“I just bodied a falafel sandwich,” Rah Zen lets me know right upfront when he calls. He isn’t one of those producers who sits in the shadows, silently pulling strings to weave a sonic tapestry. Sure, his distinctive, lo-fi, textural beat style that blends boom-bap hip-hop with electronic textures requires plenty of expert technique, both in production stylings and in beat-laying (“There are no loops!”), and all that skill requires years of diligent practice; but he’s as talkative and outward facing as they come. “[My girlfriend says] my communication style is basically offering up information… I’m a pretty intense person. I have an intensity, a feeling of being on a track, going towards something.” 

He got in touch with AP recently to discuss his upcoming album, Upon the Apex, which drops Friday 7/12 via DOMEOFDOOM. “It’s been a couple of years in the works. My first album, Midnight Satori, which came out in 2017, was really about exploring the lines between dreams and reality. It was inspired by [the Richard Linklater film] Waking Life. The main character is going through a series of dreams; he doesn’t know if he’s awake or dreaming, and he has all these conversations about metaphysics, religion, science, love, all that stuff. It got me into the concept of lucid dreaming. It was an introspective album.” He got into the habit of starting work around midnight and making music until the early hours of the morning. Anyone who’s pulled an all-nighter to finish a paper, project, or other assignment knows the sort of lucid, ethereal state one enters burning that midnight oil. 

While Apex continues a narrative thread that its predecessor started, it’s more focused on the producer’s recent world travels, which include passport stamps to Los Angeles and Israel. “Releasing Midnight Satori inspired a road trip to the Southwest, where I performed some shows, especially around LA, where I was able to create a deeper network. After that, I went to Israel, then to Arizona for a few months. When I got back to Boston, I decided to make it work and stay here. When I made that decision, everything started to line up.” 

We also spoke at length about the challenges of crafting a distinctive tone and narrative on a project that is largely lyric-less, other than a handful of guest verses. “None of my creating process has too much thought. That’s where the element of ‘zen’ comes into my name. I was raised Jewish, but gravitated towards the ideas of zen Buddhism. ‘Rah’ is short for ‘Torah.’ I made a lot of the beats [for Apex] in other places: Israel, Boston. But I tried to carry that feeling of seeing limitless white sand throughout the creation process. I try to use a lot of obscure, international samples. It creates a really interesting palette that makes you feel like you’re going on a journey. I use the textures and percussion to express emotion. It’s not bubbly road trip music; it’s intense expression.” 

When he’s not building beats in his Back Bay Studio (“I call it my cabin in the alley”), he’s working at East Boston’s Zumix, as their events coordinator. If you’re unfamiliar with Zumix’s mission, it’s all about helping get kids into DJing, beat-making, production – anything to help pass the torch to the next generation of artists and producers. “The big thing I’m doing is try to engage the community and build relationships. I also help on the advancement team and help with fundraising. I also try to serve as an informal mentor to a lot of the students, especially the ones who are into hip-hop and beat-making. I want to do my part to make [Boston] a better place to live for artists.”

Photo by Rayel

If you haven’t yet been to Bow Market in Somerville’s Union Square – the open-air marketplace filled with great eateries, pop-up shops, a record store, brewery, and more – here’s a good reason to stop by on Thursday 7/11: Rah Zen will be throwing an album release party to debut Upon the Apex in the market’s Canopy Room, with help from Union Sound (a music equipment and apparel shop in Bow Market) and Mono/Poly (a Brainfeeder producer who’s worked with names like Kendrick Lamar and Thundercat). 

The show is part of the series Nightworks – cofounded by Rah himself – which showcases live beat-makers from Boston and beyond. “I started Nightworks right before I left for LA. It combines live beat sets, visual projections, vinyl pop-ups, art galleries.” The atmosphere of the series is all positive vibes, and it’s a big draw for other producers, MCs, artists, and creative types. “It feels welcoming. There will be five other Boston producers in the front row bigging-up another producer.” The first “episode” of Nightworks, as well as the Midnight Satori releases party, was hosted by THELASTGEKKO, another MC and producer that we’ve spoken to in the past. 

Working around music and booking shows runs in the family. His grandfather ran a jazz club in Peabody back in the day called Lenny’s on the Turnpike that brought in a who’s-who of legendary musicians: Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, Nina Simone, Ella Fitzgerald, and many more. He laughs and adds, “Jay Leno was the opening comedy act for awhile, opening up for the jazz acts. My grandfather used to babysit me and play jazz music all the time. His club was one of the first times that Boston was seeing big-name jazz acts. He passed four years ago at 90, still booking jazz acts in his hospice home. He imparted a lot on me.”

Jazz has always been built on spontaneous, collaborative jamming; it’s a culture where the best of the best loved getting together to blend their unique playing styles in an effort to breathe new life into tried and true classics. Drawing that line down through the years to now, it’s easy to see why that philosophy works for beat-makers and hip-hop producers, maintaining that culture of spontaneous collaboration. 

If you want to get a peak of what to expect from Upon the Apex, there’s already two singles out – “Ritual” and “New Beginnings” featuring Kadeem, both of which show his affinity for J Dilla and Wu Tang style beats. To get ready for this new album, AP is happy to help Rah Zen premiere another single from the album, “Moonraker,” which includes a feature from UK beat-maker CLYDE. Stream it via Soundcloud below, and be sure to listen to Upon the Apex when it drops on Friday!