In Conversation with Emerging Toronto Rapper SCAR YVNG
“Covid sort of put a wrench in my plans," Leo, who goes by SCAR YVNG, tells me over coffee one night. With the talks of new beginnings on the horizon, it seems fitting for our conversation to take place over spiked coffee on the first real night of fall. Its been a few months since we’d last seen each other, and he’s spent most of quarantine making music.
Starting music two years ago, the 24-year-old Toronto rapper has spent the last years finding and perfecting his sound, taking inspiration from more underground/emo rappers like Lil Peep and, rock bands like Linkin Park. “When I first started my sound was definitely inspired by others, Lil Peep for sure,” he explains to me. During quarantine, with nothing to do but self-reflect and wallow, YVNG talks to me about using the time to hone in on his craft and find his authentic sound. With the world slowly opening back up, we talk about his new singles coming out, the anticipating excitement, and what the future has in store for the young artist.
“It took me a while to find my own sound,” he says. “I felt like the first two years I was trying to find something that worked for me, figuring out what worked did and what didn’t. I spent a lot of time experimenting with sound, how my voice sounded one way versus another. Rap like this, rap like that. Now I have a sense of what my style is, when I hear a beat, even if it’s not an alternative rap beat, but any in general, I know what my voice is now and how to place it and what it sounds good on.” Despite the challenges Covid presented, it at least provided him with an opportunity to sit back and reflect, taking time to figure out what he wanted to see in his sound.
His new single combines his original sound of what he would label as “emo rap” with a 90’s pop edge, with beats he finds himself more drawn to now, meshing old with new, to curate an authentic listening experience. With his more recent songs he’s “taking inspiration from everywhere. Sounds weird, but Backstreet Boys, Snow, she’s been a big one, My Chemical Romance”. It’s clear to see this influence in his most recent single, Drag Me Down, featuring Spaceman Zack. Beginning with a slow, gentle, percussion it eases us in before hitting us with lulling lyrics reminiscent to that of a 90’s love song.
If he had to classify his sound he says it would probably be “alternative rap, though most people call it emo rap, but I would put i more into the alternative rap genre”. His melodic tunes backed by haunting lyrics helps poise the emerging rapper well into the genre of alternative bedroom rap as I’d call it, his beats dulcet and comforting, paired with raw, vulnerable lyrics. He does a great job at painting a picture and allowing the listener into his head.
Since this is the first time we’ve been able to see each other in a while, we do a bit of catching up, of course delving into our Covid stories, specifically how it affected his music career. “Prior to Covid it felt like a lot of things were piecing together for me. It felt like I was taking off in a really good direction and Covid came and stripped everything away when I felt like I was just about to get on the road” he explains to me. However, with bad comes good, “It also helped though, with Covid, I, like everyone, had a lot of time to myself. Time to really think about if I really enjoyed doing this because I also struggled between if I’m really serous about this or not. That was a big struggle, but Covid did help me realize that I really do enjoy doing this shit. I don’t see myself doing anything else anymore. Not even just the music, content in general, the shows, Social Outcasts, all of that stuff.”
Pursuing one’s dreams always comes with personal sacrifice, and that’s something Covid gave him a lot of time to think about. He’s not naive, the two of us talk about the difficulties surrounding the music industry and I can’t help to ask if he sees himself doing this long term, even without wide-spread success. “As a hobby, if after a couple years it doesn’t go anywhere, I’ll still create music, just to put it out there” he says. We share a mutual understanding about passions, yet inquire about the possibilities of the future. “I feel like there’s the fear of failure and success you know?” he says about pursuing his music career, “like is this going to work out? But then on the other hand with success, am I going to be able to keep up with everything?” Most young artists struggle with new-found success, and I ask him about his personal definition of success. “It turning from a hobby to people calling me to do shows, when it becomes an actual lifestyle, and I think they intimidates a lot of people, the lifestyle, if you can keep up. Are you going to fall off? All that shit.”
On the topic of success, with emerging underground artists, the question always lingers: would success change you? Leo and I have known each other for two years, and he's been humble the entirety of it, so the concept of change is foreign. “I feel like the more successful you get, you see this with a lot of underground artists, you know the music they were making on the come up versus the music they make now,” he explains to me. “Once they get some level of fame they switch up what they’re making.” I agree, and we talk about the underground rap scene in Toronto in particular, if it’s ever intimating working alongside people’s whose sound differs from his own so drastically. I asked if he was ever intimidated by those type of artists, “that happened a lot in the beginning, because my music isn’t like other rap, like other rappers, its alternative, it’s more down, not mellow just different in sound. So, I was shook at first, you know? Thinking, I don’t sound like these guys, I’m different, I would feel a bit out of place, #socialoutcast” we both laugh at the self-promo. “In a lot of places I would feel unconfident in myself at times, that’s also what probably gave me a lot of my stage fright. But now, over time, I don’t feel that way as much anymore, my problem is just trying to find how to preform better, but I don’t find that I’m intimidated that my sound is different, I’m more comfortable in what my sound is becoming.”
SCAR YVNG is one of the lucky artists who has the constant support of his team, Social Outcasts, “I don’t think I would be doing this if I didn’t have my team around, we started this together two years ago, having no idea what we were doing.” he says to me, halfway through our drink of rum and coke (which might I mention was one of the best rum and coke’s I’ve ever had). “They’re my family. If they weren’t around or it was anyone else I probably wouldn’t be doing this. I’ve known these guys for over 10 years, they’re my family. When events aren’t going on, I try to keep the name out there and relevant. They push me and you know when I do get stage fright they push me to just do it, it’s not a big deal, its five ten minutes of your life. Every show I do I get stage fright, they have to reassure me repeatedly but I do feel better after every show.”
We talk a bit about his stage fright, “I see it as something separate from putting out my music. I can put out my music and try to act all hype online, but when your there in front of people you do feel the heat. You wonder what everyone is going to think about you. Am I going to get Boo’ed, am I going to puke right now? It’s definitely a whole separate thing.” With the support of his team behind him, he's beginning to find himself to be more comfortable on stage.
With the experimenting of new sounds, and gaining confidence on stage, the signs are looking in the emerging artist’s favour, in terms of a bright future. We laugh over the thought of life post-Covid, but I ask if things go back to normal where he sees himself in a year. “A year from now I plan on being in LA with everybody. With the team. I do want to go to LA, that’s something we [Social Outcasts] have been talking about for a long time. Myself, music and the sound, I feel like I’m getting there in the sense of creating myself and my brand, you know? People recognize my songs as sort of the SCAR YVNG sound, but I want to get more into creating my own sounds from scratch and doing everything myself. I’m getting there for sure, but right now I just use beats I find here and there. But hopefully a year from now Im hoping I’ll be able to be living off this and seeing some kind of success.” He’s dropped a few singles since the whole Covid mess started, “I want to put out a couple of singles, then some time next year I want to release an EP. I want to build something around my name before I do.”
Drag Me Down, his single ft. Spaceman Zack showcases his new sound, the melodic alternative rap, whose lyrics hit any sad boy on a Saturday night (me, right now, writing this). His most recent single, Love Me, is set to drop in exactly 24 hours from me writing this, and I’m excited to hear what he’s come up with. I ask about his lyrical experience, “When it comes to writing it’s mostly me. The reason most of my songs are sad is because I write in the moment when I feel like shit, or something is going wrong in my life. Thats how I express myself.” I compare his therapeutic songwriting to my own creative writing, which we both agree on. “At first I started writing because I liked the sounds of that type of rap, specifically Lil Peep, but as I learned more and figured out what I was doing, it’s healing in a sense. Sometimes I feel a lot better after I write a song, even if I don’t record it if I write something while listening to a beat, it makes me feel better.”
As we finish up our drinks, with the mention of grabbing nachos across the street, I ask if it’s easier now, with him being more comfortable in his sound and overall more confident. “When I started I was always nervous about what I was putting out: wondering if people are going to think I’m weird or depressed, this and that. Now, after two years, I don’t care. I’ve gained confidence, and I don’t think I’m putting out fucked up shit, I just talk about what I feel, generally when I feel shitty and reflecting on past experiences.”
Traditionally, he would have been performing shows throughout the summer, but like many artists, is bound by the constraints of Covid, so he's been releasing singles and promoting it on his Instagram. He laughs when I let him know that he’s still got me to promote all his work, even if only one person listens, he assures me he appreciates it.
Stream Love Me, out September 28, available on all platforms.
Keep up to date with his music and upcoming shows (Post-Covid of course) @goodnightscar
