JOEY & His World Of Chaos
One thing I appreciate about the city of Cape Town is the never-ending flow of new musicians taking their first steps into the world of the South African music environment.
It’s why I was so eager to have this chat with JOEY, a rising lyricist with huge amounts of potential. I recall the moment I came across JOEY’s music, seeing his name on the lineup for the Chaos in the City event that occured last year.
Listening throughout his discography, I could immediately tell how passionate the young poet is when it comes to his craft. His rapping ability is one of such complexity, and his beat selections always left an impression on me.
In this conversation, I had the opportunity to uncover more about his home background, his sound, his close brotherhood with his videographer and producer, and many more interesting facts about him.
Image Sourced From @joey_goodwood / Instagram
To kick things off, who is JOEY?
“I’m Joey Goodwood, of course. It’s a little play on Joey Badass.”
“I’m from Kommetjie way out there in the deep south. I’m also the youngest of seven siblings. It was crazy. And I grew up between Kommetjie and Hout Bay due to my parents’ divorce.”
“And yeah, I’m a big-time skater. I love skating so much. I also attended Generations School in Imhoff and I’m currently doing an online business course right now. I’m in my second year and I’m pretty stoked about finishing that off.”
“My homie Ben and I also have a clothing brand we’re cooking and it’s called m3nace. It’s still very small, and very slow, but it’s growing. I guess it’s because we’re on and off but we’re working on it. And yeah, that’s me pretty much.”
Tell us your journey on becoming a musician?
“I’ve been rapping for a little bit. Like, three years roughly. But I was never showing anyone. It was just out on a little private Instagram with my close friends. It’s when I actually broke my elbow back in December 2023 from skating. That was like the best thing to happen to me.”
“It was good for my music because I was in my room the whole time and I was writing about two tracks a day. My one homie is a producer (Viljar Jorgensen) and the other makes videos (Ben Euston Brown). He makes fire videos! And we were good homies before we started doing this, so we figured out it was the perfect trio for doing this. We got started and I posted my first track in like May. We’re very new to this thing.”
“And I kind of realized that I had a little bit of something. There’s a lot of bullshit in the industry right now. And I discovered an American rapper called Lord Sko and he kind of had a vibe that I really digged. I studied all his music, got addicted to it, and that kind of shaped my sound.”
Your sound is very unique. However, do you feel like you would be open to switching up your style anytime in the future?
“I’m sure I’ll experiment with other sounds, but I feel like this is the sound I fuck with the most.”
“I’m painting a little story, and I like making you listen. In my early teens, I listened to a lot of J.Cole and Joey Bada$$. They tell stories and they tell them very clearly.”
“I also listen to a lot of Mac Miller, and more recently, I’ve started getting into Kendrick. With my maturity, I now understand and appreciate the sound a lot more.”
Your rapping ability is really impressive. How did you find out you had that gift?
“That was literally from a lot of writing. I had a very depressing style, and I was in a bit of a rough patch writing about very, very depressive topics. But I figured if you’re making music about sad stuff, your mentality will be sad all the time.”
“I figured I should redirect this into a more positive style. Talk more about what I want to do, where I want to go, put it on paper, and actually preach it to the universe and make it come around.”
“If you don’t rap it’s kind of hard to understand how technical it actually is. There’s a lot that goes into it. There’s a process behind it. Most of the time I’m alone in a room. Every time I add a line, I recite the whole track from the top. If it flows I know it’s good. That kind of helps a lot.”
“A lot of people just write and write and when they put it together, it doesn’t click. So, I just go from the top every time. It was Lord Sko who really made me listen to music in a whole different way. The sound has a bit of a niche. Not a lot of people are still rapping with the old-school kind of vibe. It’s not exactly old school but it’s got a similar vibe in a way.”
“And I am so passionate man. Of course, I would like to make this my career but it’s definitely the passion first for me. Making music is the most fun I have. It’s a whole different thing especially when you’re doing it with your homies. It’s better and it’s so rare.”
“Like a lot of people immediately get involved with business people where they get used and they’re gone. With me, I’ve got a little crew. And if one of us makes it, we’ve all made it.”
You’ve mentioned your crew a lot and I picked up how close of a bond you all have. What’s it like working with them?
“Our producer, Viljar, I’ve known him since we were literally babies. He’s a proper day-one homie. And it’s so much fun working with him because he obviously knows he has a gift but he’s never sure if his beats are good and I’m always like "What do you mean?”
“He’s so good and he’s so quick with it as well. He loves music and he’s also very passionate about it. He geeks over music.”
“And then there’s Ben, our visuals guy. He’s going places man. He’s a year younger than me and he’s only in Matric but he’s been on his shit since he was like twelve. He was taking photos at first then he got into shooting music videos, and he’s just been cooking with that.”
“He’s been properly grinding on that shit and he’s also so passionate about what he’s doing.”
JOEY chilling with Viljar Jorgensen & Ben Euston Brown
A question I love to ask, what is the best part about being a creative?
“Definitely just making a track that I can listen to.”
“That’s why I push my music out a lot. I fuck with the track, and I don’t really care if people fuck with it. As long as I fuck with it.”
“I put it out there because it’s a place where I can put it and it’ll be there forever. That’s like a timestamp for me. I can look back at it in like ten years and see what I’ve done.”
“That’s why I still have a few of my tracks from last year that I still want to push out. It may not be my best work, but I fuck with it heavily and it means so much to me. It needs to be out. It has to be there. There’s no other way.”
You’re fresh to the game. How’s your experience been now that you’ve put yourself out there?
“It’s interesting bro. I don’t exactly know what the next step is but I think I just gotta keep going. I think that’s the only way. I have to stay consistent and keep it coming.”
“But I have found it harder to work with other artists in Cape Town at the moment. I feel like my sound is a bit of a niche and I only know a handful of people that have a similar sound to mine.”
“But I’ve also picked up that a lot of people aren’t that keen to work together. They’re on their own buzz. That’s why I kind of wanted to bring people together with my event, Chaos in The City.”
“With Chaos in the City, I want an event that invites different talents and shows people what they’re good at. That’s what we’re trying to achieve with my event. I want it to be a consistent platform for people to come and meet each other, start collaborating, and eventually build a relationship amongst each other.”
I wasn’t aware it was you behind Chaos In The City. What’s it like hosting events?
“I love the whole process behind it. It’s fun. It’s like a little hustle or a little project that you can get going.”
“I like getting people together to enjoy the experience. It’s a cool idea. I dream of one day having my own venue in town. A Chaos In The City venue. That would be crazy.”
“This year though, I want to get it up to at least an event every month or once every two months. I want it to be consistent. If people don’t know who you are, then you’re not being consistent with it.”
“It’s interesting because I noticed this with my music as well and not just my event. People are always watching, but from afar. But they don’t fuck with it until other people fuck with it. It’s like a little social thing. It’s very interesting.”
JOEY performing at Chaos in the City
My last question. You’re very new to this, so what’s it like performing your music live in front of a crowd?
“I love it. The first time I performed, was in June or July last year. “
“I remember I had no confidence on stage at all. You could hear it in my voice. The recent Chaos in the City was the second time I performed, and it was so much better.”
“I kind of realised that the crowd is here for you. They showed up to listen to your music. They’ve got to enjoy it so you have to put on a show.”
“And I also found it super fun because I record all my tracks in one take. So I’m kind of ready to perform my music. From top to bottom, that’s how I record and I don’t like cutting it up.”
The kid has a bright future ahead of him and I can’t wait to see how he plans to cook things up for the rest of the year. An upcoming album was also mentioned and we’re super excited to hear what the brilliant poet has been working on.
JOEY recently dropped his newest single, titled “Icebreaker”, having him display his talents over an exceptional beat produced by the one and only Viljar Jorgensen. Peep the new single, now available on streaming platforms, and while you’re at it, check out the rest of his stunning discography.
And when his Chaos in the City event comes around, I urge you to pull through. What JOEY has set out to achieve is beautiful, showcasing talented musicians from the Mother City. It’s the same goal we at VERVE are striving to do, and it’s why I loved having this chat with the bright prospect.
