Birmingham, Alabama's, Ace Da Future, found his calling at the age of 10, and since then, he hasn't looked back. Fast-forward to today, and the East Side artist who brought us the popular mixtape series, Birmingham's Most Wanted Volume's 1 & 2, just a few years ago is set to release a brand new mixtape any day now. Read on to learn more about Ace, his career and why it's Indictment Season in the 'Ham.
What will the future look like? Many people have asked that question, but how many can really answer it? Very few. But there's one Birmingham rapper who thinks he knows. His name is Ace Da Future, and I'm sure you can figure out from hearing that name, what - or who - his answer would be.
Now, you might think that pegging yourself as the future of hip-hop - or anything else for that matter - is kind of an arrogant thing to do. It is. You might even be put off a little by such a claim. Don't be. Ace is really a cool dude.
And to be honest, the word arrogant is not quite the right word for him, anyway. Confident? Yes. Full of swagger? Yep. Maybe even a little flashy? Uh-huh. But arrogant? Nah. Not really. It may seem that way from his name, but if you ever get to speak to him, you'll realize that he’s a lot more down-to-earth than that name would lead you to believe.
I’m sure Ace's "down-to-earth-ness" has a lot to do with his humble up-bringing. Ace, whose government name is Antonio Milton, was born and raised on the East Side of Birmingham, Alabama. His parents divorced when he was really young, and for the most part, his mother raised him on her own.
Regardless of her marital status, Ace’s mom made sure he had everything he needed and much of what he wanted. She’d even work multiple jobs to provide for her family if she had to. So while they did struggle occasionally, he says, “I didn’t really have to want for nothing.”
While Ace was always into hip-hop, his older brother, also a rapper (named Mr. Eddie), can be credited for getting him into the game and for giving him his name. “When I was like 10 or 11, he wrote me my first song, and ever since then, I ain’t looked back.” It was only a few years later, at the age of 13, that Ace of Spades, as he was known back then, wrote his first song and crafted his first beat on his own.
Advice From Big Brother
"When I was very young, my brother gave me some of the best knowledge I can ever give...
...'before you write a song, basically, just sit there and think who you're trying to touch with your music.'"
13 years of age is also when Ace started rapping on the radio on a daily basis. For the next two years, he would show off his skills for all of Birmingham and the surrounding areas to hear. During this time, he also joined his first rap group, Yung Ridaz, which consisted of three other artists, Jack da Rippa, Fullhouse and Dynamic.
Ace left the group - and his radio gig - at about 15 years old, but he still had plenty to occupy his time. He was now doing stage performances. Of course, he was way too young to get into the clubs, but it didn't matter. His big brothers and cousins would just sneak him in.
Ace's biggest early success came while he was still in high school. It was then that Yung Ace, as he was calling himself then, put together and released his very first mixtape - which everybody loved. He sold over 5,000 copies on his own - just to the people in his neighborhood and at school.
At the age of 20, Ace decided to changed his name again - this time, to his current name, Ace Da Future. It was shortly after this name-change that he finally dropped his first major mixtape, Birmingham’s Most Wanted (Volume 1) which he followed up only a few short months later, with Volume 2. These mixtapes were very popular around the city, and together they sold over 15,000 copies. It wasn’t long after that he released a third mixtape, Introspection, which did pretty well, itself. “All of ‘em together – I probably sold like over 20,000 units,” says Ace.
So, why the name change? ... And why that particular name?
"...I went to Googling myself. And when I first got on the internet, I was the only one. Then I went to seeing like, 20, 30 different Yung Aces all over the world. So I was like, damn, I need to change it, but everybody knows me by Ace. So I had a lil' CD I was finna drop...and I was finna call my mixtape, Ace Da Future. So I'm like dang, I might as well use that as a rap name. So Ace Da Future stuck with me, and I just ran with it."
In 2005, Ace hooked up and formed a duo with rapper KingWood, and together, the two artists and friends recorded and released quite a bit of material. But unfortunately, their union was not meant to last. Only a couple of years after he and Ace began working together, KingWood died after being involved in a car accident. “He was my right-hand man,” says Ace. “He died in ’07. And it kind of took away my drive.”
The death of such a close friend meant that recording was the last thing on Ace’s mind, and as a result, he decided to put a hold on his rap career for a while. But he didn’t let the tragedy of KingWood’s death stop him altogether. After giving himself some time to recover, Ace eventually was able to go back into the studio and start recording again.
This time, he took up with the large group of guys that would eventually make up the company, Drillboy Entertainment, of which Ace is co-CEO. Before anything else, says Ace, Drillboy is a “family thing.” All the Drillboyz (there are about a million of them) are related to each other in some way: brothers, cousins, etc. But blood is not the only bond these guys share.
Coming up, they all were into music to some degree or another, but very few of them were taking the possibility of a music career seriously. “I righteously was the first one to jump out there on the music level with the mixtapes and recording and doing shows,” says Ace.
Seeing Ace out there on the scene motivated the rest of the fam to take the plunge along with him. “Everybody came together and formed a group,” he says, and thus, Drillboy Ent was formed. “For the last couple of years, we’ve just been going out there doing our thing.”
"I try not to be metaphorically speaking [or] just making stuff rhyme. I'm not that type of artist"
Ace’s “thing” has always been music. When describing his music, his sound and his style, he uses words like, “rare,” “different” and “futuristic” quite often.
While he feels his sound and delivery could be compared to those of Boosie and TI respectively, Ace doesn’t deliberately try to sound like anyone else. That's mostly because he doesn’t feel like he has to. “I think I’m on my own level. I have my own swag, my own ad-libs. It’s like, when I hit the track, you can tell it’s me.”
You can also tell that it's Ace you're listening to from the huge amount of swagger evident in his songs. In fact, another description that he has for his style is "swagged out." And if you listen to any of the songs on his MySpace page, you'll see that he's right. From his current single, "Club Shake," to songs like "Fresh" and the recent release, "Google Me," you'll find that the confidence, swagger and flashiness that I mentioned at the beginning of this article are in full effect.
And for the foks who like a little less flash and a little more street in their music, never fear. Ace might be more of a club-song type of guy, but that isn't the only thing he's good for. Songs like "Take a Picture of a Dopeboy" and "Ahh Mann, I'll Beat Yo Ass" hit a little harder and prove that Ace can get a little gutter when he wants to.
As far as content is concerned, says Ace, he likes to do whatever nobody else is doing at the moment. "I step outside the box. I just do me," he says. He often surprises even himself with the things he comes up with. Sometimes, he has to ask himself, "where’d I get that from?" he says. “My mind is so creative, so ahead of time,” he continues.
But being so "futuristic" can have it's down side. "Sometimes I might think of something, and it might take 3 or 4 years for the world to catch up on it," he tells me, adding that he sometimes has to put good music on the back-burner because people just aren’t ready for it yet.
Is it really real?
Ace isn't really into commercial rappers and songs...but he's known for his club songs. How's that work?
Well, yes. Ace does have a penchant for club songs, but that's because he's "a club-type person." He loves the club-scene, and thus, spends a lot of time in clubs. In fact, they're just as much a part of his life as the streets. So if you think about it, Ace's club bangers are just as real and as personal as any of the rest of his songs.
Staying ahead of the game and differentiating himself from the crowd, aren't Ace's only concerns. He also strives to keep his music as real as possible.
Everything he raps about is something that he’s experienced directly or has watched someone close to him go through. “I try to tell a story about what [I’ve] been through or [that] anyone that [has] lived my kind of lifestyle can relate to.”
And that makes sense because that’s the type of music Ace came up on, himself. He lists his biggest musical influence as Tupac. “When I was coming up, man, I was a Pac fan. I loved Tupac,” says Ace.
After Pac died, he became interested in artists like Master P, TI, Eightball & MJG, Pimp C, Yo Gotti, Lil’ Boosie, Gucci Mane and Young Jeezy. “I like to hear stories. I’ve got to be able to relate to somebody and those artists that I named, [basically], I feel like I’m in that category there."
So how is Ace going to prove that he belongs in the company of the afore-mentioned artists? Hopefully, through his new mixtape, Indictment Season. Indictment Season, which will drop sometime in the very near future is "on some trapper-type music, [a] street-type level,” Ace explains. He gave the mixtape its curious name because right now, it really is indictment season for him. “I’m out on bond on a trafficking charge,” he tells me, referring to a 2009 case that resulted in a short stint in jail.
While many of Ace’s fans might be a little surprised to hear this revelation, he says all this is nothing new. It's just that people don't know as much about him as they think they do. “Everybody knows me for club music, like, commercial beats and stuff like that, but they don’t know the real me,” says Ace. “They just see the swag,” he continues, “and that’s just what they take me for.”
But there’s more to Ace than meets the eye. “I come from [a] gutter, street background, says Ace who states in his bio that during his high school years, he had “several brushes with death and spent most of his time dodging the police.” This is the side of him that he believes people have been missing. “I feel like finally, man, the world needs to righteously know the real me.” And people will get that first glimpse of the real Ace through Indictment Season.
"When it's indictment season, you sit your butt down...
...It's hot out there...so find you something else to do."
While Ace does think it’s important for people to know all of him - including his more street side - he says he isn’t trying to glorify the dope game. He’s actually looking to do just the opposite. What he wants is to “touch the young teens, and let them know what’s real and what’s up.”
So in a way, Indictment Season is really a warning to the youth: “When it’s indictment season, you sit your butt down,” says Ace with the air of someone who knows what he’s talking about. “It’s hot. It’s hot out there,” he warns, emphatically. “The streets [are] hot, so find you something else to do.”
Music is Ace's "something else to do," but it's not the only thing he has on his plate. Besides being an artist, he's also a business man. As mentioned before, he's co-CEO of Drillboy Ent, but he also has his own promotions company, Behind the Scenes Promotions, which promotes just about anybody in the business that needs it - rappers, models, DJ’s, you name it.
“Far as promotions and doing parties, I think that’s what separates me from the other artists,” he says. “I would throw a party, promote it and perform at the same time,” he adds, showing that he’s not shy about promoting himself and that he’s smart enough to know that bringing his business and his music career together will get him double exposure – and more bank.
Being about his business is very important to Ace. In fact, that is one of the things that makes him stand out from the crowd. It’s not enough to be just a rapper nowadays, he says. “I feel like this business [is] like, 90% business and 10% talent, so now I just feel like you’ve just got to stick with it and just stick to the business, and use your mind.”
Regardless of whether he's on his business or his music grind, two of the things that make Ace who he is - and that keep him going - are his drive and hunger. “[I’ve] been through so much that it just gives me more strength to take it to the next level,” he says.
He knows he has to work hard to get to that next level. And if hard work is what it takes to get ahead, then that’s what he’s willing to do – even if he has to do it on his own.
“Me personally, I love [being] independent ‘cause I ain’t no lazy artist,” he tells me. “I know if I sell 50 or a hundred thousand albums, that’s just all me. I like to invest in myself so I don’t have to pay nobody.”
As you can see, Ace is not all that interested in a major label deal - for one good reason: “I want control over everything that I do. So I would [prefer] more of a distribution deal, and [I’ll] run my own show.”
Like many independent artists, Ace isn't totally against major labels. He's not saying that he would never take a major deal at all. He's just saying that if he did, both the deal and the money would have to be on point.
But in order for that to happen, labels have got to know who he is. Then, they’ve got to know what he’s worth. And lastly, they’ve got to know that he knows his own worth. That’s where an artist’s independent grind comes in handy – it gives him visibility and value.
Of course, Ace already knows all this. That's why he grinds so hard. “I just want to get my name all the way out there ‘cause I feel like I’m worth a lot of money,” he says. “So to have the confidence and the swag like that, you've got to set the tone. So right now I’m in the process of just being super-hot to make these record labels righteously want to pay me what I want.”
Over the next several months, Ace will be working hard on getting what he wants. His new mixtape, Indictment Season, will be dropping any day now, and he’s working relentlessly to procure the heavy radio spins, he’ll need to promote himself and his music in the near future. He's also working on a new album entitled Star Status which will be released right on the heels of Indictment Season.
He’s been doing at least a show a week around town, and he plans to start taking those shows on the road soon. Also, he just recently shot footage for his current single, "Club Shake," and has plans to shoot a couple more videos in the near future.
And then there's the business side of things. On the one had, he's got Drillboy Ent, and on the other, Behind the Scenes Promotions which he feels is about to see a large increase in business.
Yes. Ace will certainly have a lot on his plate in the near future, but he knows he’s headed in the right direction. “I don’t know if I will be at the level where I righteously want to be at, but I’ll be taking the steps to get there,” he says confidently. And because of that, “I feel like a lotta big things [are going to] happen in the next 6 months.”
And things will only get bigger from there. In the next few years, Ace plans to have at least one platinum album under his belt. And he’ll have turned his business game all the way up. “I feel like I’ma be on my entrepreneurship on a big, major level,” he says. Not only does he see his promotions company as being “one of the hottest in the south,” but he also plans on running several other businesses, including a modeling agency.
Between the ages of 13 and 15, Ace was on the radio everyday battle rapping - against adults. "I used to get a lot of calls, a lot of people wanting to talk to me, and I wasn’t taking it serious then."
When Ace was about 15, he seized an improptu opportunity to freestyle for Trick Daddy. "He gave me a business card and told me to sit down with his producer. Don’t go nowhere," Ace recalls.
"I was so happy to get the business card, that I’m like, ‘Man, I’m finna’ be signed!' But in his excitement, Ace forgot himself. "I dipped," he says. "And every time I used to call, I couldn’t never catch up with him, so I missed out on that."
In 2006, Ace was approached by Jeezy's Corporate Thugs Entertainment. "They came at me on MySpace trying to get at me, but I ain’t never righteously follow up on it for real."
It's not hard to see that Ace is very optimistic about his future in the entertainment business - but he's not about to rush anything.
Right now, he’s just trying to set the foundation for all that future success he's planning for by making the best of the present – something he hasn’t always done.
In the past, he's let what may have been some good opportunites get away from him, including possible deals with Trick Daddy and Young Jeezy. But his days of taking things for granted are over.
"My New Year’s resolution this year was, ‘do not let nothing pass me by,’” he says, firmly, “[not] even the little small things. I’m snatching up everything.”
He continues: “My motive this year is basically to make myself look like a million dollars, to make myself look like money - so money’ll come mess with me.”
Confident, full of swagger and just a little flashy. Yep. That's Ace. But remember there's a lot more to him than that. He's also a hardworking, down-to-earth artist and business man with an independent spirit that just won't die. And as long as he stays that way, he'll make it to wherever he wants to go.
So maybe he did pick the right name after all. And if we really want to know what the future’s going to look like, maybe we should take a good, long look at Ace. Because maybe, just maybe, Ace Da Future really will be the face of the future.
