Pitchfork writer Alphonse Pierre's rap column cover songs, mixtapes, albums, Instagram freestyles, memes, weird tweets, fashion trends—and anything else that catches his attention.
Osiris Israel will take your hip. The producer's massive mixes—usually uploaded to SoundCloud without track breaks so they can be dismissed as a DJ mix—are overflowing with rapper and beatmaker collaborations that will have you running to the search bar. It's got remixes (like a legendary reprise of Young Thug's “Constantly Hating”), instrumentals (drum'n'bass here, a breathless one there), and dreamy bootlegs rattling for newcomers and word-of-mouth . Favorites like Lerado, WiFiGawd, Nolanberollin. Osiris is truly as much a taster as it is a producer. as certified a head as an underground rap core.
Born in 2001 at Yokota Air Force Base, Japan, Osiris was a military man who remembers living, at various points in his young life, in Hawaii, New Mexico and Chicago, before settling in his native Maryland. time for high school. His parents were well-meaning and, early in life, his dad was an aspiring rapper doing what Osiris now describes as “an old East Coast head with a drum machine.” (That's pretty vague, so in my opinion, that means he was like a lost member of DITC) Osyris started dabbling in beat-making when he took a music production class in high school: “They had us use a program that is it called Mixcraft 5? it was horrible.” His big break as a producer came with his dirty, noisy instrumental on Lucki's “Bprint,” off the Chicago star's 2017 tape Watch My Back. That's when Osiris got the name Ravi, a name inspired by a line about “ravioli” in Chief Keef's “Fool Ya.” He eventually grew out of it and got his government name.
Ever since he got kicked out of his house around the time of that Lucki track, Los Angeles has been kicking it. There, Osyris helped form the digital collective Corazonn, a loosely defined group of rappers and producers that includes too many artists to keep track of. His mixtapes serve to hold it all together, however, by showcasing his far-flung crew members.
Venture outside the tapes, and it's just a lot of fun shit. Maybe he'll dress the melodic enigma Izaya Tiji in dark magic, or beat the hell out of YoungBoy, or take his house bag, or do an off-the-wall DJ set for the Surf Gang's NTS radio show. Below is a (slightly edited) conversation I had with the ultra-relaxed Osyris Israel, via FaceTime, from his place in Sherman Oaks, a neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley well removed from most of the noise of Los Angeles. It feels right to be outside the chaos in his own world.
Pitchfork: It's 9:30 AM. there in LA What have you heard so far this morning?
Osyris Israel: For the past few weeks I've been hearing the same shit. Just Dj Ess flipping.
My favorite right now is the one he did on Certified Trapper “Hole in My Neck”. I really like loud shit. I like fucking mixes and stuff.
I feel like your mixtapes can veer into that area as well. They are definitely really scattered. Is this intentional?
No, to be honest. I really just cook. I'm tired of hearing the same thing over and over again. If I listen to a beat for too long, I'm not gonna like that shit. Sometimes, I'll spend a few days making beats that all sound the same, and I'll get sick of it and try to go in the opposite direction.
Are you the type of producer who works on a different type of beat everyday? Like, today is 'Rap Day' and tomorrow is 'Drum Bass Day'.
It is in seasons. To be honest, I don't even do drum and bass that often. I've probably only done 30 of these songs in total.
Thirty sounds like a good amount to me.
Do you think so? I mean, it's been, like, five years. But, usually, whenever I make a beat, I start from scratch, so it goes where it goes. In the last couple of years, I've been making a lot of rap stuff. I think it's fun and easier than dancing.
Are you less comfortable making dance music?
I just listen to a lot of old dance mixes and recordings, and I love it Damn, it doesn't sound like it. I want it to be better when I do. I'm kind of cool with making it at my own pace. I just want it to be as good as possible.
What do you compare yourself to?
Well, I wouldn't say “compare”. Well, maybe I compare myself to that. Detroit shit, Chicago shit. I like Ron Trent, Frankie Knuckles and Theo Parrish mixes.
I mean, these are the heavy hitters. How did you get into house music?
Probably through video games as a kid. Old fighting games that my older cousins had or when I had a GameCube I had it SSX games and I really liked the soundtrack. They had a whole range of music that I was obsessed with, not just house, but I remember playing Bloc Party “Banquet” as well. But, for these three in particular, it was just a few years ago. I was listening to one of the Gum.mp3 mixes, and I Shazammed a song, and it was Ron Trent “Jazz Funk Freedom”, and I just started listening to all his mixes. And there's this guy on SoundCloud, DJ M-Traxxx, he just uploads a bunch of files. I listen to Theo Parrish every time he posts [Parrish’s music]. Shit is amazing.
Do you upload your mixtapes to one file because you want them to be consumed like DJ mixes?
Yes. But, actually, I started doing this around state of the union because something was wrong with my computer i couldn't export. I had to record the beats and everything, so it was easier to do it all in one file.
Were you ever really involved in the DMV rap scene?
When I was at school I listened to a lot of Shy Glizzy and Shabazz [PBG] and Q da Fool, when that shit was busted, but I was never that big on it. Now I'm not that used to it, except when my friend Fendi plays it and it sounds really good.
What about go-go?
My family loves go-go! Both my parents from Annapolis, Maryland, [so] That's all I have around when I go there. this is what they play to this day. I don't listen to it much when I'm gone, but when I come back and it's right there, like even my barber is in a fucking band.
Is there a producer that you modeled your production style on?
Possibly Flying Lotus; inspired me to let go of anything I want, any genre.
Do you have a process for making beats?
I feel like I have ADHD. I need to have a bunch of monitors up so I can have a video game on one monitor or something. I'm checking out so fast I can't just look at the laptop until I'm done. I have erected a child's ass.
What was the last thing you saw while making a beat?
I like having something that I don't really need to pay attention to, but it looks cool Samurai Shambleu; I have it in many. But the last thing was probably something stupid. I think it was a YouTube interview of FBG Butta.
Oh, man. If you watched it, you must be deep in DJ Vlad's universe?
Well, it's bad. It's bad. I watch this crap all day. All interviews in Chicago. It's a problem.
Besides music, what influences your beats?
I have a daughter now, so. The two years before my daughter was born, I didn't even care. I was just here in LA doing whatever. I didn't care about anything but smoking and kicking and only occasionally made beats. I wasn't worried about making money or anything, then that changed my life and motivated me to just be consistent.
What changes did you make?
Just making beats all the time. And I stopped sending beats to anyone and just started making music with specific people only.
With Corazonn? Is that how you started?
Yes. Me, MKYFM, and my friend from Maryland, Acid. We made a Discord server and we just started hanging out with people on there and people just started claiming it. So whoever wanted to be in it, we just let them rock. It's cool, some of my closest friends I met through it.
Ever plan on making a proper group tape?
We plan, we're just so scattered. Some of us are in Los Angeles. Some of us are in Miami. some of us are in atlanta. It's something to do when you're all together.
When was the last time someone actually put you on an artist you ended up working with?
A few years ago when MKYFM showed me Tomibillsbigger.
I've found a bunch of rappers through your mixes and tapes. Do you feel this way with anyone?
I'm just on SoundCloud and I'm going through some people's likes, going through those people's pages that you see there and they're in every comment section. I like everything. Then sometimes I go back to it and I'm like, Hey man, what the hell is this.
Are you more selective about your music?
Yes, I'm slowly working on it. But all I want is for it to sound good. If it sounds good to me, then I'm happy with it.
R&B Rewind: Deep Threat's Deep threat (2002)
Jolivette, Nitro, and Ken are Deep Threat, a Houston R&B trio that was in the Screwed Up Click orbit in the late 90s and early 2000s. Until a few weeks ago, I only knew of them through of their sultry, horny hospitality on Lil' Flip's “Boxers,” where one or all of them (I can't tell) beg for some girl. to let them crash. Their one and only album, from 2002, featuring multiple versions of this Lil Flip song, has almost the same energy. I could imagine listeners criticizing the album for being too modern: The classic soul harmonies feel too jumbled, and the dramatic, spoken-word intros give off Timbaland vibes. Get over it, though, and you'll be left with their relentless sex drive. They're also incredibly funny, mostly because they're so serious: “I'm just a squirrel tryin' to get my…” they passionately sing on “Belt Buckle,” treating that ridiculous line like it's Boyz II Men on “End of Road”. Also, some of that Houston funk kicks in, especially on album highlight “There for You,” a slow and sexy ballad with singer Nakeitha set against a soft, squirming beat that would be silly. . These playboys were on to something.
