IT’S NOT ABOUT ODDS : FRIDAYY & HIS SELF-TITLED DEBUT

SWEATER: ISABEL MARANT  PANTS: WILLY CHAVARRIA       SHOES: NIKE 

Showroom: @preme_showroom 📸: @mutedawolf Stylist: Jenna DeMaio  Stylist Assistant: @nittayataisha +@brije.janay +Taylor Lingar Editor: @byprincesssavage Video editor: @jwilki16 EIC : @anthony_supreme

When it comes to the art of making music, Fridayy has always been gifted. With a childhood spent singing in the church choir and learning tunes on as many as four different instruments, he always knew that much. But being born and raised in the heart of Philadelphia to a first-generation Haitian-American household, he also knew that there were odds stacked against him and his pursuits to establish a career as an artist. 
That’s why Fridayy stays vocal about his blessings, the “miracles” upon which he’s constructed his come-up.
In the end, Fridayy’s success might have been catalyzed by miracles, but the full-fledged reality is that he didn’t rely on odds alone. Fridayy’s distinct draw is his sound: evidence of his intuitive understanding of the special tete-a-tete between rhythm and melody. His musical instincts are his sixth sense. 

That’s not the product of “odds.” Such gifts have little to do with luck. It took years of studying music, years of honing in on a passion that fuelled him before he began to see himself charting—let alone collaborating—with the same artists he had always looked up to. That’s what makes it so easy for onlookers to root for him... to want to see him win. 
Fridayy isn’t dedicated to work so much as he is to passion... and to feel.
“That’s what music is all about feeling,” he notes during our Zoom interview, as I’ve noticed him note in a number of interviews over the last year. That reminder alone, while simple, is incredibly powerful. Because it’s true: music—the best music—is simply about feeling, and letting others feel with you. On his self-titled debut project released this past August, Fridayy shows no better understanding of this sentiment.
The best music is indulgent. It gives, and it receives.

Congrats on the new album! What kind of introduction did you hope to make with this project—at least for your new listeners? How does it feel now that the project has been out for a month now?

I’m excited that my fans get to see a deeper side of me and to really feel the music. There’s something on there for everybody: different sounds, something they could relate to. It’s about life—it’s not about one thing.

JACKET:DIOR PANTS: DIOR    WATCH: G-SHOCK

BIKE: CULT (PREME)

JACKET: DIOR PANTS: DIOR  WATCH: G-SHOCK

BIKE: CULT (PREME)

I’m thankful. It feels good. It’s been crazy since I dropped the album, ‘cause I’m seeing people I look up to and their reactions to it. It resonates with a lot of people.

You've been deemed the "Melody God." How'd that title come about?

I can’t even lie to you, that’s a name I gave to myself—after Timbaland. Timbaland is one of the greatest producers of all time. I spent so much time studying music and working on music, my goal is to get to the point that people could look up to me the way I look up to the greats.

Talk to me about the story behind your name, "Fridayy." I can’t really explain it, but I feel like the name fits you so well.

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When I was a kid, my friends and my cousins used to run around and play on Fridays, and I used to wait for Friday so I could see them. I would ask my mom “When’s Friday coming?” all the time, so she would start calling me that. It just stuck. Then when I was older—in college, my favorite artists were The Weeknd, PartyNextDoor. “Friday,” I felt like it fit—so I kept the name. 

At what point did you realize you had a gift for making music?

I’ve been doing music my whole life. My pops is a pastor, so I used to sing at church. I used to watch them play all the instruments there, and I would try to copy what I heard. I play the piano, bass, drums, guitar. My first love is the keys. I taught myself about music at first by copying everything I heard on the keys. That’s why producing just comes to me, I hear everything like a musician. I recorded my first song in my cousin’s little studio that he built. I’ve been working on my music ever since. I always knew I had a talent for it.

Music and spirit are definitely tethered in the way you approach your songs, the way your sound feels. I noticed your listeners are always talking about how deeply they resonate with your work.

Growing up in the church and hearing the music playing around the house—I feel like that’s what influenced it. That’s why you can really feel my music on another level.

You're a 4x Grammy-nominated artist, and after your Grammy recognition for "GOD DID," you discussed how you often forget to count your blessings. Why do you think it's so easy for yourself—and for other people—to put more focus on the challenges without taking the time to truly appreciate the wins?

JACKET:DIOR PANTS: DIOR    WATCH: G-SHOCK

BIKE: CULT (PREME)

I feel like the music industry is crazy. It is so much. It’s easy to start looking to the side of you. People tend to look left and right in this industry, and then you can’t focus on your goals. You’ve got to look up, or you’ll start losing focus. It’s about focusing on the right things—focus on you, and where you’re going. When I made that song, it all just clicked. I just knew it was gonna work out, that it made sense. I was just focused on what I intended to do with that song, and where I wanted to go with it.

You have a close relationship with your mother, and you've made that known. You come from an immigrant household, and a common experience that the children of immigrants go through is seeing how far our parents' sacrifices truly go. How did they react to you taking music seriously?

Growing up in an immigrant household, I saw my mom sacrifice a lot. I put her through a lot, so I get her everything she wants. I bought her a house.

My parents, always knew that I was talented in music, but the whole thing was [that] they wanted me to go to college, and be a lawyer, or a doctor. That was just what it was. I had to actually show them that I could make it off music. It wasn’t like they didn’t believe in me, though. My mom would always listen to my music. 

They were always supportive. But that’s just what they thought “success” was.

Meaning behind the red balloon in the album artwork?

There’s a picture of me as a kid holding a red balloon, so in my head, I was like, “Lemme just run with that.” [Laughs] But that picture was the cover for one of my EPs, so I shot the cover. That’s where the balloon came from. It’s cool, because it’s becoming a thing that people

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associate with me. I saw this TikTok—I don’t even know what city it was—but it was red balloons hanging on every block. And people were like, “Oh, Fridayy did that!

Favorite lyric off the album, and how did you react when you came up with it?

It’s off “3 AM in NY”: “They didn’t believe in a miracle/Look what God did/Tryna make me fold but some things just don’t bend/You cannot take my soul.” That’s a favorite because that’s really how it happened with my music. It’s a blessing.

What continues to drive you?

Music is all about feeling. It’s a blessing to see some of the DMs I get from people, saying my music helped them get through what they’re going through. I worked hard for the last ten years to get here, and I know I’m just getting started, but I’m grateful. I’m just focused. All that matters to me is the music.