Street Soldiers: Summer's New Sounds

Box 5 and Hot 97 present Street Soldiers with Lisa Evers. I'm so glad you're joining us for this episode of Street Soldiers on summer's new sounds. I'm your host, Lisa Evers. It's that exciting time of the year when major artists as well as up-and-coming new performers take to festival stages and arenas around the world. Others drop new music with the hope their song becomes a summer anthem. So what's it all looking like? Hip-hop artist Nemz proudly reps Coney Island. He saw his career go on overdrive once his song, Bing Bong, went viral on social media. He says if you want to find out what's new and hot or about to be a viral hit, that's the first place you should look. I feel like once the song and you pinpoint what song you want to do, then you go hard with it on social media and hopefully it creates a nice buzz. Hot 97 DJ Drewski, the first DJ from New Jersey in Hot 97 history to have a daily weekday show, predicts that when it's all said and done, the Jersey influence in summer's new sounds will be impossible to ignore. I feel like with the babies doing with the Jersey Club and Zeddy Will with the Jersey Club and all the drill artists now doing like Jersey Drill, I feel like we still have one more summer left of that. I'm excited for that. I do want to see more Jersey artists trending on these sounds. The annual Roots Picnic in Philadelphia got everyone in the mood for summer sounds and summer fun with a surprise guest appearance by Jay-Z. Music journalist Amber Corrin was there. I think what makes it so special is for one, it's in Philly, the city of brotherly love, and that's exactly what it was. There was over 80,000 people in attendance, not one fight, all positive energy. It's really a place where you can go and hear the greatest of the greatest in two days. Let's take this to our panel and hear what they have to say. Joining me for this conversation, Hot 97's own DJ Drooski. He has now heard Weekdays 11 to 1, that's Monday through Friday, with the Midday Movement. First New Jersey DJ to have a full-time slot on Hot 97. Major, major milestone, so Drooski, congratulations on that. Yeah, thank you. I'm excited to be back. Yeah, and we're happy to have you here too. Also with us is Nemz. He's a hip-hop artist from Coney Island, a.k.a. the mayor of Coney Island, performing on Summer Jam stage. Nemz, thank you so much for being with us. Thank you for having me. It's an honor. We appreciate it. Also with us back again is Amber Corrin. She's a music journalist. She writes for some of the biggest publications and platforms. Amber, thank you so much for being with us. Thank you, Lisa. It's always a pleasure. I'm so happy to be here again. We really appreciate it. Drooski, I want to start with you on this, because you're the new music man. Right. What's different about this summer? Because the energy, and you're always tapped into whatever's the energy on the streets. What's going on? Well, shout-out to the Knicks, who brought that summer energy to kick it off. You know what I'm saying? I think the energy in the city with everything that was going on with the Knicks, with Jay-Z coming back to New York. Then you had collaboration artists like Nemz and Ron Browse, who you would never expect, right? So you're just seeing these New York artists, these tri-state artists really connecting. And then outside of the tri-state, you've got records like Young Miami that's just coming and taking over the summer for the ladies, and then Drake dropped his project. I think it's just a lot of new music, a lot of collaboration, and just the energy in the tri-state has been crazy. So it definitely helps push this summer and new music, and just the vibes throughout the city. Yeah. It just feels like full speed ahead. Amber, what is your take? I mean, we saw that you were covering the Roots picnic. That was a very unusual type of event, a beautiful thing. What do you think it is about this summer? I think, to be honest, people are just excited to be outside. We're excited that the weather's breaking. We can just be outside enjoying the weather and good music. We have a lot of artists, quote-unquote, coming back. We have Fetty Wap. He came out of prison earlier this year, and he's just been on fire. Jay-Z, like Drewski said, is back in New York, and he's performing at the Yankee Stadium. He even performed at the Roots picnic, which was crazy. I know for me that was my first Jay-Z, my real first Jay-Z set. So I think people are just excited to see what's the new music that's coming out, what's new that's coming from these seasoned artists that we love. We just want to be outside and having fun. I think that's what it is. It's going to be a fun – it's all about a fun vibe. Absolutely. Demz, what do you think? Well, summertime, we always come alive in Coney Island. In the wintertime, all the rides are closed. Everybody stays away from Coney Island, but in the summertime, we come alive, and that's just the vibe of the whole New York City, especially still. I feel like the city and the world is still reeling, or they were, off a COVID hangover for the last couple summers, and this is one of the first or second that is just everybody's back outside, disease-free, hopefully. Yeah, exactly, and everything's open, and it's all like that. Drewski, in terms of the sound, because you're always good, too, to break it down for us with the new sounds, the new versions of sounds, the new generations of sounds. Is there a new sound that you feel like you're starting to hear more of? I feel like the Jersey club sound is still going this summer. You have records like DaBaby, who has one of the biggest party records right now to pop that thing, and it's a Jersey club record, and you got artists like Zeddy Will, who just continuously drops music. It feels like every week he has a new song, but it has that party vibe, the Jersey club vibe. Before, Nemz was talking about how people look at him like a backpack rapper or underground rapper, where now a lot of the music he's making are party records where DJs can play it in a club, and as a DJ, it's exciting to be able to get music that you can play in a club that people are actually dancing to. I think the fun party records, the drill sound for the young kids still exists, but it's not moving the city right now. I think these fun party records, like I said, DaBaby, Zeddy Will, and even the drill rappers are making more party records, so it's good to see, one, being a Jersey DJ, to hear that sound going crazy still, and to see the new artists approaching it in a fun manner. It's not just straight gangster stuff anymore. It's like, yo, let's have fun. We've got a lot more coming up, so don't go away. Amber, what about the whole party feeling? I think just people want to feel good at the end of the day. Like you said, we went through a brutal winter. A lot of things that's just happening, the news that are not the most positive things, people just want to feel good, I think, especially for the women. We want to hear music that makes us feel confident, makes us feel sexy, makes us want to put on that cute outfit and go out and hopefully meet a guy or something. We just love fun music, and I think this summer we're going to hear a lot of that. Fetty Wap, we interviewed him here for Hot 97 and Fox 5 Street Soldiers. He gave us an exclusive. Spent a couple of hours with him in his studio, and he seems like he's just having fun. He's like, I'm having fun making music. It was just such a fresh response. It wasn't like, I've got to make this joint because I need my, I've got to make my advance up or I've got to sell records. It was just like, it's so much fun and almost like a childlike thing to it. But he seems like that's very much in tune with what a lot of people are feeling. Yeah, I feel like Fetty Wap came home and just been on side quests like crazy from jumping in wrestling rings, going to Nashville, performing with country artists. He even pulled up to the Rita's Ice at Open Hand Jersey and was making ice cream for people. So just to see how genuine and excited he is, just to be back home and the way he's making music. He's making jazz records. He's just having fun with it. So we were saying, when you have as many hits as Fetty Wap, you can do that. You can just explore and enjoy yourself as a creative and as an artist. So yeah, just watching him come home in the past few months and everything he's accomplished and doing tours, selling out shows. I've DJed multiple shows with him in the past few months and just the love he gets. So I think he's inspiring a lot of other artists that didn't go through what he went through, that's been home, that had access to studios and to make music and then realize that, yo, this guy came home, he's going crazy. So now that energy is inspiring other artists just to have fun with the music. And I think he's setting them, you know, you got your ear to the streets. It's like he sets an example for a lot of people too. He said to me a couple times when we were talking, he's like, you know, I want people to know if they've been in prison or they've had these tough times or whatever, you can be on the other side of it and you can really become, it's like he's become a whole new Fetty Wap and you're talking about the hits. I said, what are you going to perform for people on this big tour, all these shows, the new stuff? And he said, no, he goes, I got to give the fans some of the classics. And he said, I'm going to do that and I'm going to ease them into the new sound. And I said, what do you call it? And he goes, trap jazz. That's what he's calling it. Yeah. I love it. And I had just recently met Fetty Wap and he's a genuine person and you don't meet that many genuine people in the music industry and he's just very humble. Listen, this guy has sold probably more than 90% of the rap game and he was back to back to back to back with hits. And then you meet him and he's just like a genuine, humble individual, man. And that's a breath of fresh air. And that's also, you know, he also has a resurgence. And I feel like when you put out good energy, you get the good energy back. But then tell us a little bit about your music. So help us get familiar with it a little bit. So I've been rapping my whole life. Everything really took off with bing bong. Once I said bing bong, speaking of the numbers, like I think it was used like over a billion times just on TikTok alone. And that's Instagram. So I was a sanitation worker for the city of New York for like eight years. And then once that took off, I retired. And I just been on. I signed a three album deal with Paul Rosenberg, Goliath Records, Slash Virgin. Last year we put out America's Sweetheart. This year I put out a new album with me and Ron Browse called I Should Boom You. And we're dropping another project called I Should Boom You Too. And it has a lot of fun records as well. We got songs like with Will Trax, who's known like in Harlem for making, you know, party records. Ron Browse, also known for making party records. And I'm having fun as well. And rest in peace to a friend of mine, Hovain, man. He used to tell me like, yo, when you're lit in New York City, every day is like your birthday. So that's why I'm outside every night in New York City. It's like my birthday. I'm outside shaking hands, kissing babies. I hang out with Drewski a lot, man. We have a good time out here, man. And I'm blessed and fortunate that somebody like myself that came through into hip hop being a battle rapper and, you know, rapping aggressively. Now when I walk into a room a lot of people know me from Don't Ever Disrespect Me or Bing Bong, and it puts smiles on people's faces. I always wondered, why didn't I get a record deal back then? I had, you know, deals with Shady Records, Def Jam back in the early 2000s, and it never worked out. And I always wondered why it doesn't happen when you want it to. It happens when it's supposed to. Drewski, what about the DJs? Because a lot of the, now that we're into more of a party mode, does this give the DJs more power? Oh, yeah. I think, you know, most DJs should be excited to play party records. Like, you want to be doing these events, clubs. Because now it's not just clubs and events anymore. You have DJs that are blowing up on YouTube, on social media, just streaming. So, you know, imagine watching a stream or your YouTube video and the music is all, like, you know, down, the energy's down. You have these party records, it's exciting, it's entertaining. So I think for all DJs on all platforms, you know, we're excited for a party summer, right? It gets you excited. You're in the clubs, people are dancing again, people are having a good time, and drinking. For a while, the clubs were off, especially New York City. We lost a lot of clubs. There was no big parties. Now, I'm seeing a lot of outdoor festivals, these big, not even festivals, like bottles and burgers, right? These events that are selling out. Thousands of people just coming because it's just a good vibe, and I think that's the most exciting part. Amber, give us a sense of what it was like at the Roots picnic, because that just sounded like such a cool thing. It was amazing. There were two stages where you can see some of the biggest artists on this stage, or you can go to that stage. They also had a Toyota den, which was hosted by Mia Bell, shoutouts to her, where they did karaoke. Yeah, they had karaoke going on. So people can go in there and just hear music from the DJ and sing. There was something for everyone, like literally something for everyone. It was just positive energy, great energy, great music. And, like, where else are you going to really go to see some of the biggest people like Jay-Z, you know, and Erykah Badu in one night? On the same stage. Yeah, and in one place. What was it like when Jay came out? Oh, my God. It was electric. I always say, well, what I said about it is that, like, it didn't feel like we were watching a Jay-Z, you know, show. Like, he was just scheduled to headline. It felt like we were watching a time capsule. Like, he literally went back in time from the beginning up until, like, now, just him, you know, showing off his new look with his hair. He commanded the stage. He commanded the audience. It was amazing. Like, literally life-changing. That's amazing. Nims, what about the outdoor festivals? Outdoor festivals? I mean, there's festivals set for New York, but do you think New York can handle that? I mean, the last two years we had Gorilla Fest at the Coney Island Amphitheater, 6,000 people the first year, 7,000 people the second year, where I did it with Summer Stage, the City Parks Foundation, and I wanted to bring a dope-free event to the community of Coney Island, but they're all over the place. Summer Stage, they do events, like, multiple events every week for free for New Yorkers, and, like, that's just the base. Like, every weekend in New York, like, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, is dope events, no matter what your taste in music is. They're out, like, it's here. Amber, what about the importance of social media? Because a lot of, you know, we see, like, Zeddy Will started on TikTok, and then he gets into hip-hop, the streamers. What about the role of social media in kind of impacting the culture? Is it grown? Is it kind of, you know, stabilized for a while? Where do you see that? I think social media is very important. I think the way we even consume music now is different. Like, you don't really need a middleman anymore, if we're being honest. You know, people are becoming celebrities overnight just from having a viral video. I think anybody that's trying to be an artist, or, like, you would be crazy not to use social media. It's the quickest way to reach a vast, you know, audience. I think it's very useful if you're using it correctly. There are some people who will be, unfortunately, one-hit wonders through social media, but then you have people who really love what they do, and they're using social media responsibly and, you know, strategically to push themselves so that, you know, they can be spread out to a bigger audience, and then now, you know, they're signed to a label, and they're doing this and that. I think anybody who's trying to be an artist, like I said, like, you need the social media. It's very important. Nims, what about the social media aspect? I mean, that's worked for you big time. Absolutely. TikTok is the easiest way to go viral, because you could post something today, and, like, it just explodes, and nobody knows why. Like, TikTok, I mean, it's definitely the biggest pusher of my career. Like, the Bing Bong stuff went crazy on there. I think, you know, you always got to be on the lookout, and as an artist, it doesn't make sense for you to not have every single platform. Like, even now, I'm even going back to Snapchat. I'm heavy on Snapchat, because I have meetings with the people, and they monetize as well. So you make money from all of this stuff. I'm on every single platform, and it doesn't make sense for you as an artist. I know some artists, no, I don't do it. Listen, this is 2026. You have the world at your fingertips. That's how the Don't Ever Disrespect Me thing was born. I was like, yo, this is before I had a record deal. I was like, how am I going to promote my album? Oh, wait, I got the world at my fingertips. Yo, don't disrespect my album coming out in seven days looking like Super Mario. I just kept doing it every day. By the time the album was about to come out, people were in the comments saying, yo, we kind of don't want your album to come out, because we love these videos. And I was like, I got something there. And I just continued with it. Amber, in terms of a new sound, what do you think? Is there anything you're kind of like really keeping your ears out, I should say, for? Yeah, I think I'm just excited to see what artists do with Jersey Club, the Jersey Club sound. That's been really taking off. I'm just so happy to see that it's actually going mainstream and global, because being a New Jerseyan, I've heard Jersey Club all my life, so it's good to see that it's on the level that it's at right now. But I think this summer, I want to hear more just to see what people do with it more. And I want to hear some really good Afro beats. Tooski, do you think this is going to be one of those summers where there's a song that just sums up the whole summer? Right now, currently, I got to give it to Young Miami. Yeah, yeah. That's going to be the song of the summer. It's over. It's going crazy. But shout out to French Montana, Max B2. They've been doing a lot of the classic sampling and putting these records out, and they've just been connecting, again, party records, fun records, and Max came home and just went crazy. And he says it all the time. He contributes what he's done to New York on why everything is so lit. But yeah, they're doing their thing. But if I had to pick one song currently, I'm going with the Young Miami spin that ish. Big time. Exactly. Nems, what about you? I mean, if you ask me, the song of the summer is going to come out on my new album, I Should Boom You Too, with Nems and Ron Browns. I'm sure Drewski will be spinning it. Yes. I'm going to bring a vinyl to him directly at Readers of Garwood in New Jersey. We're going to have fun this summer, and already Summer Jam is going to be... Yo, I love... First of all, last year, Summer Jam was in Long Island. I love Long Island, but that was just like two years ago. Summer Jam is known for being in New Jersey at MetLife, and now it's at the Prudential Center. And I love that they're really paying attention to what everybody has been saying for years. Like, yo, let's bring it back and make it really tri-state area, eccentric, and from putting on artists like myself and Al B. Al, and then bringing it to French Montana and Fetty Wap, and then just making it like a whole experience. Thanks for joining us for this episode of Street Soldiers on Summer's New Sounds. You can watch it again and share it on our Fox 5 NY YouTube page and on the free Fox Local app. Remember, use your mind. It's your best weapon. I'm Lisa Evers. Let's push for peace, love, and justice for all.