Meet Zay Lewis

Unstoppable rapper and producer Zay Lewis is the supercharged musician popping out tunes that keep my head bopping. With a rich production style, Zay Lewis lays down gorgeous soundscapes to complement his smooth as heck vocal style. In our latest interview, we chat with the artist about inspiration, ants, and elevators.

A self-portrait by, Zay Lewis

Would You Rather

be trapped in an elevator alone, or with two other people? Who would you want to be trapped with?

I really value my alone time, but I think I’d want other people around in a situation like that so we could figure out a solution together. I’d probably want a close friend with very chill energy, like Mal the Oddity. I’d probably want the other person to be an elevator repair person who had a license in whatever state the building was in. 


Some Questions with Zay Lewis

I read you are self-taught in music production. What advice do you have to have to people who want to start learning how to produce their own beats and backing tracks?

I am! I think a few big things are, start off imitating the producers/artists u admire and in doing that you’ll establish your foundation. You won’t replicate them perfectly and those deviations are important because that might be your first step in arriving at your own sound. Also, just make a lot of beats, watch YouTube tutorials, seek inspiration in things you hear around you that “aren’t” musical. The first song I ever put out was centered around the sound the car makes when you leave the keys in it.

What kind of music was playing in your house when you were growing up? Did it have any impact on the music you are making today?

My dad was big into the disco party scene when he was my age, so a lot of black seventies music (disco and soul ballads). My dad is also just an audiophile overall so I think I also was conditioned to have an ear for quality of sound. My parents are pretty religious, so the other genre that was always playing was gospel. Kirk Franklin, Marvin Sapp, Donnie McClurkin etc. I would hear all that stuff in the car, at home on a Saturday, in church on a Sunday. I have a weird relationship to religion, but the music has always connected for me. Its influence comes through in the music I make now if you know where to listen, especially in the songs that are gonna be dropping over the next year.  

How do you navigate releasing a song during quarantine?

It’s tricky. Both Cough Syrup and the song I’m going to be releasing on the 22nd of October “All Good” were recorded in 2019 when getting around wasn’t such a big ordeal. But beyond the logistics of recording, I’ve been having a lot of conversations with other musicians about whether it’s even appropriate to drop music right now. Some of them like if they’re not speaking directly to the moment then they’re distracting. I still don’t know if I agree with that sentiment, but it definitely raises some important questions about the pros n cons of escapism, especially when time feels of the essence with all the changes we need to see happen. 

I ultimately decided to drop Cough Syrup because the lyrics feels eerily relevant to the moment, even though I recorded the song this time last year with Mal. I also decided to release the song on Bandcamp first and give half the profits to Black Femmes in NYC in need of funds via a local mutual fund. With all that in mind I felt like my art was contributing to the moment in a positive way as opposed to siphoning off attention from the issues at hand. 

This next track “All Good” is just encouraging and so that in and of itself is a good enough reason to drop it in my eyes. I was down bad for a lot of this year and the last, I’ve made a lot of sad songs, and I like them, but I don’t think it’s the time. Sad songs meet you where you are and that’s important, but I just want to uplift people right now when and where I can.

Do you have a piece of musical gear that you have been really into lately?

My setup is pretty minimalist these days, but in terms of software, I really fuck with the Slate Everything Bundle. The tape emulators and compressors have really helped me get that warm cohesive feeling in my mixes.

If you had control of all ants on the earth what would you do with them?

Destroy a lot of logging vehicles in the Amazon and shift political power across the globe in ways I probably shouldn’t say in writing lol.

What was the inspiration behind your single “Cough Syrup”?

Musically, I was thinking a lot about SBTRKT and Flying Lotus. It’s a deviation from my kind of boom-bap bread and butter, but that was also intentional. It’s to my own detriment sometimes, but I really hate being boxed in by people’s perception, so sometimes I’ll just make some random shit because I can and creativity shouldn’t bow to streaming service algorithms that reward a consistent style. 

Lyrically, there wasn’t a ton of premeditation with that hook, I actually freestyled it, but I was definitely thinking about climate change in the moment. That’s really the most pressing thing facing us as humans period and people still treat it like a side-issue. It’s not, everything else falls under, and is tied to, its umbrella: racism, sexism, classism etc. On another level though, I was thinking about when relationships become voluntary prisons and the dangers of giving more than you have. 

I named the song Cough Syrup because the chords, especially on that instrument, tasted like cold blustery weather in London near a church and the after taste of Cough Syrup. Idk how else to explain it lol.

What movie has your favorite soundtrack?

I love this question (I’ve loved all of these questions actually). I really like the Trouble Man Motion Picture Soundtrack by Marvin Gaye. “Theme from Trouble Man” feels like an empty street on a wet night and I’ve listened to it in that setting, highly recommend.

Any final comments? (This is your electronic soapbox for one last answer.)

All Good out everywhere October 22! Donald Trump is a dangerous Fascist but even in the best case scenario and with him out of office the water in the pot is still getting hotter and it will boil. Social media is an echo chamber and will just feed you more of whatever you’re feeling. If you feel sad or hopeless, log off, don’t let it suck you down that rabbit hole. Also, If you’re reading this I’m happy to share this existence with you and I wish you lots of love and peace.