Sound Advice: slayr

Join slayr on Sound Advice, the weekly interview series covering artists’ journeys and their creative process. In this episode, we discuss the Philadelphia rapper’s latest project ‘Half Blood (BloodLuxe),’ production style, how he’s used SoundCloud to elevate his career and more.

‍

Welcome to Sound Advice, the series spotlighting artists’ creative process and their SoundCloud journey. We’ll get the inside knowledge straight from the source on how musicians, producers and creatives are leaning into everything SoundCloud offers to elevate their sound, get heard and catapult their careers. Sound Advice is now available in audio format on the SoundCloud Stories profile.

‍

On this episode of Sound Advice, we catch up with Philadelphia’s own slayr: a next wave, underground artist who blends rage and trap with digicore, club and experimental textures. slayr writes, performs and produces all of his own music, and has been insanely prolific since he joined SoundCloud in 2018, dropping a steady stream of wild originals and collaborations. In this exclusive interview, he talks about being influenced by Greek mythology, Harry Potter, fantasy games, anime and Lil Uzi Vert, among other things. He offers insight on his SoundCloud strategy as an independent artist, dropping gems on how he uses the platform for collaboration, fan engagement and sketching out ideas.

As we delve into his career so far, and the world that he’s built around his recent double album, ‘Half Blood (BloodLuxe),’ slayr shares more about his creative process, production techniques, and mindset. As his career continues to unfold, slayr’s DIY ethos and wildfire momentum has been hard to ignore, leading him to be welcomed into SoundCloud’s 2026 Ascending class. Stay tuned to find more inspiration, a window into slayr’s creativity, and essential advice for DIY artists looking to shape the future.

‍

LISTEN TO THE AUDIO EPISODE OF SOUND ADVICE FEATURING SLAYR

‍

LISTEN TO ‘HALF BLOOD (BLOODLUXE)’ BY SLAYR ON SOUNDCLOUD

‍

Things We Talked About In This Episode of Sound Advice

‍

How slayr Created His Latest Project, ‘Half Blood (BloodLuxe)’

• We begin the conversation with ‘Half Blood (BloodLuxe),’ the deluxe version of slayr’s 2025 breakthrough full-length release. It’s a heady blend of inspirations and references, from neon metal to Philly club beats — so where does it all come from, and how did it come together? 
• As slayr shares, the deluxe version was originally designed to be a follow up to his ‘Gaia’ series, but during the process, he worked on the track “Set In Stone,” which inspired him to switch up the name, the sound and the “whole story” of the record, he says, towards “a rage, synth-y style.” Here, he goes into more detail about that process and how stepping back from the original timeline — to really land the sound and level up for his listeners — has been rewarding. 
• “Set In Stone” kicked off a more rage sound for slayr. Here, he talks about how dropping a SoundCloud-exclusive track called “9PM Freestyle” led to this creative shift: blending melodies with hard, dynamic productions, and referencing his peer and collaborator, digicore artist Lucy Bedroque. 

‍

The Gaming and Greek Mythology of slayr’s World-Building Music

• Growing up in the city of Philadelphia, slayr felt like he was “in my own world.” While classmates gravitated to street rap and drill sounds, typified by artists like Lil Durk, slayr felt more drawn to the world of SoundCloud rap — artists like XXXTentacion, Lil Uzi Vert and Juice WRLD — and immersing himself in the storytelling and soundtracks of video games. Being on that “outsider frequency” and looking at music and youth culture from that vantage point has inspired his music, he explains.
• Part of the fantastical world view is the figure of Gaia, whose name leads some of slayr’s releases. So who is Gaia, and what does she mean to slayr? As he explains, he got “big into Greek mythology” through films and video games, and was drawn to an orchestral production sound that conveyed the grandiosity of the mythology. 
• “What I love about Gaia is the idea that she created the place we live at,” he says. “So what if that turned into, ‘What if she created the music I made?’” Here, he goes into that symbiotic relationship and how it connects to his beatmaking.
• That love for mythology extends to the making of his latest project, ‘Half Blood (BloodLuxe),’ sharing “I made my own mythology.” Here, he goes on to explain how the project's art direction tells its own mythological story, through the chaos of digicore, rage and trap sounds.

‍

slayr on Harnessing Live Instruments and Digital Beats for His Rage Chaos

• slayr’s style may seem like madness on the surface, but there’s a method to it all. Here, we learn about how the producer likes to start a track, what instruments he plays, and how he works with melodies and harmonies to create his unique sound. He feels a special connection to the piano, he says — especially on tracks like “Body Parts,” that blend piano work with 808 beats. 
• He also goes on to discuss his use of live guitar riffs and VSTs to layer melody and grit, elaborating on how he likes to play with drums, distortion and effects to nail his rage sound. He explains how he keeps it simple on the synth and vocal elements, as a way to drive the melodies and harmonies home.

‍

slayr on Using SoundCloud to Elevate Your Music Career

• “My whole career, I’ve been using SoundCloud as a basis for what my fans like,” slayr notes. Before he dropped ‘Half Blood,’ a slayr track would typically hit around 1,000 plays per day for a week, he says. Explaining how that became a benchmark for him, he shares that if he didn’t get at least that level of streams on a fresh SoundCloud drop, he took it be his listeners’ way of communicating with him; a sign to keep experimenting and releasing new material.
• As slayr reflects, when he uploaded his tracks “Set In Stone” and “Fourth Gear,” which hit 20,000 and 40,000 plays respectively, he knew he’d hit on a direction that really grabbed his listeners. That sound, he decided, would be his path — and it was all thanks to SoundCloud’s direct connection between artists and fans. 
• slayr started making music around the time that influential SoundCloud rapper XXXTentacion passed away, in 2018. “I feel like I was inspired so much, because his music made such an impact on my life,” slayr remembers. Alongside XXXTentacion, slayr was religiously listening to rapper/producers like Juice WRLD and Lil Uzi Vert, who came up on SoundCloud as pivotal, experimental artists in the rap space. “I was putting all of my inspirations in a bucket, shaking it and seeing what comes out,” he says, of those early days. Here, he talks more about his sonic development.
• Having gone through these phases of inspiration and experimentation, what advice does slayr have for fellow producers trying to find their own style? “Use inspiration to your advantage, not as a crutch,” he says. One way he does this is by looking at the comments on Lil Uzi Vert’s SoundCloud uploads, to see what elements of the tracks fans really connect with. From there, he can focus on specific elements to be inspired by — and build an awareness of how fans can react to new material, both negatively and positively.

‍

slayr on Building Momentum Through Sequencing, Transitions and SoundCloud

• As an artist, slayr sequences his releases like an editor. One of the driving forces for this is the fact that he never wants to have a “skippable” section of a record. With that in mind, “for every song, every 10 to 20 seconds, I make sure that something new is happening to catch your attention [in the track]” he explains. Here, slayr talks about how sequencing tracks and thinking about transitions has been part of the development of his hyperactive sound. 
• Another element of sequencing is the length of his releases and performances. Here, he talks about the logic of how he sequenced ‘Half Blood (BloodLuxe)’ with fan engagement and the element of surprise in mind.

• Since he started to upload his music in 2018, slayr has accumulated hundreds of tracks on his profile, across public and private tracks. The platform, then, as well as a place to share new music with fans, also functions as an archive of his musical history: a “raw ideas hub” for his momentum of “200 songs a year,” he says. 
• Here, he talks about how his use of SoundCloud has evolved, including for distribution, and how the ease of user experience keeps him on the platform as an artist — from uploading tracks directly from his phone to selecting track cover artwork.

‍

slayr on Bringing Online Communities into Real World Collaborations 

• Although slayr makes “about 75 percent” of his music solo, he does like to experiment with collaborators when it feels right. Here, he talks about how he joined an online group for a genre called Regalia, which is inspired by the same Gaia mythology that he was drawn to as a teenager. 
• There, acts like Ego Break and others used a Discord server to swap tracks, ideas and feedback, which engendered a sense of community for the kid that once had that outsider perspective. 
• These days, he operates like an “orchestrator” — sourcing melodies from trusted producers, then taking the lead on drums and transitions. Here, he talks about how he likes to work with others, give feedback and create balance between shared ideas. 

‍

slayr’s SoundCloud Ascending Moment, and What’s Next in 2026

• 2026 is shaping up to be slayr’s biggest year to date. He was recently named a SoundCloud Ascending artist, which feels like a “crazy full-circle moment” for him, he says. “I used to admire all of my favorite artists on SoundCloud, so to be chosen for this means that I’m who the next generation is looking at,” he continues. Even though he's just getting started, his prolific output on the platform has led to this breakthrough moment.
• Throughout this summer, slayr will be supporting rapper Yeat on tour in North America. He sees the tour as a prime opportunity to get “people who don’t know me to love me in one night,” he says, aware of the momentum behind him. After all this hard work, he’s ready to level up to big crowds for his live performances. You can find out more about slayr’s upcoming live dates here. 

‍

Links and Extras

Follow slayr’s journey on SoundCloud.
Press play on slayr’s latest full-length release, ‘Half Blood (Blood Luxe)’.
Hit play on slayr’s latest SoundCloud upload, May 2026’s “Homerunner.”
Go back to where it all began with one of slayr’s earliest tracks, 2020’s “KAAYA.”
Follow digicore producer Lucy Bedroque, a collaborator of slayr.
Explore some of slayr’s influences, including XXXTentacion, Juice WRLD and Lil Uzi Vert, to name a few. 
Listen to the New Era Digicore playlist on SoundCloud.
Never miss an episode and follow the official Sound Advice playlist on SoundCloud.

Getting The Most Out of SoundCloud

Learn more about using DMs to connect with fellow artists and potential collaborators.
Learn more about how to make a custom playlist on SoundCloud.
Learn more about unlimited uploads, available with an Artist Pro subscription.
Learn more unlocking access to unlimited distribution, available with Artist Pro.
Learn more about getting heard with SoundCloud’s updated algorithm, available to Artist and Artist Pro subscribers.

To discover additional features a SoundCloud Artist or Artist Pro subscription offers, visit here. To catch up on past installments of Sound Advice and make sure you don’t miss out on future episodes, visit here.

_{CREDITS Host: Vivian Host, Executive Producer: Mike Spinella, Producer: KC Orcutt, Audio Engineer: David “DibS” Shackney, Coordinator: Trevor McGee, Editorial Associate: Lauren Martin}