Fridayy: The Philly crooner talks JAY-Z, putting out a fire self-titled debut and the music biz grind

Need more reasons to have Apple Music in your life? How about getting first dibs on super solid interviews like the one Philadelphia’s own Fridayy gave Apple Music 1’s Ebro Darden?

Fridayy talks music biz, new album and JAY-Z with Apple Music 1

While the full-fledged interview is over on the streaming giant’s platform, some key quotes from the conversation between Fridayy and Ebro are definitely worth keeping tabs on.

Fridayy Tells Apple Music About Getting His Start in the Music Industry as a Songwriter...

I was an artist before a songwriter. I was pushing my music as an artist. But if you don't got no marketing and you don't got no plan, it's really not going to move. I remember I used to put hashtags on my posts. I don't know how he found me. He was like, "Bro, you hard. Send me some more records." And I sent him some more records. He was like, "Bro, if you song write it might be an easier way for you to get in. People need songs." If you meet an A&R right now and you say, "I'm an artist," and they go on your Instagram, or TikTok and you don't got nothing going on, they not really... Even if you talented, they don't really care, bro. That's most of the industry. But if you meet a A&R and say, "I got 20 hooks for your artist, I got 20 beats," he's going to call you in the studio the same night. Nowadays, they don't even care about the music. It's all the other stuff. Once he said that, all right, songwriting. But in my mind, I already had projects ready, bro. A lot of my music, I've been recording while I was writing. That's how I got in the game.

Fridayy Tells Apple Music Why He Self-Titled his Debut Album…

That's why I named the album Fridayy, bro. Because when people be asking me, "What genre are you?" I really can't put me in a box. I'm not R&B, I'm not gospel. You may hear the soulfulness, but it's not gospel. It's really just me though, all in one. And I'm putting everything I listen to and everything I've been through all in one song. Just like you said, I'm Haitian. Growing up Haitian, in Haitian parties, all we hear is Haitian music, Afrobeat and Jamaican. It's in me. Even when I talk to these Afro artists, I've been on them, you know what I'm saying? 2015. It's like second home to me type stuff. That song “Done For Me” is just, I look at it as a worldwide song, the way you say it, bro. Anybody could listen to it.

Fridayy Tells Apple Music About Performing “GOD DID” with Jay-Z at the Grammys…

That was special, bro. I remember Khaled told me we were going to be at the Grammys. He'd been telling me that, but it ain't really register yet. I think we got the call that I'm performing two weeks before the Grammys. My heart dropped, bro. I couldn't even sleep. I was just thinking, bro, I could mess up a Jay-Z performance. This could go bad. I was just thinking the wrong... The worst things, bro. I remember the week of the Grammys, I kept singing every day, that same hook, in the shower. And then right before, Khaled came, he came with his whole crew to me and put the instrumental in my ear and I just started singing. Everybody like, "You ready.” And I seen Hov, I just grabbed my mic and it was just history, bro. That was the first time the world got introduced to the face. Everybody knew the name, but that was the first time they got introduced to my face.

Fridayy Tells Apple Music About Picking His Artist Name…

When I was a youngin', I used to always see my cousins on Fridays. That was the day. I begged my mom, "When's Friday coming?" She just started calling me that. And then when I was started making music, I kind of stuck with that because at the time, The Weeknd and PartyNextDoor was my favorite artists. I just came up with the name, just so Drake could recognize me, when I was probably 15, 16.