by Alex Black
For those who don’t know my name is Alex Black, but I go by many names. I’m Alex Black. I’m Flash The Stampede. I’m Johnny Louisville. Hence the The Man With Three Faces moniker. When I practice martial arts I’m Three Chāoláng (超狼) LOL. My main creative persona is Alex Black, however. I’m an artist in every sense of the word. A dreamer, hard worker, flamboyant, charismatic, experimental. I’m gorgeous, and one of the most dopest people walking this planet. I’m one of one, I do what I want, when I want & how I want which confuses people.
I’ve said this somewhere else but people see a 6’5 dude from Brooklyn, muscular, with an androgynous pretty boy style, constantly rocking something flamboyant. They’ll see this dude pull up in a streetwear brand from London, or maybe he’s rocking some vintage designer clothes from the 80s and 90s, mixing it with crazy footwear and eyeliner. An eccentric human being, but his talent and charisma is undeniable. That’s who Alex Black is.
Listen to the single while reading the text.
I spent most of my life in Brooklyn. Brooklyn in the late 90s and early 2000s holds a special place in my heart, because life was just a mashup of all my interests. I was getting into music, movies, anime, video games, extreme sports, martial arts culture and everything else. I’d play video games about skateboarding, BMX and surfing that would be blasting rap & alternative rock as background music. Jackie Chan and Jet Li were starring in kung fu films with black celebrities while Rap & R&B stars were on the soundtrack. Rappers and rock stars were acting in classic movies. Method Man, one of my first favorite rappers, did the theme song for one of my favorite wrestlers, The Rock.
Things connect
Albums I remember bumping as a kid were Slim Shady LP, God’s Son by Nas, Get Rich Or Die Tryin by 50, and plenty more. But also I was keeping my eyes on acts like N.E.R.D., Pharell used to catch my attention. I’d see him in music videos and while everybody else was dressed in typical 2000s bling and attire, he’d be rocking graphic tees, all over print hoodies, popping wheelies on his BMX bike like Mat Hoffman & Dave Mirra. He was the first dude I remember seeing in hip hop / r&b doing something like that. It’s funny cuz I was living around East New York, in the middle of the hood enamored with all this alternative culture. Adema, Newfound Glory, Fall Out Boy, Motorhead, All American Rejects, Foo Fighters, Godsmack, Marilyn Manson, Linkin Park. Then I got into artists like Madlib, Dilla, DOOM, Flying Lotus through the Toonami / Adult Swim promos while still listening to dudes like Lil Wayne and Dipset.
I don’t think I seriously started to think about pursuing music until I saw somebody like Lupe Fiasco. Lupe was huge for me because he was literally referencing all the stuff I’m into in his music (he had a mixtape song with Ghostface Killah and Mike Shinoda where he rapped from the perspective of a Gundam pilot) & is a martial artist himself, lol. That blog era with him, The Cool Kids, PAC DIV and Curren$y was insane. Through the grace of God, a lot of my passions just happened to intersect like that. It’s a blessing, I don’t know if that’s how it works for other artists or whatever, but I always knew these things could connect and that I can do it all.
Live fast, ball hard
I explained it to someone else before but The Man With Three Faces tag came cuz it was an alias I needed to explain why I make music under so many different names and genres. I kept using different names and different genres because of my diverse upbringing. I’ve always been multiple people, in a sense we all have. Like, look at Flash The Stampede, Alex Black, & Johnny Louisville, they all represent certain aspects of my personality & experience on this planet turned up to 11.
Flash represents that brash side of my personality. You hear it in the name “FLASH” the “STAMPEDE”. Flash is the wild card, racing cars after long all day shoots, wanting the world and everything in it, just living like a daredevil, adrenaline junkie. An impulsive dude with a bit of a chip on his shoulder due to some negative surroundings and interactions with shady folks. Live fast, ball hard, don’t trust everybody. The music reflects that. But that’s not all I am and that’s not the only type of music I feel like making.
A romantic at heart
That’s where somebody like Alex Black comes in. That’s someone who’s more in touch with his emotions and prone to introspection. Still got a wild side but not as out of pocket as Flash. This guy Alex, he’s a dreamer, you get the sense that he’s a flawed but good dude, he’s just reacting to the bullshit around him. Sometimes those reactions result in him making the wrong choices, but it’s all a learning experience.
The way I see it, Flash is so jaded by all the B.S. around him that he’s on some “Eff The World, I’m out for self” thing. Alex, on the other hand while he’s a bit wary of the world, he’s still a romantic at heart. He has love for people, keeps certain people close to his heart, looks out for them, and still finds the beauty in things. That ain’t gonna stop him from flexing on folks who tried to play him though, and it definitely won’t stop him from playboy behavior but I guess that’s the flip side to “being a romantic” too.
The fairy godmother of cool
Johnny Louisville though? Straight eccentric. It’s almost like that boy’s not even from this planet, he’s so ethereal. The goal was to make him feel like the fairy godmother of cool. How can I make this individual feel like the perfect blend of charisma, camp & myth. When I premiered my Johnny Louisville persona, locals got to talking. Like people I never spoke to asking my close friends what my deal was, inquiring about my sexuality, folks asking my mom about my gender, dudes I don’t fuck with sending the pictures to exes I barely speak to, it was crazy. I go so crazy with it that people asked my mother if I was a drag queen or something LMAO.
People were shook, some embraced it, some didn’t, some didn’t know what to make of it. Funnily enough, they’re only helping to build my legend up. They ain’t ready for Johnny forreal.
Coincidentally these 3 personas line up with Freud’s theory on the human psyche. The Id, the Ego & the Superego.
If you wanted to look at it like this then:
- FLASH THE STAMPEDE – Id
- ALEX BLACK – Ego
- JOHNNY LOUISVILLE – The Superego.
I have an album coming in the summer of 2023, June 23rd to be exact. Called Midnight Run. I just released a single for it called Berlin.
If y’all are interested in my story, music and just me in general here’s some links where you can keep up with me.