S. Samuel
Southern rapper Ace Hood has come forward to shed light on his early struggles as an artist and why despite dropping two solo albums with help from DJ Khaled, he still suffered financially.
Despite becoming an established artist, Ace said he still struggled with money woes and family problems.
“The low point of my career was after my second album dropped,” Hood revealed in an interview. “My second project wasn’t exactly what I wanted it to be. Nothing went wrong [with my situation]. But it was a little rushed and it just kinda happened. I was going through a lot of personal issues and financial issues. I was feeling fine, but being in that star light, people don’t like to admit to the struggle. It was definitely a huge struggle for me at that time. It was a struggle not having a record out, not being played on radio, and not doing as many shows as I’d like to. My family going through things, dealing with eviction notices. I got an eviction notice at my condo. My girl called me and she was upset telling me what happened. I was trying to work it out with the landlord to get an extension and pay everything off.” (Complex)
Earlier this year, singer Kevin Cossom named Hood SOHH Underrated.
“His early days with DJ Khaled is when I first met up with him and his music. I did “Cash Flow” for him on his first album [Gutta in 2008]. That’s kind of where our whole relationship started. So I watched his grind and how people received him. I’ve also [taken] notice of how people are seeing him now since he’s really starting to get respect from his peers. Ace has been really grinding and putting out this music these past few years. You can hear it on all these mixtapes. I think he’s finally starting to get the respect that he deserves and you can keep expecting big things from him.” (SOHH Underrated)
In May, Hood credited New York rapper Canibus for shaping his own career.
“I was huge on Canibus. He was crazy with the flow and that’s part of things I got man and just took it,” Ace described in an interview. “Lyrical massacre, man he’s a beast. I was there when him and LL [Cool J] was beefing. I was tuned in to that era you feel me? I know some things man…I used to grow up listening to a lot of New York artists as well. Just so I could get that type of feel of the game and that type of craft. My biggest thing is versatility. And I feel like that’s the biggest thing from a Southern artist you can be. [Meaning] that the game is changing up so at the end of the day in order to be a successful artist from the South you have to do best of both worlds if you want to have respect in the Northern parts of the world.” (Good Fella Media)
Earlier the same week, Ace described the difference between Southern and Northern hip-hop.
“Mainly the south. I’m from Southern Florida but I listen to a lot of T.I. and [Lil] Wayne. I’m versatile in what I listen to though. I like Canibus and some other artists from up north. I think in the north, they’re big on tight lyrics and in the South it’s based on swagger and how slick lines can be slipped in, in clever ways.” (Rap-Up)
Check out some recent Ace Hood footage below:
