They say anything’s possible you gotta dream like you never seen obstacles,” Alexis Seeney spits out as she sings along to J. Cole’s “The Autograph,” while blogging on her new site, Hypeforever. Barely old enough to get a job, the North Carolina resident wrote about what she loved: Sneakers, clothing and art.

Alexis timely posts of sneakers and keen eye for what’s next to pop in streetwear, made her site a fan favorite. She’s earned praise from the likes of A$AP Rocky, Kendrick Lamar, rap’s newest sensation Trinidad Jame$ and even Spike Lee (“I tweeted him a picture of my work and he hit me back [the next day]. It meant a lot to me.”)

What started out as a thing to do to past time, Hypeforever became a hit on the blogosphere. In a years time, the site went has gone from 200 to now 100,000 a month. Speaking to <em>XXL</em>’s The Good Life, Seeney touches on Hypeforever, her  artwork and the state of fashion. —Christian Mordi (@mordi_thecomeup)

XXL: Tell us a little bit about the name HypeForever and how you got that.

HypeForever: I actually started out as a blogger. I saw some people I knew that used to draw and I wanted to try it out for myself and started to brand my graphics with the name Hypeforever and here we are.

Describe your personality. Is it reflected in your work?

Well I think in my art my colorful side comes out more. For the most part though, I am a pretty laid back [kind] of girl.

Tell us a little bit about where you’re from and how it’s influenced your work.

Where I'm from doesn’t really influence my work, but it does influence my work ethic. I feel like a lot of kids where I’m from aren’t really doing much with themselves. Durham is a pretty small city and despite there being a big college here, outside of that people don’t hear much about the people here.

Who are some of your favorite artists from North Carolina?

I am a fan of King Mez, but I really love Rapsody and 9th Wonder's label Jamla. I caught both of their last albums and liked them a lot.

Tell us a little bit about your blog.

It’s Hypeforever.com and I blogged about sneakers pictures and clothes. It really picked up pretty heavy worldwide and got nice press.

Why did you decide to start out with a blog?

I felt like the blog would really help me to build my skills and reputation heading into college.

How did it do in regards to traffic?

It started out with me getting 200 a month. Within three months it was up to 2,000. Shortly after 10,000 a month. Soon enough I was getting over 100,000 hits a month before I stopped. I just wanted to move on from writing for a little bit.

I noticed you have had Soulja Boy and A$AP Rocky hit you as well. How did that come about?

Soulja Boy hit me a couple months ago around the end of my junior year. I posted on his website and he saw some of the work and gave me a shout out via twitter about my art. He wanted me to do a mixtape cover for him, which may happen soon.

In regards to Rocky, I created a piece of him and he caught it as well and decided to show it love on his Facebook. The piece got over 5,000 likes on his page so that was pretty cool.

FOR MORE ON SEENEY GO TO THE NEXT PAGE

Can you tell us a little bit behind the creative process of a piece. How long does it take to create a design?

When I first started out, it would take me over two hours to make a piece. But now I am much faster. I started out with just a mouse but now I use a Wacom Intuos force tablet.

Do you remember the first artist that reached out to you via Twitter about your creations?

Stalley was the first that hit me around a year ago about my work.

Do you get excited some when these artists hit you up?

I don’t really get excited. A valuable lesson I learned early is “Knowing celebrities doesn’t pay bills.” The Tweet or them hitting me up is just the start, it’s what happens next that is so special.

Who were you most excited about seeing reblog your work?

One of my favorites that hit me though was Spike Lee. I tweeted him a picture of my work and he hit me back one day. It meant a lot to me because I am a big fan of the films he has directed.

Vashtie as well has shown your work recognition as well. Is she someone in regards to creativity you look up to?

Vashtie is probably the most important in my eyes that hit me back through social media. She is one of the reasons I started to pursue this so passionately. She is a fashion mogul to me and she does what she loves. She does videos, graphics and I would like to do the same and have that type of freedom she has. I would love to intern for her and learn from her.

I see you have already caught wind of Trinidad Jame$ and he has shown you love as well. You like his music also?

Yeah I like Trinidad Jame$. I heard his one song and I thought it was cool. I really like gold myself so it stuck with me. I saw some people taking cracks at trying to draw him so I decided to give it a shot myself. He saw the pic and then shouted me out on Twitter and posted me on his Instagram.

I know you are a big Jet Life fan. I have seen the picture of Curren$y. Do you think you will create draw any other members of Jet life as well?

I’ve already drawn Curren$y but I may give Young Roddy and (Smoke) DZA a shot soon. I actually created this custom piece for Curren$y for Woodville Inc. awhile back. He had a show down here and I designed a piece and Julie from Woodville made the piece and she took it to the show and gave it to him. He liked the piece, took a couple pics with it and showed me some love on Twitter for hooking him up as well.

Have you also done clothing?

I like clothing. It ‘s very time consuming though and hard to do. I had a clothing line up for awhile and it was in a couple of the local malls but I decided to fall back off that for personal reasons. I am not against starting up again though, so who knows.

You also, from what I understand, like to do photography. Tell us a little about that.

My sister has been playing basketball since middle school. I’ve been at every game and practice. Going there with her really allowed me to be around the scene and see a lot and I saw the passion in the game and wanted to capture those moments. I decided to start taking pictures of it.

What’s your opinion about the current state of fashion?

I don’t like it. Nowadays kids only wear things that they see rappers wearing and I don’t do that. Kids pay $400 for sneakers, $600 for pants all this to look like someone else, and that’s not fashion. Fashion is a statement, it’s about being creative with your choice of clothing.

Where would you like to see your brand in a years time?

Ten times bigger than what it is now. An empire of sorts. One name, but under the umbrella of my company will be web design, photography, art, clothes all on another level.

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