Spitty: The Interview

Toronto by way of Brampton rapper Spitty's debut album Full Circle is out now.

Toronto via Brampton rapper Spitty’s debut album Full Circle is out now: stream it here. The Right Kind Of Brownies caught up with Spitty in Toronto.

Follow Spitty on Twitter and Instagram.

What’s your earliest memory of music?
I got memories of Barney songs and The Backstreet Boys as a kid, but my first concrete memory of music is when I was 7 and my family first got satellite TV. My cousins came over and put me onto BET. They would always play music video countdowns, and that week 50 Cent's In Da Club and Nas' "I Can" were really popping off. I just remember the contrast of the two songs, and how both executed what they wanted to perfectly. Through these artists I saw that hip hop lets artists tell their truest story, whether that be to inspire young children or make an anthem for any nightly outing.

How musical is your family?
My parents were all about the Bollywood hits. I grew up with them always taking me to parties and garbas and other events where Indian music was blasting. We also watched a lot of Bollywood movies when I was growing up. But my family was never really musical, they didn't push me into music or even really knew I was into it. They were always about the typical school path, and my passion for music came specifically through my love for hip hop.

How did you decide on the genre you make today?
Hearing those songs from 50 Cent and Nas and motivational tracks like Lose Yourself by Eminem showed me that hip hop was the genre where you could really say something. The lyricism of the genre lets artists articulate their rawest thoughts and feelings. Since the age of 6-7 I always knew I wanted to be a rapper, not just any type of music artist.

What do you remember about the very first song you ever wrote and recorded?
My problem was I thought I was Allen Iverson and didn't need practice. The first song I ever recorded was also the first song I put out. It was called Feasting and was a straight braggadocios bar fest over a beat I got off YouTube. I had my boy shoot a music video with me too where we just went around Brampton and shot in random grimy spots. Pretty sure I recorded the song in my laundry room too. I had a lot to learn about rap, performance, and overall artistry, but I respect that I put myself out there and started when I did.

How collaborative is music for you right now?
Right now it feels like every day there's a new music event in the city. The screwface capital is turning into a collaborative community, and the Toronto scene is really popping off. Even right now I'm sitting in a studio where we're running group sessions all day. My album features several local artists who I rock with, and I think they really helped bring the project together. The more I collaborate, the more I grow as an artist.

How did the concept for your new album come about?
I was plotting a project since 2018. It didn't really have a theme at first, but slowly over time, the theme became about time. Especially when the pandemic kicked in and everyone had a lot of time to analyze their own lives, I realized that this theme of time was perfect.

In my head, I feel like time and energy are all we have. We are beings of matter who use energy across time. Everything else is just some derivative of that.

So I really wanted to highlight the importance of our time, and to remind people to make the most of it.

How difficult or easy was it to decide which songs made the album?
It was honestly easy, because as I was making the album I would just drop songs that no longer hit the way I needed. The album took over 3 years to make and a lot of records definitely did not make the cut. Probably got 2 albums worth of dropped songs.

How many songs would you say are in the vault?
I've got a few records that are in the works to come out, hopefully before the year is up. Most are features that I'm on. Anything that didn't make the album is scrapped forever.

What are your thoughts on the state of music right now?
Amazing. People love to say music is getting worse, but I've been hearing that my whole life. Especially for hip hop. I think there's more music than ever before, more artists than ever before, and easier access to making music. There's never been a better time for music (or anything) in my opinion.

What was the first song made for the album?
I honestly can't remember which song was made first. A lot of the early songs didn't end up making the cut, or they got completely redone over time. I first started recording Full Circle in 2018, and it's been a long journey since.

What was the last song made for the album?
The last song we made was About Time, because it was about time to finish the album. 

Will we see more music videos from the project?
I have a plan to do a music video for every song on the project. 2 are already out (24 & Dice), 2 are in the works (Miracle & About Time), 2 are being planned (No Time To Waste & In My Solo), and the rest will be in the pipeline soon enough.

What’s next for you?
Keep pushing this album. Book more shows across Canada the US. More music videos. More freestyles and content. Time to take over the world.

How did you get the name Spitty?
I initially got the name because I needed people to know what I was about off the rip. When you hear Spitty, you gotta think he's a rapper. To get deeper than that though, they do DNA tests by getting you to spit into a vial. That tells you your entire existence and ancestry is bottled inside your spit. So by calling myself Spitty, it's like saying this is in my DNA. This is me and I am spit.

How collaborative are you when it comes to music?
When I started off I wasn't at all, but now I see that as my main avenue to getting better and bigger. Collaboration is key.

Is there a genre of music you wouldn’t touch?
Nah. I'm down with anything. I don't even really care about genres, just doing and listening to what I like.

Is music art or is art music?
One and the same I think. Music is audio art. 

When did you realize the album was complete and ready for release?
We finished recording it all properly back in April. But then in the summer when my engineer was mixing it, he found that a whole bunch of files on his computer got corrupted. We had to grind hard for a couple of weeks and re-record a whole lot of the album, including a couple of features. As soon as we got all that done, Levi went to work mixing it and I headed out to LA to network and promote the work. When I got back to Canada, we locked in, finished it up, and submitted it for distribution.

Who are some of your favorite producers?
I've always been a big fan of the producers I grew up on like DJ Premier, Dr Dre, Just Blaze, and Kanye West. More recently I've been a big fan of Hit-Boy, who I think has made some of the illest bangers of the past decade.

What is your label and management situation industry wise?
No label. No management. I don't even have an assistance or team really. Just me on my grind. I got an engineer who handled the recording, mix and master for the album. I got homies and people I work with on songs and videos and content. But I'm independent to the fullest extent. Not saying I don't want a label though, holla at ya boy.

What is your favorite aspect of the musical community in Toronto?
There's two different lanes in my opinion. There's the gangsta dark trap vibe of the city that is intertwined with the gang culture. Many up and coming artists who want to have the most clout in the city and make the same music video with guns and money in a rented condo. On the other side there's this collaborative community of artists gathering together and growing by the day. Organizations are putting on events pretty much weekly, and we're all getting to really know each other and see each other thrive. The sound is varied, but honestly I think that does a better job at representing the real diversity in the city of Toronto and the GTA.