On the 15-minute walk to his local coffee shop, wearing a daytime lounge fit of sweatpants and a white T-shirt, Volpe explains that his creative process has always been a cycle of ups and downs.

Over the last ten years, he’s faded in and out of the public eye, often appearing in short spurts with innovative solo and collaborative music before retreating back again. In the same way that some artists do through sung lyrics and melody, Volpe has always been able to convey a profound vulnerability with his production. is connected in a way that's not really so up front, but it's there, you know?” But the common denominator between Clams Casino and Lil Peep is also somewhat simple. “I kept going back and listening to it, and then, slowly, I started to understand sense of melody. “At first, I didn't really get it,” he says.

For Volpe, who grew up on Mobb Deep and The Diplomats, his connection to the subgenre wasn’t immediate. He mentions his collaborations with Wicca Phase Springs Eternal and the late Lil Peep, two pioneering voices of emo-rap, as a more recent part of that circle of influence.

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