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“Not going to lie, I just woke up,” Sosocamo says. It has not been long since he appeared on my screen wearing a white shirt that starkly contrasts his dark jaw-length dreadlocks. “I was up late last night making music,” he offers, trading his live feed for a bright orange circle that sits on my screen like a forlorn egg yolk. It’s 6:30pm in Lagos where I live, and the sun is retiring, sending streaks of amber light through my windows. In North Carolina where he’s calling from, it’s 1:30pm, the sun is boisterous and flecks of clouds quietly drift overhead.
Sosocamo recently released his debut album No Service, a 13-track project flush with the breezy and broody ambience that often colors a late-night drive of sobering introspection. In the cover art, he wears black pants and a matching black jacket stippled with gems, which opens to reveal a white tee. He poses with his hands in his pocket, looking at something outside the frame, as the grass in the field behind him lilts in the direction of a gusting breeze.
“It’s still surreal.” He says of his growing celebrity. “I’ve been waiting for a long time, so I don’t think it changed me,” he continues. He still lives in North Carolina, where he was born and raised. He occasionally runs into friends from his childhood. When I ask how the experience feels, his reply is curt: “Pretty normal for the most part.” During a listening party held in Rayleigh, close to his home, he spotted some old buddies in the crowd. He describes the experience of meeting them after the show as awesome. “The album is a homage to North Carolina, that's why the album cover was just out in the fields, in the middle of nowhere. It’s also why I called the album No Service.
The rest of our conversation has been transcribed below and edited lightly for clarity
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How would you describe yourself?
I like to just make good-ass music, and I be chilling though, you feel me? So that's really what I am up to.
Interesting. How did you start making music?
So I've been making music for about 10 years now. I started when I was, like, 14. I always thought rapping was cool. So eventually I just made a setup in my room and stuff. And it just kind of evolved and it grew from there. It's been a long ride.
You know it’s interesting that you say this because in my years as a journalist, I’ve heard variations of this story. Do you mind sharing more details on your setup, what went into that?
Well, my dad was a music producer. My entire family, in fact, was very musical. They pretty much inspired me to try it myself. So I saved up like a hundred dollars. At the time I was 14, so I was broke as hell. I remember I went to the bank to get one of those $100 Visa gift cards and when I got back home I just got on Amazon and ordered my first setup. I think it was like a gaming pc setup.
Do you remember the first song you ever made, and what was the experience like?
The first song that I ever made was with my friend from middle school. I think we were taking band class together. We were both music nerds or whatever. We made our first song in his dad's basement at around 1 a.m. It was cool.
What kind of song was it? Was it a Rap song?
Yeah, we were rapping you know it was just some random type beat on YouTube.
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I always joke that at some point every guy had aspirations of being a successful rapper. The only difference is that some people, at some point, sequester this aspiration in service of a more plausible career choice, while others keep plowing ahead. At what point did you know you were going to take music seriously?
At first, I did it just for fun. I thought it was cool to put auto-tune in my voice and just be in my room and make songs. After doing that for some years, I started doing it (producing) for people around me. So, for a while, I thought I would just be an engineer. I kind of kept music for myself as a hobby but once I met my girlfriend who is now my executive producer—she makes pretty much all my beats or helps touch them up—I started taking music a lot more seriously.
That’s interesting, what year was that?
It was 2022.
Oh wow, that’s not too long ago
Yeah. So, my girlfriend and I have been together for a couple of years now.
Let’s get into your new album. It’s terrific. I especially like how it samples a generous array of sounds whilst remaining sonically cohesive. Did you go into the process of making the project with a fully formed idea, or did you kind of make it up along the way?
We went into it with an idea but it just evolved as we were making it.
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I’m very curious as to how you make music. What’s your creative process like?
I record and track myself. I think it's more fun when I record and make the music myself, so I usually just punch in. I feel like punching in is just like writing without actually writing, I'm just doing it on the computer yeah. About my process, I'll probably spark a smoke for a little bit, chill, and then I'll look through beats for about 10 minutes. I load up a song, and I just start punching myself in. When I go to New York or LA, sometimes I'll have an engineer that'll do it for me.
How long on average does it take you to complete a song?
I usually make a song for an hour, 30 minutes, or two hours.
My favorite song on the album is Chronic. In the past week or so, I've probably played it 20 times. What’s the story behind the song?
I appreciate that. I remember when Keep Steady just started picking up—I had just started working with my current label, Broke Records. So, that was the first time that I had ever received any form of money for music. As soon as I got that check from the label, I bought a whole new setup and Chronic was the first song that I made on that first new setup that I bought.
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Outside of music, what do you do for fun?
Yesterday I just bought a lifetime gym membership for the first time. I did not know they would go so crazy. I was like ‘damn they have a sauna in here.’ I think they have a court. I’m going to be there every day. I like to hoop. I might do some yoga. I’ve never done yoga before. I just bought a new P5. I was just playing Spider-Man the other night. That was lit. So, I'm just a simple dude.
