Where are you from?
I was born in the Detroit, stayed on the westside till around the age of 13-14 then my people moved over to the Harper Woods area.
What do you think of the hip hop scene in your city?
Right now I think it’s booming, couple people starting to break out of just being a “city” or “Detroit rapper” and getting noticed by hip hop mags like XXL and getting more plays on Worldstar. And starting to perform at these big ass concerts.
Where did your love for music come from?
Shit, since I was a kid I been surrounded by music. My Pops always played hip hop, he would tell me stories of how when he watched me he would be playing Tupac and when my mom came home he turned the music off and I’d start crying. So I would say my love of music would come from just always listening to hip hop and rapping along with the words on the way to school, way home, in between classes.
Can you describe your sound?
My Sound, I would say the sound I’m currently developing and still working on is a smooth and conceited sound. A vibe you get when you just feel like smoking and talking shit over a beat.
What are the main inspirations for the lyrics you write?
I would say my inspirations come from situations and things I’ve done and/or closely observed. Things like smoking weed, going to or throwing kickbacks and house parties. Having a girl press me about another girl, messing with someone who in a relationship. Basically my inspirations are what my current environment is. I’m in college, so a lot of the shit I rap about is what goes on in and around campus.
What have you learned from your journey as an artist?
That there’s always room to grow, you should be your biggest critic, you never know until you take that leap of faith, and that you need to support those who support you. And of course it takes money to make money, you not going get nothing without investing in yourself and your brand. And also make sure you not only focused on your music but also on your brand/image and how/what you want people to know you for in contrast with your lyrics.
Is there a particular song that never fails to move you emotionally?
Right now I wanna say “Legend” by Drake is some shit always get me hype, the line “All I know if I die I’m a muthafucking Legend”. Music is also about being able to make people feel the lyrics, and I always feel and get confidence when I rap that line, or that whole song rather.
How did you get into music in the first place?
It sound cliche but in middle school we use to freestyle in the lunchroom, and so I started to do that my 8th grade year and then by the time I was in high school, I had got myself some recording equipment off amazon for Christmas and was recording tracks on the audacity program and uploading it to Facebook.
Do you have any other dreams and goals in life that go beyond music?
Yeah, everyone should. I wanna have my own set of clothing/apparel surround around my key adlibs, like my current adlib “DUMBASS”. I wanna have pins and shirts revolving around that to sell at my shows and then eventually set up an online store. And of course I wanna have my own label, if I ever get a signing opportunity I’d only aim for distribution, because that’s how you see the MOST percentage of your money, even Master P said that’s what he did. And then since I smoke a lot of weed I wanna have my own dispo, so when I’m done rapping I can have my own spot to chill at.
What are your main inspirations right now?
Shit, main inspirations are those who have taking their own brand and image and cashed in on it. Like Drake with OVO, Future with FreeBand Gang, Curren$y with Jet Life Records, Jay-Z with Rock Nation, Kayne with G.O.O.D Music. These all started as an idea or just a few groups of people or one person pitching in money, constantly developing and thinking of ways for people to wanna support, wear clothes based on it, and scream it out at concerts. And that to me is what I wanna do and see in my lifetime.
Do you have any projects in the works we can expect from you soon?
Yeah, I just finished my EP “#DUMBASS Pt.1 “, and dropped the single off of it called “#SayLess” on Apple Music, Soundcloud, Spotify, Tidal and a couple other music platforms. I plan on Dropping “#DUMBASS Pt.1 “ around December. I wanna get the #SayLess visual done before though so people got something to look in the meantime.
Where do you see yourself next year?
Next year, I wanna have more clout, a couple more videos dropped and to be performing at more icebreakers around my and surrounding campuses. And hopefully opening up for a couple people that come to the city on tour and shit.
What is Motor Gang?
It was the name for our group before we changed it to “Motor Music” to help seem more official and legit. It was actually started by my groupmate Lu Grady. He and a couple of our friends from high school started it and when me and him became cool and found out each other were artists, I ended up joining and we just progressing since both as a group and individually.
Who is your favorite Detroit producer?
Honestly I wouldn’t say I got one right now, but it’s fasho a good Top 3 going crazy right now.
What is your greatest accomplishment so far?
Right now I will say having performed at SXSW last year, getting a manger for our group/label and starting to push out music videos.
Connect with Toonz:
Twitter: Toonz_Da_
