Injury Reserve by Injury Reserve by Injury Reserve

This is the story of how Injury Reserve's self-titled debut album was made, according to the people who made it.

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Photo by Matt Kaplan

injury reserve

On May 17, 2019, rap trio Injury Reserve released their self-titled debut album via Seneca Village/Loma Vista. It's the culmination of years of hard work and independent grind, and is a hugely important moment in the group's career so far. This is the story of how the album was made according to the people who worked on it. As told to Dylan “CineMasai” Green.

Injury Reserve are on tour worldwide this fall. Get tickets here.

The Players:

Kyambo “Hip-Hop” Joshua: Founder of Loma Vista’s Seneca Village label

Parker Corey: Producer, Injury Reserve

Stepa J. Groggs: Vocalist, Injury Reserve

Ritchie With A T: Vocalist/producer, Injury Reserve

Nick Herbert: Manager, Injury Reserve

Matt Kaplan: Photographer

Patrick Driscoll: Photgrapher

Andy: Vocalist/producer, Pro Teens

Tony Velour: Vocalist

Melikxyz: Producer/mixing engineer

Will Hasty: Production manager

Jeff Ellis: Mixing engineer

CHAPTER I: LAYING THE FOUNDATIONS

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Hip-Hop: When Live From The Dentist Office first came out, I saw that Chuck [Inglish of The Cool Kids] was on it and he was literally right next to me while I was listening to it. He gave me Injury Reserve’s name and their info. I forgot about it for about a year or so because I wasn’t in a position to sign a group like them to a label.

After I started working with Loma Vista, I was about to leave their office one day and they told me that Injury Reserve was coming through. This was probably three years after asking Chuck about them. That sparked our relationship because we were all on the same page at that point. I had seen them performing with The Underachievers and then playing with JPEGMAFIA. Hearing half of the album, I knew it was a no-brainer. That sealed it.



"It turned into this do or die mentality of this debut album being our last shot at being the new guys." - Nick Herbert


Stepa J. Groggs: This was the first time we’d ever had pressure. Of course there were expectations after Floss and Drive It Like It’s Stolen, but this was the first time we had actual pressure to drop an album on a label. We went out to Flagstaff [to record] about a month and a half after my mom passed, so I wasn’t in a good headspace at all. You’re not a real human if you can just shake something off like that. I was trying to grasp reality at this point and deal with real life, so that was kinda hard to balance. But we did it.

Nick Herbert: After we dropped Drive It Like It’s Stolen, the reception felt a little more lukewarm than we were expecting. It turned into this do or die mentality of this debut album being our last shot at being the new guys.

Ritchie With A T: With Live From The Dentist Office, there was only room to grow. On Floss, we were riding high off of the random success we didn’t expect. Since Drive It Like It’s Stolen had a mixed reception, we knew that we had to do something undeniable for the debut. It was a totally different experience.

Parker Corey: We didn’t have any preconceived notions going in to this album. We knew how we wanted to start working on it more than what direction we wanted to go.

CHAPTER II: FLAGSTAFF

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Date: January 15 - February 8, 2018

Parker Corey: Me and Melik[xyz] picked up this U-Haul with Nick, and I drove from Phoenix to Flagstaff. It had all of our old studio gear. We bought this table off Craigslist on the way there that became the desk we used on the tour.

Our setup was heavily inspired by the My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy rap camp. Me, Nate [Ritchie With A T], Groggs, Nick, and Melik were there the entire time. Matt Kaplan was there a couple days later. Jake Osmun was there. Andy from Pro Teens came out and did his part for “Jawbreaker.” Dylan Brady came out and did his parts for “Tesla” and “New Hawaii.” Tony Velour was back and forth; he recorded his part for “New Hawaii” somewhere else and then came back out to work on it.  

Matt Kaplan: I’d wake up every morning and Parker would be making some beats, or Ritchie or Groggs would be recording. Everyone who was a part of it was always doing something and it was great energy to be around. The house was like a cabin with bunk beds right above the living room area, which is where they’d do most of their recording. In the corner they had a whole little mic setup. We had all these signs printed and put up on the walls like, “Don’t ever not do anything” and “Flagstaff Is The New Hawaii.” Even though we were all in our own worlds working on stuff, we were all together.

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Ritchie With a T: Flagstaff was us trying to jump back into a nostalgic realm and trying to recapture a moment we had during the making of Floss. That’s what Parker talks about on the hook for “Best Spot In The House”—recapturing that feeling and finding a cool place to do it. We definitely put ourselves in an uncomfortable spot where we had to do something now.

My main recording setup in the living room was a makeshift booth made of a bunch of Flagstaff quilts and shit. Anything else that I didn’t feel like recording in a room with 20 guys, I would just take it upstairs with my shitty FocusRite mic and my old MacBook Pro. I got lucky because the three of us had put our names in a bowl and drew them out to see who got the master bedroom; I got the master bedroom in Flagstaff and Parker got the one in Prague.

Stepa J. Groggs: We have a different writing process than most people. Most people are in the studio all day, but we’re probably there about three months out of the entire year. You gotta live life to have something to rap about. Flagstaff was a boot camp, man. The complete opposite of how we usually work.



recapturing the ignorance of being 19 and thinking you’re gonna make the best album ever is the most difficult part of making music. It takes a certain amount of ignorance to really tap into that headspace. - Parker corey


Parker Corey: It sounds really goofy saying “As you get older” and only being 23, but recapturing the ignorance of being 19 and thinking you’re gonna make the best album ever is the most difficult part of making music. It takes a certain amount of ignorance to really tap into that headspace. The energy of everyone saying “fuck it, we’re here to do this” gets you there. 

The most productive days there were in the first week. We made about 20 songs that week. We made 10 of those songs the first two nights alone. A good amount of those songs made the final cut, too: "Jawbreaker," "Jailbreak The Tesla," "Wax On," "Best Spot In The House," "Gravy & Biscuits," "GTFU," and "New Hawaii" were all at least started in those first two days.

Melikxyz: The thing about me and Parker is that we’re very open; I give him some plug-ins, he gives me some drums, and we share a lot of our information. That’s important when you’re collaborating, especially amongst producers. When we began working on what is now Injury Reserve, I was on a whole new level of creativity. I made 100 beats in the time we were in Flagstaff alone. Every idea I had, I was just cranking out to show them.

"Wax On"

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"Jawbreaker"

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Andy from Pro Teens: I had to get work off because I work a 9-5 and shit. I don’t drive, so I took a Greyhound bus to Flagstaff. Nick picks me up and tells me that they’re killing it out here but they just kinda hit a wall. They’d made a fuckload of songs already and were just looking for something new.

Ritchie With A T: When Andy walked [into Flagstaff], I showed him what would’ve been a full album’s worth of beats. I told him we were looking for a different approach and perspective. We started playing things and I asked him if he wanted to work on this or that. I could tell he was uncomfortable because I put him right on the spot. After a while, we decided to try out something original.

Andy: As the song slowly started to form I’m thinking about the hook and whether or not I should sing it. I had nothing in mind. I was thinking about how this was my moment to shine on some Eminem mom’s spaghetti shit. [Laughs] In my mind, I was like, “Get your jaw up off the floor and stop being so impressed. Just do work.” The hook is a direct response to all of that. As an artist, I doubt myself a lot, so I wasn’t feeling it at first, but they reassured me.

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Ritchie With A T: By the time Parker woke up, we had the beat and the hook mostly laid out and he added some more drums and textures and helped arrange it. He was the one who said, “Let’s make this song fashion-based,” and suggested that I do some sort of talking for the first half of my verse. It wasn’t directly supposed to be socially conscious; we were just trying to make it a fashion song. I had seen a Justin Beiber outfit Instagram account where he had the bluejays colorway of the Fear of God New Era Cap, which inspired that verse. Rico [Nasty] doing what she did on her verse was cool because it was still a fashion song but she added even more layers to it.

Nick: I know the guys wanted a woman to contrast what Ritchie was talking about, and Rico was definitely number one on our list for the feature. We had been chasing her down through management and her label but it was Amine who helped us make the connection.

Andy: After it was all done, I thought, “That’s cool, I just made a weird ass song with Injury Reserve. That’ll make the b-sides or the tour CD." Fast forward nine months later and Nick calls me and tells me they’re calling my song “Jawbreaker,” Rico Nasty has a verse on it, and they're flying me out to LA in a couple weeks to shoot the video for it. I’m sitting here expecting nothing but they put me on the lead fucking single. The first thing I tell them when I land in LA is that they’re fucking crazy.

"Jailbreak The Tesla"

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Ritchie With A T: “Tesla” was a concept that was born during this meeting at Apple Music with a guy named Prophet. We were talking about Teslas and he said something about, “fuck around and jailbreak it.” I promised to God we’d turn that into a song. I had that concept, and Parker had this idea of doing a song based around a one-liner hook, like an EDM song that was easy for people to say.

The Lil QWERTY interlude before “Tesla” came from his track “Kodi Stick Fire” from he and Melik’s album JUMPDRIVE, which has a similar tech-based verse. I told them that I wanted to do an interlude where we take that song and mess around with it to make it sound like a CD skipping because the last line is, “How I’m supposed to grow up and start rapping once CDs stop happening?”

We originally didn’t want a second verse on the song. But then I played the song for Aminé. He was in Malibu working on his album while we were in Flagstaff. I showed him that song post-Flagstaff and he wanted to be on it. It took him a while to do it because he’s so busy, but it turned out fucking great. Parker and I worked on arranging the song around his vocals to make it more of a moment. Having someone of his stature want to be on your song is a really good feeling. That’s preferable to asking them.



Aminé blessed us with his verse on “Jailbreak The Tesla.” That’s the homie. I don’t know many people in this business, but he’s one of the coolest and most genuine people that I’ve met. - Groggs


Groggs: Aminé blessed us with his verse on “Jailbreak The Tesla.” That’s the homie. I don’t know many people in this business, but he’s one of the coolest and most genuine people that I’ve met. He came through with the perfect verse for that. And he’s helped out so much with linking us with Rico for the “Jawbreaker” verse. 

Jeff Ellis: This is my favorite mix on the album. I kept trying to pull every ounce of energy out of that song. There’s a point in the song where it sounds like a Tesla peeling out. I remember hearing the rough mix and thinking that that part has to hit really hard. There’s no formula you learn in mixing school to figure out how loud tire screeches should hit on the track. It’s all about taste and playing with dynamic. 

For a song with a part that hits particularly hard, there has to be a part that doesn’t hit as hard for contrast. If the whole song is loud, then it would just be flat. Cutting out every bit of noise for the part in Aminé's verse where he says “Your engine go VROOM, and my engine go ____.” That part hit super hard. I just bought a Tesla and picked it up yesterday and the first thing I did was play that song.

“Rap Song Tutorial”

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"New Hawaii"

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Melikxyz: “New Hawaii” was a song I made in the room by myself and that I showed to Parker. He sampled a beat I’d made and then slowed it down from about 100 bpm to damn near 20 bpm. He didn’t even ask for the stems; he literally sampled the MP3 and slowed all the drums down and put his own drums on top of it.

Tony Velour: A few months before they went to Flagstaff, Ritchie asked me to come. I was there for about four days, and being out there helped me create my own shit on top of helping them with theirs. I didn’t even make “New Hawaii” while I was at the house. I made it when I had left and gone back home. It’s definitely one of my favorite songs I’ve ever made. That song is just a stamp in time that will always remind me of where I was at that moment.

Ritchie With A T: Tony was in LA and I thought he’d sound great on it, so I texted it to him. 20 minutes later, he texted it back with the hook done and everything. He said it was the best shit he’d ever done, so we heard it through our speakers and thought it was crazy. He sent us the stems and I asked Dylan Brady, who had just gotten in that day, if he wanted to do the talkbox solo in the middle of the song.

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Ritchie With A T: No matter what people say about Drive It Like It’s Stolen, I wouldn’t be able to do the “New Hawaii” verse without that project. Finding that version of me as a writer on songs like “North Pole” and “93 Cadillac Deville” was really important for that conversational and straightforward delivery, and being able to paint with the writing. I was able to execute that with “New Hawaii” and I’m proud of it.

Later on in the process, some time after our trip to Prague, we pulled up to the studio with DRAM and he showed us his vocals for “New Hawaii.” Once we heard them, we knew that we had to move things around on the song. His vocals were originally supposed to go after the first hook, but I had become attached to just hearing the beat breathe for a little bit, especially on this dense ass album. 

Bringing the hook in after my vocals dragged the song on for too long. So Parker, Nick, Hip-Hop, and I are in the room, and Parker had tried putting Tony’s vocals behind my verse for some familiarity. Then we brought the strings in right after. It gave more meaning to that last line. Hip-Hop helped Parker with drums on that last part and that was it.

CHAPTER III: THE COVER SHOOT

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Matt: Parker had a couple ideas for the cover shoot and we came down to the idea with the laser in an open space. We woke up around 3 or 4 in the morning and drove super far out west in California.

Parker: The work of Austrian artist Hartmut Skerbisch Lasterstahl was the inspiration for the cover. It took three to four days of scouting before we even tried to take pics. Nick and I went up to Malibu to try and catch the afternoon fog but were like 30 mins too late because of traffic, so it was just too dark. We went earlier the next day and found a couple cool spots near this sketchy two-lane winding road that goes through the mountains out there. After we found that spot, we came back the next day around 4 or 5 a.m. to catch the sunrise fog and test out the laser, which was this handheld one we bought from China for like $200 that was the size of a flashlight. 

By the time we did test photos and came back out with Ritchie and Groggs, we knew to start taking pictures 30 minutes before that. I was really happy with how it turned out. The beam honestly looked stronger than the goal reference image, though Malibu isn’t quite a scenic as the Swiss countryside, so it evens out somewhat. 

Ritchie With a T: Parker had already had the concept brewing for months and months; maybe even half a year. He, Matt, and Nick took a reference photo after they scouted and sent it to our group chat. We just knew that we needed to get the three of us in that same spot at that same exact time. Parker already spazzed and knew that he wanted to wear the J. W. Anderson jacket, so I knew I wanted to do something a little more neutral, like an off-white jacket—the color, not the brand—and we’d found Groggs a good flannel. Colors aren’t really my specialty, since I’m colorblind, so I gave the photo to my friends Conrad, Spenser, and Leo and asked for their help. 

It was a weird drive because we’d just woken up and it was so early. I was driving 50 minutes in the Malibu hills, pitch black, just driving to [Radiohead’s] Kid A and the new Knife Knights album. When we got to the spot, it was super easy. Parker and them scouting it out made it very smooth. We wanted to do something very classic, especially since we were on the front of it. You want something that will age well along with the album.

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CHAPTER IV: PRAGUE

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Date: June 7 - July 7, 2018

Parker: Prague was our first time going to Europe. We had 5-6 headline shows, a month-long gap, and then a few festival shows. We found out that it would cost the same amount to just rent an AirBnB and stay out there for the full month instead of flying back and forth.

Nick: We weren’t really set on Prague at first. Truthfully, we wanted to work in Italy. The problem was that renting an Italian villa during the summer is almost impossible, so we just looked everywhere: The UK, France, Germany. The place we found in Prague just so happened to be a mansion, so we took it. It ended up being this giant house in the countryside outside of Prague, in a village where no one speaks any English whatsoever. I think it was the most culture shock any of us had ever experienced. We bought Melik a passport and flew him out to work on some stuff.

Groggs: That line where Ritchie says “I be buyin’ passports for my friends, point at the map,” on “Gravy n’ Biscuits” was real!

Melikxyz: First of all, going to Prague was my first time ever being out of the country and flying for 14 hours. I took a Greyhound from Phoenix to LA, and then I flew from LA to Calgary, Calgary to London, and then London to Prague. I was there to provide perspective. The album that we left Prague with is not that much different than the one that eventually came out. The meat of the project was made out there.

It was ultra exciting being in this European country. Me and Ritchie went to KFC in Prague one day, which has some of the best fried chicken I’ve ever had in my life. Out there, you have to put the emergency brake on your car or else it won’t stay in park. We forgot to do that. We were ordering in the KFC and the manager came out and got the entire restaurant’s attention. He looks concerned, but he’s speaking in Czech.

We get out with our chicken and we see our car being pushed by three Czech civilians. Our car had rolled off of the side street because we didn’t park it properly and a cop came over to see what was up. We thought we were about to get thrown under the jail. Just two American niggas eating some chicken and committing small crimes. We paid the equivalent of $15 USD in coins on the spot and then we left. That’s it. I was sitting there thinking, “Please don’t send me to post-Nazi Czech Republic jail.”



We were in a village called Kamenice and all that was around was a grocery store that was walkable. It was very restricting and isolating, but it was necessary. - Ritchie with a T


Will Hasty: Prague was an amazing experience. Just to actually get to live an extended amount of time in a different part of the world. Every day was a new adventure into the city, a new track being recorded, a new concept for a video or stage design. It was just a really creative and inspiring experience being locked up in the Czech countryside in that house. 

Patrick Driscoll: I was shooting stuff in Europe already when they were wrapping up their European tour in Paris. It was interesting because we’d worked together before, but I’d never spent the entire day with them. When people say they’re gonna be working on something in an environment like that, I get wary because they’re bullshitting most of the time. But in Prague, they were there to make an album. They were dead serious. They trust each other to play their part. They’re very upfront about what they want through every part of the process, from promoting and video ideas and beyond.

Ritchie With a T: We were in a village called Kamenice and all that was around was a grocery store that was walkable. It was very restricting and isolating, but it was necessary. We had just finished our headlining US and European tours, so we were fucking exhausted. The good thing was that since we had spent that time in Flagstaff, we had let all the music age as we traveled. We went into Prague thinking that Flagstaff was only half of it and that we were gonna make more new shit. The reality is that we got a few more new verses in, but a lot of it was just really good tinkering and execution of what were just demos in Flagstaff.

“Koruna & Lime” & “Gravy n Biscuits”

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Parker: “Koruna & Lime” was completely conceptualized and fleshed out in Prague. “Koruna” is the currency of the Czech Republic. That beat was the first or second beat that Melik played while we were out there. Groggs’ last bar on that song (“Fax that shit to Prague if you want us to sign”) is real because we were actually in the final negotiations with Loma Vista to sign with them. We wound up signing with them when we got back to LA. 

Melikxyz: The original intro for the project was going to be the clip of the Nicki Minaj monologue where she says, “You bitches can’t even spell Prague.” That’s the version we left Prague with and I wish it could’ve stayed, but I think it still worked out for the best.

Groggs: Everybody had that stank face on when Melik played the beat. A reference that Tony [Velour] laid for a completely different song ended up inspiring the sing song-y second half of Ritchie's verse on “Koruna & Lime.” 

Ritchie With a T: Groggs’ verse that wound up on “Koruna & Lime” was on the original version of “Gravy & Biscuits,” and then I came in with a bridge that went, “Everything gravy and biscuits, everything Gucci and Prada.” That was the version until Prague, where we decided to use that verse for what’s now known as “Koruna & Lime.” My verse on “Koruna & Lime” came from a song that got cut called “Geek Squad” that was produced by Parker and had Tony Velour on the hook. It was all over the place.

“What A Year It’s Been”

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"Three Man Weave"

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CHAPTER V: REFLECTING

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Ritchie With a T: I’m proud of me, Parker, Groggs, Nick, and the album that we made. I think we did the right thing. I think [our success] is another example of winning in the face of people not getting it. Going from the “Arena Tour” last year to selling out every show in Australia and playing sizable venues that we would have to work very hard to get at in the States showed that there was real growth here.

Groggs: We’ve been breaking barriers with each project for a while now, whether people see it or not. We have a lot of influence in this game and I think we’re just gonna keep on doing that. We’re not gonna let anybody box us in. Not to sound cocky or anything, but we’re ahead of the curve. Whether people realize that tomorrow or 10 years from now, they’re gonna get it.

Parker: I think our legacy right now is marred by some image issues. I just want people to put more respect on us as people. No more Zumiez customer comparisons. [Laughs] But on the other hand, that comparison came from somewhere, so we have to work on that, too. I’ve spent too much fucking money on clothes to be called a Zumiez customer. I’m wearing a J.W. Anderson coat on the cover of the album. If it’s not the Gucci logo across it with chains and shit, people think you don’t care about clothes. I just hope that when it’s all said and done, we’re remembered as these guys who were pushing the bar and fearless with trying new shit and made some really cool shit along the way.



I hope their legacy is that you can control you own narrative and your own art, and not have to compromise your vision. - Will Hasty


Will Hasty: The guys have some of the most unique ideas and sounds in my opinion, and I think that they prove there isn't a formula and you don't have to sell out or fall in line. A good idea will always be more interesting than a popular one, and I think in terms of art the good ideas will always stand the test of time better as well. 

Nick: I think Injury Reserve’s legacy is that we’re still building a legacy. We haven’t been one of those groups that has skyrocketed because of social media or being characters, but because of great art. With that in mind, sometimes it can be a slow process, but it’s also what’s kept us around for 4-5 years in an industry where cats drop off every six months. I think partnering with a label will only bring more opportunities for us and we’re only going to get bigger and bigger. 

Melikxyz: I didn’t even think that music could be a career until I started working with Injury Reserve in 2015. They were taking it more seriously than anyone else in our area at the time. The fact that I was able to put in the work to eventually be a part of a classic album that will last even longer than me means more than the streams and the sales ever will. 

Hip-Hop: Injury Reserve is in a unique position where I don’t see any group out there like them. Nothing about them is forced, they just love what they’re doing and that’s a natural thing. They can shift with every project and every song and still give you all these different types of flows and subject matter from bar to bar. That’s something I feel leads towards a great future. There are so many more options and so many records to make. They’re gonna be known for putting out good shit that’s also challenging and trying to push the envelope. I’m down for the long ride.

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