Versâam and no wasted moves

When Ellis Newton walks into a room he embodies a sense of coolness, but in a way that’s not necessarily intimidating. He’s someone you look up to and someone you feel like you’ve known for years. On top of that, it seems like Newton does everything, he’s a track coach, he works in the beer and wine department of Whole Foods, and most importantly, he’s a freelance producer that goes by the alias Versâam. 

Despite his busy schedule, Versâam sat down with the B-Side to discuss anime, your favorite rapper’s favorite rapper, and the benefit of running for his creative process (literally). 

What have you been doing since graduating Cal in 2019?

Since I’ve graduated, it’s really been a process of exploration. I didn’t plan out post-graduation very well, but as a result, I really have been learning how to be more independent. I pay my own bills, live on my own now, and that self sufficiency is a big deal because now I can really gage how important it is when people are living on their own and are independent to make music. It’s a real priority, because time is so limited now.

How do you find time for music?

I watch a lot of anime. [Laughs]. If you look at the YouTube comments, everyone says, “Their movement is so good. They make no wasted moves.” And you apply that to time. Everything that you do as long as you’re doing something with a purpose, even your rest or playing video games, try to get some inspiration from it. The thirty minutes that you have free, turn on my gear and maybe make half a beat, and then come back to it when I have another thirty minutes free. That no wasted movement philosophy is starting to take over for me. 

What first got you started in music and what made you want to continue?

I’d been in a musical context ever since I was a child, but it had always been in the periphery. I was always around bands that were playing, my mom took me to church ever since I was a kid and the band was always pretty good. I had been writing poetry, which eventually evolved into raps for a little while. It wasn’t until I was twenty, here [in Berkeley], sophomore year, that I realized I could do it, do it. 

Is there any artist you find particularly inspiring?

Big people who really got me into music were J Dilla, MF DOOM, Flying Lotus, those were the people I was heavily on at the time. I listen to people like Joey BadA$$, Tyler the Creator, Capital Steez, they all have similar influences themselves and they all go back to MF DOOM. MF DOOM holds the title of your favorite rapper’s favorite rapper. I went to them and listened to the tape, “Special Herbs,” “Donuts,” J Dilla’s “King of Beats,” discovered Mad-Lib and just thought, “Oh my god.”

Top 5 most-inspirational songs:

5. The entire project of Hood Dreams by Malich. It’s this super quick, super spontaneous, extremely collective collage of beats. That all have different influences, extreme quality, high pacing… But the details in it? It’s amazing to me. I will never get tired of that project. I have it on vinyl. 

4. Blu and Exile’s “Below the Heavens.” Exile is the producer and Blu is the rapper. Exile makes these crazy ass beats on the MCP, same gear I use and he flips samples in this really meticulous way. But on top of that, you have Blu who can straight rip these bars. They make a really great team. I love those team collaborations. I want to be more involved in team collaborations within my music. I see it as such an experience, being able to merge ideas with someone else. I got some collaborations on the way.  

3. Sir Froderick. I have a bunch of individual producers I listen to and I’ve noticed that everyone has a project with Sir Fradrick. The thing that all these projects have in common is that they are all fire. They all have this special note. This dude, Sir Fradrick, is a great collaborator and a great producer, and that’s the last producer I’ve really been getting into. The beats are very sporadic. They’re anti-formulaic, or perhaps formulaic in the fact that it’s anti-formulaic. It took me a second to get into because of its spontaneity, but then I was really able to get into the groove. It’s funny, if you ever see me at my house I’ll be listening to these abstract beats and just locked in rhythm. 

2. I can’t think of right now, so I’ll just go straight to number one…

1. “Return of the Loop Digga” by Quasimoto. That song is a masterpiece. The whole project, The Unseen (2000), is probably one of my top three favorite albums. That particular song? You have the true hiphop state, that we’ve come to respect, like a Tribe Called Quest, J Dilla, etc. with Mad Lib on the beats. Then you have the braggadocious, ignorant, high-pitched Quasimodo together. But it’s just Madlib rapping. He was able to execute a persona so well that you really think it’s a different person. On top of that, you got these banging beats under. “Return of the Loop Digga” is him talking about himself in third person while switching up the beat seven or eight times, on top of having a whole skit in the middle telling producers how to do it wrong and how to do it right. That song is like a bible for me. 

What are you listening for when you’re creating music?

Groove. Usually groove and melody. It’s easiest to get locked in when I’m sampling when I find a cohesive bass line. And that can be in a loop or four or five different sounds all pieced together. I feel most proud of myself when I completely cut something up into pieces and reimagine it. Overall, it’s typically the bass line and if there are any extracurricular instruments in there. Like, windchimes or a rhodes piano in there somewhere. That’s what I’m going to try and incorporate. 

How did being a student athlete affect your creation, if at all?

I’m not an expert on my own brain chemistry, but I know for a fact that I get some kind of mutual benefit from working out and exercising and some musical inspiration. The workouts that my coach would have us do on the treadmill sometimes, I would try and make a habit of listening to Herbie Hancock. Running at these ridiculous fast paces, but “Butterfly” would be playing and I would try and calm my mind. Then throughout the rest of the day or week, “Butterfly” would be stuck to me and I’d just have these melodies. Just the rhythm of running is meditative if you do it for long enough. It’s like its own meter for melodies in your head or your own drum patterns. It’s not something I try to do, but it happens naturally and it happens beautifully. Besides just lifestyle in general, I feel like I’m more productive as a producer when I’m exercising more. 

How would you describe your music?

Ubiquitous. Because I try to embody multiple narratives, multiple feelings, multiple moods. I’ve been told that partially you can rap to it and look at it as a space to create over. But I’ve also been told that it’s a space that accentuates a mood. It’s bittersweet, because sometimes I send beats out to people and they tell me, “This is great, but I need a second to write to this one.”

Keep up to date with Versâam on Instagram, @eliversaam, and SoundCloud.

Article by Makaila Heifner