In Utah's own backyard, the name Izzy Davis resonates as a multifaceted artist whose upbringing and backstory would make for one hell of a documentary. Despite his current status in the Hip Hop landscape, few are aware that Izzy Davis embarked on his musical journey through the corridors of alternative rock. Originating from an eclectic background, his introduction to music unfolded with the rhythmic beats of the drums, a skill imparted by his uncle. Raised amidst an ever-changing environment and a series of challenges, Izzy Davis's unwavering commitment to music has remained a constant. Through the highs and lows, his passion for the craft and relentless pursuit of growth have defined his artistic trajectory. As a co-founder of LSTBYZ ENTERTAINMENT, Izzy Davis has not only contributed his wealth of experience but has also wielded his formidable pen game and production expertise to shape and elevate the soundscape of Utah's local music scene. Continue reading our interview below to learn more.
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RIPDAYDREAM: The first thing I noticed when listening to your music is your pen game. I can tell you put a lot of time into your lyrics and it's something a lot of artists could learn from. How have you crafted this skill and who were your major influences growing up?
Izzy Davis: So growing up my fav artist was Michael Jackson which started my love for the sound of music. But first I actually started writing alternative rock songs at a very young age and gaining a lot of inspiration from bands like (blink 182 - Greenday - Dave Matthews band - Foo Fighters etc). At this time I was at least 8 years old living with my grandma and uncle. My uncle Billy happened to be an incredible drum player, and showed me the ropes around the drums which stemmed my love for the production side of things. Later on during junior high through highschool, I started writing my first raps, I was listening to it a ton more. I had a hobby of practicing tongue twisters and memorizing songs that have intricate lyrical patterns from artists like (Tech N9ne, Eminem, Bone Thugs N Harmony, Lil Wayne etc). This ultimately helped develop my flow and cadence. This was also during the time I met one of my best friends Alex Rangel aka Sleezy who seemed to have an extremely well polished pen game as a teenager. We started writing songs together and released some rough drafts on MySpace lol. Sleezy was definitely my main inspiration as far as taking music seriously, we eventually built an independent record label called LSTBYZ ENTERTAINMENT.
R.i.p sleezy 2-8-21
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RIPDAYDREAM: The floor is yours to tell us who Izzy Davis is. Our readers want to hear it all so summarize your life up to this point and how music fits into all that.
Izzy Davis: Izzy Davis, Co Founder of LSTBYZ ENTERTAINMENT, my life has definitely had its ups and downs. I've gained a lot of perspective as a child living in a new situation almost every year throughout elementary school. I've lived with my mom, dad, and grandma on and off. Grandma was SUPER religious and probably the most Mormon lady you'd ever meet and introduced me to the church. On my first debut album (X-Communicated) I go into detail about my childhood from living in a ghetto unsupervised situation, to a suburban Mormon situation. (Check out the song 'PRIMARY' it's a chilling song about a kid who questions the Mormon church lol) After the drop of this album, it opened the doors for a lot of new listeners and collaborations. A year later I dropped 'UNDIAGNOSED' then another year later dropped an album called 'UP HERE' along with a bunch of collab EPS and singles. (CLASS ACT with T-James) (I LUV SUZY with Suroh) and (KENAN & KELL with Silly) (one of my personal favorite singles is 'BOSS' featuring the up an coming Lex Bratcher). It's crazy to say that I've more than likely made songs with more Utah based artists than anyone In the history of Utah local music lol I probably have a song with your fav local artist somewhere. The collaborations have helped fuel the LSTBYZ studio service for the Utah artist scene. So not only have I made songs with a ton of artists, but I've had the pleasure of mixing a lot of these artists as well.
RIPDAYDREAM: Focusing now on your discography, how do you think you have progressed since you started? One thing I do is go back to one of an artist's first releases and then one of their more recent ones. In your case, your first release, 'Triple Threat', was in 2019, and your latest album 'Rebel Muzzik' was released in 2023. I personally can hear your growth, but curious what you think.
Izzy Davis: If I'm being honest I actually dropped an EP called the 'Dietrick EP' and a few other singles before 'Triple Threat'. I deleted those because listening to my old shit made me cringe lol you can definitely hear the evolution in my craft from project to project when it comes to mixing, creativity, melodies, lyrics, etc.
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RIPDAYDREAM: Focusing on your album 'Rebel Muzzik', talk to me about the title name of the project and what you wanted people to take away from listening.Â
Izzy Davis: Rebel Muzzik was my first album with no features. The album is a metaphor for embracing your differentiality, and Questioning the rules of society. The cover art was inspired by Michael Jackson's 'BAD' album (probably my favorite album of all time) In the album I discuss everything from, government, addiction, self reflection, the music industry, and how I don't really fit in with the rest. (Also talk a ton of shit) lol
RIPDAYDREAM: Can you give us a sneak peek into any upcoming projects or collaborations you're working on?
Izzy Davis: This year I'm taking my time and want to make something amazing, which will later be announced, but I did some features for some cool artists that should be coming out soon. Got one coming out with Gringo The Mc from Texas, and a few with my LSTBYZ Familia, silly, cody, and suroh.
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