Photo: Carol Reed Cruz

When picking out an artist as a Stockholm 2018 music highlight, it’s important to think of someone future-friendly. And Yemi is definitely that. His debut album Neostockholm put him at the cutting edge of how modern Swedish music can sound, mixing rap with glacial synths and choppy beats. He recently released a new EP, Neoyemi Vol.1, so we met him to talk about his music and 2018.

The new EP is just out, so can you tell us about the process that lead to Neoyemi Vol.1? What was the timeframe and how did it all come together?

I started writing it about this time last year, the end of last year. The first track I worked on was Jag Är Vrickad, which became the first single. I think the whole process was me trying to expand on the sound that I built with [2016’s debut album] Neostockholm. And maybe show a counterside to the side you hear on Neostockholm. Maybe a hotter sound. I feel that Neostockholm was very cold, sonically.

That feeds into my next question. Neoyemi feels brighter, more peppy, more upbeat rhythmically than Neostockholm, which had these heavy, big, cold songs. Would you agree with that conclusion?

Yeah, definitely. It felt like that. I just wanted to see what the next step in this direction would be like. It felt like a new season, it turned out to be a hotter sound.

So where did the title, Neoyemi, come from? Is it meant to symbolise a new phase for you as an artist?

Yeah, I’ve been using that name for a while online for stuff. But I thought it was fitting for this project, because it’s a new side of my artistry. I feel like this series will be more personal, maybe not as heavy or as big as the albums will be. More personal, a closer look at me as a person. So I thought the title was fitting.

The songs almost sound more clubby, more poppy. [Online music site] Pigeons & Planes called Inferno your most catchy song yet.

It’s a sound that I wanted to try out, that I haven’t worked with that much. My album Neostockholm was influenced in a way by dance music, European sounds, club sounds. But that album’s sound, to me, always sounds slow. It [the new style] is just something I’ve gravitated to more in the last year.

Were there any new influences that came into play on this EP, more so than in your earlier work?

For the past couple of years I’ve been listening to more Afrobeat and Nigerian music, a lot of artists like Davido. Also British artists. That sound is popular all over the world right now. And I feel like this [EP] is my take on those movements.

It almost sounds a little like your verse on that AmberValent song 4U [a collaboration they released earlier in 2017], that’s in a similar style to the style on Neoyemi.

Yeah, definitely. We wrote that song in the same timeframe I made Neoyemi in, so I guess it makes sense.

You collaborated with a lot of people on the EP, Gud, Fili, Jonas Spark and Groovy Nickz [From Dolores Haze]. So what do your collaborators give you, what do they bring to the process?

It’s fresh input in a lot of ways. Especially working with Jonas Spark, I brought him in at the late stages of songs most of the time, just to get a second opinion, because I really respect him as a musician. I value his opinion, so I brought him in to tell me what I’m doing right, and what I can do better. Same with Gud, we worked on Top Speed together. I had made basically the whole track, but not the drums, as I couldn’t get them right. So I showed him the track and asked if he wanted to do something with this, and he got to work and finished it in a couple of hours.

So it’s having an extra ear on the songs?

Yeah, exactly.

You’ve described Inferno as ‘motivational music’. So would you say it’s kind of a self-confidence song?

Definitely, I feel like a lot of the songs I make are self-critical. I find it easiest to apologise through song, it’s easier for me to reach out with an apology through song than through speaking to people. So a lot of my music is about my faults and flaws. So I felt a piece like that was needed, to balance out the EP, and to move things further as well. To have some self-motivation, to drive yourself.

Is it more fun to write a song like that, a ‘pump-yourself-up’ song, even in kind of a tongue-in-cheek way sometimes, to play with that idea?

Yeah, it’s easier for me to write a song like that than say the self-critical songs. It’s how I started out making music, writing raps like that, silly lyrics with punchlines, just bragging. It’s where you’re at when you’re a kid and want to make music, you’re the best in the world.

This is Neoyemi Vol.1, so is there another part on the way?

Yeah, but I can’t guarantee when the next part is coming out. It might be four parts, it might be even more than that. I feel like Neoyemi will be a series that continues throughout my career, alongside whatever else I’m working on.

Is there a reason you want to pitch this project as that, kind of spaced-out, shorter EPs?

I felt like this was an in-between period, and I don’t like releasing singles really. I don’t think it’s the optimal format for music. I like longer projects.

Do you think you work better over longer spans?

Definitely, you can paint a bigger picture, and show more sides to what you’re talking about. So I felt like a project like this is more fun, than putting out all the singles over a longer time period. I had all these songs, and it felt like a full, cohesive project.

What are you working on next then, what’s the next project?

The next project is going to be a follow-up to the album, so a bigger project. It’s in its early stages now, but I’m looking forward to working on it and bringing in people I want to work with.

So who else would you tip on the Stockholm music scene for 2018? Who are you excited about for next year?

There’s so many. Fili, AmberValent. I know Dolores Haze are working on their next project. Namasenda is probably going to drop something soon. Europagang are also dropping stuff. 2018, it’s going down!

Yemi’s Neoyemi Vol. 1 EP is out now