FUXWITHIT has been a staple of the EDM blog space over the past decade and they are officially celebrating 10 years since they first started! Proclaimed “champions of the underground,” […]
FUXWITHIT has been a staple of the EDM blog space over the past decade and they are officially celebrating 10 years since they first started! Proclaimed “champions of the underground,” the FUXWITHIT platform has made it their top priority to support rising star producers in the electronic trap realm, specifically artists pushing the limits of that sound.
FUXWITHIT also became a SoundCloud staple, with hundreds of guest mixes under their belt from the likes of TVBOO, sfam, Jon Casey, Thook, Moore Kismet, Capshun, and tons more. They also just surpassed 533 weeks of their FUXWITHIT Friday new music spotlight, where they showcased twenty to thirty new releases for 500 weeks consecutively… that’s almost ten straight years of weekly playlists to help you find your new favorite banger to keep on repeat ahead of your weekend!!
To help celebrate the occasion, we spoke with Colin Vlasak, the founder of the electronic trap haven that FUXWITHIT has become over its past ten years of existence. FUXWITHIT was one of the blogs that inspired me personally to start Heard It Here First and it’s been fantastic working with Colin over these past six years. His drive and love for this scene is one that deserves serious celebration, regardless of the occasion.
Check out the guest mix he put together, jam-packed with bangers from Troyboi, Hamdi, Visages, and many more rising stars he’s been championing with the label like Dabow, dope., Dropwizz, as well as our conversation with Colin from FUXWITHIT below! The HIHF guest mix also features tunes from HIHF guest mix alumni like Levity, Don Jamal, PRYZMS, KUREI, and L*o*J. We hope you enjoy this mix and interview as much as we did!
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HIHF: When did you start FUXWITHIT? What was the first year like?
FUXWITHIT: I started FUXWITHIT in January 2014 with my friend Kash. We both loved music so much and wanted an outlet to share the stuff that we were excited about. It was a pretty even split between hip-hop and electronic music originally but as time went on we seemed to get more love and have more impact in the electronic scene so the focus shifted a bit more to electronic but hip-hop is at the core of pretty much everything we share.
The first year was fun. It was so pure. We didn’t know anyone in the industry, we didn’t know how anything worked. We weren’t worried about maintaining relationships, working with publicists, managers, or anything like that. We were just finding shit we loved, writing about why people should care, and sharing it with the world. This was pretty much the peak of SoundCloud’s golden era as well. Trap was at its all-time peak, Jersey Club, and Future Bass were blowing up. It felt like every day there was a new artist, collective, or sound to help break. I was learning so much as I went and having so much fun.
What inspirations did you have to take the next step from a blog to a label?
The label was something I wanted to launch for years but was waiting for the right time. As the sounds in the electronic scene started to shift, I felt like less and less labels were pushing the sounds that I really loved (trap & hip-hop-inspired bass music) so it felt necessary even though there were a ton of labels already.
I think in terms of inspiration Quality Goods Records was a huge one. I’ve always loved what UZ and Mouna have done with the label in terms of breaking new talent, pushing a cohesive sound, and focusing on quality over quantity. Mouna was a huge help as someone I could reach out and to ask questions when I was plotting things out.
phuture collective is another one too. They’re always so far ahead of the curve. That’s something we have always been about at FUXWITHIT and they’re one of the few platforms that are ever ahead of us. Honestly go check their catalog and you’ll be shocked by the touring artists that are killing it right now that did releases with them YEARS ago. Big up to Michael at phuture, he’s a true champion of the underground and helped me a lot getting the label off the ground.
Also have to shout out Dariel at Electric Hawk, who was a huge help as I was gearing up for the label launch. He’s another real one.
Finally shoutout to my homie Zoran who did the visual direction for the label, that was such a scary barrier and he absolutely killed it.
Not to make you pick a favorite child, but what’s the one release your most proud of off FUXWITHIT records?
Haha why you gotta do me like this? Let me start by saying it feels amazing to be able to say I am proud of every single song we’ve ever put out. I’m crazy particular about our releases and only put out stuff that I truly love. It’s super hard to choose just one but the two that stand out to me are capshun’s ‘Morph’ and LYNY x chromonicci’s ‘Want.’
‘Morph’ was our first release ever and cap has been fam for years. It really set the tone for the calibre of artists we were planning to work with and the sound we were pushing. We got tons of press coverage and even landed in Trap Mojito which was insane for our first-ever release.
‘Want’ is special too because we were one of the earliest platforms supporting LYNY and as soon I heard his stuff I knew he was next up, it’s been amazing to see how much he’s blown up in the past year or two. We’ve also been huge supporters of ‘nicci for years and it’s one of his last super hard bangers before he switched to a more soulful vibe. Seeing how their careers and sounds have evolved, it’s wild that this song exists and to have it on FUXWITHIT is just incredible.
What’s the guest mix from FUXWITHIT you are most proud of?
I truly believe we have one of the best guest mix series of the past decade. With nearly 250 episodes it’s not easy to pick and there are so many gems! The two that really pop out to me though are Craze and UZ.
Craze is probably the greatest DJ of all time so the fact he was down to do a mix with us was a dream come true, and it’s a trap mix! He embodies the pinnacle of DJing, mixing unmatched technical skills with such dope selection and the ability to rock the crowd. He’s truly the GOAT.
UZ is one of my favorite producers of all-time and another world-class DJ (I have a special love for turntablism if you can’t tell). He is the embodiment of electronic trap and has done so much to shape the genre, push it forward, and bring up the next generation.
Showcasing rising talent is one of my greatest passions but there’s something special about connecting with legends.
What about an interview?
We’ve done a lot of awesome interviews but the one that sticks out to me is Beats & Eats with TroyBoi. Troy is one of my other favorites of all time to be able to sit down with him was absolutely amazing. This was first time putting together a video interview of this caliber and we did it with literally no budget. Huge shoutout to the mastermind Kevin G who put everything together on this with me as well as Eryn, Martin, Jason & Kash for making it all happen. The Beats & Eats series never truly took off but we created something special with one of the dopest artists out and this will be something I’ll remember forever.
How’s it feel to be making an impact on the landscape of electronic trap music for ten whole years?
It’s awesome. We’ve done a lot over the past decade but I think the thing that I am proudest of is the fact that we actually have been able to make a real impact. I’ve had artists tell me our write-ups and features inspired them to keep going, help convince their parents their dreams could be real, and so many other incredible things. I’ve invested so much of my life into this platform and to be able to reflect back and feel like the work meant something to people makes it all worth it.
This seems like a good spot to shout out our incredible writing team and all the FUXWITHIT family (videographers, editors, photographers, etc.) We’ve been able to do so many awesome things because of the wealth of immensely talented people who share that undeniable love for music and wanted to share it through our platform. Our contributors have shaped what FUXWITHIT is and inspired me to keep it going. Thank you.
You recently celebrated 500 “Focus Fridays” where FUXWITHIT highlights releases of the past week. Not only did you mark 500, but it was 500 weeks in a row! How does that attitude of persistence help FUXWITHIT grow?
It’s crazy to think about. Doing anything for 500 weeks is incredibly difficult. Every single Friday for 500 weeks I curated the best music of the week. It didn’t matter if I was sick, going to an event, on my honeymoon, on vacation, burned out, whatever, on Friday FUXWITHITFRIDAYS was there. When I hit 100, I was like that’s a cool milestone, imagine 500… then we did it. I actually missed a week a few weeks ago for the first time, it was kind of freeing lol.
I think persistence is the key to any of the success that we’ve seen. We started the site with no connections, no budget, and no idea what we were doing. We just did it. It’s truly a labour of love and I think our dedication is what helped to set us apart. Hard work can make up for talent, connections, and experience. If you put the work in those things will come.
Tell us about the podcast you started sponsoring lately?
We recently had the chance to come on as the first-season sponsor for Phasing Issues. It’s a music production-focused podcast created by msft. and Alessio Anesi. Alessio has been a writer on our team for over six years and has been such a special part of the FUXWITHIT team. When he came to me with the opportunity to sponsor the podcast, how could I say no? The concept is original, the guests are amazing (Slumberjack, Rohaan, Rome In Silver, sumthin sumthin + more), and it fits with our audience quite well. If you’re a producer or music nerd it’s a must listen.
You also started a new monthly column highlighting the Wave genre. For those who aren’t familiar, what is Wave and what’s the goal of those Wave columns?
Wave is kind of this vibey mixture of trap, cloud rap, UK dubstep, grime, witch house, and trance. If you really want to understand it, I’d suggest reading our article on History Of Wave: The Origins Of A Futuristic Sound. We connected with Kareful, one of wave’s pioneers to break down the sound and offer a mix showcasing the sound. Alessio is our resident wave expert and has been helping to ensure that we’ve been pushing the sound for years. The WAVE Monthly column is a way to highlight all that’s going on in the wave, scene both in terms of news and music. The feature highlights some of the biggest stories and showcases the best music each month. It’s kind of a return to the earlier days of blogging where recaps and charts were more popular. I think with shrinking attention spans people aren’t checking for new stuff every day as much as they used to so this is a great way to highlight what’s new in an easy-to-digest format. Whether you’re a hardcore fan or brand new to the genre it serves as the perfect way to stay up to date.
How have you seen the EDM world change in these past ten years? What are the biggest things you notice have changed?
A lot. 10 years in the electronic music scene is like a lifetime. I’ve seen a lot of artists, platforms, and genres rise and fall.
I think one of the big realizations is that things come and go. Genres that once peaked aren’t what they used to be while others thrive. Sometimes it goes the way you want and trap is the most popular genre in electronic music, and sometimes it’s replaced by aggressive brostep and riddim, and then techno and tech house, and you go and hide… or you just keep pushing what you believe and wait for it to come back around.
Outside of that the way music is consumed has changed so much. We started this in the SoundCloud golden era, where a hot flip could take you from an unknown bedroom producer to millions of plays and festival slots. Things felt more organic and real then but maybe I’m just getting old. Spotify has taken over and playlists are king now. If you land in an editorial for a long period you’re golden but if you’re not established and you don’t it’s a lot harder to get on.
The changes in social media have been wild too. When we started Facebook was the biggest platform and got crazy engagement, now we don’t even post on Facebook because it’s a graveyard. The rise of short video content with Instagram and TikTok is interesting. It’s shaken things up in some good ways, where shit can go crazy viral and change artists careers. Armani White is a great example of a talented artist whose career exploded after going viral with ‘Billie Eilish.’ Now he’s signed to Def Jam and his music is playing during UFC broadcasts, on the Tom Brady Roast, and he’s performing on Jimmy Fallon and Kimmel. He was personally emailing his new music not too long ago and now he’s a superstar. Seeing a come-up like that is beautiful.
The flip side of that is the new platforms often tend to reward artists who are good content creators vs. incredible artists. But that’s just how it goes, we’re probably not going to beat the algorithms, the industry evolves and you try to move with it while staying true to yourself. Hopefully, great art finds its audience without a dance video.
Hybrid trap is a term that’s thrown around a lot, especially in the dubstep world. For those who may not know, what is Hybrid Trap?
I’d define a hybrid trap as a mix between dubstep (read brostep) and trap. It has an aggressive vibe and heavier sound design from brostep/dubstep but usually also includes trap drums and 808s. I’m not a big fan to be honest. When it comes to trap I’m a purest and love what people are calling ‘OG’ trap. It’s more rooted in rap (which it originated from) and is a lot more minimal and groove-focused. I’m not a fan of super maximal shit personally. I’m hoping OG trap has real renaissance soon. The rise of 140 (dubstep going back to deeper more minimal UK roots) and the fact that OGs like TroyBoi and UZ have been pushing the sound heavily lately gives me hope. I would love to see more up-and-coming producers deliver a fresh take on the sound.
What’s next for FUXWITHIT?
I kind of wish I had some crazy grand plan to reveal like a magician closing out his act, but I don’t really. We’re going to keep doing what we do. The label has definitely been a focus and we’ve got a ton of incredible music coming (a bunch of the IDs in the mix may be dropping on FUXWITHIT). Outside of that, the guest mix series is going strong with some exciting guests to come. I spent a lot of time chasing growth and trying to do the right things with FUXWITHIT to see success, now I just want to do things that the team and I are excited about. More passion projects, more long-form features, more shit that matters. Hopefully, you tune in to see what that looks like <3
If you actually read all of this I love you and go listen to Dropwizz’s new single ‘Rave’
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