thumbnail_New Project (22).png

New Project (22).png

Winter Into Spring, in Six Albums

![Screen Shot 2023-02-24 at 9.57.48 AM.png](https://finals.blog/api/uploads/Screen_Shot_2023_02_24_at_9_57_48_AM_e68960913a.png)

My pitch for Swami Sound is basically: come for Bronx-raised/Bushwick-dwelling producer’s garage edits (him calling his mix series “[two-step verification](https://soundcloud.com/masutaswami/sets/mixes)” is funny), stay for 25-year-old’s fearless debut album Back in the Day.

That would be the 9-song document he dropped today but has been working on “for the past six years,” a personally seminal piece that references long-held relationships and jumps off of garage into dubstep, drumnbass, jungle, R&B, and baile funk. It’s great. 

After meeting on Twitter DM, we caught up on the phone. Topics discussed included the cumulative power of first albums, Zelda, growing up in NY, experiences in digital brotherhood, and his past life as a social work student. 

<iframe style="border: 0; width: 350px; height: 470px;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=3788751849/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/transparent=true/" seamless><a href="https://masterswami.bandcamp.com/album/back-in-the-day">Back In The Day by Swami Sound</a></iframe>

**What's up, how are you?**

Good, good what’s up, what’s going on?

**I’m just reading really depressing shit about…I’ll spare you but, social worker stuff.** 

Social work stuff? Nah, I mean, I can talk about it. 

**Well I just learned the [rate of suicide for Black kids is up 73% from 1991-2017](https://theactionalliance.org/sites/default/files/ring_the_alarm-_the_crisis_of_black_youth_suicide_in_america_copy.pdf) — while for other racial groups the rates have gone down.**

What’s the age group?

**Teenagers.** 
 
Black teens. I’m so sorry, there’s a siren. I live on Bushwick Ave and it gets crazy around this time. That’s crazy though. I feel like I’ve read that. Doing my research, I found too many figures that were outright depressing. Suicide rates, and depression rates, and how it correlates with inner city youth, and poverty, and poverty policy…I was pretty bummed reading all that stuff. 

**It’s overwhelming.** 

Yeah it’s a lot. It was very real when when I was getting my BSW (at NYU). The place I practiced my field at was the same mentorship program that I was in when I was a high schooler. It was called Step Up with the McSilver Institute. They were under NYU. So they had masters students in their MSW (Master of Social Work) and they placed them in high schools as mentors and counselors in public schools. Most of the client base were Black and Hispanic kids. When I was in high school I was one of them, kids who were recommended by their guidance counselor of, like, hey this kid demonstrates some social issues, or academic issues, and then they do the intake and all that. I was one of those students and my mentors were NYU students who were getting their MSW. Then around the time of graduating college, I didn’t know what to do, so I went back to the McSilver Institute and I was the first ever BSW student mentor and the youngest ever. And the first alum of that program to work in it. My supervisors were my mentors when I was a kid. 

**That’s crazy. We’ve been DMing, but we have a similar experience. I’m a social work intern working at Brooklyn Tech in that same role. But I’m 15 years older than you.** 

Yeah, what do you think about it?

**I feel passionate about it, I feel like I’m working with students in a meaningful way on their issues. It’s sad because I’m not going to be there after May. From day one I’ve been terminating with them, letting them know it’s a time-constrained relationship. I want them to have skills to rely on and not rely on the relationship.** 

Terminating is a weird experience. I don’t think anyone is really prepared. Once you start getting somewhere, it’s like ha ha. No.

**It's interesting talking to you about it. But I do wanna talk about music.**

By all means. 

**I read that you grew up in the Bronx listening to alternative rock. Did you fit in, in your environment?**

I fit in with my cousin, which was my environment. I had a hard time engaging with people my age. In my later teens I learned how to fit in, but then I wasn’t attached to alternative rock. I went to middle school in Manhattan for half of middle school, and there I was able to find people who liked what I liked, alternative Black kid, watching anime, listening to 3 Days Grace. 

**What's the pros and cons of growing up in New York City?**

A sense of independence is integral. By 11 I was using the train by myself, traveling hour long distances alone. The cons is zoning. The inherent segregation is pervasive, and you don’t know you are a victim of segregation until you realize that this kid who grew up in Maspeth, Queens, ended up in a better public school than you, and had better people guiding them. There’s a lot of luck, growing up in New York City. There’s a lot of nurture, but also nature. It’s about how you respond to circumstances, that is going to give you peace, mentally. 

**What is the connection between you and dazegxd and Dirty Bird? Are y’all a collective?**

Eldia at large is a collective. International producer collective based on the internet. Gum, now – formerly Dirty Bird, but in light of the cease and desist – me, Gum and Daze, we are essentially just three internet based friends who are now real life friends, who have intersecting goals, and individual lanes where those goals meet. Three different kinds of music in the same realm. We have a similar vision. We collaborate on shows, and advise each other, and treat each other like brothers. That would be Eldia NYC as it delineates from Eldia at large. Gum is based in Virginia but he travels to NYC a lot. We met in college. 

**Are you bringing something to music that’s been missing?**

I’m bringing my most authentic self, my life, my soul. One could say I’m bringing something back. But my whole thesis behind it is, this is the best thing I can do. Using all my strengths to deliver a sound. It just happens to be something people find nostalgic, and people of different generations can relate to. I didn’t enter the garage realm with the intent to bring it back. It was just kind of the best thing I can produce. I also do dubstep, drumnbass, breakbeat. 

![Screen Shot 2023-02-24 at 10.17.49 AM.png](https://finals.blog/api/uploads/Screen_Shot_2023_02_24_at_10_17_49_AM_6d3a7ae88b.png)

**On Back in the Day you branch off the UK stuff in a cool way. What does that album title mean to you?**

Everything. Heartbreak. Pain. Growth. Memories. My response to my upbringing. The amalgamation of everything in my past. 

**Sometimes you’re in uncharted waters genrewise, like “Refuse.”**

I’m still questioning how people would sonically describe “Refuse.” I put that out on the fly, to coincide with a mixmag feature, and now it’s a single off the project. What I was trying to do was capture an emotion instead of a sonic. So it pushes an envelope, referencing Burial, referencing Floating Points, and the vocal part is about a breakup – but the meaning behind it is an overall contemplation of myself in relationships. It’s my message to myself about how things have changed. 

<iframe width="100%" height="300" scrolling="no" frameborder="no" allow="autoplay" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/1235224213&color=%23ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&show_teaser=true&visual=true"></iframe><div style="font-size: 10px; color: #cccccc;line-break: anywhere;word-break: normal;overflow: hidden;white-space: nowrap;text-overflow: ellipsis; font-family: Interstate,Lucida Grande,Lucida Sans Unicode,Lucida Sans,Garuda,Verdana,Tahoma,sans-serif;font-weight: 100;"><a href="https://soundcloud.com/masutaswami" title="Swami Sound" target="_blank" style="color: #cccccc; text-decoration: none;">Swami Sound</a> · <a href="https://soundcloud.com/masutaswami/i-said-031922" title="I Said" target="_blank" style="color: #cccccc; text-decoration: none;">I Said</a></div>

**I love how it segues to “I Said.” I love that song. That relaxing drumnbass vibe.** 

Songwriting wise, I don’t even know what I’m saying. But everytime I talk about it I say it’s a song about my sister. I wrote it in 2019 and it’s about the role I have in helping out my sister when she needs me. And there’s a way you can design your fate in a way. Without commanding the future, there’s a way you can do things for yourself. That’s a big lesson my sister taught me. The complicated thing is, as much as I want to differentiate myself, I have an obligation to take care of my nieces and nephews, and there’s a push and a pull. I’m mixing in drill elements with the drumnbass, and at end, jungle. I’m weaving between lives, different sonics, and it came together really well. I hope people love that song. It’s the last song, conceptually, on the album, and I hope people don’t sleep on it. 

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/hrLvdxw-wdA" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>

**What’s the most straight ahead garage song on Back in the Day, the Soulecta Dub?**

Yeah the Soulecta Dub, or Hallesches Tor, which is a direct reference to an MJ Cole song, a remix of “Mindless & Broken” by 3rd Core. The artist Tor showed it to me. The Soulecta Dub, he knew what he was doing when he made that. You can get remixes that are kind of mid, sometimes, but out of all the dubs he’s made, the Back in the Day Dub is like, how are Americans gonna react to this? It’s four on the floor, not too garagey, it’s house, but not super UKG, it sounds like a remix of a pop/R&B song that came out in 2007-2010. Like my Ne-Yo edit. 

**I want to talk about “Refuse Refazer.”**

It’s pronounced re-fa-zay because it’s Portugese, for re-face. It’s Chediak on the track, from Sao Paulo. Chediak is one of the producers on the original “Refuse” who gave it a baile funk, almost dub feel. When I approached him to make a dancier version, it turned it into dnb. The verse he does was actually meant for the original.

**Did you feel comfortable as far as arranging and songwriting on this album?**

Yeah the most uncomfortable thing about Back in the Day was starting it. I started it with the cover art. And then I remember when I first thought of it, it was supposed to be titled Swami Sound. And I wanted it to be my last Swami Sound project. I don’t know about that anymore. But there was a meaning behind it from the get-go. For the last six years I’ve been revolving around these 7 songs. And the remixes came along as the album rolled out. This is me closing a chapter on a portion of my life. You get that sense of closure. It starts with the oldest song and the last song is the most recent. 

**People say you spend your whole life writing your first album.** 

Honestly, that’s pretty much what happened. 

**Who comes to a Swami Sound show? Like you [sold out one at Elsewhere](https://www.elsewherebrooklyn.com/events/swami-sound-album-release-show-fifi-zhang-stonie-blue-25th-feb-elsewhere-zone-one-new-york-tickets) coming up.**

The majority coming to Elsewhere will be coming from TikTok cuz they saw the TikTok of the last show I did in New York City. There are going to be a lot of new fans, so that’s a good thing. New fans of Zhang, consistent goers of Stonie Blue. People who like dance music who are going to come and dance. Sometimes I’m nervous that it might be too white, but it’s well represented and people have told me that. There are people of color, women, guys, queer people. I haven’t tripped too hard about the demographic but it’s mostly people my age. And then recently I played to an older crowd, and they were like yo we love what you do. So I guess I have a broad appeal. And this is my first 21 and under show. 

**Gotta show love to the kids. If we could talk about UK music in general, what excites you so much about this other place and time? **

I love where it hits between pop and R&B, it’s mathematically in the middle of R&B, disco, electronic music, Black music. If you ever played Zelda Breath of the Wild, but you can throw anything in the pot and you’ll get something back. 2-Step, UKG, garage house…you can get every aspect of music in the last 60 years. Producers like Jackum makes em with disco samples. Even Arman Van Helden’s stuff with A-Trak. Soulecta will sample pop songs, like Central Cee. Then you’ll have Conducta pushing things in the UGK techno world. I like that I was able to create my own pocket in it while respecting the culture behind it. It’s so open-ended, you can push it in different ways. It will never die because you can go all-in. 

**I feel like that’s you, you’re the open one. Some people are snobby but I get unpretentiousness from you, willing to fuck it up, do something different. **

I thought about it. Is it not two-steppy enough? Is it broken enough? But it doesn’t make me too uncomfortable. A bunch of people like my shit. It’s not a paralyzing question. Those who like it, needed this. There’s a big difference between me and people who “make UKG.” They follow a rulebook. But there are no rules. There are maybe swing settings, or some programming that’s a blueprint that I follow. But everything else is do what the fuck you want. Otherwise is it really my music? Where would any of the greats be if they didn’t do that?


An Interview with Swami Sound

![sango canh.jpeg](https://finals.blog/api/uploads/sango_canh_e15a5adaeb.jpeg)

*Seattle Weekly*, 2016
<br>Photos by [Canh Solo](https://canhsolo.com/)

“I look like a real road man, don’t I?” asks Sango as we take snapshots for this article off MLK Way, a few blocks from his apartment in the South End.

The 24-year-old producer is correct in British parlance, meaning he’s dressed like a UK grime emcee in spotless adidas Ultra Boosts, tapered sweats and puffy black coat. Sango–legal name Kai Wright–is a bright and ascendant musical talent, while mostly unsung in sleepy-ass, whitewashed Seattle. He’s also something of a cultural anthropologist (Google for his e-book, [“Our Slang,”](https://issuu.com/sangodesign/docs/our_slang_by_kai_wright/43) which breaks down dialects from Atlanta, the Bay Area, Chicago, New York City and Toronto) and has styled himself to look quite a bit like Skepta.

“Road man” could apply in American English, too, since Sango spends a ton of time on the road. While local musicians grouse about being snubbed by the Capitol Hill Block Party, Sango is busy making a larger impact on rap and R&B, working with Bryson Tiller, Tinashe and the Soulection crew, playing guest sets on BBC radio, recording with vocalists in farflung studios and deejaying in clubs on other continents.  

He deejays this Tuesday at the Crocodile with the Washington D.C. rapper Goldlink. You should go to hear big speakers pump Sango’s nocturnal jams. Although the best way to soak in his music is perhaps on headphones while in transit.

As we drive down his beloved childhood roads, Sango is back in his element, a permanent South End resident now since August after ten years in “culturally bland” Grand Rapids, MI. As we speak he’s still a little jetlagged from a brief tour in Brazil, promoting his album “Da Rocinha 3.” 

<iframe style="border: 0; width: 350px; height: 470px;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=2601487457/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/transparent=true/" seamless><a href="https://sango.bandcamp.com/album/da-rocinha-3">Da Rocinha 3 by Sango</a></iframe>

He was travelling with Joe Kay, Beats 1 radio host and leader of Soulection, the worldwide “future beat” crew of which Sango is a pillar. Brazilian fans treated Sango like a hometown hero while he was down there, dancing to his hybridized carioca funk and samba rhythms, which flit between the dramatic and the downtempo with a dreamlike feel. With his Portuguese samples, guest vocals and song titles, it’s no wonder people think Sango is Brazilian. He’s not, but he does have a serious affinity and is teaching himself Portuguese.

“Literally it felt like I was coming home to Brazil,” he says. “This will always stick with me: At the Rio show, a guy said to me, ‘Man, it took you this long to do a show in your home town?’ I was like, ‘Bruh, I’m not from here, I’m from Seattle. I’m from the States.’ He said, ‘I thought you were from rocinha!’”–the biggest favela in Brazil–“And I said, ‘I make music for the rocinha.’”

Sango pauses, as if sitting back and contemplating mid-sentence.

“I’ve been there, the rocinha. It’s scary. No, not scary. Detroit’s scary. Rio’s beautiful but depressing. So much poverty.”

Sango doesn’t draw a Seattle/Brazil comparison but listening back to our conversation, he uses similar terminology to describe the South End, parts of which he calls a “beautiful ghetto.” He loves living here, loves the multiculturalism, the people, smells, sights, sounds. But he also mentions that outside his window around New Year’s Day, he saw a man pull a gun in the park and for a few tense moments thought he was about to witness a murder. And when he reminisces about growing up in the area, some stories are pretty raw:

“I remember one time at the Brighton Playfield, it was like a gang initiation or something. They let out like 15 pit bulls on the kids. It was on the news. Kids got mauled. One of the kids that got chased, his name was Monnie. Lamont. He got killed recently. I don’t know if you heard about the shooting at the Skyway Ezell’s Chicken over the summer? He got shot 16 times. Sixteen times? That’s monstrous. Evil. I was tight with him. When we got chased it was some movie stuff. ‘Run! Don’t worry about me!’”

Another pause.

“We got chased by dogs all the time growing up. It was always a new dog. And it was never a labrador. It was pit bulls and rottweilers.”

Around that time in 2002, he learned how to make beats, downloading samples on Napster (Bugs Bunny and Animaniacs theme music), chopping them in Acid, arranging on Fruityloops. That was when he was 12.

His magnum opus so far, “Da Rocinha 3” was one of the best records of 2015, overlooked on year-end lists because it came out in November, still revealing itself months later. Instrumental tracks like “She Said” recall early Flying Lotus, electronic music made out of what sounds like wooden instruments. Songs like “Na Hora” (featuring Faktiss from France and Chris McClenney from New York) show how well Sango works in a team, gloriously percolating, mixing rapping and singing.

Higher profile team-ups show Sango’s style infiltrating the mainstream: he produced “The Sequence” for Bryson Tiller’s breakthrough “Trapsoul” album last year and the outro to “Cold Sweat” by Tinashe in 2014, Tiller and Tinashe being stars in what The New York Times has called “a new identity for R&B.” Tiller is poised to have a huge 2016–his Seattle show in January was a hot ticket and “Trapsoul,” which came out in October, is a sleeper hit with legs. On Soulection radio, Sango said Tiller will hopefully appear on his upcoming album “In the Comfort Of,” which seems like it will be his grandest artistic statement.

“Bryson’s the only artist that Facetimes me and keeps me in the loop of how he’s thinking,” says Sango. “It’s pretty nice. Some artists will get high and forget. He’ll be like, ‘These beats, they’re great and thank you. If I’m not using them, I’ll let you know.’ We hung out when he was in town. I brought my cousin and friend to the show. He’s pretty big. He got over a million Instagram followers in three months. And he has his own meme. His own Pepe frog. People don’t know that, they think it’s a random frog. It’s a frog with a black beard and curly hair, looking at a phone all sad. Someone drew it out. But it was based on Bryson Tiller. He has the earring.”

Sango knows about how the Internet works and how to network there. He built his career online while in Grand Rapids, where he moved after elementary school because his parents were originally from the midwest and his dad got a job teaching fourth grade. Chatting with a 16-year-old fan in England about his music on Bandcamp in 2012, he agreed to let the inexperienced kid manage him (“he was like I’ll help you for free, and I’ll get experience”). Now Charlie Christie manages Sango out of London with Will Robillard in Toronto, booking shows for Sango all over the globe. They also manage the producer Kaytranada, signed to Adele’s label XL Records, whom Sango considers “a brother from another mother. We grew up musically together on the Internet and beyond.”

One of the other key people Sango met on the Internet is Tunji Balogun, A&R for RCA Records. There are a lot of A&Rs on Sango’s nuts right now but he trusts Balogun the most, whom some local fans might remember from rapping on stage with Grynch a few years ago. 

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/zXeNfVzGUhY" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Balogun slid instrumentals by Sango to Kendrick Lamar when he was recording “To Pimp a Butterfly.” Nothing materialized, but who knows? Something might. Balogun works closely with Top Dawg Ent. (Lamar’s crew) and with Tiller. He says he’s simply a fan of Sango and Soulection, which he describes as a new version of neo-soul, citing that audiences at shows include a lot of women and are racially mixed, and the sound is soft, deep and genre-fluid.

Another mentor is Seattle’s Jake One, who produces for Drake, Chance the Rapper and Jay Z, and says when he heard Sango’s fully-formed sound–and learned about the major moves he was making for himself–he had to call him in for a meeting.

“He was like, ‘Yo man, I need to sit you down and tell you what you need to do for the city.’ That’s what it was! It was very much OG/YG. Pretty much he was like, ‘Watch out for these labels, they want to steal your sound, they’re trying to steal your sound already, these older guys get paid to steal music, so be aware of that.’”

Of course as an A&R for labels and his own projects, Jake wants some of that Sango sound, too.

“Pretty much every time I work with him he says, ‘Make me sound young.’" Sango says. "I work with him a lot, him and this guy Swish. Swish is like a genius.”

Swish is indeed amazing, by the way, a former UW student now playing keyboards and producing in L.A. Jake has good ears. You don’t get 20 years deep into the game without being a good judge of talent.

The future for Sango is bright. And while I don’t want to overstate it, he might have his own 20-year run. At least the writing is on the wall that his star will continue to rise in 2016 as he builds his national and international profile.

And as for locally, we’re about to get a Sango infusion in the very near future:

“Not to diss Macklemore or what he’s doing, but I find there’s a little more to be said. I want to work with Dave B more. And Key Nyata. And even UGLYFRANK from Tacoma. I mean, Macklemore’s dope. He’s cool, very successful and doing things for this city. But we know that. We need to hear kids from the South End and C.D. We need to know what they sound like. How Seattle actually sounds. How Seattle rap is supposed to sound, honestly.”

![sango canh 1.jpeg](https://finals.blog/api/uploads/sango_canh_1_6485445ae4.jpeg)

Stop Sleeping On Sango

misc

read every word. thank you for all the thought and work that went into this! 

❤️

^agreeing with misc above! especially loved all of this historical analysis---went above and beyond any tendency to simply reminisce, so cool to like, actually have someone talk about the music! in a more complicated way

also, i LOVE this blog, the formatting decisions are so beautiful, truly

holly (h.d. angel)

thanks so much for the kind words here. i'm glad this piece resonated; i worked hard on it!

if i could redo one thing about this interview i probably would have asked about different/more music that was given nods on "snow flakes". i'm not really an indie rock person and although i like the way this went ofc i wonder whether there would have been even more compelling insights about stuff like "afro finger and gel" or "eureka", which feel less accessible to the current (bad) canons. maybe the challenge of going out of my taste profile a bit is what made this a success though, i'm not sure.

what i liked best about this piece was brooks' oscillation between despair/resignation at all of the structural issues around art and unbridled enthusiasm when it came to the art itself. you can see this in the last two lines of questioning - "i wish i had more positive things to say!" "everything sucks!" followed by immediate hope and resolve as soon as the convo turns to a cool game with cool ideas. that's a battle my brain fights all the time.

also this gradient on bold is insane when it's block text, good god.

finals

john

An Interview with Jaime Brooks

HALF MOON BAE: A CONVERSATION WITH TOMU DJ

Melendez 

twitter.com/KEDINY4

He sounds sweet and so does Ice :') hope they only keep groiwng more and more

Marcos melendez 

![Screen Shot 2022-06-24 at 1.37.22 PM.png](https://finals.blog/api/uploads/Screen_Shot_2022_06_24_at_1_37_22_PM_49071c4e6d.png)

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/9MGt2N-q_2Y" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Straight up, Ice Spice "Name Of Love" is my pick for the song of the summer. It's addictive, and such a fresh sound for NY drill. So I got on the horn with its producer, RIOTUSA (son of Hot 97's DJ Enuff), and talked about beats, rhymes and life. It was a quick chat but should give you some background on an artist you're going to hear a lot from in the future, who on one hand is just getting started, but on the other hand has been building something gradually and carefully with Ice Spice, wisely putting their relationship at the center of making a unique sound together –– which incidentally is also a lot about relationships.

![Screen Shot 2022-06-24 at 1.39.35 PM.png](https://finals.blog/api/uploads/Screen_Shot_2022_06_24_at_1_39_35_PM_e22515b81a.png)

**So you just graduated right? Where did you go, and what did you study?**

Facts, yeah I just I just graduated. I was going to SUNY Purchase, it’s kind of an art school, and I was doing communications but I was mostly undeclared through my time there. The last year or two I decided. Lowkey I went just to go, and they had studios and shit like that, so I spent lots of my time there in the studios with people who were in the music system. But I didn’t really take music courses myself, I was just there, trying to meet people and trying to make connections. That’s actually where I met Ice. She dropped out, but we met in freshman year. She was a communications major first. So just taking basic courses, we crossed paths. We ended up getting introduced by a mutual friend but we had classes together. Intro to Communications, same class. 

**And you’re from the Bronx?**

Yeah, facts. 

**What kind of hardware/software do you use to make beats?**

I first started when I was 10, fucking around on laptops. I’m an only child so I had a lot of time to play around with programs growing up. I used Garageband, putting together loops. But when I was 15 I actually got Reason, and that was the first DAW I used. When I was 16, I got hip to FL Studio, which I had to crack on the MacBook –– it was all glitchy and shit. But I’ve been using it ever since, that’s my main DAW to this day. 

**What’s your story with music? Did you take piano lessons, is your family musical, what’s your backstory?**

My pops is a DJ so I was always around music, all types, soul, R&B, hip-hop… My mom was into music too, she had a job in the music industry when I was a baby. She put me onto other types of music, like alternative, rock, stuff like that. Growing up I had a pretty vast palette of music to listen to. When I was eight I took drum courses for a month. I think that’s why my drums are hard to this day, because that was my foundation. 

**Did your dad have a DJ name?**

DJ Enuff on Hot 97, that’s my pops. Shout out to him. 

![Screen Shot 2022-06-24 at 1.39.22 PM.png](https://finals.blog/api/uploads/Screen_Shot_2022_06_24_at_1_39_22_PM_b0b3fe957d.png)

**Do you feel like you’re part of a music community, or are you just out here solo dolo?**

I feel like I started off solo dolo but now it’s a community thing. There’s a whole lot of talent coming out of the Bronx, and I’ve been connecting with a lot of my peers. Like chrissaves, A Lau, EMRLD, Goldin…I would say there’s a community. I would say that with me and Ice, the origins of everything, was definitely dolo vibes. But I’m open to working with people if it makes sense. 

**Are there any people in the NY music community that mentored you, or have been particularly supportive?**

Yeah, definitely A Lau, shout out A Lau. Two three years ago when drill was getting popping, his beats with the Bizzy Banks shit inspired what I got going. And when he hit me up, earlier this year, he immediately let me into the studio, let us collaborate with the people he’s around, helps me with placement opportunities, a really cool guy, cool to talk to. He looks out for people. He stuck his hand out, definitely. 

**I interviewed him for BRICK last year and we talked about how he basically A&Red 26AR and Rocko Ballin, and now they’re both signed to majors, so what he’s doing is working.** 

He’s definitely the heartbeat of the city. Shout out to A Lau. 

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/U77JyALAfk0" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

**I love Name of Love and No Clarity. How do you get your drums to hit so hard?**

Honestly for me simplicity is key. Knowing where to put the kicks. Always have to have a hard kick, hard 808. I like having sounds that can mesh together well, sharp hi-hats but I space them out. I space out the rhythm. I don’t really like using – I’m not gonna say the traditional drill drums, because I have influences from that too – but I try and keep my shit a clean sharp sound, that cuts through speakers, cuts through a phone, cuts through a laptop. And match that with a nice sample, or an original melody I made. But I always make sure the drums are carrying the track. 

![Screen Shot 2022-06-24 at 1.39.01 PM.png](https://finals.blog/api/uploads/Screen_Shot_2022_06_24_at_1_39_01_PM_e3f034b666.png)

**Do you feel like people buying drums or sample packs waters down production?**

Nah I don’t think so, I think producers should be able to get their bag and get their creativity out. Do whatever you need to get that sauce. I thought about doing a drum sale, it’s something I’m considering. You gotta keep up and know what’s hot. I get all my kits off reddit for free. If you wanna buy somebody’s shit though, go ahead, let’s support each other. 

**But do you feel like that marketplace leads to beats that sound the same, because everyone’s using the same stuff?**

Nah, I think what makes a good beat is the creative behind it. It’s all about how you freak it. What are you going to bring to the table? How is your melody different? If it’s the same drums, how is the artist bringing it alive? At the end of the day it’s the creativity of the producer, how are you able to take these sounds to the audience in a way that’s new. That’s what separates a good producer from just a beatmaker. 

**Are you a fan of Bebe Rexha and Zedd? Is that what you’re naturally listening to, or were you looking for a certain type of sample?**

Yeah, nah, facts, when I was 12 thats when the original Clarity came out. Foxes’ voice was super dope, shout out Zedd, I heard he’s a fan of the record. We’re actually in the works of clearing that record right now. Shout out Zedd. I definitely fuck with that sound. In the early 2010s, that was the staple sound. So to bring it back a decade later is dope, to give it a twist on some New York shit. 

**How important is clearing samples?**

When we first dropped these songs, we didn’t clear it. It’s a risk, but I feel like you gotta just do it and worry about that shit later. Because you never know how big the song could get. Even if it gets taken down, if it makes a cultural impact, you still had your footprint there. You can always clear it later, or switch the beat out later. And if you’re not gonna sample this song, someone else is, so you might as well just do it. It keeps it fun and keeps it interesting. It’s good to hear familiar songs rebirth again. If someone sampled my song, fuck it, a new audience heard my shit. That’s how I look at it. 

![Screen Shot 2022-06-24 at 1.36.49 PM.png](https://finals.blog/api/uploads/Screen_Shot_2022_06_24_at_1_36_49_PM_3c241f5863.png)

**Why do you think you and Ice Spice click so well?** 

We’re just from the Bronx. Our whole clique at the time at school was people from the Bronx. She wasn’t making music yet when I met her. When I found out she could rap, i was like, Yo you should really take this shit serious. She was like, Yeah? I was like, Yeah. She was like, Give me a beat then! I’m not gonna lie the first couple beats I sent to her, the drill wave wasn’t really a thing yet, and I didn’t know what the fuck to send her. I was sending her shitty 30-second beats, not shitty, but you know I didn’t know what to send. But when Sleepy Hallow and Sheff G started to come out, that Brooklyn wave, then I had something to base the sound off of. Because I knew that was the sound she was trying to go into. So I started sending her beats directly for her. As I was growing, she was growing, and we just kept it in-house and are growing together. She’s the one that told me to sample In the Name of Love, so it’s definitely a collaborative process.  

**What do you appreciate about what she brings to the table?**

When it comes to rapping, I respect how she’s not afraid to be vulnerable. We’re in the drill scene where people wanna be tough, people wanna portray an image, but Ice keeps it relationship based, keeps it about her life, shit she seen growing up. Without having to flaunt gangs she’s not part of, or show shit. And her tone of voice is different. But she’s not afraid to say something to catch people’s attention, but that isn’t totally false to who she is as a person. Image wise, she’s very marketable, clean image, she’s beautiful. It all works together. A year ago, we knew it was going to get to this point, but we’ve been working for a whole year, because you have to form something together. She had to learn my strengths, I had to learn her strengths. When No Clarity came out, I was like, ok this seems like a formula that’s one step close to what the Ice Spice sound could be. Sample, hard drums, relationship based lyrics, shit that’s relatable. She’s relatable and bringing a new voice for the women. Not just women, for everyone. 

**Interesting. I can see how you came back with Name of Love and just hammered what worked, and struck gold again.** 

Exactly. That sound is slowly leaving its mark for the women in New York right now, influencing the new shit that’s coming out. From guys, too. I’ve been seeing way more shit about relationships and trust issues in the drill scene. I know she’s leaving her mark. That’s what we wanna do, influence, inspire, leave our mark in the city. 

**Is it common in drill for there to be these strong producer/rapper relationships?**

I feel like from the surface it might seem that there are duos out here. What makes it different for us, a lot of the biggest drill songs that past few years you can look it up on YouTube and get the same exact beat. Which, that’s cool, that method can help blow up a song. We saw it with Shake It, shout out Elias Beats. Between everyone else and Ice and I, you can’t get my beats like that. I don’t really sell beats, I got like 10 up on my store. I’d rather build with an artist and build a sound. You got the 26ARs and the A Laus, but there aren’t too many duos that are exclusive. I would say it’s pretty rare. It’s good to have someone you can trust creatively, and ask, What do you think about this? 

![Screen Shot 2022-06-24 at 1.37.10 PM.png](https://finals.blog/api/uploads/Screen_Shot_2022_06_24_at_1_37_10_PM_241b5c5766.png)

**I’m sure you have a lot of people wanting to sign you, and give unsolicited advice about where to take your career. What are your own goals though?**

Facts. I just want to make hits. Before I locked in with Ice I was making my own music, and I still have 100 songs I haven’t released yet. But I’ve been focusing on Ice’s EP right now. But for myself, I want to make good music, make good beats, help Ice, release my own shit, stay creative. Never look back. Get out the Bronx, get out the city, and travel the world. See new things and know that I did it off something that I love to do. 

**Have you ever performed?**

Yeah when I was 16 i did some show in Canal Street, forgot who was on it, I think it was like Five Finger Posse…it was underground shit. That was my solo shit. But last week Ice and I did a SoundCloud event, and I was her DJ. I was on the mic and everything, we had a whole routine. We got more shows on the way, a lot of these shows are last minute as fuck. Last month B-Lovee hit up Ice to do a show the day of, drove to Boston the same day. A lot of this music shit I realize it’s not organized, you gotta be willing to go with shit on the fly. 

**As a fan of rap in general, what are some trends that you’d like to see go away?**

Taking the same lines. People copy and pasting the same lines. Be a little original with the lyrics, people be copying and pasting the smallest shit. Lowkey, especially with the drill shit, a lot of shit be sounding the same because of that. When Pop Smoke came out everyone wanted to sound like Pop Smoke. Now that the Bronx got it everyone wanna sound like Flock. Gotta be original, how you can. 

**What do you think about drill long term, is it a permanent part of rap now?** 

Yeah. Every year they say drill’s dying but every year it gets bigger and bigger. It’s international, and been here since Chicago. It’s gonna be here. I feel like there’s more evolution possible within drill, too. I think there could be more people like Fivio, mainstream artists whose records are predominantly drill. Gunna and Lil Baby have gotten on drill records as features, but imagine if they had drill records on their own. And for smaller artists like Ice, I wanna see her on the top, as a top girl. Her being able to get closer to that every day, is bringing drill to a bigger place.

**Who are your top five producers?**

Kanye, Tyler, the Creator, Wheezy, ATL Jacob, and myself. For real for real. 

**Top five rappers?**

Kanye, Tyler, Jay-Z, Biggie and Ice Spice. Gotta keep it home team! I honestly only listen to her music, deadass. If you listen to her lyrics, she be saying some shit!

**And she introduced me to the word “smoochie.” That’s what she should call her fans, like Nicki has Barbies…**

That’s facts, that’s a marketing play right there. 

**That one’s free.** 

Nah facts, ha ha. 


Featured Post

Winter Into Spring, in Six Albums

Posts

An Interview with Swami Sound

Stop Sleeping On Sango

An Interview with Jaime Brooks

HALF MOON BAE: A CONVERSATION WITH TOMU DJ

RIOTUSA on Ice Spice, Clearing Samples, and Influencing NY Drill