Wolfacejoeyy is one of the artists at the forefront of creativity currently popping off in the New York City hip-hop scene. Blending the sounds of Philly club music and what’s being referred to as sexy drill, the 21-year-old college student delivers rhymes with a youthful sense of romance.
His 2023 single “Buku” became an overnight viral success across TikTok, leading to nearly 4 million streams on Spotify. After linking up with producer-actor WhereIs22, a.k.a. Michael Rainey Jr., to drop their joint EP, 22Joeyy, in September of 2023, Wolfacejoeyy doubled down on his newfound virality in 2024, with the track “Cake.” In the two months since its release, the song has been the subject of over 43,000 TikTok creations and has been viewed 2 million times on YouTube.
Wolfacejoeyy joins XXL‘s The Break: Live for a conversation about his upcoming Valentino album, why he and WhereIs22 connect so well and more. Watch the interview below.
Age: 21
Reppin’: Staten Island, N.Y.
Instagram: @wolfacejoeyy
TikTok: @wolfacejoeyy
Notable Releases: Songs: “Buku,” “Cake,” “Weekend” featuring Cash Cobain and Chow Lee; EP: 22Joeyy with WhereIs22
Label: Independent
Currently Working On: Valentino album arriving later this year.
Influenced by: “Tyler, [The Creator] is my favorite artist, so definitely Tyler. Drake obviously. I listen to a lot of Kendrick [Lamar]. It’s really just a lot of s**t. I listen to a whole bunch of different music. Even some of my peers too like Cash [Cobain], Chow [Lee]. Just a lot of my friends, SoFaygo.”
When did you first start rapping?
“I started as a producer. I was honestly just bored. I was like, ‘Alright, Joeyy, you need to do something with yourself, and what’s the one thing you love the most?’ And it was music. So, I had made beats for like three years and I wanted people to hop on my beats, but they wouldn’t. At that time, I was in a group chat with SoFaygo. This was right before the pandemic. I was like, ‘Man, I don’t want to make beats no more, this sucks,’ and they were like, ‘Bruh, just try recording music.’ So, I bought a snowball mic and now I’m here with XXL.“
Which hip-hop album do you always go back to?
“Not going to lie, it’s a lot. It’s a lot. I love albums. If I had to pick, Some Rap Songs by Earl Sweatshirt is a real f**king great album. The sequences, Earl’s rhyme schemes are just insane and he’s probably top 5 lyricists ever.”
My standout moments to date have been:
“Obviously Rolling Loud, for sure, 100 percent. I would just say being able to inspire people is a big one for me because I still get inspired by people that I listen to or my homies. A lot of my favorite artists have heard me, which is kind of crazy to think about. A lot people that I really f**k with, they listen to me and they told me, ‘Yo, your s**t is fire, keep going.’ Just being able to make music, honestly.”
My goal in hip-hop is:
“I want to be able to create as freely as I possibly can. There’s a lot of conversation of like, you know, ‘jack of all trades, master of none.’ I want to be jack of all trades, master of all. I want to be able to experiment and grow, and just become a well-rounded musician. Just be able to execute the crazy, bat s**t ideas I have in my brain.”
Watch Wolfacejoeyy’s The Break: Live Interview
Follow Wolfacejoeyy on Spotify.
Standouts:
“Cake”
“Buku”
“Weekend” featuring Cash Cobain and Chow Lee
“I Know”
22Joeyy
