Freestyle, Respect, and a Darker Edge

Photographs By Natasha Ribeiro-Austrich

Los Angeles producer Plus shares his latest single, “It Is What It Is” featuring Jadeisdxpe. Plus talks about making art, pushing boundaries, and collaborating with Jadeisdxpe.

Los Angeles, USA

Who is Plus and what is your music all about?

Plus is the moniker I’m releasing music under as a producer project. The idea for the project is to put out songs that I like and that I liked making with artists that excite me. I’m purposefully bending genres and making angular, edgy music but still with strong pop sensibilities.

You are sharing your latest single, “It Is What It Is” Featuring Jadeisdxpe. What kind of story are you trying to tell?

Jade says “‘It Is What It Is’ speaks to playing with the cards you’re dealt. As a queer, black woman, I constantly see society wanting black people’s culture without giving them the respect and love they deserve.”

When I meet with artists for the first time we tend to talk in depth about love, life, social issues or sometimes even politics. It all varies from person to person and in this case we got into them all. Jade mentions that she, “was really speaking to what we talked about” and I feel like bits of a lot of subjects got sprinkled into the song but the main issue speaks clearly to me.

How does “It Is what it is” show your growth and evolution as an artist?

‘It Is What It Is’ brings a bit of a darker edge, incorporating more elements of electronic and blending them with rap and R&B. I’m constantly trying to push the boundaries and explore where aspects that don’t seem like they’d mesh can meet.

What was the recording process like? What did you learn?

This track was something that I had made a while back and had been one of the first instrumentals that I wanted to use for this project. When Jade came into the studio, she got on the mic and freestyled the majority of the song. We got down a lot of ideas and I put it all in place afterwards.

I’m always learning as I’m growing but what I learned while making ‘It Is What It Is’ was just how cool it can be to meet someone new, get into a creative space together and make art.

How did you come to collaborate with Jadisdxpe? How was that experience?

I went to my first post quarantine show to see my friend Claire George perform in a parking lot behind a venue. Jade was the opener and blew me away. It was really a special night.

Jade and I got into the studio a few days later and I immediately knew it was something I wanted to release as Plus.

What’s next for you ?

For this project, I’ve got singles planned to drop all year. I’m also going to be active with my project, Lean coming up and continue to work on building my label, Lean-To Records.