The Rundown: 203Noah (Cash4Gold)

Written by Greg Harris

Another week, another Rundown feature for you Lifers. Last week we extended "The Rundown" to be a special feature interview series for not only music artists but creatives that are respectively make their imprint in the industry today. We have touch the sands of Florida with featuring the likes of Austin Dowdy, who's making a name for himself in West Palm Beach, Florida with his brand, Trial & Error and also had the chance to speak to Tampa's gold grilled buzzing star, BigBabyScumbag

This time we leave the beach vibes of Florida to make our way to concrete jungles of the Northeast where we get familiar with one of Connecticut's brightest visionaries, 203Noah. Noah has carved out his own lane with diving into vintage fashion with his curated closet, Select Selection to being a mentor to the likes of Lonny X and K$ubi Kayy to hosting your favorite events in CT. He's been a jack of all trades, and he aims to go even further with his work in years to come. 

We had the opportunity to speak to him about his upbringing, how the CT scene is growing, how he plans to elevate it, and more. Read below. 

How’s Your Modern Life?

My life is great right now man.. I'm very blessed to be alive and well right now so I got no complaints 

What are three things you have to do when you wake up? 

Brush my teeth, wash my face, smoke a spliff... (usually in that order)

How was your upbringing in the Northeast with living in New York and Connecticut? 

It was fun growing up out here, especially in Danbury CT where I live I've been very fortunate to live in such a diverse community with so many beautiful cultures .. things deff haven't been easy but what don't kill you make you stronger. 

Being in the Connecticut area, what were some things that influenced you to work outside the box there? 

I think for me I always been an outside the box thinker, even before I got into the creative industry. Originality is how you seperate yourself from the pack, and I think that's how I was able to gain so much attention over the last year. CT doesn't have a lot of original thinkers, and you see a lot of the same stuff (in regards to a lot of things specifically night life) and that repetitive boring bullshit drives me nuts so I got to be original and keep people on their toes. 

For anyone who hasn’t visited Connecticut, how can you describe in one word? Why would you choose that one word? 

"Different" and I know that's a very broad word to use but that's CT. Different cause the outside perception is much different from the reality.. like everybody The whole state is just different from every where in so many aspects. Music wise, streets wise, money wise, the way people move out here. CT just does it's own thing across the board. It's hard to explain but I feel like most people from here gonna feel me on that. 

Before diving deep into music scene for CT, you were the tastemaker for threads with your site, Select Selection. How did this idea come about and how have you seen it flourished? 

Yeah Select Selection is what got me into throwing events, I was doing pop up shops in my hometown of Danbury for a few months and then when I threw the select selection show it brought artists from all over the state and I made like $1400 and was like woah okay I need to keep doing this lol. As for how select selection got started? I was selling weed and a controlled substance that I prefer to leave unnamed, and my block was hot I got stopped and frisked by these beat detectives that would always bother me around the city, they took the weed and cash on me and that shit had me pissed, I knew I had to change my life around. I had always been a thrifting kid in high school so I just figured instead of trapping weed and pills I could trap polo and nautica.

What have been some of your favorite pieces you have came across in the past few years?

There's been soooo many pieces it's hard to pick 1 but I would say my favorite is

My stone cold Steve Austin hockey jersey is deff my and prolly the wildest find I've made. 

"I see nothing but big big big things for CT. I think we're slowly becoming a powerhouse for music, clothing, and the arts in general.  I just want to see more of us Ct cats getting national attention so we get the "respek" on our name back home."

Aside from the fashion lane you paved, what exactly influenced you to embark on the path of music?

Honestly music wasn't even on my radar until right before the select selection show (spring of 2016) I met Lonny X & he wanted us to collab cause he thought what I was doing was cool, after becoming a fan of his music I realized How much dope talent is in the state and I knew I had to get involved. I honesty owe so much to Lonny that's my dog for life and Im finna buy him lobster for a week when I cash my first 6 figure check. 

You have a great relationship with the likes of Lonny X and Ksubi Kayy, especially with the architecture of their careers. How did you go about guiding these guys in the right direction?

Man I can't take credit for anybody success that's on them, especially Lonny. Kayy a bit of a different story he approached me to manage him and i introduced him to his new manager and engineer Soundboi, and it's kinda just been history ever since. Glad I could link them together cause they're an amazing team. Shoutout to Kam tho he one of the main reasons I'm chasing a creative career

Propelling these individuals in a position where they are garnering more eyes and gaining more dollars, you’ve moved more into the curator role for CT. How do you explain the transition and what have you learned so far on your journey?

The transition kind of been seamless it all just happened naturally, and I'm super blessed and grateful to be in this position and especially in such a short amount of time.. people be like "yo are you 203noah" and that shit still be bugging me out. 

I've learned a lot in this year and a half but I would say the most important thing I've learned is to be true to yourself and that every human on earth is expendable. People gonna dissapoint TF out of you especially in this industry so you got to be quick to cut people off and stay true to you and what's for your best benefit.

Seeing individuals like yourself and Brea Simone pushing the culture of CT forward, what direction do you see it going in the upcoming years? 

I see nothing but big big big things for CT. I think we're slowly becoming a powerhouse for music, clothing, and the arts in general.  I just want to see more of us Ct cats getting national attention so we get the "respek" on our name back home.

What are some goals you have for the rest of this year?

I'm really trying to travel more, Ct is great but there's a whole world out there I'm tryna explore. My biggest goals are curating events out of state and relaunching the select selection website. 

Kinda just taking everything in stride right now I usually try to do much and don't get any of it done so I'm really just tryna focus on those 2 things. 

How do you want to be remembered when it’s all said and done? 

When it's all said and done I want to be able to say I influenced and touched people and helped inspire them to chase their dreams.. life's too short to not do what you want. Bless.

Follow 203 Noah here and here