YENT takes a fresh approach to Hip Hop with his blend of a somewhat pop-punk sound and emotional chords. His music ventures off from the classic, boom bap style of rapping of the previous millennium and welcomes more melodies and somber tones. I asked him a few questions to get a full scope of his influence and his newest project, ‘TIME’.
Where are you from?
YENT: I’m from Wake Forest and Raleigh, North Carolina.
When did you first gain an interest in music and know you wanted to pursue it?
YENT: I’ve really been surrounded by music my whole life. My grandpa and some cousins were musicians, so I picked it up from them. I didn’t really start pursuing it on my own until I was maybe 6 or 7. I saw a concert by Green Day on TV when I was little and I knew that’s what I wanted for my future.
How did you discover hip hop, have you always been a fan?
YENT: I was around 6 or 7 and my dad had this stash of CDs and I had an old CD player in my room. I specifically remember hearing ‘World Tour’ by A Tribe Called Quest and that was what really got my into hip hop. Ever since then I’ve been a fan.
Who was your first #1 fan, who is it now?
YENT: My first #1 fan was probably my dad. He would always listen to me writing songs and playing guitar. He’s always come to my shows and showed all his friends my songs when they drop.
Who are your musical inspirations?
YENT: Growing up my biggest inspiration was Incubus and it still most definitely is because of the vocalist. He would sing but it was like he was rapping, too. They were like a perfect representation of like all my favorite sounds mushed together.
Your oldest song on SoundCloud ‘Crazy’ is much different from your ‘Blur’ EP, what do you think has influenced that change the most?
YENT: My trying to be more myself everyday. Crazy was a song I dropped to impress all my friends in high school. Blur is more me trying to figure my self out and it’s really down to the beats I picked from Jag and everything.
When you were looking through beats, what sound were you looking for? Did you know at the time?
YENT: When I’m looking for beats I almost want them to speak to me through the vibe, whatever I’m feeling at the time. I don’t personally like writing because it makes me filter through my thoughts too much. If the beats speaks to whatever I’m going through at the moment then that’s all I need!
How would you best describe your genre?
YENT: I feel like I’m definitely more on the alternative vibe sound wise, but I feel like I have my own spin on all the Rock and Hip Hop I grew up on. So, it’s really hard to kind of pin me to a specific genre but most people would just call it Alternative Hip Hop.
What was the biggest inspiration or the story behind this project?
YENT: My biggest inspiration behind this album was the need to get a bunch of stuff from my childhood experiences and a lot of the problems I faced with people switching up around me and trying my best to move on and be an adult. I listened to a lot of Lucky and Incubus while I would come up with ideas.
Click here to listen to his newest EP ‘TIME’ on SoundCloud.
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