another song coming out later in the year, but I ain't talking ‘bout that yet!(laughs) So I've been writing with her for her projects, and also Bambii, the Toronto junglist DJ. There are a bunch of artists, I really want to work with; Shy FX, Kelela, and PinkPantheress, yeah, those are those girls right now, yeah!
Lovely! Outside of music, what inspires you creatively? Watching your videos I can feel like an art and fashion vibe-
I think people, people inspire me the most. I need to travel. And I know that sounds privileged but it doesn't have to be crazy. Sometimes we just drive down to the border to Mexico a few hours south and walking across for the day. Different cultures inspire me. Just knowing that everything I know isn't everything there is, keeps me inspired. That fight to learn more, to experience more, to meet more people. And a sense of community. I'm an only child and I've moved to these big cities by myself a couple of years in pursuit of this career. In doing that, I'm constantly replacing community that I've built, you know? So being able to impose myself in communities and learn and experience how different communities celebrate and come together, which I'm realizing it's all the same; spaces that allow safe a space to dance and express.
How did you come to decide these places that you want to go to and then build these relationships with people? You're originally from Virginia and you’ve mentioned L.A, London. Where else feels like a second home to you?
London feels like a second home to me. Pre-Covid and kind of even after Covid, I was spending like half my year there. I ended up there on accident, not even knowing anybody, but years ago, I was on a television show, biggest check I ever cashed after, and I was like, I'm leaving, I'm just gonna go. I went to the Caribbean first, then to Europe on a one-way for five months; I didn't know anybody. This was when EasyJet was still like $16. (laughs)-
Yeah, it's really not that anymore! (laughs)
I was just bouncing around and meeting people and I realized like, wait a minute, I love myself here more than in America. Like I feel like all guards were down in how I connect with people or embrace people as strangers, you know, and I was forming relationships in a way that I don't think I would do close to home just because of the guard of who I thought I was or who I thought I should be. That doesn't travel with you. So in doing that, I was like, okay, this is what I need to constantly introduce to my process, to my life, for me to maintain the path to becoming my best self, I need to leave.
It's always good to expand yourself because with that, you’re forced to challenge yourself. Is there a sound or genre that you haven't explored as yet that you're excited to experiment with?
I want to play with experimental electronic, like synthesizers. Somebody that inspires me, I worked with him before years ago on the song Never Thought; Jimmy Edgar. He's intense, you know- I showed up to his studio one time and he had like this huge wall of patchwork and he was just creating the sounds in real time. And I thought that was beautiful, something to be so mechanic but so creative.
I feel like it would it would go well with your sound, but then also branching out. What's one narrative you're trying to challenge or rewrite with your artistry?
I love this question- I don't know if it's rewriting, but I think something I'm adamant about in my creation that I make sure not to do no matter how true to my moment it is, is nothing that resembles self-deprecation nothing that doesn't highlight our power. I think my responsibility as an artist, my responsibility with language, with words, because I believe words are a spell. I believe in law of attraction and I believe in manifestation, I believe we all have the capabilities to create our reality. In recognizing that is to understand that what we say enough becomes what we feel. It becomes belief, right? I don't want to ever say a line that if somebody was to say this and mean this and feel this, that it would be self-deprecating or amplify anything that isn’t the best for them, you know. Of course I have songs that are like popping your shit, but it's like okay cool, I still feel like that bitch. (both laugh) I want people to feel like their higher self. I want people to be like, okay, if not me, then who? That's my mission. I don't know if I'm rewriting anything with that or challenging anything, but I think it's a lot of messaging out there already to force us to doubt ourselves or to force us to question ourselves and I'm trying to enforce otherwise.
That's beautiful- you're saying it's not rewriting, I feel like it is because you have a very authentic and organic relationship with your fans by inspiring them. Following this, how do you maintain your voice and artistic integrity in an industry that often pushes formulas, trends and metrics? Sometimes things that aren't necessarily pushing those positive messages are the ones that are more in the forefront. So how do you keep the integrity of your music without feeling too weighed down with the status-quo?
Oh, that was a journey, a long journey; because in me wanting to be an artist, I want to be successful, right? So then it becomes that, you know, you have to pay attention. And I had to develop a team, which is still a slow burning process, meeting people and really connecting with people who I feel are right for me, my process and my energy, but also bring what I don't have or what takes too much of me. So developing the team that can stay up to date with the things that make sense to get the music out there and the things that make sense to be successful. Because I've lived in L.A for seven years now, this is the city that rewards you for conformity. I had to do the sessions that didn't make sense for my sound. I had to, you know, get berated on the emails for not giving them what they asked for sonically and putting too much of myself in it. And I had to do all that to realize like, okay, it's not for me. And to answer your question how do I maintain; I became an introvert and I became hypersensitive to what feels good. I constantly surround myself with those circumstances. It's interesting because I'm an introvert by default. I didn't choose this, but it's working. (laughs) I'm inside now because it's safe, it's good here. I'm not overly influenced by things just because it's working. I get to indulge in all the things that I like and what feels good in my little community. I know that's a niche and an underground way of creating. The artists I'm a fan of are part of the underground and I think it's a cool place for a fan to be.
I feel like in being fully authentic that's what people resonate with and that inherently leads into forms of success. I love the fact that you don't box yourself into a genre because there's so many different sounds to the music that you've produced, it feels like true artistry because you're going with feels right for that song as opposed to no, this is the type of music I make.
I love that you see it that way because I see it the same.
Last question; so what's next for Farrah Fawx? You've talked about some upcoming releases and collaborations and I know that you've been performing-
Next I have a project coming out But Did You Die. It's been two years in the making- there's one song on there that's like seven years old, but yeah, it's been I would say roughly two years. And then I have a bunch of singles and collaborations coming out after that apart from the project. As well I've been writing, I've been working with Bambii, DJ HoneyLuv, as well as working with the Aluna a lot. So I'm excited for those creations to come out throughout the summer. I'm working on my show. I start rehearsals tonight, readying the new music for some performances coming up that I'm excited about. And something that's just as important to me as the music is the visuals. Wait till I get the budget to really do everything that's in my head! (laughs) With that said, I have some visuals coming out that we've been working on that I'm excited about. So shows, music and visuals.
I feel like the visuals of your projects already have been great; I wrote this down because I didn't want to forget to tell you that I love the visuals for Dollar Bamboo.
Thank you! That's dope. And I love that you love that one because I have to remind myself that art doesn't expire just because it came out like three years ago. It's so easy to be like, oh i released it last year I can't promote it anymore, but it meant a lot to me when I released that song so glad that it will still connect years later.
It's past and gone to you, but say for example new fans, they're discovering it for the first time so it's new to them. I love how it pays homage to like the 90’s and 2000’s hair and beauty magazines.
I love that! And that’s everything that video was so I'm glad that resonated because that's everything we walked into that video wanting to do. That was a part of a project called The Hopeful Cynic and that whole era of me readying that project was inspired by the 90’s Black woman.
It hit where it needed to hit- it's been absolutely brilliant speaking to you.
Thank you so much, cheers. I appreciate that-
I can tell you’ve spent too much time in the UK! (both laugh)
Yeah, yeah, absolutely!
