I read you were an English major on a pre-law track, so why choose to do music now?
Julius: In high school I started doing music and writing songs - just messing around a little bit, nothing really too major - but it kind of progressed into something that I realized was my passion and I slowly realized that less of my time was being devoted to my schoolwork and more of my time was being devoted to my music, so I made the decision to focus on what I really cared about.
Do you remember what the first song you wrote was about?
Oh my god [laughs] I have no idea. I started writing raps - I didn't actually write real songs until pretty recently - and my raps were just like a combination of everything that I was going through at the time. When I listen back to them I just can't believe I was this immature; I was a kid, but you gotta start somewhere.
Which artists have influenced you?
I'm kind of influenced by everyone, I don't just listen to one genre or anything. I hope you can tell that in my music, that I don't try and stick to necessarily one type of music. I listen to a lot of rap music and, right now, Kendrick Lamar is top of my playlist; not only because he's just a great lyricist and his flow and everything, but just the message that he spreads out, I just think there should be a deeper meaning behind your songs and I think he does that quite well.
Which words would you use to describe your own music?
Unique. Honest. I don't really try too much, when I write my songs it just happens. Whenever I'm feeling something, it's always kind of been my outlet, my way of venting. I used to be a lot more personal and I would keep things to myself, but I realized, sometimes by sharing them and sharing what I'm going through, I can help other people and, hopefully, other people are able to relate with what I'm going through.
What was your inspiration for "Save Me"?
That is my most honest song because I really just didn't hold back. I was going through a lot of things at the time, I was just in this transition period; I actually, I started out going to a college in Charleston, my freshman year, and my sophomore year I went to Fordham. So, that was the beginning of going to Fordham and I was kind of in this transition period in my life and I was just acting really, really weird - not myself - and I knew it was affecting my girlfriend and I knew she was as upset about what I was going through as I was and it was kind of just a song telling her, 'I'm sorry for everything that I'm doing,' but at the same time telling her I need her and she's my support; she's what's helping me get through it.
Is that sound indicative of what we can expect to hear on your forthcoming EP?
"Save Me" is on the EP but, yes, you can expect to hear a lot more singing than I've ever done before, but not necessarily the same exact sound; I don't think any of my songs really have the same sound. I don't try and go for a sound, I just go for what I'm feeling at the time and, I don't know, I'm excited for people to hear the EP just because it is a combination of so many different sounds that I think it's going to be able to reach so many different people.
Could you sum up you EP, One, in a sentence?
Yeah, honest, it's really honest; it's me.
I put everything I had into this. I've been working on this, I tell people a year, year and a half, but it's been way longer than that; I've been working on this for so long. I probably wrote over 60 songs for this project and cut it down to 5 so, yeah, you can expect to see me on this.
Do you think you'll be bringing any of those cut tracks back?
The thing is, I have no idea. Right now, there's no imminent plans for an album, so we're just kind of going with it, seeing what happens. I actually really excited, I did a song recently with Riff Raff and we also shot a video together and so that's going to be coming out probably sometime in the upcoming months, after my EP, and I'm really looking forward to that because I know that people are going to like that.
What do you hope listeners can take away from your music?
I just hope that they can relate to what I'm saying. Music, for me, has always been kind of like a therapy for me, in a way. I didn't have to talk to anyone, I didn't have to do anything, I would just listen to things that other people were going through and I could relate it to myself and I hope people can do that with my music. That would be the ultimate goal, is if I could help people. I'm really no different from anyone else, so I'm going through the same things that everyone else is and I just would love to be able to be a voice for other people.
Is there anything you'd like to add?
My EP, One, is coming out January 22nd, so be on the lookout for that and, like I said, I have a song coming out with Riff Raff and, also, we did a video for "Save Me" with Jessica Richens; it was great, she came in third place on So You Think You Can Dance, I think Season 11, and she was great and we had a great time shooting the video. I'm excited for that to come out, that should be coming out pretty soon.