SEBii Continues to Build His Multifaceted Universe on New Full-Length Album VVSS2
New York-based, Shanghai-raised artist SEBii is sharing his latest evolution of his hyperpop/rap sound on his sophomore album VVSS2 and continues to expand the lore that surrounds his project. His origins begin online, but since then, SEBii’s project has started taking on a tangible life of its own, immersing himself in the real world with live sets in LA for events like the iconic Boiler Room x Subculture party and more. He’s also gained recognition from pioneers in the industry, collaborating with the likes of Ashnikko, Travis Barker, and Umru, in addition to receiving praise from Anthony Fantano and Playboi Carti.
We linked up with SEBii to talk about where it all began, from his early Soundcloud days to his obsession with Pokemon, and how his universe continues to take shape.
REVERIE: How would you describe the SEBii universe?
S: It revolves around my character VV. The SEBii universe started with this mascot and each project that I release is an iteration on VV. I did three primary colour EPs - VVRed, VVBlue, VVYellow - and for each release VV is taking on a different form. So for VVBlue, VV was a shampoo bottle. VVRed is a motorcycle. The world revolves around this character and each project has a different sonic sound and different vibe to it. My newest project, VVSS2, it is a sequel to VVS that was a fan favourite and the project that kind of kick started my career, I feel. So it’s kind of the newest update to the SEBii universe and a combination of everything that I’ve ever done.
R: I’d love to dive in to the aesthetic behind this project further and the character VV, but I want to start back at the beginning first. I first discovered your music online. How would you describe your journey as an artist and how has the online world impacted your approach? I feel like your career is really unique and you’ve created a very strong online community of fans.
S: For sure! I feel like my whole existence for SEBii is online. But it kind of speaks to my relationship with music and how I even got into everything. I got into it because of the internet. That’s how I started to learn how to make music; I watched YouTube videos online. It’s also how I got into listening to artist’s that I liked - listening to people like Lil Uzi who were really influential in the early days. I mean Uzi is the reason I started doing vocals but prior to that I was doing more production, future bass stuff on soundcloud, which was also very influential on my sound. So I think that everything I know is from the internet, I grew up on it. So because of that, not even intentionally, it just became an online thing and I have these sensibilities that created this online world that people can connect with.
R: Another entry point to your music for me was the PC Music thread on Reddit!
S: It’s interesting because I never was too tapped in to the PC Music scene! My reference point when I started making music was contemporary hip hop, like Uzi, Carti, and Yung Thung like I was saying, so that was my blueprint in terms of the vocal approach. Production wise though my reference point was anime and video games - if you couldn’t tell [proceeds to point to the array of Pokemon plushes behind him]. I’m a huge Pokemon fan and I grew up playing that. It was the soundscape to my childhood. I was really tapped in to underground soundcloud scenes too, but it’s funny because once the hyperpop thing was happening I think the scenes naturally collided, which was really cool.
I did start doing some things with PC Music eventually. They did a Christmas Carol online show during COVID - and I did a couple more online shows with PC Music from there. I got to work with some cool people from the crew and even met A. G. Cook which was wild. He came to my show in LA and after I performed - I didn’t even know he was there - he tapped me on the shoulder and said “Yo great set” and it was absolutely insane. So I guess those worlds kind of collided - but before that happened, I honestly wasn’t very familiar with the PC Music stuff because I came from a different world. But it’s cool how music works like that because there are similarities to what they’re doing and we are both very digital. Once I learned more about what they were doing, I fell in love with it and I really respect it.
R: During COVID there weren’t many live shows and many musicians suffered for it, but the PC Music crew really knew how to throw an online party and create these spaces for us to collectively come together. How was the transition going from an online artist to putting yourself out there more in the real world post-COVID?
S: Honestly after COVID I started doing a lot more live shows, which was really cool. Even since the end of last year, I’ve already had a show in Tokyo and just came back from a two date China tour in Shanghai and Guangzhou. And then I did this surprise mini-show in Texas. I’ve been travelling the world.
When I first started making music online, for some reason it never crossed my mind that I would get to travel for music. And also I don’t come from the background of someone who goes to shows. I lowkey hate shows [laughs]. I’ve never really gone to a show for an artist that I like - even to this day the shows I go to now are to support friends or my own show. For me, music is something that I just like to enjoy in my own time and it’s never been a collective thing for me to be in a public space and experience with other people. But I get the appeal for it and I’m starting to enjoy it more, but inherently it is not something that I enjoy doing. So I never thought “Oh I’m going to make music so I can play shows!”, which is the goal for some artists.
It was really cool though because after COVID, many show opportunities have come up like France and Australia and a show in Japan - it’s been taking me to a lot of different places in the world so I’m really grateful for it. And I love playing shows now. It’s super fun and seeing the fans know the lyrics, especially when it’s an international show where they don’t speak English, it’s crazy - but they know it! It’s a great surprise and something that I didn’t expect. I was always worried with doing music full-time because of the way I operate. I can realistically do everything from my room so I thought “oh I’m just never going to go outside!”. I’m not a social person, but the shows get me outside and keep me meeting fans and people that I connect with - like other artists and producers - so travelling gives me the opportunity for us to link.
R: People are itching for places to feel like they belong and feel like they have a sense of community - and having music online really opens those doors. You should come to Canada one day! I tell people often Calgary, AB is an epicentre for Hyperpop since we have ELYOTTO. “Sugar Crash” was a huge tune.
S: Oh no way that’s crazy! That would be lit!
R: It’s rad that you’re touring and playing more shows! You’re also gearing up to release VSS2, as you mentioned earlier. You’re also re-releasing your EP’s as a trilogy and there’s going to be a pretty sweet design package from the looks of it. What roles do colours play in your releases?
S: I come from a drawing/visual artist background. Originally I started drawing and doing visual art way before music. I also went to art school and was an illustration major so I thought I’d always do this kind of work. And I still am! Music didn’t come in to the picture until my late teen years, but it was more so something I was doing for fun at the time. Halfway through college the SEBii stuff started to pop off and I thought “Ok I can do the music thing AND the art thing” - it’s totally linked. So the colours just come from being an artist. I wanted to do a trilogy because I was making a lot of music, but stylistically they were not consistent with each other. Some songs were really aggressive, others were playful, and some emotional. But there were three distinct vibes that I was noticing so I thought how could I separate these? I want to release all of this music but I want it to be stylistically consistent with each other. So I came up with the trilogy idea and just being a visual person the first thing that came to mind was the colours. I felt really influenced by Pablo Picasso’s use of colours in his art to translate emotion - like his blue period being his sad work. So blue came to mind for me for the emotional songs, red is the hard aggressive side, and yellow is the playfulness. It all kind of clicked. And it was awesome that I followed through with doing that because I have so many ideas and I rarely follow through fully with them - it was such a commitment and it took me almost 2 years to fully play it out.
R: What was the process like putting this physical package together for the trilogy?
S: I wanted to do a physical release because I put out vinyl before and it was such a fun project to work on with one of my collaborators, Martin. It brought back so many memories of the project for me too. I did a little write up inside the vinyl and I talked about the behind-the-scenes making of every song - it takes me back. It’s special reliving those moments and I want my projects to live forever and doing a physical release like that kind of immortalizes it. And there’s so much stuff that goes on behind-the-scenes that doesn’t get talked about, so doing a physical release is the perfect place to include that stuff.
After the vinyl being a big success I told Martin I wanted to celebrate the colour EP’s as a trilogy in some way. It’s been 10 months in the works and I’m very excited to get those. Right now it’s just a concept and we’re looking into manufacturers currently, but the content that will be in it will be insane. Like for example, sketches that I did for the VVBlue shampoo character. That design - I had done like 10 different sketches of different shampoo designs that no one has even seen. The process takes a lot of work to build the world. I love seeing when people reveal their process.
For the VVYellow cover - I literally was just searching fruit art and watching videos of people cutting up kiwis. It wasn’t a tutorial per say, just a guy that would film himself making a swan out of kiwis. So I followed these tutorials to understand how it works and I made my own VV out of kiwi. There’s just a lot behind it and I want to show people the process and the physical release is the perfect opportunity to celebrate and give more context and build the SEBii world.
R: I love that you’re so multidisciplinary and I think there’s something really special about physical media - you own a piece of the work. You feel a part of the experience. And then to also get a look behind the curtain is really special. So you went with these bright primary colours, but now it seems you’re venturing into more of a monochromatic era for your new single “FRIENDS>ENEMIES”?
S: Yeah, essentially with the new single - I was on some all white vibes. I call it the ANTI-HERO era for SEBii. The story behind that was I did a Playboi Carti remix at the end of the year. He put out a song called “Different Day” - and people told me “It sounds like Carti’s doing a SEBii voice”. So I knew I had to do a remix. And in the remix I was wearing this all-white fit and I did not even think much about it. But a couple hours later - Carti reposted the remix on his story and it was such a crazy moment for me because I’m a huge Carti fan and he also never posts on social media. So my phone started blowing up and I was shaking.
It was from that moment that I kind of realized, when you think about it, the SEBii project feels very opposite to Carti. There’s so many colours in my releases and aesthetic and I’m a relatable, real person - whereas Carti always wears all black and is completely offline. So there was this narrative that SEBii is kind of the anti-hero to the opium label. SEBii is the polar opposite. So I thought that was a cool angle that I wanted to lean into. If Carti is on some all-black, then SEBii is going to be on some all-white vibes. So for the single and music video I did an all white look for this era. But moving forward for the VVSS2 era, it is going to be colourful and everything is going to combine the eras into a new evolved form.
R: Let’s talk about the evolved form and this VV character. You mentioned you were inspired by Pokemon - fun question first: what is your favourite Pokemon? And is VV a play on Ghastly? Is it your own Pokemon character?
S: For sure! Lowkey…I have different favourites for different reasons. A childhood favourite will always be Darkrai.
The VV character - I knew I always wanted SEBii to have a mascot of some kind and have it be instantly recognizable. Distinct and unique, but t familiar. It also had to be easy for anyone to draw and it would be simple. That was my criteria going into it. I also really love the look of the angry eyes. So, going in with all of that I just made VV into a sketch. I wouldn’t say it was inspired by any specific Pokemon - it does have a ghastly vibe though - because ghastly also has the angry eyes. But I wanted it to be familiar where it could kinda look like a Pokemon, but it’s still be its entirely own thing.
R: I always thought of you as your favourite artists, favourite artist with endorsements from so many respectable musicians. But now, you are stepping into your own as an artist - have built this cult following - and it is so exciting to watch. You mentioned Carti and Uzi already, but what other artists do you pull inspiration from?
S: I’ll give you an unexpected answer, but it is true in terms of how I sing. Erykah Badu. My dad put me onto her stuff. She has the most beautiful, high-pitch voice and it’s how I developed my signature style because I used to sing her songs in the shower all the time and try to hit the high notes because I just love how she sounded. Even though my music sounds nothing like her and my voice sounds totally different, she was a huge inspiration for me finding my voice.
An artist that I’m listening to now really heavily as well is Osama Son. He’s a trap/rapper that is coming up from the underground. And his stuff is super hard. Both of those people sound nothing like the music I make…which is the case for most of the music I listen to honestly. But I like listening to different styles.
His new album VVSS2 is out now, listen down below: