A Talk with Buffalo Rapper Edo Langston: His New EP, ‘Godspell,’ His Art and His Sensei

(EDITOR’S NOTE — Buffalo’s Ephraim Bostic — who raps under the name Edo Langston and sometimes ‘AlterEdo’ — is out today with a new EP titled ‘Godspell.’ 1120 Press recently caught up with the artist at Hot Mama’s Canteen, where he performed at Poetry vs. Hip Hop during which he unveiled a few of the record’s new songs. Ephraim was also generous enough with his time during the event to talk with 1120 Press writer Benjamin Joe about the new EP and his life as a “thriving artist.” Please read our interview below. You can check out and purchase Godspell HERE.)

1120 PRESS: Thanks so much for speaking with us and congratulations on the new EP, ‘Godspell.’ Last time we saw each other, you were gearing up ‘Ekanami Projectz’ for 2025 with the Creative Impact Fund.

EPHRAIM BOSTIC: Yes, I’m still finishing up that project to be honest. I am doing events and the ‘Godspell’ release is part of it. As I was starting off my projects with my grant, I realized it was also important for me to perform. Performing is me doing my art. When we talked about the Creative Impact Grant from Art Services Inc. for Ekanami Projectz, I started to see how important it was for people to notice my self-expression. (Before) I didn’t want to make things about me. I was really against the vanity. But I grew so much in my self-love and appreciation, I realized it’s important for me to lead by example.

1120: So, you’re into being a role model?

EB: Yeah, I even said to my mom: “I’m like a ‘real model.’” I’m not just playing this role, I’m being real. This is who I am. I realized with me and my expression and art, just being who I am is a huge light for other people. By just spreading my light to other people it creates awareness and consciousness. Everybody is self-conscious with themselves at times. Everybody doubts themselves sometimes. Self-doubt is a prevalent thing and affects our experience. Sometimes we give ourselves negative feedback that we don’t intend.

1120: Let’s talk about ‘Godspell.’ How long did it take to make this EP?

EB: I started making it more than a year ago. In there, I performed ‘Accountability’ and that’s all produced by the same producer, Devrell. I literally met him online. He was making anime visuals to his beats, and I was like ‘This is fire!’ I tapped into him, and he sent me some beats and he was really kind about it: just ‘take whatever and create.’ And I was like, ‘I’m liking all of these!’ … He was like ‘pay whatever for all these beats’ on BandLab.

I went through all the music and found five of them, which is crazy because five is my number, my divine ‘number of change.’ It’s masculine in shape on the top and feminine on the bottom. More rigid on top and circular on bottom, which is also duality, balance. That’s how I looked at it. They all sounded like gospel. I said, ‘This is like gospel!’ but it’s ‘Godspell’. What we spell is what we project into our environment. Everything we say is essentially a spell, that’s why I spell it. You feel me? That’s a real big part of reinventing myself, of my duality. I had to really approach my subconscious mind. It was a year and a half ago. Now it’s been over a year since I recorded it at GCR.

1120: And you’re selling it as a digital download and giving out the link (HERE) for people to stream it?

EB: I’m actually filling a whole store using an app called Universe. It’s created for artists and creates a whole store front, basically. I’m looking to integrate Shopify into it to make it easier. If people want to CashApp with me or PayPal, whatever. I’m here to work with you. We’ll make it happen. And I’m using the Untitled app to send them a link and essentially stream it.

1120: Is this part of your ‘real model’ — showing how you can succeed and maybe a path for the misunderstood artist? Are you going to show the way?

EB: (laughs) This is funny because I just listened to a song by Raury, an Atlanta based artist — shoutout Raury, he’s a big inspiration for me. He’s got a song called ‘God’s Whisper’ and he says at first that ‘I am the savior.’ I love that ‘I am’ because that’s the infinite consciousness. But also, he says, ‘We are the saviors’ and when you think of the infinite, the abundance, the collective consciousness, we are all part of God.

What I learned the hard way is that I need to save myself first. Let me show up in my life and let me live my life as an example. And that in return is spreading my light.

(Photo by Benjamin Joe)

1120: Thanks very much for talking with us. Do you have anything else you want to add that we haven’t covered?

EB: Thank you. That’s the Godspell. I just want to spell that, man. I felt like I did a pretty good job. Five songs condensed. It’s consciousness, but it has a really great sound. People really like the track ‘Sensei,’ and I really appreciate you covering me and I really want to say thank you.

I talked to you before about my sister (see previous 1120 Press story HERE). We talked about substance abuse. I really had to sit with it, because I was a child. I wasn’t directly around my sister while this was happening. I was 16 and I knew she was struggling as a kid, but it wasn’t until my sister passed, when I was about 25 and she was 36 and my mom told me she’d passed from fentanyl. Overdosed and fentanyl was found in her blood stream. Now we know a lot of drugs are laced, like cannabis, things like that. I want to encourage people to be mindful.

I hate the feeling that my sister felt she was a black sheep in our family. Like she was an outcast. I don’t want anyone to feel that trauma. For me, promoting this project is also her legacy. Track two, ‘Sensei,’ is about my sister and all the people I learned from.

I lost two of my friends, shoutout Ayana. She’s a Black woman from Brooklyn. She did amazing things in Buffalo. And as a person, she supported me. That’s my sensei.

My bro, Christian, God rest his soul. Also 26, young Black man, went to Brockport. He passed in an unfortunate manner. He’s a healthy alkaline bro, but it was just a choice that he made. Messed up his health and, yeah, he’s not here, but he was the first artist that I recorded at my own setup in college. He trusted me and he was a poet.

Shoutout all my sensei. I love all you. You inspired me. It’s a bunch of beautiful songs. God inspires me every day, every moment.

Track five is ‘One More Chance’ — that’s a direct conversation of me saying to my sister if I had one more chance.

That’s all I wanted to say. It was hard for me thinking of why I really need to show this to the world, and that’s why it took nearly a year. I have respect and reverence for this. I need to present this in a certain way. This is my family. My experience. And it’s been really hard to say, ‘this is what happened to me.’ But now I’ve found space for it. I can let go of it and really appreciate it and I know my sister is always with me.