When you combine their tasteful bass tunes with their down to earth hip-hop personalities, it is no surprise why Stooki Sound has been blowing up in the trap scene. Last week we had the privilege of checking them out at Slake, one of our favorite New York City venues, and needless to say, we left energized and hyped.
The moment DJ Lukey and Jelacee stepped behind the decks, 808’s could be heard from the East River to the Hudson while they keyed up the crowd. The beats started dropping, the drinks started flowing, and everyone there was having a turn up kind of night. Multiple times, the on-stage energy of Stooki Sound attracted fans to the stage, as if they were playing a game of musical chairs and trying not to get caught. Granted, most failed, but we salute them for their efforts. The chemistry between Lukey and Jelacee is something to see as they take turns behind the decks and on the mic, not one beat, note, or moment was missed.
One of the most lit moments of the night was when Stooki brought up one of their London homies Outlaw, the artist, and together they brought it down with lyrical madness over a well-crafted trap tune. It was easy to tell that this was not Stooki’s first time in New York City based on the crowd’s reaction after each song and the energy of Stooki Sound’s set could have kept New York alive for a week. It was by far one of the best up and coming trap shows that we have seen in a while. Before the show began, we were lucky enough to speak to the fellas…
So I read online that you guys met at a party – did production conversations come up quickly? Whose idea was it to start collaborating together?
Jamal: A bit of both actually
Lukey: We met through a mutual friend who is Jamal’s cousin and we started talking at her birthday dinner about music. From there, we decided to collaborate on one track to see how it went, and it just kinda clicked and we decided to continue to keep working together. In 2011 I started Stooki, which was a collective with myself, Quincey, and Nadia, and it was our first creative outlet we did through fashion by screen printing our own shirts, making jewelry pieces, and putting on events where we would release music and have art installations. At the same time, I was DJing and producing in London as a hobby, so when I met Jamal it kinda made sense to expand on the Stooki Sound element of Stooki, so that’s how it came about.
When you guys initially met, it seems like you wanted to take it to the next level right off the bat, as opposed to just a bedroom production hobby, right?
Lukey: Yeah definitely, because with Stooki, we had a lot of visual output and we were already making videos. Since we had such a visual element already, there were a lot of opportunities to bring in sound and to soundtrack it all. Since I was already DJing in East London, it was easier to introduce Stooki Sound as a force, and it kinda just picked up momentum.
How did you guys get hooked up with The Windish Agency?
Jamal: That was actually through a show in London that we did with Flosstradamus. We had played with them and they really, really liked our set. We didn’t even know they were watching us, and then afterward Josh came up to us and said “Yo, you guys are sick, yadda yadda.” Then, later on, Josh said he was going to introduce us to someone at Windish, Brad, and we spoke to him a few times but it kind of disappeared because he is a busy guy. After some time we started working with our manager Devan, who picked the conversation back up and we all took it from there.
So what’s it like to have a mentor like Flosstradamus, who is at the top of their game?
Jamal: Yea, it’s good. It’s nice to email them and to get a reply. We will email them tracks and they will send us their feedback. They also sent us their new EP the other week before it was out. They are really cool guys and down to earth, so it’s good to be close to someone in our genre that is at the top of their game for sure.
So since you guys have the same agent have you guys talked about tours or more shows, or is that a secret?
Jamal: Yeah, that’s a secret…..
Well to change gears a little bit, I am curious on your thoughts on the landscape of digital music distribution, and the value of it to you. You guys have free downloads on SoundCloud, but still have a shop in iTunes and are on Spotify. What is your preferred method to distribute music and how do you guys hope the future turns out for digital distribution?
Jamal: I think with online you think that if you put up something for free and put out something for purchase, like on iTunes or whatever, then no one would buy it. But you find that a lot of people still appreciate buying music, so a lot of people will download it and realize they like it, and then they will go and buy it, so there are still quite a few people out there that spend money for music. I think in the future it’s defiantly going to be much more streaming, as you see with Spotify and now Tidal, but a lot of people will still listen to music on SoundCloud and other free sites. Everybody loves free music. I think the value of music has gotten to the point where you have to convert the music and the plays you have online into shows. That’s where the money is coming from now, not really your iTunes and such. That’s why we try to stay active and make music that brings people to shows.
So I heard someone is a big Fifa player, which one of you is it?
Jamal: I am, Arsenal all the way.
Luke: YES, Arsenal!
I have to ask since you guys are here in the states, do you ever watch American Football?
Jamal: I do not get involved with American Football; if you are holding a ball I am not about it. But you know what though? You would be surprised, a hell of a lot of people in London watch the Super Bowl. They don’t watch any other match, it’s just the Super Bowl. Since it’s on national TV, it’s everywhere, but it’s more of an event. With soccer you dribble, go score a goal, and win the cup. With Football, there are singers and dancers, and Missy Elliot pops out and then Katy Perry comes flying by on a flaming horse, its fucking nuts. It’s much more of a worldwide event as opposed to a final for a sports event.
What is on the slate next for Stooki Sound for the next couple months?
Jamal: We got a collab with TroyBoi coming out this month. And we are working on a bunch of other stuff as well.
Luke: It’s called “Welcome to London” (W2L) and it’s coming out on Mad Decent. And, like Jamal said, we are working on a bunch of tracks behind the scenes so that when we come off tour we will have some time to finish some ideas. We also still have quite a few places in mind that we want to go to, so yeah, just trying to stay active basically.
Connect with Stooki Sound:
https://www.facebook.com/StookiSound
http://www.twitter.com/stookisound
https://soundcloud.com/stookisound
Connect with Slake:
https://www.facebook.com/slakenyc
https://twitter.com/SlakeNYC
http://slakenyc.com/events/
Photos Credit: T-Rex Photo
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