SOCIAL MEDIA HANDLES: @ACEXXI
SOUNDCLOUD: soundcloud.com/TOTWE
BANDCAMP: N/A
ITUNES: Album: “Year Øne: The Human Element” Single: “Only One”
SPOTIFY: Album: “Year Øne: The Human Element” Single: “Only One”
ANY RECENT OR UPCOMING PROJECTS: WHERE CAN WE FIND THEM? WHEN?
My first album “Year Øne: The Human Element” is currently available on all streaming and music sites, as is my single “Only One” that I put out in 2017. There’s also a bunch of mixtape content of mine available on my SoundCloud.
My upcoming project “Love War” is slated to come out this year…hopefully in the next month. I’ve got all the music recorded I’m just working toward making sure my release is solid. In the meantime, I’ll be performing my new material so stay tuned, you guys’ll have a date real soon.
WHAT INSPIRES YOU?
Initially, I think what inspired me was seeing my favorite performers and MCs rock a stage and wanting that energy. That’s what inspired me to even get on a stage, pick up a pen, and start making music. But as of late, I find more inspiration in simple things and not so simple things that happen in my life, taking those things and really finding the emotion in them so I can share that with my audience. Nothing inspires me more than when someone tells me that I inspired them, or they connected with my music emotionally. It makes it all worth it. It inspires me to make more music, because now I feel like I’m not just making this music for me. I’m making it for other people too, whether I want or intend to.
WHEN DID YOU REALIZE YOU HAD THA JUICE?!?!
I realized I had tha juice when all of a sudden I realized that I was working with and was on par with (some would argue a bit better) than the MCs I looked up to in my high school. When I was in high school from about 2004-2008 the internet was brand new. When it came down to wanting to be famous for something, even if it was just the fame you were chasing, you still had to step your skills up. At least that’s how it was in my town. So I say that to say, these cats were NICE. Some of ‘em were actually in real conversations to get record deals way back then. And I remember specifically wanting to rap with them and just not being nice enough. I think when I went away to college I got really nice and when I came back my momentum was different. My boy and I had just dropped a successful single up there and were making some good buzz for ourselves as MCs. So when I came back and I was no longer just the “lil homie” when it came to rapping in my town, my “OGs” so to speak were now my peers.
COMPLETE THIS SENTENCE... " IN A PERFECT WORLD..."
In a perfect world everyone would work because they love what they do, not because they have to.
WHAT IS ONE MISCONCEPTION THAT PPL HAVE ABOUT YOU?
One misconception people have about me is that I don’t pay attention. I think sometimes people think I’m a bit aloof when it comes to what’s going on around me in regards to my career. But I’m normally just analyzing, thinking, or busy paying attention to everything.
WHAT ARE YOU AFRAID OF?
I’m afraid of finishing my time on this planet and my name not being a household one.
IF YOU COULD COLLABORATE WITH ANYONE IN THE WORLD... DEAD OR ALIVE WHO WOULD IT BE?
It’s a tie between Tupac and Michael Jackson. With ‘Pac I know we’d get like 80,000 records done in a day. And with Mike it’s about the attention to detail. That man was meticulous about his music…he would record every single harmony he could hear to a record. And he just knew how to actualize his creative visions and that’s something I want to master.
WHAT'S THE MOST EMBARRASSING THING YOU'VE EVER DONE?
The most embarrassing thing I ever did was almost fighting someone in middle school and then walking away crying because I didn’t want to fight them. Because everyone followed me home making crying noises…and then they did it whenever they saw me the next day.
IF YOU COULD WAVE A MAGIC WAND WHAT ILL IN THE WORLD WOULD YOU SOLVE AND WHY?
I would wish away evil and greed. I just don’t understand why certain folks feel someone has to lose in order for them to win. Our successes should elevate others, not bring them down.
NAME AN EXPENSIVE THING YOU BOUGHT THAT YOU NOW REGRET?
A trip to the strip club after one of the first big bags I made doing music. I spent about $600 in there and the next day I had nothing to show for it. All day it just felt like all I was doing was thinking about literally everything and anything else I could’ve done with that money.
WHAT HAS BEEN YOUR GREATEST ACCOMPLISHMENT TO DATE?
My greatest accomplishment to date is Love War my upcoming album. It’s my first real studio album that I’ve had a whole professional team of people working behind and I’m really blessed to work with the people I’ve worked with on this album. This album and its completion is the culmination of so much hard work, blessings, and dedication to my craft and I can’t wait to share it with the world.
DO YOU BELIEVE MUSIC CAN HEAL?
Music can begin the healing process. Music alone can’t heal but it brings people to a common ground and often can help people identify things in themselves that they’ve never been able to identify or articulate on their own. And that’s why it’s important for me to be honest in my music and make it from my heart, because it’s gonna resonate with someone.
HOW WILL YOU USE YOUR GIFTS TO SERVE OTHERS?
I just wanna help people heal. I just wanna give people my honesty and lead through example and take every opportunity I get and find a way for it to benefit not just me, but the people around me as well.
WHAT'S A DIFFICULT OBSTACLE YOU HAVE OVERCOME?
A difficult obstacle I have overcome is stage fright. I had it when I was a t
eenager and it was so bad to the point when I was 16 I did a performance where I literally only stood in one spot and didn’t move the whole time. Just spit the whole song then got off stage. It took a lot of me getting on stage and not doing well to get to a point that even my worst nights can be decent, so I’d definitely say may stage fright is something I overcame. Because at this point I’m like it’s gon’ be what it is…no point in bein’ nervous, that’s just gonna make it worse.
LAST ONE ....
NAME 3 THINGS THAT HAPPENED TODAY YOU ARE THANKFUL FOR?
1. I already had some weed so I ain’t have to leave the crib before my wake n bake
2. I still have my voice, because that thing is practically my life-blood right now
3. These movers finally came and put my bed together…no more air mattress living, praise God.
