Is Yada Yada an album you ever expected you’d make? Or has the whole thing come out of left field somewhat?
When I was thirteen years old, if you'd have told me I would be able to make an album like Yada Yada, I might have looked at you in disbelief. Today is a different story though, and everything has a purpose. A lot of the time, I just have to go with my gut instincts, and that's exactly what Central Parks and I did with Yada Yada.
Did you envision it before it came together? Or did it coalesce and come into focus along the way?
The concept for Yada Yada was in place long before I had even heard the first beat, but the music brought it out of me and things definitely came into focus more and more with each song that we worked on. If an arrangement he played me got me in the Yada Yada zone then I would set it aside for the album. There were times when we wouldn't even have to say anything, we just knew. And that's usually how it is. I know what I want and he knows what he wants and when the two align it's alchemy.
How did you know when it was ready?
We knew it was ready when the tracklist told the story we wanted it to, from start to finish. This was never meant to be a compilation of singles for radio or anything like that. We just wanted to make a concept album that rode clean and told a compelling story. Once the vocals were recorded and mixed by Central Parks, we sent it off to Dope Dee for mastering. I'll never forget that moment when I had everything organized in iTunes and listened to the final version for the first time; it was crazy.
If the whole album disappeared off a hard drive before release but you were allowed to keep one song, which would you keep and why?
This one is funny because that's happened to me before. I had a hard drive with over 100 original beats and songs that I produced from 2011-2014, and one day it just stopped working. The data recovery people said that my particular situation was more or less a lost cause, so I just kept working and took it as an important lesson that you should always back your stuff up. But with that being said, if I were only allowed to keep one off the entire Yada Yada project, it would probably be “Welcome 2 Central Parks”. The reason I would choose that song is because it captures the full range of emotions that the album goes through while simultaneously reminding listeners that the ride is far from over.
If Yada Yada was one of your kids, what kind of kid would he or she be?
If Yada Yada were one of my kids, he would be the type of rebel who somehow manages to make good grades while perhaps all-too-eagerly navigating the shark-infested social waters of adolescence and young adulthood. I haven't thought of it like this until now, so thanks for asking this question. For some reason the main character from Dazed And Confused comes to mind. He's this guy who was a living legend in his high school football town but became jaded by the very institution that housed him. He had respect for the people who taught him what he knew but was becoming quickly dissatisfied and impatient with a system that seemed to perpetuate a tradition of fear instead of fostering acceptance and togetherness. Not to sound like a hippie, but that's an interesting dynamic that we were able to capture with this album. He would be the type of kid who would appreciate me doing this interview but would also laugh and poke fun at me for even trying to analyze him in the first place, cleverly smirking and asking if he could stay out past his curfew tonight.
