Issue 68 ft Digital Radio Tracker founder Michael Matthews

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What's Spinning, Fam? we asked the fleet djs to drop the hottest song spinning right now

march 2021

DJ NAME

DJ IG

DJ LOCATION

SONG TITLE

ARTIST NAME

DJ Hot1ne

djhot1ne

Indianapolis,In

Looking Like A Fool

Lil Indiana

lil_indiana

DJ Coco-Z

djcocoz

Cleveland, OH

Cash Money Shit

DJ NAS

djnas_14

Lenox, GA

HURSTORY

R the Czar ft Heiress Behavior jBabyyMichelle

rtheczar heiressbehavior ijbabyy23

DJ Gates

djgates

New York, NY

You And I

Nesha

DMV

Link Up

P-Butta

Butta2dap

St. Louis, mo

Bye Baby

EZ-Love

Iamezlove biggtiny

Dj PynkDyamond The Mighty TC

Dcsmodel_ djpynkdyamond Deejaytcmorton

ARTIST IG

DJ Earl-E

djearl_e

California

Let’s Get Rich

DJ SAY WHAAT!!!

dj_say_whaat

Trenton, NJ

GANGY

Bigg Tiny feat.

C-Bo & Kokane RUBY RIZZ

DJ Ms Tan

dj_ms_tan

Jacksonville, FL

Down for you

Kay C

Omaha, NE

Rambo

Chink Diamond

OH/TX/GA

STAR

Jersey City, NJ

Wasn’t

Yella Beezy x Erica Banks Nelz

yellabeezy214 realericabanks JerzyNelz

Alabama

Soon As

Tmelle

itstmelle

DJ Doc Beat Box Dj Presstige

FleetDj_ Presstige djgojabean

DJ Gojabean Dj magic Mike

djmagicmike.ent

ruby_rizz Prettybrownkaylac Officialchink.diamond

DJ Ill Nino

DjIllnino

Jacksonville, FL

Buss It Down

Spark Dawg

Spark_a_Gram

DJ Grandz

djgrandz

Orlando, FL

Link Up

P-Butta

Butta2Dap

Dj Les Rico

mrdjles

Jacksonville, FL

Soon As

Tmelle

itstmelle

Memphis, TN

Ecstasy

Lotus Bomb

Baltimore, MD

Bout to go up

D Boi ft CR Da Show

Newburgh, NY

Not Alone

IamCj

the_real_ lotus_bomb dboi_da_dome cr_da_show Iamcjmusic

LeonidasTheDJ

Leonidasthedj

Dj Smoove Mizz Official

djmizzofficial

DJ souljalife

Jacksonville Flo

Real plug

Shante Mix

Blkgurl_wazzam

DJTY

djsouljalife_ fleetdjs djtymusic

Indiana

Better

Delafaye

delafayemusic

DJ Swmpthing

swmpthingdj

Columbus, Ohio

Baddie

6ixx street

6ixxstreet

DJ Mos Precious

djmosprecious

Fort Worth/TX

Twerk

Britt

Rocakabritt

DJ Swale

SwaletheGreat

Charlotte, Nc

Her Song

DJ Swale

SwaleTheGreat

DJ Fresh

DJFreshOBX

Middleburg/FL

Mad

Canoboi

IAMCamoboi

Fleet Djs Music Conference . July 09-12, 21. Jacksonville, FL www.fleetdjs.com

I’m sitting down with...this has been a long time in the making, right? But before we get into it, go ahead and introduce yourself.

What’s up, man? My name is Romeo Kush, I am a Honduran-born artist but I was raised out here in Immokalee, Fl. Then I moved out to Ft Myers. Kinda from different areas if you can say that.

How does coming from these different areas and cultures play into your music?

I can literally just tap into different areas of my life to make different music. If I want to tap into my Spanish side, from my early years, which I still listen to Spanish music.

I stay influenced by what’s new that’s coming out right now in order to make myself sound better.

But yea, Ft Myers & Immokalee are kind of the same type of culture.

Immokalee got more of a Hispanic side to it, but it’s pretty much the same hood, Ft Myers & Immokalee so for that, I don’t feel like it’s two different things but I can tap into my Spanish side.

What do you call your other side?

I don’t know what to call it. I guess my English side, Hip Hop side, I don’t know. My music is inspired

by Hip Hop, I won’t call myself a rapper because I do various types of music but I do rap, that’s why I call myself an artist. Because I can do different various types of music.

Not just rap in English, but also rap in Spanish, and I have different songs that are meant for different genres. Like I have some Salsa songs and some Bachata songs that I’m trying to work on for the future, nothing that I’ve touched on yet, but definitely in the future.

And how long have you been doing music?

Depends on how you generalize it.

I’ve been wanting to be an artist since I was born. I would gather around the whole town, my whole little neighborhood, and recite songs that I heard on the radio when I was 5 years old. I’ve been wanting to be an artist since forever. The first time I recorded a song

was when I was 20, so I would say 6 years now.

What was that one moment that made you realize you were doing music for real?

Honestly, I’ll never forget this. I hit a very low point in my life. I was living at my friend’s house on his couch and I was trapping and hitting licks to make money. Comes Christmas, I didn’t see anyone in my family because I didn’t have money so I ain’t wanna see nobody. Then came New Years’, I was born on Jan 1st so on the 31st, my homies were saying “let’s go celebrate your birthday downtown Ft Myers, they were gonna have the Ball drop, something smaller than New York but the same vibe.

So we all headed out on the 31st of December and I remember thinking to myself, I used to smoke cigarettes heavy and at that time I was coughing hard off the cigarettes, I wasn’t sick, I was just coughing real hard, my voice was getting fucked up. For the whole ride, I was praying to myself in the car, literally just talking to God and I said “I’ve been wasting my time this whole time, just doing what I do, I know I’m not living right, if you can just help me and find a way to become an artist, that’s all I need. I’m gonna leave everything else alone, I just want to be an artist. I don’t want a 9-5, I don’t wanna be a trapper, I don’t wanna be none of that. I just wanna be an artist. Show me a sign and I’ll quit smoking the moment you show me the sign.” That was a 20-minute ride, then we got downtown, and the old man flags us into the parking lot because it was packed, they were like “yo, you’re looking for parking, park in here.” We turned in there, soon as we put our window down, the first thing he says, he goes “are you guys rappers?” None of us had ever rapped before, we would freestyle but nothing serious. But I was like “Hell yeah I’m a rapper! I’ll perform, I’ll freestyle, just drop the beat let’s go! I’m ready!” And he was like “this is a studio right here, we charge $50/hr.” I said “Only

$50? I’m ready! Let’s go!” But he was like “Not right now, I have to watch the parking lot, it’s New Years’”. So I ended up booking for the following Friday, the first booking of the year, I booked 2 hours.

That was the first time I recorded.

Ok, so you prayed for a sign, actually paid attention and received that sign, and got to work. From that to now, what are you currently working on and what have you done in between?

I actually took 4 years to perfect my recording, I never dropped any solo tracks. I dropped 2 or 3 featured songs with my brother Taz. Rest in Peace Taz. I took 4 years to perfect my music, once I felt my music was up to par, and it was time for me to get out in the world...I would just like to say 2016, I did over 80 shows. Tampa, Miami, Atlanta. I did a show in North Carolina. Aiken, shout out to Aiken, they showed me love. They showed me more love than Florida did. After that I took a break, still didn’t drop new music.

All the music I was performing were unreleased music. In 2018, I dropped my first mixtape, which was Team Kushaholics. It was me introducing my team. I’m on every song, but every song had a different feature from a different artist from my team. It’s kinda like Jackboys from Travis Scott. But I did it a year earlier tho. With that, I actually had a song called “Upgraded” on that and it caught the attention of a label called “Mainstream Digital Media”, they are cosigned under Empire. And he actually got me a conversation with, I’m not gonna drop any names but with an exec at Empire, I actually was able to sign a one-song deal for 80% that was my first major deal. But I didn’t get an advance off of that, I just took my masters instead of taking an advance. So in the long run it’s gonna be a great decision, but right now it sucks. Then after that, I got picked up by a different label, they’re called New Music Hype Beast, they’re actually also signed with Empire. So I got a second deal, that was with my

song “Timeless” also with Taz and that’s also signed to Empire. But I got a 50% deal with that one, I didn’t get 80.

I love the idea that you prayed for a sign but didn’t sit back and watched things flow. Faith without works is dead. And you’ve been putting in the work. I wanna applaud you for that. One last question tho, the music game in itself is such an intricate beast with so many parts you have to study. But then also you have real life that’s happening at the same time. How and have you mastered balancing the two?

No, not at all. It’s very hard to balance them both. People want me to be focused on what I’m doing right now, but I’m focused on what I should be doing a month from now. And I mean with everything. I’m always thinking about music and it messes up my actual normal life. I don’t have normal friends, I don’t hang out with people, everything is about music and has a purpose, and the friends that I do have they’re artists and the only reason they’re around me is because we make music together.

Let everyone know where they can follow the music My music is on all platforms, Team Kushaholic. If you wanna find me on Instagram, it’s IamRomeoKush, I currently have about 13k followers, please help me go up some more.

iamromeokush

“Competition to no one, Value for everyone.”

It’s your girl Ladychelle, on the line with a revolutionist, a trailblazer, if you could introduce yourself.

Thank you for having me, my name is Michael Matthews, I’m the founder of digitalradiotracker.com incorporated, We are a broadcast monitoring company, we monitor more than 5000 radio stations around the world. That’s basically who we are and what we do. We deal with everybody from small broadcasters to large terrestrial FM broadcasters and we produce weekly charts for our clients, as well as we compile airplay data and analytics for our clients as well, whether it be independent labels, artist managers, or artists themselves.

Reading back on your story, I saw that you didn’t start off with that vision originally, you kind of stumbled unto it by seeing a need for something and created the solution. Can you tell us from the beginning where you started before you got into analytics?

I actually come from a radio promotion background and that’s funny you bring that up. That’s actually how DRT was born where I was speaking to some associates of mine and we were promoting some songs on the radio and we started noticing some trends that started taking place where a lot of songs were being broken online.

But nobody was monitoring it.

So we called our friends at our various monitoring companies and we

Michael Matthews Digital Radio Tracker

said “hey, do you guys have a way of tracking these particular stations or have any interest in starting to track them?” And we kept getting rejections after rejections. No one had any interest whatsoever. Well, what we decided to do was we said to better serve our marketing clients, we want to be able to prove or validate the airplay that we’re garnering to those particular clients. So what we started doing, we started developing our own in-house software. Where basically we could track some of the songs that were being played and some of the digital streaming stations. And we can be able to give analytic reports to our clients.

What started happening after some time, as the word got out, was it was a lot of other associates of ours that were in the radio promotion industry were then contacting us saying “hey, can you track some of my songs, can you get those analytics to us as well?”

And so basically, after a period of time we said, “why don’t we do this thing and just kind of open up to everybody, it seems like there’s a demand for it.” That’s basically how Digital Radio Tracker was born.

I love that you said rejection after rejection, it’s so hard to convince the world or an audience that they need something that doesn’t exist just yet, what kept you going and believing that this is something we absolutely needed in our lives.

That’s an excellent question, I think for me, it’s tough in the beginning. I had been doing promotions for 28 years from a terrestrial radio side. We didn’t really get into internet radio or digital promotion until 2008. So after a

couple of years of doing it, I saw some of the voids within the industry, it was very very tough when we actually launched Digital Radio Tracker in 2011, we started talking to different people in the industry and even then, people were slamming doors on us saying “no one is listening to digital radio, no one’s paying attention to streaming, this is going absolutely nowhere.”

Because at the time there was still the downloading of MP3s, Spotify, and Apple Music and these types of platforms didn’t really exist then where everybody was even talking about streaming period, much less streaming of radio. What started to take place was, we just kinda said hey wait a minute, this might not be a market for some other people, but it was a market for us and we saw it was completely untapped. It was a little bit rougher in the beginning because it’s hard to find believers when you’re trying to get something off the ground and you’re trying to say hey, there’s something viable here. Actually, what started to take place, technology has it evolved, we now have 150 million cars on the road with digital radio in them, you can’t even buy new cars with CD players in them anymore. Who would have thought even 20 years ago we would be consuming music from a refrigerator now you have smart refrigerators, you have smart speakers, you have all of these other devices and ways that music is now consumed. So these are the different thoughts that began to evolve within the industry that we all love. Which then makes a little bit more demand for what we were doing a Digital Radio Tracker so it was kind of a combination as technology evolve the individual’s mindset began to evolve as well to say hey look there’s really some-

thing here viable.

When the world finally caught up, did you feel vindicated or did you feel like it was now time to go a little harder?

It was actually a combination of both because to be frank with you, it’s funny you bring that up because a lot of people that were naysayers about what we were doing are actually some of those same people that have come back and said hey, can we work with you, how can we partner up?

Or some have even asked us for jobs. So it’s a lot of things that have transpired from that side so I will say there’s been a little bit of vindication but then also on the flip side, we are hard-working individuals that when we believe in something we go at it 150%. So all of these types of things that have been happening over time have been more of a driving force for us to go harder. We want to be able to say this is part of our legacy we want to leave in the industry that we all love. We want to be able to say, we’re more than just some radio promotion guys behind the scenes, we’re actually bringing something viable to the industry that could make a real difference.

Because with Digital Radio Tracker, there’s a lot of benefits to what we do. Artists are then able to book shows, and sell merchandise, they’re able to collect more royalties. There’s a lot of things that have the right analytics you’re able to impact. We’re now in a global music industry. The industry is bigger than just your local market, or even your region now. So we all know that 85 of our streaming analytics are coming predominately from overseas so even here in America, these analytics are becoming more and more important

because a lot of artists are being broke now globally. So it becomes a whole different perspective of how you market records now.

Is this something you still finding yourself convincing artists that this is the ticket?

Sure. In today’s world, there’s always going to be those individuals who we call gatekeepers or those people who refuse change.

Like in all of us. We all grew up in different eras in the industry so as things evolve whether it be technological, from a cd to an MP3, to streaming, you know when you’re in that lane for a particular period of time, it’s very hard to adapt and to adjust. So sure we’re constantly having to educate people and let people know that this is not the way of the future, this is really the way of now. But as technology evolves it’s becoming easier and easier with that education. And that’s with things like what we’re doing now with Ford Ent Magazine is putting the voice out there to let people know if you haven’t quite gotten it yet, here’s a little bit of nuggets for you, something else for you to chew on and say think about this. Because Digital radio is global so although you have a programming base for an internet radio station, it can be heard from any computer in the world. Now it becomes a whole different angle vs terrestrial FM where you’re only dealing with a particular local metro market. Even look at the evolution of that, now even local radio stations are saying “we’re gonna start streaming our station on our website.” And what happens is that now that they wanna tap into that audience, so even the local terrestrial FM stations are

saying “Wait a minute, our advertisers are hungry for more than just a local market. We need to be able to feed them that pipeline.”

So we’ve already started to see that sector even evolve. So in a minute we honestly believe what’s gonna happen is radio period.

There’s not going to be a terrestrial FM vs Internet radio or Digital FM, there’s just going to be radio, period. Because everybody is going to be online. And that’s what brings more viability to Digital Radio Tracker and what we’re doing.

Being the innovator that you are and being able to see the future, what do your eyes on right now that you see in the future that the masses are not seeing just yet.

One of the things that we’re actually doing is, we found another void within the industry. What’s going is there’s a lot of mixtures, there’s a lot of DJs, there are ministries, there are talk shows, there’s a lot

of things that are happening out here that there’s no analytics for.

Nobody’s tracking a DJs mix show.

What’s always happened within the industry, is individual songs are tracked. What DRT is currently developing, we’re developing new technology in a way to be able to monitor actual shows. So you have ministries, you have talk shows, you have DJ mix shows, you have specialty shows, all of these types of things, where now with the growth of digital streaming radio a lot of these shows are syndicated. But there’s no way of tracking them. What we want to do is come in and be able to track them, and allow that DJ or that Minister or that Talk Show Host, to be able to monetize those analytics in ways they’ve never been able to before. So now they can get those special DRT reports when they become available and they can say hey to advertisers, sponsors, so forth, we’re on all of these stations, we now have 3rd party validation

or verification, that we are getting played, that the show is airing on these multiple stations that it does have this particular listening audience and so forth so we’re able to help affect these entities impact their bottom line. So that’s just something we’re very excited about and DRT is going to be the first company in the world to do it.

Can you tell me a bit about yourself, your personality in your background, where you draw that confidence and strength from that keeps you listening to that voice in your head saying this is the way to go.

I think for me, personally, I have a strong spiritual background. I’m very faith-based in what I do, when

I believe in something, I believe in it wholeheartedly. For me the driving factor is my family. It’s being able to be that strong leader within my family, being able to step outside of the box, outside of the norm. Being able to provide, being able to excel, being able to create opportunities, that’s really what DRT’s about. It was birthed to give opportunities for so many people within the music industry that have always wanted to be able to have a shot at something in a whole different kind of way. And that’s what we want DRT to be about. We’re the people’s brand. We are added value, one of our service marks is we always say “Competition to no one, Value for everyone.” That’s what we stand for at DRT. So for me personally is about applying

that faith, it’s about being able to step out of that box, being able to excel at what you’re doing, and so we work very hard at it, we work 7 days a week here, we really believe and we’re passionate about what we’re doing and we’re especially passionate about helping other people and giving back and the doors that are opening and what we call the bridges we are creating throughout the world. A lot of people really don’t understand that with DRT we have a community of broadcasters all over the world.

We’re monitoring stations in Russia, in India, in Africa, in Mexico, in Australia, a lot of these territories, no one else in the world is monitoring, nobody wants to give them a voice. So with DRT we’re about giving a voice to the unheard.

DigitalRadioTracker

I am on the phone with the one and only Tokyo Jetz. Our beauty of the month your pictures are amazing. Tell everyone how what you’ve been up to and what you’ve been working on.

I’ve been recording my ass off. And basically been trying to get back to the swing of things after having my son and after corona. And I have a project that’s getting ready to release, and a video getting ready to release, and you know, I’m just ready to get back outside.

I know with Corona, it slowed a lot of things down. Did it slow things down for you, or did you use that time to pick things up?

I think for me it was a little bit different, I had just become a mom, and it kind of gave me time to actually be inside with my son.

I had realized the time had gone by until it was time to throw my son another birthday party. So it’s a little bit different for me, I kind of got the chance to bond with my son whereas if Covid didn’t happen it would have been a whole different situation.

Now being a mom and haven’t spent that much time with your son, has that changed your music as far as the vibe or theme of it?

I think so but, just in a way I’m a little bit more open, I allow myself to be a little more vulnerable.

Take us through a little through the journey of your music, a little backstory for any unfamiliar.

I started doing music maybe 3 or 4 years ago, I started doing videos in my car and they used to go viral.

And I spoke to a lot of different people, and one of the people who actually stuck with me was T.I. we really clicked, he was one of the people that care more about what I had going on in my life outside of music, my livelihood and my wellbeing. We started to do business from there, I went on tour with Hustle Gang, after that, I actually wrote a book a little bit of last year, and I’m about to release my first album in 2021 Tell us a little bit about your book My book is titled Mind over Matter, it’s basically focusing on mental health, and I decided to actually write it because I used to have really bad issues with anxiety. And I spoke to people I trusted about it, my family, and of course in the Black community people don’t take mental health seriously so, I didn’t get the response I was looking for, so I actually decided to talk to a therapist and I decided to write the book from there because I realize a lot of people are going through the same thing and they don’t have an outlet, in the same way I didn’t.

Is that an avenue that you intend on exploring? the Writer portion of your career?

Yeah, absolutely, I actually started on my second book and hopefully, it’ll be done by maybe around September, October. It just a whole lot that goes into writing a book more than I thought before I did it.

Going back to your current project that you’re working on, tell us a little bit more about it.

The title of the new project is “Cancel Culture.” I decided to name it Cancel Culture because basically in 2020 and in the current culture we’re living in right now when people make a mistake the world is just so eager to jump on you and take everything away from you no matter how hard you work for it and it’s just kinda backward to me because in the same breath we’re all about “uplift Black Women, and focus on your mental health”, and those people don’t care, they don’t care what you’re going through, they don’t care about anything outside of that as if they don’t make mistakes. So that’s why I decided to name it that and you can expect to hear how I felt in those times, you can expect me to talk my shit because I’ve been quiet for a really long time. And I just got some to say, and the world gon hear it.

RAHRAH LAYEDLOW

I’m sitting down with the winner from The Industry Tuesdays Showcase in Ft Myers, Fl. Before we get into the details of all that, go ahead and introduce yourself to everybody.

What’s up everybody, I’m RahRah Layedlow, from Ft Myers Fl, 239 Lil Pakistan. That’s what we call it. As of right now, I don’t know if I’ll be changing my name tho, ‘cause I was told it was a little long, so, I might be AKP Rah Rah, I don’t know. But I know I’m for sure Rah Rah. Tell us about your name, Rah Rah, is that a childhood nickname?

That’s just some shit that my dad had. I’m a junior, I never really got to be around my dad like that growing up, everybody calls him Gerard Gerard Gerard. I didn’t really personally like that, due to the fact that he wasn’t really around like that, and I had a whole ‘nother dude raise me, so I wanted to be called something different. So I called myself Rah Rah and it sounded fun, it sounded cool, everybody liked that. The females like it for sure. It was catchy.

Tell us about the second part, the Layedlow part.

That’s why I felt like...I mean I’m layedlow, I don’t really hang around too many people, I used to be honestly really popular growing up in my city, I’m still popular in my city, and with that being said, I’ve gotten into a lot of altercations and situations, just from being around too many people. It put me in some real deep depressed, fucked up situations so as I kept growing up and getting older I kept cutting away and cutting off certain individuals and groups of people, and I just ended by myself I feel like, for the past 4 years since I’ve been out of high school, things have changed. I’ve really been rocking on my lonely. Anybody who with me, it ain’t too many. So I’ve just been Layedlow, handling my business and staying out of the way, Layedout stands for emotional in a way, because when I’m being Layedlow, I kinda make more melodize music. I feel like Rah Rah was always lit, Rah Rah is from high school, Rah Rah always had a lot of females, he was popping, homecoming king, all that shit. So I kinda brought the two of them. How do they call it? when they got two different people, something like that. That was the idea, the Rah Rah and the Layedlow. Layedlow is supposed to stand for the soft side of me, the side that’s chill, that can reach people’s mental, and thoughts, and feelings and Rah Rah is just lit.

That was actually what caught my attention at your performance, is that you started with the singing, you captured everyone’s attention with the singing, then you switched

it up and got hype and we were all like “Wait a minute!! Who is this person?”

I said that I said they’re gonna be like “who is this dude?”

Is that something you incorporate into all of your music or do you have songs that are all Rah Rah and all Layedlow. Or do you always incorporate both sides?

I would say as the growth is coming, I feel like my raps have been a little more dominant over my singing. I’m actually a singer-turned rapper. So it’s kinda strange now, being in this position that I’m in, because a lot of my old friends, at least I should say Ft Myers...I recently posted a video that was from 2017, and everybody was like, “mannnn you need to get to get back on this type of flow.” But it’s like, that wasn’t really bringing me everything I needed to be seen, I feel like at the time rapping is kinda like what’s going, R&B faded, some years ago. I’m an R&B fan, so I knew this for a fact, so I’m like “I’m not gonna get nowhere trying to be Chris Brown!” So I had to learn how to rap, so now I just kinda crush it. I’m like, really good at it. I wrote and have been writing since I was 12/ So I just wanted to switch it up and see if I can go into their lane too. Because I got told that I couldn’t, just because I was always emotional going through my life situations and I wrote about them, and I sang it out. And people used to make fun of me for that. So I’m like “Ok, yall think I’m just emo music, I can do rap. So now I’m a rapper.” But I still make both, just mostly rap. But I got some R&B mixtapes coming out soon. I’m trying to actually put some real thought into it.

Because everything I write is always something I’m going through. I can’t talk about nothing that’s fake. It’s just not in me, I can’t do that. It’s always my real situation, I

feel my music, that’s why I write, and I like that people like it.

I love that you have a clear vision for your music. At your performance, one of the judges, AJ from Unruly Ink, said he’s watched you perform before and mentioned your growth, what do you attribute your growth to? Has it been on purpose or has it been something that’s been naturally growing?

I think it’s a little bit of both, I don’t know if working and practicing on your craft is natural, but I really don’t listen to nobody like that. I listen to my favorite artists a little bit but I don’t like to get my flow thrown off or even my thought process by catching someone’s vibe. So, I really ride around all day long, listening to straight beats. I literally listen to 200 beats a day. I drive most of the time where I work and I write most of my music, driving on 75. Honestly, I’m raw. I write music all day. I’ve been writing since I was a jit, so it’s just natural. I just got a passion for writing out my emotions out. And I know how to do it really well. So that’s how it fucks up people like “damn, this man knows how to talk about what he goes through really good. I like that. It sounds good when he’s singing, when he rap you can feel the aggression in him, yea, I like that.” Honestly, I’ve been working on all that. The whole growling, my voice, I had to work on that, I had to put more attitude in, more emotions.

I’m a shy person in a way, I don’t really...I like attention, but I don’t like attention. If it makes sense. I’m not scared of nothing, I feel like I’ll stand on top of the world and sing if I had to, coz I know that’s just the way it gotta be to make it in the world. You gotta be bold and brave. But I’m a shy person. That’s where the Layedlow comes in.

On a personal side, you said your growth is attributed to balancing Rah Rah and Layedlow, is that something also in your personal life that you had to master as well as in your music? Meaning being able to successfully balance the two sides. Or is that something

you’re still struggling with?

That’s a big struggle because it’s so easy to talk about, or write down, or talk about in an interview right now, this just like a dream come true for real. But I really be too deep in my thoughts, I really have a side of me, like I said, the Rah Rah side, that’s where the most fuck up stuff I did, or thought of, and went crazy and psycho and hyped up, and was all lit. That wasn’t only Rah Rah, that was Gerard, but I don’t go by Gerard, so really it was just Rah Rah. Layedlow is new, Layedlow has been out since last year, beginning of 2020 coz I’ve been with AKP since then. So Layedlow just came about, Rah Rah’s really been most of my life. So it intertwined in my lifestyle coz I treated a couple of people, loved ones, a certain way just because I was getting too caught up with big headedness, I let situations from home and my thoughts, situations from my dad, whatever case it was, dudes crossing me, I used to take it out on my girlfriend in a way, not abusively, she just couldn’t feel anything from me. Cause it’s just kinda scarred up, I’m just like a walking scar and just looking for some freedom. So that’s where Layedlow came in, it’s like, he’s somebody. He’s a person. It gives me more life. Because when I think of Rah Rah, I think of the past. When I think of Layedlow it only goes back so far.

Yea, I guess I’m struggling still, I still go through things. Last night was me putting on a face because I go back home to the same lifestyle, it’s hard. I just gotta do what I gotta do. I’m Layedlow when I go out.

I fully understand, and I can speak for our readers when I say they can also relate.

Because we all go through that, where we’re struggling with our past and looking towards our future. So I wanna commend you for

opening up to that. And as for fans as they relate to you and your music, what advice would you give them in regards to being in the struggle against your past?

You gotta understand you’re gonna get shit, you’re gonna get a lot of shit. It ain’t even gonna be simple, and the older you get it’s honestly gonna get worse. You gotta be prepared for the worse and be so expecting of the positive. But always be open to it. With that being said, you can’t situations to keep you from accomplishing your goals. You gotta keep rolling with the punches, you can’t let life knock you down. Can’t let nothing knock you down.

RAHRAHLAYEDLOW

With your uncles and your father being in the game, what’s the biggest lesson do you think you’ve learned from them that helped you when you started doing music?

That you gotta invest in yourself, that you gotta be your number 1 supporter, if you expect other people to do the work for you, it’s not gonna get done. You gotta be able to push yourself. That’s the only way to get far.

You said you started to take music seriously in High School, what drove you at that period of time to take it seriously?

I was that kid that was always rapping in class, always freestyling in class.

And one day I made a video on Instagram of me doing a freestyle, and it did pretty well and had a lot of views.

When I went back to school, people were coming up to me, quoting the lines, and was like, I should record it.

From there, from having those people come up to me and give me that recognition, I knew that if they liked it, they will like stuff that I had written down and took time, and put work into.

Tell me some of the accomplishments and milestones you’ve reached so far.

In the beginning, it was just about building my fan base, and I’ve done that over the past couple of years that I’ve been rapping. I’ve built my fan base up from a thousand followers to 70 in a couple of years. I’ve gotten a lot more views, I’ve got more music on Apple music. So I’m finally getting paid for my music, I’m getting paid to do shows. It’s actually going pretty well for me right now.

What do you feel is next for you in music?

The sky’s the limit, but right now, a goal of mine is still the same, growing my fan base. I want to be able to sell some type of area out, that’s a goal of mine right now.

To have enough support around me, to throw a show and have a lot of people turn out and it goes well.

Let’s talk about your music, take me through your catalog, what would you say is the overall theme of your music if you had to categorize it.

I tell stories, I tell a lot of stories in my music. I don’t have one kind of music. I find myself to be versatile. I do everything, any type of beat, anything. I don’t put myself in one lane, I like to think outside the box.

And stay different, stay creative. That’s what I feel like gives me the upper hand, the fact that you really can’t just put me in one place.

Tell me a little bit more about the project that’s coming up It’s my first official tape by myself, it’s called “Are you Listening?” It’s going to be very versatile. I don’t think any song is going to be like any other song, that’s the goal. If you take a moment to hear what I gotta say, you’ll realize it’s probably some of the hardest things you’ve heard.

It’s coming out this month, it’s going to be on all platforms.

FREEMONEYKROCK

I’m on the line with K Rock, first I want to thank you for coming through to the Fordentmag App launch party and performing, let’s talk about your music, tell us a little about yourself I was born in North Carolina, but I moved here when I was a baby, so I’ve been in Florida my whole life. But my father and my uncles used to rap, they had their own studio in the house when I was a kid. So I grew up around music my whole life, but I didn’t start taking music seriously until about sophomore year in High School. That’s when I knew I could do this.

What is the most memorable song you’ve ever made and why does it mean so much?

I don’t know, I like a lot of my music.

It’s something that’s unreleased, I have an up and coming tape coming out this month, there’s something on there, it’s called “War Zone.” it’s probably the most requested song out right now, that’s why it’s my favorite.

It’s the one I performed at the show that we just had actually.

Snapalott Sir

It’s your girl Ladychelle, go ahead and introduce yourself My name is SirSnapalott, born and raised in Dade County.

With the name alone, it’s like a self-proclaimed title, did you give yourself that title or were you named that?

Back in the day, it wasn’t really about music how I came up with the name, everything I do, if I play Basketball, if I fix a car, or if I draw something, they would always say I snapped. They used to call me “Snap” pretty much. As I grew up and started taking music seriously, I started noticing everyone putting their names as “Young this”, “Little this”, and I didn’t wanna portray myself as young or little, I’m a man, I’m a Sir, so I said Sir Snapalott and that’s how I came up with that.

So you sound like a man who’s determined, skillful and learns his craft. How long have you been working on the craft of music?

I’m going to be honest with you, since I was a kid I always loved music. I always like to play with different instruments, make a noise in the house and stuff like that, I actually started taking it seriously in 2017. The thing is, back then I was a shy person. I made a song when I was about 11 years old, and every time my cousin or my mother play the song out loud, I’d get missing, and you can’t find me until the song is done because I was that shy. I told my mom I really wanted to be a rapper but I’m scared of being in

"I didn’t wanna portray myself as young or little, I’m a man, I’m a Sir.”

front of a lot of people. I can make the song and give it to you to listen on your own, but if I’m there while you’re listening to it, it feels like I’m out of place. She said for me to become an artist, I’d have to find a way to get rid of that. Honestly I think life situations helped me get over my shyness, going through things, because I’d have to actually speak up.

Tell us about any projects that you’re currently working on or you got in the works.

I just dropped a video, “Keep it cool”, that song is actually about me growing up as a kid, I ain’t gon lie I was very bad. I used to always get into shit, always in trouble, always stressing my parents out. So that song right there is basically, me trying to keep it cool from all the stuff I used to do, stressing out my people, so I actually just dropped a music video for that about 3 weeks ago, so I’m waiting for that to do a little better on the streams. Actually this whole year, I’m really focused on dropping music videos, I have all these songs but no videos.

SIRSNAPALOTT

Traplife Ruga

"What you gon do about it? You gon make something happen? or you gon lay there and let life beat you down?" _TRAPLIFERUGA It’s your girl Ladychelle, with Traplife Ruga, one of the winners from Industry Tuesdays. I picked you as one of the winners because Your presence, your energy, and your vibe made me pay attention and I love that from an artist. But go ahead and introduce yourself.

Y’all know what’s going on, this

is Traplife Ruga aka 33 Ruga putting on for 239 Florida, Lil Pakistan, all the way down to the 941 Manatee county! Brrr!

Tell me a little bit about your music and your style.

Basically, my music is realistic.

This is not a game, this is really who I am. This is the lifestyle

that I live not something I portray. These are my trials and tribulations I’ve been through. It comes from that, and it comes from who I am now. The moves, the statements that I’m making now, the person I’ve become.

It’s all about expressing myself, nothing more, nothing less. And I always wanted to reach that

other crowd, somebody who feels exactly how I feel, so they can hear where I’m coming from, so someday in the future, I can help somebody get where they’re going from the same thing I’m doing.

Tell me about your start in music. What was the one moment in your life that made you think “I’m gonna do this for real.”

I was in High School, I was in my Senior year, I only need a credit left to get out of school but because I couldn’t make it to school because I had no ride to school, my school was miles away, so they called me, made me withdraw out of school.

I withdraw from school, got kicked off the football team, no lie, real-life boohoo cried about the shit, but from that moment on I didn’t feel like I had a purpose. But my little brother got me to want to do music. Because I always could somewhat rap. But I took it more seriously when he was like “Bro, promise me you ain’t gon quit on that, and you gon do this, and do that. My little brother RockStar Camo. So I was like yea bro I’ma do this, and I dropped my first ever video about 5 years ago. I dropped it on Facebook.

After I dropped that and I saw how many views I got from that, from there I started liking music.

I didn’t start taking it seriously until 3 years ago, when I caught my first charge. After that, I was all in. Because my cards was on the table, it is what it is. What you gon do about it? You gon make something happen, or you

gon lay there and let life beat you down?

I love that spirit of conquering, that spirit of keeping it moving.

What advice would you give somebody to get them from the mindset of being a victim to a victor?

I’ma give them the most honest answer that a person like me can possibly give them, and that is, when you feel like that, you have to say “Fuck all that.”

Seriously. As hard as it sounds, as hard as it may be, you gotta take that time with yourself and look yourself in the mirror and say “I can’t go out like that, I ain’t gon lay down like this.

Coz if I don’t do this now, who gon do that for me? Nobody.” If you can’t pay your bills, who’s gonna pay your bills? Nobody.

When the time comes you want notoriety, you want to be remembered, you want a legacy, you want to have done something that mattered, that meant something. So you gotta want it that bad. And you gotta push yourself that much, to put that drive in yourself, to conquer.

You wanna overcome anything, coz if you let anything stop you, you have a weakness. I don’t see a weakness, coz I see nothing that can stop me.

I’m getting in where I fit in, I got people all out of town calling me from Tampa, Lakeland, St Petersburg, I’m doing things out that way so Corona ain’t really stopping nothing, it’s just a hesitation for the moment because the world on pause, but I wouldn’t be surprised if a lot of these people make it out the trenches this year, this shit for everybody.

Let’s go back to your music, tell me of any projects you’re currently working on.

The most recent track I’m doing is going to be a really big song for me, not because it’s a club banger, or any other thing like that, this song right here is really a story. It’s a lot of emotions behind this. Coz a lot of times when you go into the studios, you either have something written, or you’re coming up with something. I ain’t had nothing written when I dropped this song. I just had the beat and all I had was my heart and I laid it down on the track. And it’s called “Reality” but it’s really a lot to do with my lifestyle, what’s going on, what happened, what’s currently going on, it’s gonna be like a movie when I drop this. Coz this all came together. This is real life. This is just something somebody wrote in a script. You can’t get this Has the current pandemic times stopped you at all with out of any script, this sincerely really happened. I’m a young your music career? man who never had shit, I made Honestly, I’m just jumping out there on the scene, after freshly opportunities out of the littlest of opportunities, but I still made it being out of jail for 7 months right now and I’m doing incred- happen. And I give God all the thanks for that, coz without him, ible, I’m doing amazing. That’s I ain’t nothing, you dig? not even phasing me.

""You gotta want it that bad. And you gotta push yourself that much, to put that drive in yourself, to conquer.”

rights e h t tting have i h t u abo es you here.” n e v e tim t et I“ t’s nootes, someings just b n eel f e h t to let It’s your girl Ladychelle, here with Ballad. With your name alone, it needs no introduction, it already tells us that you can blow, that you can sing, would that be correct?

Yea, you’re correct! I dabble in songwriting as well.

Tell me, when did tap into that superpower?

It was actually a couple of years ago, not too long ago, I’ve always been into music, always been singing and doing harmony, and even dabbling in rapping, but a couple of years ago, I decided to get serious about it hopped in the studio, just started recording everything that came to my life, from relationships to life experiences, to ups and downs and everything and I just put it to the music and that’s what sparked me because I’m a songwriter at heart.

Is that how you started? With songwriting?

Yes, it started with the songwriting and I’m real big on voice notes, I’m real big on recording whatever melody comes to my head. It always started with the melody, then the lyrics kind of come after that. That’s where ev-

_BALLADD

erything is birthed from. I just needed a way to express my words.

The game gets alot of flack for songwriters and ghostwriters, how do you feel as a ghostwriter when you see an artist performing something you’ve put together?

I feel that they are separate talents.

You have the people who can just blow, they can sing, they’re vocalists but they can’t come up with their own songs, they can’t write their heart out.

I feel like I provide that for them. It’s two different things and they need each other. Sometimes the person who can’t sing can write tho so you just collaborate with the two.

How do you feel as a songwriter when people clown artists for not being able to write for themselves?

Again, I think it’s two different talents, I don’t look down on it, but I also see the competitive side of it, where if you have an artist who’s never written anything for themselves, calling them the greatest. Then it comes to “they kind of don’t even write their own music”, I don’t know if I can consider them the greatest. But as long as the person is authentic with what they’re talking about, I really don’t have any flack to give them.

Back to you, and your music and your projects, you said you started a couple of years ago, catch us up to now.

Just a lot of relationships, I write a lot about relationships and how they tie into self-love. I always root my music

in self-love because even when you’re in a successful relationship, you still have to love yourself, you still have to remember who you are. You can’t get so lost in the relationship, that you lose who you are, that comes from being selfish and selfless. You also have that if you’re single. If you’re single, you always want to have self-love. You don’t want to feel like without someone else by my side, I’m nothing. You wanna be empowered and you want your love to speak for you. Everyone knows the language of love. Everyone has been loved or loved someone.

And if you haven’t been loved, that’s soul seeking. That’s what I write about.

Have you ever written a song for someone but kept it for yourself because you don’t think the person can do the song justice?

Yes, there’s a song I wrote for somebody and I just felt like they didn’t sing it the way I really wanted them to. They were just kind of doing it just to do it, so I took it back. I said, “you’re not singing the song the way I wanted it to be sung and I’ll just sing it myself.” And I kept it and it ended up better doing it that way. And there was also a song I wrote for somebody, where they really wanted the song, but I just said “I kinda really have to keep this song.” Sometimes it’s not even about hitting the rights notes, sometimes you have to let the feelings just be there. You kind of want to lead with your emotions, you wanna vibe on a record, you don’t wanna sound like you’re trying to make everything so perfect. Sometimes you just have to think from the soul and whatever happens, happens.

Tell me a little about your name... because “Cliché”, a lot of people are familiar with the word, but how does it relate to your music?

Cliché to me, usually Cliché could come off as a bad thing, but typically when you break it down, it’s usually something good, or something unseen, usually unique, and I feel like I’m going to be one of the best influential female artists in the music industry, so I feel like to call myself Cliché, I’m not a Cliché. I’m coming at you with something Cliché but that’s not me. I just wanted my name to be that so it catch attention like, “Cliché?” And then they listen and they’re like “Damn, this ain’t Cliché!”

Tell me a bit more about the message from your music.

I try to give a real nostalgic feel to my music because when people listen to my music I want them to feel open, creative, I want them to know that people in the world hurts besides them and I just want people to have open minds and open hearts when they listen to my music, and understand they not loners out here, other people out here hurting, and there’s ways to talk about it, there’s ways to go about it, and through my music I want to help people see ways to go about it, feel me in a different way. Not enough artists are talking about real situations and traumatic experiences and time we in right now, mental health is at its lowest, I want my music to touch that area a little bit, help people tap in with who they are as individuals.

Are you currently working on any new projects right now?

Yea, I’m in the middle of my first mixtape, my debut mixtape, titled “The Hood Poet.” It should have 13 tracks on it, if not 16 I’m still undecided on the number of tracks I wanna put on it, because I want

to make sure I portray the right message on my first mixtape. That’s what I’m working on right now. I’m actually in the middle of setting up for a video shoot. I’m bout to shoot a video to the single I just dropped titled “Mood.” I’m just tryna stay busy, get my name out, get my face out, let people know who I am, how I’m coming.

You’re saying this is your first mixtape, how long have you been doing music?

I’ve been working on music honestly since I was about 9 years old. I’ve been recording since I was 12, but during high school I was in and out of trouble a lot, it order to break from the trouble I started going to school for Psychology, so I wasn’t doing music like that. I dropped an EP, it had like 5 tracks on it, but this mixtape right here is gonna be the one where I really open up, talk about my life, experiences, stuff like that.

Sound like you have a plan in mind, you got your education settled and now you’re focused on the music. Are you looking to tie the two together?

Yea,Yea I am. My biggest goal is to make mental health more of a thing in the Black community and I’m trying to use my music to do that. Because we relate better through the music more so then sitting in front of a therapist talking about how we really feel. It’s easier for us to listen to the music and probably relate to an artist versus sitting in front of a therapist talking about my feelings. I feel like it’s going to be the best way to talk about mental health especially when it involves music.

Where can people follow the movement?

My music is streaming on every platform. I have videos on Youtube, everywhere you can search me as Cliché, make sure you use the accent on the e. My Instagram is 1_Cliche. And all of my Social Media is 1Cliche.

1_CLICHE

FLA.JPAPI With your name, I take it you’re representing Florida. Where in Florida do you represent?

I represent Florida period. I’m from Ft Myers, little small town called Harlem Heights. But right now I reside in Orlando.

Tell me a little bit about the influence Florida has on your music for you to carry the state in your name.

I just love Florida all the way around. Everything about Florida, the south, it’s just, that’s all I know is the south. Basically as far as my music, it’s the struggle. Everything that comes from the south. Everything I’ve been through. When I do my music that’s what I speak on and that what I know, that’s what I talk about.

How long have you been doing music?

I’ve been doing music since 2008 but I didn’t take it seriously until 4 years ago. And I’ve been pushing pushing pushing. This industry, it’s not easy, it’s very pricey. So you have to budget everything correctly, especially when you don’t have a machine behind you. Especially as a father, it also makes it hard.

You gotta keep pushing, that’s the

struggle, I come from the struggle, all I know is to keep going, and keep pushing, and elevating, my craft, my work, every time I hit the stage, I just try to bring something different. That way it can be appealing. Whether it’s my visuals, my on-stage presence, what I wear, and in my music, from the beats to who I feature with.

Sounds like you take pride in carefully crafting your music as a whole, what is your end goal?

My end goal is to leave a legacy.

Something that was never done with my family. The only legacy that we have in my family is either dead or going to prison, being a victim to the streets. Death or prison, that’s just what it is. I’ve witnessed that, for me, that’s just what I wanna speak on. I just wanna carry the torch my way and take it to the next level. Show everybody that from the same hood, or from the same bloodline that it ain’t all about the street, you can still be street. Me, you can take me out the hood but the hood will never leave me and that’s just something, that’s what it was.

What are you currently working on?

I just recently The Goat in the Family, I like to think of it as a little EP. That’s out right now streaming on all platforms. I got a few features on there, I got poison IVY. I got Lou, he’s also from the city, and I got Michael Isaiah, he’s also an upcoming artist, he’s from Buffalo, NY resigning in Georgia. I’m currently getting ready to drop “Stripper Bitch” the video, just in time for spring break. Everybody get loose to it and throw stripper parties.

I come from a family of 7 I’m the oldest I’m a Taurus and I’m gearing up to drop my debut album 2022 I got some big huge artists on there to look forward to. No one has accomplished what I’ve accomplished with music, that’s why titled it the Goat in the Family but that can mean anything for every one if u accomplished anything and raised the bar that no 1 has done in your family, then you the goat in yo family you feel me.

But 1thing before I go, Rest in peace to the ones we lost and free all the real ones all I ask if yall like the MOVEMENT let’s keep spreading the name FLA.J till I blow I wanna thank my team HSKO and my continued supporters across the land and much luv #weoutchea #stream #thegoatinthefamily

t

he difference between getting something done & thinking about getting something done is going on ahead and getting that shit done. It’s simple! Sitting around wasting time on would’ve, could’ve, should’ve or mights & maybes doesn’t serve much of a purpose when it’s GO time. My mother was the type to kick into high gear when the time came to make something happen.

This woman was known for years for having some of the strongest (& sexiest, if we’re honest) legs known to man & much to do with her willingness to use them to get from Point A to Point B. She wasn’t the type of person to get ‘stuck’ when something needed to get done, albeit grocery shopping, job hunting or simply sight-seeing. She had a motto that she lived by incessantly & in turn passed down to her daughters. If it was time to go & seemingly no way to get there, she was gonna ‘put her foot to the pavement’ and make it happen. It was the only way that made sense in her opinion. It ultimately became mine as well.

You have to ask yourself… Why be stuck when you can make a way out of no way, so to speak? Essentially, across town is still across town whether you walk or catch a ride.

How long will you choose to sit stagnant concerning yourself with the woes of a situation rather than make a move to progress toward your goal? For instance, if you simply start to walk, you will be taking a step in the right direction. Rather than remain stuck, you will undoubtedly look up & find yourself closer & closer to your destination. Even more important, if you don’t focus on the upset of having to walk, the journey will be that much more carefree. You will not only find yourself exercising your body but in turn, also exercising your mind, energy, and mood while in motion. Subconsciously, your feelings of stagnation will gradually recede because you would have found yourself in forward motion. The two contradict one another & ultimately send a signal of empowerment to your brain. Yes, the journey might prove itself to be tiring after the fact, but only if it’s (exhaustion) not your focus throughout. Either way, the forward motion, no matter the time

taken to accomplish, will undoubtedly find you at your destination.

I was raised to withhold the logic that if it made no sense to sit around and wait for something to happen when you could make it happen for yourself. I come from the logic of impatience and aggravation at the mere thought of staying still when forward motion was a requirement.

Don’t get me wrong, as I was fully taught to relax and unwind, but I was taught that it’s far more enjoyable and beneficial to do so AFTER I’ve accomplished what needs to be done. The thought of chilling with something yet pressing to be done was motivation enough within itself to push my feet and legs in the go motion. I learned early on the magic of psyching yourself out to not even realize the magnitude of the journey once the path was deemed necessary. What’s even better is how magnificent you feel within your spirit once you’ve accomplished your goal. I learned early on that the way in which you looked at the process had much to do with the way in which it affected you. I learned so in turn, I (attempt to) teach! What will you take a step to progress toward