Yot Club Took His Sweet Time on Sophomore Album ‘Rufus’
After the rushed release of his debut LP, the indie artist took a more thorough approach.
Yot Club took his time in making his latest album, Rufus. Out today, March 28, the sophomore project from the indie artist, whose real name is Ryan Kaiser, loosely began in early 2022, though it was only during last summer that a real LP started to take form.
His breakout single “YKWIM?” was quietly released in 2019 but blew up years later after going viral on TikTok – the song currently sits at over half a billion streams on Spotify. While the virality introduced many to Yot Club’s music for the first time, the singer also experienced a sudden pressure to put out his debut album.
off the grid arrived in 2022, an indie rock LP full of raw instrumentals. While it’s an accomplished debut in its own right, Yot Club, looking back on the album, says he felt rushed to make it in the aftermath of “YKWIM?” blowing up.
Rufus is the result of a slower, more laborious process. Yot Club, who usually makes all of his music at home, brought on collaborators for the first time. Tommy English contributed to the track “Pixel,” while Harrison Lipton and Charli Adams worked on “Human Nature” and “Drowning.” Rufus was also mixed by Patrick Wimberly, a legend in the space for his work with Beyoncé, Solace and Blood Orange, among others.
“The main difference between the two [albums] is that I slowed down and took my time on Rufus,” Yot Club tells Hypebeast. “There was definitely still pressure to work fast but I made sure to take my time and make something I’d have no regrets with in the future. I feel like off the grid was made the same as all my other projects before it, but Rufus is me slowing down, getting second opinions, and being more thorough with the writing and production.”
Although Yot Club was happy that listeners resonated with “YKWIM?,” he cringes at the idea of artists putting out music specifically with the intent to go viral. He’ll never put out music just to “feed the algorithm” and misses the days “when people posted sunsets on Instagram for 70 followers.”
Stream Yot Club’s new album Rufus everywhere now.
