We recently got a chance to interview Montgomery, Alabama's Countryboi Tweet about his career, his music and his future plans. But we also got to talk about what he feels about Alabama's hip-hop scene. Read on to find out what he has to say about being an artist from Alabama.
Montgomery, Alabama artist, Countryboi Tweet says the best thing about being an artist from Alabama is being underrated. “If you the underdog, what you got to lose? So if I go over there to TI or Wayne or somebody, I mean, what I got to lose?” he repeats. “I’m already underrated. They think I ain’t gon’ win the battle. So when I come out on top, that’s icing on the cake.”
However, being underrated is also the worst thing about being an artist from Alabama. Because the industry’s not always checking for Alabama, many good artists get overlooked. But Countryboi knows that although Alabama’s hip-hop scene is plodding along behind everyone else’s ("Alabama, we slow...super-slow-behind.”), he also knows that it’s not for lack of talent. “As far as talent goes, we would surpass a lot of people because if we work with some of the people that the industry people work with...we'll kill 'em.” he says. “If they even sit down and listen to the Alabama people…aw man! They would go nuts!”
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So just what is keeping Alabama behind? Well, for starters, the radio. Countryboi feels that the radio stations should get a lot more involved because, of course, radio-play is what gets the people jumping. And when the people jump, the major labels jump too. “The radio makes the big labels cut the checks,” says Countryboi. “The radio plays a huge role in the success of artists. No matter what you do in the streets, if that radio don't play them records, you still gon' be in the streets. I mean, if that's where you wanna be, then that's where you wanna be. But I don't want OJ Da Juiceman money to be honest with you. I want that TI money. I'm not competing with OJ ‘nem. [They’re] no competition.” he states.
Countryboi Tweet currently lives in Atlanta, Georgia, and although he originally didn't want to go to Atlanta, he now feels that moving there has definitely helped his music career move along a lot faster than it would have had he stayed here in Alabama. But it's difficult to get ahead when you've got so much going against you. “Where I’m from, it’s crabs in the barrel," he tells me. "It’s hard trying to get outta there when you got people pulling you down...people telling you one thing and haters telling you this…So definitely, getting out of Alabama, that was a blessing,” Countryboi says. But don't get it twisted, he says. "I love my city. I say Westside up; Moneytown down” on everything I do ‘cause I brand that right there."
“You'd expect the state to break the artists though. I don't feel like the state breaks the new artists. [The radio stations] probably play a song here and there, but…they need to put that mug in rotation. So somebody can break.
What about the fans? Are they supportive enough of local artists. "Yeah," says Countryboi. In fact he feels that if the fans don't stay behind you, it's your fault. “They're band wagoners,” he says of the fans, “They gon' get behind whoever's hot.” But, he says, if you don’t do your job while the fans are behind you it’s a wrap. “They gon’ give you one shot, but when your time’s hot, and you ain’t hot, it’s over."
He feels that in many cases where an artist has the attention of the people and loses it, it’s because the artist’s ego got in the way. "Like Dirty. They comin’ up for air. They tryin' to breathe. They can't even breathe. They’re tryin' to fight that water right now. They turned their back on the state. You can't do that.” He says, emphatically. Once you’ve started that ascent to stardom, you’ve got to continue to participate in things like celebrity games, jump on other local artist’s songs, and do anything else you need to do to show support to your community and the place where you came from.
In other words, represent your state to the fullest. As an example, Countryboi uses Mobile, Alabama artist Rich Boy, whose fame extends well past the boundaries of Alabama or even of the South. “Don’t get me wrong, Rich Boy cool”, he says. “He holding it down, but he don’t hold it down where people be like, ‘OK. He from Alabama. He cool.’” Countryboi feels that artists like Rich Boy, who’ve been blessed with national recognition, should come out holding the “Alabama-Hip-Hop-Is-Here” flag high for everyone to see. “He don’t make no statement,” he says, still speaking about Rich Boy. “He don’t come out with no demanding, like ‘Alabama we on. We the hottest.’ He don’t do that for us. We need somebody who gon’ do that. He need to come back and do some songs with them boys down here or something,” Countryboi suggests. “Alabama got the most talent, but people don’t work together.”
While Countryboi acknowledges that every artist has his or her own way of doing things, he also feels the need to reiterate his assertion that for some artists, ego can definitely get in the way and cause problems. “It’s a lotta ego trippin,” he says. “They feel like everybody need ‘em. It falls back in that “Dirty” category again. But if that’s how you wanna play it, that’s how you play it. But you got to know somebody else gon’ get on ASAP.”
The supersized egos and the lack of support and interaction between Alabama's artists are some of the things that Countryboi hopes can be eliminated or at least lessened over time. "I'm the type of dude [that wants to] help everybody and put everybody on," he says. "People tell me all the time, 'Man don't worry about them folks, them people don't care nothing about you.'" But Countryboi's not concerned about all that. He's more than willing to take that risk. "If what I'm trying to do don't happen, let me be a victim of it, but I'ma die trying to bring all these people together.
