INTERVIEW: Yaak And Z.Lewis On Their Festival-Ready Collaboration ‘10MERITS’
YAAK and Z.Lewis. Photo supplied.
I’ve always been fond of collaborations between rappers and electronic producers. Flume’s collaboration with T-Shirt, On Top, holds up to this day - I feel like when rappers and electronic producers get together, the resulting tracks often have a timeless quality to them. I felt the same way when I heard Melbourne-based producer YAAK’s collaboration with Hackney-born, Melbourne-based MC Z.Lewis, and I’m pretty confident the future will prove me right.
The pair have both developed a signature style over a string of releases - YAAK’s discography is full of drops that’ll get your car shaking on its axles, while Z.Lewis’ bars are up there with the best in Australia. However, I feel like they’ve taken each other to another level on 10MERITS, and I had to speak to the pair about the track.
Check out 10MERITS below, and read on to find out how the collaboration came about, as well as their experiences with Melbourne/Australia’s music scene. This is a track that’s got me itching to jump around in the front row of their next show, so hopefully, that’s not too far away.
Firstly, can I get you to introduce yourselves?
YAAK: My name is YAAK - producer, artist and co-label-head of Hy-Lo Creative Studios, I’m from Melbourne, Australia. I eat Kiwi-Fruit with the skin on and I’m stoked to be here, having a chat with the Ben Madden. How was that? Was that too much? It felt like too much. (Editor’s note - flattery never hurts).
Z.LEWIS: I'm Z.LEWIS AKA The Problem AKA Big Zedder AKA dat shifty kid from the E17.
You’ve just released a track called 10MERITS together - can you tell me how the collaboration came about?
YAAK: At the start of 2020, I had about a week that I was trying to produce a hip-hop track that juxtaposed something really delicate with obnoxiously hard drums; the production you hear now is an amalgamation of those sessions. My manager, G, and I were talking about what kind of rappers we could recruit for it, but knew it would need to be someone specific. G had been across the RMF guys for a while and showed me a freestyle of Z’s and it was love at first sight.
ZL: YAAK had an absolute heater in the bank, he sent it my way and I couldn't resist doing my damn thing on it.
I’ve seen footage of the two of you in the studio together – what was the collaboration process like, and what did you learn from working with each other?
YAAK: Collaborating with Z literally never feels like work. We both move quickly, and our ears are in tune, so it’s awesome - he doesn't limit the creative process, we’ve tried some pretty ridiculous ideas, but he always knows when to shut it down and move on which is definitely great; I can spend hours on one snare, which still turns out shit.
ZL: Super easy, man. We get along really well. Probably one thing I've learned from the dude is to go with your instinct when recording. Don't overthink.
10MERITS arrives at a time where most people are largely spending their time inside, but the track calls to mind days spent at music festivals. When writing the song, were you writing it with a particular setting in mind, or was the track written as a form of escapism?
YAAK: It’s funny you say that because I sat on the release for ages because of that very thing. It felt so wrong to release something with such big energy during times like these. Once I had the chance to actually get in the studio with Z I thought, if people could feel 5% of the energy in this room, that’s enough reason to drop the track. I hope people take that energy from it, and I can not wait to drop it live.
ZL: Definitely wrote it with the idea of playing it in sweaty club rooms and big festival stages. But I can see kids jumping on their beds to this one too.
Music has the power to change people’s mood in a way that almost nothing else can. What artists/songs do you look to when you’re looking to lift yourself up?
YAAK: Music changes people’s mood faster than a meal can fix your girlfriend's attitude… It’s truly magical. For me, it depends on what type of lift I want, sometimes I feel good listening to sad stuff, sometimes it’s joints that are harder than a block of steel. Right now, I’ve been listening to a lot of Baby Keem, Kacey Musgraves, PinkPantheress and KOAN Sound.
ZL: Trippie Redd always gets me hyped. Kendrick puts me in a focussed headspace. Dave and Headie One get me smiling n bopping my head. Monte Booker has lately been providing plenty of vibes for me. Jorja Smith, Yellow Days, fuck man too many to list. My rotation is deep.
Electronic music and hip-hop, at least to me, works really well together – YAAK, do you see more collaborations with rappers in your future?
YAAK: I couldn’t agree more, hip-hop and electronic go together like Rick Ross and Drake… But yes, I have an obscene number of unreleased joints with local and international hip-hop acts in the vault, and our team at Hy-Lo are working on debuting our own hip-hop act so definitely some stuff to look forward to.
ZL, coming from a more traditional hip-hop/grime background, the track’s a little different production-wise than what people might have come to expect from your music. Did you have to shift your writing style when you were working on the bars for 10MERITS?
ZL: Not really. The production is a bit different from what people have heard me on but my style of writing didn't have to change that much. That's the genius of YAAK right there.
YAAK, the Melbourne music scene seems closer than ever, even when over the large majority of the last 2 years, people have been separated. Where do you think this sense of community stems from, and how can people continue to foster it going forward?
YAAK: I’ve definitely felt that, too! I think the pandemic has kept us further apart physically, but connected us digitally in a way that we never have been before, and without distraction. I think the scene down here is built off of artistic integrity and vision, as long as we keep doing our thing, and supporting each other I really think Melbourne can become one of the go-to spots for music and culture in the world.
ZL, as someone that’s moved from the UK to Melbourne, what differences have you seen between the two music scenes, and why do you think Australian hip-hop’s taken off in the last few years globally?
ZL: Aus and UK scene differ mainly only in their tenure. London's got the benefit of an extensive, world recognised cultural history of urban music. Aus is pretty much just starting that journey but I can see it reaching the same heights definitely. Aus hip-hop exploded because hip-hop is the most diverse, fun and engaging genre of music to ever exist. It was inevitable that as Australia's multicultural population grew, so would its hip-hop output. You can't have it without the melting pot.
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Finally, what’s next for you both, both personally and as musicians?
YAAK: Hopefully, growth. And I mean that on both ends; I’ve had to be flexible the past few months but I think being challenged like that has been amazing you know. For the end of the year, it’s Hy-Lo season. We’ve got another Jas. drop coming which I'm so excited for, and another YAAK release penned for the end of 2021. We’re also working on a hip-hop act which we want to debut in early 2022. Honestly a whole bunch of other projects in different lanes, but we’re just taking it one at a time, but I can't wait.
ZL: I just had my first daughter with my partner so on a personal tip I'm focused on family and working hard. Music-wise I'm staying as busy as possible. I have a lot of music sitting there waiting to come out. More than you can probably imagine. So yeah. Maybe a project, maybe 5 projects. I'm keeping it fluid.
You can follow YAAK on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, and Z.Lewis on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.