Photo Credit: James Ellis

What’s your mind telling you these days?

Data Science is still the benchmark for ultimate success, in my opinion. Sustainability and building a great system is the next archetypal challenge for humans. We have very little sense of civilization anymore, capitalism and the dumbing of the masses took that from us. We have an even weaker sense of what to do with the layers of experiential knowledge that we still have a temporary window to process. As long as we have people that can culturally curate a narrative, we tend to get lazy about the value of raw intellectualism. Our ancestors were nowhere as mentally agile as us to even make a dent in the universe of psycho-social information we have access to. They left us with very little in terms of mental undergirding that would help us evolve through the binary culture bridge we occupy now. They wouldn’t know the first thing about handling response algorithms on 25+ timelines a day.

You just finished a 5 year Creative Director stint with Roy Woods. How was that?

Roy reminds me of an athlete that makes it into the lottery because of the composite of his skills as opposed to one clear strength. Without intellectual guidance and a clear sense of operational hierarchies, even great talents tend to fade. My experience with OVO has always been beautifully crafted and subtle in execution, lots of money was made on all sides. Sustainability is still an overriding factor over there which is absolutely the right way to go about natural growth.

What’s your most preferred mode of expression design, writing or curation? 

Writing is still the rarest thing on earth. Some of the greatest minds we can’t seem to get over like Nietzche weren’t designers or curators, they were writers. A writer can create a world and destroy it quickly, an exhilarating sense of design freedom in my opinion.

What are you excited about?

I’m excited that we’re about to enter a new era of Green Awareness. Billie Eilish for me is a great example of what I mean by that, an eco-friendly tour, sustainable Collab with H&M. As a teenager, her sense of awareness about the world we live in has to be a good thing.

Pictured: Billie Eilish

You’re always ahead of the curve. What do you see happening in 2020.

Our sense of underground is dead so my feeling is that we’re investing our intellectual power as a society towards smart green technology. We have to be realistically sustainable as opposed to just pretending to care about the Earth. Sidewalk Labs by Google and IOBIONICS are two local projects in 2020 that I think will change Toronto forever. I’m just happy our Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is putting his stamp of approval on Canadian Smart Green Innovation companies in Ontario. I expect this sort of top-notch intellectual leadership from the Liberal Party.

Any designers you’re fond of?

Isaac Saqib, Lonely Labs, RDCL, Love Closely, Gab3, Jabari Khalid, Raf Simons.

Releasing any music this year?

Shitloads of ultra-themed playlists. Intellectualism on Overload, a Punjabi Playlist maybe. I have albums of electronic music ready but realistically i’m not releasing original music until 2021, the world is in a state of chaos, either you’re adding to it or you’re ducking from the bullets, no time for my subtle art unless the wavelengths align.

Follow Mudasser Ali on Instagram, Twitter & Spotify to stay up-to date on his work.

The post From OVO to IOBIONICS, Mudasser Ali Talks Billie Eilish & Sustainability appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

Where were you raised and where are you living these days?

I’m from Hempstead NY but right now i’m living in Brooklyn after moving back from LA

How does it effect your creativity and what does it do for your music? 

It means everything honestly, being home allows me to be centered on the things that really matter to me. Living in LA became more about the lifestyle and being able to say “i’m out here” than being functional for me. I didn’t play it right

How would you describe your style? 

I have a very chill laid back production style, mainly R&B focused with a lot of psychedelic and alternative influences. There’s also a huge 80s-90s electronic influence in a lot of the stuff I make so i just feel like its a fusion of different genres and things I grew up on. Makes great music to smoke or vibe out to in my opinion.

Where did the name “Drewsthatdude” come from? 

A woman who super believed in what i was doing musically would always introduce me to artists as “That Dude”. I  used to just produce under my regular name but when i got out of my bad deal and wanted to focus on building my brand up and i felt like people would just recognize it more. Especially because people knew the name already from me bullshitting on twitter lol.

How did it feel getting Grammy nominated for the first time? 

As it happened? I was excited, i was still in college at the time and i had a couple records here and there like Jeezys Talkin, Mac’s Face in The Crowd  had came out i think the year before so he was going up for sure but i think that Wayne placement was the first real placement that made me feel like I’m doing something.

The 2nd nomination off Swimming means a little more just because of how it all came together, i was able to do something outside of production and it wasn’t attached to a lot of drama like some of my other situations.

Your best and most memorable celeb encounter moment.

Jordyn Woods once said a beat I was making was fire, then served me & my homie a glass of wine. It was very nice of her

Some big collabs you have in the work right now that your fans can look forward to? 

Honestly not so much a collaboration, but I’m working on developing more products and cool things that people who are fans of my music can appreciate.I want to bring a different experience when it comes to my live shows/events and step into different fields like gaming and basketball. Other things that interest me that I feel like my voice could be heard in. Its deeper than music.

Your playlist ‘DrewsTheDude’ by DATA-X is super vibey. What producers, songwriters and/or artists do you see as your inspirations and who would you like to work with?

Inspiration wise I’m big on Ty Dolla Sign, Prince, Earth Wind & Fire, Stevie Wonder, The Neptunes, Danjahandz, Herbie Hancock, Billy Preston,  T-Pain, The Dream, my musical inspirations are all over the place and there are a ton more. I’d love to work with Ty Dolla Sign, KING is the greatest group in the past 15 years so I’d love to work with them too. Pierre Bourne is another artist/producer I’d love to collaborate with, he’s got the wave.

You’ve connected with a lot of big artists. Which ones were some of your favourite sessions?

Mac Miller sessions were the best just because they were never really sessions whenever we had one. It was more so just a kick it session and we’d fuck around with music in between. It was very organic and the respect level was there so it felt more like jamming with your homie in the garage than “we’re making records”. I really enjoyed my session with NAO too.

How did you first connect with Trey Songz and what was like working with him? 

I cant even take credit for that, that’s all through the homie Saaj. He’s down in VA, was working with this songwriter MikexAngel at the time and at the time we all cooked up like 2 or 3 joints. The vibe on those records were super wavy and Trey ended up picking one of them and the rest is history. I still chop it up with Mike, the new records he’s been doing are on another level.

What are you listening to these days? 

A lot of Pierre Bourne, Unknown Mortal Orchestra, Drego & Beno, Shoreline Mafia, King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard, Carti. I go on older artist kicks where i run their discogs back so right now i’m on a 50 Cent kick crazy.

There are a lot of kids trying to do what you’re doing right now and the level of success you have seen. What’s that one advice you would give them that you need to be successful? 

I would try to develop as many skills as possible, not just musically but in all facets of creation. The way the industry and the world is trending is there are so many ways to be self sufficient and get things done on a small scale. The information is out there so i feel like having as many different skill sets under your belt are important. I wasn’t just making beats, i was mixing podcasts and sound design, all types of different things to make bread when i was still first figuring out how to get my music out there to people. Truthfully those skills get me paid more and the business is cleaner than just trying to get on an album.

What are some of your goals in 2020? 

Going to release a project via HW&W/eOne titled “We Had Our Time”, a beat tape from the Vault series, and The Crushboys EP. Trying to tour more and just connect with the people that have been riding for me for years. I’m really focused on just getting my infrastructure right, everything else is a bonus!

DrewsThatDude is on major streaming services like Bandcamp, Spotify, Apple Music and Soundcloud, racking up over 20 million streams to date. Follow him on Instagram and especially Twitter to keep up with his wildly informative updates.

The post Grammy Nominated Producer & Artist DrewsThatDude Sits Down With RESPECT appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

After teasing the project for more than a month, LVLYSL head honchos NEAKO & DATA-X release “Beta-Disc” the first in a series of collaborative projects that includes the upcoming “T-1000”. But before it heads to all streaming platforms they’ve provided us with a preview edition free to stream on Soundcloud available here. It’s produced entirely by NEAKO and Creative Directed by DATA-X, the same killer combination that brought us “The Number 23” “LVLZEBRA” and “Ess Ess”. Listen to the ultra-futuristic project below and follow NEAKO & DATA-X to stay in touch with all future LVLYSL releases. Drops on All Streaming Platforms November 3rd.

The post NEAKO & DATA-X Surprisingly Drop “Beta-Disc” EP appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.