brz — Look at my records!

Dec 21

Dec 21 brz

We were beyond stoked to premiere the incredible video for “Paradise” from Brooklyn rapper brz last week. The captivating video for the infectious track is just one of several great recent releases from this budding MC. Back in May, he released Your Favorite Abstraction, a five-song EP that includes a bevy of clever observations and musings about the impact that technology has on our relationships, a theme that really hits home during this pandemic-stricken 2020. He followed that up with another powerful single called “Would You Eat Your Heart Out?,” a hard-hitting track that dissects the questionable lengths that many go to to achieve and maintain notoriety. His lyrics remain deep and thought-provoking across all of his songs, so we really wanted to get to know him better. We did just that via e-mail recently, and brz gave us the scoop on his background, what brought him to Brooklyn from his home state of Indiana, his thoughts on technology, and what he has planned for 2021:

You’re originally from Indiana. Growing up there, what were some of your early experiences with music? What made you want to start pursuing this art form?

My earliest experiences with music were at home. My mom was a part of this choral group called The Lydian Singers when she was a teenager and would play all sorts of music around the house. We would harmonize to pop songs on the radio together for fun when she’d drive me to school. I’ve always found music to be a reprieve! I have a difficult time articulating myself verbally, but music allows for deep nuance in expression. I like to think of my songs as a public journal. Growing up, my best friends and I had a crew we called ODC and we used to listen to hip-hop and freestyle rap in my big homie Rex’s basement. I think that, and keeping journals as a kid is how I cut my teeth on hip-hop.

I read that you played cello growing up. How did those experiences playing classical music help shape you as a musician? Do you find yourself taking things you learned from these formative experiences and incorporating them into your current process?

Classical music gave me the building blocks of musical language - you know, dynamics, timbre, key signatures… all that sort of thing. It was important for me to grasp how music functions in order to write my own, but I don’t really think about classical music when I’m writing music now. I do think about my old orchestra teacher, Henry Buckingham. I would cut US history to go practice cello, and I’ll forever be grateful for that - hope he’s well. I’d like to add more strings to my songs in the future, but that’s more a matter of access than anything.

When’d you arrive in Brooklyn and how has the community here impacted your music? What drew you to New York?

Summer 2018, around the top of August! It was sweltering and I had just moved into an apartment in Midwood! I had come to New York to study in Brooklyn College’s sonic arts program. There, I was put on to experimental electronic music, but I found that the program was more focused on academic music which wasn’t a part of my practice. I tried to make things more oriented for that space, but they always had a bit of pop structure to them - couldn’t shake it. Even still, I made lifelong friends and collaborators like my homie Teo Blake - amazing producer and musical mind. One of my favorite engineers, Noah Chevan, was in a program adjacent to mine that shared studio space - he ended up doing the mixes for Your Favorite Abstraction! Outside of school, I made friends by going to shows and galleries - that’s how I became a fan of Talulah Paisley and Awksymoron! Teo took me to this gallery that he frequented called Evening Hours - we did his thesis show there, which I’ll never forget. I briefly took lessons with London O’ Connor on creating multimedia experiences when releasing music, which I continually think about now. New York had always been in the cards - I had idealized it for so long and after coming summer of 2016 for an interview for an internship that never happened, I knew I was coming back.

How do you think your style and sound has evolved since you began making music?

When I started making music around the end of the mixtape (hip-hop) era, I was scouring the internet, looking for other rapper’s beats and putting that stuff out when I was like 13, 14-years old. The musical landscape has changed so much and lawsuits are plentiful lol. I ended up learning to produce my own music at 15 because I wasn’t tapped in with the production scene in Indianapolis, but didn’t want to stop making music. Since then, the majority of my work has been self-produced and has shifted away from hip-hop. Iterations, Vol 1. was more of an indie pop project. I started writing the music in Bloomington, IN, but finished it in my Midwood apartment - way more experimental as a result of my time in the city. My project for the top of 2021 has some industrial influences and continues to expand on some of the work in Iterations.

How has the pandemic impacted your creative process, if at all?

It’s been harder for me to write due to the pandemic. Most of my lyrics are gathered over time - I like to walk around aimlessly in cities and people watch - there are so many stories in the world to pull from, so I let myself be a conduit and witness them. Of course, it’s quite unsafe to do that now. Under quarantine, I haven’t written as many of my own songs, although I have new beats I’ve written. I also haven’t been able to perform, which has been a BUMMER. I’ve done a few virtual shows, but it’s like playing for your phone so I’ve opted not to do any more. lol

“Would You Eat Your Heart?,” one of your recent singles, is a really powerful critique of the lengths people will do to seek fame, essentially comparing it to cannibalism. What inspired that song? Was it anything that you witnessed or experienced in particular?

That song was born on an Los Angeles day at the top of 2020, after hearing news of Trump’s acquittal. LA is a fried place to be if you’re not from there, especially if you’re doing music. You meet so many people fighting for a breakthrough and when you look in some of their eyes, it’s like they’ve lost a bit of themselves in the process. Something about that, and the notion that the presidency was being held by an ex-reality TV host reeked of cannibalism. You’re either tyrannical and will eat others to get what you want, or, conversely, you eat a part of yourself and forget why you wanted that thing in the first place.

The songs On Your Favorite Abstraction! deal with really poignant themes, particularly, about how technology plays a big role in the way we communicate with one another. That’s really taken on new meaning in 2020. What were some particular experiences that informed the tracks on that EP? Do you view the role that technology plays in the way we communicate as positive or negative?

I love technology, so my music is always thinking about it! lol. “Internet Friends” is literally about making a friend on Instagram and moving to LA as a result of that connection. YFA! could only exist now. However, I do have my critiques of technology. I feel like social media allows for hyper-curation of image, and humanity is lost in that process. We effectively make abstractions of ourselves that people can’t connect with or try to and fail, ending in frustration - “Mirror” is about that idea - you gotta pull up on me in real life to see what I’m about. I think that technology, like anything in a profit driven society, is exhausted to the point where it becomes negative. I tend to get the best out of it though - for example, you and I’s entire interaction has been 100% mediated through technology - you seem like a cool person. lol

Tell us about your new single, “Paradise,” and the powerful new video for it. How’d you come up with the concept for the video? What inspired the lyrics?

Paradise is probably my favorite thing I’ve made during the pandemic. It’s a collaboration with my homie Mylo MU - he sent me a pack of beats when I was going through a creative drought. The song poured out of me - I wrote it in 10 minutes and sent him back the demo the next day. It’s pretty stream of consciousness - the main thing that inspired it was feeling like every day inside is pretty much the same “in a daze… in this maze…” The video was directed by my best friend Keenan Rhodes and was inspired by the anime Tokyo Ghoul. We’re both huge fans and Keenan knows exactly how to convey my thoughts visually. In the anime, these beings called ghouls have to consume humans in order to survive. I wanted to play with that idea, juxtaposed against how smooth Paradise is. Fans of the anime will really appreciate this one.

What’s on deck for 2021?

I’m working on releasing an EP called I Will Eat You Before Utopia at the top of the year. The artwork is AMAZING and I’ve been sitting on some of these songs for a minute. Outside of that, my homie Qozy and I are working on a film score and EP as the duo “Luxury Weather.” I’m producing songs for other artists that are done or nearing completion, so it’ll be nice to see that work get released. When it’s safe to do shows, I’m raging at the first venue that’ll have me, for sure! Outside of music, I’m not sure! Maybe I’ll fall in love! Learn more about cryptocurrency, perhaps. Maybe I’ll learn Japanese? Walk in a fashion show! (If that’s a thing!)

You can stream brz’s music on your platform of choice or purchase it via Bandcamp. Keep up with brz by following him on Instagram and liking him on Facebook.