Hoodz9, of Eritrean decent, moved to Canada as a teenager, after spending most of his life in Kenya. “I grew up in east Africa,” he said. “I grew up listening to a lot of different type of music, languages and melodies and that translated to the way I rap or sing”. As a young rap fan, Hoodz9 took early inspiration from guys like Joey Badass and Schoolboy Q, but after spending years experimenting with sounds, he found himself most comfortable singing. Although his content is still indicative of his rough upbringing, Hoodz9’s latest releases have been vulnerable, emotional and melody driven.
His work ethic is undeniable, which he believes comes from growing up watching his single mother work; “the way I go about my business is I try to be humble and stay hungry. Growin up with a single mom, seeing her do everything on her own made me wanna go get it and take care of my family”.
He also shared with us that he has fun making music. He listens to a beat, and says whatever he’s feeling. “I get inspired from whoever artist is working hard and constantly dropping because that’s what I wanna do, and that’s what I been doing the past 8 months,” he told us.
His voice is truly unique, and it makes for great music. Hoodz9 has worked with several prominent artists from Toronto in the past, such as Yung Tory, Blockboi Twitch and Why G. With today’s release, “Adore”, Hoodz9 secured his biggest feature to date, Tory Lanez, with whom he connected with by MidJordan, Tory’s photographer.
We’re not sure when this track was recorded, but it does mark Tory’s first release as a feature since his highly covered departure from Interscope Records. Tory is not known to hop on features, or even release songs that aren’t quality. “Adore” is no different. If our co-sign isn’t enough, Tory’s has to be. Hoodz9 told us Tory showed him love when they met, and even gave him some advice, which he has chosen not to share yet.
“Adore” could be classified as a street love song with Hoodz9 singing about his “nina” on the chorus just as beautifully as he sings on the verse.
“She the female version of me, and she talks just like meWe barely disagree, and she brings the best of me”
Hoodz9 has a truly dope sound and is able to mesh the emotions of street-life and love so well. His writing and delivery are like no one else, and we can’t say enough how catchy this song is. As you would expect, Tory does his thing on the track as well, maintaining the impressive vocal bar and writing, which was set off the jump by Hoodz9.
When we asked him what we should expect in the future, Hoodz9 humbly responded, “More good music and more videos – I’m just getting warmed up right now but stay on the look out for the kid”.
Check out the video for “Adore” featuring Tory Lanez below.