Interview: Nashville Rapper Z. Smith Talks About His New Album "Scorched"
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“When I wrote “Scorched”, I was in a place where I was looking back on who I used to be compared to who I was then, and who I would become if I continued down the path I was on.”
Congratulations on the completion and release of your "Scorched" album; describe for us your creative process for the development of its 13 tracks.
Hey thank you! It definitely took on a lot of different shapes, but I really can't see it turning out any other way than the final product.
Back in 2018 I didn't exactly go about it the right way. I didn't have a plan for an album at all; no budget, no structure in mind. I was just putting together some singles when we recorded "Split" and "Hades." After those two were finished, I started to play around with the idea of a project based on the seven deadly sins, with "Split" embodying Wrath, and "Hades" personifying pride. With that template in mind, I really wanted to try to experiment with different sounds that I hadn't personally tried yet. Something with more live instruments and more of a rock/metal/alternative sound, which is what led to making "Cut The Lights!", "Press Play", "Am I Crazy?" and finally "Scorched."
When I wrote “Scorched”, I was in a place where I was looking back on who I used to be compared to who I was then, and who I would become if I continued down the path I was on. I started thinking about my life like a vinyl record and as I finished the song, I was, like, simultaneously finishing the concept for the album as a whole and had no idea until after it was done.
From there I was able to build some structure with the tracks I had finished and also get an idea of the blanks I needed to fill in, and I just kept making new songs until I felt like it told the story that I wanted it to. Each track was like a piece of the puzzle that helped show the shape the next song needed to fit, and by the time I got to "Pretty Boy Floyd" it was like I knew how it would turn out before it was finished.
You've got some very dope features on several of the album's songs. How did you go about determining which artists would fit best on each song?
The featured artists are insanely talented, and they were each found in very different ways. Sometimes the song will be finished first and then you try to find a feature that you think will match the energy and complement what's already laid out.
Take "Black Pen" for example: we had looked at a couple different artists to feature on the 2nd verse after the song was already done, but once we found Ryan Oakes, it was just one of those things where you could already hear his voice fitting what he had in front of us. When we got his verse back, he didn't just meet our expectations, he really killed it all together and it felt like he made it his own.
Looking at "Am I Crazy?" though, that song was made so KNOX could feature. I had found a clip of KNOX singing on Twitter like several months before I reached out to him, and when I saw the video I immediately saved it because I knew I wanted to get him on a song. Didn't know what song, or when it would be, but knew I had to send something his way down the line. So when we got in the studio and made the instrumental, it was made with his voice and style in mind.
Were there any other songs that you recorded for the album that did not make the final track list? If so, why didn't they and will we ever hear them?
There were a lot of songs that I had written that didn't make the cut, but there was only one that we had taken the time to produce, record, and mix & master but didn't end up on the album. It's called "Was It Something I Said?" and it was meant to go right between "Split" and "Pretty Boy Floyd."
It was made pretty early on, but when it came time to play the album from front to back, it felt like it was sort of forced and didn't really fit with everything else. It's not a bad track, it has some pretty hard lines and I still like the overall message. I don't know if I'll end up putting it out as a single or stripping it down and using the bars from it on something new down the line. I'll keep you posted on that one.
If you had to pick one song from the album that is the most representative of you as an artist overall, which one would it be?
That one's tough. Like real tough. I feel like each song represents a very real side of me, just in different ways. I think "Hades" is the most representative of me as a rapper/artist, but "Scorched" definitely shows my most honest self.
With the "Scorched" album now released, what are some of your goals musically for the rest of 2020?
We had a plan this year to get on the road, play show after show, and start getting face to face with the people who have been so supportive and want to see this grow into something more. I've definitely got some time mapped out for new music, but as soon as venues start booking again my energy will be spent getting that plan back on track. 2020's still young, we'll get it there.
Did you have a favorite album and/or artist growing up that inspired you to start writing rhymes?
The first rap song I ever really paid attention to and liked was Eminem's "Mockingbird." I heard it in 7th grade on the way to a basketball game when a friend put a headphone in my ear and that's what really got me to take an interest in hip-hop.
I didn't start writing until I was 15 and that was when I had first heard Jake Miller, back when he was still rapping. Something about his videos, cadence, voice, it was just something that I was really able to relate to at that age and inspired me to start writing my own stuff.
The album that got me to take things a little more seriously, though, was MGK's "General Admission." "Merry Go Round" is still one of the darkest but most beautifully written songs I've heard and that whole album kind of opened my eyes to what it takes to move someone with music.
There are so many songs, albums and artists I could name that have contributed to what I make, but GA just hit me at the right place, right time.