Whapö, a hard-working artist 

TAMUK Student takes on the music world

The house was always filled with the strums of a guitar and the voice of his father while Jose Ramirez was growing up. From sitting in on his father’s band practice to being in the recording studio himself, music has always been a big part of Ramirez’s life.

The Texas A&M University-Kingsville student has turned a hobby he once picked up for fun with his friends into several albums and song releases, gaining support from the Kingsville community.

Ramirez, or more commonly known as Whapö to his to fraternity brother, friends, family and fans, is from San Antonio and is currently studying art.

He recently released a 10-track album titled DöYöuFeelMyPain. The album begins with Whapö in warped voices having a conversation about the album and why he made it in a track titled Hear Me Öut.

“When I make music, I think of like just escaping and you’re just floating or something. You’re listening and you just go to another place. I want you to put your mind somewhere else, somewhere that’s either better or somewhere that you like, something like that… when the hook comes in like I want you to just feel it,” he said. 

Ramirez first started making music in 2020 during the pandemic.

 “I think it was about a month but it took me about maybe two to three to kind of get everything together cause when you put an album together, not a lot of people know, but like it’s a lot of work. I’m not big either so I do everything like promoting videos. I do some cover arts but when it’s a big album, I’ll go to my friend. I have to worry about the beats. I have to worry about the lease on YouTube. I have to pay for them, so that also takes time.”

Ramirez’s favorite tracks from the album include Shööt me, End me, F E E L and Dash.

 “A lot of reasons it takes time is because I have to make the money for my album to drop it so that took me a minute, but once I got it out, it felt so good,” he said.

Apart from making music, Ramirez has several jobs including working as a bartender at the Texas Ranch Club where he’s worked under owner Leo Saenz for almost a year.

Saenz opened Texas Ranch Club in 1999 after working for three other night clubs in Kingsville.

“I’ve been around music my whole life,” Saenz said. “I’ve been deejaying… [and] playing music since ’85. I started in high school so I’m always just talking to him about music and sound and lights and production and maybe that’s why you know he enjoys talking to me, I guess cause we can relate with the same stuff, you know.”

Saenz will often play music made by Ramirez in the club and describes Ramirez’s reaction to a kid in a candy store when he hears his music, and describes how his fraternity brothers will jump around and sing in support of his music.

“[His music is] really making him try a little harder. You know he’s always telling me ‘hey I’m going to drop a new song’… it just gives him more motivation, more drive to keep going,” Saenz said.

Saenz describes Ramirez as bubbly and funny, saying he’s never seen him in a bad mood.

“I wish him the best and that you know, I think for his age, he knows quite a bit…if he keeps it up he can really achieve more goals. He’s just a young kid with talent which you don’t see that too often,” he said.

Ramirez is involved in several areas on campus, as a pack leader for Javelina Camp, during which he gets to invite freshmen to campus, and as a member of Delta Chi, an organization he credits with changing him into a different man.

TAMUK and Delta Chi alumnus Pablo Rubio has witnessed Ramirez’s music since he first started and can remember the first song he heard from Ramirez. 

“I remember he showed me one of his first songs and we were in his car and I remember I asked him ‘how did you record this?’ and he was like ‘just off the mic of the apple earbuds’ and we laughed it off and I thought it was pretty funny; you could tell that the quality of his mic wasn’t the best,” he said.

As Ramirez was able to save up he started recording in a studio with Audio Engineer J-minu$, and Rubio says the quality in his music jumped. 

“He’s always been pretty good with his word play [and] the way he tells his story with the music he produces has just grown ever since the very first day I met him until now, and it’s still growing to this day,” Rubio said.

Rubio says Ramirez is a workaholic who always picks up extra shifts.

“He’s constantly working and that something I praise him for because not a lot of people can do that and keep a steady life as well just the way he works is kind of an inspiration because he always wants to work and he’s always willing to improve in his work and as well in his college studies,” he said.

Rubio has been closely involved with Ramirez’s music even creating a beat for the song F E E L, which can be heard on the DöYöuFeelMyPain album.

“It’s really cool to see his process, from hearing the beat that he wants to use to just humming random sounds that sound like words, but he’s not saying any words, to him putting words into those hums and him finding the rhythm for the song. It’s really cool and it’s really neat to see how he operates, it’s a sight,” Rubio said.

“He is one of the most humble young [men] that I’ve ever known. He’s always willing to help; he’s always willing to be the best that he can, sometimes he struggles, as every human does but knowing him he will get out of any trouble he has and he knows that he can do whatever he wants to do if he puts his mind to it as I’ve seen him do that first hand.”

Rubio has known Ramirez for almost three years and says he is glad to have met Ramirez, calling him one of his best friends.

J-minu$, an audio engineer, was first contacted by Ramirez to work on the song Be Mine.

“He came in and knew exactly what he wanted to do. All I did was just guide him a little bit. He didn’t really need that guidance cause I could tell already that he excelled in that area of music,” J-minu$ said.

J-minu$ also works with local artists in the Corpus Christi, Portland and even Houston areas. 

“Whapö is different so don’t expect him to be the same artist that you see on TV. He’s going to do what makes him happy. He’s not really going to care about what people think,” he said.

Ramirez takes his work seriously.

“I want people to know that I’m really taking it serious even though I’m going to school and stuff like that I am really taking this serious. I’m working three jobs, school, I have a position in the fraternity, too, and stuff like that. I want them to see that I’m working and I kind of want to motivate them, too,” he said.

Though Ramirez doesn’t know what the future will bring, he’s excited for it. 

“I know it’s tough out there but it gets better for sure and if you put in the work, it gets noticed, too. I know my brothers know I’m working hard for them. I know my bosses know I’m working hard for them. I’ve been blessed so far with the community I’m in and I want to thank everyone for listening to my music, for supporting me. It helps so much; it helps me get better and it helps me,” he said.

Ramirez looks forward to releasing an EP in the near future.

For the full interview tune into KTAI-FM 91.1 on Thursday at noon. Download the KTAI-FM app in the Apple App Store or on Google Play.