The Sylmar based artist Ryan Sheerer or otherwise known as RUGGO has been rapping from the young age of 13 years old. Since that point in time, RUGGO has opened for artists like B-Real of Cypress Hill, Snoop Dog, Too Short, SugaFree, and many more while at The Wire Entertainment’s 2018 WestCoast Summerfest. Recently, RUGGO released his exciting new album ‘Gifted’ and the title track featuring theMIND is an absolute bop.
As we listened to “Gifted” we couldn’t help but become washed with a wave of nostalgia and good vibes, each little element here works together in a master-crafted way to deliver every lyric with intention and emotion. “Gifted” features an old school hip-hop beat, flavorful sampled vocal harmonies, a sweet smooth muted saxophone, and RUGGO’s ever so flowing rap performance that sets and incredible mood that will easily be able to get a whole crowd moving. RUGGO’s vocals have that perfect amount of class to them where you’ll find yourself wanting to put on your fanciest attire and sip martinis all night at a high-class party. This sweet and expensive taste is something that RUGGO executes perfectly in his release “Gifted” and since listening we will be giving the whole album a listen.
You can find “Gifted” here.
Welcome to BuzzMusic Ruggo! Your release “Gifted” has such an expensive vibe to it, was this something that you had in mind during the initial songwriting? How did you come to this expensive taste?
Throughout the writing process, I wasn’t really too focused on making it have that expensive taste I think it’s just something that’s deeply embedded in the way I write. I felt like as long as I was digging deep and writing from a special place then the overall writing quality would be timeless and have that expensive taste regardless. So I guess it’s just something that came about on its own without me giving much thought into it.
The production of this release has a lot of sounds in it that sound tastefully sampled from old records, is this the case? How were the horns and background vocal bits created?
Lots and lots of old-sounding samples and vibes were definitely picked in the process of beat selection. I just like how timeless old-sounding samples and instruments sound and feel, and I definitely feel like with a modern twist it just hammers home on the timelessness. As far as how the extra sounds were created I honestly wouldn’t know because most beats were either just like that initially or were sent with them already in the background.
Since beginning to rap at just 13 years old, did you ever imagine that your sound would be what it is now? How do you think your sound has grown since you started? Did you have any mentors along the way?
I definitely didn’t think my sound would have turned into how it is now, I always thought I’d never get out of the mainstream bubble sound I initially had, but I’d say its something I grew out of. And since I’ve started I can confidently say my sound has matured over the years. I feel like now that I’m trying to reach for something from the soul that hits home my sound needed to adapt to that and grow with me. Which is why most of my songs sound the way they do with that old-timey feel to them. As far as mentors go I haven’t had very many but I’ve had a few like my labelmate “Fubar” and as far as sonic direction goes I have had a lot of other artists give me good advice such as Childish Major, J Stone, JID, Reason, etc.
It must have been incredible to perform at WestCoast Summerfest, how did it feel to find out you were performing? What about when you first got on stage? Do you have a favorite moment from that festival?
It was definitely a nerve-racking experience as it was my first big stage with major headlining artists but to be completely honest I feel like when I told myself it was just another show I was definitely a bit calmer and collected about the whole thing. When I first got on stage and saw the people that filled up the first couple of rows it was definitely like a “leap of faith” moment but the first couple minutes going in I got in the groove of things and had fun with it. And I think some of my favorite moments of that festival were linking up and connecting with a lot of artists backstage and getting to meet them for the first time, it was a surreal experience.