When it comes to origin stories, NYC rap group Delivery Boys have a good one.
Growing up as friends who met at school and Little League, they didn't start making music together until founding members Max Gertler and Goldwood reconnected while they were each working delivery jobs at Postmates and a Brooklyn Heights deli—exactly what you would hope from a crew who call themselves Delivery Boys.
From there, the group grew to include Tyrin, Lost Boy, and NOTRUST. They've been consistently dropping songs on their SoundCloud page ever since, and recently released their first hit: A collaboration with Rich The Kid called "Pissed Off" that already has nearly a half million plays.
With momentum at their backs and infectious chemistry that could only come from a group of childhood friends, they're back with new music. Watch the premiere of their "Old Days" video and continue for our full interview with the crew below.
I heard you guys literally met while working delivery jobs. Can you explain a little more about how that happened?
NOTRUST: Everyone except Max went to high school together. Max and Goldwood met through Little League but started making music together once they reconnected during high school. Around that time Max was delivering through Postmates and Goldwood was delivering for a Brooklyn Heights deli. At first it was just Max and Goldwood rapping as a group but Tyrin also started rapping during high school as well. Lost Boy was always interested in music, but it [didn't come together] until the summer of 2016 when the entire group drove down to New Orleans to perform at a house party. By the end of the of that trip, Delivery was a solidified group. I was friends with everyone at this point but officially became a member a little later.
Why did you want to form a group instead of being individual artists?
Tyrin: To be honest, it all sorta happened by accident. We all loved making music and fucked with each other's sounds so we just kept making music together and now we are who we are. Delivery. We still do make some individual music though.
Who are all the members in the Delivery Boys at this point? Are you all rappers or are some of the members producers?
Lost Boy: Everyone in Delivery raps and produces except for NOTRUST, who just produces. But generally the group consists of Max Gertler, Goldwood, Tyrin, Lost Boy, and NOTRUST. Those are all the main artists but we have a lot of other fringe members and affiliates who make other kinds of art. Like Noah Tager, who does Leftovers and a lot of our designs and album artwork, and Eden Stern-Rodriguez who’s our manager.
How important is being from NYC for you guys?
Goldwood: Being from New York means a lot to us because we aren’t your typical NY sound. New York’s been splintered and we want to help bring everyone together again. If you look at the scenes coming from Atlanta/Florida/California, they’re all working with each other and helping each other build, but New York is cutthroat as shit with different aesthetics. Heads be tight if you or your wave is getting more clout than theirs and want to see you fail. We want to be working with and support other NY artists to get the city back as the spot because the city’s bubbling and shit's about to pop.
"Pissed Off" already has almost a half million plays on SoundCloud and seems like a big moment for you guys. How did that come together?
Goldwood: Yeah, that song is going crazy. We had a beat, and we contacted Rich through a mutual connection and he fucked with the song. Then we met at the studio and did our thing. No pope, NOTRUST, our producer, cooked up some fucking fire.
I'm sure that song has introduced a lot of people to your guys' music. What has the response to that song been like?
Max: Since the song dropped we’ve been seeing a lot of attention. A few big labels have reached out to us as well as artists who want to collaborate. We generally feel really excited about everything to come but at the same time we wanna stay focused and not let it all get to our heads.
Tell me about "Old Days," the song we're premiering this week. How did that come together?
Tyrin: Originally, "Old Days" started out by just being Max and Lost Boy on the track. The day they made the track Max and Lost Boy linked up and wanted to do a new school track with old school vibes, something a little darker for those late night chops. After the verses and beat were made, they felt it needed more so they had me jump on for the last verse.
The video is really cool. Where was that shot and who directed it? Any stories from the video shoot you'd like to share?
Max: The video and concept came together pretty last minute. It was shot at our manager Eden’s house with a couple other people but our videographer (Jared Brill) was leaving for India the next day so we only had the one night to shoot. What we were going for was sort of a cult-ish vibe but also try to be classy at the same time. There were a couple moments during shooting that stood out. The first was during a shot Tyrin ashed his blunt in a cup max was supposed to drink out of but Max had no idea and so there’s a point in the video where you see max look at his cup and then back at me (off screen) because he realized he had taken a mouth full of ash. The second moment was after the shooting was done, our videographer had Eden put vinegar and baking soda in his mouth for a shot and afterward he started coughing up blood….. Really unexpected. [Laughs]
I heard you have an EP coming up. Can you tell us anything about that?
Lost Boy: We have a couple projects in the works as well as a bunch of singles and videos but you’ll be happy, and that’s as much as I can say right now.
