VIDEO | XTC7400 INTERVIEW (PAPIAMENTO)
Angelo Werleman
10/03/2025
XANDER, AKA XTC7400, AKA COZYGODFVTHER is an Aruban artist whose journey I’ve been following since I first started making music. His sound blends hip-hop with elements of rage, boom-bap, alternative R&B, and house. Now, for a future project, he’s looking to tap into what he calls the “island renaissance.”
I first discovered Xander through Instagram when he started showing support for my work. Likewise, I tapped in and have been keeping up ever since. We met in person for the first time in 2022, around the time I started documenting local artists. I recorded that interaction, capturing my curiosity as I learned more about his music and life. That was just one of many recordings that now sit in my voice memos, waiting to be revisited one day. There’s an undeniable passion I’ve seen in Xander since then, and over the years, we’ve kept in touch as he updated me on his creative process and ambitions.
His discography as XTC7400 includes projects like M3MXR¡ES I COVLDN’T 3RVSE! (2020), Summer Files VOL. 1 (2020), If Only You’d Listen to Music Like This (2020), Dear Beautiful Girls… (2022), Acid Decisions I Don't Regret (2022), chillinshewrote (2023), ##303! (2023), ##HeartBreakSoulja (2023), saying goodbye to the old me (2024), and pretty girls <3 rockstars (2024).
By the time Acid Decisions I Don't Regret dropped in 2022, I was hooked. On this album, he leaned into a more spacey rage sound, highlighting his versatility and departing from the boom-bap style of projects like Summer Files VOL. 1. The EP also features Meezydope and ZANZO, two respectable figures in the hip-hop/underground scene on Aruba. That same year, Xander and ZANZO ended up dropping a collab tape, ZANZO & XTC PRESENTS: TRIPPY SUMMER.
At the end of 2023, going into early 2024, I traveled back to Aruba, and that’s when we shot the Might Not Be Enough music video. There was no real plan, just an urge to create something. It ended up being the first music video I directed for someone outside my immediate friend group or myself. Around this time, Xander introduced me to fellow ABC artists from Bonaire like Aug6st, Dillone Stallone, Ri-Flex, and their collaborators, artists who opened my eyes to another side of the underground scene on the ABC islands, exploring rage, spacey hip-hop, and rockstar energy. Xander and his contemporaries are influenced by sounds from international underground scenes, modifying them in their own ways, adding their own spices, and paving the way for the scene with their experimental approaches.
Fast forward to late 2024, early 2025, I was back in Aruba again. This time, on Christmas Day, Xander took me to what he called his “heaven,” a secluded spot near where he grew up, a place he often visits to reflect and manifest his artistic path. With just my iPad and camera, I asked him a few questions, capturing his thoughts and reflections. We decided to do it in Papiamento because it felt the most natural. In this video, we explore his first interactions with music, his early influences, Heaven’s Coziest, and his growth over the past few years, where he’s been and where he’s headed next.
After spending the last five years as XTC7400, experimenting with different sounds and refining his artistry, Xander has reached a turning point. Back at the start of 2024, we had a conversation about how difficult it was to find him on Instagram, his name never popped up easily in searches because the algorithm assumed I was looking to buy drugs. That small conversation led to a bigger reflection on what he truly wanted to represent and stand for. This realization fueled his next chapter, one where he no longer wants to be boxed in or solely associated with his influences. While we are all shaped by our inspirations, Xander is now focused on carving out something new, building on everything he’s learned. Like any artist, it’s all about evolution, and this evolution feels natural.
Tap into Heaven’s Coziest artists Cozygodfvther, ZANZO, Gordiet (also 2SO), and Astro and the 2SO collective’s artists: Ri-Flex, Aug6st, Dillone Stallone, Piotr, Vic, Denztrix, Darwin, Two Toes, and Zayscasket.
Watching Xander grow as an artist and seeing his journey unfold firsthand has been a privilege.
https://www.instagram.com/cozygodfvther/
https://www.instagram.com/xtc7400/
https://www.instagram.com/heavenscoziestrecords/
https://www.instagram.com/2s0official/
Stay tuned for a new release, shot and directed by us, dropping this week through unobstructed.net.
I first discovered Xander through Instagram when he started showing support for my work. Likewise, I tapped in and have been keeping up ever since. We met in person for the first time in 2022, around the time I started documenting local artists. I recorded that interaction, capturing my curiosity as I learned more about his music and life. That was just one of many recordings that now sit in my voice memos, waiting to be revisited one day. There’s an undeniable passion I’ve seen in Xander since then, and over the years, we’ve kept in touch as he updated me on his creative process and ambitions.
His discography as XTC7400 includes projects like M3MXR¡ES I COVLDN’T 3RVSE! (2020), Summer Files VOL. 1 (2020), If Only You’d Listen to Music Like This (2020), Dear Beautiful Girls… (2022), Acid Decisions I Don't Regret (2022), chillinshewrote (2023), ##303! (2023), ##HeartBreakSoulja (2023), saying goodbye to the old me (2024), and pretty girls <3 rockstars (2024).
By the time Acid Decisions I Don't Regret dropped in 2022, I was hooked. On this album, he leaned into a more spacey rage sound, highlighting his versatility and departing from the boom-bap style of projects like Summer Files VOL. 1. The EP also features Meezydope and ZANZO, two respectable figures in the hip-hop/underground scene on Aruba. That same year, Xander and ZANZO ended up dropping a collab tape, ZANZO & XTC PRESENTS: TRIPPY SUMMER.
At the end of 2023, going into early 2024, I traveled back to Aruba, and that’s when we shot the Might Not Be Enough music video. There was no real plan, just an urge to create something. It ended up being the first music video I directed for someone outside my immediate friend group or myself. Around this time, Xander introduced me to fellow ABC artists from Bonaire like Aug6st, Dillone Stallone, Ri-Flex, and their collaborators, artists who opened my eyes to another side of the underground scene on the ABC islands, exploring rage, spacey hip-hop, and rockstar energy. Xander and his contemporaries are influenced by sounds from international underground scenes, modifying them in their own ways, adding their own spices, and paving the way for the scene with their experimental approaches.
Fast forward to late 2024, early 2025, I was back in Aruba again. This time, on Christmas Day, Xander took me to what he called his “heaven,” a secluded spot near where he grew up, a place he often visits to reflect and manifest his artistic path. With just my iPad and camera, I asked him a few questions, capturing his thoughts and reflections. We decided to do it in Papiamento because it felt the most natural. In this video, we explore his first interactions with music, his early influences, Heaven’s Coziest, and his growth over the past few years, where he’s been and where he’s headed next.
After spending the last five years as XTC7400, experimenting with different sounds and refining his artistry, Xander has reached a turning point. Back at the start of 2024, we had a conversation about how difficult it was to find him on Instagram, his name never popped up easily in searches because the algorithm assumed I was looking to buy drugs. That small conversation led to a bigger reflection on what he truly wanted to represent and stand for. This realization fueled his next chapter, one where he no longer wants to be boxed in or solely associated with his influences. While we are all shaped by our inspirations, Xander is now focused on carving out something new, building on everything he’s learned. Like any artist, it’s all about evolution, and this evolution feels natural.
Tap into Heaven’s Coziest artists Cozygodfvther, ZANZO, Gordiet (also 2SO), and Astro and the 2SO collective’s artists: Ri-Flex, Aug6st, Dillone Stallone, Piotr, Vic, Denztrix, Darwin, Two Toes, and Zayscasket.
Watching Xander grow as an artist and seeing his journey unfold firsthand has been a privilege.
https://www.instagram.com/cozygodfvther/
https://www.instagram.com/xtc7400/
https://www.instagram.com/heavenscoziestrecords/
https://www.instagram.com/2s0official/
Stay tuned for a new release, shot and directed by us, dropping this week through unobstructed.net.