{"id":7483,"date":"2022-07-26T17:34:32","date_gmt":"2022-07-26T17:34:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thesouthtexan.com\/?p=7483"},"modified":"2022-07-26T17:34:32","modified_gmt":"2022-07-26T17:34:32","slug":"whapo-a-hard-working-artist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thesouthtexan.com\/index.php\/2022\/07\/26\/whapo-a-hard-working-artist\/","title":{"rendered":"Whap\u00f6, a hard-working artist\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

TAMUK Student takes on the music world<\/em><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

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\u2019s band practice to being in the recording studio himself, music has always been a big part of Ramirez\u2019s life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ramirez, or more commonly known as Whap\u00f6 to his to fraternity brother, friends, family and fans, is from San Antonio and is currently studying art.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He recently released a 10-track album titled D\u00f6Y\u00f6uFeelMyPain.<\/em> The album begins with Whap\u00f6 in warped voices having a conversation about the album and why he made it in a track titled Hear Me \u00d6ut.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen I make music, I think of like just escaping and you\u2019re just floating or something. You\u2019re listening and you just go to another place. I want you to put your mind somewhere else, somewhere that\u2019s either better or somewhere that you like, something like that\u2026 when the hook comes in like I want you to just feel it,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ramirez first started making music in 2020 during the pandemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 \u201cI 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\u2019s a lot of work. I\u2019m not big either so I do everything like promoting videos. I do some cover arts but when it\u2019s a big album, I\u2019ll 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.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ramirez\u2019s favorite tracks from the album include Sh\u00f6\u00f6t me, End me, F E E L and Dash.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

 \u201cA 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,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Apart from making music, Ramirez has several jobs including working as a bartender at the Texas Ranch Club where he\u2019s worked under owner Leo Saenz for almost a year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Saenz opened Texas Ranch Club in 1999 after working for three other night clubs in Kingsville.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been around music my whole life,\u201d Saenz said. \u201cI\u2019ve been deejaying\u2026 [and] playing music since \u201985. I started in high school so I\u2019m always just talking to him about music and sound and lights and production and maybe that\u2019s why you know he enjoys talking to me, I guess cause we can relate with the same stuff, you know.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Saenz will often play music made by Ramirez in the club and describes Ramirez\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c[His music is] really making him try a little harder. You know he\u2019s always telling me \u2018hey I\u2019m going to drop a new song\u2019\u2026 it just gives him more motivation, more drive to keep going,\u201d Saenz said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Saenz describes Ramirez as bubbly and funny, saying he\u2019s never seen him in a bad mood.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI wish him the best and that you know, I think for his age, he knows quite a bit\u2026if he keeps it up he can really achieve more goals. He\u2019s just a young kid with talent which you don\u2019t see that too often,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

TAMUK and Delta Chi alumnus Pablo Rubio has witnessed Ramirez\u2019s music since he first started and can remember the first song he heard from Ramirez. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI remember he showed me one of his first songs and we were in his car and I remember I asked him \u2018how did you record this?\u2019 and he was like \u2018just off the mic of the apple earbuds\u2019 and we laughed it off and I thought it was pretty funny; you could tell that the quality of his mic wasn\u2019t the best,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHe\u2019s 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\u2019s still growing to this day,\u201d Rubio said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rubio says Ramirez is a workaholic who always picks up extra shifts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHe\u2019s 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\u2019s always willing to improve in his work and as well in his college studies,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rubio has been closely involved with Ramirez\u2019s music even creating a beat for the song F E E L<\/em>, which can be heard on the D\u00f6Y\u00f6uFeelMyPain<\/em> album.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s 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\u2019s not saying any words, to him putting words into those hums and him finding the rhythm for the song. It\u2019s really cool and it\u2019s really neat to see how he operates, it\u2019s a sight,\u201d Rubio said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHe is one of the most humble young [men] that I\u2019ve ever known. He\u2019s always willing to help; he\u2019s 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\u2019ve seen him do that first hand.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

J-minu$, an audio engineer, was first contacted by Ramirez to work on the song Be Mine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHe came in and knew exactly what he wanted to do. All I did was just guide him a little bit. He didn\u2019t really need that guidance cause I could tell already that he excelled in that area of music,\u201d J-minu$ said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

J-minu$ also works with local artists in the Corpus Christi, Portland and even Houston areas. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhap\u00f6 is different so don\u2019t expect him to be the same artist that you see on TV. He\u2019s going to do what makes him happy. He\u2019s not really going to care about what people think,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ramirez takes his work seriously.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI want people to know that I\u2019m really taking it serious even though I\u2019m going to school and stuff like that I am really taking this serious. I\u2019m working three jobs, school, I have a position in the fraternity, too, and stuff like that. I want them to see that I\u2019m working and I kind of want to motivate them, too,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Though Ramirez doesn\u2019t know what the future will bring, he\u2019s excited for it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI know it\u2019s 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\u2019m working hard for them. I know my bosses know I\u2019m working hard for them. I\u2019ve been blessed so far with the community I\u2019m 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,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ramirez looks forward to releasing an EP in the near future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the full interview tune into KTAI-FM 91.1<\/em> on Thursday at noon. Download the KTAI-FM app in the Apple App Store or on Google Play.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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