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Meet Nefarious!

Written by Dmack Masterice. Published: Thursday, August 27, 2009.

What happens when you mix soul, emotions, and 18 year-old with a lot of heart? You get Nefarious!. When you listen to his music, you hear soulful samples mixed delicately with his emotions creating a wonderful work of art, and when you listen to Nefarious!, you realize it is More Than Music. Nefarious puts his all into every beat, every song, and every sample and you can hear that in his music. look out for Nefarious! new album More Than Music dropping this Friday that was dropped a day earlier, and is now available! Download More Music

Past work: Download Crush Groovin’

AGM:Lets start off, with an introduction. Who is Nefarious?
Nefarious!:Nefarious! is an 18 year old producer from the Bay Area who is addicted to Sunny D and soul records.

AGM:Nefarious!, thats an interesting name. What was the inspiration behind that name?

Nefarious!:Well, before I made beats I was a (wack) rapper who rapped about pretty much everything wrong with Hip-Hop today. -even though alot of what I was saying I wasn’t really down with. And in high school I cut class alot, and one of the few days I did go to class “nefarious” was one of the vocabulary words. It means evil or wicked, so at the time, it fit with what I rapped about. Eventually I took up making beats, and I never changed my name. So I’m stuck with it, even if its definition doesn’t suit me anymore.

AGM: Wow, thats interesting, why did you quit rapping and go to producing? Wouldn’t have been easier to switch up content?

Nefarious!:Well, I was in a crew at the time and we were so wack, no one would give us beats. Haha. I ended up taking the roll as the producer and then the group broke up. Most of the other members stopped making music all together. I kept on producing and got introduced to real hip-hop. And here I am.

AGM:So what gets you inspired when producing?

Nefarious!:I usually get inspiration from my emotions at the time that I’m making them. If I’m sad, happy, energetic, you will definately hear it in my music. Alot of people see instrumentals as “just a beat” and don’t really respect them like other producers do. To me, my beats capture what I’m feeling. And everytime I listen to them they take me back, like memories in .mp3 format at 320kbps. Haha.

AGM:I definitely hear soul in your music, but to someone who has never heard of you, why should they give you a chance?

Nefarious!:I think they should give me a chance because it is just nice to listen to, and is universal in a sense. I’ve walked past kids in the mall that look like they would be into ringtone rap… Ironicly the guys’ phone rang and Love Jones by Amor Jones (a song I produced) was his ringtone.

AGM: That must be humbling as an 18 year-old producer. This must be something you are proud of, with a growing fanbase, what do you hope to achieve in the next few years?

Nefarious!:Hmmm, maybe produce a few dope tracks for some artists who are already established. And ofcourse every artists’ dream: to make a living off of music.

AGM: What are some artists you would want to work with and hear over your production?

Nefarious!: Probably Little Brother and pretty much anyone else in the Justus League. I would really want to hear the artists who I’ve already sent beats to complete the tracks, though. {Laughs}

AGM:Its interesting to see Little Brother on your list of artists you want to work with. Who else do you listen to? What music gets you inspired?

Nefarious!: I’m not on some shark shit, but I get alot of inspiration from just other producers in general. You have to listen to established producers and disect it, and figure out what does their music have that yours is missing. Right now, my favorite producers are Dilla, Madlib, 14KT, & Dela. In that order.

AGM: I see what you mean, and that is a solid list of producers. How would you personally describe your production?

Nefarious!: Soulful.

AGM:You said your production can be described as soulful, whats the reasoning behind that?

Nefarious!:When I first developed my sound I was kinda depressed. And I used to call my beats “messages”. So like, I would sample something that says something that relates to how I’m feeling. I still do this, but not on the same level that I used to. The way things are arranged is never on accident.. So on this project, at the end of the interlude the phone operator says “Next message” and it cuts to the next track. Little things like that is how I deliver messages through instrumentals.

AGM: Okay, Okay, i noticed you said next project. What is this project called and what is it about?

Nefarious!:Its called More Than Music because it is how I view my work. My dad, friends, etc will never understand what music means to me. So I guess I wanted to make a bold statement because that is exactly what it is to me. More Than Music.

AGM: Thats deep. So what can we expect on this project?

Nefarious:Just great music. Stuff you can listen to whenever no matter what mood you are in.

AGM:how do you take all of this emotion and turn it into a song that people can vibe to no matter what they’re feeling? Is it hard to not make it overly depressing or overly-whatever-you’re-feeling?
Nefarious!: I never really have to try to make anything sound like anything. I just end up with a final product and it works.

AGM:Haha, fair enough. Before we go, I want to thank you for taking time out for the interview. Any last words or shout outs?

Nefarious!:Shout out to the Cosmic Souls Collective, my website: The Soul Dojo and More Than Music is dropping August 28th so download it!

Category: Features, Music