My process with starting a new project and whatnot is I begin around a title. Usually, based off of just a title, I'm able to put together themes and concepts from there. I've always admired Hunter S. Thompson's titles for his books. They're always wordy and pretty elaborate.
I started making hip-hop music when I was 11, and pretty much since then I've just been honing that craft, the craft of arranging a song and producing a beat. It's a task-heavy role, but at this point I really enjoy it and it allows me to convey exactly what I'm trying to get across in a song.
I like textures and tones. Sometimes, it will be a melodic feedback from a song or something. I like warm, ethereal sounds. That kind of gets covered in every genre of music, so it could be a rock sample, jazz, soul, reggae.
Hip-hop music in general kind of revolves around singles, and I appreciate that mindset, but at the same time, I wanted to go beyond that. It's not like I was intending to make a classic record - I mean, I'm always trying to make timeless music, but I really just tried to reference the music that on a road trip you can put in and not have to skip a track.
I'd love to do a song with Tom Waits. Around when I was like 17 or 18, my buddy, D-Money, put me on the Tom Waits and I literally at that point got every one of his albums and kind of studied his music. I like that he provides an entire world for the listener. He's hopefully someone that I could vibe with down the line. I'm not sure how it would sound or even how it could work, but he's always been a huge influence.
I really don't try to force the creative process. I'm really jealous of those other rappers who just hear a beat and write a song within minutes. I know a lot of rappers like that. I'm the type of artist who kind of has to sit with some stuff for a while.
Hip-hop music, in my opinion, is still very closed-minded, and if you're trying to do something that's too different, you get categorized as trying to do some kind of "alternative hipster" thing.
I really try to keep it hip-hop oriented. For me, that's high energy - people being able to dance, being able to vibe out - but with an ethereal factor. When I perform, I'll have a guy doing live visuals for me or I'll have a guitarist playing a lot of solo, really heavy reverbed vibes and stuff like that.
