uproxx interviews

Myke Towers Tells Us About His Genre-Bending Album ‘La Vida Es Una’ And Collaborating With J Balvin

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Myke Towers
Marilyn Tang

The RX is Uproxx Music’s stamp of approval for the best albums, songs, and music stories throughout the year. Inclusion in this category is the highest distinction we can bestow, and signals the most important music being released throughout the year. The RX is the music you need, right now.

After solidifying himself as one of Latin music’s top rappers, Myke Towers is proving there’s no limits to his flow with his genre-bending album La Vida Es Una. While delivering more reggaeton and Latin trap bangers, the Puerto Rican artist also dabbles in Afrobeats, R&B, and house music influences. Towers shows that he’s an all-around Latin pop star on his LP, which features J Balvin, Daddy Yankee, Arcángel, and Ozuna.

Towers made his debut in 2020 with his first album, Easy Money Baby. The LP boasted his breakthrough hit “Si De Da” with Farruko. After scoring multiple reggaeton hits, he returned to his Latin trap roots with his 2021 album Lyke Mike. As an established force in both genres, Towers is now pushing his flow to new places while embracing a global sound that his fans around the world can enjoy.

“Lyke Myke was something more for me,” Towers says. “With this album, I’m thinking more about my fans, what they want, and the kind of music they want to hear live. I made this album being more conscious of what people are looking for from me.”

The album’s title translates to “You Only Live Once” in English and Towers embodies that feel-good energy throughout the 23 tracks. Over Zoom, he caught up with Uproxx about what he wants his fans to take from La Vida Es Una, his big collaborations, and what’s coming next.

Why did you decide to name your album La Vida Es Una?

I gave it that name because lot of things have happened like with the pandemic. It makes you think, “There’s not a lot of time to follow your dreams, so have to give it your all.” They say you that you have take advantage of your time here and enjoy it. I’m always conscious of things like that. That you only live once.

In addition to reggaeton and trap, you explore genres like Afrobeats, R&B, reggae, and house music album. Why did you decide to branch out into those genres?

I wanted to take risks on a musical level and do things that I’m not used to. I’m at a level where I have a lot of fans so I have that responsibility to please them. I can’t limit myself. Thanks to them I’m at where I’m at now. I’m doing the music that I like to do with a mix of what my fans are asking for. With this album, we’re separating the Myke Towers with the “y” from the [Mike] with the “i.”

You collaborated with J Balvin for the song “Celos.” What was that experience like working with him?

I have a lot of respect and admiration for Balvin. He’s a guy that’s super humble. For example, if you write to him in a DM on Instagram, he will respond to you right away. That’s something that you don’t expect from him at the level of fame that he’s at. I’m always like a little boy asking many questions with people like him because I like to learn. We had a great time when we shot the music video together. The other day we went to an Afrobeats concert together. Balvin is a leader. He has my respect.

You salute reggaeton pioneers Don Omar and Tego Calderón in “Don & Tego.” What inspired you to make that homage with Arcángel?

The song “Bandoleros” by Don Omar and Tego Calderón is an anthem to me. It’s always playing around the world. There hasn’t been a time since that song has come out that it hasn’t been played anywhere. And as artists, they’ve inspired me like Arcángel. The name that made the most sense for me was “Don & Tego. ” I feel like this song was something that was missing in the streets. A very street reggaeton song that that we liked back then that inspired us. We made that with this song and I know when people listen to it, they’re really going to like it.

Another reggaeton G.O.A.T that you collaborated with is Daddy Yankee. What was the experience like working with him in “Ulala (Ooh La-La)”?

The legend allowed me appear on his album [Legendaddy] and now he’s appearing on mine. For me, that was like earning the respect from the leader of the genre. For him to be on my album, that’s above and beyond. My respect from D.Y. was earned in levels. First, he gave me advice before he was collaborating with me. He saw my process [in the studio] and told me — he knows how to identify what’s strong and what’s not. That’s why I’m sure of myself.

I love the R&B sound the “Cama King.” This is my first time hearing about Chita. Why did you decide to feature her on this song?

[The song’s producer] Tainy is a visionary. When I told him I was missing a female voice on this song, he said, “I know who would be good for this. Calm down.” When I heard what Chita sent, I went crazy. I didn’t meet her in person but I told her thank you for collaborating me with. I hope this is a blessing for her as much as it is for me. She’s a female Argentine artist and the women are killing it right now.

“Aguardiente” is a song that stands out to me because it has a really Colombian vibe.

I made that song with Sky. He’s Colombian. He one’s of those producers that I click well with. Every time we get together, we come out with classics without forcing anything. [The alcoholic drink] Aguardiente is something that’s clearly from Colombia and I wanted to make a song with that. It goes hard.

What do you want people to get out of this album?

I want people to get the message that sometimes we worry about things that aren’t worth it. We have to remember that you only live once. With what I do, I want to motivate people as well. Even though it seems easy, it’s not easy. I go through things as well. It might not be the same [problem] as yours but we’re going to get to a point where we can relate. With this album, I want to unite people when we sing it live together. It’s something to enjoy. I want them to do with it what they want, to dedicate it to who they want to dedicate it to, and to go out and enjoy it. When I’m in your country to perform, we’re going to sing everything together.

What do you want to accomplish next?

Thanks to God we’re making moves that we’ve never done before. Little by little, I’m taking my name, my island, my music, and my movement to new heights. I want to make an impact with young people. That’s where I’m inspired. I want them to feel that Myke Towers is with them. I want them to feel like they’re a part of my movement.

La Vida Es Una is out now via Warner Music Latina. Listen to it here.

Myke Towers is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Payroll Giovanni Is On ‘Ghost Mode’ But His Impact Is Loud And Clear

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payroll giovanni ghost mode interview
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The city of Detroit and its surrounding areas are going through a rap renaissance. Once known for stalwarts like Big Sean, Eminem, and Slum Village, the Michigan region has experienced a resurgence of popularity with a new wave of rappers like Babyface Ray, Icewear Vezzo, and Sada Baby. Payroll Giovanni is bridging the gap between the generations.

The 35-year-old rapper got his start in the blog era as a member of a quartet, Doughboyz Cashout. However, he soon set himself apart with his consistent flow and sharp sense of observation. He quickly made a name for himself at a time when the only other rappers from Detroit receiving national attention were Big Sean and Eminem.

I last spoke to Payroll in 2018, as he and Minnesotan superproducer Cardo were preparing to release their second joint album, Big Bossin’, Vol. 2. At the time, we talked about the connections between LA and Detroit rap – connections that have only deepened and expanded in the years since, as fans note similarities in the off-kilter deliveries of punchline masters like Detroit’s Babytron and LA’s BlueBucksClan, among others.

It was a thread that we picked up when I met up with him in Los Angeles to discuss the release of his latest album, Ghost Mode, which is out now via Empire. “Ghost Mode,” he tells me, is when you “just get off the scene and focus on your goals.”

And although his low-key demeanor certainly reflects that philosophy, the steady stream of new music he’s been releasing since the last time we spoke indicates that just because he’s gone ghost doesn’t mean his impact isn’t still making itself evident. In fact, it’s loud and clear.

So, break down for me what the difference in the process between your last two projects was, the last time I talked to you. What’s happened for you since then? What’s the same? What have you learned? How have you grown?

I think that the last one was the Big Bossin Vol. 2, yeah, I was signed at Def Jam then. Now, I’m mainly independent so I’ve got a situation with Empire. I’ve been independent ever since that situation with Def Jam. I’m comfortable with that, for real. Owning my own music. Really building my catalog, building my fan base, catering to them.

It’s a little bit different because you’re not working with one producer, you’re working with a multitude of producers. How do you adjust your style from doing one producer, having that one-mind thing, to accommodating a lot of different sounds?

Oh, that’s easy for me. I can do that with any beat, for real. A lot of producers I’ve worked with, I’ve been working with. I’ve got an old project with AK. He did “Ex Dealer Flow” on there. I got an old project with Kidd The Producer. He did “Crib In The Woods.” Mainly, all the producers I mess with, I got old projects with or I got a good relationship with them. Yeah, so like I say, I can adapt to anything.

What would you say are some of the bigger benefits and some of the bigger drawbacks of being independent versus being on a label?

For me, the biggest benefit is ownership. Owning my music. I’m still getting paid for music I made over 10 years ago. And with that type of setup, I ain’t stressed, you know? I’m not stressing about finances and this and that. I’m getting paid from this project, that project, old projects that people probably don’t even know about. When you’re independent, you can just lean in your own lane and you’re getting all your money. So you can live like a major artist.

What would you say is the main idea of this album that you want people to sort of take away from when they get done listening?

The main idea for this album is to cut off distractions. You know, just get off the scene and focus on your goals. Handle your business, whatever that could be. Whatever you got to cut off; it could be a person, a place you always going to, a habit. It’s like, cut that sh*t off, disappear, stick to your goals, run it up, pop back out, and then be ready. Instead of trying to run it up and hit your goals while you spending money, while you doing dumb sh*t. You got to cut that sh*t out and just go ghost! Go ghost from the club. Go ghost from the homeboy that always keeps talking some negative sh*t or whatever it is.

If somebody was going to listen to only one song from the project, which one would it be and why?

I would say “Letter To The Lost.” It sets the tone for the whole project. It’s like I’m talking to somebody that’s stuck in life, but that want to do better. They just don’t know where to start; they need some advice. Like, a lot of us, we just need some game and advice from somebody, so a lot of people kind of put me in that lane. Like, “Man, you’re a motivator.” So I kind of just owned it. I’m damn near talking to myself on the song, for when I’m lost.

How do you reconcile being such a low-key, humble, normal guy with what rappers are supposed to be?

I ain’t trying to come off as some asshole always going and flexing and all that, because that ain’t what I’m about. I’m really just a laid-back dude. Want to handle my business and go home, and come back. I don’t want no extra dumb shit going on, none of that. But I would really say it comes from probably like, me being who I was before I was rapping and just being a laid-back, social dude. I’ve always observed. I never wanted all the attention. That ain’t me. I never really tried for that. That’s why even today, I barely do interviews.

I have seen that the Michigan movement is moving. You have Sada Baby, you have Icewear. You know, you have all these guys coming out. What does it mean for you, as someone who was there before all that, to see it start to culminate now? And how has it changed in that time since you started?

Man, it feel good. Like, to just see us get recognized and mentioned with the big dogs of the industry, the industry people hopping on songs. You know, rapping off our type of beats. Because when we first got our deal, we came with our sound and they wasn’t accepting that. They was like, “Man, this shit sounds too fun. It don’t sound clean.”

It’s techno.

People don’t know that! And that even come from like, we grew up on the Street Lordz, and the dude that used to produce the Street Lordz, his name was Art Forest. He is like, a techno God, and I didn’t even know that. So that’s why the shit’s so fast and all of that, because it really all comes from Art Forest. I remember when that wasn’t accepted, like to rap off of our type of beat. You know, nobody got it, nobody understood it, nobody understood our lingo. Nobody understood the way the beat sounds or the looks we was doing. Now, it’s you know, going crazy. Everybody trying to get a piece of it.

When you do interviews, you get a lot of the same questions. I end up having to ask a lot of the same questions. You have to cover the basics. What’s something that you wish somebody would ask you? If you were doing the interview, what would you ask you?

Damn, what would I ask myself? Man. Probably how did I start making beats? How did I like, get my business mindset?

I started making beats from my cousin and my homies that used to make beats in his room. I was in elementary school, and after school I would come into his room and try to rap to some of his beats. I used to have to earn them. The booth was in the car. I used to be in there with all the older dudes from the neighborhood, but it was teenagers. They used to be in there rapping and I used to be in there with them, just soaking up game, seeing what they were doing, how they was doing.

And then what gave you your business mindset? Were you around people that had businesses?

I really didn’t know nobody that owned a business for real. Like, I really got my business mindset from hustling. I could go on forever about how that go. I learned the importance of not blowing your bag at a young age. That’s how I was introduced to getting money. I used to be like, “Oh, $1000 make me this much money. How much would $2000? How much would $5000? How much would 20?”

I apply the same thing with rap, being independent. When I first got into the independent rap game, it was CDs before streams. So you know I was, then you know, coming up with all of those CDs and I make like, $10,000 or something. I’m like, “Damn, I make $10,000. Let’s f*ck around and make $100,000.” That was always the mindset.

Let’s put a bow on this interview.

Check that Ghost Mode out, and really listen to it and soak it in. You know, I could rap about how my diamonds are huge and how I could take a picture of whatever it is; everybody doing that. I rather you walk away with something that change your life, change your mindset. You know, make you think better. That’s what I do it for.

Ghost Mode is out now via Byplug Entertainment and Empire.

Eladio Carrión Tells Us About His Star-Studded Album ‘3MEN2 KBRN’ And Collaborating With Lil Wayne

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Eladio Carrion
Gabriel Perez Silva

The RX is Uproxx Music’s stamp of approval for the best albums, songs, and music stories throughout the year. Inclusion in this category is the highest distinction we can bestow, and signals the most important music being released throughout the year. The RX is the music you need, right now.

Eladio Carrión is ready to make Latin trap global with his new album 3MEN2 KBRN. After solidifying himself as one Latin music’s leading rappers, he proves that his knockout flow can hold up alongside the icons of American hip-hop. Carrión’s latest LP includes features from Lil Wayne, 50 Cent, Migos’ Quavo, and Future.

Carrión has set himself apart from other Latin rappers thanks to his bicultural influences. He grew up living his life between the states and Puerto Rico. Throughout his career, Carrión has teamed up with Latin superstars like J Balvin, Rauw Alejandro, Arcángel, Bizarrap, and Karol G. He broke through in 2019 thanks to Latin Grammy-nominated hit “Kemba Walker” featuring Bad Bunny.

Like his Walker tribute, Carrión continues to salute sports superstars who inspire him like with the fierce “Mbappé” remix featuring Future. He also teams up once again with Bad Bunny in the swaggering “Coco Chanel.” 3MEN2 KBRN is Carrión unleashing his full force as a Latin trap star alongside his idols and close friends.

“As a kid, growing up, listening to these artists, and now collaborating with them, it’s a dream!” Carrión says about his album’s all-star ensemble.

In April, Carrión will be performing at both weekends of Coachella. That will lead up to his Sauce USA Tour, which kicks off in May. Over Zoom, Carrión caught up with Uproxx about his latest LP, the mind-blowing collaborations, and hitting the road in our latest Q&A.

What was the experience like to blend the Latin and English rap worlds on your album 3MEN2 KBRN?

I just keep trying to build that bridge between Latin and American culture because I’ve been influenced so much by American hip-hop, but you know I do Latin music. It’s just that: making that connection stronger.

How did the “Gladiador” remix with Lil Wayne come together?

Bro, I manifested the sh*t out of that. Ever since I made the track, I always said, “I’m going to drop it, but if Wayne wants to hop on it, I’m doing the ‘Gladiador’ remix any time he wants to jump on.” Thank God, he got on it for the album. It was perfect.

What did you think when Lil Wayne was down to team up with you?

That’s my favorite rapper! He’s the reason why I go hard on this so much with my punchlines. He’s the reason why I’m picky with my bars. “Gladiador” is one of my favorite intros that I’ve done in my life. Just having him on that song specifically and knowing that it was meant for him and that he liked it. That he heard it and said, “Oh sh*t!” It’s a very big thing for me. He was amazing!

What was the experience like to work with Future on the “Mbappé” remix?

We met in Miami. We linked up over there. We talked for awhile. I had to go back in the studio to do my stuff and that’s when he killed it in his studio and recorded it. And we did the video the next day. It was dope! We closed out [Bad Bunny’s restaurant] Gekkō. There were a lot of people there. It was super cool.

What did you think when 50 Cent decided to feature on the song “Si Salimos”?

I couldn’t even believe it! 50 doesn’t record with anyone. He’s on his producer vibe right now. For him to take time out of his day to really kill that track — because he killed it — it means the world to me.

After years of grinding in the music industry, how do you feel to have an album with your idols on it?

That’s where you have to keep on grinding. That’s where the grinding gets harder. I’m just ready for more work. I’m going to keep on upping the bar.

What was the experience like to reunite with Bad Bunny for the song “Coco Chanel”?

It was cool! I went to LA. We met up. We were locked in for a couple of days. It was just cool to keep up with him because he’s a very busy person. I’m very busy too. To have a couple of days to sit down to talk and just make music, it was super dope to put something out with him again.

By having Quavo and Rich The Kid with yourself and Ñengo Flow on “Peso A Peso,” you’re definitely bringing the worlds of Latin and English rap together.

I think that’s one of the songs that people are going to most like because beat-wise and just how Quavo killed it too. He spoke Spanish. Rich spoke Spanish too. Ñengo killed it! I think that’s going to be one of the easiest songs for both the Latin side and American side to digest because the beat sounds kind of Latin and trap. It’s going to be one of the biggest hits of the album.

How do you feel to be performing at Coachella this year?

I feel amazing! For them to consider me, to go there off of Latin hip-hop, it’s a big thing. People who usually go there are more like pop singers. Just to be like an underground artist, to go there, it’s amazing.

What can we expect from your performances at Coachella and your upcoming US tour?

A lot of me sweating [and] jumping around. Maybe jumping into the crowd. Having people jump into the crowd. Just mosh pits. Just trap sh*t. A crazy light show. I always give it my all. My fans don’t expect me to do less, so I got to bring my A-game every day.

Bad Bunny is one of the headliners at Coachella this year. Is there a chance that we could see you two on the stage together?

Hey, you never know in Coachella! You never know.

What do you want to accomplish next?

Just get better at everything I do. Keep on practicing my art. Keep on going to the studio. Keep on writing songs and focus on tours to give my fans a good show.

3MEN2 KBRN is out now via Rimas Entertainment. Listen to it here.

John Legend Lives Up To His Namesake On ‘Legend’ While Celebrating The Beauty Of Love And Intimacy

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John Legend 2022 Lucca Summer Festival
Getty Image/Ralph Ordaz

The RX is Uproxx Music’s stamp of approval for the best albums, songs, and music stories throughout the year. Inclusion in this category is the highest distinction we can bestow and signals the most important music being released throughout the year. The RX is the music you need, right now.

John Legend, born John Roger Stephens, has borne that as his stage name for nearly two decades now. It was given to him by Chicago poet J. Ivy who felt that Legend’s music reminds him of “that music from the old school” and that his voice sounded “like one of the legends.” Legend was reluctant to accept that name, but once it caught on, it was only right that he at least try to live to that new last name.

Twelve Grammy awards, four Platinum-selling albums, and countless TV show and movie appearances later, it’s beyond safe to say that Legend has lived up to his namesake. However, in a continued moment of humility, it wasn’t until now that he was truly ready to bring a sharp spotlight to the name that he once was a bit hesitant to bear.

Less than two years away from the 20th anniversary of his classic debut album Get Lifted, Legend returns with his ninth album, Legend — a double album that he believes captures everything that makes him the artist we’ve come to love.

Together with its release, John Legend sat with Uproxx to speak about Legend, why he is finally comfortable with its title, and a coincidental run-in with Saweetie.

Before we get into any music, I want to congratulate you on your new baby on the way. How are feeling as time progress, as well as, about having a third child around the house?

I’m excited! I feel like we’re pretty experienced parents now. We’re very comfortable and confident in inviting a new life into our world. I think we’ve got a sense of how we want to raise our kids and we just feel more comfortable than we’ve ever been, as far as being parents and our rhythm as a family. I feel like they can handle a new baby. Of course, you know, we’ve dealt with pregnancy loss before. So it’s always a bit of cautious optimism whenever you’re pregnant and you’ve lost one before because you just never know what could happen. But we’re excited to be parents and feel like we can do a good job of parenting together when we do bring the new baby into the world.

We’re officially in a new John Legend era, but I want you to tell it: how you would define this era in terms of the type of music and overall aesthetic at hand?

When I think about the music, I don’t know if it’s like a clean break from any era because I’m always growing and evolving as a musician. Each album has had its own character and its own personality, but it’s all me, it’s all who I am and where I am in my life at that time. I worked with different people on this album, to some extent, and I worked with some of the same people too. There are some songs that will sound very familiar and that will remind people of other things that I’ve done before and then other songs that we found a bit more new and different than what I’ve done before. This is the first time we’ve ever made an album that is self-titled, the first time we’ve ever done a double album, so that’s kind of a big and new thing for me with this project.

What gave you the confidence to go with a title like Legend?

I think the fresh start with Republic. I think also writing the audiobook that I’m doing with Audible that’s coming out in September. I was talking a lot about all that went into me changing my stage name and how I wasn’t sure whether or not I was ready to change my name back then because I was like, “How can I call myself ‘John Legend’ when I haven’t even gotten a record deal yet?” So, I told that whole story, and that’ll come out around the same time as the album, and it just made me really reflect on this whole journey was my name and how I finally felt like I was ready to not only to feel like I’m living up to this aspirational name that I gave myself when I was nowhere near being a legend, but also that I was ready to embrace it as an album title.

What would you say is the overall theme or main message you aim to deliver on Legend?

I think it’s a celebration of love, sensuality, intimacy, and connection. In that way, it’s a continuation of what I’ve been all about my entire career. I think musically, we did some fun and adventurous things that are a bit different from anything I’ve done in the past, and then some things that are more familiar. I think in general, I felt comfortable calling it Legend as well because it felt really representative of who I am as a musician. All the influences that made me who I am and all of it coming together on this really robust, double album that represents all the different parts of who I am.

This project is more collaborative than Bigger Love. What pushed you to reach out to more artists to work with this time around?

I think it’s important for me to stay connected to what’s new. I’ve been in business for a long time, but it’s really inspiring for me to connect with newer artists who inspire me and keep me fresh. I think collaborating with new people keeps you out of creative ruts I think, it pushes you and inspires you.

Is there a truly unique story with any of the collaborations on the album?

Saweetie was probably the most [unique]. It was almost random that she’s on the album because I literally ran into her and her manager at the Beverly Hills Hotel. I worked with her manager many years ago; he booked me and Kanye to do an event together way back — like before Get Lifted even came out, or right around when it came out, so it was literally the beginning of my career. He came up and said what’s up to me and was telling the story of how we worked together over 15 years ago. He’s standing there with Saweetie and I was just talking about Saweetie the day before because one of her songs came on the radio and was telling my wife how much I liked the song. I was telling Saweetie this and I was like, “We should do something together!” Then her manager sat with my A&R a couple of days later. We played them “All She Wanna Do” and they were like, “This is the one.” It all came from me running into her at the Beverly Hills Hotel Restaurant. I love her part on the album. I think it just adds extra flavor and it’s kind of unexpected, but it works really well with the song.

The current landscape of R&B is often criticized by some while others praise it. How do you perceive it?

People are always saying it’s dead or it’s this or that, but I feel like there have been so many talented R&B artists to come out in the last few years. I feel like there’s been some great music. and then there’s been some not-so-great music, but I feel like that’s always the case. I think it is a challenge thinking about this era of heavy auto-tune and where there’s a little less of a premium on really good singing. I think a lot of old-school cats are probably disappointed by that development in R&B and you know, I think it does hinder people’s live shows and hinders certain aspects of what it takes to be a great all-around artist. I still think there’s a lot of great R&B being made and a lot of great young artists that I listen to and enjoy. I love Leon Bridges, I love HER, I love Jazmine [Sullivan], I love Muni [Long], I love Daniel Caesar. There are a lot of just really talented people making R&B music these days. I think there’s always gonna be stuff that we don’t love and there’s always gonna be stuff we love. I just try to focus on the stuff that I love and listen to that and not worry about the rest.

At this point in your career, eight albums in with plenty of awards to your name, what’s your driving force nowadays?

The key is that I can never assume that people are gonna love the next thing I do. So I have to prove myself worthy of their attention and worthy of their love. For any new project I do, I feel like I have to hold myself to the highest of standards and that was the approach I had with this album. That’s the approach I have with every album and every show that I do. Nothing I did before is enough to make you love something new if it’s not good on its own, you know? So I have to prove myself to my fans and to everybody else every single time I make a new album.

What do you hope Legend contributes toward your overall artistry and career?

Well, I like that it’s a double album because it’s showing the different sides of who I am and both where I am now in my life, but also looking back to some extent at where I’ve come from. I think it’s as thorough of a representation of my influences and my artistry as any other project that I’ve done. So I think that’s why I felt like this was the one to call Legend. So I’m really confident making it a double album and that’s why I’m so excited for people to hear it.

Legend is out now via Republic Records. You can stream it here.

Saweetie is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

P-Lo Brings The Funk And Positivity On His Sunny New Album, ‘Stunna’

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p-lo stunna interview
Getty Image/Ralph Ordaz

A lot of my favorite music lately has come from my home state, but surprisingly, the bulk of that comes from the northern half. From Guapd4000 to Larry June to Rexx Life Raj, I’ve found that the Bay Area has made the music that most resonates with my spirit, whether it’s for reflection, relaxation, or turning up. Now, I’ve added P-Lo to that list, thanks to his new album Stunna.

Like the other Bay mainstays mentioned above, P-Lo is a rapper and producer who’s been at it for a long time but has only recently begun to receive more acclaim despite his contributions to movements and the blog-era fame of HBK Gang. You might remember their 2013 “Gas Pedal” from Sage The Gemini and Iamsu! as they rode the wave of the hyphy movement’s late 2000s popularity.

Since then, P-Lo has released four albums, including 2019’s Shine, and become a fixture at Golden State Warriors games, performing at halftime and even reshooting his recent “One Thing” video to take advantage of the team’s most recent championship parade. With Stunna, he continues his mission to spread positivity and shine a light on the growing second wave of Bay Area dominance. He was kind enough to break down his new album via Zoom, discussing those Golden State championships, the responsibility of representation, and the benefits of his newfound love for yoga.

So just right off rip, I always ask an artist, every album has kind of a thesis statement or a theme. What would be the thesis statement or theme for Stunna?

Stunna is like a… it’s a frequency. It’s energy. It’s a belief. It’s a level of confidence that I have in myself, in which I feel like people can also reach that same level, or whatever capacity that means for them. So Stunna is just a frequency, it’s a confidence, it’s positivity. And I think all the music represents that.

One thing that I’ve always loved about your music is the bounce. That Bay Area bounce is very different than probably any other kind of music in the hip-hop world. Why is it so special and why does everybody want a piece of it?

It’s just the amount of weirdness and uniqueness that sets it apart. Because a lot of Bay Area rap is rooted in funk. So a lot of the bass lines are really funky, really different, really odd, really, really interesting. And I think the Bay Area has always been ahead in setting new waves and precedents all over, not just in music, but just in tech and art and fashion and everything. It’s like living 10 years ahead of the whole world.

You have a song on Stunna called “My Ghetto Report Card Freestyle.” Can you just tell me about high school P-Lo? Where was he? What was he doing when [E-40’s album] My Ghetto Report Card dropped? What kind of an effect did that have on young P-Lo?

Man, I was in the ninth grade. I remember buying the bootleg of My Ghetto Report Card from my homie Bryan Fisher — shout out to Bryan Fisher. I bought it off of him for $5, it was a burnt CD. Later on, when I got really close to 40, I had to confess to him. I was like, “Hey yo, 40, when I was in middle school, I didn’t actually buy the album. I bought a burnt CD of the album.” And he was like, “Oh man, don’t worry about it, man.”

That whole CD had so much influence on the production style, everything. That project embodied the Bay so on point at that time, especially when the “Tell Me When To Go” video came out. And I remember sitting at my homie Buddha’s crib, and when that shit premiered on BET or TRL. It was the whole black-and-white video. Everybody’s slow motion, shaking their dreads, it was incredible, bro. That time period is so vital to even what I’m doing now, from the production to the songwriting… I still pull so many inspirations from that whole era, from the whole Hyphy Movement to this day. Even if you listen to this project, there’s so much influence from that time period and still trying to flip it and reinvent it.

I feel like modern kids are having a little bit of their own Bay resurgence, thanks to Stephen Curry and Draymond Green and Klay Thompson, and I know that you have been a huge, huge aspect of that. The time you describe was around the time of the “We Believe” Warriors. Y’all weren’t doing too good back then. And now they have championships.

Multiple championships, man. Growing up, it was really hard. The Warriors weren’t winning as much. That time period, the “We Believe” Warriors, coincided with that whole scene. That was such an integral part of my life too. Because that’s right in high school, the Warriors are going crazy. Even though they didn’t really go that far. We embodied the underdog mentality that the Bay Area has always had. We’ve always been the underdogs and we’ve never gotten the credit that we’ve always deserved.

Being a part of it now and being able to go to the games, performing at halftime, and just being a part of the culture of the Warriors is such a true honor. Shout out to the Warriors organization for reaching out and always making sure we’re taken care of. And it’s just so dope. We’re doing the album release party in the Chase Center Plaza. It’s a free event, it’s for all ages. It just celebrates the album, brings the community out.

Yes, sir. Now I would be remiss if I didn’t ask you about what it means to be this visible as a Filipino person in hip-hop culture representing the kababayan.

I hold a responsibility. I’m cognizant of the responsibility of doing that because I’m one of the few Filipino-Americans in music that’s at the forefront of it. And that holds a lot of responsibility because you know when you break down the door, you might not get the full thing of it, but the people behind you are going to be able to really take that and go. I feel like that’s a responsibility that I’m taking upon myself also. I want to make people feel comfortable in who they are. And that’s something that I’m also still figuring out is who I am and what I represent.

I think we’re starting to see some benefits of that. Jo Koy got the movie in theaters, and Guapdad is doing his thing. H.E.R. is going to be on ABC as a Disney princess. And you’re all from the Bay.

Yeah. I mean, feel like we Filipinos are the Puerto Ricans of the West Coast. I think that’s the tether to what New York is. The Filipino community is so intertwined and it’s such a melting pot, especially in the Bay, just like everyone’s together. Well, at least how I grew up. It’s a little different now with gentrification and stuff going on, but how I grew up, it was interwoven.

Now, if someone was going to be just flipping through the playlist on New Music Friday and they see P-Lo and they have a bunch of options from the new album from Stunna, what’s the song that they should click play on first to really understand who P-Lo is and what Stunna is and want to listen to the rest of the album?

I think the perfect song for that is “Good” featuring Larry June. I feel like it’s an embodiment of who I am. It’s an embodiment of what the Bay Area represents. It’s me and Larry, it’s unity, and it’s funky. I think it just has all those things that embody what P-Lo represents. Especially the positivity in the song. I think that’s what the whole album’s about. It’s just about having that confidence, having that confidence in yourself, having that belief in yourself, and being positive. Knowing that you’ll be able to make it through everything with belief and positivity.

And the video looks fun. The video looked like a lot of fun to shoot.

It’s a great time man. Everything’s just natural like an afro, man.

I know you do a lot of interviews. You probably get a lot of the same questions. You probably get tired of answering all the same questions. Do you have anything that you have always wished somebody would ask you about?

Something that I want to start talking about is my journey in yoga.

Yoga! P-Lo does Yoga! Now I have no excuse not to do it!

I started maybe last November and it’s been an interesting journey. It’s definitely mentally challenging, it’s physically challenging and spiritually challenging. So anyone that I talk to or come across I’m like “Hey, you should try this sh*t.”

Oh, you’re that guy now?

I’ve turned into that guy now. I got one of my roommates coming with me now. I think everyone should try it. It’s really good for mind, body, and spirit and balance in life.

Stunna is out now via EMPIRE. You can get it here.

How Palm Coast Florida Impacted Blackbear As An Artist

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Scenes
Uproxx/Getty

Hometowns can be weird. On one hand, they can serve as hurdles; obstacles to overcome that separate your childhood from your adulthood. But they’re also, well, home, and for better or worse, always will be. For Blackbear, who grew up in the northeastern city of Palm Coast Florida, it’s complicated.

“It just reminds me of kind of the place that was holding me back from my dreams… There were a lot of people that didn’t believe that I was actually going to do something with my life. But Florida in general is a great place for community and great people come from there. Some of my best friends have come from there and I still have friends that live there and my mom still lives there. So it’s cool to go back and visit for the holidays,” Blackbear tells me over Zoom.

Blackbear
Daniel Rojas

Blackbear’s feelings about Palm Coast might be conflicted, but the more I talked with him about his hometown, I picked up on a lot of nostalgic affection for the city that helped shape him. The music scene in particular had been an important stepping stone that lead Blackbear to where he is today,

“There was a really sweet music scene. My babysitter, he was actually my guitar teacher, and I was probably in the second or third grade when he was babysitting me. He taught me riffs from New Found Glory and Blink-182. There was a good music scene and it kind of shaped me to be an artist for sure. I saw him in a band and I used to go to the garage shows or the teen center shows or the ones at Thrills Arcade. Then I found myself starting a band.”

For Blackbear’s latest (and greatest) album, In Loving Memory, the artist put together a deeply personal piece of work that examines the complicated feelings he has about the death of his absent father, but together with producer Travis Barker, the pair have put something together that sounds warm, inviting, and pulls inspiration from the sort of pop-punk and emo music Blackbear was listening to while growing up in Palm Coast as a teen, and the results are comfortingly nostalgic while still sounding fresh.

“When I was in the fourth grade, I was wearing MxPx t-shirts with Good Charlotte patches on my plaid pants and NOFX patches. So I was a full punk rock girl for sure.”

Be sure to catch Blackbear this fall on his headlining Nothing Matters Tour. But first, let’s learn a little bit more about him by checking in on his favorite local Palm Coast hangouts.

What Is Palm Coast Best Known For? What Is One Thing People Visiting Have To Experience?

Flagler Beach

Palm Coast is best known for some of the music people who have come out of there. We’re known for our beach too. Flagler Beach is a great beach and the sand is like ground-up shells, so it’s really tough not like California. It’s very rough so I spent a lot of nights smoking DMT and hanging out.

We would drive, all pile like 10 of us into one Honda Accord, and go to the beach. The beach is really all there is to do besides going to the Walmart parking lot and hanging out… At night it’s a vibe and it was just cool to go there and kind of make up ideas for songs with people and just hang out and get high really.

What’s The Best Palm Coast Breakfast Spot And What’s The Go-To Order?

Cracker Barrel

We would go to Perkins before it shut down and we would go to Cracker Barrel. Definitely get some cheesy grits and eggs and bacon!

Is There A Good Place To Dig For Records?

…Wal-Mart

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I was a broke angry teenager, so I would just steal CDs from Walmart. I got caught one time and I never did it again. Still to this day, I’m not allowed back in Walmart. I don’t know if they would recognize me today.

What’s The Best Local Venue For Discovering Music In Palm Coast?

SeaBreeze Coffee Connection/Thrills Arcade (Closed Down)

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The closest place you could go was the Coffee Connection in Daytona Beach, Florida. That was this little coffee shop that would hold like 40 people tops. There were shows there and that was about 30 minutes away. You would drive to Daytona… other than that we had an arcade called Thrills Arcade, and that was where I got my first shine for sure…

It’s really hard to say because everything that I grew up doing is torn down now. Thrills Arcade, that’s what we did. We went to the Thrills Arcade and there were awesome shows there. And it was so much fun, but everything’s torn down now and new things are there. I think a Chick-fil-A’s there now.

If You’re Looking For Something Adventurous To Do In Palm Coast, What’s The Play?

Kayak The Intercoastal Waterway

You can go kayaking. Me and my brother usually kayak on the intercoastal. So it’s like the beach before the beach, usually, people live on the intercoastal and you can just go for hours, it’s really nice.

What’s Best Thing To Do On A Night Out?

Go Clubbing

Orlando’s fun. That’s where we used to go clubbing and we would have so much fun in Orlando. Miami’s super fun, but Miami… we never considered it Florida because it’s like its own country.

What’s The Best Fancy Dinner Spot… Does Palm Coast Have One?

Fancy Sushi & Grill

Palm Coast
Fancy Sushi/Yelp

The fanciest place is called Fancy Sushi. You get a free miso soup and a free Holiday Roll.

What’s The Best Late Night Guilty Pleasure Food Spot?

Steak and Shake

Dude, Steak and Shake, hands down, is the best place to go late at night when you’re too drunk and whatever. You get a DD and you all go to Steak and Shake. The food just tastes 10 times better than it normally would when it’s 2 in the morning. I think Underoath stopped in there one time, we were all starstruck.

What’s The Best Time Of The Year To Visit Palm Coast?

Winter

I like to go during Christmas because the weather is great. It’s not going to snow, it’s a great Christmas vacation. If you’re there in weather it’s really fun and the weather is perfect.

Ogi Is Still Making Sense Of Her Success, But To Her Credit, She’s Releasing Great Music In The Process

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Ogi 2022 Press Photo
Kanya Iwana

Ogi actually had no plan to be a full-time singer. That’s the most shocking part about the Chicago-born Nigerian-American singer. Prior to everything that’s occurred for her over the last four years, Ogi had plans to pursue a career in law as a student at Northwestern. However, all it took was one cover she shared on Instagram to change everything for her. “It was just something that I did for fun on the side,” she tells Uproxx over a Zoom call. “It all really came to a head senior year, like this doesn’t make any sense. To this day I’m still confused.”

Amid the slight confusion and reality shock that Ogi is still sorting through, the young singer has been putting out great music. She received co-signs form PJ Morton and No I.D. while also signing a deal to the latter’s Atrium Recordings imprint, a place that Snoh Aalegra and Jhene Aiko also call home. This past spring, Ogi released her debut EP Monologues and it struck as a beautifully constructed project carried by her rich vocals and textured production.

Monologues earned her plenty of attention from the music industry. She performed at Pharrell’s Something In The Water Festival as well as at the 2022 BET Awards. Ogi has toured with The Marias and Snoh Aalegra, and now, she’s getting ready to hit the road again, this time with British singer Mahalia.

Before things pick up again for Ogi, she took a moment to speak with Uproxx about Monologues, her rise towards success, her Nigerian background, and what she wants to do next.

I’m really drawn to your music because of how rich, textured, and just full it is. As a Nigerian born and raised in the Midwest, what influences did you have growing up that helped you make the kind of music you make today?

I think it came from a lot of things, but primarily, it started from my parents — I mean, that’s how it starts with everybody. They had the aux cord, so to speak, for my childhood. My mom played a lot of Nigerian hymns growing up [and] a lot of gospel. She introduced me to people like BeBe & CeCe Winans, John P. Kee, J. Moss, Smokie Norful, people like that. My dad played a lot of reggae, a lot of Highlife right? So it was people like Cardinal Rex Lawson. My dad is Igbo, so he played that Highlife from that tribe and a lot of reggae, a lot of Fela Kuti. I think all of that kind of culminated into what I listened to. Once I got old enough, I started listening to hip-hop and rap. My sister introduced me to like 106 & Park, so all the R&B of that time. I think that plays a role in my cadences, a little bit, and the way that I write lyrics. But yeah, my parents influenced the way that I create the sound, but lyrically, I think 106 & Park [and] things a little bit more recent influenced how I speak.

Pursuing a career in music or art altogether isn’t the first thing our parents want to hear. What were those early discussions like, and how did the level of support change or grow as time went on?

So, I had the conversation with my mom first and she was obviously like, not about it at all. She’s like, “This is nonsense, you’re wasting your time.” I was in my senior year, I was right there, it felt like a distraction there. It wasn’t until one of the people who were interested in me flew us out to LA. He took me and my mother to LA and really showed off what being in this industry can do [and] the money. I think that was the moment she was like, “Okay, there’s security here, she could maybe do well.” Then, she realized it was a business. My mom is a very shrewd businesswoman, she’s very on it. Once she realized that perspective, I think she was a little bit more about it.

My dad, I think he’s just realizing what’s going on. When I told him that the music stuff was happening, he wasn’t as upset, but I think he didn’t take it as seriously. He was like, “Okay, this is your passion project, you’ve been in school. Go ahead, just do it, and like a year later, you’re gonna go to law school as we planned.” I think he’s now realizing that that’s not what’s happening. So he’s been kind of looking back on my life to wonder how did we get to this point. He’ll say, “I got a piano for the house, and you would play it, but I didn’t think it would become this,” that kind of thing. Now he’s kind of onboard. He realizes that I’m good at what I do and he wants me to do a jazz song, things like that. So I think the parents are onboard.

Now that we’re a bit removed from its release, what would you say you’re most proud about Monologues?

I’m proud of the response in the sense of like, I’ve seen people do covers of the songs on the EP. Which is like… That gets me because [that means] you found something that you felt enough like you that you wanted to take it and then use those words as your own sort of expression, like something resonated in that. The first time I saw someone do a cover of my song, it made me cry, that’s huge. I mean, that’s how I came up, that’s the only reason why I’m here. I did PJ Morton’s “Alright,” which is a song that I would sing to myself when I was studying LSAT books. I was comforting myself and singing that song, so to see somebody else do that, felt like a real full circle moment.

Aside from the success Monolouges has brought you, what would you say the EP has personally helped you with?

I think it’s been a positive affirmation of vulnerability is power. Being afraid of something that would alienate you, like in music, is actually the thing that brings people towards you. The song “Bitter” is about me being like, “Dammit, nobody wants me. What’s going on?” Having that moment, which in other contexts would be like, “Ew, you want people to know that about you?” people use those words as something that they understand and feel. It’s encouraged me to be even more vulnerable in the way that I express myself, and just to dig deeper. I think the things that resonate the most are the things that people don’t think other people are going through. To show that I’m going through it too, I think that’s what brings people together.

You’ve toured with The Marias and Snoh Aalegra, and now you’re hitting the road with Mahalia. What excites you the most about these next string of performances?

I’m really interested in just meeting because her EP is so dope. I mean, to talk about vulnerability, like the story of her EP is about her trying to save another girl from the mistake that she made in being within with a guy that is also pursuing her. That’s a big thing to do, you know? I’m curious to see what that story is gonna look like onstage. I listened to it, and I’m a fan. I’m also excited about my growth as a performer. I strive to be better and better each time and I look at this as another opportunity to grow in my craft. I want to be more energetic and more expressive. I have the opportunity to perform my whole EP now, so I want to create a story with that, like what can I do next? So I think that’s what I’m excited about.

Looking back, what about your heritage and/or childhood do you think contributed the most to your success now?

My name honestly. I’m from Wisconsin, so there weren’t a lot of people that had a name like mine. There used to be times when I was kind of ashamed of it. I would tell people that it translates to Michelle… like no it doesn’t, it never did. I would just lean into it, but like, I’ve been Ogi since I was three years old. Now, it’s contributed to what my name is as an artist and it points to my heritage, who I am, and the things that made me who I am. I’m very proud of my name, I like it when people ask me, “Is that your real name?” and I get to say yes, that is my name. The thing that I felt alienated me, fills me with pride now.

When would you say that you started to embrace everything about your culture?

It was always a kind of love/hate relationship because I always loved it when my mom would come and wear her dresses, and everyone would be like, “Oh wow!” you know what I mean? I think it was in high school and college when I finally kind of claimed it for myself. That’s when I started seeing people like me. College was the first time that I refused to start straightening my hair all the time. Stylistically you can do whatever you want, but for me, it was tied to “my hair isn’t beautiful unless it’s straight.” I just started accepting my blackness and looking at myself and being like, “I’m African and I love it.” That’s also gonna make its way into my music eventually. I mean, it’s still there in terms of Highlife influences, but I think I want to lean into that part of my identity in the future.

Looking ahead, what’s something else you’d like to accomplish within the next 12 months?

I’d like to release some more music for sure. I just want to travel, I want to go to different places through tours and shows, just to see where I am. One thing that I regret from college is never studying abroad, and I feel like this is my moment to go wherever I want — or I guess wherever people want me. So I guess that means I just gotta work hard. I’m trying to go to Tokyo and Seoul and I want to go to Lagos for sure, I gotta go. Rio de Janeiro would be so dope. I want to go to South America, Africa, and Asia. I’ve been to places in Europe because I have aunts and uncles that live out there, but yeah.

Monologues is out now via Artium Entertainment LLC/Atlantic. You can stream it here.

Ogi is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Domi & JD Beck Are The Rebirth Of Cool

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Domi & JD Beck
Tehillah De Castro

Before they released their first single this past April, the only way to discover Domi & JD Beck online was getting lucky on one of those deep YouTube rabbit holes. If you happened to arrive at that layer of the internet, you’d have seen two teenagers with stupefying jazz music chops straight killing it, but with a foot firmly entrenched in the organic construction of melodic hip-hop beat canvases.

One of their relatively newer clips from December of 2020 called “Madvillainy Tribute,” sees the pair recreating Madlib’s iconic Madvillainy orchestral productions on their respective instruments. Domi plays keys and lays down bass grooves on pedals with her bare feet. Beck rips away at his modest drum kit, tapping a snare and cymbals faster than a house fly flaps its wings. The top comment on the video says, “I’m convinced these two made every adult swim bump to ever exist,” and it’s a hilarious albeit plausible assertion. Especially when you consider that a month before, they appeared in another viral YouTube video backing Thundercat and Ariana Grande’s duet of “Them Changes,” as part of Adult Swim’s peak-pandemic virtual festival.

“Thundercat is one of our closest friends. He’s done a lot for us,” Beck says backstage at Montreal’s Club Soda, before the pair’s Montreal Jazz Festival performance on July 6th, where the young audience at the foot of the stage hung on every dizzying note from their set-closing rendition of John Coltrane’s “My Favorite Things.”

But lately, it’s another friend who has helped Domi & JD Beck raise their profile considerably: Anderson .Paak. Paak made the prodigious pair the flagship signing to his brand new Apeshit Records label and their debut album, Not Tight, arrived July 29th as a joint release with the storied jazz label, Blue Note Records. Along with appearances from Paak (notably on “Take A Chance,” which the three masterfully performed on Kimmel earlier this month), the album also features Snoop Dogg, Mac DeMarco, Herbie Hancock, Thundercat, and guitarist Kurt Rosenwinkel; an illustrious cast of guests to say the least. But the magnitude of none of this seems to phase the Parisian, Domi, 22, and Beck, 19, a Dallas native.

“We try not to overthink it,” Domi says. “Some people are like, ‘OMG Anderson Paak!’ And we’re like, ‘Yea, it’s Andy. We make music with him and we hang with him.’ It’s the same with Blue Note. We text and talk with them and sh*t. But we don’t try to make it like, ‘Blue Note! Blue Note!’ It’s still tight, but yea…”

They met Paak in late 2018 over Instagram. One of the members of The Free Nationals (Paak’s backing band and the other artists currently on the Apeshit roster) came to one of their shows. They later hipped Paak to their tunes, who then reached out on the app. They kept bumping into the Silk Sonic star at festivals when the pair were playing early sets or opening for soul multi-instrumentalist John Bap and just hit it off. The way they tell the story is in a ping pong recollection — equal parts nonchalant and frenetic, but always linear — each one peppering in a detail before the full picture comes together, just like their music.

Beck: “We just became friends.”

Domi: “Then we met him at a festival in New Orleans and met him and sh*t.”

Beck: “Like six or seven of our shows were in the same city.”

Domi: “Then he asked us to come through.”

Beck: “We’d play a bunch of jam sessions with them and stuff.”

Domi: “And then went to LA and he invited us to his studio and then dinner and sh*t. And he was like ‘Hey, I’m starting a label…”

Beck: “We met Mac DeMarco on that same tour.”

Everything is so matter-of-fact with them. They barely remember how they met each other in the first place. It was at the NAMM Convention in Anaheim (National Association of Music Merchants) and they can’t recall why they both ended up there, just that the whole experience was a drag, but they bonded over how hilariously bad everything felt.

“I was playing these electronic drums. So fake,” Beck says. Domi laments the in-ear monitor and a bunk keyboard they had her on. It’s almost as if they caught each other’s eye from an opposite corner of a stage and laughed. “We saw each other at a jam session the night before and he was with Thundercat,” Domi says. “That’s the first time I met him and hung out,” Beck adds. “Domi was there and she barely spoke English at all…she dapped me up like this.” [motions a half-assed fist bump]

Domi & JD Beck Anderson Paak
Tehillah De Castro

They laugh because they remember the experience in the same way. And if there’s a brother/sister vibe to them, it’s because they literally spend 24 hours a day, seven days a week together. “It’s been like that since 2018. But we beat each other up all the time,” Domi says. “We’re more like sumo wrestlers,” Beck adds. “It’s 50/50 on who wins.”

They currently split time between Dallas and LA. Before that, Domi was finishing up her studies at the Berklee School of Music, which the French national needed to do in order to maintain her visa (she graduated in 2020.) “‘I’d do all my classes in one day and then fly right back to Dallas,” she says. “Take a 5am flight, do my classes and fly back at midnight.”

Dallas is where they write, chill, and play video games when they’re not making music. But their writing process can be unconventional to say the least. Take “Smile” for example, a lead single from Not Tight and one of the most mesmerizing pieces of music you’ll hear this year. Domi’s Nord keyboard lays down an impeccable melody, and then no sooner than it starts to bounce alongside her MIDI keys bass, Beck’s snare and cymbal smacks jump symbiotically with it. They sound like Karriem Riggins and Bob James scoring a Quasimoto cartoon in the year 2030.

“JD was on the toilet, singing the melody and sh*t and I heard him scream ‘Domi! You gotta help me out!” Domi recalls of the song’s inception. “And he sang me the melody so I had to play and record it and then he was guiding me through the whole sh*t. We wrote it together, but it started with him on the toilet singing that melody. That’s the full disclosure.”

If jazz musicians ever created on the toilet, they’d never admit it. That’s part of what makes these two unique. But they have dexterous compositional chops as well. Writing melodies, chords, and bass together, but not on their instruments. “We notice that when you write on our instruments, that’s how it gets lazy and you write the same sh*t all the time,” Domi says. “That’s why a lot of people end up sacrificing their playing for writing,” Beck adds. “So we want to do it like composers, flesh out a whole song to write it and then the playing comes after.”

But you can’t pigeonhole what they are. With them, jazz is hip-hop and hip-hop is jazz. It’s the way music has been shifting since Flying Lotus’s Brainfeeder sound joined forces with Kamasi Washington’s West Coast Get Down and started bringing it to the masses. Domi & JD Beck embody this paradigm shift in spades. Two Gen Z’ers who don’t give a f*ck, just want to create lasting work, and what they make is so cool and fresh; subversive and enlightening. It’s the same way that Herbie Hancock’s Headhunters was in 1973. A jazz and funk fusion that was as audacious as it was classically on point.

Hancock, who appears on Not Tight in the far-out “Moon,” in fact invited Domi & JD Beck on stage with him at the Hollywood Bowl last September, just after they recorded the song together. On this warm Southern California evening, they joined him for his pioneering fusion standard, “Chameleon.”

“It’s a funny thing because it’s the most played song that everybody just ruins and destroys,” Domi says. “Like every jam session where you can find the least amount of groove ever and everybody just plays like ten-minute solos. But we were playing it with f*cking Herbie Hancock.”

“If you’re ever gonna play ‘Chameleon,’ you have to play it with Herbie Hancock,” Beck jokes. ”Otherwise? Don’t play it.”

“But as we walked out,” Domi continued, “He said, ’Check em out on YouTube!’ ‘Cause that’s how he found us too. And I was like, there’s no way that 82-year-old Herbie Hancock — legendary — just shouted out our YouTube at the Hollywood Bowl.”

Not Tight is out now via Apeshit/Blue Note. Listen to it here.