Athens is home to a vibrant and diverse music scene. Oliver Yost, known as Marb Red, is a local up-and-coming artist that could set himself apart with his rap music.
Beginning at a young age, Yost began his music career by learning how to play piano, and later taking his passion for music in the direction of hip-hop at age 10.
Since then, Yost had an interest in creating music. In seventh grade, he began writing his own raps.
Amelia Betit, a cosmetology student at Tri-County Career Center and Yost’s girlfriend, explained the enjoyment she finds in being able to observe Yost’s creativity when it comes to making music.
“It’s really impressive to watch because he’ll sit down and just be completely focused on it,” Betit said. “It’s amazing.”
Beyond his focus on the lyrics and messaging in each of his raps, Yost said he puts a lot of effort into finding the perfect beat.
“I’ve heard terrible raps on a good beat, and the song’s still good.” Yost said. “I’ve never heard a song where I was like, ‘that beat’s really bad, but the rap’s good.’ So it has to be a good beat, then I’ll rap on it. I definitely want to get into my own production just so I can tailor it to exactly how I want it to sound.”
While currently working with a team on production, Yost explained his future goal to create music fully on his own, starting with creating the beat, all the way to writing his own lyrics, mixing it and finishing with a final recording.
“Recording and releasing has to be a priority for me now, rather than just writing,” Yost said. “Just trying to get out more material in general, and then probably get some more shows in Athens. We’re going to start trying to go to Pittsburgh, Columbus, stuff like that and just find other places to perform.”
Beyond writing and recording music to be released on streaming platforms, Yost enjoys performing on stage to a live audience. Yost said some of his songs are “not danceable,” and he strives to pump up the audience through his energy and performance.
“I like to get the audience excited,” Yost said. “That’s my number one priority, getting the delivery right, not messing up, after that I try to dance around a little bit.”
Yost has taken performed at many local venues including The Union and Cat Got the Mouse. These live performances provide Yosh with the opportunity to show off another side of his artistry and talent through his stage presence.
“I feel like he’s kind of critical of himself when he’s writing, but then when he’s on stage, he’s energetic and really fun to watch,” Betit said. “It’s kind of a different confidence and it’s just really cool to watch.”
One of the many aspects of Marb Red’s sound is authentic lyricism present in all of his songs. Yost said it is important for him his lyrics send a message. He views his raps as a tool to share his voice and opinions.
“I lived in Florida for a few years, so I feel like that definitely influenced me,” Yost said. “I have a little bit of that flavor, and then growing up in Barlow in Ohio, a little bit of that flavor, and then just kind of combining everything together.”
Ian Southall, a former classmate of Yost, said he discovered Marb Red’s music through Instagram and has been listening to it for about two years.
“He is, I think, one of the most genuine people I’ve ever met,” Southall said. “I think that you can really just tell within his lyrics that everything he says he genuinely means, and I think that’s really rare in the hip-hop industry.”
Aspects Yost said set him apart from other local Athens artists, is his cinematic or theatrical production and lyricism. In his raps, Yost looks to center his songs through storytelling.
“Whenever I am writing a song I have visual imagery … I kind of make a music video in my head,” Yost said. “I feel like if it can create a visual, usually I know that it’s something. Usually my bad raps, I know it’s bad whenever I listen to it and can’t see anything from it. I just see the words on paper.”
