Delawares finest, Walt Fraze was bumping fellow Dirty Middle Class(er) ASAAD’s #White around the time of its release in late April, during a difficult time in his life. Feeling slightly down, until one day ASAAD and Fraze collaborated for a track “NVRMND”. A tribute to Kurt Cobain and produced by ASAAD’s engineer Ben Pramuk, Fraze told me “NVRMND” was ultimately catalyst to this project, #Blue. Fraze stated, he wanted this project to be something more than simply fans hearing his sound, but to actually feel it. “When people listen to it, I want them to feel it. Like the genre is “Jiggy shit”, I want people to listen to it before to school and feel jiggy… I wanted to make a upbeat, happy type of project, cause most of my stuff is dark.” Fraze who normally produces his material himself, he worked more in depth on the sound of his project, bringing in a couple other producers with the applicable breezy feel of the project. With 16 tracks, #Blue is a moment in time to appreciate all that we do, wrapped in a daze of wavy organic beats, matched with a 21st century ear for the future in Fraze and his vision. Listen to #Blue and read what Walt has to say about his newest project after the jump.
RubyHornet: Why the name #Blue?
Walt Fraze: Around the time ASAAD dropped #White, That’s when I first started working on it, I wanted to make a upbeat, happy type of project, cause most of my stuff is dark…When people listen to it I want them to feel it. ”
RubyHornet: Production Style: Switchup?
Walt Fraze: I usually produce everything, but with this joint I went with a different feel, I wanted to work with different producers I was comfortable with that could give me the same feel. Manny Wit Da Beats, Ben Pramuk, MP The God.
RubyHornet: Feel of #Blue?
Walt Fraze: I was influenced from a lot of hip hop from that era, old Rocafella, Diplomats, you know that jiggy sh*t, that’s the j*ggy era. And a lot of electronic samples and loops…