East London outcast Deijuvhs has been making a name for himself as an underground artist unafraid to break the mould. Taking inspiration from drill, afro-beats and RnB, Deiju turns popular UK sounds on their heads, throwing metal, screamo and punk into the mix. Nothing is off limits.
Deiju has just dropped his much anticipated debut album ‘Forever Hoodpunk’, a beautifully unpredictable and off the wall album that mashes his eclectic influence list together to create something special.
We caught up with the fast rising underground star from lockdown to chat about the debut album, influences, clown masks, cults and ‘Hoodpunk’…
First off, how are you dealing with all this isolation shit?
To be honest, I’m really enjoying isolation, I’m playing ps4 till 8am, the sun’s out and I ain’t got any real responsibilities. I know a lot of niggas are freaking out but man this is the only time we’ll get when society is on pause and spin shit doesn’t really matter, so we gotta use it as a time to relax and focus on little things.
Congratulations on putting out your debut album, how long have you been working on it and how does to feel to have it out for people to hear?
Man thank you, I’ve been tryna get an album together for about 2 years. But I got this done in about 2 weekends, with my boy Mattu who produced most of it. I’m bare happy that it’s out, I’m glad people are vibing with it.
‘Forever Hoodpunk’ is impossible to put in one genre, you go from drill all the way to almost RnB to nu-metal madness. With all these different styles, how did you decide what to put on the album?
I get inspired by a lot of genres, I literally will listen to anything as long as it sounds good, so like it was only natural that I slapped a couple different genres on. Me and my producer Mattu literally wanted to mix bare genres together, like a song called ‘Infinity Pipe’ is a mix between UK afro beats + Avenged Sevenfold.
What would make this album a “success” in your eyes?
This album’s a success to me cah I enjoy it, like its everything I want it to be + I’m happy people are fucking with it, means a lot to me.
What is ‘Hoodpunk’?
Punk has evolved its become more “niggerish” “urban” + it just sounds good and fits the sound of the record.
Your music seems to very much draw from UK influences rather than US, where as a lot of underground artists from Britain prefer jumping on American trends – why do you think that is?
It’s cause America is something the world looks at for its main influences, which I understand why cah so much great things have come outta America but it’s bullshit man you gotta be proud of where you come from and unapologetically use your accent
What’s with the clown/demon masks in your music videos and on your album art?
The clown mask represents anxiety in all its forms. Growing up I dealt with a lot of anxiety I was jus a worrier so the mask is a personification of my personal anxiety. I always fucked with slipknot and wanted to try the mask ting myself. In my ‘Grunge’ and ‘Flem’ music videos the mask appears, I’m tryna do some Gorrillaz-esque shit with a story behind the music videos.
I read an article that said you grew up a part of a cult with your dad. Is that true and if so has it had any influence on your music or how you view the world?
Hasn’t influenced my music at all but I guess I’m a lot more spiritual than most and I think I’m a lot more open to weird concepts about life and existence, like I don’t close any possibility off.
The same article also quotes you saying there’s a whole underground scene in the UK that’s getting over looked and no real platforms for those artists to shine. We want to be that platform, so which artists do you think we should be featuring from the UK?
I’m happy to hear you guys are tryna do that cause we need more for real. I manage a group called SE Demons who are mad talented and Akiai. Fuzzbrain records, you should check them out they have a whole roster of artists ranging from rock, hiphop to soul. A group called Love Sept, them man re doing big things right now. There’s a dude called TM Jojo who I fuck with heavy probably my favourite artists outta the UK atm + a nigga called Kanashi. Retropxssy, letkojofly, joejas, Pezzhead, majinaz, Scotty Overdose, antinet…I could name drop forever there’s a whole movement going on right now of interconnected people.
Tell us about Lamefest, what is it and what is it all about?
Lamesfest is my brand, my movement I put on shows for the underground, I don’t care bout clout or anything like that just talent so if you’re good enough I’d give you a show. It’s also a record label I manage a few artists and we all gonna grow together.
Finally, what’s the first thing you’re going to do when lockdown is over?
I’m tryna hit Spoons with the lads ASAP. I just want a nice cold pint outta the tap.
RIDE MUSIC 