Wonderland

WHATMORE COULD YOU WANT?!

Infectious and endearing, the eclectic NYC rap collective has the story and skill to go right to the top. How will they make it there? Easy – leaning on each other.

Every group, every band, every collective has certain boxes to tick. You’ve got to be similar enough to find common personal and artistic ground, but disparate enough to be unique and individually engaging. Each member has a role to play. There are five key characters within a successful crew; WHATMORE knows how to fill that quota.

The brains? Cisco Swank of course, the Berkeley-educated instrumental whizz with commanding intellect and impressive articulation. The heartthrob? “That one’s easy,” the guys agree. That’s Sebastiano. It’s difficult to disagree with that one – cool as a cucumber with a nonchalant charisma and the smoothest steeze. The joker? Obviously Yoshi T. – in conversation he oscillates between presenting (actually quite a good) fake British accent and spinning his fellow members with zippy witticisms; lyrically he’s just as playful.

“He corrupted me,” his pal Jackson August quips, remembering when the pair of old friends were first introduced on the first day of sixth grade. The curly-haired ringleader feels like the obvious protagonist of the five, with his softboi zest and the vocal hooks to match. So naturally, the dreamer. And last, but certainly not least, is the glue, the producer, the musical director: Elijah Judah – the backbone.

New York’s finest WHATMORE are the most vibrant American boyband to emerge since BROCKAMPTON stormed onto the scene just under a decade ago. Five childhood friends, musicians, producers, singers, rappers, merging musically after college to pursue and, consequently, climb an unlikely summit – becoming one of US hip-hop’s most hotly-tipped rising collectives. Doing it for their city. Doing it for the Knicks. Doing it for each other.

That’s lovely and all, but what actually makes the boys stand out from the rest? For one, the urgency of their appeal. WHATMORE upholds an undeniably éclat, larger-than-life vigour. Take their music videos – like the roadside “hit it” which sees the gang seamlessly vibing around a red convertible, or “chicken shop date”, filmed entirely, chaotically in a take-out spot with the guys again taking it in turns performing to the cameras, flexing their lyrical wax, and their blatant chemistry that began with brotherhood well before artistic collaboration.

“We met in high school,” Yoshi recalls; Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music and Art and Performing Arts to be precise, which boasts alums including Timothée Chalamet and Al Pacino. “Just a bunch of jitlings running around with our saxophones, pianos, clarinets and drumsticks. Making new sounds. And somehow WHATMORE was created.”

The boyish, endearing alchemy that bubbles between the five early twenty-somethings carries over in person. It’s mid-May and the lads are in London for a short spell, stopping off in the Metropolitan to support Joey Valance & Brae for their show at Camden’s Roundhouse. We rendezvous at Wonderland‘s Soho HQ, coffees all round on a sunny, springy Tuesday. There’s a bounce to the quintet that never feels boisterous or overbearing – more enthusiastic, effusive. It’s safe to say they’re having a good time while across the Atlantic. “We’re out here in Europe,” Jackson marvels as we settle into a catch-up. “We’ve never been to most of these places. So it’s like, we’re in Dublin, we’re getting a Guinness, it’d be crazy not to do that.”

It’s been a swift and direct incline for the cruising companions. Before WHATMORE was born a few years ago, the boys were still best buds from high school, all progressive creatives in their own right. They were their own thing, jetting off to different colleges to shape their respective musical ideologies. It was in the years during and after college that the group’s joint purpose became clearer – years after they first met and became each other’s chosen family.

“We all grew as artists since we went to high school,” Seb says. “ Back then, we all had jazz band, theory classes, all that, and had a love for music pretty early. But after high school, we went to different colleges except for Elijah and Yoshi who went to Purchase College together. But we stayed pretty tight. We were doing solo stuff, Elijah pretty much produced all of our stuff, and we were very much featuring on each other’s songs. So we were doing our solo things and then in like 2023/4, we were like, ‘We’ve never really collectively got together and made music in the same room.’”

So they did just that, and it seems the results were almost instantaneous. Each member had developed their respective approach since high school; Cisco chiselled his jazz at Berkeley, Elijah and Yoshi finessed their vision at Purchase, Seb was prospering as a rapper, Jackson was doing “mad house shows in Syracuse, New York,” finding and cultivating an indie rock community. They all sought something and then brought it back together, connecting and interlinking a web of talent. “All my homies from Syracuse now play with our homies from New York,” Jackson continues. “We know all of Cisco’s musicians from Berkeley and now play with them. It’s become a little scene.”

The result is a tapestry of influence, a sweeping and sensational smorgasbord of ideas. And their debut album really manifests that. Released in October 2025, the 12-track self-titled record clocks in at a lean run time just shy of 31 minutes, and the band make use of every second of it. From the fearless punkish pout of “jackie chan”, to the pop punk sincerity of “jennie” and the Lil Yachty-esque hook of “put it on hearts”, the cross-genre stylistic pollination comes off as thrilling, exuberant and considerably concise – provokingly mature for an inaugural attempt at a full-length. It’s a real marker to build from, and a statement of intent to their city and to the wider industry.

“I feel like it’s exceeded expectations,” Seb analyses. “We set expectations super high, but just the fact that we are now part of New York City culture is huge for us. We grew up admiring people in the New York scene and everything, like music, fashion. So the fact that seven months later, we’re part of that, is like a dream come true. But we have our ambitions really high and, you know, we’re trying to take over the world.”

Considering how quickly the boys went from an unknown entity to one of US rap’s hottest collectives, it comes as no surprise that WHATMORE aren’t set to catch their breath anytime soon. They appeared on A COLORS SHOW in December last year, and returned with a double A-sided single in March; the dual drop is an exemplification of the group’s daring eclecticism – the sleepy, sample-led hip-hop-infused “Still Loiteringgg” both correlates and contrasts the equally effective but musically divergent, suitably named “2000s Pop Punk RnB”. We’ve since also been blessed with another new single, the 6th July-shared “On Site”, an idiosyncratic rap cut that’s immediately an essential addition to the group’s growing canon.

“WHATMORE drops bangers only, that’s why,” grins Seb, explaining why they’ve decided to drop a run of standalone singles this year rather than jumping back into another body of work. “I think we’re definitely going to come correct in the new year with the project,” Yoshi adds. “So just to give us some time to just focus on that and to keep releasing. But also with the A side/A side, it’s not really a concept that’s been super relevant musically or culturally, so we thought it was a cool idea to tap into it.”

Established, buzzy and tighter than ever as friends and collaborators – with festival performances at Coachella and The Governors Ball ticked off and Lollapalooza and Reading & Leeds to come this summer – the boys are moving into the next phase of their career. Invariably, as youth slips deeper into adulthood and responsibilities, their lives, outlook, and relationships will change. And it feels that the very essence of WHATMORE is the pure, youthful, undeviating fun that bleeds out of the music. You listen to their debut album, and feel the joy and excitement it was made with. Bottling up that emotion may prove harder as their stock grows. But Yoshi, Seb, Elijah, Jackson and Cisco aren’t too worried about change – they know each other, they trust each other, they lean on each other.

“We’ve been friends for so long,” Jackson reflects in finality, before they play me a few unreleased tunes (Seb’s right, WHATMORE only drops bangers), dap me goodbye and head off into the afternoon, laughing and joking as they go. “I’ve literally known Yoshi since I was 12, and everyone else since 14. We kind of already figured out how to communicate before WHATMORE. We’ve quite literally gone through it all. I fucking know these guys. So now this is the evolution of that. There’s obviously new things now that we’re really doing this. But if anything, we’ve gone through crazier shit before. Like, puberty? You know what I’m saying?”

Listen to the album…