Complacency can kill the career of even the most gifted artists. It’s easy to pick a sound that works best and beat it to death. You might even make some hits, and enjoy a fun fifteen minutes of fame. Surviving and thriving in the long term, however, requires variation. Once you’ve gotten people’s attention, how are you able to keep it? The most tried-and-true answer to that question is to first identify what makes your music uniquely captivating and subsequently apply those factors to a myriad of different genres and styles. Want an example? Look no further than rapper BoofPaxkMooky and producer GRiMM Doza’s new mixtape, I’ve Been High For Days.

Though a full-length collaboration wasn’t something most fans probably would have thought to expect, Mooky and Doza had been on an artistic collision course before the mixtape even came out. Mooky is one of the biggest names in Plugg music, and has solid relationships with most of his peers. Speaking to Sparky over the phone, Mooky recounted how he first came to meet others in the world of Plugg revival: “I used to live out in North Carolina, and so I’d come to Atlanta to work. [Plugg superproducer] CashCache would come out to see me, and bring everyone through”. One of the artists that tagged along with CashCache was Tony Shhnow, who released his own full-length project, Kill Streak, with Doza last year. Looking even beyond that, Doza has collaborated with a number of Plugg artists outside of Shhnow in the past, and is clearly a fan of the new Plugg artists; it was only a matter of time until he and Mooky would connect. When they finally did, the result is a sort of spiritual successor to Kill Streak: it replaces the airy synths and trap percs of Plugg for heavy, prominent samples, while still providing the enough room for Mooky’s signature punched-in, auto-tuned flows to feel right at home.

While there’s definitely a sonic connection between Kill Streak and I’ve Been High For Days, it’s not a direct correlation: while Shhnow’s tape was mostly built on loops that would sound at home on a grimey Griselda track,the production on I’ve Been High For Days relies more on the sweet sounds of ‘80’s R&B. It’s a tribute to Doza’s understanding of Mooky’s sound and his effort to cater his beats to them. “When he first sent me the beats, I was surprised. It was some different shit”, Mooky says. “I loved the vibe. It was some old-school shit, but it fit perfect… it felt natural to rap on. All the beats that are on the tape came from that first pack he sent me, because I immediately knew exactly how I wanted to approach them.” Listening to the tape, it’s hard to argue that it wasn’t a match made in heaven. Mooky floats effortlessly across each and every song, whether it’s straight up rapping or something more melodic like the tape’s single, “Red”, which finds Mooky moving back and forth between melodic and fully-rapped sections over dreamy xylophones and synthesizers.

I’ve Been High For Days is an exciting project because it represents a bridge between two of underground hip-hop’s biggest subgenres. For fans of Plugg music, Doza’s production may lead them to explore the realm of sample-based rap and find themselves fans of the “dusty” music they sometimes discard as outdated. For the backpackers who came to hear the beats, Mooky’s rapping serves as a ticket to the world of Plugg, a genre that’s similarly laid-back and reliant on the cleverness of its emcees. Mooky sees the tape as not only a crossover, but something that can strengthen the ties between looped production and Plugg artists. “I just want to open doors”, he explains, “I want to show that you can get on different shit, and do your own thing”. As for what the future holds for the duo, Mooky assures Sparky that there’s more to come: “Me and GRiMM will keep working. Keep going with these crazy beats, keep finding new vibes”. While he expresses an interest in continuing to work in a similar instrumental lane, it’s clear that Mooky is most excited by working in increasingly unique production, not only to push himself, but to assure his fanbase they’ll never know what to expect. That’s how you keep them interested.

Written By Michael Di Gennaro

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