Beninois-Ghanaian producer Rvdical The Kid finally made a return to music this year after a 5 year-hiatus since his last full length project Carte Blanche. His most recent release Little Planet sees Rvdical embracing a new soundscape and giving us just a taste of what he has in store for 2021. ASBO sat down with Rvdical to discuss his new project, his sound and what’s next.
ASBO: So, how was the shoot?
Rvdical: It was good…I tried to give y’all some Ghanaian vibes [laughs]
ASBO: Thanks, we appreciate that. Speaking of vibes and Ghana, how long have you lived in Accra, Ghana for?
Rvdical: I’ve been here for four years now, since 2016. The thing I love most about it is that it’s so chill, everyone is so fucking chill. It’s a good and a bad thing, but I’ll focus on the good.
ASBO: How so?
Rvdical: Like sometimes you want to make plans or something, and because everyone’s so chill it can be quite exhausting to achieve. I like it though especially since I’m not trying to work the industry.
ASBO: Do you think that chill vibe has influenced you musically? On your last project Carte Blanche, it sounded more like Soundcloud producers of that time like Icytwat etc. Do you think it has broadened your sound in a way?
Rvdical: I think everything influences my sound because I don’t like overthinking my process, I don’t like pointing to one thing I just kind of soak up everything around me. One thing I do know is that since moving to Accra my sound has become more open, and I would definitely blame the sun for that [laughs]. Because you can’t be hot and depressed in the sun, so melodically, harmonically the music just naturally becomes more brighter [laughs]. I noticed this recently when I was working with Amaarae and she just kept mentioning it.
ASBO: It’s good you mentioned Amaarae because she’s just blowing up like crazy right now. She’s also featured on the tape, on the song “Nasa”, was that song recorded in Ghana as well?
Rvdical: Yeah that was recorded in my studio in Accra.
ASBO: How did that song come about?
Rvdical: So, we met through like a mutual friend, a photographer I haven’t spoken to in like two years, I should do better [laughs]. One day he was going to pick up some footage from her, and he told me. “Hey you want to come with me? I’m going to see this girl who makes music you should work with her.” But I’m always sceptical of people’s recommendations so I was like “Yeah whatever, we’ll see.” We get there and we play each other our music and we’re both like “yeah this is cool”. We exchange numbers and then we never spoke again for like the next eight months. Until one day we run into each other at a festival, that day we worked on a track and then the next day we recorded Nasa.
ASBO: Wow in those two days?
Rvdical: Yeah and that was almost two years ago now, and I’ve just had it tucked.
ASBO: From what I’ve heard Amaarae also named another song on the project “Skimp on The Shrimp”, is that true?
Rvdical: [laughs] well she didn’t name it, that was just Amaa being Amaa. She was complaining about the shrimp she ordered, and she was like “They’re skimping on the shrimp” [laughs] so I just took it.
ASBO: One last question for Skimp on The Shrimp, why did you do the girl in the intro like that [laughs] she asked not to be the voicemail girl but you did it anyway [laughs]?
Rvdical: She was asking for it bro [laughs]. That’s Yonkwi’s ex-girlfriend.
ASBO: [laughs] Let’s get back to current influences, what albums or artists are you currently listening too?
Rvdical: I’m not really listening to albums right now, but I’m listening to specific songs. I like that Flatbush Zombies song “Afterlife” and I’ve been completely obsessed. I’ve also been listening to a lot of Travis Scott.
ASBO: Yeah you mention your love for his music a lot on Twitter.
Rvdical: The story is I was taking a trip to North Ghana and it was a long trip, like a 12-hour trip. I was listening to “Rodeo” and this nigga was riding the beat so crazy I was like “what?”. Then I listened to “Astroworld” and analysed the way he writes his songs, and the chaos he incites musically. I want to be that kind of artist, I want to be very, very unpredictable.
ASBO: As a producer you work very efficiently, for example the FACT Magazine challenge when you made the beat in 10 minutes, is that a common occurrence?
Rvdical: Yeah, I can come up with ideas very quickly, like 5 ideas at a time. However, when it comes to fleshing out those ideas and thinking through it can take months.
ASBO: Is that part of the reason it took five years for you to drop another project?
Rvdical: Yeah, I’m pretty rigorous when it comes to my work, my manager literally had to set a deadline for me.
ASBO: It seems now you have a stronger support system; On Twitter you stressed the importance of a support system for artists in the music industry. Is that something that was missing during the recording of Carte Blanche?
Rvdical: I have always had a support system. That statement on my Twitter is the essence of “Little Planet”. It’s just me extrapolating that idea and saying it’s your planet, that’s really what it’s about. Finding people that understand what you’re doing and understand where you’re going, which I think is very important.
ASBO: On the release date of “Little Planet” you took to your Instagram, and it was like a love affair between you and your fans that day. Most artists would just drop and move on, but you wanted to share that moment with them, what inspired that?
Rvdical: [laughs] I didn’t realise that’s what I was doing, there was just so much love being spread that day and I wanted to reciprocate it. Usually I would drop and bounce, but the love was just so much.
ASBO: Regarding your next project will it be on streaming or will you just put it on your Bandcamp?
Rvdical: Yeah it will be on streaming, I’ve only recently put “Little Planet” on Bandcamp.
ASBO: I only asked because earlier in the year you dropped that three-song project “Rue Du Roi” on Bandcamp and not streaming.
Rvdical: Damn bro [laughs] you’re like deep, deep [laughs] I always forget about that project. I started working on that a week before I dropped it. Only reason it’s not on streaming is due to sample clearance issues. [laughs] We leave the sampled stuff on Bandcamp.
ASBO: The standout song on “Little Planet” is the song “Often” featuring Nonso Amadi, how did that come about?
Rvdical: He hit me up maybe three or four years ago, and he wanted me to work on a song with him. As soon as we started working the chemistry was there instantly, so much so we had plans to work on an EP. But then his career kind of took off and we started going into two completely different directions. When I started working on “Little Planet” I asked him if he wanted to do a song and he said “Absolutely!” because he wanted to show people, he could do other things outside of Afrobeats. When we started working, “Often” wasn’t even the song we were doing it was a different song. But I was overthinking it, so I scrapped it. I had the beat for “Often” already, so I just re-worked it and that’s how that came about.
ASBO: Do you have anything else in store for 2020?
Rvdical: I’m going to be dropping a video for “Nasa” coming out very soon. I’m currently working on a video for “Familiar” and I might drop a single, if not this year then next year. I’m also executive producing projects for M.anifest and Amaarae’s new project.
ASBO: Do you think you’d do an album next year, or would you take the Dilla route and do a beat tape instead?
Rvdical: I always want it to be a blend because I started out as a producer first, I’m really drawn to vocals unless the artist is doing very interesting stuff melodically. I don’t ever want to leave that side of me, I’m still part of the guild of producers who hate artists [laughs].
Words: Andre Darby
