ACE HOOD
Things have moved pretty quickly for newcomer Ace Hood. After only working on his album for around six months, Gutta is set to hit stores on October 14th. Still, he’s not letting it go to his head. Ace took the time out while on the road to speak with Parlé about his sudden fame, the We The Best
family, and tips on how to stay humble while still remaining confident…
“My people and my family were always a part of music. So music was always a part of me.” Ace explains. “I started taking it serious around high school. I had a little single I was pushing called MOE (Money Over Everything). Basically I built a little street buzz for myself, trying to be on every local paper, every local magazine to get that exposure but I ended up meeting up with D. J. Khaled in November of ‘07. We went there promoting my CD, once he seen me he was like ‘I’m digging this right here.’”
Ace originally went down to the studio to give Khaled his CD, in hopes that he’d get the chance to perform at his annual birthday party, which always brings out the top acts in the industry. After meeting Ace, Khaled was impressed so he sent him the I’m So Hood instrumental to see what he could do with it. Ace recorded it the next day and sent it back, only to get a call from Khaled later that night.
Over the years D.J.Khaled has emerged confidently, with a team rappers, singers and producers taking over high-energy beats and exclaiming well, they’re the best. So it’s no surprise that Ace Hood’s entire album is “high energy. It’s definitely going to be a street classic. It’s a lot of go getter records; a lot of hard core records.” Ace says that he brings a lot of energy to the game. “When people mention my name, they are going to say, “Ace Hood goes hard. That’s why the streets respect me.”
Even though some could argue that joining a team already known for big name rappers might be hard for a newcomer to maintain a spotlight among them but Ace isn’t worried one bit. “I’m just thankful enough for DJ Khaled to be by my side, making me a part of the whole We The Best movement, but I’ma always be me. I’ma always be me and go hard.” And when asked if he has a lot of creative freedom being that he is among so many influences he exclaims, “I put a lot of input. The records that I create I definitely get face on the records I create. We pretty much go with an idea and we run with it.”
The beginning of the “Cash Flow” video shows Ace Hood coming out, confident among the stares of what seems to be curious peers. When asked whether the video was symbolism for how the game is looking at him right now, Ace responded, “Kind of, and kind of not. In this rap game you always gotta prove yourself. You gotta show people what makes you different; what’s going to make people buy your album. But regardless we’re going to go hard.”
While some are embracing the changes in hip hop, others are working hard to swim against the current that seems to try to drown them. For Ace, the current seems to be traveling his way. “Right now I feel like Hip-Hop is in a good position. I feel like we blessed to be the head leaders right now. The South is definitely doing their thing. Hip-hop is in a good state right now and I’m just happy to be a part of it.” And right now the South has a big part of the spotlight shining on them, with an apparent bond among the Florida rappers. “It’s all about that unity. We got that whole movement. Flo Rida, Khaled, Rick Ross, T Pain, Trick Daddy; cats like that. So all we doing is keeping ourselves powerful. We just making ourselves unstoppable, regardless of whether this man hates this man or what not. We still have a movement that can’t be stopped.”
As far as the future goes, Ace Hood feels like producing is naturally the next step for him. He says he wants to expand himself farther than being just an artist. When asked whether or not he could see himself as part of the We The Best for a very long time, Ace replied, “Khaled is my brother. I got the We The Best branded in me right now. That’s my man; I’m a part of the movement. It’s going to be my only stop. We just going to ride forever.”
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u are so sexy….