What's good ya'll? For those that don't know me, I’m brz! I’m a producer, rapper and sound artist who’s into crypto and url existence! My music right now is a blend of experimental hip-hop and synth-pop s o u n d s . . . If you're into Broadcast, Lupe Fiasco, or Jerry Paper, you'll probably dig my work!
I know this space is primarily dedicated to news on digital assets, but I’ll be sharing my music (as well as that from other artists I fw) that considers the digital space (I'm still trying to figure out what that means, because most interactions with music begin digitally now???) In the midst of protests for Black lives in the US and abroad during a quarantine, I find we push further and further into the virtual world for organizing, interacting and commerce. I never thought I'd be playing shows on Zoom!! Digital festivals are happening!! I’m picturing a Summer Wars type world in the not too distant future!!
I dropped an EP called Your Favorite Abstraction! this past May that thinks about the pop figure's relationship to screens, making friends on the internet and even crypto. Making this project was as fluid as the space we find ourselves dealing in - I produced the majority of YFA! in Los Angeles after meeting my friend Aily - she's a visual artist and amazing musician! - on Instagram who invited me to record and live with her. She had heard my music on the IG story of an art magazine called Juxtapose - this was summer 2019, and I was living in NYC, working at an art space. I ended up losing my job that December, and arranged a meeting with a record label in LA, so I hit her up. Wild how everything worked out...
About YFA! - I wanted the sonics to feel as immersive as the Internet does. I think synth sounds will always connote some far off digital universe, so I blended bubbly, bright synths with field recordings on the intro, Internet Friends, to create a portal into the world of the project. Those sounds depict how I feel when I'm engrossed in my phone, oblivious to flesh, blood, the world of the living at large. lol
Label meeting in LA didn't pan out... (people will really try and sign you for pennies, just do it yourself unless they fw your art!!) I ended up heading to San Fran to spend some time with friends. Did some recording. Made a track called Mirror where I demanded to be paid in crypto - I'm curious to see how artists incorporate digital assets into their work, either as forms of payment or as the subject material - I think of the 2015 film Dope that allowed people to pay for tickets with Bitcoin, as BTC was one of the main plot devices. Thought that was brilliant back in 2015, tbh. If you've never seen the film, it's worth an hour and change. (If anyone has any other examples of artists thinking about digital assets please let me know!)
Back to YFA! "Factoid" and "Wave" continue to play with the glitchy sonics that "Internet Friends" had started with. My brother Rex Avant gave me a hell of a verse for Factoid! (I had been waiting on this verse forever, but diff story, diff time)! I left LA end of February. I headed back to NYC to finish up the music. Everything was recorded, but there are only three mix engineers in the world I know who get my sound, one being my friend Noah Chevan. His musical palate is broader than my own, so I knew he'd be able to help me sculpt the world beyond my own ears. Christal Jerez glued everything together and did the mastering for the project. The artwork (incredible!!! :')) was done by Nicole Ruggiero. Her work is everything I wanted out of the cover and I had the pleasure of meeting her irl before I had to leave NYC again. There are so many things I could say about this project, but I'd rather let the music speak. Rage Alone became more poignant after we entered this quarantine period. Ironically, it was the first song I had written for the project, written back in July 2019. The foresight is scary - many times, I don't know what the art is for until later. Until next time, ya'll, bless !!
