Logic: Master of His Craft

On the brink of commercial success, American-born rap sensation Logic now faces unprecedented challenges. With his complex rhyme schemes and creativity having caught the eye of Def Jam, the rapper – born Sir Robert Bryson Hall II – had (ostensibly) made it over the hump of a non-enviable family situation, blog denial and other problems. Alas, the ever-resourceful Maryland native worked to complete his debut album – but not without another set of complications. With the stakes higher than ever, HYPETRAK sat down with Logic to discuss his journey thus far, which tells the tale of a young man beating his demons to come out on top. Enjoy key excerpts from the insightful piece below, then head over to HYPETRAK to view the full piece.

Your debut album is due later this year. Are you satisfied with its progress so far?

Oh yeah, definitely. I mean, it’s been done for six months and I haven’t changed anything. In the time since it was finished, I was tempted to go back in because I would find new inspiration. However, I saved that feeling to currently work on the second album. You can’t fix something that ain’t broke, as they say, so I’ve just been sitting on the first LP.

How has the creation process differed from your previous projects?

Well, with mixtapes, that was an era in my life where I was on the come-up. I wrote as if the listener was my best friend and I was venting about everything I was going through daily, both good and bad, as a rapper. However, the album is far from that. The album is not about the coming of Logic, it is about the Growing up of “Bobby” narrated by Logic. It is the story of my adolescence and the things I went through that transformed me into the young man I am today. Of course, there’s a bit about my experiences in the industry, but 80% of this tale is just about who I am, where I come from and the things I’ve endured.

Creatively speaking, for you, what is the main difference between working on an album and a song? Do you approach certain songs with an idea that fits with the album, or make the songs first and see if they fit later?

Very good question! I think you definitely just make songs — you don’t want to confine your creativity. It’s like, I may be really inspired by a Drake melody and want to do something in that lane, but then I’ll hear some 36 Chambers and want to do some raw RZA shit instead. I won’t tell myself to only do one of them. Why not go the Kanye route? Make the hook a ballad melodically, then switch the key, BPM and tone on the verses, and go raw spitting on the verses. However, with an album, I do think generally you have a bit of an idea going in what you want, but you let each song tell the story as a whole.