Daily Chiefers: What do you think is the earliest memory of music that paved your direction to the genre that you make today?
IBRA: To what I made today? I don’t know what I would consider the genre, but it’s like a melting pot of a lot of things. Which I think is a direct result of the environment I grew up in, like I was born in a foreign country and then I went and lived among immigrants in Canada, and at the same time I had to fit into the society there and then I moved here to Texas which is such a big change from Canada.
My earliest memories specifically would be my parents would always play like Bollywood music in the car. I would listen to electronic music like Daft Punk. I was really into Daft Punk. And then after that I moved onto rock music, like Radiohead. I was really into Radiohead. And I guess more accurately there is… Neptune type production. Anything that they do in general I really like, that really sugary pop stuff. Yeah. I think that’s it.
Daily Chiefers: What is your family’s musical history?
IBRA: Honestly, there’s not much. I wasn’t really raised in music, it was just kind of like a casual thing at my house. I wasn’t classically trained in instruments or anything like that. It was just a lot of listening to music. My dad played instruments but he is also pretty casual with that. So most of the stuff that I want to, I won’t when I got older and was on my own. And I think that that was more through like school, that is where I was exposed to most of it. Rather than at home.
Daily Chiefers: How has working and making music in Dallas influenced your music and such a global connected time?
IBRA: I think when I first started in Dallas, there wasn’t too much going on in Dallas, like whenever I would go people would always say that they were new artists in Toronto, Atlanta, LA, you never heard about Dallas. But I think very recently within the past few months there has been some stuff going on, stuff starting to pop off.
Daily Chiefers: How has the career trajectory of Post Malone and Tay-K shaped the paths of artist like yourself from Dallas?
IBRA: Post Malone… I would not say because his come up seems really… obviously I don’t know the details so I can’t say with accuracy, but from a consumer perspective, it seems like Post Malone kind of got a push-up, like there’s something behind the scenes that kind of contributed to his success that not everyone working on music can relate to. Tay-K, though? There was definitely a shift when they took off, because I remember he was very local and he just kind of, I mean, the reason that song took off was because it was real, what he was saying was really happening. And even though he unfortunately is incarcerated because of that, it was definitely a boost in the Dallas local community, it should show people that this is definitely possible. Because there are a lot of people who assume especially in the Dallas local community, they just assume that it is not possible coming from here. You had to go out to LA or something like that. But I do not think that is necessarily true, and I think that happening has shown that there is a way to do it from Dallas.
Daily Chiefers: What is the takeaway that you get from directing with Kaz Moon?
IBRA: Kaz Moon. That is a longtime friend of mine. He has taught me a lot of what I know, not just through music, and through other things in general. I trust his judgment of light, because he definitely knows what he is trying to achieve and he has the eye for things that are not necessarily are being put out there right now. So that is definitely up in my perspective. Working for 617 banks, that is just fine. Honestly, it is because it feels like music. People put a lot of stress in extra stuff but at the end of the day, it is supposed to be a fun thing that you are doing. If you are not having fun while you are doing it, then why are you doing it? So, 617: it’s about that image or showing everyone that this is the way we do it and this is how we have fun doing it and that we have some success through it. And if you mess with us, that’s cool with us. We just kind of want to curate. I guess the best term for 617 banks, I would not say collective, I would just say content curation. It is a place for open ideas and we just want to direct that conversation.
Daily Chiefers: Is that first realized it in the lazy and stupid video for you?
IBRA: No, I would say for the Lazy And Stupid video, that was more… it seemed like the business move to do. To create a video for that. It definitely took off and helped us a lot. But at the time, I wasn’t really considering what that might mean for future endeavors. We saw that this is possible, right? So if I can do this, just do one song, that I feel that collectively if we come together and really curate, and make sure everything comes out the way that we wanted to come out, then it should be an even easier process.
Daily Chiefers: I have to ask you about the face paint that you were wearing, was that holi paint?
IBRA: No, that was just regular paint. I think because me and Sierra, she directed the video with me, she did all of the editing and stuff. We originally thought… I sent her a draft treatment of what I wanted to video to look like, and I wanted it to be really vibrant, and you can even notice with the colors of the shirts that I’m wearing throughout the video or just the way that we have the saturation turned up. What you’re saying and what the message you’re putting out is, it’s definitely very important, but no one will listen if it doesn’t look interesting. So that was the first priority, make it look nice and interesting as long the people will come across it and say I want to see what that is about. And then once you pull them in, that is when you make the content, that’s when you make sure the content is what you want to be putting out. Meaning wise, I think the paint was… the album is Ugly and Lazy And Stupid plays into that. It’s the idea that your self worth is not really where it should be, people making you feel like maybe what you were doing is wrong and letting you feed it to that, and then it comes into a thought that you feed it to your all negativity that other people are feeding into you. I wanted the pain to outwardly reflect that. The way that people might want those negative thoughts to manifest. It works both ways. So yeah. That is what I wanted to show through that.
Daily Chiefers: What was the last song that you recorded for Ugly?
IBRA: I think it was Flamenco.
Daily Chiefers: And as soon as it came out how, long did it take for you to start working on the music?
IBRA: Right off the bat. I don’t really, I feel like I am always working on music. But even if I’m not, even if I’m not necessarily thinking ahead, even if I’m not thinking about it going on the next project, I just like working on it. Again, at the end of the day, it’s just fun to me. It’s fun to make music if you are not stressing about all of the extra details and you just want to make music all the time.
Daily Chiefers: What would you say is your opinion on the state of the music industry today? Especially in the world of hip-hop.
IBRA: There’s a lot of good stuff going on right now but there is also a lot of bad stuff going on. I think if you, you can choose to focus on whatever side you want. And you could definitely make an argument for either side, and I think but things are present, but people like to focus on the bad stuff more come up because people are saying now people are focus on the music I focus on social media. With all of these affiliates. That’s how they get their rise to fame. It’s not necessarily the music. Companies know that social media now is being able to turn that for your own benefit. That could really boost you.
Daily Chiefers: Do you foresee clout becoming obsolete?
IBRA: In my opinion, it is ruining music. It’s more clout than talent based. In terms of entertainment, it’s here to stay, but if you’re speaking about music strictly, then yeah. You don’t need to have clout. What the fuck is clout? You don’t need that to make music. It’s not enough to just make music anymore. People’s focus is not the music anymore, it’s the money. And that’s the way to get through that. The money, fame, followers. Clout comes first.
Daily Chiefers: Who are your favorite rappers of all time?
IBRA: Andre. Tupac. Kanye. Isaiah Rashad.
Daily Chiefers: Do you feel that you will enter the world of rap and hip-hop at some point in your production?
IBRA: Yeah, I think I have already kind of taken that step there. I don’t think I would personally become a hip-hop artist, I’m definitely interested in hip-hop production and working with other hip-hop artists and stuff like that. Because I was listening to hip-hop and I am, I would not want my music to take that direction just because I would not do it justice and I do not think I have the right. I don’t think I have the background to make hip-hop interesting if I was the hip-hop artist. But I definitely want to be involved in that field in someway.
Daily Chiefers: Since Ugly came out, what have you learned about making music that you have applied.
IBRA: Do not limit yourself, don’t let roles plague your mind. That is the biggest thing, because when you are a kid, the only rules are the rules that are told to you by other people. Who says that other person is qualified to say that rule is the rule. Keep your mind open to all possibilities. Do not become accustomed to rinsing and repeating certain patterns and things like that. Yeah. That’s the thing.
Daily Chiefers: What is next for you in 2018?
IBRA: Hopefully a project. Definitely a lot of stuff for 617 banks. If it is not music directly for me, I will be involved in some way shape or form. Hopefully you will be seeing my name around a lot.
Daily Chiefers: And lastly, what are your thoughts on XXXTentacion passing away?
IBRA: I think what he did was very fucked up. I don’t think that there is any excuse for that. But I don’t think that gives you the right to go on Twitter and say he deserves to die. I think that it doesn’t make him an angel either. I say just leave the judgment up to whatever higher power is up there. And if his music personally touched you, then that’s great. And I am not going to be the person who says that that is wrong, like you’re wrong for saying that. No one can tell you how to feel. But yeah, I think it is wrong to think extreme on either extent. Use your own judgment and you should not have to weigh what other people think to form your opinion.
