Hailing us from the streets of Oakland is the Hip-Hop artist Nahhdahh. Drawing inspiration from a vast majority of genres that include rap, jazz, RnB, soft rock, dance music, and gospel, Nahhdahhis someone who is well versed in the language of music. Recently, Nahhdahh collaborated with the Chicago based Lo-Fi producer Flapjaques to push the boundaries of what lo-fi hip-hop can do. The duo has recently come out with their new vibing single “Blue Ribbons,” we cannot stop bobbing our heads to this one.
Opening up with an engaging, organic, sound design heavy melody, “Blue Ribbons” transports us to an otherworldly space that leads us to a perfectly vibey verse that hits us in the chest with hard-hitting drums and an honestly raw vocal performance that is full of attitude. NahhDahh and Flapjaques tell us the corruption in the world and how some people are being forced to be short-lived instead of following their dreams, the two are not afraid to voice their opinions and reveal to the audience everything that is going on. We love everything that is going on in “Blue Ribbons” and cannot wait to hear what else is coming from this groundbreaking duo.
You can listen to “Blue Ribbons” here.
Welcome to BuzzMusic Nahhdahh and Flapjaques! Your latest release “Blue Ribbons” has a beautifully lo-fi vibe to it, how did you sound design all of the elements of it and then form the song? Do the lyrics come before the production?
So Flapjaques is really a mastermind, bro has this evil scientist NIKOLA TESLA process of taking samples then tryna chop them up & resample them in a way that sounds organic. It’s really impressive and he nails it consistently. Maybe he will do some live beat making or something soon, that would be sick. The lyrics of this song were done before the production, to a whole other instrumental by another producer with a completely different sound. I'm really particular with my music, especially in the era of music we’re in, my art has to stand out and grab attention. This production had that factor, it met all criteria lol. Flap let me hear it and my face cringed, I was like I gotta have this and I got a song for this right now. Changed up some Barz, metaphors, and structurally how I was going to attack it and just had to deliver on the performance. I put everything into recording this, even needing a few mins as emotion ran deep and literally breaking down, shedding some tears just came out of me. Don’t tell anybody deal.
You were definitely not afraid to voice your opinions on this one and show what is going on, what are some ways that you hope that “Blue Ribbons” can help educate the listener's mind and help them join the movement?
1st off I really appreciate you and everyone on the buzz team. I’ve really enjoyed our relationship and I commend you guys for being willing to spread my message. It’s really sad and I won’t name names, but some outlets aren’t comfortable with the message of Blue Ribbons and stated that it’s too political. You all have no idea how much I appreciate all the love and support, but I hope this song Blue Ribbons will wake ppl up to the brutal, harsh and uncomfortable reality of racism and discrimination in this county. I have been a victim of police brutality even when completely complying and harassed on a number of occasions. Us as African-Americans regularly face these kinds of impossible challenges and I couldn’t be silent any longer.
We’re loving the fusion of both of your styles here! How did the two of you come to meet? What is the workflow like together?
Thank you. Yeah, we have a really special mixture of talents, skills and just blend perfectly, our workflow it’s difficult to put in words, what generally happens is Flap would just hit me & be like u gone like this lol, Never fails I always do and from there we might make slight adjustments & another classic is born. We met off this platform called LÜM, it’s a community of the future stars of the music industry in my opinion. I can’t recall our initial interaction, but we organically clicked instantly.
It was very cool to hear the sound of protests at the end of “Blue Ribbons”, how did you capture this recording? Was it a planned recording you wanted to do or did you record a real protest?
That was a decision that I and another amazing, talented individual that I met from the LÜM platform came up with. During the mix/mastering process, a phenomenal Engineer and Producer by the name of Dub Easy. I really wanted my speech at the end to have a bigger effect. We brainstormed some ideas and instantly Dub came back with another mix with the protestors in the background and I got chills from it.
We thank you for being with us, what else can we expect for 2020?
I and Flapjaques have an album dropping soon, Praying For Guidance and Blue Ribbons can be considered as the singles for that project. We plan on doing another project where all the beats flow into each other, it’s going to be pure art and something different. Look for that maybe 4th quarter 2020. Some new work with Mavaa, another amazing producer who was the mastermind behind She-Ra. I have a joint project with my brother Larry Thomas Jr. and my solo album. So Stay tuned on my IG @Nahhdahh and join me on LÜM Music & say hi.