Donning lavender sunglasses and a matching lavender shirt, seiji oda rides a bike in lazy circles in his music video, "NO FILLINS.” The lighting’s a muted, diffused pastel, a relaxed beat pulsing as seiji raps in a light blue, untroubled voice, “Just tryna chill and catch yo vibe, no feelings.”
seiji oda, full name Gabriel Seiji Oda, is a Japanese American rapper, songwriter, and producer from Oakland, California. He is a member of Californian rap group “The.ism.” as well as the LA-based collective “CMMND.” seiji mixes hip hop, R&B, and lo-fi in a sound that he describes is “like water,” soaking roots from his heritage and hometown.
He initially gained recognition from his 2019 song “Trapanese” with his brother lil ricefield, gaining 23M+ streams. Since then, seiji has released a number of singles, and an album, BLUE+, and has been featured on Spotify’s Beast Meets West(now Jasmine) and Internet People.
In his music, he layers lo-fi beats and chilled lyrics to kindle a rhythmic flow. seiji creates music to clear his head, and he hopes it clears yours too.
What first got you into the music industry?
I would say that, in terms of the industry, I would still not consider myself part of the industry. But for music in general, I was always around it. My dad played music, my mom sang. Just people that I was around, my good friends, I would just pick it up from them. I used to just play bass and drums when I was a kid. Then a couple of my friends were making beats and rapping. And that was just what got me into music at first. I would say the industry as well… I went to UCLA, and I got the music industry mind there. That was when I started getting more tapped into people that were working in the industry out there.
Why did you start becoming involved in music?
Other than with my family and friends, I would say being inspired by other artists that I looked up to. Definitely people like The HBK Gang who were, for the Bay, that's who we grew up listening to. Seeing them doing their kind of DIY thing made me realize that you don't have to be a certain type of person to make music. Coming out of the Bay, you don’t have to fit into this box. You can do what you want to do, and be yourself. And that was what inspired me to start making music. HBK Gang was doing all their own thing in the house. So I was like, “Okay, if they could do this, so can I.”
“I've been trying to not censor myself and just put out whatever I think feels good.”
Who inspired you to make music?
I think it's a little cliche, but Kid Cudi definitely. When I was in high school, listening to this music, that album, that song- it had an influence and impact on my life and the way that I saw music. I was like, “Damn, if I were to make music, I can have that same impact on people.”
I think that over the years, my purpose with music has definitely evolved and changed. For a while, I was just making it just because it was something for me that was meditative and medicinal, and healing for myself. I would make music just for myself, just to make it- to kind of get sh*t off my chest and off my head. But I wasn't releasing that music because I felt it was too personal. I was putting out music that I thought people would like or people might expect from me.
Recently, I feel that if something is helping me get through some sh*t, I would hope that if I was to put it out that it might also have that impact on somebody else. I've been trying to not censor myself and just put out whatever I think feels good.
Where do you get inspiration from?
I try to draw inspiration from as many places as possible. Of course, listening to other music is probably the most direct way of being inspired. But I also try to pay really close attention to the sounds around me. As I walk around and go throughout my day, there are so many sounds. We see the line between music and just noise as usually very direct. But… like this jackhammer, normally, is just annoying to my ear. But in some ways you could hear the rhythmic aspect of it. You can hear the tonal aspect of something and think, "Okay, that's a beautiful sound,” even though I might not think of it as something that's music.
People are always pushing the boundaries of what is music and what is not. Really interesting producers to me are the people like Timbaland and Monte Booker, who use a lot of Foley type of sounds-real world sounds- and put them into their music. It just feels really tactile, that you can reach out and grab it.
People talking, emotions that I have, other people's stories... All of that goes into my inspiration when I sit down and start making something.
“People are always pushing the boundaries of what is music and what is not.”
What is your songwriting process like?
It's always different. I think my most common thing that I do is I wake up and try to make a beat. If I'm inspired by something that I hear in the beat, sometimes I'll have an idea of what I want to say. Almost always, if I start writing a song, I'll have the thing I know that is going to be the first thing I say in the song- but not always. Sometimes I'll just make a chord progression, or finish the whole beat. And then I'll be like, “Okay, let me just start to bounce ideas off of this.”
Or I'll have a clear concept before I go into it. That's not always, but when I do that, I end up having a song that’s a little more cohesive, because I go into the beat, thinking about the way that I want my lyrics to be, and the way that I want to sing over it. And I kind of build everything around that idea, versus just going out in the dark.
But then on the other side of that, I think when I go out with no purpose and no intention, sometimes I can stumble across things that I normally wouldn't do. And that can always be interesting as well. When it comes to actually writing the lyrics, often I'll just record as I go. It'll be gibberish a lot of the time, and that will eventually turn into lyrics. I haven't been writing down a lot of sh*t.
Lately, I've been trying think of it in my head as I go or memorize something, because I feel like if I don't have to write it down, one, the most natural thing that I'll say will just be the thing that I say. Also, if I'm able to remember something without writing it down, it means that it's catchy and organic.
What gets you into the zone while songwriting?
I was just watching Soul, and they talk about “the zone.” That was really cool, because I never thought about it like that. Often when you get into that flow state where you're not thinking, you're just fully consumed in whatever you're doing. But if you get fully consumed with something in a bad way, then, you can become obsessed and distracted from everything else. It's really whenever I get into that state… it's hard. It's hard to think of why I get like that. It's when I'm not thinking, when I'm not trying to do something too hard. I'm just letting it flow.
What is your favorite song that you've written?
I would say the first one that came to my mind just now is one called “She Go,” because my writing process with that one was so drastically different than it normally is. I was writing it just with the guitar, and I was working with the producer day to day and he was just having these guitar chords. It was very simple, and the song is a lot different from what I usually do. I wouldn't say it's necessarily my favorite one, but it's one that definitely sticks out to me because it's so different. It's not out yet- but out of the songs that I've released, "NO FILLINS” would be my favorite one right now that I actually slap and listen to on the regular.
What is your favorite part about being an artist and a producer?
Definitely being able to work with friends and people that I look up to, or that I'm inspired by. Just constantly being surrounded by other artists and people that are putting their work and pushing the mold in their own way. That's always going to inspire me more. I know it's simple, but just being able to make music is always such a beautiful thing to be able to do. And I'm grateful that I have the opportunity to have all the things that I have. And even if I just have me and the f*cking guitar, I would still be doing it.
“Just being able to make music is always such a beautiful thing to be able to do.”
Who would you most like to collaborate with?
I think my always go-to answer is Erykah Badu. But more recently, I've been thinking that I really just want to meet her and hang out with her. To me, I think she’s just an amazing artist overall, but right now, if I were to work with somebody and try to make something, UMI. I like her music a lot. I think that our styles would actually meld well together versus someone that I would just learn from. I would really want to make music with UMI because her style overlaps in ways with my style, but also is very different. It’s really cool when you take two things that are kind of similar, but also almost opposite, and marry them and see how they bounce off each other.
What would you be doing right now if you didn't pursue music as a career?
Um, sad. I think that no matter what, I'm going to always try to adapt to whatever my situation is. And if it becomes my purpose to go do something else, then I'm going to probably do that. I know that I'll probably still be making music, but I think whatever it is that life has for me, I'm just going to do that. I think I'm never going to be like, “I'm going to make music and I'm not gonna do anything else.” Because I think that there could be something that I find that I might like to do even better.
But if I wasn't doing music, I feel like I would be living in a van traveling around the world and I probably would still be making music doing that too. Just existing and living in the mountains and trying to find peace. That's probably the most likely thing that I would do is- become a monk and shave my head. I might do that anyway, we'll see.
How did the pandemic and lockdown affect your music?
Overall, my day to day didn't change that much. I was in the house making music anyways, so it didn't change too much for me in that aspect. But of course, I couldn't do shows, which is hard. Collaboration is also one of my favorite things to do. So that's more difficult. Of course, I have my bubble of very close friends that I still am able to work with. I had a zoom session the other day- and even though it's dope, because Zoom enables you to work people that normally wouldn't make time for you, it's harder to definitely catch a vibe and really collaborate with someone when you're just looking at them. You're not in the room feeling the same energy.
What does music mean to you?
I think music is a conduit to transfer energy and feeling and express yourself to someone else. And for whoever is listening, I think it's also a way for you to tap into emotion… it's a way to communicate things that can't be said with words or with body language or other things. Speaking and singing and hitting things and just making sounds overall is one of our simplest, most basic ways to express our voices. A lot of the time English or whatever language it is that you speak can be restrictive to what it is that you want to get across.
I think that this is not the most academic example, but Playboy Carti. There’s a reason people love Carti, even though a lot of the time you don't know what he's saying. I feel like a lot of people are like, “Oh, Carti's, he's not a good rapper.” I'm not a huge Carti fan, but I feel like this is a good example of it. What I'm trying to say is that he doesn't say anything that's really out this world to me. He's not saying crazy wordplay. But it's the feeling and the way that he says things that means a lot more than what he's actually saying. It’s the emotion and inflection he’s putting in his voice. I know that's a funny example, Playboy Carti. But music can get across things that might not be able to be said in just lyrics. It's why people scat and do ad libs because sometimes just words aren't enough.
“Music can get across things that might not be able to be said in just lyrics.”
How would you describe your music?
I would say my music is always changing. It's soft. It's, it's like water. I try to make my music something that can be adapted to many different situations and environments.Something that you’re enveloped in. It's like a chill happy slap, like a gentle gig. You're just chilling, you're hitting your low. I think this is a funny way to put it, but for lack of a word, it's like kawaii hifi. Or lo-fi hifi. It's a little video game, a little soft, peaceful, meditative slap. I want you to be able to study to it, or fall asleep to it. But you could also play at a party. It's difficult trying to describe it. It's funny, because my answer to the last question was how music is what I use to describe things that I don't know how to describe. And now I'm like, “Damn, how do I describe that?” Those are all words that I would try to get at what the core of music is. But I think that I can't really say how would I describe my music. It is what it is.
If you could change anything about the music industry, what would it be?
Man, so many things. But I would say- I think this is kind of a controversial thing - I think I would make it so that nobody can buy the rights to your music. I think that if you create something, that you should always own the rights to both the master and the publishing, no matter what. If you make something, nobody can take it away from you, no matter what the price is. And I think a lot of people would be mad at that. Because they want to be able to sell their music, they want to be able to sell their creative things… Actually, I don’t know, because I feel like that would have repercussions that also wouldn't be positive. It's hard.
Because I think as an artist, you always want to have creative control. But sometimes in order to get people to listen to your music, you have to relinquish a lot of that. I would try to have more artists and people who used to make music or still make music in places of decision-making power at labels. Versus people that are just in the business of music, to make money off music. People that love music, and people that care about the music itself- I would want those people to be in those positions. I'm not going to be a decision maker. I'm not someone that is going to be like, “Okay, this is what should be done.” But I would want people who are in those positions to actually care about music, not as something that is just a moneymaker.
What's next for you?
I'm probably gonna get up and eat some cereal, and then try to figure out this chord progression I was flirting with, and then maybe I'll take a shower.
What I'm actually working on is a project called “aura,” which is this sequel parallel to the project I put out last year, which is called “BLUE+".” I've been working on finalizing demos of the songs, seeing which ones I like and want to put out. I've been shooting a lot of videos, and trying to get together all the things that I need. I originally wanted to have a short film that went along with the album. But I think what I'm doing now more is gonna be even shorter films. Not necessarily music videos, but capsules that will relate to each other and go throughout with the music under them.
“I hope that I've done something that is going to last and do something in the world.”
Where do you see yourself in five or ten years?
I hope that I'm still alive. And that I'm happy. I don't really care what it is that I'm doing. I hope that I am a better person. I don't know. I never know how to answer that question… I hope that I have been successful at whatever it is that I'm doing. And to live freely. I hope that I've done something that is going to last and do something in the world.
What would you like our readers to know?
Oh, man, make sure to wash your rice twice. Maybe three times.
