Vory on dropping a debut album, working with Kanye, and advice from Meek Mill

• Vory spoke to Insider about the release of his debut studio album, "Lost Souls," and his close work with Kanye West and Meek Mill.

Earlier this month, I spoke to Vory a few days before the release of his debut studio album, "Lost Souls."

In a brief phone interview, we discussed his work as a featured vocalist on Kanye West's two "Donda" albums and his close collaboration with his Dream Chasers label boss, Meek Mill.

Among other topics in the conversation, he relayed a story of meeting Elon Musk with West in Austin, Texas, and talked through what he sees as the negative trappings of fame.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

Meek said on Twitter he's been sending this album to baddies on the daily.

[Laugh]. Real talk.

That's a real ground game.

Yeah. [Laugh].

Leading up to this drop, what has Meek imparted to you? What advice has he given?

I mean, just a lot. You know, it's ways to move. He's been in this for a decade plus. So it's kinda just like how to move for certain things. You know what I mean? Like, you know, you have that beginner's fright sometimes. And just certain things he give me advice on, as far as like interviews, like me starting to do interviews now, and stuff like that. He just like give advice that he went through early stage, and lessons that he learned.

You were this prominent voice on the two "Donda" records. Vets, legends have respect for your game in the studio. How do you navigate writing for Kanye? How did that end up working out for you?

Uh, great. Yeah, great. I mean, I didn't really write for him. I just kinda like, whatever I did, he just kept me on there. So, it wasn't like I was sitting there just writing for him. Like he was just giving me the record he think I'd end up on, and then just keep me on there.

Ye's got this approach that the project's coming together as it's released. You know, the live documentation of it. How do you find working in that type of environment is?

As far as what? Say that again.

That's my bad. It's a high-pressure environment to be working in, as the project's like created in real time. That's an environment you thrive in, I would imagine.

Uh, yeah. Kind of. But most of the time, he already know how I work. So I just be set up in my own little room, my own little space. He'll be texting me records, and I'll just load them up and be recording in my own space. So I can't really work for a crowded room.

How does the process of your solo work compare to when you're collaborating?

I mean, it's all the same to me, to be honest. 'Cause like I said, I space out. Like I know how to space out. If I'm collaborating with an artist and I walk in and he's with 10 people, nine times out of 10, I'm probably by myself, and I can just zone out. I can be in a room full of people and feel like I'm the only one in there. So it's really all the same.

What about the concept behind this record. You got that outro from Wallo kind of encapsulating this sh-t, and I feel like that seemed like the starting point in a way, even though it's the outro. Is that how that came together?

Uh, no, actually. Wallo, he'll call me randomly and we'll just talk, you know what I mean, about life, and stuff like that. And I don't know, I just feel like it was good. I think people need to hear his words more. I mean, he already got a crazy following, but like, you know what I mean? I just feel like my fans would love to hear his words, for people who don't know who Wallo is. 'Cause he inspires me a lot to be honest, just with his words.

He's adjacent to music, but what type of advice has Wallo given?

What advice hasn't Wallo given? [Laugh].

[Laugh].

Everyday you go on his page, it's motivation.

I was tripping on seeing that photo of you and Elon Musk. What type of game does Elon Musk impart? What does that conversation look like?

Rockets. Crypto. And we had ate at this Mexican restaurant. The Elon thing was just random, though. I ain't gonna lie. 'Cause we was in Austin, Texas. I think it was like 4 AM, and Ye was like "Yo, Elon's sending his jet to come get us. We gotta leave at six." I'm like, "What?" And yeah, we did that, and we had watched him test out rockets, and stuff like that. And he was just breaking down the whole SpaceX camp and community, and everything like that.

This is the first project you dropped where the pandemic's kinda coming toward an end. Had you thought about how this music translates to a live setting? I know you got a tour coming up.

Yeah. I haven't thought too deep until just yet. You know what I mean? I just be trying to think one at a time. My thoughts get too crowded. Start putting too much on my mind.

You know, you said "F--- Being Famous," but I think that's inevitable for you, man.

Yeah. [Laugh]. I mean, guys can be famous and not famous, you know?

What's the trappings of fame, the negative elements of it, that you would wanna avoid? What's the type of thing you've seen that's like, "I need to distance myself from that."

I don't know. Just the opinions, social media. The opinions of strangers can really mess with your mental a lot. And I've seen it happen. Like a good friend of mine, he's a music artist, and he damn near quit music just because people was commenting and stuff under his comments. And he just would sit there and read them, and just take everything so personal, how some people felt about him. And yeah, it can just mess with a person mental health bad.

Mental health being kind of a theme of this sh-t in a way, how do you take your inner emotion and put that into a lyric? What do you think about the way that you present yourself on record?

I think I get my point across. I try to as well, as much as I can, get my point across. Or how I'm feeling at that moment or at that time.