PlayThatBoiZay Finds Wisdom in The Shadows
In his sanctum lair (the studio), PlayThatBoiZay orchestrates music like his own mind-bending cult horror, with sinister plot twists and disorienting flows scattered across the production, channeling pure adrenaline into visceral headbangers. I caught up with the Miami Gardens rapper on a drizzly Toronto morning, just as he was checking out of his hotel. He’s at the tail-end of a tour run alongside Denzel Curry and $uicideboy$, his voice was unhurried, but his mind clearly racing through the highlights over the last few weeks already.
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Things are rarely as they seem with Zay. He’s an open book full of sharp-edged aphorisms and unpredictable paradoxes: coolly humble yet ruthlessly confident, obsessively focused yet rarely bound by formula. He’s a recluse who commands attention behind the mic, a self-proclaimed ‘flower on the wall’ with a towering stage presence. In one breath, he declares his goal to accept and embrace the rap star onus that his talents demand. In the next, he’ll share his thoughtful reflections on his journey––a delicate interplay of ambition and introspection that defines his creative approach.
On ‘VIP’ (aka Vampires Impersonating People), his latest project and debut album, this duality takes centre stage. At its apex—which is to say the entire thing, really—the album almost seems to defy gravity, it’s music that’s wild, cathartic, disorienting and perversely infectious. With features from Kenny Mason, Mike Dimes, JPEGMAFIA, Denzel Curry, and A$AP Rocky, the record functions like a pressure cooker for the rappers du jour; a heart racing, pent up treatise on pain, personal reckoning, and defiance. Take the Mike Dimes featuring ‘MOOD SWINGS,’ first previewed on an On The Radar cypher with Denzel Curry, A$AP Ferg, TiaCorine, and Key Nyata earlier this year, where Zay fires off steely verses, steeped in personal reckoning, over a murky and distorted beat.
“I was heartbroken,” Zay interjects, referencing the breakup that loomed over the album’s creation. “Me and my ex-girlfriend just broke up. So that was on my mind a lot, and with Kwesi’s production [Kwes Darko], it had a dark feel… I wasn’t thinking about making a project. I was just expressing how I felt and I resonated with the beats he was making at the time.” The album in question balances dark and witty surrealism with bloodthirsty bars, framed by his chameleonic delivery.
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Zay’s path has been one of ambition, perseverance, and the cradling currents of collaboration—often born from chance encounters yet always built on well-earned merit, trust, and mutual respect. He recalls meeting Kwes Darko during a tour stop with slowthai in 2019, a moment that sparked the collaborative streak leading to ‘VIP’. “Once I landed in LA, I put my bags down, and we instantly made a song together called ‘TEMPLE RUN,’ which became the start of my album”. Reflecting on those around him, Zay acknowledges, “For me, it’s having the people that just blindly believe in me, not people who tell me how or who they want me to be,” highlighting the trust that propels his creative drive.
A serendipitous run-in at The Cheesecake Factory in 2015, where Zay worked during his senior year, was when the rubber hit the tarmac for his career. His Carol City High classmate Denzel Curry—on a date at the restaurant—recognised Zay’s potential and encouraged him to pursue rap. That push led Zay to South Florida’s underground scene, where he built a following during the late 2010s SoundCloud boom. Collaborations like ‘P.A.T.’ on Curry’s ‘ZUU’ and the brooding 2021 single ‘Bad Luck’ solidified his place in the scene and cemented his reputation as a livewire performer on Curry’s North American tours, sharing stages with AG Club and redveil. “That’s the energy that makes me create the best… I do my best lyrically and vocally, and you do your best sonically, and we come together to make that magic on stage,” Zay emphasises.
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His evolution is clear. Not just in his perspective but in the themes he explores. While his early music was raw and incendiary––what seemed like a natural extension of what had been happening in his life at the time––his latest work points to a more deliberate approach. His influences—whether that’s Chief Keef’s immortal relevance or Kanye West’s subversive ambition—shine through, but Zay channels them into something distinctly his own. “Kanye showed us what we can do with music; there are no limits,” he adds, “a lot of people are going to tell you no. People tell Kanye no and try to clown him, but he still goes and makes it happen while they’re laughing at him.”
The Floridian native doesn’t wallow too long in despair. Instead, Zay treats his music as his diary, he tells me—in that sense, embodying the essence of a VIP (the important kind––not the vampire variant)—both protagonist and antagonist across his harrowing narratives. He remains steps ahead, his laconic tone hinting at something wicked still to come. This became even more apparent after a car accident in 2021 left him recovering for months—a crucible that reshaped his perspective. “In that moment, when I was younger, I was more angry. I’m not as angry now,” he reflects. “I was mad as hell, frustrated at the world. But now, I’m experimenting… I still don’t feel like I’ve found it. I’m always playing with flows, pushing myself into the unknown.”
It’s this appetite for reinvention that keeps Zay moving forward. “It’s like taking the chaos of things I’ve experienced and making sense out of it,” he explains. Instinctively drawn to big sounds, always pushing himself beyond the confines of his comfort zone his music grants him the space to take centre stage. Whether ceaselessly experimenting with new flows or crafting head-spinning tales to add to his catalogue, he remains compelled by an unshakable faith in his potential––“I feel like sometimes the best stuff is at the other side of the unknown.”
Now, Zay is poised for his next move, travelling coast-to-coast and feeling that pang of hunger he felt when he first stepped onto a stage. “This tour, the Grey Day tour, has been so motivating. $uicideboy$ and everything they’ve done has really inspired me. It sparked a flame inside of me,” he admits. “I see the vision, I see the direction, I see everything.” After the tour wraps, Zay plans on ‘locking in’ to create his most compelling work yet. “2025, my plan is to make so much music and put out the best art I can. I’m feeling the same energy towards music as when I first started this thing.”
This bolt of inspiration and refound momentum ignited most of the stash for ‘VIP’s deluxe version set for release this month. The extended cut includes five new tracks featuring Denzel Curry, A$AP Ferg, and the newly released 03 Greedo, fresh off nearly five years behind bars. The additional tracks capture the thrill of hearing an inspired work-in-progress and develops it into a fully realised project. Perhaps more importantly, Zay’s evolving sound reflects music that exists simply because it can, music that lends itself to some much-needed escapism. There is no imposed formality of structure or delivery to stiffen Zay or drain the life from the tracks; instead, it offers a glimpse into the relentless drive the rapper plans to carry into 2025.
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‘VAMPIRES IMPERSONATING PEOPLE’ is out now.
Words: Sophia Hill
Photography: Aaron Jackson
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