Serving up energising beats with a twist of neo-soul, a swirl of funk, and a cherry of inspired lyricism on top is iPod, our latest Independent Artist of the Week. He pulls influences from his favourite artists, The Alchemist and Skepta, exploring new meanings of “Australian rap” as a self-described being “sent from outer space to save the genre.” He joined Benny on Up For It for a chat about his new song.

Experimenting with new genres such as indie folk to develop his own distinct visions of bedroom pop and rap, iPod already has a couple of releases under his belt. His brand new track titled ‘Friend Crush’ hit our ears in late April and perfectly showcases his ability to lyricise and experiment. It’s split into two distinct halves, starting with DIY overwhelmingness. That started when iPod’s music video director and friend Ben played him a beat.

“I was like in my head, I’m gonna rap over this. And then I finished the first bit and I felt like I needed a switch up.”

And switch it up he did, the second half taking a huge dip into left field with a sample of Weyes Blood’s 2022 song ‘It’s Not Me, It’s Everybody’

“I was like, yo, this is crazy. I was a fan of her, but I hadn’t actually heard the new album. And I was like, man just like, pause that…then I looped it up and ‘Friend Crush’ was born.”

Lyrically, it was inspired by that horrible yet beautiful moment where you fall for your friend.

“The first half is sort of like a meme. It’s like, you’re beating around the bush, joking around with this friend that you might have a crush on. And the second half is really like you’re feeling it. You’re looking at the problem in the eye.”

We are itching to hear more from the newest kid on the block, iPod, wondering what he’ll get up to next. For now though, stream his new song ‘Friend Crush’ below and catch him at his first ever show on Sunday June 9th at Lazy Thinking in Dulwich Hill – info here.