A QUICK CHAT WITH OX4ORD

This is your debut release – how does it feel to finally put music out?
In a word, incredible - It’s been a long time coming. I’ve been sitting on a few releases for a while now, so for people to get a taste of what I’m about, has been dope and a lot of people were really surprised.

Why is that?
Surprised? You’d have to ask them, I’ve known I’m the truth since the beginning. I guess most people know my other side; OX4ORD was born to break boundaries, and give me the space to speak on things I couldn’t previously.

This other side being YAAK I take it, your Producer moniker? Can you elaborate more for the ones that didn’t see your Conversation With video you released?
Yeah, YAAK's been low-key producing some of the best beats out of Australia for a minute now, and I think will continue to do so. I appreciate the outlet that YAAK provided, but stepping into OX4ORD has really given me a chance to put a new foot forward as an artist. I think YAAK is at his best supporting others, whether it’s production, engineering or DJ’ing. You’ll see music from both sides moving forward, but right now this is my focus.

PARAMETERS gives us some interesting commentary on society. What influenced you to write about all that?
Just self-reflection to be honest - catching things in myself I needed to work on, and seeing that exact same thing in the people around me. I think issues around social media, hopping trends, and brand idolisation are more prevalent than ever in music, and I wanted to touch on that.

How do you think all that has affected the music business?
It’s already everywhere - It’s been affecting the industry. From the way we (as artists) interact with the fans, down to the way people consume music. It’s tough, we’re at a place where artists have to squeeze all of their craft and integrity into little content bites to get the engagement they need. Trends move quickly now, people don’t sit with bodies of work how they used to.

Favourite line from PARAMETERS?
See that’s hands down the easiest question I’ve ever been asked in my life - “But who knew, I do / this where we drop a haiku / and flex the IQ”

That’s a Haiku, in a bar about a haiku… I ain’t saying it’s a good haiku, but who’s even trying that shit?

How did the name OX4ORD come about?
It was years ago on a balmy summer evening - It’s 2:34 am, just left an event and everybody’s spilled out onto the road spitting freestyles - you already know I can’t help but get involved. So I’m dropping a freestyle hot enough to burn the surface of the sun when I get stopped: “hey man that’s not a word”. They looked it up in the Oxford dictionary, and what do you know? It was a word. They gave me the name then, and from that day on I was crowned as OX4ORD. Plus 4’s my number, so it just made sense.

Tell us how you get in the zone for creating music?
When it comes to music, I never leave the zone. But it never hurts to get the mood right; dim the lighting, light some incense, Studio Ghibli visualiser BANGIN on that secondary screen. Light shit.

What does culture mean to you?
To me, culture is an invisible thread of shared experiences, memories and traditions. It’s the rope that defines the parameters of a place, or a people.

If you could have any three people over for dinner, who would they be and why?
You didn’t say dead or alive, my name OX4ORD, the semantics are important. Anyway, I’m picking:

Virgil Abloh - Fashion aside, I’d want to talk to him about his human-centric design philosophy. I remember seeing a video where he asked questions like why we re-design curriculum’s but not the spaces we teach in, and that resonated with me - It’s kinda tied into that second verse of PARAMETERS. Plus I really love his narration on Lupe’s HOMME EP, I think I’d have a lot to learn from him, RIP to the legend.

Rick Rubin - I aint even really need to talk to this one - everybody knows the man changed music forever. As a Label Head and Artist, he’s someone I’d love to soak up game from. Plus I need beard growing tips, so…

Fyodor Dostyevsky - I know it's kinda wild what’s going on with Russia right now, but if there’s one thing I stand by it’s that they have some of the greatest writers of all time. He’s written some of my favourite books; I write raps you gotta read to understand, he definitely had an impact on the way I use language to communicate thoughts.