Impressing over the last couple of years with his incredible fluidity in genres, and ability to smash them all out of the park, Not Your Dope has succeeded in growing in fame and stature.
His intricate and constantly evolving sound has grabbed the attention of the biggest industry names, and he has found his latest release being distributed by Spinnin’ Records. We caught up with the artist to learn more about the story behind his latest track, ‘Broken Child’.
T.H.E – So – can you sum up the inspiration behind the name and what made you choose it?
Not Your Dope – The song name was chosen by JDAM. He sent me a vocal demo with the same lyrics you can hear now. I think the inspiration is a song with a melody that makes you happy in every situation and can lift you up when you’re sad.
T.H.E – Can we expect more tracks in this style from you in the future?
Not Your Dope – Yes definitely! I love this style and the summer vibes. Of course I’ll keep releasing other stuff too. I’m not a big fan of staying in one genre. I just want to make the music I love. No matter if it’s Deep House, Pop, Future Bass or Trap. But I also try to create my own sound so every track is still recognizable as NYD song.
T.H.E – Obviously many different artists influence people, but do you have any specific influences you think are noticeable in this release?
Not Your Dope – It’s influenced a lot by the new Major Lazer, Rudimental, Dance Hall and Pop songs.
T.H.E – How long did it take to complete the track from start to finish?
Not Your Dope – I think about 3-4 months. It all started with an acapella of Broken Child that I got from JDAM. I loved the song from the first time I listened to it and then started to build a new beat around the vocals. After the beat was finished we both agreed we need a female singer on it to make it sound even better. I texted LissA the same day and got the recorded Vocals from her like one day later. Then I did some mixing and mastering and the track was finished.
T.H.E – Do you have anything else in the pipeline for us at the moment?
Not Your Dope – I have some really cool remixes coming up in a different style! Also working on new originals. Want to release new songs in the same style but also some who go harder than what I usually release. Stay tuned!
T.H.E – Was there a specific moment you knew the track was finished, or was it one that took a lot of time to perfect?
Not Your Dope – Especially the mixing and mastering process took a lot time to be perfect. I wasn’t happy with the final product for weeks but I didn’t want someone else to do the mixing and mastering for me. I decided to make new stems of the raw song and start the process from scratch and it really helped! I did a clean mixdown and new mastering and now I’m completely happy with the final product.
T.H.E – You switch between genres so effortlessly – do you have a preference over what sound you produce, or does it happen naturally?
Not Your Dope – It kind of happens naturally. It always depends on the mood I am. I can’t produce chill Pop songs when I’m in the mood for something pretty hard and I also can’t produce happy songs when I’m sad, or sad songs when I’m happy. But my advice is to try change genres as much as you can. Your individual songs get a lot better when you do many different styles.
T.H.E – Finally, where can we find the track?
Not Your Dope – You can stream or buy Broken Child on the Spinnin’ Records website. Here’s a link.
