Photo by Cones.
WAV has been working hard to build his brand and music catalog, and it’s clearly paying off. The Houston native just got back from the European leg of his tour with Lil Tecca and Pierre Bourne. Through killing shows major cities across the US to some of Europe’s biggest music hotspots, WAV has begun his ascension into a well-deserved role atop the Hip-Hop scene. We had the pleasure of sitting down with this soon-to-be household name in New York City, to discuss the past, present, and future of his promising career.
DailyChiefers: So how was tour? Anything different between performing in Europe and America?
WAV: America is definitely different than Europe, Europe is like a whole different energy. Paris and Dublin were crazy to perform at, and in the US I really fucked with Boston. Paris is the number 1 overall though. Can’t forget the DMV too, that was lit. In New York, you really gotta rise up the ranks to get a reaction, you know how it is.
DailyChiefers: When did you get the feeling that this was your path?
WAV: I’ve been doing this shit since I was 14.
DailyChiefers: And how’d you get started?
WAV: I really started from nothing- at first I wasn’t even writing lyrics, I was just writing paragraphs to the beat. It didn’t even have like sections, it was just paragraphs. It was a long-ass learning period. I was doing a ton of shows in Texas, with Wacka Flocka, Afroman, and 2 Chainz.
DailyChiefers: Was it college shows at the time?
WAV: Yessir, Texas A&M- College Station.
DailyChiefers: So you’re currently posted up in New York City, you ever have plans on moving somewhere else?
WAV: New York is the greatest city in the world, for real. I was born in Brooklyn, I was originally from here. My parents moved out to Houston when I was young.
DailyChiefers: That’s funny because when I met you, I had a feeling that you had a little New York in you. It was in your energy. New York is such a trademark energy, and you got it. So after this time on tour, did you come away with any collabs with Pierre Bourne?
WAV: Nah man, not yet. I want to though! I’m gonna be hitting up his people to try and get working, a collab track with him would be dope for real.
DailyChiefers: Who are your biggest musical influences? Like who had the biggest impact on how you made your sound?
WAV: Nessly, 24HRS, Travis Scott, PartyNextDoor, Young Thug, you know, melodic shit. I was listening to a lot of hard shit too, but I really resonate with melodic shit. T-Pain, RonSoCold, I really fuck with that sound, you know?
DailyChiefers: So who has been your favorite producer to work with thus far? It could be more than one.
WAV: BenJay, Andrew Luce, Cassio, Clibbo, Danny Wolf– can’t forget about Danny Wolf.
DailyChiefers: Your track with Tecca on Danny‘s project was nuts.
WAV: “Mavericks”? Yeah, that shit went crazy. All organic traction, that whole project really grew naturally.
DailyChiefers: So how do you feel about Triller/Tik Tok becoming a thing? Did you find it difficult to be active on it?
WAV: I was already dancing and shit, so it was a pretty easy transition for me. Wasn’t this wild thing to me, I was more like “bet let’s do it”.
DailyChiefers: So I see you’re rocking KidSuper.
WAV: Yeah, Colm is my boy. Shout out Foda, shout out Doug, shout out everybody- you know who are.
DailyChiefers: Do you have any specific goals you see in your future that you want to attain?
WAV: I feel like all that shit is just gonna come in time, right now I gotta work. I feel like if you waste time setting standards for yourself, you’re gonna set yourself up to be disappointed. If you work at this shit and do what you gotta do, this shit’s gonna come to you. It’s all about the next move, plan and execute, you know?
DailyChiefers: That UnderArmour collab was crazy.
WAV: For real! That was one of my favorite moments of my career, shit was awesome. Shoutout Zack, and the whole SoundCloud team.
DailyChiefers: You like using Instagram ads?
WAV: Hell nah, I just feel like that’s not the most organic option.
DailyChiefers: How was touring with a language barrier? Was that an obstacle?
WAV: Not really, I feel like a lot of people knew I was American, so pretty much of the conversation I had was in English. It was my first time in Europe though, that shit was a dream.
DailyChiefers: So is tour life a tough regiment?
WAV: Hell yeah, wake up times and everything. Gotta have the whole team on point and ready to go. Shit was awesome touring with Tecca and Pierre.
DailyChiefers: GloUpJake from Lyrical Lemonade was Tecca‘s DJ for most of the tour right?
WAV: Yeah he was, Jake’s the goat. I fuck with the Lyrical Lemonade team super heavy. Shoutout to both Jakes, Cole, Sal, CP, the whole blog team. Y’all are awesome.
DailyChiefers: If you had to pick an era of rap that’s your favorite, what would you choose?
WAV: Right now. I love everything that’s going on right now, sonically, culturally, you know?
DailyChiefers: Hell yeah. Well thanks for linking up with me to talk, bro. It was awesome getting to sit down and have a full talk about everything.
WAV: Of course bro, thank you! And shoutout Daily Chiefers! Good luck in 2020 to y’all, you guys are dope.
Since we spoke, WAV just dropped a track with RonSoCold and D Savage. Check it out below!
