From South Africa to Perth, the acclaimed hip-hop artist, rapper, and songwriter 88YAMI teams up with Yourboymars to pay tribute to the city that's carved their musical path with their latest single, "MY CITY."
One can easily get to know 88YAMI's hunger and passion for music simply by taking a stroll down memory lane with help from his many SoundCloud releases. Fast forward to today, 88YAMI is more than excited to continue finding new ways to border new school hip-hop and trap with his melodic approach to rap.
Now releasing his highly anticipated single, "MY CITY," 88YAMI previously teased the song during a live show, which instantly caught the attention of his engaged fanbase. Featuring the heavy-hitting artist Youngboymars and the talented production stylings of Roki Beats, this track is bound to blow anyone out of the water.
Hitting play on "MY CITY," the song opens with a tender guitar melody that later drops into a punchy 808 kick alongside a fluid vocal sample and 88YAMI's powerful vocal entrance. As he begins to expand on his upbringing, 88YAMI reminds us to use all of our resources to our advantage while steering away from negativity in order to reach those not-so-distant desires.
As Youngboymars joins the party on the second verse, he offers this sweet melodic approach that allows the listener to sit back and bask in the song's deeply alluring atmosphere and groovy undertone. As the song comes to an end, we're left in need of more melodic and conceptual hip-hop tracks like this.
Get your dose of inspiration with help from 88YAMI and Youngboymars in "MY CITY," now available on all digital streaming platforms.
We adore the melodic and inviting approach you've taken with your recent single, "MY CITY." What initially inspired you to write a track that pays tribute to the city that's fuelled your creative fire?
There’s so much talent overflowing the 6 (Perth) and so many artists that I’ve encountered with so much underrated talent with their own vision for the city. Perth is one of the reasons why I became an artist and my peers are people that inspire me, because no matter what vision we have, its always been about Perth, aka MY CITY.
MY CITY was initially a freestyle I put up on social media after an impromptu studio session. Yourboymars saw it, and we decided to link up and create something out of it, a sort of homage record.
What drew you to the sounds of Yourboymars to feature on "MY CITY"? What does he bring to the table that other artists don't?
Long story short, he brings himself! That’s all I need to say. He is different in a world where it’s hard to be original. When we discussed a link up to finish MY CITY from the freestyle, I knew he was someone who would understand why we needed to create this because he came up from Perth as an artist and we work well together.
Did you work alongside Roki Beats when creating the production and sonic atmosphere for "MY CITY"? Or did he pre-make this melodic beat for you?
No, I didn’t work with him on this beat. I wanted to be very versatile with my beat selection and music making and came across this beat by chance. From there, I did what any artist would do, put pen to paper.
What was your songwriting process like for "MY CITY"? What concept or message did you want to convey through your bars?
As I mentioned, MY CITY wasn’t even supposed to be a song, it was just a freestyle I put up dedicated as to my brother’s passing. He was my biggest supporter, and we knew that we wanted to put the 6 on the map because this was the city where it all changed for us. The day I posted the freestyle on my Instagram and Yourboymars, a fellow artist and friend, reached out. Next thing you know, we got in the studio and in a few hours came MY CITY as we know it.