Following the premiere of yoyo’s Juice beat-tape on Platform, we get some insight on the process behind its creation, his favourite tracks on the tape and what’s next.
What made now the right time to release a unified body of work?
Now’s always the right time. I have this huge backlog of music, and out of it “Juice” started. Juice will be the first of a series of tapes I plan on dropping.
You abandoned the typical format of promotion by not releasing any singles in the lead-up to Juice, rather releasing a snippet video in collaboration with morgansmomm. How did this collaboration come about and can we expect more from the two of you?
morgansmomm has got an incredible eye and her videos always seem to focus on the finer details of whatever she films. We realised we were doing the same thing in our respective mediums and it seemed like the obvious thing to collaborate. It kind of just came together seamlessly. I like collaborating with visual artists as it brings a whole other dimension to the music, which is dope. Currently Dylan Godfrey from 1991 does all my main visuals and will be in the near future. He did the artwork for “Juice” – the homie is super talented.
With a tireless work ethic. You’ve released 19 tracks since your first release eight months back. What’s the line of thought supporting the rapid pace of releases?
Thank you! I’ve still got tons of unreleased stuff. I guess I’m just really trying to build a portfolio of work at the moment. I’m still a yungblood in this game.
Your lo-fi blend of hip-hop, soul and jazz earns you comparisons to luminaries like Knxwledge and J Dilla. What is it about these genres and method of production that appeals to you?
I really like how it feels, how it’s not focused on the complexity, but rather on that perfect feel. Anyone can learn a thing or two from the gawds. It’s a type of hip-hop that is crazy to me and one that I’ve always been drawn to.
Why Juice?
Juice just kind of felt right.
You’ve highlighted ‘Koringberg’, ‘upyourgame’ and ‘Cipriani’ as your favourite tracks on the tape. What are the qualities of these tracks that make them your favourite?
I think they just capture the sound I was going for in the beattape pretty well. It’s all easy listening stuff that you can listen to anytime of the day. If I had to choose, ‘Upyourgame’ is probably my favourite track, I dig the flow.
How do you go about collecting samples and which on Juice is your favourite?
It generally involves listening to way too much music. I usually go digging on youtube until I find something I really like. Other than that, I just keep an ear out when I’m listening to music with homies. I’d say my favourite is Intimate friends by Eddie Kendricks. Shits straight fuego.
What are the plans for the remainder of the year?
I’m constantly making beats and try to stick to a regiment of making three to five tracks a week. I’m also working on another beat tape at the moment. More raps are hopefully coming up as well. It will all roll out at some point. But for now, enjoy Juice.
