Double Tap For Young Tapz

  • back
    Double Tap For Young Tapz
    POSTED

     

     

    One thing that separates rappers from other artists is ambition. Maybe it’s because you have to have a certain hunger in your bars or perhaps it’s because it’s a competitive market where ego stands above all. Either way it’s a necessity and that’s not a bad thing at all. It gives rappers a fire in their belly that makes them want to push things further whether they be dropping their first mixtape or heading out on a sold-out arena tour.

     

    Kiwi rapper Young Tapz is only 20 but he already has that fire. In person he looks cool, calm and collected but he speaks like he wants to be the best and knows he can be the best. As we meet over a bowl of chips he tells me straight up that his phone his “full of hits” ready to drop.

     

    It’s easy to believe that too. After a period of silence following on from his excellent mixtape Anymore, Tapz has returned with gusto. His track Killa has spread far and wide in a matter of months picking up heaps of spins on Spotify and impressing international tastemakers. He also features twice on Hermitude’s massive Dark Night Sweet Light album. He was originally enlisted for just one track but after hearing The Buzz he told the boys he needed to be on that track. It became the lead-single and has seen him tour with the electronic legends and also tear up the ARIA stage.

     

    He’s come a long way in just a few short months but things only seem to be heating up for Tapz. He’s got an EP ready to offload sometime very soon and next year he’s heading over to the US to work with a bunch of producers whose names he can’t disclose but he tells me that it’s going to be big.

     

    Tapz is an unlikely rap hero though. He grew up most in New Zealand at a predominantly white school with friends who weren’t really into rap that much. He originally sunk his teeth into Michael Jackson records before expanding on to contemporary hip-hop legends like Kanye West and Kid Cudi. With Cudi off making alternative, hip-hop bereft music, Tapz may be the savior Cudi fans desperately need right now.

     

    The rapper is one to keep a very close eye on in 2016 not only locally but overseas as well. He’s set to be a huge new talent so we caught up with him before everybody else discovers he’s a rap god.

     

    You must be stoked with how Killa has been received so far. The last few months have been great off the back of that track.

    At first when I finished the song I was like yeah this song is great, it’s going to blow up but the first two days were very weird after we released it. I wasn’t sure if people were liking it or not but I was sure it was going to blow up I just didn’t know it was going to happen so quick. And it’s great that Spotify picked it up and added it to their fresh finds playlist and their viral hits playlist. It’s crazy.

     

    How did Killa work? Did you get sent the beat or did you work on it with Mzwetwo?

    Mzwetwo and I are like family. We worked on so much together, he’s like my main producer. He taught me how to produce. I have a studio at my house so the other producer that produces on it, Jermaine, we were talking about this girl and how stuff happened. And then we got on my laptop and came up with the top line and I just freestyled the chorus and, boom! And then I went up to Auckland and finished the beat with Mzwetwo.

     

    And did you feel immediately that that was the one?

    Yeah, when it was done, when we first heard the first demo, I was like, yeah. This is crazy. I didn’t think they were going to use the vocals because I was quite sick at the time, I had a blocked nose and I had to use my nasal spray.
     

     

     

    What are the next steps then following Killa?

    I’m finishing my EP. The title...Oh, I’m not sure if I’m allowed to say it but I’m releasing it next year so the things right now is just to write. I’m going to the States next year to work with other people. I can’t say who but when I release the news people are going to be like “whoah, that’s crazy.”

     

    The US seems like you’re perfect market.

    Yeah a lot of people are like man, what’s it like to be in the Australian scene? You’re kind of bounded to that scene but I’m like I’m a baby of the world.

     

    Because you’re so young, it feels like people could really look up to you. Do you want to inspire people?

    I just want to add value to people’s lives. Or I want the songs to add value to people's life.

     

    What sound are we looking at for the rest of the EP?

    Awesome. It’s going to be awesome. In terms of sound. I dunno. It’s going to be like opening my diary. Killa was a song about something that happened with someone etc. etc. but that’s that.

     

    So if we were going to pry into your computer, what would we find? In terms of by other people?

    You’d find Michael Jackson, Kid Cudi, Kanye, Justin Bieber, Drake. I have a love/hate relationship with Drake. Drake has changed the game so much now that everyone just sounds like Drake. I don’t want to listen to Drake because I don’t want to sound like Drake. So sometimes Drake and sometimes a bit of punk. I used to love Green Day as a kid. I loved American Idiot. The freedom of speech in that was like, “yesssss.”
     

     

     

    So, going way back. When did you start rapping?

    I started rapping when I was about 14. I was in a school bus and, as a black kid in a predominately white school you have to freestyle. So I got into that and I think at about 16 I started doing it a bit more, writing songs and writing raps. When I turned 17 I was like, “Yeah, I can really do this.” And then I was approached by record studios, who were like, “Hey man, do you wanna hear some new songs? We want to get you into the studio. We’re starting this new studio in Auckland and we want you to be the first person to record in it. And I was like, wow. That would be cool. So I sent Dan, the guy from Red Bull, one of the songs and he was like, “This is great. I want to do a whole project.” It was awesome. It was one of the first actual studios I’d worked in and unfortunately, as I was still going to school, the timetables didn’t match up so I couldn’t be the first person to record in it. But I recorded it, I recorded ten songs in that week, which was crazy.

     

    Who was giving you the beats?

    I was working with producers overseas. I worked with a dude named Branchez. He’s doing great things. It was crazy to have that opportunity at such a young age.

     

    Do you feel like you’ve learnt so much in between releasing your debut mixtape and where you’re at now?

    I love that project so much because it shows the place and time that I was in at that stage. How I was feeling and things I was talking about as a seventeen year old which is completely different to the now, where we’re grown up and have been through some shit. I value that project and I feel like I’ve grown heaps from then to now as a person and as an artist.

     

    How do you come to the decision that this is going to be something you pursue? Was there a moment or did it just happen?

    I think when you want to do something you just know.  And when you just know you reflect that with hard work. I don’t know if I can name a specific moment but I just knew. But yeah, I gotta do this. I’ve got to make this real life.

     

    Did you grow up with many people around you who were producing music and even listening to rap?

    Not listening to rap, no. In Zimbabwe all I remember is Michael Jackson and Zimbabwe music. And then I came to New Zealand and discovered Green Day and then after Green Day I came across hip-hop. And I thought Soulja Boy was so cool. I was like, I just wanna be Soulja Boy. So I got some white glasses.

     

    Do you remember any major songs or albums that you were like, shit, I wanna be like this?

    Soulja Boy Tell Em, Kiss Me Through The Phone, Lil Wayne’s Lollipop.

     

    How did you get into rap? Was there somebody you know that was listening?

    It just happened. Because it was on the TV and stuff. There was a channel and they just played rap music, rock music, and I used to watch it all the time as a kid. I was like, “Wow, this is so awesome.”

     

    So then, next year, you’ll be going to the US to the birthplace of that kind of music. That’s just going to blow your mind.

    Yeah, that’s going to be so crazy, dude. I’m going to work with the people i love and to just see that environment in real life, beyond the TV screens. It’s going to be so real. I look forward to it.

     

    What happened with Hermitude? Did they just hit you up, send you the beat, or did you work on it?

    They sent me a demo idea of the song Through The Roof and then I came to Sydney to record. We’d just finished recording Through The Roof and I asked them if I could listen to the album. And they said yeah. They played a couple songs and then they played The Buzz and I was like, “Ooh I’ve gotta be on this song.” And the rest is history.

     

    And at that stage they obviously hadn’t decided that that was going to be the one to come out of the gates with.

    They hadn’t decided. And I don’t think they expected it to do as well as it did. And when that song came on, I was like guys, you’ve got to get me on this. And they were like, we’re actually looking for a top line so that’s perfect.

     

    Had you listened to much of Hermitude’s stuff before that?

    To be honest, I didn’t know who they were. And I feel that was a good thing because I did the song because I liked the song and not because of who they were.

     

    Lastly, what are your goals for Young Tapz? 

    In terms of goals, I have a goal to be one of the biggest artists in the next two years and be one of the greatest of all time. Yeah. I’m gonna be the best. Self belief is everything and results is even more. I have both of those at the moment.

     

     

    Words by Sam Murphy at the interns.

     

     

    146151
    Tags:
    hip hop,young tapz, kid cudi, Kanye West, Drake, Justin Bieber

RELATED POSTS

Submitted by Site Factory admin on



 

 



One thing that separates rappers from other artists is ambition. Maybe it’s because you have to have a certain hunger in your bars or perhaps it’s because it’s a competitive market where ego stands above all. Either way it’s a necessity and that’s not a bad thing at all. It gives rappers a fire in their belly that makes them want to push things further whether they be dropping their first mixtape or heading out on a sold-out arena tour.

 

Kiwi rapper Young Tapz is only 20 but he already has that fire. In person he looks cool, calm and collected but he speaks like he wants to be the best and knows he can be the best. As we meet over a bowl of chips he tells me straight up that his phone his “full of hits” ready to drop.

 

It’s easy to believe that too. After a period of silence following on from his excellent mixtape Anymore, Tapz has returned with gusto. His track Killa has spread far and wide in a matter of months picking up heaps of spins on Spotify and impressing international tastemakers. He also features twice on Hermitude’s massive Dark Night Sweet Light album. He was originally enlisted for just one track but after hearing The Buzz he told the boys he needed to be on that track. It became the lead-single and has seen him tour with the electronic legends and also tear up the ARIA stage.

 

He’s come a long way in just a few short months but things only seem to be heating up for Tapz. He’s got an EP ready to offload sometime very soon and next year he’s heading over to the US to work with a bunch of producers whose names he can’t disclose but he tells me that it’s going to be big.

 

Tapz is an unlikely rap hero though. He grew up most in New Zealand at a predominantly white school with friends who weren’t really into rap that much. He originally sunk his teeth into Michael Jackson records before expanding on to contemporary hip-hop legends like Kanye West and Kid Cudi. With Cudi off making alternative, hip-hop bereft music, Tapz may be the savior Cudi fans desperately need right now.

 

The rapper is one to keep a very close eye on in 2016 not only locally but overseas as well. He’s set to be a huge new talent so we caught up with him before everybody else discovers he’s a rap god.

 

You must be stoked with how Killa has been received so far. The last few months have been great off the back of that track.

At first when I finished the song I was like yeah this song is great, it’s going to blow up but the first two days were very weird after we released it. I wasn’t sure if people were liking it or not but I was sure it was going to blow up I just didn’t know it was going to happen so quick. And it’s great that Spotify picked it up and added it to their fresh finds playlist and their viral hits playlist. It’s crazy.

 

How did Killa work? Did you get sent the beat or did you work on it with Mzwetwo?

Mzwetwo and I are like family. We worked on so much together, he’s like my main producer. He taught me how to produce. I have a studio at my house so the other producer that produces on it, Jermaine, we were talking about this girl and how stuff happened. And then we got on my laptop and came up with the top line and I just freestyled the chorus and, boom! And then I went up to Auckland and finished the beat with Mzwetwo.

 

And did you feel immediately that that was the one?

Yeah, when it was done, when we first heard the first demo, I was like, yeah. This is crazy. I didn’t think they were going to use the vocals because I was quite sick at the time, I had a blocked nose and I had to use my nasal spray.

 

 

 

What are the next steps then following Killa?

I’m finishing my EP. The title...Oh, I’m not sure if I’m allowed to say it but I’m releasing it next year so the things right now is just to write. I’m going to the States next year to work with other people. I can’t say who but when I release the news people are going to be like “whoah, that’s crazy.”

 

The US seems like you’re perfect market.

Yeah a lot of people are like man, what’s it like to be in the Australian scene? You’re kind of bounded to that scene but I’m like I’m a baby of the world.

 

Because you’re so young, it feels like people could really look up to you. Do you want to inspire people?

I just want to add value to people’s lives. Or I want the songs to add value to people's life.

 

What sound are we looking at for the rest of the EP?

Awesome. It’s going to be awesome. In terms of sound. I dunno. It’s going to be like opening my diary. Killa was a song about something that happened with someone etc. etc. but that’s that.

 

So if we were going to pry into your computer, what would we find? In terms of by other people?

You’d find Michael Jackson, Kid Cudi, Kanye, Justin Bieber, Drake. I have a love/hate relationship with Drake. Drake has changed the game so much now that everyone just sounds like Drake. I don’t want to listen to Drake because I don’t want to sound like Drake. So sometimes Drake and sometimes a bit of punk. I used to love Green Day as a kid. I loved American Idiot. The freedom of speech in that was like, “yesssss.”

 

 

 

So, going way back. When did you start rapping?

I started rapping when I was about 14. I was in a school bus and, as a black kid in a predominately white school you have to freestyle. So I got into that and I think at about 16 I started doing it a bit more, writing songs and writing raps. When I turned 17 I was like, “Yeah, I can really do this.” And then I was approached by record studios, who were like, “Hey man, do you wanna hear some new songs? We want to get you into the studio. We’re starting this new studio in Auckland and we want you to be the first person to record in it. And I was like, wow. That would be cool. So I sent Dan, the guy from Red Bull, one of the songs and he was like, “This is great. I want to do a whole project.” It was awesome. It was one of the first actual studios I’d worked in and unfortunately, as I was still going to school, the timetables didn’t match up so I couldn’t be the first person to record in it. But I recorded it, I recorded ten songs in that week, which was crazy.

 

Who was giving you the beats?

I was working with producers overseas. I worked with a dude named Branchez. He’s doing great things. It was crazy to have that opportunity at such a young age.

 

Do you feel like you’ve learnt so much in between releasing your debut mixtape and where you’re at now?

I love that project so much because it shows the place and time that I was in at that stage. How I was feeling and things I was talking about as a seventeen year old which is completely different to the now, where we’re grown up and have been through some shit. I value that project and I feel like I’ve grown heaps from then to now as a person and as an artist.

 

How do you come to the decision that this is going to be something you pursue? Was there a moment or did it just happen?

I think when you want to do something you just know.  And when you just know you reflect that with hard work. I don’t know if I can name a specific moment but I just knew. But yeah, I gotta do this. I’ve got to make this real life.

 

Did you grow up with many people around you who were producing music and even listening to rap?

Not listening to rap, no. In Zimbabwe all I remember is Michael Jackson and Zimbabwe music. And then I came to New Zealand and discovered Green Day and then after Green Day I came across hip-hop. And I thought Soulja Boy was so cool. I was like, I just wanna be Soulja Boy. So I got some white glasses.

 

Do you remember any major songs or albums that you were like, shit, I wanna be like this?

Soulja Boy Tell Em, Kiss Me Through The Phone, Lil Wayne’s Lollipop.

 

How did you get into rap? Was there somebody you know that was listening?

It just happened. Because it was on the TV and stuff. There was a channel and they just played rap music, rock music, and I used to watch it all the time as a kid. I was like, “Wow, this is so awesome.”

 

So then, next year, you’ll be going to the US to the birthplace of that kind of music. That’s just going to blow your mind.

Yeah, that’s going to be so crazy, dude. I’m going to work with the people i love and to just see that environment in real life, beyond the TV screens. It’s going to be so real. I look forward to it.

 

What happened with Hermitude? Did they just hit you up, send you the beat, or did you work on it?

They sent me a demo idea of the song Through The Roof and then I came to Sydney to record. We’d just finished recording Through The Roof and I asked them if I could listen to the album. And they said yeah. They played a couple songs and then they played The Buzz and I was like, “Ooh I’ve gotta be on this song.” And the rest is history.

 

And at that stage they obviously hadn’t decided that that was going to be the one to come out of the gates with.

They hadn’t decided. And I don’t think they expected it to do as well as it did. And when that song came on, I was like guys, you’ve got to get me on this. And they were like, we’re actually looking for a top line so that’s perfect.

 

Had you listened to much of Hermitude’s stuff before that?

To be honest, I didn’t know who they were. And I feel that was a good thing because I did the song because I liked the song and not because of who they were.

 

Lastly, what are your goals for Young Tapz? 

In terms of goals, I have a goal to be one of the biggest artists in the next two years and be one of the greatest of all time. Yeah. I’m gonna be the best. Self belief is everything and results is even more. I have both of those at the moment.

 

 

Words by Sam Murphy at the interns.

 

 

Category Tier 1
Interviews
Tags Tier 2
hip hop
Tags Tier 3
young tapz
kid cudi
Kanye West
Drake
Justin Bieber
News id
75171
Blog Thumbnail
Slug URL
double-tap-for-young-tapz
Show in home news block?
Off

SIGN UP FOR OUR EMAILS

Be the first to know about new music, competitions, events and more.

terms

By submitting my information, I agree to receive personalized updates and marketing messages about Cool Accidents based on my information, interests, activities, website visits and device data and in accordance with the Privacy Policy. I understand that I can opt-out at any time by emailing privacypolicy@wmg.com.

Thank you!
x

Welcome to Cool Accidents' mailing list.

Customize your notifications for tour dates near your hometown, birthday wishes, or special discounts in our online store!

terms

By submitting my information, I agree to receive personalized updates and marketing messages about Cool Accidents based on my information, interests, activities, website visits and device data and in accordance with the Privacy Policy. In addition, if I have checked the box above, I agree to receive such updates and messages about similar artists, products and offers. I understand that I can opt-out from messages at any time by emailing privacypolicy@wmg.com.