Planet Giza is your new favorite rap trio on the scene, and the music speaks for itself. With the name referencing the pyramids at Giza in Egypt, Planet Giza is composed of members Rami B (DJ/producer), Tony Stone (vocalist), and DoomX (producer). Based in Montreal, all three creatives add their own flare to the group, creating a synergy in the studio that is unmatched.
When asked to describe themselves, DoomX states, “We’re producers, artists that always try to push boundaries through music, and just express what we go through on a daily basis. Through art form, through music.”
In 2019, Planet Giza unveiled their critically-acclaimed debut project called Added Sugar, and it’s been up ever since. The outfit went from performing locally at Montreal’s International Jazz Festival to having their production featured on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon thanks to GoldLink, and they’re ready to fully break into the U.S. market.
Now, Planet Giza gears up for their forthcoming album titled Ready When You Are. The project is spearheaded by lead singles, “WYD” features Chicago rapper Saba and “Quiet on the Set.”
AllHipHop spoke with Planet Giza to discuss how they all met, roots in Montreal, collaborating with Saba, the new project, favorite producers, and more!
AllHipHop: How did you guys come together initially?
Rami: I knew Tony. We used to play basketball in high school, back in 2008. Three years later, I met him again at summer school. We both failed math class. He’s like, “Yo, I see you’ve started doing beats.” I said “yeah, I just started.” He said “Yo, let me come to your home. Show me how to make beats.” So he came by my house, I showed him the basics of Fruity Loops studio. That’s the software we use.
Then he started making beats on his own. After that, he connected with Doom through some mutual friends. Tony said, “Yeah, Doom makes beats. Rami makes beats. Let’s make a session, all three of us together.” We did, and we released a song called “Old School Convertible.” That was in the SoundCloud days. The song started doing numbers, people really liked it. The energy was good, we were working good. The three of us said “let’s make a group,” and that’s how we started.
AllHipHop: Growing up in Canada, what’s the hip-hop scene like?
Rami: It’s a bit divided, because we’re mostly a French province. We all speak French, that’s our native language. For us, it’s a bit difficult because we do music in English and there’s not really a support system for English artists. In Quebec especially. The scene in Montreal is mostly French so for me, I grew up listening to mostly French music.
Doom: It’s a bittersweet feeling. Because there is support, but at the same time, people from Montreal do prefer listening to people from the States. Because that’s what’s popular anyways. When it comes to English acts from Montreal, they’ll get less support because they’ll rather listen to somebody from the States.
We had to make a name for ourselves, for the longest. The more work that we put in, the more support that people have given us. But at the same time, it’s weird because there’s a beat scene where the producers get hella love. The producers can tour off only putting out instrumentals online. I classify people like Kaytranada, they make a living off of what they do just doing instrumentals. It’s divided, but it’s a great scene. Everybody’s talented, there’s a lot of talent. The more shine that Montreal gets, the more they’ll go forward for all of us.
AllHipHop: How would you guys describe your sound?
Rami: Usually, we try to make something that’s timeless. We’re not trying to see what’s trendy or whatever, we focus on our inspiration. We try to make it new, make it fresh. Because we do everything. We can do funk, soul, R&B, Hip Hop, trap, house. It’s a melting pot of a bunch of influences that are mixed well together.
AllHipHop: What artists or groups do you guys look up to?
Rami: Groups: Outkast, Tribe Called Quest, N.E.R.D., De La Soul. We like artists like Tyler The Creator Kendrick of course. We like people like Quincy Jones, Roy Ayers. There’s a bunch of different sounds that we’re really into.
AllHipHop: How did “WYD” with Saba come about?
Tony: Saba, that’s the homie. We met him through Instagram, he saw a song we made called “Rocky Road.” He hit us up like, “Yo, this song is super fire.” We’re like, ”Yo, we’re big fans of you! Let’s work, because we’re going to be in LA.” He’s like “Alright bet. When you guys are out here, hit us up.” So that’s exactly what we did.
Went to the studio with him. He already had the beat. He heard it like, “This is fire! Let’s work on that.” I already had a concept, the hook in my head: “what you doing.” It was smooth sailing from there, we just clicked and the song was done. Super fast. After that, the rest is history.
AllHipHop: What can we expect from your new project, Ready When You Are?
Tony: Expect the unexpected. Crazy, crazy, amazing music. We’ve really been working on this for years now, so the progression of growth from our first album is incredible. Personally, it’s some of the best music we’ve ever worked on and everyone will agree.
Rami: Yeah definitely.
Doom: Don’t expect much. Expect the feeling of everything you’ve heard before, but nothing at the same time. It’s such a weird feeling. Every person we play the album to, they always point out that it sounds like it was made in the early 2000’s — but it doesn’t sound like anything that was made in the early 2000’s. It’s a weird contrast, but I think people are really going to gravitate towards it.
AllHipHop: Talk about the project’s second single, “Quiet On The Set.”
Rami: You can expect something like the album, something you’ve never heard before. It’s really a blend of a whole bunch of genres. It’s smooth, it’s hard at the same time. You really can’t even pinpoint what type of song it is, but it’s really good. We really enjoyed making it.
Doom: We got a video for it, the video’s crazy.
Rami: Yup, very.
AllHipHop: What can we expect from the video?
Rami: The video is the whole aesthetic we wanted to start, because we were having a conversation about doing something new. Showing more of our personalities and going into weird inspiration. It’s for now our best video yet, because it was really out of our comfort zone but in a good way. If you see the video, you’ll understand the whole vibe of the.
AllHipHop: Can you talk about the features on the project as well? Kojey Radical, Mick Jenkins, Topaz Jones
Tony: Just a line of awesome artists. We were in the studio with them for most of the songs, just a great energy. They really add a whole different dynamic to songs, how my voice is not as deep as Kojey’s voice. I’ll sing most of the time, but Femdot. He’ll come and drop pure poetry, pure bars on a song. It’s an honor to have these people on our album, people that we’re fans of. It’s the same way back for us.
AllHipHop: Talk about what each of you bring to the table.
Doom: Honestly, we all bring the same thing. We don’t really let our egos get into the creation part of working with each other. Everybody brings their influence. We all got different influences. Me, I grew up listening to more dirty South music. So in the era of Gucci Mane, Jeezy back in the days. That’s where I grew up on: Outkast, UGK, 8Ball & MJG type s###.
The different influences, that’s what everybody brings to the table. We’re really open, we have a great blank line of communication. If you don’t like an idea or if you don’t like something, you’re not scared to say, “Okay, let’s try it. But if it doesn’t fit, let’s cut it out.” That’s why we always strive as a group, we’ve never had animosity towards each other. We never had any arguments, so that’s good.
AllHipHop: Talk about gaining notoriety outside of Canada. What do you hope the AllHipHop readers and fans in America want to gain from your music?
Tony: We want the people to understand we’re making music that’s really timeless. This is a passion of ours, and we really want to stand the test of time with this. Every time you hear a Planet Giza song, you’re gonna hear the intention and the passion behind it. This is real music.
Doom: I wanted to add: in the era of social media era, to let people know that music does matter. If you think about it back in the days, people were not really in the forefront like they used to be right now. But in the time we are right now, music doesn’t really matter. It’s more about the image, but we’re trying to move that narrative and make it more about the music more than anything else.
Kami: Let the music speak.
AllHipHop: Who are some of your favorite producers?
Tony: Ooh, Neptunes for sure.
Kami: Neptunes definitely. Q-Tip, J Dilla, Pete Rock, Organized Noize.
Tony: Quincy Jones.
Doom: There’s a lot, we can go on for days. We’ve been through a lot of eras of producers, so there’s a lot of people. You can even add Young Chop, Shawty Redd, D. Rich. They’re friends of ours, but still the talent is undeniable.
Kami: Kaytranada.
AllHipHop: Have you visited the Giza Pyramids, or any plans of going to Egypt?
Doom: That’ll be fun.
Tony: We will go one day.
Doom: I’m scared of the weather, but I would like to go. I just don’t want to suffocate in the heat.
Tony: [laughs]
Rami: But one day for sure, you’re gonna see us with a picture popping out. All three of us.
AllHipHop: What’s the vibe in the studio?
Doom: A microphone, a keyboard. Studio monitors.
Tony: Speakers.
Doom: S###, we don’t need much. We’re not smokers. Sometimes, we’ll have a bottle.
Tony: Good Haitian food. TV to play sports highlights,
Doom: Good food. We just bring ourselves to the studio. We don’t get distracted. Sometimes alcohol, but that’s about it. We don’t smoke weed. We don’t like to invite a lot of people because it’s a distraction. We be to ourselves in the studio.
AllHipHop: Talk about the cool merch and vinyls you guys are working on.
Doom: We’re working on the merch as we speak. Hopefully, we can get vinyls as soon as possible for the album. All of that is in the works, hopefully it won’t take that long.
AllHipHop: What are you guys most excited for next? I know you have a couple of performances coming up.
Doom: Yeah, really excited to hit the road. We’ve never been really performing like that. This year is going to be the start of taking the songs on the road and seeing how people really feel about it.
Kami: Really meeting new people too, actually engaging with the people that like our music. Also see the reaction about the new album, because we haven’t released an album in four years. We did release an EP two years ago, but this one is really different. We weren’t in the same mindset when we made this one then then the EP so people are really going to enjoy it. I’m really hyped to see the reaction and the criticism, everything. I want to hear everything, good or bad.
AllHipHop: Anything else you want to let the people know?
Kami: Get ready for the Giza season, like always, follow us on all socials @planetgiza.
Tony: Yup, it’s about that time.
Doom: Yes!