If you’re just familiarizing yourself with to Slice 9 after hearing the standout “Killin’ It” off of Future’s January FreeBand Gang Mixtape, you’ve got some catching up to. The son of a local DJ, Slice 9, out of Decatur, Georgia, has been recording music since elementary school and earned his first local radio placement when he was still in high school. More recently, he’s churned out an ATL smash with “Another One," a collaboration with Future, and then inked a deal with Future’s FreeBandz imprint and Epic Records. We caught up with the 19-year-old to get the scoop on his background in music, his upcoming CD/DVD package slated to come out this summer, and best of all, the strip club culture of Atlanta.

 

 

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On getting started:

I'm from Decatur, Georgia. Eastside, outskirts of Atlanta basically. With the music, it really just started at school. Around third or fourth grade, my friend was rapping and he was known around the school as one of the best rappers or whatever. At the time, I was more into drawing and art. But I took a liking to it. I've always been interested in music, but being around him made me really want to rap. When I got into it, I started getting really competitive. Me and the homes around school battle rapping. By the time I hit fifth grade, that's when I really started recording songs and stuff. We used to skip gym to go record songs. The teacher had the microphone in the classroom and everything. And then from there on, when I got into middle school, we got into crafting songs and creating concepts and doing small videos for 'em. Taking it real independent.  We always took my music real serious and by the time I got to high school, that's when I took it to the next level: Actually pressing up CD's and taking them to school, one by one, to everybody. I started putting music out online real heavy. And when I got a hold of the DJs and really linked up with the Coalition DJs, that's what really broke me. The first record I ever had hit the radio was “Gone”, when I was 17. It was produced by Warren G. That’s my cousin actually. I was in the 11th grade. I was still in high school. So it was overwhelming, but I started learning the business side of the game then as opposed to just the craft of it. I already had the craft down because I'd been rapping since I was 9, 10 years old anyway. So yeah, when it got to that point, I was just really playing catch-up. Just learning how the industry worked and how to network and all that stuff.

 

 

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On early influences:

Man, I grew up listening to Bone Thugs N Harmony, Pharcyde, Jay-Z, Twista, Scarface, Lil Wayne, Curren$y, NWA, Goodie Mob. Outkast was one of my biggest influences. Jeezy and Tip of course, but I came up on that just from being home. I always took a different ear to stuff too though, 'cause most of the friends I hung around were not from Atlanta. Some of the closest friends I have now are from Hawaii, New Orleans, and New York. That list goes on. I listen to all types of music.

On signing to Epic Records and Future’s Freebandz label:

We signed the deal in October of 2012, but really we always knew each other. We’ve been doing songs together since 2010, 2011. I actually got an old song on my YouTube with Future called "Girlfriend." But what made it official was this song “Another One” I had with Future and Levi Leer produced by Mike Will Made It. It had been picking up on the charts real heavy before I got signed. It started in the strip clubs in Atlanta. I couldn’t even really get into the strip clubs in Atlanta at the time. I had to sneak into a few clubs to perform the song. So once it started to expand outside of the strip club, it forced the hand to make it to the radio. And once that happened, people started seeing it, and the labels started calling and the situation just became good.

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On the strip club culture of Atlanta:

The strip club world is a whole different market in a way. It’s raw, it’s uncut, and it’s really a way for artists here to showcase their talent. They can’t make it on the radio, they can’t make it on TV. They don’t really have the connections to make it to the outlets that they need. But the strip club is where you come in, spend money, get your song played, and however the girls react to the song on stage, it’ll show you whether you got a hit or not. When you keep getting the record played over and over, people are gonna talk about it. The strip club is the first place records are really broken in Atlanta. So if it’s hot in the strip club now, by the time it’s on the radio, it’s probably old to the people at the club. All the big songs that made it here probably started in the strip club. I’ve seen it myself for years. I’ve been around the scene since I was a youngin.

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On his work ethic:

The way I am, I never changed my formula. The same way I was before I got signed, I just go harder now. I got a good jump-start into the game. I've always been in the studio. I got a studio at the crib, I record. I take my studio with me—my inbox, my laptop and my microphone, and I take it everywhere I go. Every time I'm out of town for a show, I'm at a hotel recording. I spend my whole day in the studio. If my girl wanna see me, she comes to the studio. And that's what I find fun. When people ask me what I do for fun, that's what I do for fun. That's where I'm at currently. I bang out 12 hours in the studio normally, on the regular. Come back the next day and do it again.

 

 

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On what he’s learned from Future:

The way he is, he just motivates you to do better. Not just in music but also in life. He's always telling me, "Slice, you are star. Strive to be the best you can be. At least a song a day and then upgrade to two songs a day and then three songs a day and build you a catalogue. So you can always have enough songs. If they want a song, you should already have it on deck for 'em, while you’re making songs.” And being around him, we're always in the studio recording all day. If one person finish a song and they leave, the next person needs to be right here, "Pull the beat up. I'm ready to record." I'm competitive. That's how we are. We're always bouncing ideas off of each other and doing what hasn't been done and I think, to me, that’s why Freebandz is the sound of Atlanta right now. We doin' something that ain't been done yet and there's a lot of unity.

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On what’s next:

I’m in album mode right now. If I do pop up with a mixtape, it’ll be a surprise. I’m focusing on the CD/DVD called Established Forever coming in the summertime. I haven't dropped a "mixtape" since I was 16. The last mixtape I dropped was called, Banned From Society. From songs composed when I was 15, just turning 16, and it's basically saying I'm different from everybody and I'm not going to follow what society tell me. I'm gonna do my own thing. Hands down. I'm my own boss. I'm not working for nobody and I ain't dropped nothing since then.  A lot of people, the high schools knew me from that mixtape but the world didn't know me from that mixtape. So this is my introduction to the world. So I want this to be as big as possible. This is why it's a CD and a DVD. I want to give them the visual as well as the music as they can really get to know who I am. It's definitely going to identify me, who I am as an artist and a person. People gonna really understand now. They're gonna put two and two together. Like, "Oh, this is what Slice 9 really means. This is who Slice 9 is. This is why Slice 9 made it to where he’s at right now." People don't really understand now. And I feel like people think I'm a one hit wonder, but that's neither here nor there. I'm gonna prove the world different.

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