YUNG GRAVY IS SERVING COUNTRY
Yung Gravy is back with his seventh album release, Serving Country. The first single, unveiled earlier this year, titled “Clementine,” marked the beginning of this new chapter and surprised many fans. Stepping away from the classic Gravy sound that we heard on Baby Gravy 3, the rapper has used this new project to explore his southern experiences and love for country music. Multiple tracks feature collaborations with other prominent artists in the genre, including Zac Brown, Shania Twain, and Brantley Gilbert. Yung Gravy sat down at a press conference with 1824 to discuss his new body of work, and this is what he had to say:
What Inspired you to go into country?
It was just fun. I was getting sick of doing all of the same stuff. I would do an album, try new things, and get better every time.. Then I was like I need to do something completely new. I met a lot of people in country. They were so cool and welcoming. I thought about doing a little EP or something or just a song with them. Then Diamond Pistols and I got working on it and we just loved it and had such a blast that we did a whole album.
I think people are probably thinking “Nah I don’t know. We’ll see.” But its fire.
Are you thinking people are going to think that its not going to be good?
Its not really a full genre swap. You know when people swap genres people expect badness? Also a lot of people are doing country right now which is bad timing because I was doing this a while ago. I don’t know. It’s good.
With this new album who did you work with on the production side? How did these collaborations shape the sound and feel of the album?
So this is probably the most I’ve ever worked directly with one producer on anything and it was Diamond Pistols (Christian). In the past for me he’s produced “Miami Ice,” “C’est La Vie.” Nick Seely who I always work with who has payers who can play any instrument, brought in a band, coordinated a bunch of stuff. So they all added as well. Me, Nick, and Christian. Just three little fellas. It was great.
My roommate Stew, I usually don’t work with anyone in the room when I’m writing, he helped me to write some melodies. He does a lot more singing and I’m not perfect at that. He was a big part of the album. Im bringing both of them on tour. Stew is doing backing vocals. Diamond Pistols is playing guitar.
What is Hendrix’s (Yung Gravy’s Dog) favorite song off of the album?
Cop A Truck I think. It’s got Brantley Gilbert on it - he seems like a dog guy. Trucks and dogs work. Its just a good song you know? He’s kind of a bad boy so it fits.
How has your sound changed or transformed since you created your body of work last year?
I’m attempting a different genre. I’m using a lot of the classic Gravy elements. Baby Gravy 3, I don’t know why it’s so in depth with it split it into thirds with our three favorite producers. It’s sectioned off evenly by each producer so there is a lot more variety. But I kind of worked the best, personally, with only Diamond Pistols and him and I are the one who did this whole album. It’s definitely different.
I started with the idea and I thought it would be fun to drop an EP. We just kept making them and they were good and everyone liked them. And thought, ‘alright,’ lets just make a whole album. A lot of fun.
Do you think your aesthetic has played a part in your success and how would you tell an artist to market themselves if they are just starting out?
Yeah. 300%. From the jump I’ve built a brand that I liked. It was my style but a little bit emphasized. And just owned it. I was a big fan of leopard shirts and the big aviator sunglasses from the 70s and gold chains. So I wore them and now the young generation thinks its like my thing. They have Halloween costumes which makes me kind of excited. There’s that. There is all of the imagery. Almost all of my album covers have always been hand drawn. Almost all of the old ones were… stolen art. But I recreated on Marvelous the pin up Norman Rockwell style with this girl from Canada. And it’s not stolen.
Be different. What I did was I guess my style was way different than any way anyone else was doing it.
What was it like collaborating with an icon like Shania Twain and how did it all come together?
It was cool. We actually worked a lot. We just bonded - a lot of it was because of her husband who is Swiss and my dad was Swiss. And like very similar situations. I don’t know - her husband became like a dad figure to me in a weird not weird way. Shania invited me to her house in Geneva for Christmas and I was so hyped to go skiing in Switzerland and shit. My mom couldn’t go so I stayed back. Next time.
When creating a song do you consider genre and what do you think about the concept of genres as a whole?
I dont think about genre when I make music. A lot of times I have trouble saying what it is if I have to put into something. bbno$ and I made three songs on our last project - Ces’t La Vie, Super Smash Bros, and Goodness Gracious. We created a genre of like surf rock rap. Its like fast paced and Ska sounding kind of. Punk sounding but we’re rapping. You can’t really classify that. I mean we do rap so we put it as rap but…
This album, when I got to pick I think I put country, pop, and hip hop and new country, something like that.
Is there anything from your midwest college experience that prepared you for your country Gravy era?
Wisconsin. I learned how to drink beer for sure. I heard a lot more country there than I did in Rochester where I’m from. I lurked through Youtube, so the country songs I really liked I found when I was young and know all the words to like Toby Keith, Kenny Chesney, stuff like that. I got more deep into it in college. I love Wisconsin.
How did you parents backgrounds in music influence you or your taste in music?
So my mom, her dad, I should just say my grandpa, he played the tuba in the navy band. And he played a traveling polka band. I still don’t know exactly what the vibe was but apparently he was a legend of the tuba and my dad listened to classical music. So my mom always told me I would be a talented musician but I didn’t like band class. I just listened to it until I was in college and got inspired.
What is something you learned touring and performing, especially in those college towns, that you think artists who are just starting out should know?
Everybody in the crowd, if they came to see you, they think that you’re cool. So anything you do is cool. So don’t overthink if you do something kind of wrong. It was on purpose in their minds. Just know that they are there for you so don’t be nervous. I still get nervous, everyone does. I have a thing where I kind of look right above the first rows heads and I just don’t actually make eye contact with that many people. I don’t know - that’s one thing that I do that makes me kind of zone out and remember the words. That might just be a me thing.
What tour essentials will you be bringing on your upcoming tour?
So in every city that I go to I ask for two dozen roses, three boxes of fruit loops, a local jersey of whoever the runners favorite team is (I have a shit ton of jerseys in my closet that say Gravy on the back), water, Johnie Walker Black, ginger shots, and bananas. And beef jerky. Thats my rider.
What’s your favorite song off of this new album?
“I Went To Jail In Georgia” because it’s a whole true story. I recreated it in the music video with the people I got arrested with ten years ago.
That is something people would ask me all the time - why did you say “Gravy off probation?” Why have you been to jail more than one time in Georgia? I don’t know. I’m going to answer the question and I made a song about it. I basically produced that song - I can not produce a song with my hands with nobody else. But I was pointing and saying to the producers how to do it. That beat was the closest I’ve been to producing on my own.
What would be your perfect set up for fans up to listen to Serving Country?
It’s in the South. There is green grass, cigarettes, beer, and just some southern comfort. That’s the vibe. I could see it being on, you know in the movies where they have those little lights hanging off of the house and everyone’s partying? I imagine the Electric Feel music video if anyone remembers that. So thats the vibe. Less cute and more ratchet.
You’ve been posting videos of you reading books on your tik tok. If you had to voice any audio book series what book are you picking and why?
I have come into this studio like two or three times and with coordinated colors I brought in sweaters that were similar colors to that book - A Court Of Wings and Ruin.
It actually led to some deals with companies, starting with a bedtime story and an acting role. So I’m going to keep doing that.
How do you choose the base sample for your projects and what does the process look like when you emulate it your own sound?
Early ass days I was just picking beats, samples that I liked. Literally picking my favorite old school songs and sampling those but those are hard to clear. Now I’ll usually create something original, but if I do sample something, it’s got to be a song I really love. It’s a lot of effort. The only sample on this album is ‘You’re Still The One” by Shania Twain. I did a flip on that with her master and all the vocals so it’s kind of a collab.
How do you balance humor and authenticity in your songs?
I have fun in the studio. I think anytime I am writing I just have a style. From the jump I’ve always written the same way. I have definitely gotten more serious when I was around these big rappers cause I was saying some kind of wild, weird shit back when. I tamed it down a little bit. I need my lyrics to be clever enough that every line is kind of a punchline. That’s kind of a goal. So humor is obviously involved a lot or a cool little metaphor. But if it’s funny it works better.
What message or feeling do you want listeners to take away from your music?
Happy. Party. Good Vibes. It’s not complex. It’s music to enjoy and feel good about.
Do you plan on staying in country or want to explore a different genre next?
I had a lot of fun with the country. Honestly there are a bunch of songs that couldn’t make the album. There will definitely be a deluxe and we will probably make more music for that. At the same time I’m going to be making classic Gravy stuff - straight up just bangers. I want to do an album with like Jason Rich, doing my most classic sound.
If you had to have a drink with one artist dead or alive who would it be?
Probably Frank Sinatra. I just think the conversation would be really interesting. He’s one of my favorite artists. I would love to go to him, not him come here. If I could get away with the whole Rat Pack, have a couple of drinks, that would be my dream.
How does it feel to be touring with your seventh album complete?
I’m pretty proud that I’ve survived that long. Longer than the average rapper lifespan and obviously people want to hear a lot of my range I guess. Every album has a few songs that people want to hear so I play my whole catalog every time.
what do you hope overall people take away from it?
I would prefer for the gatekeeper kind of people went in with an open mind. When I announced it I made it pretty clear that this is not a country album. This is country Gravy. Clementine is probably the best example of what the rest of the project will look like.