Rachel Biderman chatted with the Gaithersburg, Md. rapper about his identity as an artist and what’s next on his plate.
RB: What’s it like to perform at a festival versus a regular concert? AC: This is my first festival, and this sh*t is way more intimate. I think this is the first time people came out just to see me. I’ve never had that sh*t before, most of the time I open up for random motherf**kers.
RB: Do you try to engage with the crowd each time you perform? AC: I do that everywhere, for sure. Even if they don’t f**k with the music, they’ve got to f**k with the energy, you know what I’m saying?
RB: What distinguishes you from other rappers? AC: I try to talk about sh*t. I think a lot of people just talk about turning up and f**king bitches, which is cool sometimes, I guess. I try to uplift the community and talk about what the f**k’s going on around us.
RB: What other genres do you draw inspiration from? AC: Jazz, Moroccan, Spanish music, metal, rock. My grandmother’s really into Pink Floyd. I don’t listen to that sh*t in my downtime, but when I’m in the car with her she listens to Pink Floyd and I guess subconsciously I get influenced by sh*t like that.
RB: What’s next for you? AC: Making better music, that’s what’s next. That’s the only thing I can control, the music. I can’t control anything else, so better music, that’s it.
RB: Tell me about the people you brought out onstage at the end. AC: I’m in a collective called Hostile Youth. It’s me, Uno Hype, Hassani Kwess, Vaunfe, Goldlink, Face, my engineer, Criminal Priest, my photographer and DJ Black Diamond. We all live in the same area so we have good chemistry together, and we’re just trying to take over the f**king world, to be honest. That’s all we’re trying to do, is make good music with a message.
RB: Is there anything else you’d like to add? AC: Follow me on twitter. And Baby Need Food, download that sh*t. Or buy that sh*t. And make your mom listen to that sh*t too.
Our favorite track: “Emotional Cancer”
