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I think I can understand why the mixtape is something of a dilemma for the reviewer. The mixes are muddy, vocals are often incomprehensible. On the other hand, the marvelous unpredictability of the tracks is what makes it genius. It’s Sosa’s danger and his solution. His voice is slow and whacked out. The odd mumbling lurches into auto-tuned falsettos that are grounded by beats, TV samples, and intense special effects. It makes me feel fucked up and hilarious. The overblown bass makes me want to punch my fist into the air and scream bitch. The mixtape came out two years ago and they gave it two stars. Reddit hates it. I exhale more smoke. Laugh.
I’m in California and it’s been a decade since Almighty So came out. I still like Sosa in the car. I feel real tough when my hands beat up a steering wheel with the wind shooting through my hair. I laugh in time to the witchy laugh track in “Woulda Coulda”. I stop at a red light and hear my applause as I finish reading a reddit thread from when the mixtape was released in 2013. It’s satisfying to see user gayboicarti do a takesies-backsies of his original hate. So many suckers are presently clicking behind keyboards to absolve their misjudgements. I know it’s because they all hear the same thing. The “thank yous”. Carti says thank you. Lil Uzi says thank you. Yeat says thank you. Lucki says thank you. Lil Yachty says thank you. Now all the soundcloud rappers say it in unison, with your chest, after the gunshot sample, Thank you Sosa for letting me sleep in your bed. Good. Now all I am waiting to hear is the promised Almighty So 2 album. It’s supposed to come out today but I’m not holding my breath. It's been delayed too many times since its first announcement in 2019.
I have a big imagination, but I have no idea why Chief Keef has put over a decade of space between Almighty So and Almighty So 2. I listened to Almighty So all of last week with the loose hope that its successor would be released last Friday. It filled me with the conviction that Chief Keef is a great artist. The album earned him pioneer status. Change isn’t evil. Laughter is contagious. I bite at the inside of my cheeks and sigh against my parked car, reading the new release date of May 10th, 2024. If he follows through, I know how my first time looks.
(DREAM SCENARIO): MAY 10, 2024
I clench my jaw and shift my hijacked car into sports mode. I’m speeding down the Pacific Coast Highway pretending I’m some big-shot in GTA V. It’s 7 pm and the red dot sinks towards tomorrow. I’m in for a Miami bruise sunset, and if I close my eyes it smells like home too. Salty. I hug the coastline as I click on the album. A young Sosa smiles up at me from a picture frame. It looks like Lil Wayne’s album art. Sosa loves Wayne. I smirk. I love them. I press play, turn the volume up, and flatten the pedal. The bass pulses into my tanned ass and I have this fucked up smile on my face because I’m imagining all the ways I can explode my vehicle. It’s banging, it’s out of control. I punch out into the violet. The rich people stand on their balconies and stare through binoculars at my tail. They whisper curses under their breath because they want to feel this free too.
RE: REALITY: MAY 11TH 2024
I’m now gunning it down the Pacific Coast Highway and there is no baby Sosa grinning up at me. Nonetheless, Almighty So 2 is out and I can believe in it. Chief Keef’s release made my heart, head and hat spring for the ceiling. I may not physically be in my car, but I’m living a lifestyle. I am swimming upstream in a sea of bodies beneath hundreds of Tokyo’s ultraviolet escort signs with my headphones in. The countless snare rolls and the bizarrely amusing lyrics puts that twisted evil grin on my face. It’s charmingly Sosa. I feel fueled up and hot, listening to him rap in “Treat Myself” about wearing yellow diamonds, looking like he peed himself and how he’s gotta treat himself. I slow down in front of one of the glittering escort signs. Should I treat myself and rent a boyfriend after I finish my second round of listening to huge beats and underwear filling bass? Why not? Sosa produced the album in its entirety, and he pays homage to many genres, evoking the ghost of Carl Orff in intro track “Almighty”, then crashing into tracks that source the seventies, soul, and underground drill. It’s a culmination and development of all his previous work — a solid delivery with sharp mixing that cuts through the thickness of mundanity. I pump my arms, hitting a sprint. I skid up the hyper clean sidewalks, redlining in wonder past endless businesses marketed in the most adorable way possible. I could pitstop into any of these places and enter a new story. Suits karaoking, bustling izakayas serving horse meat, chef’s murdering live shrimp with vodka at your table, and bartenders singing kanpai as we take a shot of snake liquor together that scorches down my esophagus. I want to see, hear, taste, and feel it all. Sosa’s jabbing cadence thrills me and the timing couldn’t be better. Its organized madness matches this city and my mind. Spring’s sprung, and Sosa gifted us all with a phantom whip. Come on — it’s summer.
office — Where are you right now?
Wisp — California.
Oh god, it’s so early for you, I’m so sorry.
It’s ok — I had to wake up early for rehearsal anyway.
For the Pachinko show, right? That’s major — congratulations. How’d you swing that?
My manager hit me up about it — Pachinko had reached out and wanted me to support them on tour. I thought that was really cool, because Pachinko was one of the first concerts I ever went to. It’s a really crazy full-circle moment.
Did you tell them that?
Yeah — they’re super sweet guys. And we basically have the same demographic, which is really cool.
So where does the name come from?
I got the name back when I had like, two hundred followers on Instagram because I didn’t have any music out on any streaming platforms yet. But there was this one guy who found me on Soundcloud and he was following me on Instagram. I had posted one of those question stickers that said, “What should my artist name be?” And he swiped up and said “Wisp.” So I just chose that. There were some longer names that had like, two words in them, but I wasn’t really feeling those. Wisp was perfect. It’s been good.
It feels right for your music. Did you have a musical upbringing?
I used to play violin from fourth grade to eighth grade. And when I was little, my mom put me into classes, so that was the only musical instrument I played. But I kind of hated violin because I was forced to learn it. After that, I started taking guitar lessons for a finger–style guitar, but I got tired of that too. I learned electric guitar on my own.
How old were you then?
I was sixteen, so about three years ago.
I feel old. Did you grow up listening to the type of music you make now?
Kind of. It definitely changed throughout the years. I started off with alternative music — I was really into emo rock when I was in middle school.
You and me both.
I was really emo in middle school. It was kind of embarrassing. But I think it fostered my music taste now, so I’m grateful.
And who wasn’t emo in middle school?
That’s true.
If you say you weren’t emo in middle school, I think you’re a liar.
That’s also true.
After all the emo music I started listening to dreampop, which was kind of my gateway into the shoegaze world. I was still into older rock as well, so Beach House and Oasis were two of my favorite bands.
Do you remember when you started blowing up?
I was posting a lot on social media and the TikTok algorithm did its thing and my music did really well there.
There’s a little bit of controversy around music that comes from TikTok — did you experience any of that?
I think as long as your music feels genuine to yourself and you’re marketing it as your own work, then it’s a really good platform to promote your work. I see TikTok as more positive than negative because I’ve seen it give a lot of artists all these opportunities to sign to labels, or even to just make more music or have more stream revenue from all the exposure. And that’s really helpful toward achieving your goals and pushing your music out in different ways.
And it helps you find your community. The algorithm is super spooky, but when it knows where you are and shows you people in your area doing the same thing, you have the chance to meet up and support each other.
I’ve made a lot of good friends. Not through TikTok specifically, but the reason I started posting on TikTok was because I saw a post from this band called Juggler — they’re another LA shoegaze band. And now we’re super close buddies.
That’s so sweet. Can I ask why you decided to be faceless on Instagram?
It wasn't really on purpose. I just didn't feel the need to post my face that much, but I started getting more comfortable doing that. So it's not something that I mind doing anymore. It's a whatever thing.
Have you noticed that people treat you any differently — before they knew what you looked like versus after?
Not necessarily, I don't think it makes that big of a difference, which is why I'm pretty comfortable showing my face.
What brought all the songs on Pandora together?
I think, sonically, they just sound really good together. Some songs like “Pandora” and “Luna” share a lot of cool elements that are pretty similar. And I think the themes in the songs are also the same, so they worked well together.
And how has Pandora differed from some of your earlier projects?
It’s definitely more experimental. At the beginning of my music journey or whatever we’ll call it, I was a bit more comfortable with how I was making music and how I wanted my music to sound. But ever since collaborating with other artists and getting inspiration from how they make music as well, I’ve been stepping out of my comfort zone and creating music that’s more experimental. But I’m going down a path that I definitely want to take. I don’t want to just conform to one genre. I want to add different elements from other genres.
That’s what’s so cool about shoegaze. It’s all under the same moniker, and you have a bunch of stuff going on there and everyone hears the distortion and they’re like, “I guess we’ll call it shoegaze if we have to call it anything.” But I think that’s cool — I think you found yourself in a really cool niche.
I think so too. I don’t like to call my music shoegaze. It’s shoegaze adjacent. If I had to coin a term for it, it would probably be nu gaze or something like that.
What’s the ideal situation to listen to your music?
A car ride. Or a beach at night. Back in San Francisco, I’d take beach walks at night, and that was around the time I started making music. I’d be listening to my own music and taking walks on the beach, so that’s a memory and visual that I have paired with my music.
I wish I could do that. I’ve never been to California.
Oh, what?
I’m in New York right now and I grew up in Ohio, so I didn’t grow up along the beach.
I love beaches. But I’ve never been to New York either.
Well, you're about to come here.
We can trade.
Do you think growing up in California influenced your sound in any way If you had grown up in any other place, do you think you’d sound different?
I think so. Just because shoegaze is so discoverable in the Bay Area and California in general. It helps foster a community if you’re closer with musical people that are in the same genre and share the same tastes as you. And if I grew up anywhere else, my music taste would have been different. And I feel like the foggy, gloomy vibe in SF really reflects my sound.
Have you ever seen Twilight?
No, but I know what you’re talking about — that gloominess.
I mean, in Ohio it’s just as gloomy, but instead of newgaze, we got midwest emo.
It’s a different type of location-based depression.
What’s something you want people to know about you?
I want a Frenchie so bad. I don’t have any pets but I want a Frenchie.
Someone will read this and be like, “I know a guy who’s selling dogs.” What’s something you don’t want people to know about you?
My bad habits.
We’ll keep it vague for the people.
Thanks.
Blu DeTiger — Do you know Mitch?
office — Of course.
The other night, I had this big album release party and he was there.
Yeah, I ended up there briefly with my buddy Harrison. We were at our friend’s birthday and he was like, “Do you want to come to Gonzo’s with me?” And I love Gonzo’s, so of course. Didn’t see Mitch, though.
You guys probably got there a bit later. But you didn’t say hi!
We didn’t leave for Gonzo’s until 1 am, so we were super late. I didn’t see you — I was in the back studio with my buddy Lucas. We were noodling around on the bass and guitar. You set those up, right?
Yeah, I wanted to have jam vibes at the party. And I was having fun. I thought it was like, the most fun party ever… Shit, do you know Cassie and Liv? And Caitlan? She styled my album cover. I was in the first issue of office.
Oh my god.
I was street cast when I was like, fifteen, at Afropunk festival, and they were like, “I’m shooting for this magazine.” So, full circle. I’m glad you were at the party.
It’s weird how we’ve never crossed paths before. Gonzo’s is such a good place to hang. The cheetah carpets are so hot.
It was so hot in general. I was like, “You guys gotta turn the AC up.” But it was fine. It was the best DJs, who were actually just old friends from New York who’ve seen me grow up since I was seventeen and DJing in the city. They were all at the party, which was another really cute full circle moment. They’re such a supportive and sweet cast of characters.
How’d you meet everyone?
I don’t know — I was just in it. I just knew them because I’m like, cool, I guess. I don’t know. I just know everyone from music and the city and going out and whatever. Growing up in New York, you just kind of meet everyone.
Where are you now?
I’m in LA, but I grew up in New York. My parents are still in the city, so I go there all the time. I hadn’t even been to LA until I was nineteen. I’ve been playing in New York since I was seven — my first ever gig was at CBGB.
You were seven and playing CBGB?
It was through School of Rock, which was this after-school thing every semester. There would be different shows and they’d be tributes to different artists. So the first time, it was Rolling Stones, and you’d practice the songs for a few months and then have the show at the end of the semester. And the shows we did were always at CBGB. But yeah, I got that New York blood in me.
My first bass teacher was from School of Rock — I was learning on this little short-scale. Being able to play with other kids is really important, especially when you’re learning an instrument. It’s a conversation — you’re learning how to converse with other musicians by playing and improvising — as opposed to just playing in your room practicing. It’s totally different.
Nowadays, when musicians get big, they get big as individuals and then they’re like, “Now I have to learn how to be in a band.” It’s kind of backwards.
And it’s so important, especially for bass. It’s all about fitting in the music with the other instruments.
So you started with bass and have been there ever since?
Yeah — obviously I sing now, and play guitar and produce and all that other stuff, but bass was my first love.
How’d you learn all that other stuff?
I guess if you’ve been playing music forever, you can kind of grasp guitar from bass. And everyone has a voice, of course, so I just started singing. But I didn’t really get into singing and studying my own voice until I was seventeen, when I was ready to make my own music and put out my own stuff. So, that came a little bit later to me. But it’s all music — you just pick things up here and there. Once you have your head around one instrument, it’s easier to transfer your music knowledge and theory to other instruments.
That’s so true — I tried to learn bass when I was younger but it was too big for me — too heavy. So I had to get one of those ¾ guitars and honestly, just from picking up the bass first, I was playing the guitar like a bass. How’d you get into writing?
I guess I was always kind of writing. I was in bands growing up ad we’d write together, but I started writing songs for myself was at seventeen. I was nineteen when I put out my first song under my name. It’s kind of funny, because growing up, singing and playing guitar and singer-songwriter stuff — that wasn’t my thing. It kind of came to me later in life, and you can hear that in my music. I always approach things from the bass and the groove, and all the rest kind of falls into place.
The bass is really underappreciated.
Tell me about it.
I think a lot of people forget that the bass isn’t just root notes — I mean, you of all people know what I mean.
That’s what I’m trying to do with my music — just showcase what the instrument can do and bring it to the forefront and inspire people to pick it up.
Growing up, would you only play with the other kids from School of Rock? Or would you also play with adults?
I was always the young one in the group because it’s harder to find bass players anyways. Especially good ones. So when I was in middle school, I was playing with high school kids. And then when I was in high school, I was playing with all the NYU kids and they’d hire me to be in their band for their showcase or whatever, and I would make like, a hundred bucks or something. I was always kind of with the older kids. And I was DJing from a really young age too. I started DJing when I was seventeen and I was DJing with like, thirty-year-olds.
The DJ scene is really funny, especially when you’re B2B with someone who’s been DJing for longer than you’ve been alive.
Oh totally. It’s really crazy. But that’s also how you learn — playing with other people, seeing other DJs work and learning their technique or style or whatever. You’re always picking bits and pieces up from different place.
It’s funny — I’ve been into music since I was really young. I was seven or eight and listening to the Rolling Stones and the Beatles, so I have this vast music knowledge so I can hang with the bros, I can hang with the old heads, I can hang with anyone. I have a lot of music knowledge that also comes from DJing, because when you’re spinning four times a week, you got to know all the hits from every decade. You have to know like, every song ever. You’re a taste maker, so you have to know all the cool shit. So DJing was really important for expanding my music knowledge.
So, All I Ever Want Is Everything — what’s the story?
The story? The story is just that it was time for me to make an album. I had an EP before that, and these past few years I’ve been touring a lot and writing between all these shows and festivals. It was just the time in my career — I had to put out a full body of work and that’s what this is. It’s about the past few years — growing up and the transitional phase of becoming an adult and ups and downs and life and all that shit.
I’m a producer on everything but I worked alongside a lot of cool collaborators. Uffie is on a few songs — she’s a legend.
I saw her at Dorian Electra.
I love Dorian — they were at my LA release party. We went crazy.
What was the difference between the New York and LA party?
It’s so different. The New York energy is so different. LA — the party only goes until 2, dies out at 1.
Were you recording with a full band? Or is it just you on everything?
It kind of depends on the song. Obviously, I’m singing and playing bass on everything. My brother Rex played the drums on a lot of the tracks and he played a little guitar, but I played a lot of the guitar as well.
Do you prefer doing it that way? Where you’re doing everything and putting it all together at the end?
Yeah — if it’s my album and my name on it, I’d rather do everything I can. I want to feel like it’s coming from me.
Do you find there’s a difference in what you’re putting out when you’re in New York versus LA?
For sure. Anywhere you write, it always feels different — just different energy. I wrote most of the record in LA, but being from New York and growing up there, it’s like that saying, “You can take the girl out of the city but you can’t take the city out of the girl,” whatever the fuck that means. It’s kind of true. No matter where I am, I still have the New York edge and grit. In the production, you hear the broadness and grittiness of the sounds being used. Are you from New York as well?
No, I’m from Ohio. I grew up in Cleveland but my parents are back in Columbus.
That’s sick. I played a show in Columbus and a festival in Cleveland.
The house shows are awesome in Columbus, but you can understand why I wanted to not be in Ohio, right?
Of course. New York is the best city in the world. It’s the dopest.
You’re gonna say that to all the LA people reading this?
Yeah. I don’t mind. I say it all the time. It’s where I’m from, it’s in my blood.
What do you want people to know about you?
Just listen to the album and you can figure it out from there. Come to the show.