Inside The Credits 032: Ojivolta
How Ojivolta’s Pop Songstress Rap Bravado Synths Landed Them Perfectly With Ice Spice
I’m not sure how to listen to “Bitch I’m Packin” by Ice Spice feat. Gunna and not make a stank face. Sure, it’s a rage beat, but this one just feels different. The beat feels like thunder. When Ice comes in with the whisper flow it feels like a lightning strike above Yankee stadium in the Bronx during a rain delay. The beat has three producers credited, but only one of them has a true history of making sounds like this and that is Ojivolta. On some songs the production entity is credited separately as “Oji” and “Volta.” Mark Williams and Raul Cubina are the names behind the character. Interestingly enough, it’s been the fusion of their two worlds that has ended up producing one of the great beats of 2024.
Ojivolta started in the Pop world, more specifically behind dynamic female vocalists. Their first credit of significance was for femme fatale crooner Halsey on her single “Graveyard.” That is easily still my favorite Halsey song due to the dynamism of the instrumental transition in the hook juxtaposed against the singer’s flow. The sound sequence goes from solo acoustic plucks to added in claps and electric twangs. Then it’s all dropped out for spotty synths. And finally, off the emergence of a rushing atmosphere, the cacophony is combined beneath a choppy pulsing drum pattern that feels like subway cars slapping against the rails. The remarkable thing is, with so much going on, the song still maintains quintessential Pop restraint.
Ojivolta kept this mastery within three more impeccable songs to follow in “Nature” by Elley Duhé, “Invisible Chains” by Lauren Jauregui, and “Exhale” by kenzie feat. Sia. Within each new release they found even more danceable chaos to cement a very distinct pocket for female Pop. This pristine delivery with a feverish edge would translate in spades for Ice Spice down the line. Ojivolta just needed to add a bit more masculine rage.
Where else could Ojivolta find what they needed but through the trifecta lens of Playboi Carti, Lil Nas X, and Kanye West. “On That Time” by Carti and “Industry Baby” by Lil Nas X combined are basically what “Bitch I’m Packin” is in a nutshell; a sticky beat that lingers in your psyche with enough verve to make your speakers beg for mercy. Then Ojivolta had their true breakout for Ye’s Donda album where they produced on 21 of the 32 songs on the deluxe. Standout tracks like “Hurricane,” “Praise God,” “Jail,” and “Junya” were all touched by Ojivolta as they developed their deft hand at instrumental rattling synths. But the most significant production by the mysterious beat-smiths was on “Off The Grid,” Kanye’s foray into his own Yeezus-esque version of drill with Fivio Foreign. The way those worlds were fused feels like it was the sheer missing element in Ojivolta’s arsenal. That track is a thunderstorm above Brooklyn Mirage, they just had to take it uptown.
The next three year build up for the production duo took them from Baby Keem to Pusha T to Kim Petras to Offset, but with Ice they found their culminated purpose. They took what Ice Spice and her main producer Riot did with their flagrant slap “Deli” and made it even more cinematic and stadium-friendly. They’re synth bass maniacs.
Inside The Credits 032: Ojivolta- The Playlists