Superbad is Our Comeback Kid
Romeo + Juliet Interview and Album Review
If you missed his explosive debut album, Raging Bull in 2022, you’ve made it to the aftershock – Superbad. The Jersey City-based artist, Romeo + Juliet made waves in the worlds of Neo-Soul and R&B with the self-written and produced debut project. The album was gutting, passionate, refined, and authentic – it was also supposed to be our only album from Romeo + Juliet. Two years later, we’ve been given Superbad, a flavorful, funky, and frustrated evolution from Raging Bull.
Your debut album, Raging Bull, was intended to be your last musical project. How was Superbad born two years later? How did the reception of Raging Bull influence your creation of Superbad?
“The beauty in Raging Bull was that it ended up finding an audience. And I guess that was all the reinforcement I needed to know that I wasn't done yet. Music is so instilled and ingrained in me that I probably would have ended up doing something at some point, but I guess with the reception of Raging Bull, I wanted to see if I could make something good again. Between Raging Bull and Superbad, I'd learned so much more musically. I just wanted to experiment more, make more things that I've always imagined making that I just felt like I didn't have the imagination to make before. Superbad had two objectives: I wanted to see if I could make shorter, more impactful songs, and I wanted to infuse more live elements into the project. And I think I succeeded. This is the most me I’ve ever felt artistically.”
The 12-track album is less of a mosaic and more so one big mural. The piece is cohesive, with repeating phrases and layers between tracks, yet is stylistically diverse, proving Romeo + Juliet’s capacity to confidently explore the boundaries of this new R&B sub-genre. The story begins with ‘The Doors’, a two-part progression that flows from explosive percussion into a moody, contented melody. Part II evolves from satisfaction to a pleading frustration, begging, “Please don’t close the doors on me”.
You include bits of ‘The Doors’ Parts I and II throughout the album both lyrically and musically, what was the intention behind that choice both as a writer and producer?
"I think at the top of everyone's list in life, whether they want to acknowledge or admit it, is love. I think everyone wants to be wanted, needed, loved. But I've also experienced letting love and loyalty blind me into making decisions that weren’t the best. Raging Bull was the first time I realized, you can absolutely give it your all and still fail. And that was a very tough pill for me to swallow but it was also the first time in my life I was actually going to make peace with it. With Raging Bull I decided, look, I’m doing this project for me, no one’s gonna listen, but I know in my heart of hearts that I’m giving it my all. And with Superbad, I’d realized, maybe love’s not gonna be the thing that gets me in the door. And it's a fight that I don’t wanna lose, you know? Because I don’t wanna be desperate enough that I lose myself."
(Cont'd) "Balance is a word that has been at the forefront of my mind. I think Superbad is me learning to compartmentalize. And it's me questioning it. I don’t have the answer yet, maybe that’ll be my next project [laughs].”
Photograph by Lawrence Cortes
Tell me a little bit about the album art and media production for Superbad. We’ve got this image of a monkey on a low-rider bike cruising along the shoreline with a red Corvette driving off in the distance. What’s going on here?
“So the idea for the monkey is actually rather simple, I think it just got to a point where I was beginning to feel like a circus monkey, honestly. I felt like I was working aimlessly, I was having a lot less fun. I envisioned it as how we go to the circus – we see the monkey, we enjoy the monkey for thirty minutes, and then we’re onto the next thing. I was just feeling stuck in this loop and I ended up putting a lot of weight into things I couldn’t control and I feel like putting on the monkey mask was me leaning into that feeling. The motorcycle signifies the carefree nature of just doing what I have to do. Like, look man, I am who I am and it’s time to hit the road and just go. Just keep going. But me? I’m just a monkey man rolling with the punches [laughs].”
Track 3, ‘Law’s Confession’ is a verbal interlude that startlingly interrupts the artist’s conveyed uncertainty in ‘The Doors’ parts I and II. And besides, any Romeo + Juliet album should include at least one monologue for name’s sake. Superbad is a piece that grapples with artistic confidence right out of the gate. Almost comically, Romeo + Juliet lyrically questions his own artistic credibility throughout one of the most confidently produced albums of 2024. Its quality is palpable, as an emotional simulation that tells a story from track to track.
Let's talk a little bit about your roots. I know you’re a proud Jersey City native with your tribute to New Jersey in ‘Garden State (201)’. How did your upbringing shape your sound as an artist?
“Yeah man, Jersey. I think the cool thing about Jersey for me is that where I grew up, it was super diverse. I ended up going to college in Jersey. And I think that was the beginning of people encouraging me to do music too. Just sort of putting the battery in my back to be like, ‘Yo, if you can sing, you might as well try to just do it’. I think what I've learned is it's very confidence-based. And I think that because I wasn't really encouraged to do music fully growing up, for the longest time I felt like I was doing something I wasn't supposed to be, so music felt like something I had to hide. It's like, I love what I'm doing but I don't know that I'm allowed to be doing this. I'm longing for the day when I can wake up and feel like this is what I'm supposed to do.”
The album’s title track, ‘Superbad’ marks the exact point at which Romeo + Juliet’s sound comes alive. Switching back and forth between soft, melodic vocals and a deep, gritty recitation, the artist proves both his vocal and musical range with ‘Superbad’ being one of the most animated songs off the album. This title track pumps life into the veins of the piece, inciting a uniquely moody but uplifting feeling. Lyrically, the song leans into the insecurity that is central to the album, with an undertone of acceptance for that uncertainty.
Who are some artists that have influenced your sound?
“I think N.E.R.D was the first time I looked further out for other music genres. I grew up in a super conservative home and my parents didn't bring home records or anything, so we pretty much had to learn everything about music on our own. And I guess I have my older brother Zeb to thank for that. He was the one who brought home Kanye’s first album, Eminem’s first album, and N.E.R.D. When I got older I found artists like Tyler, the Creator and Childish Gambino. I love Frank Ocean, but who doesn't, you know? I also love Florence & The Machine. Florence & The Machine is a good example of what I mean when I say I want to start infusing more live stuff into my music. I think I’ve learned that I gravitate towards people who really just stick to and cultivate their own thing. Which honestly ends up with the artists being misunderstood at some point in their careers. But those are sort of the few artists that really, if not influenced my music, encouraged me to continue doing things my way.”
‘Superbad’ begs us to take Romeo + Juliet seriously. ‘Berserk97’ proves exactly why we should. The song opens with a playfully nonchalant beat, as if ‘Superbad’ crossed its boundaries and spilled over into the next track, but abruptly switches into a richly layered, euphoric chorus. It’s a sound that is gut-wrenchingly desperate, passionate, and pleading.
As the sole producer of your music, how do you know when a project is done?
“I'll tell you this, right – I made ‘Berserk97’ and ‘Garden State (201)’ after I thought the project was done. So I'll say I don't think I don't think it's ever done. Superbad was the first time I made music that didn't make the project, which made me feel really weird. It made me feel like I was letting those songs down. I'm not the guy that makes 50 songs and chooses 10. If I'm gonna make 12 songs, I'm gonna make 15 max thinking that all of them are going to be there. I had this Superbad stamina left over from Raging Bull. So it really is the first time I put music out with expectations. It’s such a relief that people still like the music, you know?”
Which track are you most proud of on Superbad?
“I think it's a toss-up between ‘Hardy Boyz’ and ‘Berserk97’. I love ‘Garden State (201)’ as well, it feels like a dream.”
Speaking of the Garden State, are you a New Jersey Devils fan?
“[laughs] I have to be. We’re bad but I have to be.”
(Cont’d)
“I think I’m most proud of ‘Hardy Boyz’ because it was a really hard song to make. I’m big on storytelling, and, I love that you used the word cohesive because I’m big on that too, I’m very much so a project person. We’re in such a single-driven industry, but for me, I’m just big on the story. I like a beginning, a middle, and an end, and I think that's why I try to do my best to use similar lyrics and sounds across different songs to let you know, ‘No this is the same, it feels different but it’s still part of the story’.”
You make a lot of lyrical references to series’, video games, and films like Hardy Boys, Sunset Riders, Ferris Bueller, 500 Days of Summer, Raging Bull, and your pseudonym, Romeo + Juliet. How have each of these forms of media influenced your work and why do you choose to credit them in your lyrics?
“TV and film have shaped me so much. My intro to music was actually through scores. I love Hans Zimmer, the scores in movies like Harry Potter, Pirates of the Caribbean, Inception, and Interstellar. The scores fit so perfectly with what’s happening. When people tell me ‘You do a really good job of painting a picture’, I think subconsciously it's because my intro to music was through film, so when I’m listening to a song I wanna see exactly what it is that I’m feeling. I think that in my brain somewhere I’ve decided that if I could just paint the picture as clearly as possible for you, you really don’t have to struggle hard to imagine what it is that you’re feeling, I want you to be able to see it.”
As much as Superbad is a story of frustration with artistry, industry, work, and play, the album is also, in many ways, a love letter. Tracks like ‘Hardy Boyz’, ‘Jetski’, ‘POWER’, and ‘Garden State (201)’ are giddy and flirtatious, songs for fleeting infatuations. But ‘The Place Beyond the Pines’ and ‘Sunset Riders 1993’ feel like love songs that are deeply rooted in knowing and being known. It’s music shared between people that can never fully sever themselves from the other. ‘Belly’, the shortest musical track featured on the album, captures one of Superbad’s greatest love stories which is love for oneself.
I want to go back to a lyric that recurred throughout the album, which is, “Am I a fool to let love be my guiding light?”. I might be compromising the rhetorical integrity of that question but I’m curious if you’ve found an answer.
“You know what? I think I am. I think I am a fool, but I'm okay with that. I think that being myself has led me to this point, and now I just don't want to lose myself. And that's… it's very hard. It's very, very hard. But music is the only thing I can control. I'm gonna keep putting my best foot forward in that way and trust that if it's meant to be it'll be. And you know what the thing is too? Being loving is all I know how to be. I always say, like, ‘You made your bed, you’ve got to sleep in it’. This is the bed I've made. And I will sleep like a baby in this bed.”
I’ve got to ask, when are we going to see Romeo + Juliet on tour?
"I was talking to someone about a listening party. I really just want to start meeting the people that support me playing. I want to do everything in my power to encapsulate this time and have very good memories of it. Even if it means finding the venue and getting the funds together on my own, I just want to celebrate us and honor the music in that way. You know, time is fleeting, life is short. I'm big on regret and I think what I'm learning to be okay with is just adjusting. You don't have to wait for the thing to be perfect for you to put it out and celebrate what you’re creating."
