Exclusive Interview: Austin AcYd

Basslines and Screams caught up with talented Kentucky-based nerdcore rapper Austin AcYd in a candid interview. Check out what AcYd has to say in this BLS exclusive.

Q) What inspired you personally to get into music?

A) I would have to say that the movie, "Pursuit of Happyness", inspired me to get into music. I had always had the dream of making rap music, but I just never thought I was good enough. People kept telling me that it was just some stupid dream I'd never accomplish. I watched that movie, and it just inspired me to keep working toward my dreams no matter what anyone says. "The wise man doesn't pursue happiness, he grows it from under his own two feet."

Q) Who do you listen to most?

A) I listen to a lot of rap artists. Some of my favorites are Eyedea & Abilities, Brother Ali, Wiz Khalifa, Wu Tang Clan, DMX, etc, but I'd have to say that the person I listen to most is myself. I just want to clarify that I'm not on a "high horse" by any means because of this. I listen to my music all of the time to see where I need to improve my lyricism and flow. I don't think I'm perfect by any means, and I'm a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to my music.

Q) What are your thoughts on the music industry today?

A) I don't really listen to the radio much anymore, but I believe that mainstream music tries to change a lot of artists to become something they're not. Major labels like to cater a little too much to insure the artist's fame, and that can in turn make the artists a bit lazy. I believe in working on your music, putting as much passion into it, being real in your music, and it can be appreciated more. As far as the underground, it seems there is a lot of ''beef'' going on in underground rap and underground crunkcore. I believe that everyone should just get along, collaborate on songs together, respect each other, and build each genre to the fullest extent.

Q) Where will we see Austin Acyd five years from now?

A) Hopefully married to my girlfriend (I love you Kelsey), touring with my music, and just living life to the fullest. No drugs or alcohol, though. Real talk.

Q) Discuss the crunkcore movement in music today. Are the brokenCYDEs and Dot Dot Curves of the world good for music?

A) I respect every artist in every genre of music. I must stress this. I used to be a crunkcore artist, but I've changed my genre to just rap. A bit more nerdcore, I guess you could say. I suck at screaming. lol

They advocate drugs and alcohol, but who doesn't nowadays unless it's Christian music. As long as they don't bash God or Christianity (I am a dedicated Christian), I support them fully. I'm part of the "Crunk Fucking Core" group on Facebook. I talk to every one of the artists on there. They're all nice guys. I'm collabing with Jayreck and N!tro on a song for my album. I mean, I dislike country music, but I respect the artists to the fullest extent. Crunkcore just isn't me, I guess you could say. Crunkcore seems to be dwindling a bit, there's a lot of beefing going on, but all it needs is an evolution of some sort. That's what I believe. I feel like I may get some hate for these comments on this question, but I still stand by what I said.

Q) If you could show every music fan in the world one song of yours, what would it be?

A) One song of mine. Wow. I've never thought of this at all.
Uhmmm....I would have to say "No Matter What". That song has a very good meaning. It's about a musical artist that goes on tour all the time, and he misses his girlfriend/fiancee/wife. When he gets back, she has left him. He says that he'll wait for her until the day he dies, so it has a bit of "undying love" in the story told as well. I feel a lot of people can relate to it, not just artists.

Q) Talk about your record label, Stellar Squad Entertainment.

A) Stellar Squad Entertainment was started a couple years ago by my best friend/brother from another mother, Casper The Prodigy (AKA Aric Patterson), and myself. We started as a music group, and just evolved it into a record label. We are a universal record label, meaning that we sign every artist from every genre (except country). We currently record, mix, and master everything ourselves. I personally do everything in my bedroom. Casper does everything out of a room in his house. Rondo does everything out of his bedroom. Sonic does everything out of his bedroom. We're hoping to buy a building and transition our equipment into that. Actually have a place of business, ya feel me? We dedicate our lives to what we do. We put a ton of passion and hard work into what we do.
Our members include the following:

Austin AcYd: Rapper/CEO
Casper The Prodigy: Rapper/CEO
Rondo: Rapper
Sonic: Rapper/Producer
Raisi K. Mobele: Producer

Jake Nalley: Vocalist

Shadillac VG Firestyle: Vocalist/Screamo

I'm truly blessed to have these guys as partners/friends and they have done everything to truly help out our label. I thank them from the bottom of my heart. God has truly blessed me, fam.


Q) Anything in closing?
A) My debut album, "The Arcade", will be available for free download sometime this summer, so be on the lookout for that. It features a LOT of awesome artists including Dutch Vega, Madd Illz, Phranchyze, Logic, godAwful, Casper The Prodigy, Merkules, Jayreck, N!tro, Sonic, Aak, etc.

All of the beats sample either old school video games, old school cartoons, or anime. Shoutouts to Raisi K. Mobele for producing most of the beats for the album. He's a monster.

I urge you guys to check out Sonic's music, Rondo's music, Casper The Prodigy's music, and my music. I'll provide the links to each artist below. I'd also like to thank my grandmother, my girlfriend, and God for helping me throughout all of the hard times I've endured and the obstacles in my path. Shoutouts to Connecticut Battle League and family! Thanks for taking the time to interview me!

Austin AcYd's Music
www.reverbnation.com/austinacyd

Casper The Prodigy's Music
www.reverbnation.com/caspertheprodigy

Rondo's Music
www.reverbnation.com/imrondo