2017 saw vast numbers of collectives form and fall, with new groups seeming to appear almost every day. Despite this, there is one group of artists that rose past all the competition – The Midnight Society. Spawning from multiple collaborations between rapper Kamiyada+ and producer The Virus and Antidote, the group formed in the middle of 2015. Now consisting of 23 members and affiliates from all over the world, it’s almost guaranteed that you are more familiar with their work than you may realize. Even if you’re not an active fan of the group, their art has subtly appeared all over the underground scene in the past few years. Midnight Society’s well deserved growth proves exactly why you should be keeping close tabs on them.
Their lengthy list of members includes The Virus and Antidote, Kamiyada+, Fukkit, Blvc Svnd, Rare Akuma, Yung Bambi, Original God, TrippyThaKid, Kay P, Johnny Gee, Cresylic, Sake, Dutchman, Yung Xela, Beex, Kell Killuminati, Braxton Knight, Skrilla, Drg/Reaper, Uno from Pluto, EloimMeth, YouTube channel VoidTracks and affiliate videographer Steven Jets. With producers, rappers, artists and more all spanning across different styles, the variety in Midnight Society is immaculate.
As previously mentioned, the work of members in the collective has slipped under the radar of big names in the underground, mostly through production. For example, co-founding producer The Virus and Antidote created the instrumental for the widely recognised track “RestInPeace” by Bones, as well as making beats for other big names such as XXXTENTACION, Chris Travis, and Sybyr (formerly known as Syringe). Fellow producer Rare Akuma worked on beats for early $uicideboy$ material, and vocalist TrippyThaKid was a feature on the $uicideboy$ song “Ma$k and Da Glock,” which was notably on the first mixtape to ever be realised by the duo.
Producer Dutchman stated that “back in late 2015 – early 2016 Virus was (and still is) one of my favorite producers because he was one of the few producers I found on the platform making super hard beats with nasty sounding basses that I was also trying to make. OG TAXX and Lil Skinny were also huge inspirations at the time. Before I found them, I had no idea other people were also making hard super dirty beats, I guess you could say metal influenced almost. I wasn’t really making any progress as a producer and I was just sitting at around 400 followers for probably about a year when I realized I really wanted to take this serious, so I figured the best way to grow was to work with like minded people and grow together instead of flying lone wolf.”
When asked about the group, member Original God claimed that he “didn’t take music seriously until [he] joined Midnight Society.” After reaching out to The Virus, he was introduced to Kamiyada+ and was informed they were starting a collective together. Shortly after, Original God teamed up with Kamiyada+, Yung Bitch, and producer Dutchman to create the breakout track “Adult Swim,” which is now an essential Midnight Society classic. However it was not until the group all met in person when Original God decided to officially stick with them. He explains that “Everyone was so down to earth and like minded. We all got along together really well and made art a lot better.”
Blvc Svnd agreed that meeting in person was instrumental. “We connected in person and were not on no weird ass shit.”
The idea of Midnight Society being family rather than simply a collective is a recurring theme in every interview we conducted with MNS members. Dutchman stated that “I think what separates us is we truly are a close knit family and not just a collective where people make music, come up, and then just split. Not only do we make music together we talk about anything and everything with each other, joke around, play games, Skype, and especially help each other out when one of us is down or in need of help. What good is a collective if you don’t interact on other levels than just music. Our fundamentals will always be hard, heavy, and dark but the group has inherently expanded its sound by including other artists, not necessarily because of their music, but because they are family.”
Johnny Gee agrees, “we’re not just a regular group – we’re more of a family. We all treat each other like brothers, real genuine friends. Half the people in our group I knew before it started, and since we all like everyone’s music this is the only group that don’t treat each other different due to views and followers. It’s all love.”
Yung Bambi expanded on this by saying “Midnight really is my family. Like we’re really all friends who just make music together at the end of the day. It’s been really fun watching it grow and seeing the opportunities that have presented themselves as such.” When asked what he wants people to know about Midnight Society headed into 2018, Bambi said “It’s time for another powerhouse collective, and it’s gonna be Midnight. I don’t say that arrogantly. I just don’t really see anyone else laying their cards on the table like us.”
Overall, the hard work, determination and quality content has put the Midnight Society on the rise lately, with a broad rota of names to know. With new listeners coming in every day, 2018 will be the year they take over.
Midnight really is my family. Like we’re really all friends who just make music together at the end of the day