Draped in distinctive swagger and seemingly in a league of their own, funk-filled Canadian trio “Planet Giza” has swarmed onto the contemporary Hip-Hop landscape with stellar momentum and vivacity.
Hailing from Montreal, Canada, the collective synergizes the individual talents of Rami B, Tony Stone and DoomX, all of which bring their own unique faculty to the group.
From a sonic perspective, their sound can be aptly described as a blissful, forward-thinking fusion of myriad genres: hip-hop, alternative hip-hop, modern funk, electronic, indie and more. Apparently, their range is expansive and veers far away from the confines of a single dimension.
Teetering between sonic elements of the past and future, Planet Giza’s signature DNA intertwines slick, groove-driven instrumentation spearheaded by their flagship producers Rami B and DoomX coupled with tongue-and-cheek, humor-infused lyrics from their lyrical frontman: Tony Stone. All together, they effortlessly create a jazzy, sonic gumbo of modern-day proportions.
The group attributes their versatility to the eclectic nature of their community in Montreal, as well as their widely ranging musical influences.
Since the release of their dynamic debut project: “Added Sugar” in 2019, they have been flourishing and beefing up their repute one dope track at a time. In addition to their outstanding musical output, they gained the opportunity to perform at Montreal’s International Jazz Fest. In the same year, the Canadian collective also had their music featured on an episode of “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” by virtue of a production credit they have with DMV rapper Gold Link.
In the interim, they’ve been staying active and producing more high-quality music in the process. In 2021, they released an EP: “Don’t Throw Rocks At The Moon.” In conjunction with the success of this project, it led to their first headlining performance in London.
In 2022, they doubled down with another indisputably fire 4-track EP: “You Don’t Understand.” Some salient highlights include the ever-so-groovy banger “Das U” and the frenetic and futuristic “Live for the Funk” (ft. chromonicci).
Now in 2023, the enthralling Canadian crew is ready to spin the block for their latest project: “Ready When You Are,” which features a dazzling array of artists: UK rap icon Kojey Radical, Mick Jenkins, Topaz Jones, Femdot and Saba.
Their two leading singles: “WYD” (ft. Saba) and “Quiet On The Set” have already set the tone for what’s next: more sublime music designed for the future of tomorrow.
Through a series of fortunate happenings, JaJuan Malachi of The Knockturnal was able to chat via zoom with the entire trio to discuss the new project, their origin story, Montreal solidarity, the best piece of advice they’ve received in their career, future aspirations and much more.
Here’s how the conversation played out:
Rami: What’s good.
JaJuan: What’s up Rami! Pleasure to meet you man. JaJuan Malachi.
Rami: JaJuan?
JaJuan: Yes.
Rami: Good to meet you man! I’m gonna let the other guys know.
Tony: Yoooo!
JaJuan: What’s up! What’s up! Pleasure to meet y’all! My name is JaJuan Malachi. I’m a culture journalist.
Tony: Oh, you’re the guy that followed us on Instagram!
JaJuan: Yeah, yeah.
Tony: I like your Instagram man, very BLACK!
*JaJuan laughs*
JaJuan: Thanks brother! Thanks! Yeah, I just had to do my little homework. I was like, I know they have the main page but let me do a little deep dive as to what’s going on in the personal accounts and all that too.
Tony: Um hum!
JaJuan: Yeah but I’m doing this interview on behalf of The Knockturnal. And you know, it’s just an honor to be talking to y’all. Y’all are making some really dope music right now.
Planet Giza: Thank you man! Appreciate that.
JaJuan: So to kick things off, I’m sure a lot of people like myself are curious at this point. How’d y’all even come together as a group?
Tony: So long story short, when I was a kid me and Rami met. We used to play Basketball together. And so we met up again in high school. We were both in Summer school. We both failed our class, you know?
JaJuan: And this was in Montreal?
Tony: Yup! This was in Montreal. And when we met back up, we were probably like 16/17. So I was like, what do you do now? He was like, I make beats. And I didn’t know what that was at the time. I was like, “you bang on tables or something”?
*JaJuan laughs*
Tony: He was like “nah, I make instrumentals” I was like “oh, show me.” So we went to his house. He basically showed me FL studios and how to drag your drums in and stuff like that and I was hooked ever since.
JaJuan: Um, word!
Tony: And so a couple months later down the line, I meet Doom through a mutual friend and he was making beats. When I met him, we clicked instantly and we started making beats everyday. I was like, well I know Doom and I know Rami. Let’s all just get together and make beats and have fun. So we all met up at my house. We made this one beat called “Old School Convertible” and put it on SoundCloud. That shit went up and from then, we were like this is something interesting. We should keep this up! And the rest is history, you know.
JaJuan: Wow, that sounds hella serendipitous!
*Whole group laughs*
Tony: Ok T.I.
*JaJuan laughs*
Tony: N***a said serendipitous
*everyone laughs*
Doom: I don’t even know what that means.
Tony: I don’t know what that means either.
JaJuan: Essentially, it feels like everything just came together naturally for your good.
Rami: Um!
Tony: Oh, a thousand percent.
*JaJuan laughs*
JaJuan: Yeah but um, that’s super dope. I don’t know. It kind of reminds me of that line God’s Plan: “Imagine if I never met the Broskis.”
Doom: Yeah, that’s true.
JaJuan: Drake’s joint! That’s really how y’all circumstances was a little bit.
Rami: There’s a Drake line for every situation in life.
*collective laughter*
JaJuan: For my new question, where’d y’all get your name from? It’s super dope but I’m really interested in knowing where the origins stem from?
Rami: So basically, we used to go by. Well, Doom and Tony used to go by “The North Virus,” a producer duo and I used to go by my name: Rami. So when we were making beats and releasing them, it was always “The North Virus” x Rami B. So we did that just for a year and then we started getting and then we started getting DJ sets and started working together pretty much everyday. We were like, “yo we need to find a group name.” So we were on Facebook and we came up with the name: “Planet Giza” because of the pyramids of Giza were three pyramids, so that’s where our name comes from and ever since, we’ve kept it.
JaJuan: Gotchu! Alright, alright! Damn, that was a lot more simple than I thought it would be.
*Tony laughs*
JaJuan: I thought it was gonna be like a real deep conversation that y’all had. Like a real thoughtful sit down.
Tony: At first, we were like Egypt based and like pyramids and we wanted to do everything with regard to that. But then we were like nah, we just wanna do whatever we feel like doing but the name is fire, so we’re gonna keep it you know.
*JaJuan laughs*
JaJuan: Yeah, nah I get that. That’s dope. So of course, y’all new single just dropped: “WYD” (ft. Saba). It definitely has more of a serene vibe to it. How’d y’all come together with Saba? How’d y’all hook up with him?
Tony: He found us on Instagram because we had a video for Rocky Road. He pretty much just hit us up and was like “yo, this is fire.” And we were like “oh s**t Saba, we’re fans” And we were like we’re gonna be in L.A. in a couple months. He’s out there. We were like we should work on something. He said “Bet.” And so when we were out there, we did exactly that. We went to the studio, he came through and we worked on that song. It did not take long at all.
JaJuan: How long did it take for him to write his verse?
Tony: I’m not gon’ lie, he probably wrote it in like 10 minutes. I was in the booth recording the hook and I walked out, he was already rapping with like two bars left. He pretty much rapped the whole thing. I was like “alrighttttt.” This guy is a machine. This guy is the real deal.
JaJuan: That’s super dope! I read somewhere that y’all were saying it was an inspirational session. Could y’all speak to that a little bit more? Like what about it was inspirational?
Tony: Well definitely sitting down with him even before we recorded anything. I just sat down with him and I just picked his brain. I was just asking all the questions I wanted to ask. Like what does his writing process look like? What it was like being at The “Dreamville” camp thing. He’s such a cool dude. He was just answering all the questions. It was a nice vibe. It was also inspirational because you know, we used to listen to this guy a couple years back and to finally be in a session with him and for it to make sense. Like the chemistry that we had, the songs just came so naturally. It was a really good session.
JaJuan: So it was like a surreal, almost full-circle moment so to speak.
Tony: Yeah, you could say. You could say that.
JaJuan: That’s dope! So when I listen to y’all music. I feel like it’s so progressive and future-focused and I kind of feel like y’all are cultivating the sound of tomorrow almost.
Doom: Fire!
JaJuan: Like, that’s really how it feels when I’m listening to ya’ll. I’m like “is that the goal when y’all are crafting music or is that just a natural byproduct of Planet Giza and you know, the aesthetic.
Doom: To be honest, I think that it started to all make sense when one day we were speaking to our creative director and he was like “yo, moving forward, I think the image and everything should be like, he said the word “retrofuturistic” and then it made so much sense to us because for years we were tryna figure out like “what are we tryna present to people?”, “What are we tryna portray ourselves as? What are we tryna make people feel? When he said that word, it’s like everything clicked. When I hear retrofuturistic in my head, it’s like bringing the past to the future. It’s like bringing elements from the past and putting them out in a modern way. For you to say it’s the sound of the future, it’s like yeah. I believe that. Because the thing is, even with the album. When we play it for people, they’re like it sounds like it was made in like 2004/2005. But it sounds like nothing that was made during those years.
JaJuan: I can definitely see that. I feel like from a more of a lyrical standpoint, it kind of hinges on more of an old school feel but when you mix the instrumentation, it totally embodies the term “retrofuturistic” for sure.
Doom: Yeah.
JaJuan: I was gonna ask how y’all would describe y’all sound but y’all pretty much described it just now.
*collective laughter*
Doom: Retrofuturistic.
JaJuan: Retrofuturistic. That is so dope! But yeah so, would you say there’s a spirit of solidarity between Canadian artists within the sphere of Hip-Hop and R&B in general? Because I’ve seen y’all collaborate with fellow Canadians: Lou Phelps and KAYTRANADA. So that inquiry just came to mind. Like are y’all deliberating looking out for one another as Canandians artists or?
Rami: I mean for us, it’s more like Montreal. They’re from the same hometown as us. We pretty much came up around the same time. Like KAYTRA was already doing his thing when we were grinding but us and Lou Phelps were grinding pretty much at the same time. It’s more of like a city thing. Not as much of a Canadian thing. But yeah.
JaJuan: Alright cool! That makes sense. So I feel like if there was such a thing as sort of like a new aged “A Tribe Called Quest,” I feel like y’all would fit the bill so to speak?
Tony: Come on, that’s great right there.
Rami: Yeah, that’s dope!
JaJuan: So would y’all say, y’all garner some inspiration from them and sort of just like the Native Tongue movement in general?
Rami: Yeah, definitely. Native Tongues. Outkast, N.E.R.D, groups like that and they all got their inspiration from the Native Tongues too, so it all makes sense.
JaJuan: Well, I feel like there’s such a range because you mentioned N.E.R.D, which is somebody that didn’t immediately come to mind but it totally makes sense. When I think about The Neptunes and how they were moving the culture forward. When I listen to y’all, it’s definitely reminiscent of that. The whole Timbaland vibe is there for sure. Who else came to mind when I was listening to y’all? Alchemist!
Tony: Sheesh! Really? Aye!
JaJuan: I was listening to the most recent project because I was fortunate enough to get a little snippet: “Ready When You Are.” Some of the beats kind of gave me Alchemist vibes and I’m like, the range and versatility is just out of this world forreal forreal.
Tony: Preciate it!
Rami: Preciate that man! Thank you!
JaJuan: But yeah, what’s the best piece of advice y’all have received? I guess in terms of how to properly navigate the industry?
Rami: Wow! That’s a good question.
Doom: Yeah! Um, the best piece of advice we’ve received was not too long ago. He said. How can I put this. So We’re pretty much not in the forefront because we’re pretty much, like reserved types of people. We don’t really pop out a lot or show ourselves a lot. The thing that that person said to us was “in this game, you’ve gotta be a shark.” Like whatever you’re trying to do, you’ve gotta go for it. It’s a competition at the end of the day. You can’t let people box you in, you’ve gotta go for what you really believe in. I think that’s the best piece of advice because where we’re from in Montreal, people don’t really have that mentality. I think that’s the best piece of advice. And also that, don’t look at what nobody else got going on but to just focus on you. That’s the most important thing.
Tony: Yup!
Rami: Yup!
JaJuan: Got you! Got you! That’s super dope! Just having that go-getter, proactive mentality.
Doom: Yeah!
Rami: Exactly, yeah!
JaJuan: I can see y’all definitely doing that with the consistent output of music that y’all put out. So, y’all pretty much finished the second album right?
Rami: Yeah, it’s done.
Tony: Yeah, it’s done.
JaJuan: It’s about to come out April 9th I believe?
Rami: April 7th
JaJuan: Oh word, my fault. So I got a chance to listen to it as I said before. My favorite tracks were “Folded”, “Elevator” and “WYD” just to give y’all an idea of what was clicking for me. I mean the whole project was fire but those stood out in particular. I’m curious to know, what was the initial vision for the project and do y’all feel like y’all executed on that initial vision? It’s pretty different from “Added Sugar,” I could vividly see the progression from then to now.
Rami: I mean we started this from like three years ago. I think the first song that we really liked finished from this album was “Elevator.” And we did that like during the pandemic. And we were going back and forth about how we wanted to take it to the next step and between that, we had “Don’t Throw Rocks at Moon,” our EP. In our catalog, that’s like the most dark. We wanted to go back to “Added Sugar” but not necessarily the same process. The vibe and the feeling that we had when we were making “Added Sugar.” I remember that was our first thought process when we were making the album. I remember we were collaborating with JMF. He’s a producer from Montreal. We collaborate with him a lot. We started collaborating with him. He’s a musician too. And yeah from that point, we just stacked up the tracks and it just came together recently like a month ago. Ok, this is the full project.
Tony: And one of the vocal focuses was to take the sound to the next level. To be really intentional and say “ok, this has to sound like something that people have never heard before” and really showcase that Planet Giza could be advanced but the focal point that we’re showcasing is the music. That’s how people gravitate towards us. It gives people a different feeling.
JaJuan: Yeah, I would definitely agree. It’s a vibe that you can’t deny.
Doom: Yeah, thank you man!
Rami: Yeah, that was the whole point. Make something undeniably good. If we feel like no one can tell us anything, that means that we’re happy with the work we’ve made.
Doom: And also, I would like to add that I feel like we achieved. Wait, what was your initial question again?
JaJuan: Based on y’all initial vision, do y’all feel like y’all executed on that?
Doom: Yeah, the main reason I feel like we executed on it is in my mind if you’re done with an album and it doesn’t make you like a little bit nervous to put it out, then you haven’t done the right job. And for that album, I’ve been as nervous as ever. Because I know we haven’t released an album in? It’s been like four years.
Rami: Four years!
Doom: It’s because it’s so different and it’s not the time that we took to make the album. It’s because the sound is so different. I feel like the sound is so different. I feel like if you take time to make an album and you don’t have that feeling, then you just didn’t execute it well. And I feel like we’ve done a pretty good job at that.
Rami: And also to add onto that, if you’re not actually nervous or stressed out about doing something, I don’t think it’s the right thing for you to do. Like if you like something and you do it for the right reasons, you should be nervous and stressed out about showing it to the world.
Doom: Yeah, that s**t is nerve wracking. It’s a roller coaster like.
JaJuan: I could definitely empathize with y’all. As a journalist, I feel exactly the same way. I always get a little bit of jitters. I was telling my boy how I was a little nervous because this is my first time interviewing three people at once.
*collective laughter*
Tony: You thought we were gonna gang up on you.
*more collective laughter*
JaJuan: I didn’t know what to expect but I always get those little jitters. I always get those apprehensions but you’ve still gotta fight it anyway.
Rami: Yeah man, you have no choice.
JaJuan: I know y’all are about to drop another single: “Quiet On The Set.” Junior actually sent me a little snippet. I’m not sure if it’s complete yet.
Rami: Not yet.
JaJuan: Ok yeah, I really enjoy the NOIR style of it and it kind of matched really well with the sonics of the song. What was the inspiration behind the “classic” video concept? There was like shawty in there running around and there she morphed into multiple people. I was like “what? This joint fire.”
Rami: So pretty much, we went to our creative director’s house and this was the same night that he told us. This was the same night he told us, you guys make retro futuristic music. So now, we’re thinking about what is retro futuristic on Pinterest and we found this video on YouTube from a Japanese group called Pizzicato 5. They used to raise a one hour tape of a bunch of random stuff but it was all like looking good. It was all like graphic things from the 80s and 90s and at that moment, our creative director had this idea. He wrote the whole treatment. He showed it to us and it fit perfectly with how we were trying to portray Planet Giza. They followed through every step of the treatment exactly how he showed it to us. That was huge for us because we used to work with other directors and they would always have a last minute change or something you could get in a video. For this one, everything was flawless, perfect! The whole process.
JaJuan: So they pretty much reaffirmed the original vision and helped bring it to life without any excess modifications or anything like that.
Rami: Definitely.
JaJuan: Gotchu. That is so fire. So I’m curious to know, what do y’all have in store for the rest of the year? I mean y’all are starting the year off on a really strong note.
Doom: I mean possibly a tour. That’s in the works. The Album on vinyl. Merch. Everything. We’re able to spend more out of Montreal because I feel like we’ve been stuck here for quite some years, so it’s time to expand to other places so possibly a tour in Europe, possibly the states. We’re all working on that right now, so yeah. You guys will just have to stay tuned and we’ll keep you updated on everything.
JaJuan: Dope! Alrighty! Actually, one thing that just came to mind. Are there any artists that y’all would love to collaborate with or that y’all wanna collaborate with? Like a dream collab I suppose.
Rami: Yeah, there’s a bunch of them
Tony: Yeah, a whole bunch!
Rami: Kendrick, Tyler The Creator, André 3000, Busta Rhymes and we can go on and on.
Doom: We’re really tryna work with everybody. We’re tryna have a run like the Neptunes in 2005/2006 like.
Tony: Exactly! Exactly!
Doom: And also, we’re producers, so it’s not like us on vocals or anything like that. It could be straight up producing for people.
Tony: Providing the sonics!
JaJuan: Alright cool, cool! Well I’m definitely wishing y’all Godspeed on all of that.
Rami: Thank you man!
Doom: Thank you!
JaJuan: It’s only a matter of time honestly with the work that y’all are putting out for sure.
To keep up with Planet Giza, Check them out on Instagram.
