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Writer's pictureBUZZ LA

Take a Cruise "Late Night," to get Lost in Your Thoughts With DJ Motss



DJ Motss is a product designer for an aerospace firm by day, and a multi-faceted producer, DJ, and recording artist by night. Bringing forth his debut single, “Late Night,” the immersive experience takes his audience on a journey they won’t forget.

As we navigate through the emotionally charged record, we hear the themes of confusion and heartbreak surface through the thoughts of regret that come forth with a breakup. DJ Motss goes through a brilliantly formed arrangement that delves into a salutary blend of delicately placed and prominently forward elements. You can’t help but transport your mind to the late-night mentality as you take in lyrical motifs such as, ‘How you gonna call my line pretending that you wanna stay?’


As you create detailed imagery to match the elusive melodies that are riddled into your mind, the tantalizing essence of “Late Night,” submerges you in an all-out theatrical experience through the perfectly placed voice notes heard. As you grasp onto the concept placed within the pacifying tenors suggested, the ease of DJ Motss’ vocalization complements the intimacy of the instrumentation happening in the top-tier mix.


With our sights set on where this record could take us through a late-night drive, we cement ourselves in the emotions that buoyantly come flowing out as we throw ourselves into the immersive experience first-hand. Having us eagerly awaiting the release of his forthcoming album ‘Orange Tonic,’ it’s safe to say that DJ Motss has a sound that we’re anticipated to hear on an elaborate scale.



Hello DJ Motss, welcome to BuzzMusic, and congratulations on the release of your debut single, “Late Night.” What inspired you to make this the lead single from your forthcoming album?


Thank you, I appreciate the kind words. “Late Night” was one of the first songs I made that actually felt like there was a piece of me inside it. The album - Orange Tonic - has been in the works for a while now, and I wasn’t sure what direction I wanted to go with it until I made this track. The vision is a lot clearer now, and I’m excited to share what we’ve been working on.


Could you please take us into a deep dive into the creative process and how the vision came to life?


My first love of music is production, so everything I do starts with the instrumental. I typically make very bouncy beats with a lot of call and response, but during this session, I decided to slow things down and find the pockets within the silence. This was one of those tracks I finished up right before bed, so the next morning I was pleasantly surprised to hear this extremely immersive instrumental. Another thing I enjoy having in my music is skits. Kendrick, Kanye, and a slew of other dope MCs have given us so many iconic skits, and ever since I started making music I try to incorporate them when it makes sense. For this song I figured having a female voice talk throughout the track would be cool, so I got a friend of mine who has a beautiful recording voice to talk some smack (excuse my French). The lyrics came pretty naturally after that, as I drew on very personal experiences for a lot of the content.


How do you feel when allowing yourself to be so vulnerable with your listeners? Does that come naturally to you?


It’s pretty scary, but recently I’ve gained a new perspective on vulnerability within my art. For every unique experience, I think I’m having, there are at least ten other people I already know that have shared a similar experience. So why hide it you know? If it’s on my mind, and it works with whatever track I’m making, it’s probably going in there. Being this vulnerable definitely does not come naturally to me, but it is something I’ve worked on for some time now, and I think it will serve me well in my artistry.


We can’t wait to hear what you have in store for us on ‘Orange Tonic.’ What are you able to tell your audience about what they can expect from the collection of songs?


I love that and I truly appreciate the support. The album title itself touches on some of my favorite things, and the general mood for the album is ‘reflective/pondering’. Sonically, you could call this an Rnb/Trap album. I like playful percussion in my music so a lot of it might sound familiar but experimental/new. Additionally, I’m working with a few other artists that I’ve looked up to for a while on pretty much the rest of the tape, and all I can say is I don’t think we have ever heard a collection of songs like this. I am extremely excited, to say the least.


What's your favorite release of this year, from an independent artist you admire?


Ah, that’s tough. Slight recency bias, but Vince Staples just dropped an album, and I’ve had it on repeat for the past few weeks. As an artist, his style of music speaks to me heavily. As a personality/brand, I love the way he carries himself and is able to exist in the spaces that HE wants to because he’s authentic. But most importantly, he’s extremely talented and has a crazy sound selection. One more thing - his album won’t be what it is without the genius touch that is Kenny Beats. That’s probably the person I look up to in the game the most.


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