TroyBoi reflects on his time teaming with some of contemporary music’s biggest artists.
From trap fanatics to Latin music lovers, there is a TroyBoi sound for everyone. And for every fan, from aspiring DJs to global superstars Justin Bieber and Billie Eilish.
TroyBoi found himself with prime real estate when his name was featured on 2021’s Justice, Bieber’s sixth studio album. The virtuosic electronic music producer shared album credits with mainstream heavy-hitters Chance the Rapper, Khalid, The Kid LAROI, Benny Blanco, Lil Uzi Vert and Quavo, among others.
His collaboration with one of contemporary music’s biggest commodities was an exercise in patience, humility and execution.
“It was during COVID. I was in London. It was super, super random,” Troyboi recently told EDM.com in an intimate interview. “I got an email from my manager, from his manager, just saying, ‘Hey, Justin is a huge fan. He really wants to work with you. Could we set up a phone call?’ I’m like, ‘Is this for real? Is this a fake email or something?'”
“My manager contacted back and said we were going to set up a call,” TroyBoi continued. “He was meant to call me a week later. A week went by and nothing. Two weeks went by and nothing. A month went by and nothing. Two months went by and nothing. Three months went by and nothing… Out of nowhere, I had this random number call me on my phone. I pick up the phone and someone says, ‘Hey, it’s Justin.'”
“We were working on some ideas for a couple of months. We actually did a lot more than one song. We did some really insane stuff. We decided on ‘Red Eye.'”
TroyBoi and Bieber linked up well after the Canadian singer-songwriter’s rise to superstar status. Years earlier, TroyBoi crossed paths with a young artist just scratching the surface of her potential. Billie Eilish recruited TroyBoi in 2018—one year before she shook up the music industry with her debut album When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?—for a remix of her song “My Boy,” appropriately dubbed, “MyBoi.”
“It’s just surpassed 100 million plays on Spotify. Which is just insane,” TroyBoi said. “I’m so grateful for the opportunity that she gave me… She’s a fan, which is great, and I’m a fan of her’s too. I’m glad that it happened.”
TroyBoi’s teamwork with artists like Bieber and Eilish has shed light on the depth of his own discography. “MyBoi” and “Red Eye” are his most rotated Spotify songs, weighing in at a staggering 100.7 million and 74.4 million streams, respectively.
But TroyBoi certainly holds his own, with original songs like “Afterhours” and “Do You?” hovering around 50 million.
“As you sort of do these things and you get these accolades and features, you do get a certain level of respect to go onto the next thing,” he added. “It has opened doors for other projects and tracks.”
“I’m just super, super grateful for every opportunity that I’ve had to work with all these incredible artists and to have the platform and respect to do what I want to do, which is to make music and vibe. That’s it really. It’s all clean-hearted. It’s all just a way for me to express myself.”
You can stream Say Less below.
Follow TroyBoi:
Facebook: facebook.com/troyboimusic
Twitter: twitter.com/TroyBoiMusic
Instagram: instagram.com/troyboi
Spotify: spoti.fi/3n0XzNf
