How was it growing up in Atlanta during the golden
era?
Growing up in Atlanta in the 90’s was an amazing
experience. Black culture in Atlanta was and still is
so diverse and inspiring. We set so many rap music
trends. We invented swag. Kilo Ali, an old-school
Atlanta artist that was the first person I heard with
the “rap singer” style, currently used to by artists like
Future and Rich Homie Quan. I’ve experienced the
very last Freaknik (black college spring break in ATL),
in 1995. Dungeon Family was the biggest thing
happening when I really got into rap and they made
some of the most soulful southern music ever. The
Crunk era of late 90’s/Early 2000’s had a major
influence on my style. I’m more into high energy, hard
hitting music, and Crunk music had the biggest and
fastest beats. It wasn’t the most lyrical music, but it
showed me that not many rappers were
applying quality lyricism aka “bars” to Crunk beat. To
me, there isn’t anything more hard hitting than a
mixture of up tempo 808 driven beats with clever
bars. Thus, my name, Phresh Ali, which represents
street and consciousness.
Atlanta doesn’t have the same conscious music that
Dungeon Family and a few other artists gave us, but
it’s still a scene that pushes the culture forward and
has a great influence on the rest of the country, and
beyond.
The game has changed more than the actual
music. There no such thing as “getting discovered”
anymore. Labels only want developed artists with
pre-existing fanbases. The Master P “CD’s out the
trunk” days are over. I blame the Internet. It’s a very
useful promotional tool, but I feel like it gave TOO
many not-so talented people a platform. The race for
a record deal became overly crowded. True talent
gets overlooked. People began to be turned off by
being sent links and being pressured to buy to many
indie mixtapes. It’s not a special as it once was.
Favorite performance venue and why?
467 edgewood Ave. Erosol aka Dept. Store.
Department Store is the livest spots on one of the livest
strips. It’s the central location of a new Atlanta Renaissance
made up of creative forward-thinking individuals and crews
and lovers of the arts.
Dept. Store holds an open mic night called #LevelUpAtl,
which I went to for the first time in August of 2014. When I
saw how receptive and interested in new music the crowd
was, I performed there consistently for 8 months. 3-4 months
in, I was being booked 2-3 times weekly all around the city
from people seeing my set there. Edgewood Ave. shows the
most love to artists, so I like to go where the love is.
You never know who you’ll meet at Dept. Store. I’ve met
Missy Elliot, T.I., Young Dro, 2 chainz, and so many other
major musicians there. I have a feeling it’s gonna be the
place that keeps me relevant in Atlanta.
Who have you met that left a lasting impression on
you?
I met T.I. twice. The first time was around 2003-4, at Club
Atrium on the Eastside of Atlanta. This was when he was
promoting his Urban Legend album. I didn’t even really
get to speak to him but I watched as he walked in, make
a hand motion in the air, and literally eve