As Logic's debut album Under Pressure continues to satisfy the ears of the rap community and accumulate early predictions that it will secure "Album of the Year" accolades, the Def Jam signee is filled with nothing but excitement for his present, but also what's to come.
"People I never thought in a million years would know who I was are listening to the music. It's really amazing and extremely special," Logic tells Exclaim!
In a sluggish year of music sales, climbing to the top tier of the rap industry should prove challenging for any new artist, but not Logic. "Does it scare me? No, it doesn't scare me," the 24-year-old states. "I think people need to accept the fact that that's where music is. Music is all about streaming nowadays and I think people just forget that we're in the digital age.
"I don't give a damn because my stream game has always been incredible. I remember [releases by] Macklemore, Kendrick and J. Cole — these are people who made incredible bodies of work and some of them did great the first couple weeks were out, and some of them did even better later on. So for me, it's a marathon, not a sprint."
While the sprint appears unspoiled for this newcomer, it goes without saying that there will always a couple of bumps along the way.
"Honestly, I think my biggest pressure is just doing my best to always keep it together so that me and my team are happy and healthy, you know what I mean? It's much bigger than just me, or what I want to do. I run a company at 24, which is kinda crazy to think about that, and for me, my pressure is not letting all this other outside shot get to me."
Although his career has picked up, Logic still struggles with the challenges he faced in a house plagued by drugs, violence and weapons, and unloads the bulk of those pressures on his album.
"Those are things that I witnessed in the household and that I saw, and that I'm talking about, but out of respect I'll only go into so much detail," he affirms.
It's evident that despite the outside voices on this album, including his older brother on "Gang Related," Under Pressure is ultimately Logic's story. With No I.D. serving as executive producer and Visionary Music Group's in-house producer 6ix handling the bulk of production, Logic acknowledges the lessons he's learned and the legacy he wants to put forth.
"Even though No I.D. executive produced it, I think a lot of people have a misconception of what that means. He was there on a Quincy Jones kinda level, to oversee everything and give me his honest feedback about everything, but it was me and 6ix who created this entire album. We sat down every day, every night for every snare, every hi-hat, every kick, every sample and we created this album. All the strings that you hear and the arrangements are things that I brought in, but I wouldn't have been able to bring [those] in without first meeting [No I.D.] and the people he knows, and the people they know. Without No I.D., the album wouldn't be what it is today."
As comparisons to Kendrick Lamar and J. Cole trickle in, Logic addresses them: "When you make great, great music, I think they compare you to great artists. There are not a lot of people who are making music like this. Man, that sounds really fucking arrogant, but honestly, this is raw hip-hop music with live strings and musical instrumentation and a story, yet it's got that bounce and it's fun.
"Kendrick is incredible, but it's like, this is my story. You also have to understand that a lot of the musicians I was working with are from the TDE camp. It's like that musicality of having Terrace Martin there or Tae Beast from Digi Phonics, you know? I think they are realizing this, but there are a few that struggle so much to try to put in a box and compare it so much because they want to, they can't look past that fact that, 'Is it my story? Check. Is it my beats? Check. Is it my raps? Check.' When you sit there and go over it, I think they'll see that."
The next moves for the Visionary Music Group head honcho seem just as promising as his career. With a world tour in the works for the top of 2015, Logic has his eyes on simply taking over the world.
"You remember Pinky and the Brain? We're like the Brain right now. 'What are we gonna do tonight, Brain?' — 'We're gonna take over the world.' I'm excited. I'm at a point now where we've planned it for so long, and now I don't know what's next — but in a really good way. Now, anything is possible."
Down below, you can stream all of Under Pressure for yourself.
"People I never thought in a million years would know who I was are listening to the music. It's really amazing and extremely special," Logic tells Exclaim!
In a sluggish year of music sales, climbing to the top tier of the rap industry should prove challenging for any new artist, but not Logic. "Does it scare me? No, it doesn't scare me," the 24-year-old states. "I think people need to accept the fact that that's where music is. Music is all about streaming nowadays and I think people just forget that we're in the digital age.
"I don't give a damn because my stream game has always been incredible. I remember [releases by] Macklemore, Kendrick and J. Cole — these are people who made incredible bodies of work and some of them did great the first couple weeks were out, and some of them did even better later on. So for me, it's a marathon, not a sprint."
While the sprint appears unspoiled for this newcomer, it goes without saying that there will always a couple of bumps along the way.
"Honestly, I think my biggest pressure is just doing my best to always keep it together so that me and my team are happy and healthy, you know what I mean? It's much bigger than just me, or what I want to do. I run a company at 24, which is kinda crazy to think about that, and for me, my pressure is not letting all this other outside shot get to me."
Although his career has picked up, Logic still struggles with the challenges he faced in a house plagued by drugs, violence and weapons, and unloads the bulk of those pressures on his album.
"Those are things that I witnessed in the household and that I saw, and that I'm talking about, but out of respect I'll only go into so much detail," he affirms.
It's evident that despite the outside voices on this album, including his older brother on "Gang Related," Under Pressure is ultimately Logic's story. With No I.D. serving as executive producer and Visionary Music Group's in-house producer 6ix handling the bulk of production, Logic acknowledges the lessons he's learned and the legacy he wants to put forth.
"Even though No I.D. executive produced it, I think a lot of people have a misconception of what that means. He was there on a Quincy Jones kinda level, to oversee everything and give me his honest feedback about everything, but it was me and 6ix who created this entire album. We sat down every day, every night for every snare, every hi-hat, every kick, every sample and we created this album. All the strings that you hear and the arrangements are things that I brought in, but I wouldn't have been able to bring [those] in without first meeting [No I.D.] and the people he knows, and the people they know. Without No I.D., the album wouldn't be what it is today."
As comparisons to Kendrick Lamar and J. Cole trickle in, Logic addresses them: "When you make great, great music, I think they compare you to great artists. There are not a lot of people who are making music like this. Man, that sounds really fucking arrogant, but honestly, this is raw hip-hop music with live strings and musical instrumentation and a story, yet it's got that bounce and it's fun.
"Kendrick is incredible, but it's like, this is my story. You also have to understand that a lot of the musicians I was working with are from the TDE camp. It's like that musicality of having Terrace Martin there or Tae Beast from Digi Phonics, you know? I think they are realizing this, but there are a few that struggle so much to try to put in a box and compare it so much because they want to, they can't look past that fact that, 'Is it my story? Check. Is it my beats? Check. Is it my raps? Check.' When you sit there and go over it, I think they'll see that."
The next moves for the Visionary Music Group head honcho seem just as promising as his career. With a world tour in the works for the top of 2015, Logic has his eyes on simply taking over the world.
"You remember Pinky and the Brain? We're like the Brain right now. 'What are we gonna do tonight, Brain?' — 'We're gonna take over the world.' I'm excited. I'm at a point now where we've planned it for so long, and now I don't know what's next — but in a really good way. Now, anything is possible."
Down below, you can stream all of Under Pressure for yourself.
