News J£ZUS MILLION: ‘I’m Doing Something Way Better Now’

Boston’s Joseph Zucco is whole-heartedly focusing on music and nothing else. The 19-year-old producer, a.k.a. J£ZUS MILLION, is starting to pick up serious interest, particularly now he’s dropped his debut mixtape, ‘Cold Shoulder’.

But his hip-hop righteous name’s cropped up in many places before - he produced a few tracks on Charli XCX’s debut album, ‘True Romance’, after they met through their managers. The collaboration’s still very low-key by most people’s standards. “I’ve never been in a real studio, so I’m still working from home and sending beats via email to other artists,” he says. “I hope to one day get into the studio with her or someone else.”



The fact that J£ZUS MILLION is recruiting artists through email is a testament to the DIY approach to his works. ‘Cold Shoulder’ features vocals from rising Brit YADi and Chicago rapper Sasha Go Hard. There’s also a revamped edition of an older track of his, ‘That Heat’, which now has Pandr Eyez on it. “I got their version of it one day in my email and I just thought it sounded really cool. I didn’t think anyone would do anything with ‘That Heat’, but it just popped up and I heard it and liked it, so I ended up mixing it,” he explains. “It was quite random how it happened. I just thought they did a really good rendition of it because I’ve heard people go over it, but I never really liked any of them until I heard Pandr Eyez.”

Citing Bradford Cox’s Atlas Sound and J Dilla as the artists that got him into music and producing, after learning instruments in the fourth grade, it’s no wonder his sound is so distinctive and can be filed under “miscellaneous” as far as a visible influence is concerned. Even with the hoards of producers coming up at the moment, when you hear his complex textures and jittery shooting synths, like on ‘Jump’, it’s obviously J£ZUS MILLION. He seems to already have his trademark sound stamped.

Despite this he’s perfectly aware there’s got a long way to go. Talking about releasing his debut mixtape he admits: “It feels weird because I recorded [the songs] months ago and I’m always getting better at what I’m doing, learning how to do shit in terms of producing. So it’s good, but I don’t know, I feel like I’m doing something way better now.”

Absorbed in music, the producer dropped out on college after the first semester back in December to work on his music full-time. He’s got some serious plans. A proper release expected in January - an EP out on Double Denim Records. It’s time to get excited. What artists will he be emailing for their collaborative services? J£ZUS MILLION said he wanted to get Danny Brown on ‘Cold Shoulder’, so who knows who’ll be receiving a speculative message in their inbox. He also wants to do a “proper tour”, and has ideas for a college tour and travelling to Europe. Though he currently only has a DJ set up, eventually he wants a guitarist and keyboardist to join him on the road, but emphasises how there’re “no plans yet.”



J£ZUS MILLION appears to be focused on these goals, so this additional band members thing is not an out of reach goal by any means. When asked who his dream collaboration would be with, he ponders before settling on Brian Eno. That’s not even a wildly unrealistic target. Eno produced ‘Digital Lion’ on James Blake’s second album, ‘Overgrown’, one of the artists that J£ZUS MILLION name checked when talking about what UK artists he enjoys listening to – along with Sampha and Twigs. Whatever lies ahead for the producer he seems to relish in continuing to learn and improve his skills, which is the ultimate mindset needed for keeping everyone engaged and breaking through for good.

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Kids For A Quid

London-based Pandr Eyez released their ‘Physical Education’ EP in back November last year. The singer/production duo Ferren Gipson and Tom Lloyd channel electro and R&B vibes for a slick outcome.

Sasha Go Hard

Feisty rapper Sasha Go Hard has worked with some recognisable acts in the game already, including Kreayshawn and Diplo, who both feature on her ‘Round 3’ mixtape, released earlier this year.

YADi
South London songwriter YADi released her ‘Creatures’ single last month and also appears on Raffertie’s ‘Trust’. It’s no wonder why everyone wants Hannah Yadi’s blissful vocals over their fresh and creative production