7oh2 is a music producer with credits on songs by Pouya, Ramirez, Terror Reid, Sinizter etc. He has recently came into the spotlight after posting many reels and tiktoks of him making beats which are the accurate form of phonk. He was kind enough to answer some questions about his career and the music he makes, enjoy.
What non music art form Influences your music?
Theres a variety of different things that affect my influences. I think the biggest one is my mood. I make music to express how I feel, so each song is kind of a representation on my emotions at the time of me creating a song. How stressful life is, events that happen in life, etc. are big factors. I also get inspired when i golf surprisingly. I’ve been into golf my whole life, and if I’m ever not inspired to make music I’ll hit the course. Being out in nature and away from the studio kinda resets my mind creatively wise.
What is truly phonk?
Phonk to me is a subgenre and inspiration from the OG Memphis rappers from late 80s-90s. To me, it’s a way to pay homage to the OGs and what Memphis and Houston did for modern day rap. The dirty, vintage sound that modern day producers bring just gives such a feel thats timeless. I think OG subgenres of phonk (anything pre 2020) are a huge way for producers to show off their skills with mixing, sound selection, etc. Nowadays it seems like there’s more OG phonk producers than listeners. I know that the OG phonk listeners to this day are such a cult fan base,and I got major respect for them.
Who that you haven’t worked with do you want to work with? Rappers or producers
great question. I’m really open to working with anyone. I think some notable people to work with that are reachable right now are Freddie Dredd, Germ, IC3PEAK, Savage Gasp, and Bones. Eventually landing placements with Huge names like Kendrick Lamar, Future, and people like that would be tight. Honestly I’m not tripping on huge industry names though.
What led you into underground rap?
First time I got into underground rap was 2014. I was sitting in Summer school class in high school and my homie Donovan showed me the first “KYS” saga by $uicideboys. From there I was hooked, eventually found everyone else in the underground along with it. Pouya, bones, Fat nick, etc. From there it was virtually all I listened to. Changed my whole perspective on music.
What are the top 5 og phonk tapes pre 2017?
These aren’t in order but:
Phonkadonna by Baker
Life EP by Soudiere
Wxlf Gvng Rxdxlphe by Ethelwulf
Pizza and Codeine by Chris Travis
Judgement Day by Ramirez. (I think this like 2016-17 I can’t remember lol)
Favorite artist to sample?
I been mixing both generations of artists recently. I sample everyone in my camp (AB6), but as for Memphis artists, my biggest ones are Evil Pimp, Lil Noid, Reddog, Shawty Pimp, and Skinny Pimp.
What pisses you off about underground/phonk community?
It’s been monopolized and industrialized. With the takeoff of “drift phonk”, “house phonk”, and “Brazil phonk”, on social media like TikTok, the genre has been picked up by major labels. Now these labels are signing ANYONE who makes these trending “phonk songs”. This has completely misconstrued the origins of the genre, and has almost completely killed the true meaning.
Thoughts on drift phonk?
when I first made my hit songs like “6ixspeed”, “Tandem”, and “Full Throttle” in 2020-2021, drift phonk was JUST getting noticed. The only song I seen blow up that was Drift phonk was North Memphis by Pharmacist. After I dropped my songs, and a few other guys like Ghostface Playa and Playaphonk started dropping and going viral, the genre exploded overnight. Within a few months, hundreds of producers were going viral, and the new subgenre of “Drift phonk” was completley popularized. From there Black17 (Label) came in and completely took over the scene. That’s when it took a turn for the worst. Literal 13-14 year old kids were making TikTok viral songs every day and completely oversaturated the genre. Now we got all the bullshit subgenres like “house phonk”, “krushphonk” and “Brazil phonk”, which have absolutely nothing to do with the original meaning. To me, drift phonk still is “phonk”, but now it’s been oversaturated to a point where it just doesn’t feel the same like it once did before it went crazy viral.
How u join all but 6 and start to make industry connections?
Sometime in late 2020, MikeyTheMagician went live on twitch for the first time ever. I joined in and watched the live to get tips on producing. Towards the end of the live, Mikey asked the viewers to send in beat submissions for him to critique. I sent in “the Council”, and patiently waited for my turn. About an hour into him reviewing beats, he decided to review one last beat before he got off. That last one was mine. He played it and fell in love with it. Right then he gave me a follow on Instagram. Overtime, I sent him beat packs, melodies, etc. couple months after the follow, my biggest songs blew up. He and his management team (my now manager), noticed. They also noticed my consistency in hard work, sending beats, and learning. Around December 2021 I got a call from Swig (my now manager) asking if I wanted to become apart of Allbut6. I flew out to Miami in January of 2021, signed the papers, and the rest is history. From there, it made it way easier to get in studio rooms with the guys who most inspired me.
Advice for young creative entrepreneurs?
Few things I’ve learned from my start to now.
1. Make music for the love of it. Don’t actively seek out a viral hit. Almost always, a hit song is never the one you think it will be.
2. DONT GET ADDICTED TO THE DATA AND NUMBERS. Clout is a dangerous drug for the mental. The more you infatuate yourself with the analytics, the more you’re gonna become self conscious and start losing creativity. I say that from experience. I got so addicted to the numbers that I wasn’t even making music anymore for the love of it, but just to see things go viral. It’s an extremely toxic mindset, and WILL put you in a hole before you even know it.
3. Research, research, research. Always keep learning new techniques, sounds, and ideas. This will keep you fresh and not get too comfortable. YouTube is a great way to learn, but what helped me learn even better was joining music Discord Servers, and simply watching other talented producers just make music (via screenshare). You can learn so much from someone just making a beat. Youtube is almost too “classroom” for me. In discord you can learn and ask questions directly to someone for free.
What is happening moving forward musically for your career?
I got a lot in the works right now. Working on a few projects.
1. The 7oh2 Saga. This is going to be a producer album. Gonna be my debut album, have a feature on each track. Some crazy features gonna be on it. I want to perfect this, so it may take some time.
2. Sin City Files Vol.2. This EP is going to be a solo tape, continuing from Vol. 1.
3.I’m working behind the scenes to gather EVERYONE I can in the OG phonk scene to band together and bring back the true sound of phonk. Im creating a massive OG phonk only playlist that we all are going to push. This is a work in progress but we’re shooting to revive the real sound and origins.
4.Still continuing to drop solo singles consistently
5. Always working with rappers and my brothers over in Allbut6. New tracks coming soon.
6. DJ’ing for shows and Next AB6 Tour.
Links to his instagram here: Cayden Filippi (@prod7oh2) • Instagram photos and videos
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