Photo by: Drowster

Having spent the year steadily releasing earworm singles, custom freestyle shorts, and exceptional videos, Montréal rapper/singer/songwriter Zach Zoya today releases his highly anticipated debut EP Spectrum via 7ième Ciel/Universal Music Canada. A collection of energetic hip-hop, intricate rap, and emotive R&B songs, Spectrum showcases the versatility of Zach Zoya’s artistry as a songwriter, singer and rapper.

“It’s important for me to keep my music diverse through different energies and emotions. The whole point of ‘Spectrum’ is to fuck up the idea of the EP having an overall mood, my point was to represent multiple emotions. Each song has its own emotional depth and impact, its own experience, but together, they represent the full concept of the EP – the spectrum of human emotions.”

Zoya’s melodic approach to songwriting, evident throughout the EP in both his intricately woven percussive rap bars and smooth, expressive vocals, was born out of his experience of being a French-speaking teen who fell in love with American hip-hop. While he couldn’t understand the English lyrics, Zoya understood the emotion of the song through the universal language of melody. When he began writing his own music, he began shaping lyrics into their own melodic or percussive instrument. “I’m very focused on phonetics and how interesting a phrase is sonically. That’s always been part of my process,” Zoya explains.

In addition to the previously released singles “Slurpee”, “Le Cap” and “In Da Way” (which have racked up almost 1.5 million streams), Spectrum contains three new tracks including the EP’s fourth single “Patience” which features UK artist, songwriter and producer Angel (Frank Ocean, Moneybagg Yo, Stefflon Don). Co-produced by a trio of heavy hitting Toronto producers – JUNO Award winner Matthew Burnett, Grammy Award winner Boi-1da and Multi-Platinum selling producer Don Mills - “Patience” is a mid-tempo R&B reflection on the struggle between chasing success and being present enough to enjoy the process.

“‘Patience’ is a precious song, it’s the highlight of the EP for me. It’s about the long and tough road to happiness and the paradox that comes during that chase. I talk about that in the song when I say, ‘Every time I think of joy, I lose a little’ and ‘If I keep chasing happiness I’ll never find it, I think it’s just a matter of where your head is at.’ This song is me trying to remind myself that I’m in happiness right now, living this journey.”

The official video, filmed in Montréal and directed by Zoya’s close collaborator Le GED (the creative visionary also behind the “Slurpee” and “In Da Way” music videos), is out today.