In the midst of a whirlwind decade marked by personal growth, artistic evolution, and unforgettable music, Roy Woods stands as a figure who has continuously pushed the boundaries of R&B and Hip Hop. Since signing with OVO Sound in 2015, the Brampton, Toronto artist has cultivated a distinct sound that resonates deeply with his fans, merging raw emotion with an unmistakable swagger. 

Mixed emotions. Suicidal thoughts. Self-love. Vulnerability. Roy Woods’ experience of these topics, and his unequivocal ability to narrate these experiences in such a beautiful and honest way, serve a reminder to us all that there’s a real person behind the music we love; a person that goes through what we go through. 

In this candid interview, Roy Woods opens up about his journey, the challenges he has faced, and the profound changes in his life, including his newfound role as a father. From early memories of grabbing a microphone for the first time to navigating the highs and lows of fame, Roy Woods reflects on the experiences that have shaped him into the man and artist he is today. As he prepares for the next chapter in his career, with new music and international tours on the horizon, Woods remains committed to being true to himself and his craft, leaving an indelible mark on the world. VIPER sat down with Roy Woods on the eve of his European tour in London to discuss his trials and tribulations, influences and the true meaning of love. 

[TRIGGER WARNING] This interview contains brief references to themes of self harm, suicide, etc which some individuals may find distressing. The content appears in a paragraph prefaced with [TRIGGER WARNING]. If you, or anyone you know needs to talk about these issues, please follow this link in the UK and in the US.

For those living under rocks since 2015, who is Roy Woods?

Roy Woods is a musician. An artist from Brampton, Toronto, Canada. You already know. Under the OVO sound Collection, shout out to the big darg, Drizzy Drake. I’ve been signed to OVO sound collective since 2015 and I’ve been doing this for 10 years. 

I’m a low-key guy – I like to be in your face when I need to… Took a little break. [Life in] music was too crazy. But I’m back now and I’ve been on a lot of tours… A lot of tours! I make amazing music, I’m an amazing R&B artist, rapper, musician. I do what I do. I’m a workaholic, I never stop… I just love to make good music and give it to the people. That’s what I’m here for. I make you get in your feelings; I make you get mad, make you get sad, make you happy. That’s what I do, so for those who don’t know… it’s your boy Woods!

What are your earliest memories of music?

You’ve actually just brought me back to when I was at my cousin’s christening, the first time I ever got on a mic. So, it’s funny that this memory [even comes up]. So, we [were] at the christening and I picked up this little kids’ mic whilst everybody’s partying. It was a Will Smith song, ‘Welcome to Miami’ and I just started singing. That was something I never really did before so everybody paid attention to that. That was my earliest memory of music. 

Guyana, Toronto and Brampton are ever-present in everything from your accent to your music. How would you explain these influences?

It’s who I am, where I came from so they are all [big] influences. I represent a piece of Toronto, a piece of Brampton and a piece of Canada all at once. That’s a beautiful thing because a lot of people can’t say that. So, I’m blessed [to come from] a melting pot [of different cultures]. That’s what Toronto is, that’s what the music is influenced by, it’s from a different culture in one place. [People from Toronto] are crazy creators, man, we all are! I learned that I am one as well and that too was a beautiful thing to learn. Those guys are hard, hard workers, they’ve sacrificed their own lives [for my career] so they’re family [and these are] the things that everybody else sees and appreciates. 

Congratulations on becoming a father last year. How has the experience changed you as both a man and an artist?

I’ve changed as both and I feel like I needed to. I’m not the same person today as I was before my daughter came into my life. She came at the perfect time, there couldn’t have been a more perfect time; she helped me see me. I know there are other fathers [who can relate], when you’re living fast but also trying to provide. Some of us don’t have our own fathers [growing up] or role models to [look up to] but having my daughter, I’m worried all the time [laughs]. Now that I care and love someone else more than I have ever loved myself. It’s moments like that that make me realise, “wow, I’m really a father.” I have someone who looks at me and calls me “dada.” She kisses my hand when I do something she likes or just because she feels like it. It’s little moments like that when she rewards the work I’ve put in as a father. I feel like I’ve found a balance because that’s what my life is. So, I love to take care of so much [of those I love]. I can’t really leave that so I must find a balance and I’m thankful that I have, but everybody else must as well. From a young age, I’ve been taking care of my mum and that’s all I know. My mum, my daughter, that’s me. [My mum] still corrects me like mum! But she can also come to me, I’m her guide too. We both guide each other, it’s a weird relationship. But that’s how my life has always been. I take on her stress and I take on everyone else’ problems. I never really know how to care about me. 

Away from the music, what has been your most memorable moment so far?

When my daughter does things that remind me of me. One time, I took her to a Father’s Day BBQ and she picked up a football – American football, not soccer! – and said, “dada, ball!” Football is what I grew up on. Sometimes she picks up my Apollo or when I’m recording, she’ll pick up my headphones trying to sing in the mic. Once, her mum sent me a video of her singing into the mic. She’s just constantly picking up on all these things, you know. I see the person she is, she’s just a natural lover, she doesn’t take no shit, she stands on what she wants, even if she’s wrong. And whilst I must mold that and teach her boundaries, she knows what she wants and she’s only about to turn three! It makes me proud that she can [reason] and understand. I’m always so proud of her. 

There have been quite a few years in between ‘Say Less’ and ‘Mixed Emotions’, what were those years like for you and what have you been up to?

Life has been the wildest roller coaster  – the type of roller-coaster that you don’t want to be on. The type that you beg to get off [laughs]. There were some beautiful moments too, but it was [filled with] fear. I was going through so much as a young man. There were certain things I was living through that affected me as a man and my soul. It became more than stress or depression, and with the drugs, I was ready [to die]. I was living fast and living wild – like a rockstar – you imagine it, I was living it. Around this time, me and my mum weren’t talking a lot. We were both in a weird place. Now we are both in a good place, we’re healing one another. At that time, I [had made the decision to] quit music. I told the label [OVO sound] that I want to quit and I didn’t want to do this anymore. They literally said, ‘take time and think about it’. And that’s what I did. Banks over there became my manager and I started getting back on my grind. He was the only one who could get me into the studio. But he really helped me and I moved to LA and got back to work. That was the end of 2019, beginning of 2020 and then COVID happened so I returned back home which delayed ‘Mixed Emotions’ because I couldn’t tour. At the time, fans were asking for the new project. So yeah, one hell of a rollercoaster, but we’re here! 

What’s been the best thing about creating under the tutelage of Drake and OVO Sound?

Just seeing how these guys work. I’m seeing how they cherish not just the family, but the music, everything. It just makes me go harder. I know I have to be at a level that. If I’m not that, I’m not going to be the one left behind. You sort of get your own little creative inner-circle of competition. It’s you know, because you’re around greatness, how can you not be great around greatness? And that’s what I always keep on my mind. 

Music since you signed has changed quite a bit. How would you describe the evolution of music since you dropped ‘Say Less’ compared to today?

I can actually speak for a lot of artists here. Yeah, it’s in a weird place right now and it is not just Hip Hop, but R&B too; I feel like it’s just too much clout. For me, I’m not that kind of artist – you make great music, I’m gonna rock with you. There’s too much of the cool and it doesn’t last and you see it. I’m a musician, an artist. I’m just here to make great music – you [either] rock with me or you don’t but I’m just here to work. I’m here to make good music and it shows bro, just go check my resume! I tell everybody else, let’s build – this is what it should look like. Currently, we’re looking at numbers playing this dumb game but it actually doesn’t matter. Let’s go build and change the game. Give people what they actually want, not what they think they want because they don’t even know what they want anymore. Just look at what happened to Hip Hop last year. It’s on the blogs, it’s all there and I’m not the only artist saying this. There’s other musicians who feel like this and we need to come together. So, I don’t care about living that clout shit, let’s just work and get this done.

What was the creative process behind ‘Mixed Emotions’ and what does the term mean to you?

So, the term “mixed emotions” – when you take the first two letters of both words, you get ‘ME’. So, I wanted to show me. I don’t care about any labels of what you think I am, or who you think I am from when I came into this industry. I’m so all over the place that I don’t even know who I am. So, you guys know who I am for sure. I’m still learning. I was getting into a place where I wanted to show who I really am. I’m just a mixed-up motherfucker [laughs]. I’m an Aries, a wild fire sign, you know what I’m saying? I’m cool but life gets crazy. So, ‘Mixed Emotions’ was a perfect representation of me; what my life is and what my life has been. From ‘Say Less’, to now. Just ‘Mixed Emotions’ bro. It’s good, it’s bad, it’s ugly, it’s sad, it’s happy. It’s all over the place and it’s still like that [laughs].

You often explore the topics of self-love, emotion and vulnerability in your music. Why is it important for you to express your relationship with these topics?

It’s what I care about. I’m not too hardcore not to care about it. Growing up around women – I grew up with my mum, I’ve got nine aunts and four sisters. One passed away, I never grew up with her but it’s all good, it’s life. I had to figure [these topics] out. No uncles – I have a couple, but they weren’t there much. I grew up having to realise my emotions and my mum [encouraged me to] speak about this. She taught me to embrace them. She taught me to speak up. I’m Aries so I’ve gotta speak up and speak my mind and not fabricate nothing, lie or beat around the bush. Mama told me stuff like that, but the same person I tell her that you speak about is what heals me. The same person who taught me that destroyed me, that was my first bully. So going out into the world, I didn’t know how to express myself. So, the first bully I had was a girl but I didn’t know she liked me. But all those things trigger me in a way where I’m not dealing with these emotions. I can’t go home and tell you these emotions, even though you’re telling me to deal with these emotions. It was just mad – for years, I didn’t know how to deal with that. Dealing with my emotions has always been [at the forefront of my mind]. I tell my mum all the time that everything’s all right now, but I still chase a companion. I want to do family stuff, so it bothers me that I can’t. I got to be by myself and I’ve accepted that. And that is saddening to me sometimes because I want love [even though] my life ain’t ready for that. [My daughter’s mother,] we’re friends and I’ve got love for her. But it’s very limited and we both know so everything is the way it is and must accept that, you know. So, I’m always going to talk about these – I have so much love to give, but I can never get it back… ever since I was a kid. People think because I’m Roy Woods and I get it all. But I’m not out here like you may think, bro. I really like being alone, I really love my family, I go to the studio, I hang out with my daughter, I hang out with my mum and that’s my life.

How would you describe the term “love” to your daughter?

Honestly, there’s so many things I would say right now, but I really won’t know until I get there and she actually asks me. Even then, I may be like, “I have no idea… daddy’s still tryna figure it out!” [Laughs] but seriously, I do know that love doesn’t just come through a companion, it comes from your family. I feel like she already knows that. Love is the action. Love is the sacrifice; it’s the things you don’t want to do for anybody else but you’ll do it for that one person. It’s the time that you don’t want to give to anybody else. The things that you do, it’s the action and the intent and loyalty that comes with it. But for that one person you want to spend the rest of your life with? Shieeet [laughs] I’m still tryna figure that one out. Because you’re gonna love people, you know. Especially as a female, you feel more than men naturally. That’s why you were created to love, nurture and help. And that’s what the [current] generation right now lacks. Even females are lost and they don’t know, they’re not [tapping into the right] feelings they don’t want to admit or appreciate the true meaning of love and it’s sad. It’s not all the women but it’s a lot. 

[TRIGGER WARNING] Just look at social media. I don’t know if I’m supposed to speak for anybody’s feelings, but there are women who are suffering too but you gotta embrace who you are. And that goes for everybody. We are who we are and you can’t hide or change that. There’s nothing you can do to change that. You are who you are. So love and appreciate who you are. I don’t love myself fully, but I love myself more than I did before, more than I did last year. That’s the goal. People are committing suicide because of that, I came from that place too. I’ve got cuts on my wrists from that, I speak about that in my music. It comes from a real place. Like the time my mum caught me trying to hang myself with my dog’s leash. Those real times, I really went through that. What the fuck was I doing as a kid, only 13, 14? I’ve been going and I still have those feelings, so we all do them. You gotta love yourself better than you did [yesterday]. 

Like featuring on Fuego’s “Luges”, are there music genres or artists you are yet to explore or work with that you’d love to in the future?

There are so many in the R&B world that I loved as a kid – [the likes of] Mariah, Christina Aguilera, such a legend. I tap into other cultures as well. You guys will hear that music soon. But I just want to work with so [many] people, so many artists, I have a lot of songs with many artists. I’ve got new music and I wanna work with everybody – the old school, the new school. There’s so much talent coming up, I just wanna tap in. 

Other than your sold-out show in London’s Outernet, what’s in store for Roy Woods?

Paris. Amsterdam. Australia tours, I’m tapping into new markets. Barbados tour coming up too. I know it’s exciting for the fans; we’ve been waiting to see each other for a long time. It’s great to be back in London after all this time, I love London. A lot more music, EPs, an album on the way. You’re going to see a lot more of me on the road. So, no more hiatus Roy! That Roy doesn’t exist anymore.

When it’s all said and done, what would you like the world to say about Roy Woods?

When I’m gone and my body decays into dirt, I just want the world to remember me as the person that never feared being himself. He never feared showing the world himself – being a musician, a father, a son – I aspire to be the best version of all that I can be. I want people to know I’m good, I have accolades, plaques and stuff like that. [But] it’s not about that. I want people to remember me as who they remember me as. Everybody who has passed my soul or crossed my spirit, they’ll know. And all the lives I’ve touched in ways, I want to be that for a lot of people and for my kids. When I’m gone the rest of the world will know, [Roy Woods] really stood on that. [With that], I know my soul’s happy. 

Photos by Eddie Cheaba

Interview by Victor Davies