Brooklyn-based producer Seepy has a knack for turning humor, heart, and turned-up beats into a distinct creative universe. At just 21, he’s already carved out a place in the online underground as a member of collectives So Evil Boys and Based Negative Squad and through his collaborations with names like RXK Nephew and Acid Souljah. His new dance music album Moment is out now; we caught up with the artist earlier this summer to talk about his unlikely origin story, why humor matters in music, and how a burst appendix led to the birth of his producer alias, Dr. Seepy. Read our conversation, and listen to Moment, below.

For those who don't know, who are you?

Seepy: My name is Seepy, and I’m a 21-year-old producer and nerd from Brooklyn, New York.

What have you been up to over the summer?

Besides working, I’ve mainly been getting ready to drop my debut house music album Moment this August! I’ve also been making outrageous party flyers for my friends. It’s a very on-brand activity for the type of album Moment is. So far I’ve made a Love Island-themed flyer, a Saturday Night Live-themed flyer, and a Luau-themed one where my friends are photoshopped onto Zyzz-level ripped bodybuilder surfers. At least two bottles of Hennessy are featured in every flyer. If you’re throwing a party and see this interview, hit me up, I will no joke make you a party flyer for free.

How did you start out making music? Can you remember the first beat you made?

It’s a really crazy story. In July 2017, my family and I were living in Indiana and I was visiting my best friend back in Brooklyn. We were bored playing music and his little brother started scream-rapping at the top of his lungs and saying the craziest shit for what felt like two hours straight, so we thought it would be funny to make him a SoundCloud account and get him to record the freestyles. I started making beats for him and my first beat ever had pretty much every drum off beat while a loud, reverbed-out Mario coin sound played every 3 bars.

One of our big goals was to try and get a feature on one of the songs, so we’d message every single joke artist on SoundCloud DMs and only one of them sent a verse back. We were so hype, and I DMed the artist myself to make more joke songs together. After a while, we both wanted to try making serious music— he changed his artist name to Acid Souljah, convinced me to get Instagram and start posting my beats, and the rest is history. It’s crazy because out of all the rappers I’ve worked with the past eight years, I could have never imagined the first artist I ever sent beats to would become one of my closest collaborators and best friends and we’d make so much amazing music. Shoutout Acid Souljah.

How did you link up with RXK Nephew? Were you in the studio with him or did you send him beats?

I actually bought a placement! When I made the beat for “Show Me How” off DR. SEEPY, I couldn’t imagine anyone besides RXK Nephew on it. He was selling placements for $100 so I bought one and he sent back the song 20 minutes later. I think he forgot that the song was a placement because eight months later he dropped the song and a music video on his own page titled “Goodmorning.” RXK Nephew is so fire and someone I’ve wanted to work with for the longest time, so I’m happy I’ve been able to work with him again on songs like “I’m Back,” “Movie.” and now “IF YOU WANNA PARTY” without paying for the placement.

Is humor important to you in music? Do you like to work with rappers who have a sense of humor?

I think I naturally gravitate toward rappers that have a sense of humor because I’m generally a happy-go-lucky guy and love goofy shit, but I also make it a point that my music doesn’t “hide behind humor” and can stand alone as a good, serious work of art. I’ve seen a lot of artists that will try way too hard to be funny on their songs and it can come across as super inauthentic and forced. In the same vein, I’ve seen artists who will put undue pressure on themselves to be “serious,” which can almost suck the joy

out of the process of making music. My favorite artists have always been ones where you can tell exactly who they are just by listening to a few songs, almost like their songs are exaggerated WWE versions of themselves.

Is there a rapper you want to collaborate with that you haven't worked with before?

I really want to work with lil2posh, I feel like we’d make some joyous inspirational trap shit. I also want to get more of my rapper friends on electronic music and house music influenced production and chop up their vocals, like my song “Fragrance” with Octi or my upcoming song “Money Calling” with Christ Dillinger (it might be out by the time this interview drops).

I’m curious about the cover art for DR. SEEPY. What inspired you to get in the lab coat?

Before the name DR. SEEPY materialized, I always wanted to make a producer tape featuring friends I make music with. Randomly in August 2022, my appendix burst and I had to go to the hospital to remove it. I was texting my friend Wintercastle a.k.a. Euro about it and he texted “Dr. Seepy,” so I asked him to make a ridiculous Dr. Seepy-themed cover art because the name was so fire to me. I actually had the cover completely finished before I even started working on the album, and I still use Dr. Seepy as an alias because I’m on my nerd timing. Maybe after ‘Moment; drops I’ll get back in the lab coat...

Who are three producers that you think are slept-on?

For such a legendary producer, I feel like Keenanza is slept on and definitely deserves more appreciation. Black Magic Garden is also super underrated; they’re a collective that self-produces all their own music that makes minimal yet hard-hitting cloud rap. Finally, I can’t talk about slept-on producers without mentioning Kenopro79, who has influenced so much in underground rap and can put his own spin on literally any genre.