As a bass player, would it be safe to assume that your tracks start always with the bass line? Tell us a few things about your creative process.
No, I unfortunately left my bass back home in Italy, therefore here in LA I can’t do that yet. Usually my tracks start more with keys, since that is my main instrument but it can also start with drums or with any exciting sample. “Peach Flavored Vodka” is actually the first song I started with a bassline but I’ll definitely do that more in the future.
Since I’m a producer, I love to start producing and writing at the same time. The distinction between the two often blurs for me, since production gives me endless possibilities of where a song can go. Other times I write piano songs and then turn those into hip hop beats. All the first songs I wrote were mainly piano songs.
Your video describes your 15-year-old past self. What advice would you give to your younger self?
Enjoy every moment while it lastsand embrace your age.
Favorite rapper, lyricist and producer?
Kanye West (both)
Moving from South Tyrol to Berlin and then to LA, which are the main differences between these places and what do they have in common?
South Tyrol stands basically for small town / countryside vibes. It is very quiet, peaceful, people are very friendly but there’s not really an artistic open-mindedness. The mountains, even though they’re beautiful, unfortunately block people’s horizon.Berlin and LA, on the other hand, are major cities where you can be whoever you want to be. Berlin just has the downside that its music business is still limited in its variety and you won’t find enough support to sustain your career in every genre you’d like to create.In LA you have the wholemusic business and that’s why it became my current home.Aside from artistic freedom, it is also the center of the music industry, which inspires you to keep pushing because you know there arepossibilities forsustaining your career.
Do you have an artist that you would describe as a hidden gem that we should know about?
Audrey Nuna
Favorite music related film?
Inside Llewyn Davis
Any future plans?
Becoming successful in the industry, either as an artist or as a producer.
Im a Music Producer from Fife, Scotland. born Scott Russell Wilson Jr. & Been operating musically under the Alias B O Ḵ Ë since late 2018. Music has been a beautiful way for me too convey my emotions over the years and I look too continue my work on into the foreseeable future & I have faith someday it will give me a big enough platform too really impact humanity in positive way and push us back in the right direction as a species.
Describe your sound in 3 words
Pushing The Boundaries.
Favourite rapper, lyricist and producer
Favourite Rapper right now has to be Slowthai. That man is seriously on a whole other level! Even though he’s only dropped one official album at this point I can feel the levels of evolution & introspection going on and I honestly live for that shit.
Favourite Lyricist right now has to be Shogun. The way he attacks a beat with his own unique approach will be remembered for years to come, especially up here in Scotland. Props to him for all he’s doing for the Scottish scene right now too. It’s been a blessings being a part of it & I look forward to the future endeavours with Sho.
Favourite Producer is Moby. These where all really tough to just pick one for each but I feel like Moby’s been there since the very start of my love for music & even still too this day his album releases never fail to leave me in awe. It’s honestly probably where my love for making full length albums rather than singles came from & his music also pushed me more in the direction of trying to portray some sort of emotion or deep routed message rather than just go with whatever’s currently poppin’ – so I’m forever in debt to Moby for that reason & many more.
Best Hip Hop album ever
Again, It’s hard to choose the best hip-hop album of all time really but for me personally the one I’m most attached to on a spiritual level would have to be ‘Ready To Die’ by The Notorious B.I.G – The whole album is just complete raw realness to it’s core right from the get go & I love that. All the beats are legendary, the hooks are timeless, all the menacing bars & flows throughout just take me to another realm and have done since a young age. I always looked up to the rappers like Pac, BIG & any other rapper coming with something uniquely theirs & real.
Top Hidden Gem Artist
Honestly any hidden gem Artists I come across I take down the names & add them to the bucket-list of talented artists I would love to work with in near the future and in recent times I’ve been fortunate enough to mark off some of them names.
I would say a definite Hidden Gem Artist to watch would be MONROE (MONRO£ on Spotify) from Telford, England (UK). Bubbling up a lot of hype round his ends & for good reason, he comes with it every time and his bars & melodies just seem to be getting better & better. 100% someone to watch in the UK scene and I look forward to sharing some of the music We’ve got coming.
Future plans
As far as the future goes, I’m not entirely sure even where to start. Basically I have an Album I’ve been working on all year & In the process of getting this as good as it deserves to be I’ve ended up with way more music than I can even release.
So for now let’s just keep it one big exciting moment in time then we’ll focus on what’s next when it gets here.
In my mind it’s the Biggest album coming out of Scotland in 2020 so I genuinely cannot wait too share it with you guys, then move forward onto the next one like it’s nothing.
Plenty more to come that’s for sure – I just need to Stay Ready & Trust the process.
My name is David Jordan Larkins. A lot of my friends call me Davi Jordan, and musically, I go by Blaze Trackz. I am a hip hop artist, composer, producer and engineer. I was raised in Newburgh, NY (a suburb outside of NYC), and currently reside in North Hollywood, California. I have had a hell of a life, and could talk about it for hours. Some good, some bad, but it has all helped me to find myself, and a path of living and thinking that I endorse and try to spread through the music I do. I consider the music that I do as “Virtue Rap”- a style that pushes forth support of fellow man, mutual respect, and a sense of responsibility in the community and household. Also, it has a turn toward fiscal awareness and responsibility. A brief of my life with highlights is that I dealt heavily in illegal activities at one point, have been married and divorced, have been homeless for a set of time, achieved a bachelor’s degree from a major university, and have found the Lord Jesus Christ and love in my current relationship with my fiance, Whitney. Wow. Listing that off was a journey for me in itself. Nonetheless, a lot has happened and I’m proud to say that it has helped me grow as a man. I try to push the idea of love and growth in my music.
Describe your sound in 3 words
Three words to describe my sound are altruistic, poetic, and analytical.
Altruistic because, at the core of the music I do, I do put forward care about how I can affect those who listen to my music. Lyrically, I enter the songwriting process asking questions of who my audience is, what their needs are, and how I can relate. Music is a conversation, so without a 2 way street, there isn’t much connection.
Poetic because I love words. Finding the right ones to express the right thing, in the most concise manner. Sometimes I can be long-winded, so maybe cogency is not the strong point for me, but my aim is to cut through. Metaphors that nurture relatability are important for me.
Analytical because I am a producer and composer, too. I enter the engineering side of things thinking about tempo, tone, and mood so I can give my fans the best experience possible when listening. I have an upcoming record, FAITH. “Gang Gang” is a cut off of that project. I hope listeners can hear the story that I am trying to tell and how I intertwine the music together to try by best to draw on big picture.
Favourite rapper, lyricist and producer
Favorites are difficult, because art is so subjective. When naming a favorite, what can I base things on? As a rapper, if I base it off of passion, Tupac Shukar. but if I base it off of overall longevity and success, Jay-Z. Last, if I base it off of lyricism, I’d have to go with J. Cole. But there are so many great artists out there, I could go on for days on my influences and why each one is amazing. My favorite producer is Timbaland. He has always broken the mold, and I am very influenced by his sound when I produce.
Best Hip Hop album ever
For me, the best Hip Hop album ever is “Get Rich Or Die Trying”, by 50 Cent. The cohesivity of that project is breathtaking.
Top Hidden Gem Artist
One artist I love to listen to, a newer artist, is Reason off of the TDE imprint. That would be a Hidden Gem Artist, for sure. Lyrically, he’s dope. If you haven’t taken a listen, I would recommend,100%. That’s for rap. As a producer, and for any composers out there, if you make beats or sample or anything, listen to Labi Saffre, Donny Hathaway, and anything under the Jazz music genre. I promise it will add to your sound immensely.
Future plans
After releasing the “Gang Gang” record (dropping 11/1/20), which is sort of a commentary on the socioeconomic environment we live in today, I am planning on releasing my new record, “FAITH: For Anyone Interested To Hear”. Working through this now, but most of it is done. “FAITH” is around 14 tracks, not sure if it will stay that way, but it is fully produced, written and recorded by me. This project is and speaks to a slew of topics including personal relationships and how to navigate through insecurity and grow. It also speaks to my actual faith in Christianity, values as a man, and transformation into a more mature mindset. The content I would say is a bit conscious, but this is not a traditionally conscious rap record as the composition and feel is more mainstream.
I hope that following the entire COVID pandemic, when that is all over, I can get in some solid performances. I just really want my music to reach as many people as possible, so that is the goal. Pushing hard on connecting with my people via social media in the meantime, IG, Twitter, TikTok, all of it. Just trying to continue to connect and help others through their lives with my art.
Hello we’re ‘Soundaze’, an alternative experimental hip hop band based in Los Angeles California. Made up of three members, two vocalists (Daywu Xin and Love, Pax) and a producer (Redbeard). From Los Angeles to Toronto. We consistently collaborate with a flurry of artists in our creative family/network too. A wide net family of visual artists, musicians, designers and directors that we hold close.
Describe your sound in 3 words
Eclectic, Emotive, Vibey
Favourite rapper, lyricist and producer
Love, Pax:
My favorite rapper of all time is Murs. I love the way he’s able to weave such incredible storytelling into his verses, like a paintbrush on canvas, you can really “see” what he’s saying on the song. My favorite lyricist has gotta be DayWu though. One of the main reasons I wanted to start writing songs with him. And you can probably guess my personal favorite producer based on that too – Redbeard. I really like Greaf as a producer though as well.
Redbeard:
Favourite rapper, lyricist and producer
-Gotta say Murs as well, grew up listening to him with pax. Rip mac miller as well. Lots of producers come to mind, but jake one has gotta be one of my favorites.
DayWu Xin:
So many favorite mc’s but my go to answer is Nas. The elegance and brilliance in his rhyme schemes and his profound sense of clarity on the world’s issues. That mastery of social psychology is something that I strive to present in my work. Lyrically gotta throw love back at Love, Pax. There’s an education, cleverness and intelligence in his words that conjures up some serious original ideas. My list can go on but we only have so much time. Producer I love Kaytranada. Fellow Canadian but masterful in his range and I simply just get inspired by his instrumentation. Part of why I got back into music.
Best Hip Hop album ever
Love, Pax:
This is obviously one of the hardest questions ever to even attempt to answer, and truthfully I don’t have a favorite. I don’t want to cop out though so I’m gonna go with “The Infamous” by Mobb Deep. It was the first album that I learned the lyrics to front to back.
Redbeard:
Tough to choose, gonna go with stankonia by Outkast. The black album by Jay Z was one of the first albums my mom ever bought me so that ones high on my list.
DayWu Xin:
Favorite hip hop album is Illmatic by Nas
Top Hidden Gem Artist
Love, Pax: Right now that’s between two female MC’s that I really love, Wynne and Biig Piig
Redbeard: Soundaze I think his name is, check that guy out.
Daywu Xin: There’s a mellow rock band based in Autralia called MTNS and they make great chill music. And those guys over at Soundaze are putting their hearts into some of the best music out there.
Future plans
We are dropping a 16 track project called ‘Love, Vote & Mutiny’ at the end of the month. Videos are also dropping. We plan to keep getting our music out there. A couple of us dabble in film and television too and we’ve got some exciting new movies and tv show appearances coming out.
My name is RATEDARE, I am a southern rapper/producer and sometimes singer located at Dallas. I’ve been producing for 5 years but been involved with music since I was 6. I love many genres of music. You can catch me bumping A7X, AC/DC, and Foo Fighters one day, then the next bumping Pac, Q-tip, and Freddie Gibbs.
Describe your sound in 3 words
Formless, creative, unique
Favourite rapper, lyricist and producer
Favorite rapper is Dylon(Dave Chappelle joke), but for real it’s Kendrick Lamar. He’s got too many flows. Favorite lyricist is Andre 3000. Favorite producer is J-Dilla. He’s crazy with samples!
Best Hip Hop album ever
3 way tie Kids See Ghost, To Pimp a Butterfly, and 17
Top Hidden Gem Artist
If not myself my homeboy XXPLICIT. He’s a cold killer on the mic.
Future plans
I’m working on a Project named FNORD. My new song Fare You Ready, (pronounced are you ready, the f is silent) is gonna be on the project. Besides that I’m trying build my legacy in this music industry. Anyone who listened to my music thank you. To all my fans stay tuned, love y’all!!
My name’s Karras and I’m an alternative rapper from the Midwestern US. Growing up I was in a slew of heavy metal and punk bands playing mostly basement and bar shows until my late twenties when I finally returned to my first musical love of hip-hop. My name is a reference to Father Karras from The Exorcist. I see his character as an allegory for overcoming uncertainty and fear which is one of the running themes to my writing.
Describe your sound in 3 words
Dreamlike, off-kilter, cinematic
Favourite rapper, lyricist and producer
My favorite rappers tend to be my favorite lyricists so I would put Mac Miller and Earl Sweatshirt as tied for both. They both had/have a calm, collected and confident flow with words steeped in metaphysical metaphors and strikingly unique word play and had/have evolved their styles enormously over the years. You can hear their entire demeanor and worldview shift from album to album. It’s inspiring to experience their talent progress as their writing became/becomes more and more enlightened with each release. El-P is my favorite producer but is also a strong contender for favorite lyricist and rapper as well. His angular cadence work and dystopian sci-fi lyricism resonate quite a lot with me and his production is nothing short of visionary.
Best Hip Hop album ever
I feel as though Ready To Die could easily be the best hip-hop album ever. It’s solid from beginning to end. So much charisma and talent jam packed onto one perfect record. While I love that album I would have to say that my personal favorite would be a tie between “Watching Movies With The Sound Off” by Mac Miller and “The Score” by the Fugees. “Watching Movies With The Sound Off” offers everything I love about rap in one mesmerizing album. It’s starkly honest, ominously existential, witty as all hell, contemplative and deeply personal, conceptually well rounded and there is no filler anywhere to be found. “The Score” is one of the most innovative and stylistically unprecedented hip-hop classics of its time and that entire album still holds up as some of the most creative and unique songwriting in hip-hop. Lauren Hill does not get enough mention in lists of best all time rappers. I’d be remiss not to throw in a mention of “The Cold Vein” By Cannibal Ox as well. That album. Damn.
Top Hidden Gem Artist
I’ll be honest, I tend to hear of artists once they’ve made enough of a name that they’ve found their way into my suggestions but I expect Wiki, clipping. and Mavi will continue to do great things and evolve their talents. My long-time friends Stony D, Sad Max, Bice and Diamond Soul all make some incredible music that I would recommend you check out. Stony D and Sad Max produce the majority of my music but have plenty of jams that stand on their own. Stony D crafts dusty, deeply soulful instrumental hip-hop informed by decades of dedication to and love for the culture. Sad Max who produced this track, “Rattlin Away”, is one of the most talented musicians I’ve ever had the pleasure of working with. He makes the weirdest, coolest beats for me and then will go and play everything from experimental jazz to banjo tunes. Bice churns out lo-fi beats that you cannot stop your head from nodding to if you tried and he does it on the daily. Diamond Soul’s sounds are not of this place and time. Must’ve been a quantum shift when this dude’s music was written. They’re all on Spotify with exception of Stony D who you can find on Soundcloud.
Future plans
My first full-length release “Karrasmatic” will be out either end of 2020 or beginning of 2021. I’m excited to start working on music videos for the new singles I’ve been writing and I’m pumped to get a side project with Bice and Sad Max off the ground in which I will be rapping and they’ll both be producing. I’d also really like to get working with other rappers on some features.
My name is Until The Very End and I am an artist from PG County, Maryland. I’ve been recording music for over 10 years and have developed a sound unique to my story. I began producing and uploading music to SoundCloud in early 2011. In 2019 I became CEO of the Arts and Entertainment creative media agency Neighborhood Art District. Stories of misguided youth mixed with quick-witted metaphors reign heavy throughout my discography. My ability to sonically adapt allows me to be comfortable within any musical arrangement. In 2017 I released the EP entitled Submit receiving positive reviews from music insiders. I have released a number of singles through streaming platforms granting me a growing spotlight. From concert choirs to cafeteria battle rap you will find one thing that holds true. As my name states I have no plans of stopping anytime soon and only getting better.
Describe your sound in 3 words
My sound would be a sharp tongued zephyr
Favourite rapper, lyricist and producer
My favorite rapper is Pusha-T and my favorite producers are Pharrell and Mike Dean.
Best Hip Hop album ever
My favorite hip-hop album would be My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy by Kanye West
Top Hidden Gem Artist
My top Hidden Gem Artist would be Baby Rose.
Future plans
My future plans involve me releasing an EP combining experimental sounds and vocal ranges. I want to push myself artistically and I can’t wait to share this project with the world.
HipHop Paranoia 