Isaac Zale Interview: Vancouver’s Finest
- Tucker Cargile
- Mar 30, 2021
- 4 min read
Updated: Apr 2, 2021
By Tucker Cargile
Most people do not associate Vancouver, Canada with hip-hop, although Isaac Zale is out to change that. The 23-year old has an infectious and versatile sound that makes him one of our favorite new artists. Throughout his young career, he has collaborated with major names like Mick Jenkins, Kota the Friend, and Sylvan LaCue. Most notably, his 2021 single “I C U” featuring Kota the Friend has amassed over 500,000 streams on Spotify since its release in February. Zale is budding into the artist that he wants to be and we caught up with him to discuss his vocal style, mindset as a young artist, geographical inspiration, and more.
What is the Vancouver hip-hop scene like?
“I went to Toronto for a few years and that’s where I got my foot in the door, that is where I really started working on music. Once I moved back to Vancouver the hip-hop scene was pretty crazy, we have some pretty big names in bbno$, Eric Reprid, and Boslen. There’s a lot of really cool hip-hop in Vancouver, but it tends to be overlooked.”
You founded your own record label, Burgundy Soul, how is that going?
“Right now it is more of a collective, but we plan to make it into an actual label where we would be distributing the artists that we sign and marketing for them.”
What are your goals with Burgundy Soul?
“Our main goal is to give artists the opportunity to not go straight to a major, but to a smaller label like Burgundy Soul. We plan to then imprint into a major or at least be able to do everything that a major label would do without locking them into anything long-term or taking too much of what they make from the records.”
You have three songs with Mick Jenkins, what is your connection to him?
“Yeah, Mick is one of my all-time favorites. My management team created that connection, I’ve spent the last five years building that team and they are amazing. Like every person on it is great.”
How was it working with Mick?
“The first time we made a song together I think I was 18 or 19 and I was hyped. I was like holy shit. I was such a big fan of the guy and I was like this is crazy. That’s when we made our song “Steps”, then we followed that up with “10 Gallons”, and then for my debut album I reached back out and we made “Seeds”. I guess those initial collabs did a lot for me and my career, in helping me build my fanbase. I just thought that this is a guy that has given me so much inspiration, it would feel weird if my debut album didn’t have him on it.”
When you worked with Mick for the first time did you feel like you had "made it"?
“When we first made the song not necessarily, but when we finally dropped the song and then got New Music Friday and Anthony Fantano put it on his best songs, that is when I was like oh shit things are kinda going. "Steps" helped me achieve a lot of milestones, but I didn't really overreact to it. I don’t really like to react to things until I can see the success that I want, not necessarily the success that is given to me at that moment. I remained appreciative and grateful, I took that as a sign to keep my head down, keep working, and recreate that process.”
Your debut album 'None of the Keys Fit' was released in 2020, were you content with how it turned out?
“At the time, yeah. I still feel like it serves its purpose for what I was trying to do with it. It’s funny because after I dropped that album, within two months I finished a new one and I was like what the hell this is so much better. Then again, that is the goal because if I was making the same quality or decreasing in quality then I would be frustrated.”
You were initially known as Zac Flewids and the final track on the album is titled “Zac Flewids/Isaac Zale”, why did you change your name to Isaac Zale?
“I picked that name when I was really young, like eleven-years old. As I put out more music I wanted to be perceived as a little more serious or artistic, and maybe less youthful. It also takes me back to a time where I was younger and I didn’t have the insight that I have now.”
How would you categorize your musical style and how has it developed throughout your career?
“I started with that really speedy rap, extra hyper-aggressive stuff. Nothing against that style, that was just my original style and that is why I cringe when I look at my old rap name. It reminds me of the mindset I was in when I was making those types of records.”
“Moving to Toronto was what changed my style. It is more melodic than it was before and I can attribute that to the gloominess of the city of Toronto. The darkness and how cold it is in the winter, that brings certain emotions out of you, your geographical location can do that. I think that’s a big reason why I started steering towards melodies, but I still do bursts of rap even in my most melodic songs like “I C U”, there are parts where I will jump into triplet flows.”
What song would you have a first time listener check out?
“Can I say three? Top: I would say “I C U”, it is the most commercially friendly. Second: I would say “Ziplock” with Chuwee, mainly because we are leading into a joint album really soon. Third: I have this song called “Lie When You See Him” and it’s not one of my top streaming songs, but it’s definitely one of my favorite.”
Listen to Isaac Zale now and stay tuned for his upcoming project with underground rapper Chuuwee.
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