Junia-T, one half of the renowned Toronto hip-hop duo Smash Brovaz, has taken on a new serious role as a producer lately and is making noise with his distinct smooth sound. The multi-talented Sauga spitter is set to headline this month’s Big Ticket, Toronto’s premier hip-hop monthly event, to show the city what he’s been working on.
YOU’VE BEEN BUSY. TELL US WHAT YOU’VE BEEN UP TO LATELY? The Smash Brovaz album release was a success. It’s still growing across the world. We’re just gearing up for new music for the rest of the year. Aside from that, me as a producer, that is my focus for this year. I’ve been blessed to have a lot of music come out this year that is produced by me. So far, Veronica Domingues’ album is coming out, which is produced all by me, it’s actually an EP. It’s called Just Chill… I’ve really been connecting with dudes on the come up and dudes that are really doing it, which is exciting, to be a part of the beginning phases of that.
WHY DID YOU DECIDE TO TAKE THE ROLE AS THE PRODUCER? I’ve always been producing. I’ve been producing since the first Smash Brovaz album came out like eight years ago. I spent so much time sharpening the performance skills, the writing skills, I was always progressively producing, but I never made myself available as a producer and I feel like I missed out on opportunities to work with some people in the past, because I didn’t really step forward with it… I went to LA and got to really play my music out there and that’s where my eyes really opened. Just seeing their reaction to my style, because I have a very distinct sound in terms of what I prefer to create. As much as there are modern trends in music, it may mildly influence where I’m at creatively, but it doesn’t take away from what my production style is. I was really happy to see people react in a positive way to what I naturally create.
SPEAKING OF YOUR DISTINCT STYLE, WHO IS JUNIA-T AS AN ARTIST AND AS A PRODUCER? As an artist, I’m the emcee’s emcee. I was born in the cypher lyrically… But when it comes to me as a producer, I’m more musically rounded. I think my musical influences show more in my production. I’m the son of a drummer so I was raised around music. I was raised off of some of the best musicians in the city… As a producer, I really like that jazz, soul, neo soul and even that ’80s funk, that was heavily a part of my music diet and reggae too. When I produce, I try and keep it organic, but also that boom bap ’90s rap that I fell in love with hip-hop through. So it’s a mash up of all those sounds.
WHAT WOULD YOU SAY YOUR POSITION IS, OR WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE IT TO BE, IN THE CANADIAN MUSIC SCENE? I’d definitely like to be a recognized producer, not just for being a hip-hop producer, but being a producer of great music… I’m just hoping to work with a lot more creative people that just want to make beautiful music without any rules. I’m also doing this beat tape right now, it’s a crazy creative experience because I’m actually working with just musicians so I’m bringing in trumpet players, tuba players, guitarists, keyboardists, violinists and I’m really starting to feel like a real producer. I’m not a beat maker anymore; I’m actually a producer now. It’s just a different workflow… It’s been a more satisfying as a creative experience.
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