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How Girl Connected Is Empowering Women in the Music Industry

April 12, 2022 by newhiphopnews

Nicky Jam on Putting Together the Perfect Concert and Showing Canada Love

April 12, 2022 by newhiphopnews

In Conversation: Blade Brown, K-Trap Talk ‘Joints’, Jamal Edwards’ Impact, Cloutchasers In UK Rap & More

April 12, 2022 by newhiphopnews

How Omar Apollo Became One of Pop’s Most Exciting New Stars

April 11, 2022 by newhiphopnews

Photo by Kevin Lombardo
Photo by Kevin Lombardo

Jelleestone Drops New Single “Stay Cold” Produced by Noah “40” Shebib

April 11, 2022 by newhiphopnews

Fivio Foreign Says the ‘King of New York’ Title Doesn’t Matter. He’s Aiming Higher.

April 11, 2022 by newhiphopnews

Fivio and Nicki had been in talks about collaborating since he reached out to her in January 2021. Pulling out his iPhone, he shows me messages between the two. “I hit her up a year ago, like, ‘Yo, let’s do some drill shit,’” he says. “She’s like, ‘You got something in mind?’ So we’ve been going back and forth trying to get that perfect song, and I feel like we got it. She’s a super genius.”

Fivio didn’t get home from the music video shoot until 8 a.m., and the day before that, he was out celebrating his 32^nd birthday with close friends and family. Now, he tells me the celebration will continue later tonight with a dinner party.

The sleepless nights will likely last a little longer, especially now that his debut studio album, B.I.B.L.E. is finally dropping. It’s a milestone he’s been working toward for the past three years. Back in June 2019, Fivio Foreign, born Maxie Lee Ryles III, was a new artist who had just dropped his breakout anthem, “Big Drip,” which would become a quintessential song of the Brooklyn drill movement. He followed the single by signing a deal with Columbia Records and dropping two EPs, Pain and Love and 800 B.C.

“You’re the King of New York? Well, I‘m trying to be the King of the World.”

Remembering those early days, Fivio says he was in a hurry to conquer the industry. “When I first came out, I thought I was ready to drop. Like, ‘Give me an album now,’” he recalls. Now, though, he admits, “I definitely wasn’t ready,” explaining, “I was new to the game. I didn’t really know a lot about the industry, about rollouts, about getting the buzz up and having hot moments. I was enjoying it, but the more I learned, the more I felt like it wasn’t my time.”

Now, the Fivio Foreign who is sitting across a conference table from me, stirring his ramen, is a little more seasoned and “a little more ready,” as he puts it. “I could be a little better, but I’ll take it,” he shrugs, diving into a conversation about his debut album.

At first glance, the album’s title (B.I.B.L.E.) hints at heavily religious themes. Fivio identifies as a Christian (“I’m not living like a perfect Christian, but I’m very religious and I pray a lot,” he says) but he clarifies that the title is representative of a larger concept.

“Naming the album B.I.B.L.E. was like a metaphor,” he explains. “The Bible consists of a whole bunch of stories from people—huge stories—and things that happened. When you read it at some points in life, you can learn from it and deal with your life through the Bible. I feel like my [album] is kind of like that. It’s a whole bunch of stories in my life. People can relate to it, and there’s a lot of motivational shit to take from my life.”

The project includes songs that were recorded as early as two years ago, but to Fivio, the road to his debut has been much longer. “I feel like I’ve been working on this album my whole life,” he says. “To get to this point being as nice as I am, being able to make the song, and being able to put together a project that I like… Yeah, I’ve been working on this shit all my life.”

B.I.B.L.E. is a drill album at its core, Fivio confirms, but with the inclusion of mainstream features. Fivio says he wants to take the subgenre to the next level. “People put drill artists in a box,” he says. “I want to show people, there’s reggae drill, there’s pop drill. There’s all types of drill. As one of the front faces of drill, I feel like it’s my responsibility to widen it. Let’s make everybody able to do drill rap.”

The album has 17 tracks, featuring appearances from major artists like Quavo, DJ Khaled, ASAP Rocky, and more. Out of the 16 features on the album, though, none of them are Brooklyn drill artists. Fivio says his collaborator choices weren’t made out of malicious intent; he just had another vision in mind.

“Right now, I’m elevated,” he says. “For sure, I want to help people and put people on… But I wanted to have elevated, lit songs. I was thinking about going viral.” Fivio moves his noodles around with a fork before clarifying, “I got a couple [drill] niggas on the deluxe.”

With Fivio’s quest for virality in mind, it should come as no surprise that he called on Kanye West to serve as the album’s executive producer. Fivio hasn’t known Ye for very long, but he refers to him as a “big brother.” The two first met around in the summer of 2021. Fivio had just returned from jail following a weapons charge and visited Funk Flex for a freestyle on Hot 97, in which he rapped, “Now I got a question for the reverend/ If you a killer, do you go to heaven?”

“People put drill artists in a box. I want to show people, there’s reggae drill, there’s pop drill. There’s all types of drill.”

Kanye, who was in the process of recording his own album, Donda, reached out to Fivio after watching the freestyle. “He said that’s the type of bars he needed for his shit,” Fivio recalls of their initial conversation. “[Ye] called me up and we got busy. We go viral every time.”

The first song they made was “Off the Grid,” which debuted during the first Donda listening event at Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium in July 2021. Kanye was living out of the stadium while he completed the album, and he flew Fivio to Atlanta shortly after their phone conversation to record the track.

In the booth with Ye, Fivio tried out a new approach, spending more time on each bar than his usual off-the-dome style allows. “It’s a crazy experience,” Fivio remembers. “I go in the booth, right? I hear the beat, I freestyle a couple of lines, probably like three or four bars. Step back, listen to it. Hear the beat again, then we go back in and put another three or four bars. I’m not spitting the whole thing. I’m changing things, figuring it out in my head. I never wrote it down.”

Kanye gave Fivio a few pointers throughout the process, but Fivio was allowed ample space to do his own thing. “[Ye] basically just let me work,” he says. “He likes when I keep rapping. He wants me to rap for a long time.”

Fivio’s verse received rave reviews, and for many listeners who hadn’t been tapped into the Brooklyn drill scene, it was an eye-opening moment, revealing Fivio to be a skillful rapper with more range than anyone realized. Though some of his day-one supporters griped at the new revelation, Fivio says he isn’t trippin’ about the newfound support. “When I was doing songs like ‘Big Drip,’ they were mostly ad-libbed and shit. That’s mainly what people wanted at that time,” he says. “I know what they want from me now, so I just gave them what they wanted. I just be testing shit out. I’ll test some raps out, give them some good bars. If they like it, I’ll keep giving it to them.”

Kanye’s approach to executive producing Fivio’s album was similar to the leadership style he displayed during the making of “Off the Grid.” Fivio says Kanye joined on after most of the album was recorded, only adding to the finishing touches. “It was already a masterpiece, but what [Ye] would do is, he would call in a feature if I needed it. He would structure the beat a little bit different,” Fivio explains. “He perfected it. He’s a painter. So, he makes everything more beautiful and made it even more of a masterpiece.”

Kanye contributed vocals to the album’s single “City of Gods,” alongside Alicia Keys. The track, which officially dropped on Feb. 11, is an ode to Fivio and Keys’ hometown of New York City, and it feels like a more menacing cousin of Jay-Z and Keys’ 2009 anthem “Empire State of Mind.” Two weeks after its release, Fivio, Kanye and Keys performed the track for the first time at the Donda 2 listening experience in Miami, going viral once more.

“It was crazy,” Fivio remembers. “There were like 30,000 people. It was like the biggest show I ever did.”

“Ye would call in a feature if I needed it. He would structure the beat a little bit different. He perfected it. He’s a painter. He made it even more of a masterpiece.”

The arrival of B.I.B.L.E. comes at an interesting point in the evolution of Brooklyn drill. The subgenre was kickstarted around 2016, but really skyrocketed to national attention in 2019, thanks to the success of Pop Smoke records like “Welcome to the Party” and “Dior” as well as Fivio’s “Big Drip.” The movement was putting New York rap back on the map in a major way, but Pop Smoke’s tragic death in February 2020 left a hole in the scene. In Pop’s absence, other artists have kept the sound alive, thanks in large part to the efforts of Fivio, but the fate of Brooklyn drill is still uncertain in some eyes.

When asked about the current state of Brooklyn drill, though, Fivio sounds very confident. “It’s big,” he says. “No other genre is growing faster than drill. I feel like so many artists want to be a part of the drill scene. I appreciate all of the artists that are reaching out to it.”

Despite its upward movement, the subgenre faces hurdles, with its biggest critics accusing artists of having connections to gang activity and promoting gun violence. The NYPD has notoriously kept close tabs on Brooklyn drill artists, going to long lengths to limit their festival appearances and keep them from playing live shows inside city limits.

Fivio chooses his words wisely when discussing his current interactions with the NYPD. “I guess—no, I mean, not really,” he replies when I ask if he’s experienced any pushback from the department during his album rollout.

“In the beginning, we had to learn,” he elaborates. “We had to grow. In the beginning, I was going up to the club. Then this guy sat me down and told me, ‘Yo, listen, chill out.’ If you play by the rules, you’ll be alright. If you’re going to be a leader, you’ve got to learn how to lead. You can’t be a leader and then police don’t fuck with you. I see them, and I try not to get in no trouble. They try not to give me no trouble. We stay out of each other’s way, because when I’m coming, I ain’t starting no trouble. I’m here to make money, put a roof over me and others.”

The police aren’t the only ones closely surveying the subgenre. In February, Mayor Eric Adams urged social media companies to ban drill videos after his son, an employee at Roc Nation, showed him local music videos. “I had no idea what drill rapping was, but I called my son and he sent me some videos, and it is alarming,” the mayor said during a February speech. “We are alarmed by the use of social media to really over-proliferate this violence in our communities. This is contributing to the violence that we are seeing all over the country. It is one of the rivers we have to dam.”

Following his comments, Adams took a meeting with Fivo and other local rappers, including Maino and B-Lovee, to open a dialogue about the subgenre.

“I knew Eric Adams already because I did a peace walk in New York with him,” Fivio tells me. “So I reached out to everybody, and then Maino was like, ‘Yo, I got you a meeting. He wants to sit down and talk.’ Me and Maino called a couple other people up. Moreso, he was saying he’s not really trying to stop drill rap. He said with the media and internet, it’s making it seem like he wants to stop drill rap. But he was saying he’s not trying to do that. He just don’t want niggas incriminating themselves, making Black culture look like wild animals, making the city look like it’s not safe for people. So what he was saying was, ‘Change the narrative.’”

Improving the perception of the Brooklyn drill scene was a big motivator for Fivio as he made B.I.B.L.E. “That’s what I’m doing with this album, for sure,” he declares. “That’s where I feel my responsibility is, to take the negativity away from it. To show them the album and be like, ‘Yo, listen, we got a song like this. We got Alicia Keys singing, ‘New York go easy on me.’ That’s more like the opposite of violence. But it’s saying this is drill rap, though.”

Whether you call him “King” or not, Fivio Foreign is undoubtedly one of the most recognizable faces coming out of the city right now, and he’s still based in New York (although he plans on moving at some point). For that reason, he feels immensely indebted to the city that raised him. “[I have a] big responsibility,” he says. “If I’m going to be the artist coming out of New York, I’m going to make New York look like it’s the place to be,” he says. “I’m going to make sure they keep it a good, safe place. I want to make it possible for other new artists to come out of New York.”

If everything goes according to plan, B.I.B.L.E. will go down as that bright of a moment for both New York and Brooklyn drill, Fivio tells me, as our conversation draws to a close.

“If I do what I’ve got to do, [Brooklyn drill] is going to stick around,” he says. “People are going to start to realize we can do it all. Once it’s widened up a little bit more, people will get it. Drill rappers are the pop stars.”

Tom The Mail Man Is Here For the Long Haul

April 11, 2022 by newhiphopnews

Your newest album Sunset Visionary, Vol. 2 just dropped along with a headlining concert in your home state. What has this been like for you and what have you been most excited for your fans to experience with this album?
I just want them to hear the fucking music. You know what I’m saying? Because I think there’s a perspective of the artist that I used to be that’s still out there. And I like that because nobody really knows what to expect with this album. I’m really just excited to move on and go further into the alternative space. And being able to have my own show—I’ve never had that before, it’s super dope. I really don’t go out much, especially with the pandemic, so I don’t know what my fanbase looks like in real life. It’s crazy!

How does SV2 serve as a follow up to SV1? How are they connected?
More or less SV2 is showing progression. But, the SV saga started randomly. I wanted to try a different style of music and I wanted it to be straight acoustic. I guess what I consider to be rock or pop music. It’s just very fun, upbeat, and heavy in emotion. It was really just supposed to be an acoustic project though. And then I never planned for volume two, but then I was making a lot of music at the time and I was like, “Damn, this could be the follow-up.” It just came together.

Throughout your discography we’ve seen you shift more from rap and hip-hop to a more emo, punk rock, and pop sound. How did this transition happen for you? Was it a natural progression?
I think I was just inspired. It’s funny, like three years ago, I got put onto Falling In Reverse, Panic! At The Disco, and My Chemical Romance. Everybody grew up on that music, but I’m just now getting hip to all of it. And then it’s really Ronnie Radke who inspired me to go in this direction. And while I was in the middle of making SV2, I listened to Olivia Rodrigo’s whole album. That changed the direction that I wanted to go with it too. And then also MGK has been putting out some really fire songs. I don’t know, I’m not an MGK hater! I fuck with the music. I’m just here for the music. Mod Sun is also fire. KennyHoopla also really fire. I think I’m just inspired by seeing other artists do great things.

Mod Sun had really amazing things to say about you and your music in a joint livestream a few weeks ago. How does it feel to get positive feedback from other artists you respect?
It’s just a surreal moment to be noticed, if that makes sense. Because being an independent and a somewhat underground artist you don’t know who really knows who you are or if anybody knows you at all. So it’s crazy to have someone say, “Oh yeah, I’ve been watching you for six months, dude you’re sick.” Saying this publicly and using your platform to show me love, that’s crazy. I appreciate that.

Would you consider any of your songs to be “party” music?
I didn’t know if anybody else got that vibe, but “Over,” that’s like a party song. I want people to dance. Watching early ‘90s videos and seeing how people used to be back in the day, it seemed like people actually danced and had fun and were really moving at social gatherings. That’s how I want my shows to be. So, I have to make the music to make them move physically, you know what I’m saying? Bring that energy. That’s what I want.

You started out as primarily a rapper and developed into more of a singer. Was there a moment where you became comfortable singing? Was that a struggle for you or an easy adjustment?
I was definitely always singing it in private. Publicly, I tried to do a little video when I was in college and that got received as well. I still didn’t really believe that people thought I could sing. Then “Come Over’’ came out. Everybody was just like, “Oh my God, he’s a singer.” And I’m like, “Wait, I’m a singer?” Then coming to this project, I had more confidence. The whole project is basically singing. I got a little bit more confidence, but I honestly thought my voice was shit. It’s a process.

Do you have any advice for people who are lacking confidence in their art?
More people need to talk their shit. That’s the energy I like to carry out. I would like for people to try to embrace being more confident. Even me, I have an issue with that myself. If you’re good at something and you’re confident in it, talk your shit. It’s okay. It’s not offending anybody, you’re not talking shit about nobody else. You’re just talking about what you think about yourself and taking pride in it. Do it. Do it. Talk shit more.

You’ve sampled the Foo Fighters, Studio Ghibli soundtracks, movies like Paid In Full and more. What’s your process for finding and incorporating samples?
For the Paid In Full sample, that was from a very crazy speech in that movie. It was just a movie that I grew up with. And then for the tone of the song, both things completely meshed and it made sense. It’s like bringing two loves from two separate things and trying to see if they fit together.

If SV2 was the soundtrack to any movie what would it be?
Nobody’s going to guess this. I would hope not. But for this specific album it’s The Wolf of Wall Street. I say it because there’s highs and lows. It’s a hell of a lot of different feelings throughout that movie. Leo is fire.

With songs like “Death Note” and “Evangelion,” it’s clear anime and manga have had an impact on your music. How has your love of anime affected your music and added to your imagination/storytelling process?
A lot of what I do musically just happens naturally. And I try to lean towards things that I actually like. Anime is so good at bringing out the emotion in things that real people can’t do themselves.

Like if I go on the stage and start crying and being super genuine about it, most people will say, “You look like a bitch.” But, if I say it on a song poetically, and then I put a cover with a character expressing the emotions, then the message is received that way. Way better than me having a HD album cover of tears going down my face. It’s not the ‘90s, I’m not Trey Songz. This is not that.

So your art is like a characterization of yourself in some ways?
Yeah. There’s a lot of metaphors in the art. For example the bears [on the cover], I haven’t really said much about that. They’re both called Leo, there’s a blue bear and there’s a red bear. The blue bear is more of a representation of my innocence and my childlike side. In a lot of the covers you see, I’m wrapping myself around the bear, trying to protect him.

So Tom the Mail Man is the outer shell that gets the beating, gets the bruises just to protect the innocent. But on the SV2 cover he’s holding Leo upside down like in a threatening way looking beaten and bruised. SV1 was like a kid that was hopeful, with a full sense of justice and a strong will. And then SV2 is real life. I’ve been beaten. I’ve been fucked up. This is how I feel now. I’m not going to listen to the angel on my shoulder anymore because I’ve been hurt already and I want revenge.

Anime is like that. It has so many layers to peel back that I just want to bring that into my own music. For instance, Demon Slayer is not just a happy, go-lucky anime with pretty colors and beautiful animation. There’s some, really dark, gritty stuff in there, and it brings light to a lot of people’s real life situations.

For instance most people look down on thieves. Anime has taught me not to look down on thieves because you don’t know what their situation is. Have you ever been put in a situation where you really had to steal something? I like thinking about things like that. What I want my music to do for others is the same as what anime does for me.

What’s your favorite anime right now?
Right now I’m going to just give it to Attack On Titan because this is the last season. That last episode was godly. It’s a masterpiece. And Demon Slayer is right up there. They had a phenomenal season just in terms of full quad, full animation story, pacing and everything. It was fire. It was amazing.

You’ve said you also enjoy Shoujo anime. What draws you to that genre?
I love it. I’m a nerd. I just love romance. I love the little butterflies. I get it when the character’s crush gets a hint that they might like each other. My friend just got me a manga book for my birthday, this Orane series. This is the most gut wrenching romance. It’s amazing.

A while back you sent your video for “Lil Tommy” into a No Jumper livestream. What made you decide to do this?
Well, at that time I had to find a way to market my music by myself because I didn’t have a manager. That was just one of the tactics. I’d go in there and save up money at whatever job I was working. Roughly it comes like $100, $150 to put your video out there. So I would go to channels that I watch with big audiences, and then pay every time.

I would go to Lael Hansen. I would go to imdontai. I would go to No Jumper. Whoever had a live stream and a decent amount of people in it. That was on the goal with the No Jumper thing. Other people saw it and that’s what I wanted. Other people really got to judge it right there, decided they like it and then go back, and then turned it into a moment. That’s why I did that a couple times.

You’re in Atlanta right now, what’s that like as an artist in an area that has so much musical presence?
Yeah. I’m like 40 minutes away from where my friend stays in the center of Atlanta. I’ve been on the scene and I’ve been around all the Atlanta rappers that are really from the city like Wiley from Atlanta, Kenny Mason, Daniel Novello. There’s a lot of super talented guys out here. But, I’m not really out there. I just stay in my little bubble and just exist. I don’t bother anybody until I’m out there, unless I have a show. I’m not really super social, honestly. I just stick with my little group of people and then make music.

We’re not in high school no more. I’m just trying to make good music. I’m trying to make music that lasts years and years and years and become a household name for life. I want to be in music history. I can make friends in music if you’re a dope person in real life and it’s not just like, “Hey, I got a persona and I’m this guy.” I don’t give a fuck about that. If you’re dope as a person, that’s it.

Do you feel like being different from the typical Atlanta sounds as an advantage or disadvantage?
I definitely use it to my advantage. A lot of people don’t necessarily make the type of music that I make. If you make niche songs, it’s easier for people to get behind you. My position works for me. It works because I’m from Atlanta, but I’m not really that typical Atlanta guy.

Are you excited for Atlanta [TV Show] Season 3?
That shit is about to be sick. That shit is about to be sick as fuck. Gambino is an amazing writer. He’s an amazing actor. He’s an amazing comic. He’s an amazing singer. He’s everything.

If you could have one artist or or director create a music video for you, who would it be?
I’m going to give it to Tyler. Visually, he’s fucking insane. Lil NAS X is up there because he’s amazing with his videos. I’m going to give it to Ronnie Radke too. Really, that’s the order. Yeah. I go Tyler first.

You speak about having this dark and light duality in your art and music. How did this begin for you and what’s the reception been like?
I like mixing very dark with very beautiful imagery. I get called a Satan worshiper so much! It doesn’t make sense. It’s just the type of art that I’m into. And you have kids that are on the internet hearing a lot about symbolism. And they think if it has a cross, or if it has horns, or if it’s black, it’s scary devil shit.’” I’m just like, “Bro, it’s just art. Shut up.”

Artist development takes time. We’re in this super microwave era, where it’s just like artists are just supposed to pop out and be fire.

You’ve been independent for years—do you have advice for artists trying to do it on their own?
In my opinion it’s about if you can play the long game. It seems like everybody’s blowing up every week and you’re still not going anywhere. You got to be able to weather that storm and build a strong discography before you start messing with labels. Have a vision and care about every aspect.

Before I started reading books on this, I listened to a lot of Russ and a lot of his interviews explaining things about the music industry that you might have not known. People don’t know just because you signed to a label doesn’t mean they’re going to be able to get you playlisted. You have to have direct relationships with people at Spotify. A lot of labels these days are like “Hey the way we do marketing is TikTok.” All you’re doing is putting money into TikTok to hopefully get a blow up moment? And that’s your marketing strategy?

Artists can market on their own. There’s people that do posts for $20 or $100 dollars. Save up money and make calculated decisions. That’s really it. And then find your style. It took me a while. I feel like I’m in my pocket now more than I’ve ever been in my entire career. And it’s been almost 10 years of me doing this, me really actively trying to be an artist. So weather the storm and really figure out yourself and educate yourself.

Artist development takes time. We’re in this super microwave era, where it’s just like artists are just supposed to pop out and be fire. There’s so much you have to learn. Even like getting stage presence. What are you going to do? Are you going to build sets? Are you going to be a dancer? How are you going to do to entertain a crowd?

People just need to take their time and enjoy what they’re doing rather than feeling like they need to blow up. It feels good to know my parents can’t say shit to me, the people on the block can’t really say shit to me, because there’s proof [of the work I put in].

There are things that come with just instantly blowing up. I had a deal offer when I was really fresh, around 2020, 2019, and it was for five or six albums or projects. And it’s like “Damn bro, I would’ve still been with you right now.” I got flew out for the first time to L.A and L.A is like all sparkly and pretty to me because I’m from the country. They were paying for everything. I didn’t have to spend a dime on food, we went to fancy restaurants. They buttered me up and then gave me this contract and I could see a lot of people falling for that.

When did you know that music was the path you wanted to take?
I’ve been writing for almost a decade now. I think I’m seasoned enough as a writer at this. I really figured it out when I was 16. And then made this promise to myself. I was in the back of my class, not really paying attention. I was like, “Yo, if I died trying to pursue this music, I think I would be fine.”

Worst case scenario I’m homeless on the side of the street playing on the guitar, doing whatever to get money. And I think I’d be okay with that. I was Christian and I was a sports kid growing up. So I was very straight edge. A lot of my friends are older and they’re just now getting out of college. I still feel like I don’t really know what I’m going to do. I just got fortunate. My lust for music was just crazy.

I’m in this game for longevity. I only want to do music, and I don’t have to go pick up some side job when I’m 30 or 40 or 50 because I got washed up and I had one hit. No, I want to be around this for a long time doing whatever I want to do.