UK based artist NEO 10Y describes themself as a ‘spiritual baddie’ in their subversive new single, Vapid Prophecy. The track is an enthralling, psychedelic experience, both in its spunky lyricism and hypnotic imagery. Much like their previous project, Shortcut To World Peace, there is a captivating quality about NEO 10Y’s visuals that puts the viewer/listener in a trance – like state. If NEO 10Y’s skillful storytelling comes through in Shortcut To World Peace, it is their powerful presence and ethereal vocals that dominate in Vapid Prophecy. But the multifaceted artist is making waves with their message of peace and love through more than just their music – they are the creator of an NFT, and have recently released their own luxury oil fragrance, ‘Goddex’.
In this conversation with NEO 10Y, they discuss the impactful new single, their personal style, and what the spiritual revolution is all about.
Q. What was the process behind writing Vapid Prophecy and conceptualising its music video?
Vapid Prophecy is a cerebral response to Shortcut To World Peace. My purpose as an artist is to help people choose love, so that we can manifest a protopian dimension of peace on planet Earth.
A part of me felt like the message of Shortcut To World Peace was overlooked, because if people really cared, then they would have chosen love by now and the world would be in peace. But non vegans are still the majority, and causing ongoing and irreversible damage to the planet and our collective by starting pandemics with animal agriculture, stopping solving world hunger, provoking environmental racism, not to mention the basic level oppression to animals, which has a ripple effect onto humans, as speciesism is the root of all oppression. So I made Vapid Prophecy as a song for a spiritual revolution, to inspire love and reiterate my message, but also to help people feel inspired and connected with their inner Goddex.
For the video, I just wanted to be a baddie and show my Leo rising energy and stage presence, because I was literally playing dead in the video for Shortcut To World Peace and I wanted this to be my Goddex resurrection era and create a dimensional narrative.
Q. For you, what does it mean to be a ‘spiritual revolutionary’, or as you say in Vapid Prophecy, a ‘spiritual baddie’? How has your spiritual journey helped you find and create an identity for yourself?
I think the spiritual revolution is really simple, it starts from within, self love, and expansion of love for all. Connecting with oneness / the Universe / God / the simulation is something we all do every day, but self-realisation is the key to consciousness expansion.
We are all spiritual beings first and part of the same collective, but society has been brainwashed by ‘Mad Men marketing’, and the default has become violence. This is why we need to choose love. The philosophy is the most simple thing in the world, but it appears to be a lifetime’s work to ensure that it manifests. More people just need to understand the ripple effect.
I am the universe, and so are you, and so is everyone. I am definitely tapped in on an aligned frequency, and I am grateful for that, but so are my friends and members of the cult. I have a direct line to the universe through a profound history of realisations, but all of the things that I do to connect with source, anyone can do, and these include creating art, yoga, handstands, chanting, plant medicine, ayurvedic and alkaline consumption, no alcohol, looking after animals, meditation etc.
As for my identity, I have disidentified. I am oneness.
Q. Your personal style in terms of everything from clothing to hair and makeup is absolutely stunning! How has it evolved over time, and what role does it play in your self expression?
Wow thank you, that is really nice to hear! I mean, I designed clothes for a few years with my friend Ada Zanditon (Ada + Nik), we were stocked in Harrods and stores in the US, Europe and Asia, showed in London and Paris and won the Gen Art Prize at New York Fashion Week, but I was also in two Jean Paul Gaultier campaigns, three projects with Louis Vuitton, various projects with Tom Ford, I worked with Karl Lagerfeld etc., so I guess I learnt a lot along the way… but mostly what not to wear!
I just dress for comfort mostly during the day. I am very active and spend a lot of time with a dog called 10, but my sense of style for performances and visuals is how I enjoy expressing myself – dystopian autosexual Goddex rockstar energy.
Q. As an LGBTQ+ artist with Indian ancestry, how do you balance the different parts of your identity, as well as your larger spiritual philosophy, and how do these aspects influence your music?
I do feel like these elements help make me the visionary artist that I am today, but I had to reclaim my connection to my ancestry and even to a certain extent my sexuality, as I grew up in a system where being different wasn’t cool. But alas, here I am now, completely un/relatable. I think that for someone with my message doing it publicly, it’s a good thing that my genre, gender and sexuality are expansive, and that having Indian ancestry demonstrates a more authentic connection to the roots of spirituality that I can now amplify and share with the wider world through the medium of my art. Having golden skin just means that I understood racism earlier and grew up anti-racist, so it’s little things like this that make me a good new world leader.
Q. Other than music, you’ve been at the helm of a fashion brand, directed films, created an NFT, and launched your own fragrance. You are also a reiki master, yogi, and activist! What have been your biggest takeaways from dabbling in so many diverse fields, and how do you see it all coming together?
It definitely all feels cohesive, like it has lead to this point in time. Having a background in fashion has helped me be iconic so that I can deliver this message on the main stage of planet Earth. Same with all of my visual art history, it means I can direct, produce and often edit my own music videos. My NFT is essentially an investment into me and therefore an investment into world peace. My fragrance is called ‘Goddex’, it is also oneness. I was a healer before I was a qualified reiki master, yoga I learnt from my mum as a kid and my aunt who helped perpetuate my kundalini awakening. My existence and art is activism in itself, but my role in society is pacifism. My key take [away] is that we only become more fully what we are.
Q. What’s next for you, and what’s one thing you want to explore, within music or beyond, that you haven’t had the chance to delve into yet?
I don’t think I will be coming back as human any time soon, pretty sure that I have maxed out. I think I need to be astral for a while. If I did reincarnate, maybe I would come back as a dolphin in a dimension with a really clean ocean and purple skies, or as a humxn at some point in time who lives on an island and falls in love really young. I’d also really like to go to the moon.
In terms of music and this reality, I will be releasing an iconic single on [October 10th]!
