Ovrkast. Breaks Down Each Track From ‘STRIKING’

You have Ant Bankx talking shit on the intro and basically throughout the project. Why did you start things off with this?

He on the interludes of the last album, so I brought him back to do more serious narration.

You wanted to bring that same energy because that first album is named While the Iron Is Hot and this one is called Striking.

Yeah, since it was connected I wanted to bring him back and him more upfront this time around. I feel like you’re talking shit throughout this whole album. Like you feel more confident in your skills on the mic and behind the boards. I think the intro kinda sets the table for that.

Is Ant from your neck of the woods?

Yeah, he’s from Richmond.

You knew him before rap?

I used to work at this store called Oaklandish, and he worked at one of the other stores they owned.

It’s like a streetwear store?

Yeah, you could get Stussy and stuff like that there. I knew him from there, and he was kind of just known throughout the Bay and stuff. He worked at another streetwear place called Stashed. Now he’s managing Bape. He’s just somebody I knew before. I think I first met him around the first year that I started making music, so it was just cool to bring him back.

I noticed you have some weather themes going on with some of these song titles. There’s “WINDO,” “PANE” and “WASHEDOUT.” Was that a nod to Bay Area weather?

I think subconsciously — and the cover art is a nod to the picture of Malcolm X looking out the window.

Speaking of weather themes and motifs. Talk about “WINDO.” What’s this track about?

Since the intro is so slow, I wanted “WINDO” to ramp the speed up a little bit. It’s kind of just to get you hype. The song is on some resistance s—t. Somebody told me it sounds like a marching band, like something thematic, like something’s happening.

What do you remember about making this beat?

My girl actually played the piano, then I had my friend play bass, I had my boy Brandon to do trumpet. I had Sneed do the hook.

I know you mentioned wanting to incorporate live instrumentation into your production. How did you go about doing that on this project? Did you produced a skeleton and then had people come in to add stuff to it?

Yeah, then I would arrange it and mix it.

On your Quincy Jones a little bit.

I really kind of let everybody do their thing. “WINDO” was the first song that I made where I was like, “Oh, s—t!” There was so much inside of the song that I felt like it was the standard now for the whole album. Every song has to sound better than this, or at least be on that level.

I wrote down in my notes that some of the things you were talking about on this song sounded like you were watching life in the Bay play out. There’s a track named after one of the bus system out there.

I think it’s about coming home.

When I was listening to this song, I wondered if you grew up in a dysfunctional environment or had a dysfunctional family. Is that true?

For sure, yeah. It kind of plays on the theme of thunder and lightning… like static shock, but also emotional instability and dysfunction, and how that plays a role in who you become as an adult… how I guess it’s your job to, like, reflect on it.

Were your parents always supportive of you wanting to pursue rap?

Not in the beginning. Not until like 2021 or some s—t like that. I started pursuing it around 2015.

Did you always want to be both a rapper and a producer?

I just wanted to make music, whatever or whichever it was. With the internet, you can kind of just upload whatever. I think maybe if I was coming up in the ’90s or 2000s, I would’ve had to pick. You had to go through so much back then to put a record out.

Did your parents want you to go to school or get a job that was more steady?

Yeah, get a job for sure — but I always found a way to make some money somehow. I was doing DoorDash, random PA jobs. I would do random gigs here and there. I always was able to find something. Once the music got a little more serious around 2020-21, that’s when they kind of let go a little bit.

You tapped Joey Bada$$ and Nali on this. Talk about those features.

I feel like this song was perfect for Joey, this is his bag. Fans want to hear him on this kind of stuff, and he snapped obviously, so I think it worked really well. I’ve wanted to work with him for a while, because I grew up on his music, so it was cool for it to actually come together. When it comes to Nali, I went to her studio with Ash Levi. I worked with Ash before. He helps make some of my stuff, and I know that he he makes Nali’s s—t too. He suggested that I should lock in with her, which I wanted to do already, so we made it happen. Ash has an album out also that’s pretty cool. He’s a producer. I just pulled up to this studio where she works all the time, and played this and she got on it.

Did she lay her vocals down afterwards, in post-production?

So, I recorded my verse, I had the intro piece, and then in the studio, I stemmed out the instruments and I wrote the part that she sings. I wrote that whole thing.

How about the Joey verse? Did you guys record it in the studio together or did you send him that beat?

Nah, we were supposed to have a session, but I had to go somewhere. And even thought I had to go somewhere, he still sent it to me.

How did this beat come together?

Mario Luciano made the sample. He works a lot with Navy Blue.

Oh word, he has a sample library with Jason Wool. I talked to Navy about them.

He f—ks with me super tough. We always work on random s—t here and there. He did “6AM,” he did “Vitamins and Minerals” with Samara Cyn, and this is another one he did that I f—ked with a lot. It was just a good sample that I put drums on, and had Keyon Harrold play the trumpet.

I’m assuming those sample libraries are easier to deal with than you finding a sample and having to clear it. Do you sometimes find a sample, and then get them to interpolate it sometimes?

Nah, all of his stuff is fresh and original. It’s dope because there’s no extra steps.

You get a little political on this song. Why’d you block that word out?

I ain’t trying to have them soft block me. [Laughs.]

You mention ICE on this song too.

The whole jam is like pieces. The ICE part, the IDF part. This was like a year after the thing happened where the ICE agent shot the person in the car. The one they shot through the glass.

In Minnesota.

I was trying to find a clever way to put it in there in kind of like a jingle. I’m not gonna lie, Michael Sneed helped me with a lot melodic wise.

Like how to approach it or whatever?

He gave me that piece, and then I took it and wrote the rest. Me and him did a lot on the hooks and stuff. A lot of the melodic stuff in on here is me and him. He’ll throw me a piece of something, and then I’ll rework it or the vice versa.

You’re gonna be in the news again when the reference tracks leak.

[Laughs.] The funny part about it is that it’d be so confusing. Because it’d be like, “Who wrote what?” Because he would write something and I wouldn’t like it, I would like the tone or the melody. There’s times where I would take one piece to us and then I would add something different. I think that’s because I come from chopping samples. Even for “WINDO,” when l asked, “Oh, can you write the hook on this?” He wrote a bunch of s—t, and I just took a bunch of different pieces and made it into one thing. You can’t really tell when you hear it.

You mentioned that you come from chopping samples. Do you approach writing songs to the way you approach making beats?

Yeah, especially hooks because Sneed would give me some ideas that I can just chop up and rework into something.

Let’s talk about the production on this track.

This one’s super produced. I made the beat, but the flute? sample was made by Jimmy Q. I had the second half where the drums open up and the siren goes off, but that’s all I had. And then we went to this writing camp, and Grant Lapointe he added the middle part. There’s so much that went into this beat

These were live instruments that they were adding?

Yeah, he added a little bit of synth piano, and then [Self Proclaimed Narcissist] added some guitar and he sang, and then we edited the drums and muffled them. There was a lot going on.

When you brought it to them, did you already have a basis for the bea? Do you have a skeleton or is it like the drumline or bassline?

Sometimes I would have a skeleton, sometimes it’ll be basically finished, sometimes it was kind of like filling in the blanks. Everybody was good at their job, so like it wasn’t even hard. They heard what I was going for and just did their thing.

Ant Bankx is at the start of this one talking his s—t. You can correct me if I’m wrong, but in my notes I asked if this song was about depression. You’re talking about rain clouds coming through the door and not to get washed out. So, I guess talk about the theme of the song or the message you were trying to convey.

It’s more of a s—t talking song and the hook is more encouraging, you know? It’s funny how all this s—t happened now. The song makes way more sense.

Yeah, I was like maybe he was going through some s—t when he made this.

Yeah, maybe I was.

How long you been dealing with this before it went public?

Like a year.

Okay, so it’s kinda been on your mind.

Exactly, yeah. This one was more… it’s hype, but it still has that piece to it that’s kind of conscious. It’s like a motivational anthem, because when it comes to the lyrics, I’m kind of just talking all s—t.

Yeah, because on the hook you’re saying don’t get washed out.

Also, it goes back to the theme of overcast, lightening and thunder storms.

So, after songs named after and about the weather in the Bay, we have “HOME,” where it seems like you’re rapping about feeling guilty about chasing your dreams and leaving your fam and friends behind.

Now that I think about it, this is the oldest song on the album. I made this in the fall of 2024 in like November when I first moved here. I was here for about three or four months and was kinda lonely. I was technically in France at a writing camp when I made it which was crazy.

Who were you with over there in France?

I was with this publishing company called Zahlbach. I hope I’m pronouncing it right.

This was in Paris?

I was in the south of France in Limoux. That was my first time out of the country, which was cool, but it wasn’t what I thought it was. They gave us food and the weather was nice, but it was my first time doing real artist s—t. You would wake up around 10 a.m. and they schedule you with an artist that day. You couldn’t pick who you wanted to work with and you would make music from 11 to 8 after having breakfast.

So, you’re basically doing writing exercises with the person you’re assigned with for the day.

Yeah, and I work so fast, so I’m knocking out three-four songs a day. By 3:00, I’m cooked, bro — like, tired. They’d be like, “You don’t wanna keep working?” No, bro. [Laughs.] I know I’m a producer, but I’m used to making music on my own time. I made this on the last day. All that energy came to me when I made “Home,” I remember everybody doing like a show and tell and I was finishing the last bits of this song, and I ran over there, and we played everybody’s songs and s—t. It was amazing, though. It was fun.

I guess as you were making this album you figured this track would fit perfectly.

I had it floating for a while, and I wanted it to be on something.

Did you add anything to it in post, like live instruments?

This one is just straight up. The mix and everything.

This song is also Bay Area-coded. You’re rapping about a situation on the bus. Was that a real story or more like a generalization of something that would usually happen?

It was more like a mix of everything. I done seen so much s—t on that goddamn bus.

I know BART is the train system out there, so AC Transit is the name of the bus system the the train system is bart out there, right?

Yeah, Caltrans. It’s all under the same umbrella. AC Transit is the craziest, though. I remember one time I was with my homie from West Oakland, and we went to San Leandro, which is past East Oakland, right? We went over there to go thrifting, and on the way back, he was so scared to be in the East, he stood at the front of the bus for the whole ride. [Laughs.] But I get it though, maybe his brother was beefing with somebody from that side.

People be wildin’. Do y’all have a lot of gang s—t in Oakland like in L.A.?

Oakland is a little different, because it’s kind of based on the area you’re from, or situations like who did what to who versus colors. It’s more like wrong place, wrong time. A lot of people have been caught up because of mistaken identity. Like, “Oh, we thought he was somebody else.”

This is basically two different songs, and on the second half you’re just talking s—t, right?

Yeah, I’m just going in. By the time you get to the second half of the album, it’s more of a mixtape with all the homies rapping together. I feel like the first half is like the songs are a little deeper. Once “ACTRANSIT” comes on, it puts you back in that mood. It feels more gritty. It feels more angry.

Did you want to approach the second half as a mixtape from the start?

It’s kinda fell together that way, but I was still able to keep the theme and everything there. I wanted to give people both feelings of an album and a mixtape in one.

This track is a family affair. Why do you like working with them?

I’ve known Mavi for like 11 years, so we’re just super tight. We’ve both seen each other grow in different ways. I didn’t really know Samara for real until like 2024, and it was really because of some manager s–t. When we linked up, I played her beat and she wrote to it. I think this is right before she blew up like right before she put out that “Massa Freestyle,” so she was pretty brand new to everything. My first Drake placement had just happened, so I was also kind of brand new too. It wasn’t a bad session, but nothing really came out of it aside from a beat she used it for like an interlude or something.

Our first full song was “Small Talk.” I made the beat, and immediately thought that Samara would go crazy on it. I remember she came in the studio, recorded her verse, and then she spent like an hour editing every little thing while I took a nap.

And that work ethic stood out to you.

I thought it was awesome, because I’m usually the person doing it. But that’s how she is with all her s—t. I remember I went to a writing camp for her last album, and literally she was up all night editing and recording, editing and recording.

So, once you guys did “Small Talk,” you guys figured out that you had chemistry together.

Yeah, and she also just sounds actually excited to rap over my beats. Not that people don’t, but some get the beat and be thinking that the beat is doing all the work. You gotta actually show up. When she pulled up to the writing camp I had for this album, I played her “WASHEDOUT” to get on, and she was like, “I don’t want to get on this because I don’t know what I’m saying.” So I played her “KNOCK” and immediately she went quiet for an hour.

Was Mavi already on it?

No, all I had was, “Who’s that knocking on your window.” All I had was that part. She heard that part and hopped on it. She actually set the play for the whole song. She had the first verse on on it, I hadn’t even written my verse yet. I had just made that s—t the day before. Once she did that, I thought that Mavi would sound cool on it, so I sent it to him and he sent me his verse back pretty fast.

What do you remember about making this beat?

Grant Lapointe helped me with that one. He was on the piano. It’s funny, though, because he drank mad coffee, like an espresso or something, and he was there just going crazy. He was tweakin’. It had to be in the middle of camp when I made that beat, and everyboyd was tired. This was maybe day five or day six. I didn’t want to waste a second in the studio we were in, because it costs, so I started to make a beat and it turned into “KNOCK.”

Talk about the concept of this track.

This is a good one. This song is a clever play on the hero theme of my album. Ben Reilly has his own hero theme in his rapper world, and then MARCO is the South Side Villain. That’s like his rap name.

I know Ben Reilly is from Spider-Man and how about you? Are you a hero or a villain?

Well, on this one, I’m becoming a hero. I’m not there yet. I’m still a civilian that’s wants to be one. Marco’s the villain. He’s like, “F—k it, I’ll do the dirty work.” And then Ben is the antihero. The whole theme of this album is me as a hero. And this song is a multiverse kind of moment.

Let’s get into the beat.

This was also one of the ones that I made last year during the summertime. There was a few like “Wata,” and this one that I made right after the last album was done — so some of the production from While the Iron Is Hot just carries on. I just kept going.

And you brought the “Heroes & Villains” idea to Marco and Ben?

At first, it was gonna just be Marco at the end of the song doing like 10 bars of some crazy s—t. But I figured if we’re doing a heroes and villains thing, then I should get Ben to do his thing. It’s just a cool cut and I think Ben’s verse brings it all together.

Word. It’s funny, because I had just watched Spider-Noir, and then I’ve been playing Miles Morales, and he’s talking about being on top of buildings overlooking the city.

Ben said, “If I’m in front of you, II’m more Punisher than Frank really.” [Laughs.]

I’m surprised that you included this on here because this was an early single that I thought was a loosie at first.

I wanted this one to work as a palate cleanser, because there was so much heavy stuff up until this point. Almost like taking a break, before we get out of here and the album’s over.

How’d you link up with Niontay for this?

He be coming to New York sometimes, so I’ve been wanting to work him for a little bit. I texted him and met him somewhere.

I’m assuming this was one of the earlier beats that you had in mind for this project?

Yeah, and I thought it was a good song, n—as should hear it again.

Does this song title mean anything? It sounds like an after school program or something.

Hopecore is an online thing about positive messaging. I was trying to get back into my “TBH!” kinda bag and make something quick and catchy. It’s literally just about being positive.

It’s some Gen Z s—t.

I think it’s because a lot of the Gen Z kids are dealing with depression because of screentime and what they have to go through in society today. When I graduated, that’s when Snapchat was crackin’, so I missed the era of being obsessed with social media and the internet in school. We still had basic s—t like Facebook and Instagram where somebody would say some s—t, but even then it wasn’t the same as it is now. Stuff travels so fast, so I think hopecore is a direct reaction to how hard s—t is emotionally. It’s like a whole movement of memes.

How about this beat?

This beat is from the same people who did the the “Home” sample. They just be sending me samples and this is one of them.

Are you talking about Jason Wool and Mario Luciano?

Nah, this is Gabiga out of Switzerland. They send me stuff, and this is one of them that I liked a lot.

They send you samples and use them to make a beat with? You never go digging for samples?

Yeah, I put some drums around it. And as far as digging goes, at this point, my name is so out there, people will just send me s—t. Like I still dig but I don’t put those on my albums. I do it for fun if anything.

This outro kind of reminded me of “Last Call ” by Kanye. Was that your approach? Were you inspired by that?

Yeah, I was definitely trying to go that way. Also, that was the last thing I recorded. I didn’t want to record the ending before the ending, you know what I mean? So, it was the last thing I recorded before I cut out.

What’s the message you you were trying to send with this?

This is me and Sneed writing the hook together again. Sometimes life can take you places without giving you permission. It’ll just take you. There is certain pieces of it where you have permission, and you can say yes or no, but sometimes… there’s a line Mavi said on one of his songs, where he was like, “I let the Lord decide if I would go or not, and He sent me.” That’s kind of like how I’ve been feeling the past three years. I’m trying to manifest something for so long, and then it comes, and it’s different than what I thought it was.

Be careful what you wish for type s—t.

Yeah, but also still grateful, you know? Just really learning how to, like, deal with everything at one time, and then also letting go and letting things be. 2023 was a hard year and then it changed drastically at the end with the Drake thing, and then from there it kind of been nonstop.

What was it about 2023, if you don’t mind sharing? Were you struggling to get your name out there?

I was getting my name out there, but I was struggling to maintain financially and mentally, and then everything changed basically overnight.

You were learning on the fly, teaching yourself.Would you do anything different, now that you went through this process?

Yeah, composing and arranging. It’s hard, especially my way of doing it. I let everybody freestyle and I started chopping from there, but I think it’s becoming a method that works. I’m more excited to make more music like this. I hope one day I’ll be able to do an album like this for somebody else.

Since you picked a couple beats that what were older, did you have to go back to add transitions during post-production to make the listening experience more seamless?

Yeah, I added transitions. I added the intro, that was one of the things I added that was newer. I fixed up “PANE,” “WASHEDOUT,” “ACTRANSIT, “KNOCK,” “Heroes & Villains,” and the last song. Probably like half the album.

I feel like these days certain artists or labels try to make every song sound like a single because of streaming, so albums feel more like a collection of songs instead of a conceptualized project.

I wanted to try to balance it in the middle of that. Every song could be a single, but also every song could also be an album cut.