S.K.A.M Artist Management’s newest member, Harm Franklin is on his way to being the next Hip Hop star out of Canada.
The Calgary native is on his way to leaving an imprint on the genre. He has tapped into the influences of Canada, pop culture, and film to create a unique sound and look. The music video for Stunnin‘ by Curtis Waters featuring Harm Franklin currently has over 22 million views, and fans are currently waiting in anticipation to see what is next for the rising star. His latest single Bad Guy explores the difficulties of a toxic relationship and being depicted as the Bad Guy. The Knockturnal spoke with Harm Franklin about the significance of Hip Hop, Scarface, and what fans can expect to see next.
The Knockturnal: When did you begin making music?
Harm Franklin: I started making music right around grade 12 in high school. I had been writing stuff since like grade 5, haha but I started actually recording right as high school ended.
The Knockturnal: What does Hip Hop mean to you?
Harm Franklin: Hip hop means the world to me. It’s my life basically; music is my therapy. For as long as I could remember I’ve wanted to be an artist so it feels great for this to be the first year I can actually live off of my passion.
The Knockturnal: How has your hometown of Calgary influenced your work?
Harm Franklin: I feel like it gave me an extra chip on my shoulder. There’s still a lot of undercover prejudice that exists. Even when I first started, all the other white rappers were on that “real hip hop” tip and I had to go way harder to fight to even create the type of music that I wanted because people were apprehensive to the newer melodic sounds. There’s a lot more stories and life here than what people may think, through the media that it’s all cowboys but people are making money and doing a lot of dirt here.
The Knockturnal: Your song with Curtis Waters has over 143 million streams on Spotify and the music video has 21 million views. What does it feel like having that many people listening to Stunnin’?
Harm Franklin: It’s a dream come true. All I ever wanted was to give people my light to help them through their dark times. It blew up when the world was really at a dark place at the beginning of the lockdown. It gave people a couple of minutes of happiness and release to make them forget about all the BS in the world. Now that I’ve seen that people all across the world enjoy our stuff, it really put the wind in my sails that I needed to start dropping all this dope music I’ve been sitting on!
The Knockturnal: With your single Bad Guy what was the inspiration behind this song?
Harm Franklin: It actually came from a bad relationship I was in. Any issue we had no matter what, it would always end in me being the bad guy and demonized. Eventually, she admitted that it’s not always my fault and she had unresolved traumas from her past situation…but yeah we were in a fight and she turned something around that I was saying to her and I was just like “Man…why you always gotta make ME the bad guy?” Then I was like Nah, you just need someone to play that role so you don’t feel bad about the things you say and the way you treat me. Plus I’ve always loved Scarface and always thought that’s a cool concept for a hook or a song and it just fits perfectly with the beat. The first minute is actually all freestyle, and HOUNDS had to leave so we just banged that out and I was like wow this is special; so I took my time and really put my feelings into the rest of the song when we built it.
The Knockturnal: The music video was co-produced by Curtis Waters. You all have a long history of collaborating and creating art together from Hot Boy Anthem, Stunnin, and now Bad Guy. What has been the collaboration process for you all?
Harm Franklin: Me and him are just so in tune with creating music that we’re great at capturing an energy together. I was great at translating his thoughts into lines a few years ago and now he’s so amazing himself; it’s incredible to see. We really feed off each other well and know how great the other is and what we’re capable of, so it’s like Ironman and Captain America linking up or something haha. I think the comfortability with each other just makes it so easy for us to have good chemistry, and know what each of us are going for.
The Knockturnal: You have a single dropping November 20th what was the inspiration for the song and how does it differ from Bad Guy?
Harm Franklin: This song is way slower and romantic. In Canada, the winters are really harsh and cold, and in those times I always find myself listening to more R&B music. I’m not a one-dimensional person and neither is my music, so this one is sweeter and sexier and less painful and cathartic than Bad Guy is. I think people who like that smooth wavy R&B will love it like I do.
The Knockturnal: What can fans expect to see from you in the near future?
Harm Franklin: I have another single dropping in December with an accompanying video that will be produced by Curtis Waters. HOUNDS and I are putting the finishing touches on our album we’ve been working on that I can’t wait to share with you all!!
To keep up with Harm Franklin, follow him on Instagram @HarmFranklin and all streaming platforms @Spotfiy, SoundCloud, and Apple Music
