Yahya | Interview | “I just found the sounds that fit best with the emotions I felt”
The new release by Sudanese punk prodigy Yahya is an exhilarating EP that combines a soft punk rock aesthetic with playful guitar licks, heavy-set drums and bold vocals.
Yahya contrasts gritty vocals as he expresses the frustration of growing apart from relationships yet having a bond too deep to simply throw away. Growing up in the United States, Yahya naturally gravitated towards hip-hop but developed his sound using cuts from trap, R&B and rock.
“I just found the sounds that fit best with the emotions I felt”
You’re fairly new to the music scene. Tell us about your musical background? What are some of the main influences when it comes to music?
Yahya: I’ve been making music since I was 16! Officially recorded my first song at 17, so it’s been about 8 years in the making … finding my footing and getting comfortable with my own sound and overall experiencing and experimenting so I could reach the point of where I’m at now. When I was around 18, I was in college and was really inspired by the mixtapes that I listened to throughout my adolescence and how timeless that kind of music was and how those Chief Keef or Future mixtapes just kept coming … no overthinking anything just the purest form of themselves out there and that’s what made that everlasting impact and why I still listen to them and praise those mixtapes five years after the fact, it showcased true art without resistance or even enough time for the public to cast an opinion that might deter the full idea. Just delivering full projects with the intent of pure expressions and that grew to become my own drive to create and that’s what I know makes me great.
When did you decide that you want to work on your own material?
At first I began as the person ahead of my own music collective that I started alongside my friends. I was able to acknowledge the amazing ear I had for music and my ability to find the artists that labels would snatch up years later and as young as I was I still saw the asset that I was and I wanted to help artists become the greatest to do it with my guidance but it reached a point to where I no longer felt like anyone had what I wanted which was true the music I was yearning for was the music I had yet to make myself, and at 17 I decided to focus my efforts on my own music and follow the advice that I’d had to tell others.
How do you usually approach music making? Does the process differ from song to song or do you have a certain ritual that always works?
I create the same way throughout all my tracks. I’ll usually talk to my producer on a Saturday and we’ll go over the sounds we both would like to explore for the week , we go back and forth exchanging ideas and sounds we might have heard then he will send over the instrumentals and I’ll work through the ones that move me the most, after it’s just press play … I’ll sit and really consciously think about everything I’m saying and why I’m saying it but not how I just go and let myself be free to bend and shape words to my own liking. creating my own sonic language.
How long did you work on your latest EP, ‘Seasons Change Feelings Change’?
This latest EP took about seven months to work on. I created multiple projects through this time period that will be released soon. I just felt that this story was ready to tell one about accepting change and how it comes in all forms.
Was it difficult?
The fluidity of my creation is very blissful in my opinion. I never see it as difficult or even label any part of my process. It’s just a matter of knowing when it’s time to express yourself and if that means I’m creating everyday multiple times a day that’s beautiful or if it means I sit down and just ingest movies and music for a week or two. I acknowledge that as something I need to create not as a writer’s block period or one of difficult creation.
“A lot of lyrics are written from the perspective of conversations”
Would you like to share some insight to your lyrics?
A lot of lyrics are written from the perspective of conversations, whether it’s an internal dialogue or a conversation I’ve had that I saw to be eye opening and reflective. Even the way I speak and put everything together paints a full picture. You feel both sides as well as hear them on a journey throughout all sectors of self.
Do you feel that your Sudanese roots play a role when it comes to your music?
Yes, very much. The way Sudanese music is created most of the time is that instruments are used as a tool to back the main vocals and the emotions … The need for the melodies or flows to follow that structure isn’t a huge part in the delivery and I use that in my own creation and expression. There’s no structure to how you feel so there shouldn’t be structure to how you express it.
The sound of the EP is quite unique… Did you have that in mind when you started or was it just spontaneous?
I just found the sounds that fit best with the emotions I felt. It was a specific search for certain sounds or instruments. It was a search for the music through the feeling of it and how it projects back to me.
What comes next for you in 2022?
My first album! I have my first official album ‘Pieces Of Me’ coming on April 22th. This year the first single just dropped alongside a beautiful visual by Jay Waneta and HomeStudio Productions.
Let’s end this interview with some of your favorite albums.
Some of my favorite albums as of late have been
’18 Months’ – Calvin Harris
‘The Truth Hurts’ – Drakeo The Ruler
‘Pastor Ralfy 2’ – Ralfy The Plug
A lot of these guys have unique voices and overall insane production, so if that’s something you look for, these are a must listen!
Klemen Breznikar
