You may know him as that guy who sampled Tyler the Creator’s “Awkward” and went viral, but in fact he is much more. Eem Triplin, self-proclaimed ‘universal-dude’, is also a self-made producer and rapper, grounded in his craft and growing increasingly by the day. Growing up bored in Johnstown, PA, he was always hungry for more. After his breakout song “AWKWARD FREESTYLE,” millions were finally exposed to his unique sound, and he began to grow a fan base who were attracted to and inspired by his swagger.
Eem’s beats are filled with energy and intricately crafted. From the placement of the hi-hats and a variety of samples, he shows his versatility in each individual beat. His voice grounds each of his songs and gives them their unique sound. With a new album on the way, Eem is harnessing each of his influences and taking new risks to show us exactly what he is capable of.
On a calm Tuesday afternoon in WNYU’s basement, we had the chance to ask Eem Triplin a few questions about MELODY OF A MEMORY (out 2/17 via RCA Records) and reflect on his trajectory as a self-made artist.
Note: This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
Describe who you are as a rapper in a deli order.
I feel I can only explain it in what I would get. I’m a universal dude, probably something with Turkey on it. A turkey sandwich with some cheese, and lettuce, on a roll with ranch. I like eating it with ranch. Ranch is just low-key universal, it’s different than mayo because Mayo is basic.
I first heard your music two years ago. I heard “Awkward Freestyle” and “Louis V.” I feel like it was one of the first times that I heard rap in a more experimental, or dare I say “underground” way. Do you still carry that sound with you now?
It’s definitely my sound. I feel like it’s just me. It’s just my swag, my steez. You can’t name somebody else that sounds like that?
Something else I remember was the covers for these singles, young Kim Kardashian. I also noticed you tend to pick sexy women as the covers for your art. Why?
I’m a mood board type dude. I collect a bunch of vibes of ladies. If you do some research on me, you can see I was a producer. I was posting tight beats, and all my tight beats were always [posted under] beautiful ladies. I saw the Kim K pictures and thought nothing more than she’s a beautiful woman and I want to use her as a cover. It wasn’t too much of a statement there.
In an interview from two years ago, you said you didn’t think you were big enough for a tape. I thought that was interesting because you have an album coming out very soon! I want to know, what has changed since then? Why did you think that?
At that very moment I was significantly smaller than I was now. I had a different outlook on life at that time. I was just really focused on breaking through and reaching as many people as I possibly could. The way I was doing that was through singles. I do believe that singles are definitely the things that go viral and it’s a lot easier to market one single than it is a whole project, especially if you don’t have dedicated fans who are gonna listen through the project. I just wanted to build up a real fan base who are gonna listen to my album.
How often are you interacting with your fan base? Do you do that mostly through social media? Do you feel like a stronger presence since then?
Social media is how everybody gotta communicate in general. But when I’m opening up for shows, I’m always popping out to the merch booth and taking pictures. That’s a lot of the in-person interaction. The media gets a little… they can cloudy– I’m bad at replying, I see things and I don’t actually click it. But I got my Discord that a fan made for me, where all Eem fans can go to communicate with each other.
You tweeted on about creativity and feeling like lately, the stuff that’s been dropping is lacking creativity. I’m not asking you to name any names, but I’m wondering, what is lacking right now?
We live in the age of TikTok, the age of social media and streaming. Although that’s done a lot for me and it’s very much responsible for why I am where I am, I do feel like it’s the gimmicks that are more appreciated. People don’t like the real deal. You have to have some type of meme or gimmick associated with you to even kind of breakthrough for people to consistently be listening to you, or you have to have some meme that could go with your tracks for them to even stay in the social media algorithm. It’s good because a lot of artists break through as a result of it, but a lot of fans don’t stay. Or it just creates fans who don’t really care about the music. People that kind of just see it as, oh, I can make this quick monetization off of rap/hip hop, and they make a little trendy song, people who are only here to get a bag. So it’s like, now you’re being rewarded for being goofy.
Where do you feel like your creativity shines?
I’m always heavy on production. I know that the sound of a beat is what everybody hears. I try to make up for areas that I feel like I fall short in through production. I got bigger in beats. At first I was known as a producer, and I made my initial following from beats. It’s what led to me going up as an artist.
In your new album, do you feel like you’re trying to build off of what you’re good at and expand?
I don’t know. There’s not as much 808 on this new album, it’s a lot of instrumentation. I’m using variants of the same shit, coming up with some new stuff, vibes, 100.
Was experimentation something important to you in making this new album?
For sure. I think it’s all rooted in me, expanding. A lot of people were always critical of me saying that I make songs that typically sound similar. So it’s like, Okay, I’m gonna do this, yeah? It’s still got that EEM swag to it and it still is me at the end of the day. Of course, I don’t think you could really complain, yeah, but nah, it’s that shit.
