Did you anticipate people bringing up your old social media posts, including a 2012 post where you refer to rape, following the performance?
That tweet was back from [around] high school. Twitter was basically just something that you would…you would just say anything. Twitter was known for the most outrageous comments. That tweet, it didn’t represent me as a person, especially not now. I meant the tweet as a metaphor, but folks took it in a different type of way.
When they tried to bring it up, it made me feel real bad. It’s like, dang, I’m trying to do something good and they’re trying to bring up the bad. And they’re going back to when I was young and dumb to do that. I definitely didn’t expect that.
You’re releasing your first album this week. One of the songs on the album, “Kash App,” features Mulatto and has a sample of the Ying Yang Twins’ “Whistle While You Twerk.” I’m assuming as an Atlanta native you grew up listening to them…
Oh, yeah. I grew up on all the Atlanta vibes. My homeboy ZachontheTrack likes to make those twerk-type bounce beats. When he sent me the beat [it was] like ‘Cool, we’re about to bring the real Atlanta vibes back.’ The party vibe.
What do you want people to take away from this album?
Don’t isolate me in a box because I’m a real artist. When you listen to this project, you gon’ see that it’s way more to me than just “Throat Baby.” The last track on the tape is called “Thug Cry.” People are familiar with the fun side of me, but “Thug Cry” is about my best friend.
Is that her in the photo on your chain?
Yes. She passed away. That song gives you the feeling that I felt. I know it’s going to touch a lot of people that feel that way. She actually came in and crashed my studio session when I made “Throat Baby.” The studio didn’t have a booth so she came in drunk with her friends and that’s them at the beginning of the song playing around. She heard the song one time in the club before she passed.