Exclusive Interview: Pop Culturalist Chats with iE-z

Rapper iE-z knows how to keep things one hundred. That’s why listeners around the world have connected with his sound and artistry and why he’s one to watch in 2020. Earlier this summer, he dropped a brand-new anthem, “Unfinessable.” We caught up with iE-z to learn more about the inspiration behind the song.

PC: How did you discover your passion for music?
iE-z: I was always around music. I come from a very musical family. My uncle was a Motown R&B artist. He used to play the piano. My mother used to play different songs. We would sing duets and stuff together.

PC: Who or what has had the biggest influence on your career?
iE-z: It would be my aunt. She doesn’t really do music. She just knows it. She’s always influenced me as far as putting me onto different artists. She was always trying to influence it and let me know which records I should sample. She made me appreciate music more so than what I would have naturally done as a kid.

PC: If you could give your younger self one piece of advice, knowing everything you know now, what would it be and why?
iE-z: Don’t be afraid. Have no fear. Do everything out of love.

PC: You have a new single out now. Tell us about “Unfinessable” and the inspiration behind the track?
iE-z: I actually did that record back in 2017. I’m just now releasing it. At the time, I was at a point in my life where I was dealing with a lot of cats in the streets who would try to finesse me over some money stuff. I won’t get too far into the details about it. This song was the answer to what I was feeling at that time because I was a finesser myself. I was finessing people out of the money that they were trying to finesse me out of. So in a sense, I was unfinessable. It’s not even really a word, but people kept saying, “Man, you’re the finesse guy. You’re the finesse kid. You can’t be finessed.”

I took the inspiration from the streets, what people were telling me, and what I was dealing with on a day to day when I was making fast money. I won’t really get into details about it, but in a sense, I became unfinessable. So I said, “Man, I’m going to go ahead and make a song about it.” I heard a song that was sent to me by this guy named Black Male. He’s a well-known producer. Basically, he sent me three or four beats. This kid was going to high school at the time. He was sending beats on his lunch break from his phone, which I thought was really cool. He’s never gone to any professional music school or anything like that.

He’s a kid making beats on his phone. He was sending it to me and I heard that beat in particular. I was like, “Man, I got to buy this exclusively. I got to get on it.” And I got it on the same day that I heard it. The song ended up being what it is today. The video—everything that goes into it—is very creative. It’s more like a fun, energetic feel–type record. I shot the video at the beach.

PC: You’re getting ready to release some more new music. Is there anything you can tease about that? How will that next body of work differentiate itself from your previous releases?
iE-z: How it’s going to differentiate itself from my previous work is a lot of this is more professional now. I’m still mixing and mastering all of my work. I’m pretty self-sufficient. I’ve always been. But I’m doing things at a higher-quality standard.

I did everything professionally and not only is the quality going to be superb, there are different sounds and subgenres within the whole. It’s a nice body of work that flows and segues perfectly from track to track to where you can’t see the song changes. It’s very seamless. Like I said, there are different records. I got R&B on there. I’ve got anthem records I could perform at shows. I’ve got records for the street. I’ve got records for the ladies. I just want to touch and connect with everybody from different areas, demographics, and age groups.

Pop Culturalist Speed Round

PC: A band or artist that fans would be surprised to learn is on your playlist?
iE-z: Little Dragon. There’s also a band called Portishead. I’m a big Rage Against The Machine fan. I listen to Sade and Erykah Badu on a daily.

PC: First album you bought?
iE-z: Nas’ Stillmatic.

PC: First concert you attended?
iE-z: Kanye West at the House of Blues in Vegas with John Legend.

PC: A venue on your bucket list to perform at?
iE-z: I’ve done Coachella. I went to SXSW. I really want to do Rolling Loud. I want to do it in Miami because when I went to Miami for the first one, XXX was there. XXX opened the door for a lot of the youth to be understood on a different level.

It’s Rolling Loud. I saw Kendrick perform there. Literally, everybody was riding in the crowd, just going crazy mosh pitting. I would like to do a performance like Travis Scott’s ASTROWORLD. Travis puts on a show. I also like Cole Bennett’s venue, the Lyrical Lemonade. All those venues are dope.

PC: A must-have on the road?
iE-z: The books I read, my laptop, headphones, my drone—what else? A lot of money. And both of my phones, man—those are a must. And gas, of course. You’ve got to have gas. You can’t get anywhere without gas.

To keep up with iE-z, follow him on Twitter and Instagram. Pick up or stream “Unfinessable” today.