We had the good fortune of connecting with Imani Lowery and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Imani, why did you decide to pursue a creative path?
I’ve always wanted to be an artist. It’s just how my mind works. I’ve been singing since I was about 4-6 years old and I always had a passion for music. So much that I would mimic the artist as best I could. All the way down to the tone and flow of their words. Destiny’s Child songs was my favorite to mimic!

In highschool I attended the Music Performance program at Fort Hayes for two years. No matter how bad my day was when I practiced with “my” band, i was in a better mood. From that class, I knew I had a love for performing. Soon after, at age 19, I dropped my first song on SoundCloud.

Fast forward to 2021-2022 while I lived in Japan. There was a twitter/instagram mutual who posted that there would be a networking event in Shibuya for the entertainment industry so I showed up to meet them for the first time and to also to see if there were other artists there. I showed a song from my SoundCloud to my friend I came to meet and her being the dj for the event said “you have to perform this like right now”. I was skeptical and nervous but I did. The reaction I got was so positive! I felt like me again, after being SO confused on what or who I wanted to be and where I was headed. From then on, I knew what i wanted my forever career to be.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
If a friend came to visit me, which one is coming to visit me soon, so this is great, I would take them to downtown Columbus near the bars on North high especially at night time on the weekends. I think it’s a great place to check out in your 20s for a relaxed vibe. I am also very much in love with nature, I think it has spiritual significance so I would probably take them hiking on one of the trails that we have my favorite so far has been Alum Creek. My friend is into nature as well, so I’d probably take them there. I haven’t been many places downtown as far as just food wise, I’m more of a mom and pop’s shop type of person! I love my entrepreneurs but I’d still love to check out some restaurants and lounges downtown that i’ve seen on Instagram.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I want to give a shoutout to the independent millennial and gen-z artists that are out today! For the ones that made it mainstream, ya’ll all made me so proud the last couple of years. Seeing people my age flourishing at something I want to be involved with gives me so much inspiration and faith for my future as an Independent Recording artist. To those who are still underground but working hard, I see you! Every time I run into y’all on social media I make sure I repost cause I know how it feels to put content out and really wanting people to engage in something you created. Y’all got this!

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ruqayasrulez/profilecard/?igsh=MWxrYW9ma2ZuMHZ5Zg==

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/imani-lowery-aba62510a?utm_source=share&utm_campaign=share_via&utm_content=profile&utm_medium=ios_appm

Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/imaniruqaya

Youtube: https://youtube.com/@ruqayasrulez?si=NNuRMJ-DLL5gdVL0

Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@ruqayasrulez?_t=8qZ4LMn0eas&_r=1

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