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Photo: Chris Metz

Genre-defying and drenched in soul, greek is an enigmatic force that spawned onto the alt R&B scene with a fully formed sense of self. Though the 23-year-old approaches music with a youthful naïvety that only one purely enamored by the art form could still possess, his artistry is refined and fully matured. He’s not looking for the world to approve of him; there was simply a richness that demanded to be expressed. His music is intimate, warm, and instinctual — an honest extension of all that lives inside him. From 2022’s “Safety,” a career-defining R&B single that has amassed over 11 million streams, to 2024’s “VIRGINIA CREEPER,” a sonic disco odyssey that proves he is truly limitless, greek is the promised heir.

Following the release of Cedar’s Tape, greek’s most fully realized effort yet, OnesToWatch sat down with the artist to dive deeper into his music-making process and the classic inspirations that inform his love affair with music today.

OnesToWatch: Two years later, and I’m still addicted to “THERE FOR YOU,” it fills the void Frank Ocean left behind. You're so good at finding a way to enmesh different sounds and create something completely new. What is your perspective on genre and not confining yourself to a lane in that way? 

greek: I'd say since, like, 2022, because the first song that pushed my name out there to people was “Safety,” I’d always get the comparison of Omar Apollo or Frank Ocean or Daniel Caesar. I've always found it to be silly. It's not a bad thing whatsoever; I actually appreciate it. But I find it to be silly because I listen to something like Cedar's Tape, and I find that it's a very different sound, a very different pocket of music. I think the genre stuff for me comes from my interest in music. When I first got into music, I was really big into hip-hop production, and I got really big into sampling when I was younger. There are certain pockets that I think find their way into my music, and I'll put that stuff with other things that I also find interesting. Then it kinda creates its own thing. It all comes from somewhere, but it's just my own little pocket of interests.

So much of how we experience music today is informed by what we were listening to in the back of our parents' car growing up. As such an eclectic artist, what were you listening to at that time?

We didn’t have the most musical household ever, to be honest. My dad listened to classic ‘80s rock, ‘70s rock. I liked ACDC. My mom was into a lot of disco; I liked Donna Summer. There were a couple of random artists who entered my orbit when I was younger. I remember when I was a kid, I forget which album it was, but I remember my dad had a Boyz II Men CD, and I listened to that all the time because it was in a pool of like, Aerosmith CDs and stuff. I remember that really spoke to me. I think their harmonizing has always been a thing that drove me. When I was a teenager, I wasn't able to get an iPod or anything. I remember this one Christmas, some distant cousins of mine got my brother and I Kindle Fires. They were meant for reading, but you could still use them like an iPad. I really discovered a lot of music that I would say is still with me now. I discovered The Beatles, Stevie Wonder, and Aretha Franklin.

Do you find that you listen to music from the past more often than discovering something new?

That’s funny, I definitely do. I don't know if this is a me thing or what. I feel like I've been on this constant discovery backwards for music, I don't know why. I like the way that things were recorded in certain eras. It's just been something that's always driven me. I find that all this weird lore is behind the music. Like the way that Prince had a bed in his studio. Some of the work ethic that you'll hear behind really famous artists is really enticing to me. So I kinda stay around those areas, I love the ‘70s. I'm a big ‘70s fan. 

You mentioned with Cedar’s Tape that you were really intentional about simplifying the process when making this project. What did that look like? How did you bring making music down to its bare bones?

Well, truthfully, I said that, and it didn't actually occur that way. As much as that was the intention, it wasn't that simple. It was the most independent I've ever been making music, and that was good and bad. Because in the past, I’d make a lot of my music by myself, but someone would come in the room and talk to me about something, or I'll have a bit of outside inspiration. This is maybe the most overthinking I have done on a project. I remember I got back from tour, and I had five or six demos that ended up making this project. I think pulling what those songs ended up being out of them was a bit of a struggle. I didn't really have a full, fluid intention of what it was gonna be. I just knew that I wanted to make a lot of cool music, and I didn't want to overcomplicate it. I think with a lack of true direction, it got a little complicated at a certain point. But I mainly focused on each individual song and not the whole overarching idea. That helped me to figure out one by one what every song needed. The good thing is these songs and a lot of the stuff that I do always end up sounding like it makes sense together because it comes from me. I'll be the one who works on pretty much all of it. It was a weird process for this one, but I’m ultimately happy with what it became.

You mentioned a lot of these songs were preconceived. What differentiates a song that only gets better with time from a song that feels dated and needs to either be released immediately or shelved?

That’s a really good question, actually. I think it depends. I think when you mix something, you just know. “LEND A HAND” specifically is one of the oldest ones that made the cut. I like production. I like sampling. I think that's a really cool song, as far as the way that I was able to incorporate the sample that I chose. At the time, it was a step in a new direction for me. Looking back at it, I think with the things that I've learned over the last few years, it's just been something that I've been able to perfect on my own terms. I've been able to get to a point where I'm really confident in the way that I do things. I think you just know sometimes a song will stick around for a couple of years. 

Talk to me about this Cedar alter ego and who you stepped into while making this project.

I released a vinyl for my first project, EXTC, two years ago. I really wanted to do a little extra just so it feels like there's a bit of incentive behind buying a vinyl. I added three extra tracks, but one of them was just a remix that I did of this song called “bnb” that I had on there. I make a lot of music, and a lot of the music that I've made has never seen the light of day and never will. I think there was a moment where I was like, “Why stockpile all of this music and just be this Ebenezer Scrooge of sorts about the things that I have made?” I was like, “Okay. I'm gonna make a remix of my songs called Cedar’s Tape.” I didn’t think it would be much of anything then. But I think over the last few months, I realized that I'm a growing artist. I'm early in my career. The last thing that I wanna do is hide away and not give attention to the thing that's the most important, which is the music. I try to take initiative, especially when I wanna work on a bigger body of work. I always wanna be making a big conceptual album, something that’s taking up a lot of my time. This was just an opportunity for me to make the coolest songs I can make in this moment. I’m still growing as an artist, and I'm still learning things that will help me in the next thing. I think the music is really, really good, and I think a lot of the songs in there are my best songs to date. 

It’s such an authentic body of work, and everyone is already responding so positively to it. Having such immediate success, and being this early in your career, do you have your own personal way of defining triumph? Are you numbers-driven? 

I’m actually not. I think the 2020s have been a really weird time as far as everyone's individual relationship with the internet and the numbers that may direct your mindset in different ways. I think as an artist, it's really easy to get caught up in the fact that it drives validation. But I felt the most enjoyment behind my music when there was simplicity. Being in your room or wherever you make music, and just being very hopeful. The internet has become so much more powerful behind an artist’s self-perception. I try to keep it simple. I try to stay away from the numbers stuff. With my own personal battles over the years of looking at that, I think I've realized that the most important thing is just to keep it simply about the music, the thing that drives you to do it in the first place.

Does that inform your interaction with the internet and social media? Are you offline?

I try to be. I've had my struggles, like anyone else, where I'll just use it for a couple of days way more than I need to. I grew up on the internet; I was an internet kid for the most part. Maybe I'm crazy, but I don't think that the internet is the same internet is today. I don't wanna sound like an old head when I say that, but as I've gotten older, I've tried to stay off of it for my personal life and peace of mind.

You’re officially joining Eden's tour! What are you most excited about going into it? 

I'm so excited. He has such a dedicated fan base. I think the people who have been expecting his tour and have been waiting for his new music are very diehard fans. To make an impression upon a group of supporters like that is, wow. I'm pretty sure he hasn't toured in a couple of years, so to meet an audience like that, hopefully, they respond well to what I make.

Are there any particular tracks you're excited to bring to life? 

I think the song that I'm most excited to play is “Call Me.” I wanna see that song brought to life with a full band.

Last but not least, who are your ones to watch?

I feel so unequipped for this question. This is one of those things where I'll get asked and blank so hard in the moment. Let me think. You know you know who's become a friend of mine who and I think his music's sick? Humble the Great. Otherwise, I'm not sure. I'd really have to I'd take a rain check on me with this one.

Okay, let me ask another crazy question that might be more intuitive: If aliens landed today and you could only play them one album to introduce them to the human species, what album would it be?

Songs in the Key of Life. I think Stevie embodies the human spirit in that album really well.