Blank Thought: This interview has been a long time coming given our work on On Death’s Door earlier this year & the current work we are doing for your next project. My first question to you would be from your perspective, why have you found our working relationship fruitful enough to continue to work on so much together? 

Mashoni: To be honest man, before we put out On Death’s Door, I had mostly done a lot of the more creative side of things. Kinda just making beats & occasionally sending them to other people, but you really helped on that side of things. I respect your opinion a lot, and I feel like you know what I’m looking for. The whole putting projects together thing is new for me. Previously, I felt there was not much structure in my work, and you obviously have a lot of practice in that area. So, I’ve been kind of stoked to have you involved to help compliment some of my experience & knowledge with your own. I saw a lot of the stuff you did with Zim and that turned out great, so I wanted to reach out and see about this new project. 

Blank Thought: Our path in working together has been natural, which I appreciate, but to start at the beginning, what would you say is the genesis to you creating your own music?

Mashoni: It's funny, I've always had an odd passion my entire life for sound. I was always very curious as to how things were made and what technically went into making that happen. Rap music has always been a part of my life, whether it was my first memory of my dad playing The Blueprint or Illmatic in the car or me bumping MF DOOM when I was in middle school. I liked a lot of different subgenres, and my dad was a big west coast guy, but that rugged New York sound pioneered by guys like Mobb Deep or the Wu Tang Clan that always attracted me. I got to college, and I never had created any of my own music and more just had a deep appreciation for the art. I had met some homies who used to get together and freestyle. They would always try to get me to join and eventually it worked. It became a passion, and we would go through playlists of YouTube beats. One day we ran out, and I realized that I could be making the beats we were rapping to. I started messing around in Garageband and I found myself feeling extremely limited with the stock stuff that the DAW had. Before you know it, I got Ableton, and I fell in love with producing. I always liked rapping, but I gravitated towards beats more in my own creation. That was around 2015, and I tried so many different genres and styles and have settled into my more recent sound. 

Blank Thought: What has your experience been in terms of producing for artists? For me that’s when things really changed in terms of me taking this more serious as a career. 

Mashoni: Honestly, the shift between producing for me and other people is still kinda happening. I’ve always been in my room making beats for me. I never had much of a plan & I’ve dealt with a lot of imposter syndrome as most artists do. I haven't put myself out there in the way I’m starting to now. It all really started with some of my guys I've been doing stuff with locally, such as the homies the Deadphone Dummies. You always learn a lot when you're in a room working with artists, and those guys particularly instilled a lot of confidence in me. It gave me the push to start working with guys like Toombs, and my experiences have helped me become more practiced and knowledgeable. Even connecting with guys like Knowitall and having him want to work with me has meant a lot for my development as a person as well as an artist. That first project with us really showed me it could be done. 

Blank Thought: Speaking of our first project On Death’s Door, what was that experience like for you? It was good man. I'd never really done anything to that extent in terms of music. We worked with a lot of different artists, and it was a bit uncomfortable at first because it was so new to me. It was a little overwhelming. I appreciated the belief in me, but I was still battling with those thoughts. I think doing that project was crucial for getting me out of my shell. It was therapeutic for my growth because it really helped me see the result and know what it took to get there. It was also really nice to have an album with artists on my beats.