![\"Joey](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/joey-brae-jul25.jpg\")
Joey Valence & Brae Credit: Connor Phillips<\/p>\nJoey Valence & Brae Credit: Connor Phillips<\/p>\n
Before diving into more serious questions about their career and music, hip-hop duo Joey Valence & Brae (which often goes by its initials, \u201cJVB\u201d) took on a hard-hitting question about whether they had heard about Crocs\u2019 new collaboration with Lego.<\/p>\n
Brae jumped to respond, showcasing his elite fashion knowledge, telling Creative Loafing Tampa Bay, \u201cDude, I actually sent that post to Joey and was like, \u2018these are pretty fucking cool.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Valence admitted the post missed his attention, claiming he\u2019s been a little busy. \u201cThank you for notifying me,\u201d Valence added, intrigued by this new collaboration of wearable bricks, teasing that they may sport the shoes on stage.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The playful banter mimics JVB\u2019s aura: Never fearful of darker topics, but still silly and expressive.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The duo launched in 2021 with \u201cCrank It Up,\u201d a \u201890s hip hop-inspired rhythm paired with goofy lyrics. The pair has since released three albums (Punk Tactics, No Hands, and its latest, Hyperyouth, stylized in all caps), all recorded in Valence\u2019s makeshift bedroom studio.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s not because we don\u2019t want to go to a studio. I think we just feel comfortable in our own house,\u201d Valence told CL. \u201cYou don\u2019t really need much. You just need your brain. There\u2019s this stigma around needing a bunch of crazy equipment to make good music, and that\u2019s just simply not true. At all.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
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The bedroom hip-hop studio quickly cemented the boys\u2019 respective identities as resourceful underdogs. Instead of writing numerous albums and workshopping their favorite record into a neatly polished project, JVB sticks to its process. As some artists shy away from their older deposits, the two embrace growth and their sonic evolution.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI will say it\u2019s kind of hard to write stuff that isn\u2019t really on a topic anymore. It used to just come out so easily. Just like write a bunch of bullshit. Write about anything. But now, in a lot of the songs, we want there to be a theme or a purpose,\u201d Brae added. \u201cYou have to tailor it a little bit, but it\u2019s making us stronger writers.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hyperyouth\u2019s predecessors implemented purely punchline-based songs, which the duo shifted away from, but didn\u2019t totally abandon. As they tackle penning message-driven lyrics, their third album maintains and reminisces on the central ideas that shaped JVB in the first place: Friendship and humor.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re just developing ourselves as different kinds of writers, but a lot of the time just trying to make shit to make each other laugh,\u201d Brae quipped.\u00a0<\/p>\n
At this point in a musical odyssey that stemmed from self-described \u201cbullshit\u201d to real, thematic narratives, Hyperyouth explores what it means to age in a time where de-aging promotion occupies our screens, and movies like \u201cThe Substance\u201d suggest aging is a concept of horror, not nature.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAs you grow older, you shouldn\u2019t lose that sense of your youth. Like, that\u2019s quite literally the whole purpose of the album. I mean, I think about it a lot of the time, too. I get very introspective in terms of like, \u2018I\u2019m already Unc in this stage of my life,\u2019\u201d Valence explained, being met with a chortle from Brae. \u201cI\u2019m not, but like, it\u2019s just a thing where life is life, dude. You just make the best of it. It doesn\u2019t fucking matter. You just enjoy yourself.\u201d<\/p>\n
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\u201cI think a lot of the time where everybody struggles with their age and how they\u2019re feeling is purely based on time, place, and just overall setting,\u201d Brae added. It is funny when people think they\u2019re super washed up, \u2018cause you can feel that way. It\u2019s how you look at it. It\u2019s your perspective on everything. You can be washed up at 15 if you wanna be, or you can be washed up at 65. You probably are washed up at 65, for sure. I\u2019m trying to call it quits by 78,\u201d Brae chuckled in a fairly standard, light-hearted manner.<\/p>\n
Like a good chunk of its peers in the genre, JVB interpolates various genres into their unique sound through sampling \u201870s funk and 2000s EDM, just to scratch the surface. Naturally, the guys also favor collaboration, leaning on female and queer icons in recent releases. On the deluxe version of 2024\u2019s No Hands, they featured Ayesha Erotica on the \u201cBadder\u201d remix of \u201cThe Baddest,\u201d a testament to dancing. And on Hyperyouth, they feature Ms. \u201cFriday\u201d herself, Rebecca Black, in the 120 bpm club hit \u201cSee U Dance.\u201d And that openness extends beyond genre. It also shapes who they collaborate with.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are so embracing of [the queer community] and personally just very welcoming of anybody expressing themself in any type of way. The whole point of JVB is that you can be whoever you want to be, and we just fucking love that,\u201d Valence declared.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI think there\u2019s so much good queer art that comes from that community, and especially with a feature like Ayesha. I think we just naturally gravitate toward these more alternative personalities, and they just so happen to be part of the queer community. We love representing that, not only because we wanted to support that, but also it\u2019s a nice contrast to our stupid voices.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hyperyouth\u2019s title track kicks off the album with prerecorded audio of fans chanting \u201cJVB,\u201d highlighting their full-circle moment of evolving from kids with a dream to revered musicians playing sold-out shows on world tours. While the album pinpoints the guys\u2019 success and growth, a deeper message reverberates.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Music is a universal art that extends to everyone, not an exclusionary practice.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Pitch in to help make the Tampa Bay Journalism Project a success.<\/a><\/p>\n Subscribe to Creative Loafing newsletters.<\/a><\/p>\n Follow us:\u00a0Google News<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0NewsBreak<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Reddit<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Instagram<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Facebook\u00a0<\/a>|\u00a0BlueSky<\/a><\/p>\n Related Stories<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \n\t\t\t\t\tThe duo is at Jannus Live on Feb. 13.\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \n\t\t\t\t\tPuerto Rican music\u2019s moment comes to Ybor City in May.\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t This article appears in Feb. 05 \u2013 11, 2026<\/a>.<\/p>\n \n\tRelated\n<\/p>\n \t
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