Hi! What inspired you to write ‘The Best Is Over’, and how does this album reflect your personal experiences or beliefs?
A: The title and concept is inspired by a line, and really one of the key themes, in the TV series “The Sopranos.” Tony Soprano says in episode 1 “lately I’m getting the feeling that I came in at the end; the best is over.” It’s basically an existential crisis questioning the world around us and all the craziness and awfulness, and also questioning if the past was ever that good either and if we view the world in the past with rose-colored glasses. Nostalgia is really only kind to a few. But, to offest the doom and gloom a bit, my collaborator/producer P. Cruz and I wanted to make the music and instrumentation pretty lively and upbeat.
Can you describe your songwriting process for ‘The Best Is Over’? How did the lyrics and melody come together?
A: I had an outline of song concepts, album structure and musical styles I wanted to go for. Shared it with P. Cruz (aka Paul), and we set up a space on discord to go back and forth, sharing lyrics, melodies, and instrumentation, until we settled on final products we were both excited about.
What are the key themes or messages you aimed to convey through ‘The Best Is Over’?
A: I think a lot of us these days are pretty disillusioned with the world, so the album reflects that, past memories, strained relationships, plus I’m still rooted in hip-hop at the end of the day, so we have a track called Bars for Bars’ Sake. It’s a posse cut with a few of my favorite emcees who are my friends — Dex McBean, Laviish Lavoe and D-Nasty ThaMasta, and we’re just barring out, flexing our rhymes and flows.
Which artists or genres influenced the musical style of ‘The Best Is Over’?
A: Like I said, I’m rooted in hip-hop and my background is in the art of emceeing, but Paul is so versatile and we wanted to go some additional places with this project, though mainly guitar-driven pop rock. There’s also some doo-wop, funk and soul influences on there. In terms of artist inspirations, think The Roots, Atmosphere, The Coup and Mac Miller.
Do you have a favorite track from ‘The Best Is Over’? What makes it special to you?
A: It’s hard for me to pick a favorite but people seem to be responding really well to Nick Is Kids, which features the crazy talented soul singer Troy Weekes. This is one of the most personal songs I’ve ever done and its one of the key tracks of the album, questioning our past memories and the value of nostalgia. I definitely incorporate a lot of real memories in this. And growing up, I used to love watching Nickelodeon, so that’s where the title comes from.
How have your fans and listeners reacted to ‘The Best Is Over’? Has any feedback particularly resonated with you?
A: Hearing feedback has been awesome! It’s actually my goal to gather 100 pieces of feedback from people who confirmed they’ve listened to the album all the way through. Feedback from fellow artists is especially meaningful to me, even the constructive critiques, because they know their shit and the fact that they’d take the time to actively listen means a lot! There’s a ton of artists from my independent music circle whom I really respect that have given feedback and I really appreciate it.
Were there any challenges you faced during the production of ‘The Best Is Over’?
A: Not challenges per se, but just the time it takes to get the final product to where we want it to be. I was getting restless and just wanted to put it out, but the patience and extra attention to detail was worth it. Also want to shout out our mixing engineer, AK Beats, who really took the album to the next level.
You collaborated with other artists on ‘The Best Is Over’, how did these collaborations influence the final product?
A: Collaborating with everyone was awesome! These are some of my favorite artists who are also my friends and they all lent their individual attributes, talents and musical styles to make the album what it is.
How does ‘The Best Is Over’ connect with or differ from your previous work?
A: I think it’s my most cohesive, meticulously thought out project to date, so I’m super proud of it. It’s also the most musical and versatile in terms of its musical styles and influences. And I feel really good about the songwriting on it in general.
Do you have plans to feature ‘The Best Is Over’ in upcoming performances or tours? How does it fit into your setlist?
A: Yes! We’re starting with the official album release show at Secret Pour in Brooklyn on Thursday Jan. 18th featuring our special guest secret artists. More to come in 2024 too.