College friends Joseph Bertolino (Joey Valence) and Braedan Lugue (Brae) connected with each other during their freshman year at Penn State University and began creating music together before their graduation in 2021. Now, they make up a hip-hop duo, Joey Valence & Brae, that is consistently gaining popularity since their breakout song Punk Tactics that can be found on their 2023 album of the same name.
The duo draws a lot of inspiration from the sounds of 80’s and 90’s music, most closely mimicking the Beastie Boys. In the summer of this year, Joey and Brae released their second full album, No Hands. They have also released a deluxe version of the album which features new songs like a remix of “THE BADDEST” featuring Ayesha Erotica and a cover of Charli XCX’s song “365.”
Joey and Brae are currently touring the world on their No Hands Tour, their fourth ever tour and performing at festivals. The pair likes to stay connected with their growing fanbase and can often be found scrolling through social media messaging and keeping up with fans. They are truly the 21st century’s Gen Z version of a 90’s retro-rap group.
We met with Joey Valence and Brae at Louder Than Life where we chatted about their favorite songs to perform, their perfect day at Penn State, and their dream collaborations.
What’s the highlight of your US tour so far?
Brae: Getting to roll around in the mud here with you all today at Louder Than Life. We’re very excited. This is the one of the two festivals we’re doing on our tour. We love the festivals.
Joey: We love the festivals. The whole tour is sold out. Every night is a blast. We have a good time.
What’s your favorite song to play off of your album No Hands?
Brae: For me, it’s probably going to have to be “BUSSIT.” I love that song. It’s high energy. It’s a good time. Good mosh pit song.
Joey: I love a good, “THE BADDEST” or “FREAKS.” That’s a fun one. But “THE BADDEST” just goes off crazy. We love that.
What are your must pack travel items?
Brae: A Tide to-go stick and wipes. I’m always spilling wing sauce on my white shirt. So, I gotta wipe that off quick. I love having a Tide stick.
Joey: Any underwear that’s not the color white.
Brae: Yes. Dark underwear is a go to.
What is the story behind your song “PINEAPPLE FRIED RICE?”
Brae: It was actually a random song that we had for the album and didn’t really finish until we thought about doing a deluxe. It’s just a random silly name with some random silly lines. I love that song. The instrumental was great.
Joey: Well, most of our songs, there’s really not a lot of thought that goes into it. We just kind of do it. That song is one of those. We just wrote it and it sounded good, so I don’t know. That’s just how it came to be.
You guys have always been really connected to your fans and really grateful for them. How do you stay connected to your fans even though you’re getting bigger?
Brae: Our fan base is everything for us. I mean, even after our headline shows where there’s over 800 kids there, we still jump down in the front row and sign as many vinyls and pictures and hats and t-shirts as we can. We’re super active on Instagram as well, just responding to DMs and stuff. We’re as tight knit as we can be with our fan base.
Joey: Yeah for sure. We’re always answering DMs, always writing back to people. We’re active on our Discord. We just like to be silly.
Do you think social media can ever be too overbearing?
Brae: I don’t know. Social media is the reason we are where we are actually. I guess that’s just up to your perception. To us it’s really not that bad and we’re on it all the time.
Joey: It can be. It’s different for everybody and how you approach it and use it. It can affect your mental health and things like that. We just like being stupid and we enjoy using the internet. We use it to our advantage.
What’s your perfect day at Penn State?
Brae: Going to Cane’s and getting some chicken with him and making some songs and doing nothing. Sitting down and playing video games.
Joey: The answer is pretty much absolutely nothing. Except Rocket League.
Can you tell me your craziest travel story?
Joey: I went to Indonesia and got really bad diarrhea. It really messed me up.
Brae: We went to Indonesia and we had some hurt tummies. I had some sushi in Japan on that layover and had a hurt tummy on that flight.
Joey: But I mean, most of our travel is just us being idiots in the hotel room and punching each other and stuff.
Brae: We’ve broken a couple beds and TVs and phones in hotels. You know, just the normal. Not purposely. We’re not bad. We’re just being silly.
Do you have any dream collaborations?
Brae: Tyler, The Creator’s like, number one for us. Lady Gaga, Dolly Parton.
Joey: Lady Gaga is huge. Maybe LMFAO.