“A Mob of Kids Trapped Me”: On the Road With 2hollis

According to 2hollis, not every show needs a mosh pit. The 20-year-old musician is a little different from his rage-rapper peers—he wants you to really witness the music. On the road for his latest album, boy, which is entirely self-produced and written, it was all about “the kids,” who swarmed him after each show, tearfully thanking him for saving their life. Their bleach-blonde messiah, born Hollis Frazier Herndon, is somewhat of an enigma himself. If you piece together the spliced aliases and wiped footprints, you’ll find that the Chicago-born, L.A. bred artist has always adapted: from from a child immersed in the music industry to a Drain Gang-esque Soundcloud rapper to, now, a genre-destroying dance-pop king. boy is deep-fried electroclash to the max, and it drives the kids crazy, even those who are just getting familiar as he ventures back on the road with Ken Carson as an opener on his Chaos tour. When he called us up from the sprinter van, he was just basking in the feeling, telling us about his early music monikers, favorite Minecraft sound effects, and pre-show gratitude routine.

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JULIAN RIBEIRO: Yo, what’s up? Where are you right now?

2HOLLIS: We’re on the road heading to Houston.

RIBEIRO: Oh, whoa.

2HOLLIS: We’re in Florida somewhere, I think.

RIBEIRO: Are you in a car?

2HOLLIS: We’re in a sprinter.

RIBEIRO: Hell yeah. Wait, this is so random. Do you know who Jonah Abraham is?

2HOLLIS: Yeah, of course.

RIBEIRO: I was with him in L.A. the other day, him and Myles, and they were like, “Do you know Hollis?” And I was like, “Not personally, but I’m into the music.” They were talking to me about you and I was like, “I think we know a lot of the same people,” but—

2HOLLIS: Oh, that’s sick. Yeah, I know Myles too. Jonah was one of the first people to fuck with my music when it was called Drippysoup. It wasn’t even called 2Hollis.

RIBEIRO: It was called Drippysoup?

2HOLLIS: I was 13, it was six years ago.

RIBEIRO: Wait, how old are you now?

2HOLLIS: I’m 20.

RIBEIRO: Okay. That’s sick, though. It’s a small world. And you were just in Europe?

2HOLLIS: Yeah, I was. We started in Berlin, then Warsaw, Cologne, Brussels, Amsterdam, Paris, London, Manchester.

RIBEIRO: The whole EU tour. Was this your first time playing outside of the States?

2HOLLIS: No, I played three little Europe shows last winter, but this was my first tour. I mean, it wasn’t a huge tour, but that was the most shows I’ve ever done in a row. 

RIBEIRO: Were you having a good time or did it start to get tiring?

2HOLLIS: I mean, it’s definitely tiring, but it’s a good kind of tiring. Because there’s nothing I’d rather be doing than performing my music all the way across the world to a bunch of kids. It’s just the coolest shit ever. So as tiring as it is, it’s so fun and such a unique thing to be able to do.

RIBEIRO: I saw videos and people were really going up and were really fucking pumped.

2HOLLIS: Yeah, those kids are so excited and hyped. It’s the funnest shit ever.

RIBEIRO: And I feel like if you’re in Europe as an American artist, people pop out because it’s like, when are they going to come back?

2HOLLIS: Yeah, and they go crazy. 

RIBEIRO: So when you’re playing, is it mostly the new album?

2HOLLIS: It’s a mix of new and old. A lot of the new album, some of the last album, some of the last album before the last album. But people responded really well to the new album live. I was surprised how many people knew all of the lyrics and were going really crazy to all of the songs.

RIBEIRO: I heard the full album, it’s really good too.

2HOLLIS: Thank you.

RIBEIRO: I have to say that I’m addicted to the use of the—what is the sound? It’s from Minecraft. It’s like, the rocket noise, or whatever.

2HOLLIS: Yeah.

RIBEIRO: The first time I heard it I had to pause and run it back. And I picked up… Do you know who the Frost Children are?

2HOLLIS: I think so.

RIBEIRO: They’re this band here in New York. I picked one of them up from the airport and we were listening to it together in the car, and she was like, “Wait, the Minecraft noise is so killer.” It sounds like people responded positively, and I feel like it’s loud and it gives people room to dance. But it’s maybe not necessarily music that’s telling you you need to dance, which is really cool.

2HOLLIS: I think on the last album, a lot of the songs were really hard-hitting and in-your-face and aggressive, and with this latest album, a good amount of the songs are slower, but people were still responding really energetically and opening a mosh pit to a song where I’m like, “This is honestly a ballad.” It’s interesting to see how people react to a song, because everyone has different reactions to everything. A song that might seem chill or sad to me, another person might be freaking out losing their mind, opening mosh pits to it. 

RIBEIRO: Totally. Also, kids have a weird relationship with moshing, post COVID. I think that TikTok has taught people that every show needs a pit or you’re not having fun. And I feel like before COVID, it wasn’t as much of a thing. You could go a full concert without seeing a mosh pit.

2HOLLIS: It’s just post-Carti, honestly.

RIBEIRO: Yes, there’s definitely a thread there of post-rage artists and everyone’s like, “We got to go really fucking hard.” Is there a song from that album that you especially like to play because you feel like it’s going to make everyone go up?

2HOLLIS: Definitely. “Too Bad” was the opener for most of the shows, and that was just such a fun one to do. But my favorite song on the album that I think is being a little underrated is “I Saw It Flash Before Me.” Right now I’m on the road with Ken Carson, and I’ve been opening all my shows with that one, and that’s been super lit.

RIBEIRO: I feel like listening to the album, I was thinking that it’d be so fun to hear “Crush” and “Sister” live. Especially that one part of “Crush,” that kick is so good and in a loud room it would be so cool.

2HOLLIS: Yeah, those are really fun. But like I was saying, I do like to perform a song and not have it be a crazy mosh pit and instead, everyone’s there just singing and witnessing that moment. Because sometimes when everyone’s moshing and freaking out, it’s like I’m not even really singing to anyone.

RIBEIRO: Yeah. Which city so far has had the most lit crowd?

2HOLLIS: I think the London show was so sick. That venue, Village Underground, was epic, it was the biggest show of them all too. But honestly, the one that caught me off guard of how lit they got was Amsterdam. Amsterdam turned the fuck up. They went crazy. I did not expect that one.

RIBEIRO: That’s sick. Did you have any memorable or maybe chaotic fan encounters while you were on the road?

2HOLLIS: I’m not going to lie, for the first few shows I would wait at least an hour in the green room because I don’t really like to get swarmed. I get kind of freaked out sometimes. But then in Amsterdam I was like, fuck it, I’m just going to go right out. So right after the show, I just walked right out to everyone and got super swarmed and it got really hectic. And then I just started doing that for the rest of the shows. In London, I walked out right after and the entire street got blocked and shut down. All these cars were honking. I think the police were going to pull up, and a mob of kids trapped me in a corner and my tour manager was yelling at them to move out of the way. They were having me sign their arms and then they’d send me videos of them getting it tatted. That was crazy.

RIBEIRO: Whoa. I would love to meet the European teenagers with the 2Hollis tattoo on their shoulder.

2HOLLIS: Yeah, it was really crazy. There were kids coming up to me in tears like, “You saved my life,” kids in tears where there’s a language barrier, so they couldn’t even really say what they wanted to say, but the message still was sent. It was so beautiful.

RIBEIRO: Wow. 

2HOLLIS: It’s always interesting and really amazing to be in person with these people, because so much of this stuff lives on the internet and so much of my time is spent in the studio, and the only fan interactions I’m getting is internet shit. But when you perform and talk to them and look them in the eye, there’s something to that that’s just so beautiful. I might not know them personally, but I just know them all as just this one big beautiful connection. It’s really awesome.

RIBEIRO: That’s so cool. What are you guys listening to when you’re on the road? 

2HOLLIS: This might sound shallow, but I’m making music the entire time, so I’m not really listening to other music. I was just recording stuff every day after the show. I was listening to a lot of Basic Channel, though. Do you know about Basic Channel?

RIBEIRO: I’ve seen Basic Channel. I’m going to pull out Spotify right now on the side.

2HOLLIS: They’re from Berlin. It’s like some ’90s… I think it’s techno. I might get that wrong and people might be mad about that, but I think it’s really cool.

RIBEIRO: While you’re traveling, do you have any rituals leading up to the show to put yourself in the right headspace? Or are you just running out and being like, “Let’s fucking get it”?

2HOLLIS: No. I mean, before every show I do, I just pray a bunch. I’m not religious at all, but I just get in my zone and feel thankful. I just say my thanks for everything and exist in that moment. I don’t really like to have anyone in my green room, I don’t drink, I’m just in my element. I just lock in. I don’t like to look at anything or talk to anyone.

RIBEIRO: Totally. It’s good to keep a level head.

2HOLLIS: Yeah, you have to take extra care of yourself.

RIBEIRO: It’s like working out. If you don’t rest, you’re only going to be sore.

2HOLLIS: I’ve been dealing with shin splints. I have the worst, most excruciating shin splints after every single show, because I jump around so much.

RIBEIRO: Oh, wow.

2HOLLIS: It feels like someone took a baseball bat and just slammed my shins a hundred times after every show. It almost brought me to tears. I had a show last night and it’s so incredibly painful. I went to a doctor about it, but I’ve been having to deal with that.

RIBEIRO: That’s rough. And it’s probably one of those things too where in the moment you’re not even thinking about it.

2HOLLIS: Yeah. The adrenaline of being on stage, you don’t feel anything. And then the moment I sit back down in the green room, I’m actually writhing in pain.

RIBEIRO: Damn. So you were on a solo tour in Europe and now you’re supporting Ken in the US?

2HOLLIS: Yeah, exactly. It’s interesting because Ken Carson fans are being put onto something a lot different than Ken Carson. I’m excited to just show these kids some new stuff.

RIBEIRO: Where are you headed to?

2HOLLIS: We’re playing everywhere, damn near. We’re playing 40 states. We just played Florida, the first three shows, and now we’re headed to Texas, and then we’re doing all the West Coast. And then we go over to the East Coast and the Midwest.

RIBEIRO: I feel like when people are on the road they’re either eating exclusively Fritos and Sour Patch Kids, or they’re really trying to regiment the way they eat. What is your road diet?

2HOLLIS: I’m very dialed in on what I eat. I don’t eat garbage at all. But you can only do so much when you’re on the road in the middle of rural Florida. There ain’t no Erewhon out here.

RIBEIRO: Yeah, no Sweetgreen in Florida.

2HOLLIS: I do my best. Let’s put it this way. I’m not eating Hot Cheetos or Sour Patch Kids, but I’ve been drinking a lot of Gatorade and eating gas station sandwiches. That’s all you got out here, lowkey.

RIBEIRO: Yeah, of course.

2HOLLIS: But sometimes you got to eat some Fritos. You got to take what you get when you’re on the road.

RIBEIRO: I know. I roadied a tour a year or two ago, and I watched someone live entirely off the little mini bags of chips the whole time, and it was starting to scare me. I was like, bro, you’re turning a different color.

2HOLLIS: Oh, nah. 

RIBEIRO: Like, what are these? But what are you most looking forward to during the US dates?

2HOLLIS: This doesn’t even have to do with performing, but I just love driving and I love road trips. We have literally a 13-hour drive to do right now and I love just looking out. I am excited to see this country. I’m born in the US and I haven’t even seen half of it, but now I’m going to see everything. It’ll be really fun.

RIBEIRO: It’s healing to the soul. Because you’re from L.A., right?

2HOLLIS: Yeah, I am. Actually, I was born in Chicago and I grew up in Chicago until I was 10 years old, and then I moved to L.A.

RIBEIRO: Got it. I’ll pop out for the New York show. 

2HOLLIS: Definitely. There’s three nights in New York at Terminal Five. 

RIBEIRO: Okay, we out, easy. Continue having fun. Shit’s going to be lit.

2HOLLIS: Yeah, we out. Thank you so much.