Bryce Oliver is ready to break into the mainstream light. Hailing from San Bernardino, California and extremely proud to put on for his city, the singer and rapper uses music as a coping mechanism for his own mental health battles — in hopes of healing others who are struggling in the same light. Boasting 203K followers on Instagram alone, the rising artist is known for his alter ego SadLyfe Bryce, which comes alive when he’s in the studio. He states, “It’s been a lot of times when I’m in the studio where I black out and go into a mode. It gets me through the days, that’s why Sadlyfe Bryce balances me out through my highs and lows.” When it comes to musical influences, he’s a fan of Prince, Kurt Cobain, Kid Cudi, Juice WRLD, and XXXTentacion. Most recently, Bryce unleashed the official music video for “Ghost Rider,” which has received critical-acclaim amongst old and new fans alike. AllHipHop caught up with Bryce in downtown Los Angeles to discuss his upbringing in San Bernardino, AllHipHop: Being from San Bernardino, what were you seeing growing up? Bryce Oliver: San Bernardino is what raised me, my middle school to high school years. I always claim San Bernardino no matter where I go. Coming up, I was walking through my hallways looking for someone I could be like. There wasn’t really anyone. Shout out to people in the IE doing their thing, I told myself I want to break that trend. There’s going to be another kid in high school walking through the same cafeteria, the same hallways I’m going through. He’s going to know “Bryce walked through the same hallways, Bryce ate at the same cafeteria. I could make it just like him.” AllHipHop: At what point did you realize you wanted to do music for a living? Bryce Oliver: I never wanted to do music, my first dream was basketball. My brothers were rapping before me, my young brother was always freestyling dope. My older brother’s freestyling, they always had bars. I didn’t really care. I was going through a lot of s##t like depression from relationships and life. I remember my older brother telling me “why don’t you channel some of that energy into music?” Bryce Oliver: I used to make voice recordings on my iPhone, because we didn’t have no money for the studio. My bro took me to the studio to this producer named OhGoshLeotus, we played the voice recording and he made the beat. That was my debut song “Situations,” put it up for fun on youtube and it got 400K views. I’m like “I’ma be an artist now.” Ever since then, we haven’t looked back. We kept going. AllHipHop: You just released “Ghost Rider,” who or what inspired this record? Bryce Oliver: “Ghost Rider” is crazy because I watch a lot of anime, a lot of movies. From Sons of Anarchy to my favorite movie The Warriors to the Dark Knight, all that s##t put together. A lot of my music is visual. I watched those movies, started going into my mind. We went to the studio, OhGosh played the beat and Rarri engineered the session. I don’t really write, I freestyle. We went off the head and it came in together, started layering the parts. AllHipHop: Best memory from shooting that visual? Bryce Oliver: The ATV, everything. Drifting around me, I’ve never seen burnouts before. He had the Hellcat, the homies had the motorcycles and ATVs. I felt like I was in the woods, that s##t was cool. My boy GODLY shot the video. AllHipHop: How would you describe your fashion and drip. Bryce Oliver: I like all types of s##t, I like retro, it really depends how I’m feeling. I like rockstar s##t, s##t that bands wear, but we dripping with J’s too. I’m from the West Coast, but the way I dress is more East Coast. I wear Timbs a lot, I dress in layers. When people see me, they’re like “damn it’s too hot to be wearing boots.” I wear boots wherever I go: Timbs, leather jackets, all that s##t. We drip like that, keep it simple. AllHipHop: Why are you the “Living Legend”? Bryce Oliver: I’m a story that’s untold. I always felt like the world was supposed to hear me a certain way. I don’t want to be famous, the thought of fame gives me anxiety. I’m to myself, I’m super secluded. That’s the toughest part about being in this music industry. My main challenge is I’m a loner type of person but on these songs, I’m having to be vulnerable. I’m leaving my comfort zone for my fans so it’s difficult, but they help me. I really check my instagram DMs, they tell me “oh I listened to the song ‘Finesse Gawd’, that helped me get through a breakup.” Or “I was thinking about doing something, I heard that song “Depression” and it helped me.” It funnels me to keep going. I don’t want the fame, I’m good. It’s like a contradiction, I want my music to be heard worldwide but I don’t want the perks that come with it. I’m doing my best to maintain, taking it day by day. AllHipHop: You’re fully independent, funding everything on your own. How did you gain a fanbase? Bryce Oliver: I’m not into social media like that. My brother already saw it, he said “we need to get you on Twitter and Instagram.” We created an Instagram. We had 15K, I posted a few pictures. When I dropped that song “Situations,” that’s when more people really started coming in. I really interact with my fans — I don’t call them fans, I call them the wave. We’re all one wave, there’s no pedestal of me. I’m nothing without my fans, they get me where I’m going. They’re buying my stuff, listening to my songs. When I see them at shows, s##t call me Bryce. You call me by my first name, […]