Roy Woods is flourishing.
“The power’s excessive proper now. I really feel again in movement after a few years – it appears like I pressed the restart button,” he tells Billboard Canada.
The Toronto R&B singer and rapper launched his new EP, Dark Nights, in April, and it confirmed off a brand new aspect of the OVO Sound-signed artist.
At 9 tracks, Darkish Nights is a daring and unfiltered reflection on betrayal, heartbreak and emotional survival. It debuts a extra susceptible aspect of the Toronto singer-songwriter, who opens up about a few of the darkest moments he’s confronted – and the way he has discovered to dwell by way of them.
With such advanced feelings on the road, Woods took his aptly titled EP and created a brief movie primarily based on the challenge’s main themes. The 20-minute quick movie premiered June 12 at NXNE, adopted by a Q&A with Billboard Canada’s Nationwide Editor Richard Trapunski.
“My supervisor, Banks, and I needed to indicate such a ache another way than the standard music movies,” Woods shares. “We needed to showcase the artwork in a distinct gentle.”
Earlier than the EP’s launch, he recalled having preliminary conversations concerning the quick movie on the high of the 12 months. Woods and his collaborators famous that the tracklist flows into each other, boldly telling a narrative from begin to end.
“There’s a lot depth within the songs,” he explains.
Whereas Woods had dabbled in appearing as a toddler, making a brief movie was utterly new territory. The challenge took 4 days to movie and consisted of all-day shoots – to not point out managing a strong forged and crew. But, he fondly recollects the expertise. “The power was on 10. There was plenty of pleasure, and all people was able to do the very best job attainable.”
With dreamy nighttime hues and dimly lit rooms, Darkish Nights follows Woods by way of a relationship that transforms into an advanced dynamic that features betrayal, unplanned being pregnant and massive existential questions. Primarily based on a real story, Woods channels somber power and anguish in his first main appearing position.
He cites the darker, moody period of late 2010s Toronto R&B music as inspiration. “We didn’t carry it again, however sort of reignited the flame. We keep true to its essence and produce it in a contemporary gentle,” he says. “We needed to remain true to that Roy Woods aesthetic.”
He describes the aforementioned creative imaginative and prescient as “late night time driving R&B moody music, that’s balanced with songs which can be good for events and good vibes.” It’s an power Woods has mastered in his almost-decade-long profession.
In 2015, Woods signed with Drake’s OVO Sound document label and skyrocketed onto the scene mere months later when his monitor “Drama,” from his debut EP, Exis, was launched in collaboration with the beloved Toronto rapper. The EP peaked at No. 27 on Billboard’s Prime R&B/Hip-Hop Albums, marking his first placement on the chart. Woods continued on an upward trajectory, as his following full-length efforts, Waking at Daybreak and Say Much less,additionally earned him spots on the Billboard 200 and Canadian Albums charts.
“I’m so grateful for my music to achieve these heights. When it occurred, it made me notice that I used to be an artist of this calibre,” Woods explains. However it doesn’t change how he approaches his present work. “As a result of if I did, then I’m chasing one thing that doesn’t really feel true to me. These songs had been created by me expressing, writing and feeling good about making music, with no strain to make it.”
Woods cites Drake and PartyNextDoor as two of his greatest influences, so he feels fortunate to be their label-mate. Of his relationship with OVO, Woods praises the document label for his or her mentorship and steering, which has saved him away from the shifting, usually pressured expectations of rising within the music trade.
“I didn’t need to change who I used to be within the music that I make. At OVO, we’re eager on making music that’s true to ourselves and the folks round us,” he shares.
Now, 10 years on, the idea of embarking on a artistic challenge with no expectations grew to become a mainstay for Darkish Nights — the EP and the quick movie. “This music that I’ve been making recently, and now the quick movie feels so good as a result of I’ve been within the second. I’m creating to create, [and] I’m loving it. I’m having enjoyable with it once more.”
He credit this flexibility to his “very private” relationship with followers. “I’m so grateful to [them] as a result of they stand by me, studying, rising and loving myself now in comparison with the particular person and the artist that I used to be earlier in my profession,” Woods says.
Though he’s Brampton-born, Woods’ love extends to Toronto, town he got here up in. “I obtain plenty of respect after I’m in my metropolis. The love is all the time completely different than another place,” he explains. “I’m studying that I’m an necessary determine to not solely the world I grew up in, however your entire metropolis of Toronto.”
Now that Woods has pressed the restart button, he assures listeners that he isn’t going anyplace. With aspirations to remain in his appearing bag, he’s going to proceed exploring artistic initiatives outdoors of music. “We’re flooding the gates. You’re gonna get aggravated with Roy Woods, and that’s what I would like proper now. I’m going all the way in which, you realize? Godspeed.”
This text was initially revealed by Billboard Canada.