On May 18, 2016, Scott Edris Roberts experienced one of the worst moments of his life. That was the day his best friend, Legare, chose to take his own life. Though Legare was caught in a lifestyle that Roberts could tell was leading to bad places, he never expected to hang out with him one night and then wake up the next morning to find his friend dead. As it would for anyone, the experience shocked him to his core.
The next few months were filled with depression. The feelings and questions that arose from the moment he served as Legare’s pall bearer continued to permeate his mind, and his only outlet from the confusion was to put his emotions into poetry.
“What I was going through at the moment weighed heavily on my mind,” he said. “I started to understand everything when I put poetry into a beat form. When he passed away I was just starting to get into hip-hop and understand some of the meanings behind that style of music. I’ve always thought that music is the most powerful drug in the world. It can make you feel things you never thought possible. It can mess with your emotions – make you happy to sad, or vice versa, depending on the song.”
The end result is a three-song EP called “05/18/16” – named as such as a dedication to his lost best friend. Roberts also adopted the name Legare as his stage name as a way of remembering his friend for the good he was able to do during his life. The three songs on the EP are his way of helping listeners not only get a feel for his style of music, but also connect to the stories of Legare’s life – his love for people and his love for music.
“I have a different delivery than a lot of other rappers,” Legare said. “I try to tell a story with everything I write. You can dissect every single verse I write because every line has a meaning to it. I make sure of that, and you can hear it as soon as you put it on. It’s much different than a lot of what you hear coming out today. In fact, I’d say I’m my own new category of music. I hope people will take a chance on it. It’s new music with deeper meanings. There’s a story behind every song, and the sound is current and with the times.”
The first song from the EP is called “Make the Most of It.” It’s a song that he said was pulled straight from Legare’s life and examines the struggles that arise from a lifestyle of drugs and parties. He takes the point of view of a friend who wants to be there for the person struggling with addictions and who finds himself in uncomfortable environments that he didn’t ask for, but is trying to make the best of it.
The second single is called “Til I Wake in Love.” It’s a song that Legare said is all about broken relationships. He said it was inspired by a night out on the town when he got “too messed up” and the eventual outcome and consequences of that singular experience.
He finishes the EP with a third song that he calls “Keep it Simple.” Much like the title says, the song emphasizes the importance of keeping life simple, especially in the midst of tragedy and hardships. He said the song is one that he hopes will inspire other people who are dealing with difficult situations to remember that oftentimes the best way to get through something is to focus on putting one foot in front of the other and keep life simple.
Though he’s pushing this EP hard right now, Legare said he’s already working on new music and he’s looking forward to getting back in the recording studio to create more new sounds.
