BY: Jasmine Franklin
Published 2 months ago
For years, the hip-hop community has struggled to accept openly-queer artists, often ridiculing them with discrimination and exclusion. However, HeartThrob Robb has fought against this stigma and unapologetically carved out his space in an industry that often overlooks gay rappers.
Hailing from San Diego, California, Rob Antonio Zumaya has always loved music. Despite music being an outlet, Zumaya never realized he would be where he is today as a rapper. But after suffering the loss of his mother in 2011, he turned to music to help him through his grief and honor her memory. Since starting his career over a decade ago, HeartThrob Robb has released numerous singles and has been a devoted advocate within the LGBTQIA+ community.
Now, he’s back with his new single, “Tipsy,” just in time for the colder months, proving love songs aren’t for certain seasons. Typically, fans would expect an upbeat vibe, vibrant personality, and skilled wordplay, but “Tipsy” reveals a softer side to Robb’s craft. Not only does his new single mark the first of many from his up-and-coming full-length EP coming out in late 2024, but it’s also something different for the artist.
HeartThrob Robb sits down with LOVEBSCOTT to discuss his new music, being authentically himself, and more.
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Now, he’s back with his new single, “Tipsy,” just in time for the colder months, proving love songs aren’t for certain seasons. Typically, fans would expect an upbeat vibe, vibrant personality, and skilled wordplay, but “Tipsy” reveals a softer side to Robb’s craft. Not only does his new single mark the first of many from his up-and-coming full-length EP coming out in late 2024, but it’s also something different for the artist.
HeartThrob Robb sits down with LOVEBSCOTT to discuss his new music, being authentically himself, and more.
LOVEBSCOTT: What made you want to become a rapper?
HeartThrob Robb: “I grew up around music, but it was more rock and alternative in Southern California. There is also a big skater scene in California. So, I grew up intertwined with that. But the echoes of hip-hop always showed a lot of parallels to my upbringing. My dad was a drug dealer but was also an artist. There were trials, tribulations, and adversities that I heard in hip-hop music that resonated with my life. So there was always that influence. As I got more involved with music, I started to intertwine the two genres that heavily influenced me, which is really funny because most gay men are heavily influenced by pop music. There are sprinkles of that in there, and you can feel the fusion in this upcoming project of mine. But it was a love story from the jump with me and hip-hop, and it got me through a lot of my darkest times.”
LBS: You just released your new single, “Tipsy!” What was the inspiration behind it?
HR: “The inspiration for my single was my last relationship. I wrote the song throughout our relationship here and there. And I didn’t sew it altogether until after we had split. I can still hear the echo of my love throughout the song. There’s something beautiful there that is everlasting and immortal because I encapsulated the beauty of the relationship and kind of set it as a monument of our time together.”
LBS: “Tipsy” is different from your normal scope of work. What was it like making it?
HR: “It’s very different. I kept forgetting as the song was coming to be released, and I played it for people close to me. They said, “I didn’t expect that,” in a good way. A lot of my music up until now has been very vibrato-driven. And you know, I am a gay man in a straight man’s sport. My objective this whole time is, “I can do what you’re doing because I live this life, and I can do it better than you.” Giving people a peek into my vulnerability hasn’t been something that I was trying to do. But I feel like it’s a perfect reflection of myself and my personality…unapologetically a hopeless romantic with a bit of thuggishness to it over a California beat. I was nervous leading up to the release because this wasn’t my normal sound, but the positive feedback reinforced my decision.”
LBS: Can you share any teasers about the music video for “Tipsy?”
HR: “I am in the process of mood-boarding it. I was going in a particular direction with it, but I don’t want to do anything that is expected for the music video.”
LBS: How important is staying true to you as an artist?
HR: “It’s really important to keep my music and craft authentic to who I am. In fact, I scrapped two projects beforehand. Going into the pandemic, I had such great momentum, and everything was going for me, and [the pandemic] couldn’t have happened at the worst time. It took my trajectory and spiraled me into this really bad depression. I couldn’t keep the high I was on of writing all this vibrato-driven music about feeling myself and being cocky when internally I wasn’t. I felt like I was failing, and the rest of the world was falling apart around me, and I didn’t know how to reconcile that. I put two projects together, and it was just not authentically me. Putting all my demons and vulnerability packaged together into this [EP] helped me with my healing.”
LBS: Can you share future projects with us?
HR: “Yes, I am pretty much done with my album. It has nine tracks, but there is a possibility I will add two or three tracks. I might get in the booth and work on them. But I also want to close this end of the chapter and move on. I have two other projects that I am working on that are both different vibes, but still unapologetically HeartThrob Robb. One of them is vibrato-driven and hip-hop-oriented. I feel like after dropping this fusion of genres from my [future] project, I am back to flex, and I am not to be f***** with as a lyricist. And the second project will be different for me. So, there’s no shortage of me stopping.”
Keep up with HeartThrob Robb on Instagram here.
