We sat down with emo-rap sensation Hoodie Rob Uzumaki to learn his 5 songs he loves, exclusively for FLEX! Check out his brand new single 'what is love' below too.
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1. NoCap - Unwanted Lifestyle
This song reinvigorated me at a time when I felt lost with my own music and it had been a long time since I related to a song on this level. Sometimes you can’t imagine the challenges that come with the things you asked for and sometimes you’re not ready for the consequences, and he captures that feeling perfectly here. That feeling is something I’ve only grown more familiar with over time, and I’ve been releasing music for almost 6 years now.
The amount of ups and downs that comes with that is unimaginable when you start with just an innocent desire to make music. Putting your all into a song just for a throwaway to blow it out of the water. Being in the moshpit hearing people scream your songs to spending days alone in the studio.
I don’t have all the answers, but one thing I know for sure: success does not look like what you imagined when you first started, and I think one of the most important points of an artist’s career is when they have to redefine what success means for them. That’s where I was when this song came out, and it really captured my emotions perfectly and helped me carve out what I wanted as an artist and confront those hard questions. NoCap is my biggest goal to get a feature from, I love how he’s able to keep high level wordplay without sacrificing any melodies, especially with this song on top of the soul guitar, is incredible.
Favourite Line: “How you wanna be me when I don’t wanna be me?”
2. Future - Never Stop
This song has only gotten better with age and my own growth. Growth comes with more challenges, and as I’ve faced those challenges I can relate to this song more and more. There’s always a pressure for money, and money comes with problems. Money comes with more problems when you’re mixing it with something you’re doing for passion, especially when there isn’t much to go around for small artists and we have to look elsewhere to get it. Sometimes you have to take risks you don’t want to, and people always ask for a plate even if they weren’t with you in the kitchen cooking the food.
The more you get the more “friends”you realise you were in competition with the whole time and you didn’t even know it - Future said, “You get rich and have problems that you never thought, it brings tears knowing we came up out the sandbox”. Shit damn near made me drop a tear when I heard it. Regardless, whenever I’m going through something I know and I can put this song on and it will remind me that i’m built for this. This song also helps me cope with things I really can’t put out there yet, no matter how much I want to. Futures also one of the greatest to ever do it and the biggest inspiration in the new mixing style I’ve been using and really debuted with “What is love”.
Favourite line: “I done came from sleeping on floors, you can’t persuade me”
3. Dom Fike - Why
Dom Fike is the artist that always makes me tell myself I need to do more. There are so many beautiful elements to this song, the writing style is my favourite from him and his vision for production always blows me away. He never does too much or too little, it’s always just enough but not what you would expect. The lyrics are always the most random but relatable shit you’ve ever heard, and the main vocal performance showcases his voice at the highest level.
The mixing of the background vocals is one of my favourite parts of his music overall and biggest inspirations. The past two years of music for me has been a lot of experimenting with these styles, which you can hear on my releases from last year, but also dozens of songs that I haven’t put out there yet or were just for practice. Ever since I heard those background chorus vocals I haven’t been able to forget them, and Dom Fike has inspired me since he first came out with “Don’t forget about me Demos” EP. That demo tape got him a record breaking deal with Columbia he didn’t even want to take, if you haven’t read his story I would recommend it.
Favourite line: “How many times till it hits you darling, gravity’s your friend”
4. Kanye West - PROBLEMATIC
I could put a LOT of Kanye songs here, but this one comes with a really special moment for me when i heard it for the first time. The song starts with the same stutter intro as “Bound 2” the first nostalgic moment for me and the production on the song is some of Kanye’s best ever. But Kanye ends the song with “Man this shit issss, fuckin ridiculous” - the “So Appalled” reference immediately brought me back to when I was listening to My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy with my brother when it first came out.
So Appalled was one of our favourites and we said this line all the time. My brother passed when I was 17 and he was 16, so it was a really heartfelt and warming flashback. It’s incredible he’s been releasing music at such a high caliber for that long, literally my whole life. To me, the best music transcends and becomes a moment in time: think of your favourite songs ever, you can probably remember exactly where you were when you heard it the first time. That feeling is special, and what I strive towards every time I make music. Kanye is one of the best examples, and this song brought me back to one of those moment he created for me as a kid, with my brother.
Favourite line: “SHIT ISSSSS, FUCKIN RIDICULOUS!!!” really for the nostalgia :)
5. Adele - When We Were Young
This song will always be a comfort song and kind of a safe space for me. Adele has always been one of my favourite artists since she came out and I’ve loved watching her grow, especially how she kind of reinvented herself with her last album. I love how this song sucks you in, the writing is incredible and I think I’ve watched every live performance of it on youtube. I use it for vocal warmups a lot for a lot of reasons. Obviously the vocal range, but also to inspire my creativity and to push my boundaries in my own music, which ironically doesn't sound anything close to Adele but there’s definitely a big influence in there.
Favourite line: “You still look like a movie, you still sound like a song, my god this reminds me of when we were young”
Don't forget to stream 'what is love' below: