office met up with the rapper in NYC to discuss his latest album and hit single, his loyal fanbase, and his hopeless romantic tendencies, below.
We're going to start at the beginning. So you first emerged on the music scene around 2019. What was life like before then and was music always a goal of yours?
Before music, it was sports, but I still used to always write music. I just never knew it could be the thing that I did for the rest of my life. Before that, it was, you know, your regular, typical hood story.
So sports was kind of the path at the time and that was what you thought was going to be your future. But rap seemed to provide you with an escape.
Definitely.
Looking back now with all that you've accomplished, what words of advice would you give the younger you?
Honestly, I think I did a good job. So I would say...I wouldn't change anything. I don't have any new words of advice; I would just say keep going. I wouldn't change anything, because the thing is, I feel like I'm in a good space and I feel like everything happened for a reason. So I wouldn't change anything in the past.
Do you think that you had the confidence that you have now though?
Yeah. I always had this confidence.
Did you have any rappers or musicians that really put you into this zone to want to do this professionally when you were growing up? Who did you listen to?
Actually, my brother and my dad. They're my motivation and the reason I started making music. My brother used to make music and my dad used to make music as well, and I just wanted to be whatever my brother and my dad were.
I love that they were your main motivating factors. Your debut EP, Why Not Now, has been described as conveying your journey from the streets to the studio, as you mentioned before. How did things change after that project was released and how did you navigate those changes?
I was already kind of popular, so it didn't really set me apart but it definitely let people know that I am for real. It solidified me in the music world and I feel like everybody started to look at me as an artist. And from there it was just continuing to put out good content, great music, and sticking to what I believed in and what I love.
Would you say that's cemented, for audiences and other people, the way that you already felt about yourself?
Not yet. I think to this day I'm still trying to get it to get to that point. I'm not all the way there yet.
I think that's a good mindset to have though, because then you keep pushing for something. After the EP, you put out two mixtapes, Platinum Heart and Poetic Pain. Can you dive into those and what inspired the projects?
I was just in the midst of having fun. I was still finding my sound because I didn't really know who I was yet. I feel like every artist has that. That time period where it's the beginning of their career and they're just having fun. Nobody knows who they are. Nobody knows what their sound is. They're just making music. But I realized sooner or later that I had to find a sound. Who's gonna be my core fan base? Who are gonna be the people that I sell my merch to — my core audience? I think the tour with Summer Walker in 2018 was when I kind of opened my eyes and realized: this is gonna be it for me. This is what I want to do. This is who's going to be my core audience. My core audience is going to be beautiful ladies. Because I'm a ladies' man, and what better fan base to have than women?
And that has definitely become your signature for sure. You talked about your sound and leaning more into who you wanted to become at that time. I think now, you have this sound that's distinctly you. You've found this really clever way to mesh trap sounds with really harmonious melodies — melodic rap. But your lyrics are where we get to see behind the curtain, see who you are, and see these emotions. How does music help you get in tune and work through certain things that you're feeling?
I think music has always been my coping mechanism to get through the things that I go through on the daily. It's what makes me who I am, and everybody has their own coping mechanism. It's therapeutic.
And how did you get into that? When you were younger, did songwriting just come naturally to you?
It definitely came naturally. It was something that I liked doing. I remember English was one of my favorite subjects. Outside of English, I used to love math a lot. Math helped me with learning how to count bars. My English and my math grades used to be my highest grades. Other than that, other classes I didn't do so well in. But English was always fun for me; I got to write poems, I got to write music, and be myself.
That's funny, usually, it's like you're good at English or math — not always both.
Listen, I'm a math genius.
And as you said, now these are both things that you can bring with you into what you do. I've read that you've said before that you don't really get nervous performing. What keeps you grounded in front of audiences and doing what you do every day?
I just love it. I love the music. It's crazy because, performing, I don't really ever get nervous. But I get a little nervous talking to girls. I don't show it though. I'm good at hiding stuff. But when I'm performing, I'm in my element. That doesn't really bother me. And it's crazy because it's 90% women out there.
Ever get nervous doing interviews?
Oh, I used to all the time. I used to dread it. But it's the same thing as you, it comes with what I do. I want to talk about the most recent release — “Favorite Song.” It’s a viral love song — or rather a song about heartbreak — that has taken social media by storm. Who or what inspired that track?
It was a real-time song. And what I mean when I say real-time, I mean that I was in the midst of having a conversation with someone and we had an argument about the things women desire. As men, we know what women desire and what they look for in a man. But how often is it that people take heed in it? How often is it that a man actually goes out and does it for a woman? So it's kind of me just laying out the steps, giving people the step-by-step.
So can people refer to that as a type of template?
Yeah. That's the template, for sure. I gave you the layout, now take it and do what you want.
Would you call yourself a romantic?
Yeah, a hopeless romantic. I like walks on the beach and stuff.
You get that through the music and through the lyrics. You recently collaborated on a fashion line and scrolling through your Instagram, it’s evident you have a vibrant fashion sense — there’s a recent all-pink matching set you wore that I loved. Where do you draw style inspiration from?
It depends. Nine times out of 10, on the daily, I won't even get dressed. I just throw clothes on. But I do love to get dressed. But I only love getting dressed when I'm in a good mood. Other than that, if I'm mellow and I'm chilling, I'll throw some sweatpants. I think the fashion side of me comes from never having nothing. I never really had clothes or money to go buy clothes.
Something else that I interpret as an accessory are tattoos. And you have a bunch of tattoos. What tattoo is next?
I've gotta go get my son's name. My son is about to be one in eight days. So I gotta go get his name, Teddy.
Amazing. On your debut full-length album, NAUJOUR, how does it feel to go from putting out those mixtapes that we talked about at the beginning of our conversation to this full project? How do you want the project to make your fans feel when they hear it?
I want people to know that it's the real me. And that's really all I want from that. I want people to take with them an understanding of who I truly am. I'm just a regular guy who comes from the middle of nowhere, who made it out. And I want people to know that they're not the only ones going through certain things in life. I feel like we all have our problems and have our issues. We all have vices. And those problems I went through help me tell my story now, and I hope other people can relate.
When you mentioned touring with Summer Walker as a moment where you felt like you were really finding yourself and your sound — is this project what you were going for at that time? Do you feel like you've now found that?
Yeah, definitely. I just wanted raw emotion and I feel like I definitely got that with this project.
