A fresh banger from Zig Luve brings a colorful and sweet hip hop feel mixed with a bright pop undertone and a crisp flow that leaves the taste of summer lingering with you.
"Backseat" takes a wonderful palette of sounds and brings them together to create an atmosphere that really is all its own.
The song is endlessly catchy and features a smooth and alluring tonality and soundscape that becomes quickly addicting.
This track has deep groove and more swagger than you can handle.
It's an absolutely fun single that boasts sounds that swim around you and with an honest style that makes it all the more enticing.
The release is the latest in a massive series of releases from Zig Luve starting in 2019 and it's all got new flavors to bring to the table but they all have the staple sound the artist comes with.
This is the type of artist that you know when you hear it. He's got heart, passion for his craft, and a real in depth creative process that lets the songs come through with a life and vibrancy rarely heard.
It feels like a cross of indie-pop and hip hop, conscious hip hop and R&B.
Zig Luve provides and entire party soundtrack and also gives that sit back and soak it in feel too.
Both work well and both are a perfect fit for listening to him.
With the release of "backseat" we wanted to have a chat with Zig Luve to find out where this track came from and what may be next for the artist.
Here's what went down.
RAG: Let's kick things off with "Back Seat". This track had a killer flow and some edginess to it! Where did this song come from?
Thank you for the luve ! So the song “backseat” came from the idea that I can't hold anyone down if I can't hold myself down. I think shortcomings in my romantic relationships, my relationships with friends & peers, my relationship with family members, all showed me that I sometimes have a disconnect with continuing to build them. So after the birth of my daughter, I became very introspective and had to realize that before I can be the person I want to be for her, I have to repair all my relationships, most importantly the one with myself. That's why you hear me talk about all the good and bad things going on in my life at that time.
RAG: The video was awesome! Did it take long to finish? Did it come out how you expected?
The video has a funny story. It was shot on two separate days, but we actually did have the whole original video shot on the first day. It just so happened that what we got on camera wasn't as clean as we wanted (I served everyone at least 4 margaritas), so we ended up shooting the car scenes again with a couple changes. There’s actually an entire part 2 to the video that includes a therapy scene, as well as a raunchy scene with a very attractive woman who’s supposed to be my “therapist”, but I don't plan on releasing that until a while from now. It doesn’t feel right to put out yet.
RAG: There are certainly some different styles on this release. Who can you say are your biggest musical influences?
My biggest musical influences are Smino, Isaiah Rashad, Musiq Soulchild, Maxwell, Drake, Jay-Z, Kendrick Lamar, Mick Jenkins & a few other sprinkles in there. Neo-Soul is my favorite genre, so I implement it in most of my music one way or another.
RAG: When and how did this all start for you as an artist?
I’ve been an artist my entire life. I started out writing music, novels and poetry from the age of 5. But it wasn't until I stopped playing college football, that I decided to make it full time, and I ended up going to the College Union Poetry Slam Invitational. From there, I was relentless with the writing, then after I graduated, I worked a few corporate jobs in Manhattan & was so unhappy with the structure and mundane day to day of how I saw people living. So I was introduced to a dude named Xav at a festival in Brooklyn, and he saw something in me, invited me to his crib at the festival & he basically opened his home to me. I would sleep there on the weekdays, record music, then go to work the mornings after. Once I realized I didn't wanna work anymore, I kinda quit/got fired & that was the 3rd occurrence of this in my corporate life, so from that moment I used all my personal experiences & put 100% of my energy into making and releasing music. First single was “I Should Be Dead”, which basically outlined a premonition that I had about my car getting hit while parked, so I got out of it & 5 minutes later it got hit. I channeled that next level experience into me knowing that I was special and I documented it.
RAG: What else really inspires or influences you all to write?
For the most part, all of my music comes from real experiences in my life, good and bad. Anything about the human experience is enough for me to write about. I’ve found that recording and writing is my best therapy, so everything you hear in my songs is usually related to an experience that I either had or observed. Writing comes second nature to me, and storytelling is probably my favorite thing in the world, so whether its my story, or other people’s, I really create with the purpose of unifying the human experience. Its okay to express our truth.
RAG: Are you performing live right now?
100000% performing live. I scour the Earth every single day to find new opportunities to perform. I have a show next month on April 16th in Bayonne, NJ headlined by another fellow dope artist ‘Malc’ (Check out ‘Do or Die’ on all streaming platforms). His collective 94 Til is doing big things & we gonna rock the stage. I performed a few times last month with the ‘Mor Booking Agency’, as well as a collective ‘888 Madhouse’ that I’m a part of, with the aforementioned Xav & all the homies. Definitely looking to perform more, and hopefully find my way on tour within the year.
RAG: Who are you listening to right now?
I’m weird when it comes to listening to music. I used to find so much more time to listen to “new” music, but now I’m a bit more sheltered and out of the loop. But Drake, Isaiah Rashad, Smino, Cordae, Mick Jenkins, ANYTHING NEO-SOUL (Musiq Soulchild, Floetry, Maxwell, Sir, Jill Scott, Brent Faiyaz). Bunch more artists too, but I mainly go through my favorite artists’ catalog over and over.
RAG: What are you doing when you're not working on music?
When I’m not making music I’m boring as hell. My friends wouldn’t say that, they think I do everything in the world. But realistically, when I’m not making music I’m either with my daughter or working as a bartender at the spot I work at (South Beach Bar & Grill). PULL UP !! I also write all my own videos & I’m working on a couple other pieces of content.
RAG: What's next for you as an artist?
My biggest upcoming endeavors all revolve around creative content. So right now I’m writing the video for my biggest track to date, ‘San Jose’, & its gonna be crazy. The video gonna be set up like a movie so I’m excited about that. I’m also finalizing all my unreleased work to put together an EP yet to be named at this moment. I’m also writing a short documentary highlighting the events that’ve happened with me and my car, that somehow end up being mechanisms for my life. (Fell asleep at the wheel at 19 & hit a pole, had a premonition of my parked car getting hit then actually having it hit, engine literally malfunctioning on me on the way to the ‘Luve & Drugs’ video shoot, a police officer hitting me head on last February). Besides that, just continuing to make music and find different ways to grow my fanbase.
RAG: This single and video feels like a big undertaking. What advice would you have for other up and coming artists out there?
It’s hard for me to give “advice” because I literally don't feel like I’ve done a single thing in the game as yet. I feel appreciative of the journey, but I’d be lying if I felt any type of accomplishment from anything I’ve done so far. But what I WILL say is that the most important thing is making quality music. Past that, I’ll also say STAY READY SO YOU NEVER GOTTA GET READY. I’ve made some incredible connections behind the scenes just from shooting my shot, humbly promoting myself to everyone I meet, and focusing on building genuine relationships. I don't make music that's gonna “go viral”, because that's not my goal. My music is my real life & the only way I’ll make it is by staying true to myself, making the music I wanna listen to, and taking every single opportunity that I can take to further my craft and the relationships that are out here in the world.
RAG: Before we go, what would you like to say to fans of the music?
To my FANS (Feels weird to say that) … Continue to grow with me. I want all my fans to feel like they personally know me, I want them to feel like they could literally call my phone and talk about their problems & relate to me because I put all my problems out in the world through my content. I want my supporters to know that I will literally never stop creating unless I’m physically and mentally able to do so, and all I ask is that they tell a friend to tell a friend. The exciting part is as “new” as I may seem, I have millions of ideas under my belt that just need production, and I’m excited to give people things that I dont think they’ve ever seen before. I’m excited to put out even better music, excited to grow, and I look forward to growing with my supporters day in and day out. Cant wait to hit a stage in your city.