Ezra Edmisten: Rapper, Producer, Chef

The thumbnail for Ezra Edmisten's album "The Granite Massacre" on SoundCloud under his rapper name Opulence.

Ian Biles, Staff Writer for The Powderhorn

Under the rapper name Opulence, Ezra Edmisten has transformed his passion for rapping to a budding career. Edmisten’s first released album was titled “The Granite Massacre” and he most recently released a new single, “Budget to Public”.  In this interview, Edmisten and I discussed his love of music, cooking, and his goals as he nears the end of high school.

“I heard ‘A Lot’ by 21 Savage, and that kind of opened up my music taste to sample-based hip-hop,” said Edmisten. “I wanted to re-engineer the beat because it seemed simple. I never ended up re-engineering it, but that's kind of how I got into sampling, and then I just started producing a ton of beats.”

Edmisten started doing music in 2019 and drew inspiration from different areas of the hip hop genre.  He is in a continual search to find new things to work on and use in his music.

“Boldly James, he’s a big inspiration, the Alchemist, and Kanye,” said Edmisten. “I’m also inspired by a lot of Hispanic artists like LDNE, Daddy Yankee, and Bad Bunny and I’m trying to put that culture into my music.” 

Originally from Puerto Rico, Edminsten seeks to embed his ancestry in his music and says the song “Trauma” reflects some of his experiences living there. 

“One of my favorite songs I’ve made, probably my favorite actually, is ‘Trauma’, off the album Granite Massacre,” said Edmisten. “It’s a song that I feel like tells my life story well.”  

The song is about the more difficult personal experiences he has endured. 

Edmisten is not entirely certain of what he plans to do after high school, but he knows that he will continue to improve upon his hobbies.

“I'm definitely going to make music, because I want my name out there,” said Edmisten.  "My plan is not to be a rapper, but to be a chef. It’s so hard to get into the [music] industry, and I realized that I am blessed to be able to explore and have opportunities in different fields, and I want to take advantage of that.”

When asked what Edmisten is looking forward to in the future, he explains that he hopes to spend more time with his family, strengthen his relationship with God, and strive to be a better person.

Edmisten is currently making an album, but isn’t set on the release date. 

“I’d like to say sometime this summer, maybe the fall. But my first album, I had planned to drop December 22 and it came out December 22 the next year,” Edmisten explained. “As far as new music, I just dropped a new single on Soundcloud and I think it’s pretty good.”

As for where listeners can access Opulence, SoundCloud is where Edmisten drops all his singles and freestyles, and his official releases will hopefully be on Spotify.