TORONTO,ON—On the east borough of Toronto in East York, rapper Jimmy Yitty was writing an releasing music in an age where YouTube was a primary method of exposure, listening to Nas, Wu Tang Clan, and other artists that honed the poetic grit of New York hip-hop’s sound.
Jimmy Yitty—taking his name from East York, “Yitty” meaning “York”— found solace in the downtown Toronto scene years later, finding a community he connected with and soon looked to help. Toronto’s pop and hip-hop exposure from the likes of The Weeknd and Drake put the city on the map. But the underground scene had been making its own namesake, and Jimmy Yitty wanted to be a part of it.
“I actually didn't know that there was so much talent in the city of Toronto. I was so secluded to my own area that when I networked downtown, I had an extreme passion for it. This is exactly what I want to do, meeting these people, going to these events here, production that I've never heard before, hearing melodies I've never heard and ideas I've never seen before,” he says, releasing his debut EP Glass of Chardonnay in 2015. “It really just opened my eyes to how big this really is. And especially in Canada, growing up, we didn't have a lot of huge, huge artists to look up to.” That same year, Yitty would play 103 shows throughout Canada.
“Bleach” and “Finesse Demons” are Yitty’s two latest singles, set to be released off his upcoming record Feels Like Hell, to be released under his label Soda Money Records. While he was inspired by hip-hop growing up, heavy metal and grunge influenced these tracks for the rapper, incorporating singing and distorted guitar on “Bleach,” which talks about cleansing the memory of a bad relationship.
“That genre definitely inspired that and the production style of it represents how I'm feeling on the record too. I'm speaking of a past relationship in the record, but in a way where I'm regaining my power. I'm feeling the rage of something that I might not have taken into consideration during the time. It's a retrospective song where I'm gaining the power back,” says Jimmy Yitty. “You see the range not only in the cadence and content of the music, the song itself, the lyrics, but in that grunge feeling of the production, the beat. I chose the name "Bleach" to represent and symbolize trying to remove the stains of the relationship. And that's exactly what that song represents.”
Feels Like Hell’s themes surround relationships, but also talk of daily struggles, mourning the death of a friend, and unleashing through feelings like a catharsis rising from the ashes. Jimmy Yitty had experienced those events himself, deciding the time as “Like Hell” prior to revealing the record's title, the literal connection to his life experiences bleeding through into his sound.
“Drawing inspiration from those two situations, you get the album. You're going to hear a lot of past relationships, and then you're also going to hear that now--especially with what's been going on with Soda Money Records--things are looking on the up and up. So you're going to get that part on the album, too,” he explains. “Things don't have to feel like hell. You are the creator of your own world. So you always get to put that confidence in yourself and remind yourself, hey, if you stay on your shit, if you stay on your job, and stay dedicated and put in the hard work, then things don’t have to feel like hell.”
Yitty hopes the music can connect with listeners but also to help lift up his Toronto community. Feels Like Hell is set to be released some time this year, but a collective project with other artists from the city is in the works, connecting the dots of Toronto’s overall sound.
“One of the slogans we have at Soda Money is putting money in your pockets and bridging the gap. It's a very community based slogan. We want to help people make money. We want to be able to connect the dots with people […] There's a lot of talented artists out there that we believe deserve to get some spotlight.”
Be sure to check out Jimmy Yitty on all streaming and social platforms below.
Bleach Youtube Link
Bleach Spotify Link
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