Atlanta has been unanimously dubbed America’s “Black Mecca” since Ebony Magazine’s groundbreaking piece in 1972. Though varying statistics both support and contradict that claim, one cultural segment proved stronger than ever decades later is its Hip Hop scene. Young Thug, Future, Rich Homie Quan and Migos among others enjoy the rich history provided by everyone from T.I. to Jermaine Dupri. However, Atlanta’s thrusting into the forefront of Hip Hop’s conscious came through a collective known as The Dungeon Family. There’s no doubt the allied forces who brought the world OutKast were initially seen as insignificant, that particular Source Awards moment was only evident. Regardless, they pushed through, infusing themselves into the culture’s DNA and stretching influence past Southern boundaries. Twenty years later, most mainstream music from the area has centered on stripclub anthems, club bangers and trap standards. Bucking most of those trends have been newcomers like Key!, OG Maco, iLoveMakonnen, and Rome Fortune; all forming the base for Atlanta’s emerging alternative scene. One collective at the movement’s center is none other than Awful Records fearless leader Father. Combining the DYI attitude that made A$AP Mob and Odd Future successes with a futuristic take on the spiritual bounce defining The Dungeon Family, it’s clear why last year’s breakout moment “Look At Wrist” couldn’t have come at a better time.
Before Awful Media
“I really didn’t do much but play in the woods, play Nintendo 64 and draw all day,” says Father (who is illusive about his real name) in describing his isolated childhood in Mississippi, before his mother moved to Georgia for better work opportunities. “It was like well, there goes all of my friends. If anything, moving was something different; starting anew.” Despite having no problems fitting into his new environment, he spent a nice amount of his younger years in self-described isolation. “That lead to me being a super internet nerd being at the crib drawing and shit and being online,” he jokes. “I use to spend hella time at Borders and shit reading stuff like Battle Royal. You know just random ass sexual and violent shit.” On the music side of things, his mother introduced him to New Orleans Bounce and Miami Bass, things that made him obviously uncomfortable as a kid. “Listening to Too $hort rap for six minutes about how he wanted to fuck a bitch had me in the [car] like what the fuck,” says the 24-year-old. As he got older and went through various musical phrases, Father made his way around to the same raunchiness that once weirded him out. “Then I was like now, I really fuck with the sound.”
Then again, he also grew up in an era where mega-producers Timbaland and Pharrell essentially ran the urban landscape chart wise. “A lot of my drum patterns and rhythms come from both of them and bass music,” he says. Being a child of the “connected era” or “‘I’ generation,” he found appreciation for everything from underground mainstays Blue Scholars and electronica steward Justice to trap standards Gucci Mane. He even enjoyed random MySpace pages filled with “one or two tracks from people we’d never see again,” nothing was off limits. “It’s everything; I can appreciate something in everything,” explains Father whose iTunes account is now mainly filled with his own material.
AD LOADING...
Father isn’t shy about revealing his first artistic love in art and graphic design. His interest for anime and comics was enhanced by an uncle he labels a “fantastic illustrator.” Watching his relative play games like Metal Gear Solid became a pretty good creative reference point. Making his way to college, he found himself attending Georgia State University. Loaded down with pressure to find a high-paying major, he ended up in the sciences. “Everyone was telling me that art doesn’t make any money,” Father explains. “I don’t know, just figuring it all out really.” Spending his freshman year getting really fucked up, drinking and having a good ass time, he eventually found the confidence to change his major. “I became an art major and got all my grades back up and shit,” he says. “After a while, I said art school was stupid as fuck, I’m getting these easy ass A’s and thought that there was really no point in me doing this.”
Transitioning From Awful Media to Awful Records
By the time he switched his major to Film, he’d already started what would become the groundwork for Awful Media and began a friendship with current manager Morian. “We met in college taking summer courses and had mutual friends,” he says. “He sat next to the finest girl in our class so whenever you saw her he’d be in sight as well.” Father ultimately dropped out for a reason that resonates with many: getting his money right. “I’m just spending more money to stay here longer,” he explained. He already started freelancing music videos, flyers and hosting parties. Speaking with Fader, he relayed inching through graphic design assignments for Keith Charles Spacebar and Obie who also goes by Ethereal; artists that now call Awful home. “Really, we were drilling in our aesthetic, or at least my personal aesthetic as I was handling [the] bulk up until everybody started to learn,” he says. That makes sense. Awful has built a reputation for something that’s a mutated fusion of classy and profane; beautiful and ugly. “Clean but life,” says Father. “No grand metaphors and weird extra shit, just straight to the point. No smoke and mirrors.” The blunt dichotomy of low and high brow art along with collective learning philosophy led Father into becoming a recording artist himself. “I was helping with the visual stuff for everybody and I was learning production from people art of Awful like Ethereal,” he says of the smooth transition. From then on, Awful Media became Awful Records in representing their new focus.
Father stepped up the plate fairly quickly in terms of making music without having to play catch-up. “If anything, it’s like how generations pick up on things – I feel like kids know up on things at younger and younger ages,” he says. “So it gets easier and easier for each generation to pick up on a craft because somebody before them has done it and therefore, not much difficult.” Regardless, Father faced the same reservations of releasing music just as he had with picking a college major. It took him a while to build confidence in himself mainly due to how people would perceive him calling his earlier material “music that some artschool guy would make,” meaning complex similes and metaphors filled with some depressing overtones. “I started to get it, now it’s more bubble gummy but there are underlying dark tones,” he says. Getting some trust in himself, Father began to drop loosies and performing locally. Before dropping if first full on project mid-2014 L1l Diddy, he had already completed two full length projects worth of material(that will never come out). “Performing music actually gave me the confidence to release it,” he explains. “It was toward the end of those where I was like tired of waiting, shit sounds pretty solid and people started liking it.” This is where Father along with members of Awful Records really started to formulate their own specific fanbase in Atlanta without concern of its mainstream climate.“The climate of Atlanta didn’t take anything away from what we were doing,” explains Father. If anything it added to it as it made me more sharper on what could be popular music. We didn’t care if anyone fucked with it; we all think we’re fire as hell.” According to the Awful Records head, every segment of the city’s Hip Hop scene works on two simple ideas; 808s and something to do drugs to. How exactly one experiences that is up to the individual.
AD LOADING...
This is what made the Key! and iLoveMakonnen featured “Look At Wrist” so buzzworthy. Then there’s the spontaneous release schedule that had the song and video made within moments of each other. In his eyes, over thinking kills creativity in opposition. Free and relaxed is the way to go. “All the stuff that’s happened over the summer has been on the spot,” says Father. “Why think about it? Just go.” Though the track features the hilarious Southern Baptist Church lingo “Look At God,” he doesn’t consider himself religious and avoids the conversation pretty much. “Nah not really my forte, I try not to even speak on shit like that,” he says.
“Look At Wrist” was featured on his latest project, Young Hot Ebony, released in September of 2014. “I wanted to release something that was full length and showed everything that I could do,” Father describes the nine track album. “I wanted to show my range of abilities because I’m still early into developing.” If there’s one thing to understand, the music is totally in line with the aesthetic built first as the Young Hot Ebony cover features two things standard with Father’s releases; hypersexual scenes and his “foul mouth demon” insignia featuring vaginal lips and horns. When both L1l Diddy and Young Hot Ebony dropped, some digital retail services pixelated the artwork which worked to his advantage. Father jokingly referenced the radio version of Shawnna’s only solo radio hit “Gettin Some Head.” “The censorship of that song made it way better than the original,” he explains. “I wasn’t really upset when iTunes wouldn’t permit the original album art because now it’s even more interesting.” In Father’s world, censorship only adds another layer of amusement.
Support from Odd Future and Azealia Banks following “Look At Wrist”
There’s a punk, anti-establishment vibe that has given Awful Records much support outside of its home-base in Atlanta. One comes from Earl Sweatshirt and Tyler The Creator of Odd Future. At 2014’s Odd Future Carnival, Tyler brought out Father to perform “Look At Wrist” in front of thousands. Though many have compared both collective’s movements over the years, Father says the comparisons are natural between something current and something already existing. “When they came out, people compared them to a young Wu-Tang,” he explains. “Fast forward some time, they’re already there and you see another group of skilled people so now we’re the new OF? Like not really; other than both of us being on the fuck shit and really foul mouth, it’s not all that similar.” Father does admit to learning from Tyler’s ability to handle media and utilizing of the internet to get music out there. He even alluded to the possibility of working with Earl and Tyler when the time is right. After making his L.A. debut, he performed his first headlining show as part new popular local concert series called HAM On Everything. By the end of the year, HAM On Everything made the news when a riot broke out following a Lil B performance. After seeing that, Father realized something about building a movement. “It’s doing, putting in work and not getting hung up on looking for a deal, for some quick money,” he said. “It’s about building your fandom and creating something that never goes away. Lil B’s fans are never going away.” His time in L.A. led him to understand how big the following actually grew.
Father’s second big co-sign came during Azealia Banks’ now controversial Hot 97 interview with Peter Rosenberg and Ebro where she counted “Look At Wrist” as a favorite. Following the discussion, he reached out to Banks for a collaboration and from the looks of things, something should be released fairly soon though nothing is set in stone just yet. When it comes to the much discussed cultural appropriation issue, he refers to it as a “doozy.” There’s a nonchalant attitude he has that makes him the nuanced voice of reason as many in Hip Hop choose sides. “I just don’t get caught up in that shit; trying to just get this money,” he says. “It’s fucked up, it exists and it’s there I ain’t going to lie as it’s very real. I ain’t worried about no Grammys. They can have that, I’m just going to be over here getting this god damn guap.” Father calls the issue a microcosm of an even larger issue of race in America. “People are finding specific things in culture to pinpoint but really the shit is just everywhere,” he says. “Yeah, it’s a smaller fish for a bigger pond of other stuff going on.”
AD LOADING...
There have been a few mainstream ATLiens that have also been following Father and Awful Records such as Sonny Digital and Metro Boomin. Though Father should be collaborating with them soon, don’t expect him to be feature heavy in the near future. “It’s nothing I’m concerned within,” he says. If Jeezy or T.I. or someone hits me up that’s great. I’m not going out of my way for it because I’m more so to myself but if someone wants to work with me, I’m usually down.”
‘Who’s Gonna Get F***** First’ and Awful’s Roster Roll-Out
That same blending of shallow and depth should be resonating with many in February when Father drops his Young Hot Ebony follow-up Who’s Gonna Get F***** First. “You might initially think something about a group of women but really it’s about life in general,” says Father. “Who is going to get screwed over in their situation first; life.” Calling it a project all about right now, there’s a running theme in all of Father’s projects that’s intuned with how quick taste within the internet age changes. He refers to them seasonal releases. “I never want to work on an album over the course of a year because so much shit can happen that it won’t really flow together,” he says. “Right now, I don’t think there’s enough content out to slow down. As long as the quality stays there I’m good. If people don’t like it, that’s when it becomes trash.” The approach is also similar to his work ethic; something Morian praises. “Definitely one of those people that doesn’t have to try hard as he keeps it natural,” he says. “Doesn’t force anything and whatever he puts his mind to he becomes great at.” Set to be released in February, Who’s Gonna Get F***** First has singles and videos ready for a proper roll-out.
Father hopes his rapidly spontaneous release plan and success works with Awful’s 13 or so artists and producers. That same wait, see and attack approach should serve well for members including KeithCharles Spacebar, Abra and Lord Narf. Most members of Awful have worked closely with each other for years and understand the brand itself when added new people into the fold. “I have to think you’re tight,” Father says. “If everyone can agree, then it’s not a big deal. It’s a hippy thing.” Expect releases from Abra and KeithCharles within the coming months. “I haven’t really overthought it, we’re all just creating,” says Father. “Once it’s ready, it’s ready.” Making things easier creatively is that Awful works out of two makeshift studios; the much talked about Barrio and Father’s new paid humorously dubbed The Country Club. “We always had spots where the crew just hung around but the most recent place was just as the media started catching on and it became a natural thing,” he says. “The Country Club is real homelie, has white fences, quiet life. It’s kind-of like a resort; hipster pad.”
AD LOADING...
The number one question regarding alternative Atlanta’s rise is simple: What took so long? Let Father tell it, everything was good timing, numbers and quality music. “It took everyone time to get their shit together,” says Father. “Maybe it was the flooding of it suddenly from different places and it all being very good. It’s so much good stuff that it can’t be overlooked.” As the world watches what Awful will do next in terms of the base that almost came out of nowhere, Father wants every brand within the label to grow from its roots. From the line-up’s look, that shouldn’t be too much of a problem. Most notably, Father doesn’t want to be seen as the supreme leader of the collective but more of an important chain in the link. “I don’t want this label to be held up by one or two powerful beings, he says. “I want Awful to work through individual strength by linking arms and lifting everyone higher.” As a new tide runs through Atlanta out of nowhere, Awful Records is becoming an integral part. If Father is the anti-christ mother should have aborted, the apocalypse doesn’t sound so bad after all.
