Inside The Credits 055: 2hollis

From a boy to a star, a 2hollis production

“What’s coolest about 2hollis is the way it feels like he’s Trojan-horsing nerdy effects and anarchic hardstyle energy into songs that would otherwise appeal to your millennial coworker who loves big-tent vocal EDM.”- Kieran Press Reynolds via Pigeons & Planes 2024

Sometimes, another writer puts it better than I ever could. Especially, when the person they are throwing some shade at via their critique, at least in some part, aligns with who you are. My millennial ears aren’t ready for most of the newer post Whole Lotta Red rage “anarchic hardstyle energy,” even if I do have some appreciation for Playboi Carti himself. I went to college in Miami from 2010 to 2014 though, and attended Ultra twice, so there’s an element of big tent EDM that will always have a place in my heart. There’s something about the way SoCal electro rage pop prodigy 2hollis fuses these two worlds that not only connects with my cooked ears, but also offers them room to grow. Oh and, he produces all his own shit!

I vaguely remember having a single listen to his debut 2022 album White Tiger (I’m pretty sure I pressed play solely because the cover popped up somewhere and white tigers have been my favorite animal since I was a kid). I believe I thought, “This energy is interesting, and I’ll keep paying attention, but I can’t do it for a whole album.” That 2hollis felt more in the realm of other artists my slowly descending ears can’t quite hook into—Yeat, Nettspend, Ken Carson, Xaviersobased, etc. For lack of a better word, this music all feels aimless, and I actually think that’s the point. It’s a distilled post pandemic digital rage that doesn’t know exactly where to put itself. When I hear it, to be fair to myself, I get the same feeling as when I listen to Ramones era punk. I can’t quite connect to music that feels like pure anger, when it doesn’t also reveal the hurt that lies beneath.

Even while he stood firmly with his generation’s sound, 2hollis still separated himself from the pack, subtly, from the jump. A perfect example on White Tiger is the beautifully gray synth wash at the beginning of his track “The Light Upon The Surface That Beckons.” The initial sound eventually transforms into an electronic string section which altogether feels like a plane emerging above a rain cloud. Yet, it’s just a beginning idea, and his vocal delivery within it all is only vaguely decipherable.

I lost track of 2hollis for a while after White Tiger. I’m not sure how other than my attention being too focused elsewhere. He dropped his second album 2 in 2023, and after listening back I realized it marks where he had an initial breakthrough, at least in terms of aligning with my taste.

In order for there to be vulnerability amongst a chaotic youthful mind and soundscape, there must be room for it. At about halfway through 2, 2hollis made spacial awareness his comrade on the track “FORFEIT.” The initially reverberating four on the floor intensity-filled production softens at around 40 seconds in. It becomes led by a polka dotted synth that sounds like a glittering light-show, giving 2hollis room for some of the stickiest melodies of his career with the lines “You, you took a part of me, a party make believe, you, you are not hard the read, I’m dying honestly.” The lyrics are riddled with youthful heartbreak— a display of sacrificing yourself for another and letting your ego try to shield your sadness. Tactfully stripping away elements of rage in the instrumental allowed for the melancholy underneath it all to slip in made of silk. Lightbulb.

He furthered this discovery on “blackbirds” with the piercing lyric, “Angel tell me lies, put me in disguise, but backwards, I ran backwards, laughter, I kill the actor,” atop an electric sequence that sounds trapped behind a glass door so you can only hear 60 percent of its verve. He switched the order of the production tactic this time and let the compression lead into a beat drop of potency. While White Tiger feels like throwing sonic emotion at the wall to see what sticks, 2 is 2hollis’ signature sound in utero.

Naturally, what would come next was his album boy. I do think I heard it last year at some point, but it took me listening to his latest album star for me to go back and hear its worth. This album is where 2hollis birthed his style. You hear it immediately on the opening track “you once said my name for the first time.” The most pretty oceanic synth in 2hollis’ catalog emerges to accompany melodies as craveable as what he found on “FORFEIT.” 

What follows is an album full of 2hollis’ brightest sonics yet, which support his most open and unshielded lyricism. On boy, Press Reynolds’ description is outlined essentially. Track 2 “two bad” specifically chronicles a journey from blissful synths to pulsating tantrum—equal and opposite sides of the 2hollis coin. Yet, what’s even more fascinating about the album, is how 2hollis advances his spacial awareness even more intentionally. He still feels youthful and stream of consciousness centered, like the rest of his generation, but there is way more of a sense of build up and release. Often this sounds like encompassing a vocal in a barrage of sounds, removing production elements entirely, then re-emerging to fill the space with something even more dynamic. The production sequencing constantly keeps your ear guessing which lyrically allows sweetly sung repeated phrases to turn into moments of fractured innocence. On boy, 2hollis is still developing, learning, and growing up (thus the title), but this time within a sound that represents the breadth of himself, not just the angsty part.

2hollis’ new album star just dropped on April 4th. I haven’t stopped listening since. He has quite literally gone from a boy figuring it all out to a cocksure, yet still emotionally revealing, prodigal lion (thus his profile pictures on social media). He’s now a surefire problem on the boards and traded his softness on boy for more fervorous yearning and regret. Track 3 “cope” explores a realization of leading a lover on by balancing a knocking bass kicks with flourishing synths. It’s equal parts pretty and thunderous. Track 5 “tell me” is the most youthful sounding song on the album as 2hollis explores the mental health pressures of a burgeoning star. “Everybody I don’t know tryna know me these days, I don’t even know who I am,” he proclaims. Yet, even with all its pulsating verve within the hard hitting drops, 2hollis shows restraint within his builds. He uses minimalistic splatter synth hits to highlight unguarded truth and smoke machine gloss to underscore anxiety.

Two of the album's other most affecting songs reel you in with new tricks. Track 8 “girl” illuminates 2hollis’ spontaneous seductive storytelling with repeated, swoon worthy, double and triple 808s hits. He plays with open pockets most clearly here and uses a punch and release trappy pattern to lyrically be more in tune with the present moment than ever before. Track 14 “eldest child” is 2hollis’ first ever entirely acoustic number about the hidden difficulty of expectation. As an eldest child myself, it’s wild to hear such a relatable delivery of a message from someone his age. He also, production-wise, sneaks in a Kanye-esque choral voice maneuver at the end in a way I’ve never quite heard one used. On Playboi Carti’s latest album, he employs this same tactic on his song “Crush.” When I heard it I thought “this fits almost too well, I’m not surprised.” But 2hollis texturally blends it with his most raw and minimalist song like it’s an added instrument instead of a looming effect. It’s wizardry. 

2hollis has grown through reinterpretation that never feels tired or forced. He warps his influences through a prism of his own youthful malaise to grip a sound of the future. If the future is 2hollis, I’m incredibly hyped to not be as cooked as I was beginning to feel. I’ve already found myself listening to more rage centered music with more openness, even if I don’t quite like it. I’m now curious to hear how the sound of now transforms into more music I do like. Oh and also…the future clearly includes production being front and center.

No playlists again this week, just listen to everything 2hollis has dropped thus far, especially boy and star :)