Photo via px.lab
Winnipeg-native Smrtdeath has steadily released music for the past few years and has managed to make huge waves in the industry ever since. Releasing several music videos via ELEVATOR that have racked up millions of views such as “i dont feel anything,” and “everything” that released via Astari, his presence on and off the internet is massive.
His 2017 album Sethany gave us a great look into the mind of Smrtdeath and it included stand out tracks “Luvmeansdeath” and “Got Em Mad” that both further solidified his spot in the industry. Along with several singles and music videos that carried his momentum into 2018, his newest album We’ll Be Alright is his most confident project to date.
I had the opportunity to interview the Canadian rapper about his newest album, his take on drugs and creativity, and his favorite cities to perform. Read the full conversation below:
David: Can you talk about some of the things that inspired the record and what it means to you as a whole?
Smrtdeath: “Mostly relationship issues that I was going through at the time. [I was] doing a lot of traveling, wondering if you can stay together when you don’t see each other. Turns out you can’t.”
David: The production on this project is truly incredible, can you speak on some of the the producers that contributed to it?
Smrtdeath: “The whole project was produced by my homie AudioOpera. I have been working with him for a long time but we never released anything before We’ll Be Alright.”
David: What went into the decision to release the album without any features?
Smrtdeath: “No features because I made it in isolation really with him emailing me skeleton beats, me sending back vocals, and then him working around that.”
David: Can you speak on the role that drugs can play in your life and music? Effects on creativity? Potential negative aspects?
Smrtdeath: “Drugs are bad but I do them sometimes. They’re bad cause you can spiral and not get anything done but maybe they can inspire you.”
David: Also I see that you are already back to work, releasing “you could bust out my heart if you want to” with Underground Underdogs – what else can we expect from you in 2019 (if you care to speak on it of course)
Smrtdeath: “That song I gave as part of a compilation that Underground Underdogs did to support RAINN an organization that helps sexual assault victims.”
Photo via @poison.thorn
David: I saw that you got off tour not too long ago, do you have a favorite city to perform in?
Smrtdeath: “On that tour my my favorite show was Seattle. Atlanta and Salt Lake City were fye as well off the top of my head.”
David: What was your hometown of Winnipeg like growing up? Did you receive a lot of support from back home?
Smrtdeath: “Shit, it was cool. Some people always fucked with me and some didn’t until people from other places started to. But, I definitely got good support there now and always have love for the homies there.”
David: Do any of those influences from back home manifest themselves in your music?
Smrtdeath: “Yeah probably feelings of isolation and shit from being in the middle of nowhere in Canada relative to where other fools would be at.”
David: Can we talk about the inspiration behind the artwork for the We’ll Be Alright cover?
Smrtdeath: “I wanted to show something broken but happy. Kinda like reflect the title, even when everything is bad we’ll be alright, you know? Originally I had murdered a bunch of stuffys next to me on a bed but then my boys AudioOpera and MouthSore took that idea and shot the final cover. Much love to the gods.”
David: What can we expect from you going forward? Anything outside of music that you are working on currently?
Smrtdeath: “I have a band with Y2K that we haven’t announced yet and then also I will continue to make more Smrtdeath stuff. More tours coming too.”
Photo via mattbarnesphoto
Working constantly and always staying busy, Smrtdeath will no doubt continue to shine moving forward. With the music that we heard from We’ll Be Alright, he is sounding more sure of himself than with any other music we have gotten from him. As he continues to develop, progress, and maybe even switch lanes a little bit sonically, we will see him truly reach his full potential as a musician.
Be sure to check out Smrtdeath’s newest music and to check out the music he will be releasing later this year with Y2K. We’ll Be Alright out now, available everywhere!