I’ve been following Caruci on Twitter since late last year, and I’ve been impressed with his music throughout that period. Caruci was kind enough to let me interview him for my blog, and tell me about the thought processes behind some of my favourite tracks of his.
1. At this point i’m quite familiar with Souless Recordings and the work you guys put out, so my first question is how did you become associated with that movement?
Caruci: The first person I met that was in Souless before me was Lärs, after we knew each other for a minute I had started meeting most of the other members. But I joined because Lärs asked me one day if I wanted to, and it has went from there.
2. Of the music you’ve released, ‘Ride’ and ‘Roses’ feel like your most accomplished work. Was your creative process different while making those songs?
C: ‘Ride’ was the first time I wrote lyrics to a beat I made and recorded them, so that whole process was pretty new to me in general, but I knew what I was going for from the jump. For ‘Roses’, it was just a beat I made and after listening to it for a while I decided I wanted to make a song with it because it was fye and it reminded me of a girl i was fuckin with at the time.
3. ‘Roses’ felt like an outlier in theme too, as a lot of your beats seem very morose. What do you feel motivates you to convey these moods?
C: I just realized most the stuff on my soundcloud is sad sounding lmaoo, but most of the time when I make beats they’re based off of how I’m feeling at the moment. Music is my only outlet these days.
4. I’ve said before that your production is reminiscent of Tyler The Creator’s older music, and I am aware you are a fan. What other rappers/producers have inspired your work?
C: Tyler the Creator and SpaceGhostPurrp are my two biggest influences, they’re the reasons I began making music. I listen to a lot of artists that inspire my work, like Earl Sweatshirt, Jill Scott, Sade, Kodak Black, Triple Six Mafia, Musiq Soulchild, SWV, Gucci Mane, Joy Division, Slayer, the list goes on.
5. You hail from Florida, a place that I’m fairly ignorant about, being from the UK as I am. Do you feel that rappers/producers from your county and state have an influence in the world of underground hip-hop?
C: Definitely. SpaceGhostPurrp and the whole Raider Klan made a big impact on underground rap and their influence is still prevalent, and a lot of the members were from Miami. In general though, I feel like people peep Florida’s swag and try to run off with it, but most folks don’t understand it so it stays exclusive to us.
6. One of my favourite rappers that I’ve found through exploring Florida’s underground scene is Kirb La Goop. Who else would you recommend me or anyone interested in the genre to check out?
C: One of my favorite artists I’ve been listening to lately is JDola, he’s from Broward County. Some other fye FL artists are Vno400, Jackboy, Choo Choo, Twelve’Len, Ash Sadnap, Lärs, the whole XL Cartel, Ledwan, Big Baby Scumbag, just to name a few. They’re not all from South Florida, most of em are tho.
7. Your Soundcloud contains many collaborations with both rappers and other producers. Who has been your favourite artist to work alongside so far?
C: I can’t really say, I enjoy it all the same. But some of my favorite songs I’ve produced have been the ones with Lärs.
8. Aside from creating and listening to music, what do you enjoy doing?
C: Ion be doing much, i like watching movies, kickin it with my friends, playin ps4, eating out, spending time with my shorty, regular shit.
9. Should we expect a full length project from you or anyone else in Souless any time soon? I know SeKwence just dropped one.
C: I think we’re all dropping projects this year. I wanna drop a solo EP and beat tape this year. Souless is dropping a collective tape pretty soon so keep an eye out for that, I got more music coming soon with 3AM which is another collective I’m in shout out to them, we dropping an EP produced by me this year. Most of the members in both collectives are pretty consistent with drops tho, so there’s usually always something new to listen to.
10. Finally, what is the end goal for you in terms of creating and releasing music? You’re still young and your production is already excellent so where do you go from here?
C: Preciate that, but I’m not completely sure. I just want to keep making music that I like and putting it out there for people to enjoy, drop some albums, venture into different genres i like, like neo soul, jazz, metal, etc., make a living off this, work with more artists I like, build a solid fanbase and be able to inspire and influence people in a positive way. I want to have an impact on this world and hopefully the music can help with that.
Check out Caruci on Soundcloud. He’s also on Twitter at @nocondomcaruci. You can find me on Twitter at @108mics.
108 MICS 