Interview with VARS
Q: Current stance on hip hop in general? The Sound Cloud scene?
V: You know it’s a very different when you look as like the global hip hop scene, where 10, 20
years ago nobody was talking about hip hop as much, it was more of an underground thing. And
now it’s not only mainstream, but it’s what these kids are going to. You know you ask people
what their favorite kind of music is when I was second grade and it would be all different types
of genre’s and now everybody is on the hip-hop scene with people like Lil Pump and Tekashi
6ix9ine. I think that the whole state with the Sound Cloud rappers is that rap was developed as
getting the truth out, you know like hip hop was made to allow artists to talk from their souls,
and to talk as who you are, not trying to put on a face which is what lots of artists in our field
are doing now. I respect the craft that they do because they are studying what is popping off
right now and hoping on that. Some artists that emerged from that, that stand out to me are
people like Juice Wrld, Kid Buu
W: I think it’s a good medium for artists to start, and get their stuff out there, but the biggest
thing is where do we draw the line?
V: That’s the thing, you can get some of the highest quality stuff from Sound Cloud, that’s been
mixed and mastered, to some guy recording on his podcast mic in his basement. That’s the
freedom of Sound Cloud and its pretty cool that it creates a community but the timing to be an
artist is weird. If everybody used it then there wouldn’t be this predisposition towards sound
cloud rappers. Since it is a streaming service, we aren’t selling physical copies, people are
relying on their streaming services like Apple Music, and Spotify. It’s a very different time to be
making money in this industry.
Q: With being an up and coming rapper, what struggles are you facing in this industry? How are you adapting to the changing scene?
V: Yeah that’s a big question, choosing to go on sites like Spotify, because I am hearing so much
about like artists that will sell a ton of copies like physical ones, and get tons of streams, but the
numbers are so massively different. If get 2 million streams on a song it’s great for creating
hype around you, but if you only sell ten thousand copies of physical disks and get 3 thousand
dollars for a year of being in the industry, its weak as fuck. These streaming services really are
not beneficial for revenue of the artist. These streaming services are aimed towards the
consumer and giving the consumer quick access to the content, which has created some
garbage content .This change has changed everything, you know me growing up thinking I was
going to be a rapper made me really think that I have to study this, and break down rhyme
schemes and patterns and words and everything, then all of a sudden it was all of this dumbed
down shit that just goes on and on. So I have to turn around and try to adjust to this style
because of the changing scene, or do I keep going with the style that have already.
Q: Can you tell us about some of your upcoming projects?
V: So my little collective group SAVI have a couple great artists, and have some great projects
out already. I’m working on getting my first project out and it should be out by early December.
The song will have a visual with Zach Taylor coming out pretty soon so keep an eye out for that.
Then in early December we should be expecting my debut solo project and it will be called “The
Alpha Omega”.
Q: Okay perfect. What type of album should we expect it to be?
V: It’s really just everything that I haven’t gotten out yet, like it’s the concept that I’ve had stuck
in my head for so long. It’s everything that I have written up to this point and that I thought
could fit well. We are revisiting “stay frosty” because the best was not our own and we wanted
to re-do it. The project will be on all streaming services and will be available to all! It’s an
album that I am dedicating to my buddy who passed away, we were supposed to get matching
tattoos, Alpha and Omega, which he went through with and I didn’t. So this is my way of
catching up there. I think it’s gonna be a killer first album, even I am impressed with how well it
turned out. I needed it to be perfect and come out the way I wanted it. And the underdog team
with the quality and amount of time they put into this, it’s insane. The understanding towards
the craft and the artist is honestly insane. I could not have done it without them, and I wouldn’t
have had better quality if I went with anybody else. At this point all we are waiting on is artwork
for the album, once we have all of that then we are ready to go.
Q: Who is VARS? What inspired you to get into music?
V: Yeah so growing up there wasn’t a lot of hip hop, it was all mainly classic rock. Bands like the
Tragically Hip were a household name, you know I actually have analyzed Gord Downey’s lyrics
and have tried to figure out what exactly was the thing that made him write in a way that was
so relatable, that was so cool. My dad as well was very analytical with music you know, he was
a drummer for a band and he also did a lot of the singing. You know he never had any trouble
with music, you ask anybody from around there and it’s like “oh yeah your dad can play.” He
hears every instrument and hears every note that is played, which is where I think I got it from.
It started at a very young age so by the time I noticed it was too late to back out, so yeah. I
never formally learned music, like I never knew what a bar was or a chord, but I understood the
concept and could feel it. I entirely contribute that to my dad. When I started music, the words
were my drum. I could hit time well and put syllables on beat and make cool rhythms because
of it. Tech 9ine was one of my inspirations for my style, because he could hit the beat in such a
way that captured my attention. I remember learning Tech 9ine songs in English class instead of
studying you know. I just couldn’t stop listening to it, pulling it apart, analyzing, and learning it.
Another name I can think of, which is more of an underground one is this one guy named
Noveliss who is part of Clear Soul Forces and some of the rhymes he says, if not a majority are a
reference to Naruto. Plus, the words that he uses, the way he bounces over the flow and stuff,
it’s just unbelievable. I’ve never been comfortable and Noveliss showed me through his music
how to be comfortable. The people that inspire me are the people who are naturally
comfortable on the mic, and just exist on stage without showing weakness through the way
they say a line. An artist should make you think that if anybody else said that line that it just
wouldn’t sound the same. You have to make a character out of yourself so that people look at
you and become interested. I try to learn from people who express themselves just off of what
they are. Just being themselves in their music, I just gotta find my lane and jump into it.
Q: Finally, do you have anything that you want to get across to your followers to help them
understand who you are?
V: Yeah you know I’m just doing this so I can prove that I can do it. Probably one of the times
that I really decided, you know it took me a long time to come up with the name Vars. Like I
went through every name that I came up with, but I always wanted to do something that had to
do with my actual name, Jacob Vars. For a while I tried to go by JaVa which is the first two
letters of both names. People started asking me why, like if I looked coffee a lot or something,
but I don’t even drink coffee. Trying to create my own image has always been a problem, like in
grade seven it was never an idea that rap was going to be the thing for me. Sure I listened to
Eminem and Tech9ine but it wasn’t my image. But these kids were doing little rap battles,
going back and forth, and I knew a couple of them and they would tell me to get up in it.
Nobody believed that I could do it, that I should just stay back and watch. I don’t really know
how it happened but one day I got put into one by a buddy and it was confirmed for that day
after school outside of the 7-11 and that we would just run it. So I started thinking about small
lines, and how I could put shit together. I was so scared because I had never showed anybody
this side before. I think I wrote 8 bars for that battle, just a short little verse and the other guy
didn’t prepare at all, I think he only rhymed one word. After, everybody was so amazed by the
little 8 bars that I had written, that some kid who hadn’t spit publicly before could kill it the way
did. So after that I started writing.
V: If I’m trying to explain what VARS is, it would be that there is no stopping you, that if there is
something that you wanna do, that you’re not gonna stop till it’s done. If there is a song that’s
bugging me, I’ll sit there for hours on that one line trying to fix it. I won’t eat, I won’t move from
it. I will end up working on it until it’s been redone perfectly. “The Alpha Omega” is not just an
album, it’s me. I feel like once people listen to it, people are going to get a much better
understanding of who I am. To explain who VARS is in one sentence is a tough question. It’s just
my name.
“I’m just trying to do this man”
This month and over the next couple months VARS is going to be releasing projects and
singles under the Underdog Empire label. We here at Nefarious Supply are very excited to see
where this artist takes his career. Please check