Devstacks on producing for Bktherula and Babyxsosa

After producing defining songs for Bktherula and Babyxsosa, the rapper-producer insists he’s just getting started.

The FADER’s longstanding series Beat Construction interviews today’s most crucial producers and their craft.

Sometimes, Devstacks just knows. “There’s been a couple instances where I say out loud or tell the universe that if I make a song with someone, we’re gonna make a hit,” the Massachusetts rapper-producer tells me on a video call late in September, “and that’s exactly what happens.” The first time was for his propulsive beat for Babyxsosa’s 2024 track “Chanel,” soundtracking plenty of fit checks and thirst traps. A year later, the manifestation paid off once more with “party on u,” his Charli XCX-flipping instrumental for Bktherula. But Dev isn’t letting the success go to his head — while he seems gratified and proud of the viral success, I get the sense that working with rappers he respects is the real trophy.

On the surface, Devstacks’s music might not strike you as hyper distinct from the contemporary sound of underground rap, steeped as he is in the influence of Chief Keef, 808 Mafia, and Lil Uzi Vert. But spend a little time with his discography and the subtle nuances begin to feel like seismic shifts. Consider his instinct for poppier, almost EDM-esque synths and drums (Dev tells me he loved the Black Eyed Peas growing up), or how his beats tend to unfurl at a slightly lower BPM than his peers’ speaker rattlers.

Where his earliest tracks closely followed in Keef’s footsteps, his sound has blossomed into something more evocative, suffused with classical music-inspired soundkits and grounded by his gentle baritone, which often feels like the final instrument tying together a larger symphony. While there are other artists balancing big feelings and bigger 808s right now — collaborator OsamaSon jumps to mind, as do far flung peers like Che, skaiwater and prettifun — I’m hard-pressed to name another producer whose melodies feel so moody and affective.

Take the spare piano riff from wintertime single “HATE THE FEELING,” where the escalating ivories send Dev’s grindset raps flouncing skyward, or the resonant bounce of “LMK YOU MADE IT HOME OK,” which sparkles and strobes without rushing ahead. On this spring’s 4 SOULJASONLY, Dev’s sound crystallised and tightened, yielding some of his most vivid instrumentals yet (“SOULJAS COMING;” “WIPE UR NOSE;” “PARLAY”) and a handful of higher BPM cuts that feel perfectly suited for strobe-lit moshpits (“1OF1;” “THRILLER;” “SHADEROOM”). Dev describes his music as “cinematic,” and I’d have to concur: there’s a reason his beats have caught the ears of everyone from Summrs and Jace! to Kevin Abstract and Lil Uzi Vert (who kicked off 2025 by freestyling over “Chanel”).

“As soon as it played, I knew. I had to replay it back 50 times before I loaded it up,” Bktherula says of Dev’s beat for “partyonu.” She’s Facetiming me from the tour bus, setting out across the country in support of her spring album LUCY. This year, Bk’s been branching out to work with more producers like Devstacks and skaiwater, and focused on writing better hooks and more structured songs in a bid to “get on the radio and get a fucking Grammy” without compromising her sound.

With “party on u,” her process was more rooted in intuition than conscious intent. “I don’t know what came over me; it was definitely a higher being that came through my body and decided to flow like that.” Bk tells me a remix with a “crazy artist” is in the works, and that Charli is trying to clear the sample for an official release — “she real for that.” And while “party on u” was her very first song with Dev, Bk promises more in the future, teasing a joint EP titled Dirty Sticks.

“I just feel like it’s the most complete sound I’ve had,” Dev says of his recent singles. “I’m still getting better to this day at making music. So if you’re going to show people my music, you should show them my best quality of work, which is my most recent.”

The FADER caught up with Devstacks to chat about working with Babyxsosa and Bktherula, and keeping things simple on his latest album 4SOULJASONLY.

The FADER: One of the things that stands out with your production is that you’re able to balance emotional melodies with very in-your-face 808s and basslines. 
I’m curious how you think about letting those elements breathe in your music.

Devstacks: I feel like that all stems from the music I grew up listening to in high school. Because nowadays the Osamason songs, the Nettspend songs, are heavy [and] loud as shit. But I’ve always just stuck to my roots with the typical 808s, you know what I’m saying?

I was curious what producers or artists have melodies that you feel inspired by.

Shit, 
Kanye West… [and] Pi’erre Bourne. [They showed] you can just make really simple stuff and it could be effective; it doesn’t have to be crazy complex melodies. I just like stuff that sticks in people’s heads.

I definitely hear a lot of Pi’erre in your music, especially the simplicity of the beats. I remember you tweeted “LMK U MADE IT HOME OK” only had five elements.

That’s all you really need, [but] then people try to overcomplicate things. Like all these new producers trying to throw all this shit on crazy ass beats — I mean, yeah, they’re tough too, but this is just me. I like making what I like to make, and that’s what I like to make.

Tell me a little bit about the recording process for Scriptures.

It’s lowkey the same how it always was, but with that tape, I was focused more on the “regalia” shit, using that heavy classical sound.
That’s the real Dev shit. The pianos, the strings, and all that. I wanted the songs to almost sound like a movie, you know? 
That’s why [I added] the transitions. My boy Tarzan did those, and it sounds very cinematic in a way. 
The recording process wasn’t any different than what I usually do, but making the beats, that was where I was trying to do more classical type stuff.

You used air quotes when you mentioned regalia. Does that label feel off to you?

I never intended for people to put my stuff in that category. But I get why they do. It was the producer Royal Ansen that came up with the whole Regalia thing; people just categorized my stuff in there.

Subgenre stuff is always interesting. [For example] with jerk music, some people will say it’s this drum pattern that defines it, other people will point to these specific synths. The lines are weird, and I feel like most artists don’t care about the classification.

Like, that’s what y’all on, go ahead. I thought I was making Dev beats [laughs].

How did 4 SOULJASONLY come together?

I had already made some songs for it last year [but] I didn’t have a name or vision for it yet. It was more early this year where the pieces started coming together. I started leaning more into the aspect of how my supporters are like my soldiers. I feel like that album was made more for my real supporters; that’s why I wanted to name it that.

One thing I really like about your music is you’re really determined to match your instrumentals in terms of your lyrics, where you’re really candid about your emotions.

I just think about my life experiences. I remember I tweeted this before,
“I make the best beats when I’m sad.” So whenever I have issues with girls and stuff, I’ll go sit down on the computer, lock in real quick on some beats. That’s when the emotion comes up on the beats for. I be making the best shit ever when I’m sad for some reason.

Was it your idea to flip the Charli XCX sample for “party on u,” or Bk’s?

I was looking through my DMs one day, and one of my fans was like, “Dev, you need to sample ‘party on u’ by Charli XCX.” I didn’t know about the song yet, so I just looked it up on TikTok and that shit was lowkey viral, and a simple song to sample. I was like, “yeah, I could probably make some fye shit with this.” Remember how I was saying, like, once I call it out to the universe, if I make a song with you, I know it’s going to go? BK was on the list too.
So I was like, “I know me and BK make some shit, it’s gonna go.” I told the fan, thank you, too. ‘Cause without him that song wouldn’t even exist.

What’s your favorite part of that song?

That little bridge in there when the beat stops and she’s like, “smoke bout you, yeah, smoke bout you.” 
That part. And then when the beat comes back in with my tags in the background… That’s another generational song, too. Watch, dude. You’re gonna see.