Concert Buds: A Talk With Anjali World

WOHM was on the scene at the Roseland Theater for Skaterade Tour on Friday, and I got to sit down with all four headliners. Lucky me! Since there’s so much material, I’ll go through each artist’s interview one post at a time and you can check out my best shots from the evening. I’m starting with Anjali World, because ladies first.

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Looking like a genuine Disney princess, Anjali World (born Anjali Ranadivé) is a singer-songwriter slash environmentalist slash daughter of Sacramento King’s owner, Vivek Ranadivé. At 23-years-old, Anjali’s has put out her six-track EP, Brave New World, and several singles. (My personal fave is “Bad Boy Good.” The young techno-pop singer has worked with more mainstream artists such as Sage the Gemini, Adrian Marcel, and Tyga. Before rocking her set on Skate Maloley’s Skaterade tour, she let me sit in her tour bus bedroom and probe her with questions. Read on to hear about what’s next for Anjali, her passion for animals, the PNW, and her friendship with Kehlani.

Jenni: So when did you get out here?

Anjali: So I got out here the day before yesterday. So we drove from sf—well I guess. Yeah we drove from San Francisco. Like, Cause that was our first show—in San Francisco. We drove right after the show. So it was a pretty long drive.

Yeah. Like 10 hours? 12?

Yeah it was like…cause you’re in a bus so it takes a little longer. It was like thirteen, fourteen. And all the stops and stuff like that but, you know. But I mean I’m lucky cause I just got to sleep and stuff and stuff like that, you know. Yeah.

So yeah, is this your first time in Portland then?

This is actually my first time here, yeah. I love it!

Cool. So you’ll probably be back then? Hopefully. If the crowd treats you right.

Yeah. Totally, totally. I might be your neighbor, you never know.

You know, I always wonder that. I’m like “you know more artists should live out here,” cause it’s so chill.

I love the vibe! The people are so genuine. Like, the food is bomb. And I have three dogs and so like…being at Forest Park today I was like “they would love it here. So, I’m in love with it. It’s beautiful.”

Cool, that’s good to hear. That’s what Ejaaz was saying, he was like “ I love the vibe. And oh my gosh” so I was like cool. Come back.

So how did you link up with Derek and Nate?

Well, so it’s kind of funny; I don’t know if you’ve heard of Kalin and Myles?

No.

So they’re kind of like a…they’re a really really…I guess “up and coming” group, but they had a hit on radio for awhile. And so they had a pretty decent following. And I had gone on tour with them. That was my first tour last year. And so we had a few shows together for this Christmas kind of tour and it’s funny cause like, Skate came to the show. Like, just to watch it and we met there. And so we just kind of started talking about working together and stuff like that. And he was like “do you wanna come on tour?” And I was like hell yeah! So it’s funny I was supposed to be in Portland on the last tour and I lost my voice. It was 50 shows, like throughout Canada and the U.S., and I lost my voice on the 48^th show. And I was so upset because I have always wanted to come to Portland because I’ve heard—I have a few friends from Corvallis and stuff like that—so I’ve always heard it’s so beautiful. So I was hella upset but then he was like “do you wanna come on tour?” and I was like “yeah!”

Sweet! And you’re also tight with Kehlani right?

Yeah, yeah that’s my girl. It’s hella funny because I have a nonprofit for endangered species and for animals [Jaws and Paws]. And so we kinda recently became close. But I opened for her on a show around Christmastime and I always like, I try to bring my nonprofit into my music as much as possible so I brought a few kittens on stage that were up for adoption–

–Is that her kitten?

She was like “I gotta have one.” And I was like dude, I gotchu.

*LOLOLOL*

So yeah, she adopted one and it’s dope because the cat is like famous as hell now, you know what I mean?

I have seen that kitten a few times, yeah.

He’s adorable! So yeah, she’s a great girl. It’s dope cause we’re both from the Bay so it’s good to kind of stick together you know what I mean?

Yeah! Do you guys want to collab at any point?

Yeah! I’m like, we’ve kind of like talked about it. And like, I know that we’re probably going to do a bunch of shows together in the future. But like, it’s definitely a possibility. We’re all about empowering young women, you know? So yeah we’ve talked about it. I’m sure it’s going to happen at some point in the future.

Fantastic. I’ll definitely look out for that. What’s the hardest part about touring for you?

You know, to be—I think it’s like the homesick thing. To me, my dogs are like my babies. And like, when I’m away from them I’m always worried about them. So that’s it. And then the second thing like, you know on the West Coast there’s kind of like a certain diet. Like, I feel like out here we eat a lot of things like salmon, and brown rice, and  avocado. So it’s kind of different when you start to get into the rest of the country. It’s like…I guess you gotta kind of switch your diet for awhile, which…it’s bomb but it’s just not what I’m used to. So I guess that’s one thing that I definitely miss about the West Coast. But it’s also incredible to get to see the rest of the country, you know what I mean?

For sure. Well, wait…where are your dogs then?

They’re staying with one of my best friends. She works from home, she has a huge yard. So it kinda works out good. She used to be a dog trainer. But it’s still like, I miss them.

So tell me about your infatuation with wolves.

It’s kind of funny, I studied marine science and conservation in college. And when I started my non-profit it was actually for sharks. So I mainly have done all my work in the ocean. That was before I started doing music.

Wait, where did you go to school at?

I went to Berkeley.

Oh okay! I love Berkeley.

Yeah, dude it’s a great, cultural, like place. But with the wolf thing, I adopted this dog actually. And she’s a wolf dog. And I think that’s kind of where it started. Cause I just…she’s changed my life. She’s one of the best things that’s ever happened to me. So I just decided, like, I want to protect wolves. Really, that’s where it started. So yeah, I’ve been doing a lot of stuff: trying to make sure wolves stay on the endangered species list. And it’s kind of dope seeing how my music can influence that, you know? Doing a lot of research and like working with a lot of organizations, even the California Fish and Wildlife Department. So I just feel like wolves are like…I feel like they’re pretty much everyone’s spirit animal. Everyone wants to be free and wild and just, you  know? So I love wolves a lot, and I think a lot of people do too. So that’s one of the things that made me want to protect them for sure.

That’s awesome. What do you think it is about you and your music that your core fanbase most relates to?

I think it’s really like—I mean I think it’s a couple things. But first of all just really like, the Girl Power thing. When I grew up I listened to a lot of Aaliyah, and TLC, and Destiny’s Child, and I feel like that’s something that has been missing a lot from the industry recently, other than people like Kehlani. That’s why we became close. It’s hard to find girls who really want to make a difference. And I think a that’s what my fans really relate to. You know, they love—all little girls love animals. All little girls want to stand for something and believe in something. So I think it’s just like a whole network and platform of girls trying to stand up for themselves. And I think that’s one thing that they really appreciate. So that’s something I’m trying to bring to the table in this industry.

That’s great! When I saw #GIRLSQUAD on your Twitter and I was like “Yeah! ” because me and my friends used to call ourselves that and have it in our bios.

Aw, that’s so cute! Yeah, it happened on accident; I said it when I was on my last tour and it kind of just blurted out and then people started tweeting it, and it kind of stuck. I’ve always wanted to empower young women and I thought that was the perfect title for the message. You know, ‘girlsquad!’: let’s stick together, let’s believe in ourselves.

Yeah, totally. It doesn’t have to be a competition.

Exactly. In an age where there’s a lot of twerking, IG, and selfies and stuff like that…like, let’s just be ourselves.

That being said, do you have any pre-show rituals that you always do?

Yeah definitely. I mean I always have to warm up and then I think one of my main things is listening to 2Pac, you know? Because he’s my favorite artist of all time, and he gets me hyped no matter what mood I’m in. So that’s definitely one of my preshow rituals, I always have to be listening to 2Pac before my show.

Nice, that sounds pretty solid. What’s the most significant way that you connect with your fans?

It’s kind of similar to something I was saying before. One of my main things: I kind of make it like a contest, like “tweet me or post something of you helping someone today or making a difference” and they love that. Cause then I’ll send shirts to the top five girls or something like that. And it’s really cool cause you’ll see like one girl went and did a beach cleanup, and one girl went and adopted a puppy. It’s just little things; it’s so cool. One girl wrote a poem about why she loves her friends, you know? It’s just really cute. So I’m always interacting with my fans, like you can look at my Twitter. It’s just all me adding people. So I think it’s just staying in contact with them, and making it exciting for them to be my fan.

Do you meet a lot of your fans?

Yeah I try to do as many little meet and greets and stuff like that as I can. Like, when I have a video shoot I invite my friends, when I have a photo shoot I invite my fans.

What’s on the horizon for you after the Skaterade Tour?

I’m going to definitely release my first album. So I’m super excited about that. I’m working on it while I’m on tour too, which is dope.

Do you have a title for it yet?

You know, I don’t yet. I don’t have a title for it yet. I’ve been kind of playing around with a few things because I want the proceeds to go to wildlife. So I was thinking save the wild, but we’ll see. I’m not really sure, but I’m super excited. Because I just came out with my first EP, so that’s kind of what’s gonna follow that hopefully…probably in like early summer for sure.

And then you’ll definitely come back to Portland for tour, right?

Oh dude, I’m tellin you–I am not even just saying this—I could move out here. Like, I love it out here.

Prove it… do it!

Dude, I probably will. Give me a year or two, I’m out here.