The next fifty years of Rap music and Hip Hop culture will be shaped by artists and personalities unafraid to be themselves on the backbone of a much needed vibrant energy jolt injected into Rap.

One such artist leading this charge is Harlem, New York’s Joe West. Signed to Republic Records, the same label as such Hip Hop titans as Drake, Kid Cudi, and Lil’ Wayne, West’s music and energy harkens back to pivotal infliction points in New York Hip Hop history, such as the groundbreaking debuts of artists like 50 Cent and Pop Smoke.

Unafraid to take chances with his music and presentation, West’s latest single “Dama Buega” blends elements of his Senegalese background with a pulsating, insanely catchy banger.

The Hip Hop Museum caught up with Joe West to talk about his beginnings, getting signed to Republic Records while only at 28 monthly listeners on Spotify, and what legendary Hip Hop names are showing support.

Adam Aziz: How would you describe your sound? For me, it has a lot of that same energy from the early days of 50 Cent and Pop Smoke.

Joe West: I found my sound when I started rapping in college in 2016. I went to school in Minnesota. I grew up in New York, but my Chicago roommates helped me find Hip Hop in myself. I started by making Drill music because I thought I had to do that.  I made my first song, and my boy said, “That’s cool, but it’s not you” So I thought, let me get back to my roots. I’m a good kid. I grew up in a cultural neighborhood in Harlem. I started listening to a lot of Joey Badass, Dave East, and Mos Def. Then, I began to grow, and my music started going in a new direction. Let me not change who I am. Let me see if I can use the same elements of the conscious, boom-bap Rap but elevated into an 808 sound.

I kept going, and the song that got me signed was “Genesis,” which was the perfect balance of creating a song with substance and one that could also connect with the mainstream.

AA: Your music has many of the sensibilities of older school Hip Hop. You really care about visuals, including cover art. You call Mos Def one of your key inspirations. But you’re a pretty young dude. How does that happen? Given that you are relatively young, how do you bring in a lot of what people loved about the 80s and 90s into your music and presentation?

JW: My upbringing. I’m the oldest of four. I grew up in Harlem where I didn’t get influenced to do wrong. I always made sure I kept the element of education and being free-spirited. And the fact I’m Muslim, my parents instilled that in me. I started to really understand that if I don’t know where I came from or if I don’t know the origins of what I’m doing, then I’m not going to know the next steps and how to move forward. 50 Cent, Rakim, Biggie, 2Pac, Mobb Deep – their influence is still in us. When I started rapping, I felt like I needed to understand these guys and the founders of the culture.

AA: Your music videos have such a cool aesthetic to them. Why are those visuals so important to you?

JW: I entered an era where everything became content-based, TikTok and virality. I didn’t want to compromise who I am. I still wanted to be able to produce great visuals and videos. When I got signed, people told me that videos were dying and I had to create more content from my phone. I told them I can’t do that. I can’t become a content creator. I have to make something I’m proud of and show people who I am.

AA: Being signed to a major label in 2024 is a lot different than being signed to a major label in the 90s. Two-part questions: 1) How did you come to sign to a major? 2) What’s the most challenging part of being signed to a major label today? How has your experience been?

JW: Before I got signed, I worked as a model and drove U-HAUL moving trucks. I had no connections to the music industry. One day, I was on my way to work and got a call from a number I didn’t recognize, so I didn’t answer. They Facetimed me back, and it was an A&R from Republic Records, and they told me they really liked “Genesis” and to come down to the office. I go downtown and play my music, and they tell me how I reminded them of ASAP Rocky. It all happened so fast. They found me at 800 views on YouTube. I didn’t even have a thousand views. I only had twenty-eight monthly listeners on Spotify. I didn’t have connections in the industry. I stopped making music in 2021. I didn’t even know what A&R was.

I quickly realized that being a signed artist is much more complicated than people think. You have to be in the studio every day, and you’re meeting people. You have to get comfortable working with new people all the time. It hasn’t been that difficult because I connect easily with people. I’m bringing back organic authenticity and showing people what larger than life actually means. You have to connect with your fans. The 50 Cents used to sweat on stage because they worked so hard and inspired the fans.

AA: Are you working on an album right now? Anything you can share with us?

JW: We’re working on a four- or five-song EP that will drop in October. I just previewed a song called “Demons,” which will be on the EP. I’m going on a tour with A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie in Canada in September. ASAP Rocky wants to work with me. Swizz Beatz shared my song “TOTM.” While we were talking, Kareem “Biggs” Burke DM’ed me his cell phone number and said “Demons” is fire.