Ghastly has earned numerous marks of success over his career, working with the likes of Jauz, Lil Jon, NGHTMRE and more. The producer now comes forth with his debut album, The Mystifying Oracle, which runs 13 tracks deep.
The LP channels a spectrum of rattling emotions that range from anger and losing a loved one to being inspired and sharing personal life lessons. Ghastly’s story is authentic and this one, in particular, covers several years of his musical journey.
Listen to his introductory album below, as well as his exclusive breakdown of the project.
1. “Mystifying Oracle”
This song came to me out of nowhere. I was still writing the album when I realized it didn’t really have a concept or a theme, a song to encapsulate the beautiful and the dark that are the main ingredients of the album as a whole. Suddenly, my creativity just kinda took over and I wrote this song in one night. I took the term “mystifying oracle” from the ouija board and put my own spin on it about a being from a nether-realm, and so the album concept was born.
2. “Fake U Out” with Barely Alive
I linked up with Barely Alive for this track. When we were working together, we must’ve come up with 10 ideas and then this one just suddenly happened. Somehow our styles converged and met right in the middle — it’s amazing how collaborative creativity works out.
3. “Black Mamba”
I have had a bit of an obsession with snakes for quite some time now, and it seemed only right that I create a song based on one of the deadliest ones out there. I was also very angry during this time period and I channeled my frustrations with the bullshit life can bring through this song — a way to let go of anger by embracing it.
4. “Don’t Give Up”
This was written during an odd time in my life. I felt that no matter how much hard work I put into something, there would be no results which, in my heart, I knew wasn’t true, but no matter how much you are sure of something, doubt has a funny way of making you question the very gravity that holds you to the earth. So after some mental retraining, I let go of those doubts. I finished the song and decided to title it appropriately.
5. “Everybody” (Feat. Sam King)
For this track, I decided to get fairly experimental, combining a dash of hip-hop flavor with my good friend Sam King and then mixing that up with some super weirdo house. Definitely one of the more nonsensical and carefree songs on the album. I just wanted to make something that wasn’t aggressive or beautiful, just silly and fun.
6. “Lemme See U” with Crankdat
For this song, Crankdat and I came together to express beauty and chaos. It’s an example of how something gorgeous can turn dark in a matter of seconds.
7. “LSD”
I wrote this song to take people on a psychedelic trip through audio. The sample is actually from a very old recording of a housewife in the 1950s trying LSD for the first time.
8. “Geisha” [The Tokyo VIP]
I wrote this song while I was in Tokyo, Japan in late 2016. I titled it “Tokyo” and was extremely excited to release it immediately but suddenly I noticed there was a few…let’s say, imitators, whose brand was suspiciously close to mine. I was kinda pissed someone would so blatantly try to jack my style so I changed the name to “Geisha” and changed the drop and tucked this one on the shelf. But that was me then. Me now just really doesn’t give a fuck anymore, so I revamped it and now I’m setting it free.
9. Shadow City
Manhattan has never deserted me.
10. “Rise Up” with Dr. Fresch
I wrote this song quite some time ago with my dog Dr. Fresch. It was one of those songs that was written but never released; every artist has them and we felt this one needed to finally be set free. I was actually still living on my friend’s couch when we finished this song, and here it is now, all this time later, risen from the grave.
11. “This Is How”
I like writing bass house songs.
12. “I’ll Wait” (Feat. Shaylen)
“I’ll Wait” is a song I wrote while I was listening to a lot of Mat Zo. I thank him dearly for the inspiration he gave me and the emotional relief this song brought me during a very dark period of my life when I was flustered with the loss of a loved one, the loss of love, and the deep velvet sadness that laces itself into my creativity when I feel this way. Shaylen crushed these vocals after hearing the song only once, and she truly nailed the message. It’s a song about wanting someone back after you left them.
13. Ghastly – Yes/No Goodbye
This was the last song I wrote for the album. An encompassment of my happiness, sadness, and the art of letting go of anything that holds you back. Coincidentally, it is titled with the beginning and the end of a ouija board or a mystifying oracle — and right on my favorite number, 13. The lyrics are a mystery, a mixture of saying yes/no, love/hate and goodbye. One last expression of love from my heart to yours. Until the next album!