LU: How do you build your riddims? Do you say, People are listening to stuff that sounds like this and I want to take it in this next direction, or are you just coming up with things that just sound good?
Rvssian: It depends. Sometimes I find just one little sound in the studio, and play a melody and create something around that. Then you might go somewhere in the world and hear an influence to give your sound a certain vibe. But it’s never ‘oh the people are going with this right now so I’m gonna go with that.’ I think in the whole five years I’ve been in the industry no one can come to me and say that my shit sounds like another person’s.
LU: The Go Go Club, was a breakthrough riddim for you, and a gamechanger. How did you come up with that one?
Rvssian: I built that riddim in probably less than five minutes. Most of my riddims that are more successful have been created [quickly], off of feeling more than thinking. Music is an art so you must just feel it. I was on the phone with a girl at the time, messing around on the piano, and by the time the phone call hung up, I turned up the speaker, like This is the shit. DJ Frass came over and I played it for him and he was like Yo dog, it’s lame you ah lose it? Wha dis? And I sent it to Kartel and tell him it’s the baddest riddim and him call me back and said it was lame, too! So I said to Kartel, you must be high or something, listen to it tomorrow.
So him call back tomorrow and he said, Call di Star and all the media right now. He said Call di man, tell him he’s the baddest DJ in the world. He told me to come to the studio, and he did the song in one take. From the first line, and the way he says my name on the melody of the intro, I knew it was a success. Everything was perfect. Even with the Merital song, “My Money” how that even come about [is] they come up and perform [with me] at Kartel’s birthday party. Nobody knew them, I came up with the song with them, and it rocked the crowd. So Kartel said put that song on the riddim.
LU: How did you become part of Kartel’s inner circle?
Rvssian: I have my own entity, Head Concussion Records, but I’m not a part of Gaza or anything. It’s just that me and him have a good working chemistry. It’s just like a Lex Luger and Rick Ross or Waka Flocka. They’re not signed, their sound just blends good together, and they have a good chemistry to just work with each other. So, it may look like I’m under his camp but I have my own thing. It’s just that we have a good work thing and we understand each other and respect each other as musicians.