22|DEE is an artist from Copperas Cove, Texas that centers his music on the genres of Rap, Hip-Hop, and R&B. Beginning his career crafting purely R&B music referred to as heartbreak melodies, he reinvented his sound last year and took on the persona as Fly Guy. Now, 22| DEE's music revolves around family ties, women, his love life, and motivation due to his inner struggles with himself.
From the effervescent release of his album, 'Welcome to Wonderland (Finally Living: Wonderland Edition),' we draw our attention to the second track found on the project. "22's Wonderland (Entrance to Wonderland)" is a collaborative body of work that features the talents of Eve. Approaching an Electronic realm in the instrumentation choice embarked, the upbeat ambiance has us on our toes both literally and metaphorically.
The anticipation that brews on this record is immense, as 22|DEE allows his quick-paced cadence to be flexed throughout this buoyant soundscape. The distortion that simmers in his vocals adds a textured layer of persona that trickles into the arrangement. It allows the evolution of "22's Wonderland (Entrance to Wonderland)" to be that much more impactful. The contrast that sits in both the performances of 22|DEE and Eve is thought-provoking.
Their talents go beyond the words they write down and transcribe into melodic creations and dip into a pool of perfectly timed kingdoms where their zealous personas shine bright. Adding a little tender love and care into each composition exuded, 22|DEE has a little something for everyone. With 11 songs to be explored on his latest album, it's worth the listen and journey you will venture on.
Welcome to BuzzMusic, 22|DEE, and congratulations on the release of '22’s Wonderland (Entrance to Wonderland).' Such a unique fusion of genres explored! What was your motivation for the body of work found on this album?
The motivation behind the album sonically was just to bring the listener into the highs and lows of “Wonderland”. Wonderland is a symbolism of life itself. There are multiple stages and chapters people experience so the album starts with more upbeat and energetic music until it transitions slowly into a more dark and heartfelt set of music.
On the song “22’s Wonderland (Entrance to Wonderland),” what did the creative process entail when you fashioned it together?
So the motivation behind 22’s Wonderland was to make the listener feel as if they were being led into Wonderland. That’s why In the beginning you can hear me talking and calling for the listener to follow me until “EVE” announces that you’re entering into Wonderland. Then the beat came in with such an energetic/theme park feel that I wanted to capitalize on that and make something that was high energy but also smooth on some parts kinda like a rollercoaster.
How do you allow your musical and non-musical influences to speak into the work that you create?
As for as musical influences go I’m a huge fan of artists like Uzi, Travis Scott, A boogie, & the list really goes on and on. I’m heavily influenced by artists who can really rap and use autotune for melodies so I just think they all influence me in the different flows I use. I actually love it when people say “Ohh this gives me and Uzi vibe” or “This sounds like Lil Baby” because they just name people that influence me let alone greats so I take it as a compliment. As far as non-musical influences affecting my music Anime would be my main one. Anime’s been something I’ve loved since my middle school days and a lot of them really incorporate a lot of life lessons and emotion into them. I think this helps me tap into the more emotional songs I create and just has made me be more in tune with other sounds because I actually like a lot of the intros and outros to anime. It’s actually one of my dreams to be on an intro or outro so I hope to tap into that field as I move forward.
What inspired this new-found sound that you deem as your own?
I think what really inspires my sound would be my love for all kinds of music and the use of autotune that allows me to combine them. A lot of people like a bunch of genres but stick to making music in a similar box. I’m the opposite, Sometimes I’ll think okay give me an EDM or pop beat but ima put my sound on it to make something completely different. I’ve made rap, hip-hop, RnB, lofi, EDM, pop, and even country songs. Music is such a beautiful thing and I wanna experiment with every sound. Sometimes it gets overwhelming trying to please everyone in my fan base but hopefully, my different sound is eventually accepted by everyone but if not it’s okay it’s fun making the music I love. Hopefully one day I get my own genre called “Heartbreak Melodies” which all my music can be categorized as!