NEOMADiC have released their new single ‘WAVES’ featuring shiv alongside announcing the release of their EP ‘AFTER DARK’ due to be released this summer. I caught up with Yake Loga to discuss the new single, working with shiv and how they create their sleek tunes.

‘WAVES’ features the amazing soulful vocals of shiv. Yake tells me how this dream collaboration came about.

“I was a fan of her music before we had touched base or contacted each other. We had been working on this track ‘WAVES’ and felt that it needed something else to really maximize the potential of the song, and shiv was a no brainer. As you said she has an amazing voice. So we hit her up and luckily, she liked the song enough to jump on it with us.”

WAVES is slightly more bright and mellow in comparison to the songs on NEOMADiC’s previous EP ‘The Neomadic Tape’. The duo have a laid back lush style with smooth vocals, abstract wordplay and sun-kissed, hazy productions. This seemingly effortless and chill sound took them some time to craft.

“A little bit yeah.The Neomadic Tape was back in 2017 and in the year 2018 we moved over to Vancouver in Canada for a couple of years, and we weren’t actively releasing then. During that time we were working on music and developing it. It’s always been a goal to not limit ourselves to a certain style and continuously evolve it so it’s just a natural progression of time. There has been a good amount of time since the last release so the music has developed quite a lot.”

NEOMADiC have their own refreshing style and sound that effortlessly flows into the ears. I wondered what sparked Yake’s decision to venture into the music industry, was there a specific moment that made him decide to get into music

“I don’t know if there’s one specific moment but maybe a combination of a few, just from creating it and doing it, performing it and how much I’ve always had a very big passion for music. I studied music after secondary school. So yeah, from 16 or 17 I definitely knew that’s what I wanted to do in some form or another, whether it’s performing or being in the studio or anything like that. “

Within ‘WAVES’ NEOMADiC uses introspective lyrics to detail personal issues along with subtle spiritual and pop culture references. Their raps flow fluidly throughout. These precise lyrics are due to practise and learning what works with each release.

“Yeah, definitely. Just over the years from writing and releasing.When you release something and you see how people like it and you’re able to step back from it and then you can analyze, then the next time you go back and you try and improve. Anything you do, the more you do it, the better you get at it. Myself and Dyramid have spent a lot of time even just messing around, you know freestyling with each other, back and forth so I find our chemistry on tracks together has come a long way.”

The duo’s lyrics are honest and very natural; there are no harsh or blunt phrases; they use precise tact to deliver eloquent lyrics through clever phrasing. “I’ve been working for tips, with lyrics on the tip of my tongue, I’m at the tip of my cliff, I got a tip I should jump”. 

“Yeah, I think towards the beginning it was probably more blunt and as we’ve progressed, we’ve tried to just evolve the writing where it can mean a lot of things,double entendres and more metaphorical and all that.”

“Writing songs could be from a certain thing that happened that day or that month, certain emotions have been triggered. The EP [‘AFTER DARK’] in particular is kind of written through the pandemic. We had been working a bit. Just minimum wage stuff over in Canada to pay rent and stuff so there’s some themes on society and how it can be very difficult if you don’t want to fit into the normal school, college, job pyramid there is in society at the moment. So I think there’s a bit of a rebellious theme/nature to the EP coming up.That’s kind of where we are in our lives at the moment, so generally our music just translates over from whatever we’re personally experiencing, normally pretty genuine. “

NEOMADiC’s new EP ‘AFTER DARK’ is due to be released this summer.This 7 track EP comes after the pair spent a couple of years living in Canada, it is a culmination of their experiences over the past couple of years and an expression of what they have to offer. The duo manage to capture the chill nighttime vibe really well, especially within ‘WAVES’. The song transports you to a setting of summer nights created entirely by the duo’s immersive musicianship. Yake tells me how the album was crafted and what we can expect from the EP.

“A lot of it’s in the title, it was written over the summer, last summer, just those late nights with people, good friends and special people to you. So the themes are around that. Then on top of that there would be that trying to make a living out of music, and not rely on other avenues for income.

“It took a while. So generally we work with producers and there’s just two on this EP. So with ‘WAVES’ and a few other tracks we kind of linked with Subroza from America and managed to get in touch just through social media and he gave us a couple of beats to mess around with. We just worked back and forth over a few months, nailing out the structure and different instrumentation and all that together so for this it was a lot better than ‘The Neomadic Tape’ where it’s more of a mixtape and we just took a bunch of random beats and rapped over them so this was a lot more crafted”

There are some great artists in Ireland at the moment in all genres but Hip Hop in particular is gaining a lot of traction and the quality of tunes from artists such as NEOMADiC, Denise Chaila, JYellowL and God Knows is setting the bar really high. I wondered if Yake thinks the Irish Hip Hop scene is finally getting the recognition it deserves.

“ I think it’s been slowly brewing for maybe the past half decade even a bit longer. But in the last five years, it’s definitely been more of an explosion onto the scene. Yeah it’s starting to get noticed a little more internationally, especially over toward the UK. So that’s a good first step. I can only just see that continue to grow to more people” 

NEOMADiC have had headline slots at festivals such as Electric Picnic and KnockanStockan, as well as support slots with hip/hop legends Souls of Mischief and Pharoahe Monch and like all musicians at the moment, Yake is itching to get back to those live shows.

“Yeah, definitely. I’m a little anxious at this point because it’s been such a long time. Probably a bit rusty, but it depends on the mind state. We’ve just looked at it as an opportunity to build up a nice catalogue of music for whenever that day returns that we’re able to then perform it with people and share with people so we just have to keep a positive mindset and see the opportunity, the silver lining in anything.”

NEOMADiC pack a lot of meaningful lyrics into each second of their songs. It can be difficult to remember lyrics during a show. I wondered if the duo find it difficult to remember their lyrics and do they stumble sometimes.

“ Personally I seem to do a lot more than Dyramid would, not too sure why. If you’re not regularly rehearsing and practicing you may be risking the chance of slipping up lyrics. Myself, I just really enjoy improvising and freestyling so sometimes that might distract me a little bit. Back in the day we would always do a little freestyling towards the end [of shows], let the crowd pick a few words for us to rap with and stuff like that it was a nice way to round off the shows.”

‘AFTER DARK’ is an exciting EP to look forward to and Yake tells me it has been keeping the duo busy over this pandemic and giving them something to look forward to as well.

“Yeah a lot more than normal, because of the pandemic, and the way we crafted the EP. A lot of it was done and recorded before I left Canada last summer. So there’s just been a lot of waiting and anxiety to get it out and with the pandemic there hasn’t been too much else to look forward to so it was a nice big relief to have ‘WAVES’ out. It’s just something to feel good about in these tough times. Hopefully the next single will be out on the 7th of May. Then two weeks after that on the 21st of May the full EP is out. So for the next month, that’s our main focus, just pushing and promoting the releases.”

NEOMADiC are an ambitious and talented duo. ‘WAVES’ displays their melodic prowess, sleek raps and raw skill through a mellow and blissful tune. They create dark, lush soundscapes with soul and pop elements enhancing the duo’s refreshing hip hop sound. NEOMADiC are ones to keep an eye on.

Stream ‘WAVES’ below 

Author : Danu