Nascar Aloe’s HEY ASSHOLE! EP is brash and in-your-face, just as the name suggests—and it’s also exactly what music needs right now. The Los Angeles-based musician has spent the last several years building a devoted fanbase for his audacious and genre-bending musical approach, embracing a gleefully caustic and immediately appealing perspective to the many lanes of overlap when it comes to rap and punk. With HEY ASSHOLE!, Nascar Aloe brings his most impactful and immediate music to date, combining his abrasive hip-hop style with new, rock-situated elements that continue to push his music forward.

Defining himself as “a little fucking twerp that came out of my dad’s nutsack,” the North Carolina-born artist formally known as Colby Suoy was invested in music from an early age, as being exposed to his father’s jazz and R&B-leaning taste led to regular viewings of 106 and Park and exploring the expansive sounds of rock, pop, and country. “In North Carolina, the radio bounces all over the place,” he explains, and after acquiring some basic recording equipment he was following suit with his own self-produced music. “I self-taught myself how to record and produce,” Nascar recalls. “I was trying to figure out ways to make serious music.”

As he gigged around the Charlotte area and his music gained notice on SoundCloud, Nascar cultivated a passionate fanbase that extended beyond appreciation of his art. “It was a really tight-knit community,” he reminisces on those early days. “I’d respond to anyone who took the time to listen or engage with what I was putting out there. I really care about these kids.” After moving to Los Angeles as his music career continued to take off, he found himself continuing to extend a hand to his fans: “When I started packing out shows, I’d hang out with these kids and be their friend.”

From his buzz-building 2019 mixtape Sh!thead to his excellent string of new singles including “IPA,” “FUCK FACE,” and “TAKE OVER,” Nascar Aloe sounds of-the-moment and classic all at once, reminiscent of recent rap scions like Jasiah and XXXTentacion as well as punk acts past and present like the Melvins and Show Me the Body. With HEY ASSHOLE!, Nascar continues to head towards a rock-based sound that will translate to full-band performances on the road—while still keeping his self-described “antisocial prick” outlook front and center.

“I’m proud to be able to put something together that’s this cohesive,” Nascar says about the EP’s six searing tracks, before alluding to how the title connects with his own artistic approach. “Stylistically, I’m an asshole, but there’s a sharp contrast when you have a conversation with me, too. I’m feeling a lot more relaxed when it comes to music these days. I feel like I can finally sit down and make a super thought-out project.”

With hard-hitting production from Triple6, first single “”DON’T 4GET DA NAME” perfectly sets the scene for the new era that HEY ASSHOLE! ushers in for Nascar. "It's shouting at the kids that I still exist, as brash as possible,” he explains while talking about the song. “'Im still making works of art." And as his star continues to rise, Nascar wants to remain relatable to his listeners as they continue to seek solace in his energizing and powerful music. “I’m just living my life. I feel like life is a fuckin’ whale, and I’m one of those little parasite shrimp—but it feels natural,” he ruminates on where he’s at now as he takes this next step with HEY ASSHOLE!. “We’re all equals. I’m just a guy too, and I’m also your friend.”