Drewseph Descends
Photography by Swiper.
Drew has a clear vision of the world he is building: clever bars, immersive production, and a vivid, stand-out visual style. His new EP, Nebula, produced by Corzit, is a seven-track glimpse into this expansive world.
From the low end of Chicago, Drew possesses an air of authenticity and wit that is ever-so-present in his art. He's always loved visual arts and music, with visual arts at the helm of his creative endeavors for most of his life. Despite writing clever bars for fun as a kid, he didn't plan on pursuing rap until a couple of years ago when his natural knack for wordplay and visual worldbuilding collided, and he shifted more of his focus to music.
With a couple of singles under his belt before dropping Nebula in April of this year, Drew is only getting started and expanding his world to invite you in.
Read the Q&A below and stream his EP here.
Drew!!! Happy to have ya for a These Days Q&A! Give the people a quick intro.
I go by Drew and come from the low end on the South Side of Chicago. I’m also the founder of Honorable Legends (HL), a collective of artists. Most of us make music, but I really just wanted to solidify our brotherhood through a collective since we are brothers first.
How did you get into music?
I started making music in like 7th grade, clever bars would just come to me and I’d write them all down and shit but I never wanted to be a rapper back then. Then a lot of my friends started rapping and I was like, I could do this too, so I just started rapping and found I’m really good at it so let me lock in. I always loved music, listening to it and my OG playing music in the car and my pops playing music for me, like old R&B and Hip Hop and shit made it a big part of my life.
Can you talk a bit about the EP and working with Corzit, the producer?
With the EP, “Nebula”, you should expect to come to Drew’s planet. This EP is very much spacey with clever bars and a new sound that blends what I grew up with and loved. The EP is way to show my planet, I also did the 3D animation for the trailer and creative directed that along with my brother, Shoot Myles (A+B Gallery.7023).
Working with Corzit on it was great, he really builds beats and worlds around my vocals. He gets it. I want the EP to feel like you’re on a spaceship at one point, then back on Earth at another, then getting a pack from the aliens the next song… a whole experience.
I like to mostly work by myself, I work best that way. I’m not opposed to working with others and do but yeah, I work best by myself. I slowed down on making and beats but I’m planning on producing again but I did record myself for this whole EP.
What song would you play for an alien off the tape?
An alien on earth for the first time needs to hear Nemesis. That’s like the landing song, like I’m in this bitch now and they should feel like they’re the shit and Nemesis is gonna make them feel that.
What are your plans post-EP?
Post-EP I wanna work on my mixtape soon. I really wanna put together a real cohesive cool ass mixtape, but it's gonna take a little time, so in the meantime, I wanna drop a bunch of singles and just go on a little run after the tape, of course, but you know, only time will tell what I actually do, but that's the plan. I also have visual art I’m working on so stay tuned because it’s gonna be a cool ass journey and I want people to come along for it. Welcome to Drew’s planet-- come in peace, don't leave in pieces, man.