Intervju: Därför känner du igen CJ's "Whoopty"

Stjärnskottet CJ från New York berättar om hitlåten "Whoopty" & debut-EPn 'Loyalty Over Royalty'

Sommaren 2020 skakade den 24-åriga rapparen CJ från Staten Island, New York om musikscenen när han släppte monsterhiten “Whoopty”. Den väckte uppmärksamhet från stora namn i branschen som Cardi B och French Montana – som var snabba på att co-signa nykomlingen. Nu är han aktuell med EPn Loyalty Over Royalty, ett åttaspårsprojekt som inkluderar just “Whoopty” och det tidigare släppta spåret “BOP”

När den Pxcoyo-producerade “Whoopty” släpptes förra året noterade många snabbt att beatet lät bekant. Anledningen till att kanske även du kände igen det är att samma sample använts av flera andra stora artister. Samplingen, som för tankarna till Bollywood, kommer från den indiska filmen Sanam Re (2015). Det är faktiskt filmens titelspår. Genom åren har en av de mest uppmärksammade samplingarna skett av artisten Memo 600 featuring den bortgångna King Von på “Exposing Me (Remix)”. Det är dock ingen tvekan om att generation Z en lång tid framöver kommer koppla “Sanam Re” till CJ’s “Whoopty” som i dagsläget har över 300 miljoner streams bara på Spotify. 

Vi ringer upp CJ för att snacka nya EPn Loyalty Over Royalty och vad som väntar härnäst:

 

DOPEST: What was it like growing up in Staten Island? 

CJ: “It’s a super small town. I was just a regular highschool kid. Growing up I played sports. I was into baseball and basketball. I started doing music young, at like 14-15. Then I graduated into investing in myself and investing in music videos and stuff like that so I’ve been doing music since I was a kid. I always had the love for it.”

When did you realise that you wanted to really invest in your music? 

“Like, highschool. Freshman year I was like: ‘I’mma start rapping’. I always had a love for it so it was always in the back of my mind. Then when I got into an age where I could run into a little money I started investing in myself.” 

Starting out at a young age – did you have people helping you out and introducing you to the game? 

“Early on, nobody really … It was kind of a ‘me thing’. I was just watching interviews and learning the history of the music industry.” 

You previously said that people couldn’t really imagine you making a drill song before you dropped ”Whoopty”. Now you’ve released an EP that is mainly drill – how does that feel? 

“You know, a lot of my fans and supporters – obviously they wanted to hear more songs like ‘Whoopty’. It’s like I kinda entered the game on a drill tip, so I kinda had to keep that going. But on the EP I kinda switched it up a little. I had some drill and then I had some melodic, so it evens it out.”

Do you have a lot of unreleased tracks within other genres than drill? 

“Yeah for sure! I got a bunch of unreleased tracks. Some are drill, some are melodic. I even got some unreleased that are in the latin market. Whenever the time is right I’m gonna drop all those hits. We workin’ on some music this weekend so we’ll prolly cook up some more tracks – it’s gon be a great selection.” 

 

Everybody tryna take shots at me, making diss songs and this and that. And I’m just kinda like f*ck everything that everybody talking ‘bout

 

 

On “Whoopty” you’re using the popular Bollywood sample “Sanam Re”. It’s been used by King Von and even Swedish artists. Have you been compared to other artists using the same sample? 

“It’s crazy cause I never really heard any of the songs where the artists used the sample. But you know, after ‘Whootpy’ came out people were sending me the links to -rest in peace- King Von’s song, and like another artist from Chicago. But I personally never heard the songs till after the fact, but shout out to everybody who used that same sample. You know, it’s a popular movie song.” 

Since drill is really blowing up all over the world right now, do you think that you’ll be compared to other drill artists in the game?

“For sure. But I personally don’t think I sound like anybody else, you know what I’m saying? I’m not tryna portrait anybody’s style. Everybody got opinions, everybody feels the way they feel – but I personally don’t think I sound like anybody else.”

Do you have a favorite track from Loyalty Over Royalty?

“My favorite track right now … It kinda changes depending on what kinda mood I’m in but as far as right now my favorite song is “Politics”. It’s the first song on the EP. It’s just addressing pretty much everything that is going on …  Everybody tryna take shots at me, making diss songs and this and that. And I’m just kinda like f*ck everything that everybody talking ‘bout, you know what I’m saying? Fuck all the politics. Shutting everything down.” 

So you’re co-signed to French Montana’s imprint Coke Boys – and he’s the executive producer on the EP. What was it like working with him? 

“He’s super dope. He’s got a great ear for music. We really sat down and went through these songs and even just making music with him was super dope. Our vibe was crazy when we locked in the studio. Shout out to French, he was super helpful on this project!” 

So tell me, what’s next for CJ?!

“Locking in and starting to record some songs for the album. But as far as for now we can expand and start working with different artists and put singles out with some visuals.” 

I gotta ask one last question since I can tell that you’re into fashion – you’re even wearing a Mike Amiri jacket as we speak! If you could collaborate with a sneaker brand which would it be? 

“I would just say Jordan ‘cause I’m a huge Jordan fan. I love 1’s and I love 4’s …  So I definitely gotta say Jordan!” 

Lyssna på Loyalty over Royalty nedan i väntan på ett kommande debutalbum – och fler unreleased tracks från CJ!