Orca – Situations | Laid-back rap

Singer and composer Orca from Jerusalem, Israel recently came out with his second single of the year, titled, “Situations”. Orca is known to fuse stories of love and romance in his hip-hop/r&b-centric tracks. The vision-impaired artist started off releasing music in early 2021 and now has 9 singles out. He’s known best for his tracks “Heaven” and “Ghost”, featuring a mix of indie-pop, rap and more!

“Situations” is introduced with Orca’s verse over a percussive synth arpeggio sample and some bright hi-hats. His sultry vocals are complemented by a simple, yet effective beat as he sings about different facets of daily life. The tasteful use of autotune and other subtle effects on the instrumentation and vocals surely make the track stand out from the lot. Orca’s unique songwriting and producing style carries on in the coming verses with catchy hook lines and addictive melodies.

The Israeli artist is quite playful with his productions, as is evident from his previous releases. “Situations” showcases his music-making approach brilliantly – a colourful and emotive mix of passion and heartfelt writing! Orca is inspired by renowned artists like Flo Rida, Jeremih and E-40. He shares more about his latest single and his journey so far in this interview:

Q1 – “Situations” has a very unique sound to it! What inspired you to produce this track?

Answer – This release is unique because it touches upon different aspects of our daily lives without even realizing it unless you dive in headfirst through the beat, effects, lyrics, vocals, tones, and other elements of this single. Some examples of these aspects are fun, courage, curiosity, and trust; there are also others that I won’t spoil here. People usually say that my music lacks variety and detail. I say that they’re not diving deep enough to understand the message behind every part and every word, so if you’re looking for a song to pass the time with, then I’m not your guy my music is always about storytelling and depth did in a fun and unique way that either takes the listeners away to his happy place or strengthen a feeling that he feels at a certain point, so it’s my duty as a visually-impaired artist/songwriter to help the listeners achieve one or both goals. The inspiration behind this release is this TikTok trend, the pen in a cup in which people dare each other to do certain things while having fun, and also a game that my friends and I used to play, using this pen in a cup game as a way to pass the time. But I don’t see it like that in this single; I decided to bid males and females against each other, giving each of them a situation in which they’ll have to react to and tell all who’s present of their answer. “Started with a type of a game” are the opening lines of the single’s hook because it does start with a type of a game and them it accolades and touches upon ideas that both males and females always ask each other about and are waiting to hear the reaction of the opposite team to their suggested situation. The single does try to find an answer but leaves the door open to interpretation as it is the listener’s job to figure out on which side they are on or what their answer will be. I cannot stress enough on the importance of diving deep whenever you’re listening to my music as you’ll never know what you may find.

Q2 – As an artist from Israel in the hip-hop scene, what could you share with us about the hip-hop/rap community there?

Answer – that’s a great question. Israel’s music landscape is divided into three main teams – 1- Arab music. 2- English music. 3- Hebrew music. Each of those has its own dedicated audience who’s always on the lookout for fresh and new releases to consume but when it comes to hip-hop, let me tell you the English hip-hop has a small audience in which the consumption is mainly concentrated on the major artists and those who are successful worldwide so when it comes to any indie artists or start out artists it is pretty rare for the audience to catch on to them or pay any attention to them unless they blow up which elevates them to the major artist category. And there’s the Hebrew hip-hop, which is very popular among young teens and those in the 20s and 30s, but the most successful genre of them all, in my opinion, is the rock/metal genre, which has a huge following behind it. So once you take a look at the musical map, you’ll undoubtedly decide to start spreading your music abroad, which is what I did because my music didn’t catch on in Israel, especially due to the small audience it has, and don’t forget Arab music which is considered a nation on its own. I was once asked about the forbidden door for music in Israel. Like is there a chance that an Arab and English artists may collab, and the answer is yes, but it’s a very rare occurrence, and if I’m open to this kind of collab, my answer was, of course, I’m always looking for new opportunities and trying new things especially when you consider the fact that I do speak all three languages?

Q3 – With a steady stream of singles released since 2021, you’ve gathered a fan following from around the world! What comes first when you write music, the melody, or the lyrics?

That’s a tricky question; I don’t know how others operate when it comes to music creation, but I will speak about myself and what happens to me. When it comes to who comes first, I’ll say all at once because I usually listen to a couple of beats that I picked. Then I start to visualize myself standing behind the mic singing different lyrics and trying different melodies and affect so when the visualization faze ends, I stand behind the mic and start recording what I tried in my mind and start adding different layers to it until I can match the idea that I visualized so in a way I consider the beat to be the trigger for each of my singles whenever I listen to something that I like ideas lyrics and melodies materialize out of thin air and then I enter visualization mode.

Q4 – If you had the choice to perform with any artist in the world on a remixed version of “Situations”, who would you choose and why?

Answer- when it comes to remixes, the one I would like to perform with is Sickick, and the reason is the guy is exceptionally talented. Any track that falls in his lap, he’ll transform it into something spectacular, so to answer your question, Sickick will be my choice, and if he reads this article someday, I hope that he grants my wish or at least do a remix of one of my singles and mention me in the post that he’ll create for that remix.

Q5 – Which musicians do you look up to when it comes to making music?

Answer – I have to say the voice that I always looked up to and thought it to be the coolest thing in the world. My biggest wish was to try and create a similar sound one day. Is without a doubt T-pain’s when his song “I’m in love with a stripper,” and “bartender” came out, I thoughts to be the most incredible most fantastic thing in the music industry he’s my idol, and I would love to reach his level someday next is Chris Brown, Jason Derulo, Lil Wayne, Flo Rida, Jeremih, Raven, Justice, E-40, D.Brown and the list goes on.