ON THE RISE
When you say his name, be sure to pronounce the “eye-be-eye” at the end.
Youngworldibi, an artist who splits his time between Camden, N.J. and Lancaster, Pa., is using the doubts of others as fuel for the fire to put his stamp on the hip hop industry with his latest album, “Blackout,” released on all platforms in July.
With 13 tracks on a variety of different beats, Youngworldibi is letting people know he’s an all-around artist, and he’s got something for almost everyone and messages that almost anyone can feel.
“I’ve got a lot of lyricisms in me and I wanted to show people what I could do with different types of beats and not just stick to one type,” he said. “I made it a point to try different styles of beats and show this is something I’m serious about.”
Youngworldibi said he’s always been a music fan and started writing raps and songs in his mid-teens, but the trials and tribulations of life took him on a detour that changed his style and outlook.
“Back when I was a kid my flow was a lot different,” Yongworldibi said. “It was more like lovey dove stuff, like more for girls. My style has changed since then. My style changed when I got locked up. That’s when I really found my style. I believe, me being locked up, all the anger and frustration it actually helped me find my style. My music is more aggressive now and I guess that’s where I get it from.”
After spending more than a decade in lock-up, Youngworldibi had to get his life back on track, but once he was settled, he headed to the studio to try to make his musical dreams come true.
He wanted to use the stage name Youngworld, but figuring that was taken, he attached the letters ibi, initials for “intellectual black ink,” to the end.
Drawing from some of the greats, like Biggy, Jay-Z and Cam’Ron, Youngworldibi took his experiences as a young man and his experiences from prison and used them to create a collection of quality raps.
He put out an album called “Taking the Throne,” with 21 tracks, then in July he released the 13-track album, “Blackout,” and went to work pushing his career and sound.
“I feel like I’ve gotten better, but not only that the sound is better as far as the mastering of the tracks and the mixing,” he said. “I’ve just stepped it up since then. It’s hard to explain my sound, but I’ll try. It is different, I don’t really think my sound fits with any other sound or sounds. I would say it’s music people can relate to it, I’m talking about personally. It’s just quality music, quality hip hop.”
Youngworldibi said the track “Megatron,” number 13 on the Spotify list, is his favorite.
“I like Megatron,” he said. “It’s just got that original hip hop sound. It’s a feel good track at the same time. When you hear the beat, I just like the way the beat and the way the sound, everything came out.”
Another tune, “LANC,” talks about his hometown.
Then there’s “Blue Pill,” which he describes as having his hard, gritty, yet lyrical style.
Youngworldibi said each tune on the album has a little piece of him in it. He listens to the beats and he lets the beats speak to him as he’s creating his music.
“That’s how I come up with my music, I don’t fully plan it out,” he said. “I just find a beat and I listen to it and come up with ideas.”
Now that “Blackout,” is on the streets, Youngworldibi is turning to future projects and releases.
“I’ve got a new single, ‘The Ride’ coming out Aug. 18,” he said. “It’s a feel-good track, it’s a nice beat. I think it’s more of a laid back track. Of course I still talk my shit, but you know.”
He’s also taken down his first big album, “Taking the Throne,” and working to re-release it later this summer in two parts.
“I had to take it down and I’m going to redo it, make it two parts, part one and part two,” he said. “I’m going to add more track on them. It’ll be coming out in three to four months. I’m going to break it down and add more tracks to it.”
Be sure to stay connected to Youngworldibi and follow him on all platforms for new music, videos, and social posts.
Websites:
Amazon Music
Apple Music
Spotify
YouTube
ON THE RISE
Blossoms caught up with NME to discuss competing with The Beatles and Johnny Marr for this week’s Number One album. With ‘Songs From The Wedding Cake’ in the running, the band also explained why making things themselves remains such an important part of their work as AI becomes more common.
The Stockport group put out their sixth album last Friday, October 2. By the midweek update, it was sitting at Number Two, between The Beatles’ expanded edition of ‘Rubber Soul’ and Johnny Marr’s latest solo album, ‘The Age Of Everything’.
“It’s mad, to be honest,” singer Tom Ogden said to NME about the chart race. “Liverpool on one side, Manchester on the other and Stockport in the middle. If you’d told us this 10 years ago, when we were releasing our debut, I wouldn’t have believed you. But I mean, we’re in good company aren’t we?”
Discussing the stories behind the album, Ogden described ‘Songs From The Wedding Cake’ as “about being married and all the everyday stuff that comes with it”. He married Katie Donovan, the sister of Blossoms drummer Joe, in 2021. Married life has since given him a new appreciation for what he describes as “the extraordinary ordinary”.
“Saying the wrong thing in an argument, losing your wife’s no claims bonus, crying at the Kardashians, it’s all in there,” he explained. “The album is named after Stockport Town Hall, which everyone round where we live calls the Wedding Cake, and it’s where I got married, so it couldn’t be much closer to home.
“The last album [‘Gary’, 2024] had a song about a stolen fibreglass gorilla, which everyone loved, and that gave us the confidence to bring the same playfulness to this one, just with more personal subject matter this time.”
Alongside tracks that came out of writing sessions with Declan McKenna in a hot tub, the album reflects the band’s desire to stay involved in every part of the creative process.
“It started with the recording,” Ogden explained. “We made the album with Shawn Lee, playing live straight to tape, and once you’ve done it that way you can’t really go and fake everything else. We sat down as a band and picked the colour palette, and everything visual followed from that. We had body scans taken of ourselves and cake toppers of the five of us 3D printed, put them on a real cake and photographed it. I’ve directed and edited the videos, and the sets are all built by hand, no green screen. For the pop-up shop on launch weekend, a local artist hand-painted the album cover for the sign outside.
“It’s more work, but you end up with a world that’s yours, and I think people can tell when a band’s had its hands on everything.”
With AI tools and digital effects becoming increasingly widespread, that approach feels particularly relevant. For Blossoms, though, the motivation is simple: “the fun is in the making”.
“Tape doesn’t let you cheat and neither does a real cake,” Ogden said. “If a set’s a bit wonky, it’s because one of us or our mates built it. I think the more stuff gets generated, the more people want to know a human being actually did it. We’ve been in this band together for over 10 years, five lads from Stockport, and that isn’t something you can ‘prompt’.”
Maya Jama also appeared in the video for the album’s first single, ‘Meet Me In Love’. Her appearance came shortly before the UK launch of Celebrity Traitors, where she took on the role of a traitor alongside a cast that included Richard E Grant and James Acaster.
“She was brilliant,” Ogden recalled of working with Jama. “We’d met her at the MTV EMAs in Manchester a couple of years ago, so we took a chance and sent her a DM …and she said yes. Next thing she’s in a theatre in Cheadle miming my vocals while a load of people dressed as me serenade her. She got the idea straight away and was a proper laugh about it.”
The conversation then turned to whether he thought Jama could take home the win on Celebrity Traitors.
Ogden joked: “As for Traitors, she spent a whole day pretending to sing my song and I almost believed her, so I’d say she’s got every chance.”
Fans can listen to ‘Songs From The Wedding Cake’ now. In November, Blossoms head out on a UK arena tour with The Royston Club. Tickets and further details are available here.
Before the tour begins, the group is also scheduled to appear on SNL UK on Saturday, October 24.
