Junoflo Interview: The Independent Rapper Discusses Moving Back to the US, New Releases and More

For Junoflo, 2020 has been a reset of sorts. Moving back to Los Angeles after a period in Korea, the 28-year-old finds himself free from any record labels, and free to create however he sees fit. Returning to the place he calls home for his own “sanity,” the year has been an understated success for the rapper. His latest album, 222:AM, hit almost half-a-million streams in its first 24 hours on Spotify. His “BOUT TIME” t-shirt which accompanied the record, in addition to merchandise released under the Good Loox banner, marked an interesting step into the fashion world for the versatile rapper, something he passionately describes as a “huge” part of his life. But, perhaps most importantly, Junoflo has rediscovered the “joy of making music.”

It’s something plainly evident, too. Across the 75-minute conversation, there’s always a palpable excitement whenever his newfound creative freedom, or indeed his music in general, is brought up. Whether discussing the excitement that comes with his own live shows, the knowledge that came with being able to witness others – Schoolboy Q, Logic and Tyler the Creator to name a few – perform in his younger days, or his latest single, the abrasive, pull-no-punches “Fugazi,” there’s always an endearing passion behind the words.

More so than the passion, or the renewed optimism for the path Junoflo now finds himself walking, or perhaps even skating, on, a recurring theme is the sense of excitement beneath the surface. There’s nothing fake, or dishonest about the rapper’s comments, or declarations, and it’s clear that the legacy (or a lasting statue, if his 2019 album is to be believed), that all artists strive towards may not be that far out of reach.

Nathan Sartain: 2020 started with you moving back to America after a stint in Korea. How’s that been for you?

Junoflo: Yeah, just made the big move back to LA, where I call home. It’s been good… well actually it hasn’t been good because of everything that’s going on, like COVID. I had a lot of plans for when I moved back. Me and Danny (my manager), we were planning a whole college tour. We wanted to hit the west to east in the US, but obviously everything got cancelled. Other than that though, I moved back for my own sake, for my own sanity. It’s hard to live elsewhere when you found a place to call your home for so long. So I had to come back and get my mind right. It’s been great.

Creatively, how have things changed (since moving back)? Have you been able to focus better, or has it been perhaps more of a challenge?

Yeah, I have been able to focus better. I think more than just focusing though, I kind of rediscovered the joy of making music, you know? The fun part of it. Like the feeling I felt when I first started making music, that eagerness and pure unadulterated joy from creating. It might have just been the energy I received from all the talented artists and homies out here in LA, compared to Korea and the artists out there, (who are) amazing and dope, but they’re on their own vibe. I felt like I visited a lot of producer’s studios in Korea and a lot of them just wanted to work via email and not on-the-spot.. and I was like ‘man I’m trying to work right now!. But it’s all good. Shoutouts to my guy Doomsday though. He’s one producer that really held it down for me and we made mad bangers. I started the album in Korea, then I came back home to piece it all together, and I’m glad that I got to complete it here.

When you did come back, then, did you find that you were changing a lot of the things that you had started, or did, in Korea, or was it more that you found in LA you could do things more easily, or in a smoother way?

Lifestyle and health wise, I did change a lot, for the better. When I was in Korea I’d be drunk like four days out of the week, it’s non-stop out there. It’s active; studio sessions, drinking, going to shows, performing, turning up again, it’s just non-stop. The club scene is crazy in Korea, the nightlife is wild. Things cooled down for me when I came back to LA. I got to sit back, see family, see my old friends, relax. One other thing that was a big change in lifestyle is that I got to drive again. That might not seem like a big deal to a lot of people, but imagine doing something every single day of your (adult) life then suddenly not being able to for several years. I love listening to music in the car. That’s one of the most important moments of the day for me. The car is a portable studio, I love it, and since I got to do that again I felt like that sparked something in me and helped me to really finalise that album.

When you mention your car and driving, that was something you’ve mentioned (in the past) was a big inspiration for your latest album in terms of the vibe you wanted to create for it. So, in a sense, without you being able to move back and experience that again, would the outcome have changed?

The mood of the album might have been a little different. I still would’ve landed on a desirable outcome and that vibe would have been there, but it’d just be different. Music is powerful – it activates different emotions in different settings. You can listen to a song in your bedroom, then hear the same song on a walk by the river, and it might make you feel something entirely new. And then you bump that same song on a drive through the city at night. And it clicks. That’s the vibe I wanted right there.

Talking about the album, how was it seeing such a great response to it?

Man, it’s been great. I was really eager to put it out cause I’ve been working on it for a long time. It’s all I’d think about. Every day I’d wake up thinking ‘damn I gotta finish this album’. So it was a great mental and spiritual release for me. I hope the people listening to it really vibe and connect with it because it’s something I put my soul into. But I’m just excited to move forward and release new stuff. I don’t like to dwell on the past too much, and I know it hasn’t been that long since the drop but I’m just always trying to move forward. I know that this album will age well because I love the songs and how everything came together sonically. I think if I’m happy with it then, nothing else matters, and I am happy with it, so yeah.

In a way then, do those comments link with your song “Fate,” and perhaps your own decisions to trust fate, and trust that things will work out?

Well, I believe that, yes I do put my hands in fate, but I feel like we can all really shape our own fate and choose the road that we walk. I believe that if you put yourself out there and if you put your 110% into everything you do, the universe will work in your favour. If you wake up every day with the mindset, or the intention, of accomplishing something, you will accomplish it. That’s something I truly believe in.

More recently, though, you released “Fugazi”. How did that come about, and what inspired you with that song?

I actually made that song a while back. I think it was like a year ago, I met up with my mix engineer and producer Yungin during one of my trips back home for a show. One of the few people I trust with my sound. He produced "Icarus" and "Fools Gold" on my first album STATUES. We were catching up in the studio and ended up making "Fugazi." It’s on that aggressive rap vibe so we were thinking ‘damn who else can we get on this that’s just fire, someone who can really kill this’ and my first thought was G Yamazawa. He’s an amazing lyricist, and a slam poet champion; he’s nice with the words. He hopped on that track, and it was done. I didn’t get to release it till now though, cause it was entirely different from the songs on 222:AM. If you listen to the album it’s more on that new age wave, and kinda on that lonely vibe. Whereas “Fugazi” is on a more aggressive, more hype, kind of vibe. So, I held off on dropping that song until very recently.

When you do spend that much time in between recording and releasing, do you ever get tempted to change things or, as I’m sure happens, you shelve something entirely?

Yeah, always. To both changing and shelving. I’m constantly making music, so I have songs that I recorded from years back that are unreleased. I still listen to these from time to time, wondering what I should change to put it in the state where I’d finally like to release it. It’s something that I’m always battling within myself. I feel like I’m very meticulous, so I’m always adjusting things. Whenever I send Yungin a track to mix, he’s like ‘alright we’re not gonna go to mix 20 this time’. Haha. I’m all about the details, and might be more sensitive to things than I’d like. Even when it comes to ad-libs or some backing vocals, you might not hear it, but it adds a little blanket of mood to the song and that can be the one factor that affects the whole thing.

To expand on the sensitive thing; one aspect that is noticeable, especially when listening to the most recent album, is just how polished, and refined everything is. Do you find there’s possibly a lack of that now in hip-hop? And how do you ensure you don’t do what others do, and put something out as soon as it’s finished?

We’re now in an era of music where it doesn’t really matter to polish things up. People are recording and putting out songs the same day; SoundCloud made that very accessible to everybody, and I see nothing wrong with that. If it feels right, then it’s right. There is no right answer whether it’s polished or sloppy, because maybe that’s what brings the song to life. I noticed that I tend to gravitate towards the more polished sound because something about it makes me feel satisfied with my music.

Moving on now, you became independent last year. How’s that changed things, and has that allowed you to reach that level of contentment you mentioned differently from how you would under a record label, who may add pressure?

It’s been great since I became independent. Me and Danny, we’ve just been movin’ on our own, and luckily I have my talented homies with me, goodloox. A sense of freedom came with the independence.

The label I was with wanted me to make Korean music, language-wise and sonically. But I think that conflicted with me at times. I don’t really desire to make Korean Korean music. I’m not a K-Pop artist, and a lot of hip hop from Korea end up being copies of American songs. I was born and raised in LA, and raised on hip hop culture. I adapted to the best of my ability out there, but sometimes when your gut tells you something’s not right, you gotta listen.

But at the end of the day my heritage is Korean. And I do love implementing Korean into my music, it’s a challenge and a lot of fun. I’m not the most fluent, but I’ve studied and learned these past four years. Living in Korea really helped me understand how to write, especially raps. Speaking casually and writing to express yourself are two opposite ends of the spectrum.

So, in terms of making that decision, to go independent, was there a moment in your head when you thought ‘this isn’t right for me’ and that you needed to go down a different path?

Definitely. Don’t get me wrong, when it comes to the label and everyone in it, I love them all to death, and respect them to the fullest because they helped guide me through the early stages of my artistry. That’s something that I’m forever grateful for. They taught me things that I never knew when it comes to the music industry, and music itself, but of course as people grow, they might discover or realise that maybe that path is not the right one for them, and that is something I did feel close to the end of my contract, which is why I made the decision. I think the biggest thing was (that) I missed LA. I just miss home (laughs), and that’s just how I felt at the time.

Another thing that you recently went into is fashion. Was that always the step, of trying to build a brand for yourself?

Yeah, I’ve always been interested in fashion. I love clothes, I love shoes, I just love shopping in general. Fashion is a powerful way for you to express yourself – your clothes can be a reflection of who you are as a person. I’ve been working in the fashion industry prior to taking on music full time, so that passion has always been there. I thought, ‘rather than paying all this money for a hoodie or hat, what if I could just make designs I think are dope?’. It’s another outlet for me to express myself, and music and fashion go hand in hand, so I love it.

With that in mind, is that (fashion) something that will always be present alongside the music now?

Definitely. Aside from merchandise that correlates with the music I release, fashion will always be a huge part of my life. I want to create something that people can look at, feel a connection to, want to purchase and wear it to make that part of their self expression.

Going back to everything, such as your album, your move back, what has it been like doing that in this year, during a pandemic, during a place in which America might not be a place everyone wants to be?

This whole year has been a trip. I really got into creating and designing clothes with the homie Arthur because we were in quarantine. All shows got cancelled, and musically all I could do was create in the quiet comfort of my home. It sucks as an artist to make all this music, but not be able to perform it live on stage. That’s a different type of energy. I feed off of that. Because everything got shut down, I had to find different outlets to keep my creative energy high. That’s why me, Arthur and DWOO jump started Good Loox. I also ended up buying a gaming computer so there’d be days when I’d just be full on gaming all day with the homies, playing Counter Strike, Call of Duty and Dota.

Looking back, I feel like I needed that recharge. You can’t be creating all the time, and I feel like that’s something that people might not fully understand about making music. You can’t literally live in the studio every day. You need to experience life with all its ups and downs, whatever that may be. Luckily I found the motivation to finish the album in quarantine, and planned to release it on my birthday, September 25th. I think “Hoop Dreamz” was the last song I made, and after that I was like ‘ok I’m done, I’m not touching this album anymore’ cause I kept making changes.

With this pandemic, I feel like everyone is adapting to a new way of life and nobody really knows what they’re doing either. I mean, I for sure don’t. This whole year’s been a weird rollercoaster.

With your live performances, you’ve had a lot of different experiences, such as half-time shows, and then club tours in countries like China. Are there any negatives, or other experiences, that help you to grow whilst experiencing these different environments and cultures whilst performing?

I’ve definitely grown a lot as an artist and most importantly a performer with each show these past few years. I might’ve performed over 100 shows in the past few years. And nothing negative – just learning experiences. The audiences are different when it comes to different countries and regions. A lot of shows in Korea were on the milder side, with most people watching through their phone camera. I’ve rocked some weird stages man – board game festivals, game shows, in the middle of a shopping mall, and in an empty swimming pool. Germany, Thailand, and Australia was on another level. So was my tour in China. Every city went crazy. The energy was unreal. I assume it’s because it might be a once in a lifetime chance for them to see an artist they love in their city, so they go all out. It’s not an easy thing to book shows in different countries.

I did have one terrible show that I always remember. This one club in San Francisco – their audio wasn’t working properly and nobody could seem to fix it, and my booking agent/point of contact was too drunk to help me. So I told my DJ, DWOO, to cut the music and I just rapped acapella for like five minutes straight, then dropped the mic and left. We were both pretty heated at the time. Because at the end of the day, my ass is on the line performing, not the club’s. So I’ve had experiences like that, but ultimately it made me a better performer because it puts me in a position where I gotta improvise and make sure things go right even when it’s wrong.

One thing that stands out from this year is your consistency. How’ve you felt being able to just release singles, and then how has it been with the fans engaging with that well?

It’s been really cool. I can put out music at my own pace, and because of that I try and stay as consistent as possible. I just want to keep feeding the world and my supporters with as much music as I can. It’s been dope to see the feedback, cause I feel that the real ones, the real fans, the ones that really fuck with my music and me as an artist have stuck with me and I’m so thankful for that. I still see the same few names that are always there; every release, every drop, they’re always supporting and it’s amazing that they have that kind of love for me and my music because I’ve experienced that kind of love for my favourite artists too. That’s what I want to give to the world, and to the people who are listening. I want them to feel that excitement of a new song and how that can then turn into a part of their life’s soundtrack.

Looking towards the future, there’s more of a cause for some optimism with things like a vaccine. Are you looking solely on being able to perform again, or is it new music alongside that?

I hope all this shit clears up soon. But this is our life for now - mask on everyday. The essentials when we left the house used to be: keys, wallet, phone, but now you can’t leave without a mask. As for the vaccine, we’ll see what happens, haha. I keep hope but still expect the worst. Live shows are surely missed, but a lot of artists have shifted to doing virtual concerts. Even I did a live-at-home show – it was fun, but it’s different performing to a camera than a real audience. The music making is non stop so no doubt about that.

And then obviously you mentioned on your socials that you dropped the COVID theme song...

I didn’t even realise that bro, like that just happened. I released that song right before COVID hit hard in the states and then everyone kept saying like ‘keep your distance, 6ft distance, distance’ and I was like ‘what? That’s what I have in my lyrics right now, that’s what I wrote about’. I dropped it on February 25th before lockdown in the US. I felt like I should have done something to make that shit go viral, I should have had some TikTok dance to it or something.

And on the topic of TikTok, you’ve joined that now. How important is it to you that you have as many platforms as possible to engage with fans, and make them see different sides to you?

It’s been a lot of fun. First off I feel like I’m not a very social, strong online presence type of person who documents every part of my life. I think it’s amazing that some people have that much motivation and energy to upload every part of their life to the internet. I’m trying to get better at it, though. It’s easier for those to understand looking out than those who are outside looking in, so I’m trying my best to open up my world. But it’s tough man. It’s hard to keep up with all these kids making these dope videos. I just saw this one rapper on TikTok who’s 14 and he’s pretty damn good with being consistent with his daily uploads, and that inspired me. It’s amazing how technology has shifted the need for content to be quickly digestible, regardless of production quality. Shit, these days people don’t even seem to want crazy HD quality, they just want a candid selfie video with no filter, to see the real you. It’s given me new motivation and something else to do besides solely making songs for myself.

When you do hit a creative block then, or feel a lack of motivation, how do you get that creativity flowing again?

Those creative blocks can be stressful, but I just try to chill out when that happens; watch some movies, read some books. I’ve been skating a lot. That’s been one of my stress relievers. When I feel cooped up, I just head out and skate. I recently injured my ankle pretty bad learning a new trick, so I’ve been out of commission for the last two weeks. I’ve been pretty sad when I wake up and realize I can’t skate. Shit, I can’t even walk without crutches right now. But yeah, skating’s helped keep my mind and body fresh.

Then, to briefly reflect on the year, how’s it been for you, purely musically?

This year, musically, has been a refresh. It’s been a clean slate for me to experiment on. Lots of different sounds, different styles and songwriting. So it’s been really refreshing, mentally and physically, especially with my move back to LA. I got a lot of new vibes in the works so I’m excited to share a side of me that nobody has seen quite yet.

And finally, is there anything else you’d like to say?

Well, first of all fuck COVID! And I hope everyone who has been supporting me all the way until now - all the day ones, and all the people that discovered my music recently, either through my latest album or any features, whatever, thank y’all for fuckin’ with me, thank y’all for vibing with me, cause honestly that means more than the world to me. I’ll do my best to provide you with something memorable. Grow with me. Be on the lookout for new music.. as always. I just dropped one but maybe I’ll be dropping something else again soon. I’ll be working over here, thank y’all, appreciated. Love you all.