From battle rapping on 106 & Park to working with the likes of Post Malone, Justin Bieber, Juice Wrld + many more, there are few things that rapper Clever hasn’t done. Releasing his latest album “Crazy” a follow up to his 2019 “Who Is Clever” the rapper is digging deep into his bag showing off his skill set and creating a body of work that not only on the surface hits all the beats but also hiding little details in it for fans of his and the late Juice Wrld’s to dissect.
Speaking recently with On The Radar Clever shared a bit about the making of the album which he says is really a dedication to the late Juice Wrld who we lost at the end of 2019. The rapper expressed to us that he wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for Juice so dedication the album to him and also leaving a 21 second moment of silence on track 9 “99” was especially important for him to make happen on the project.
“This album is a dedication and tribute to Juice, he opened a lot of doors for me, I don’t think I'd even be on this call if it weren't for him and to be signed to Juice and Post at republic is dope and to have both of them on a record is really fitting to me. We really took the song back to its original version and made the beat the way Juice wanted it. To put out this album and put all the little hidden secrets and secret meanings on the album was cool and making it an experience.
When it comes to the aesthetics of his projects, Clever draws heavily from the likes of legendary filmmaker Tim Burton. Revealing to us that there are certain songs on the album that sync up to the classic “Nightmare Before Christmas”. When asked about the comparisons to the filmmaker Clever expressed nothing but gratitude due to that being one of his idols.
“Tim Burton is a huge inspiration to me and I think it's cool for someone to say that because it's kinda the aesthetic that we go for. I feel like it's that Edward Scissorhands that dark kinda thing trying to fit into a normal society kinda guy. But ya he's a big inspiration of mine, especially aesthetically. Even with the album syncing up with a Tim Burton film”
Check out the full interview above and listen to Clever on iHeartRadio below…