RETROi$AWESOME is chucking up the middle finger to anybody who has doubted him. The song embodies how those who know you won’t support you as much as strangers do. Following his “Vi$ion,” the Jersey artist’s unique sound separates him from other rappers. He is influenced by old school Hip Hop while adding his own flavor and it shows with this track as he spits about how friends and family act like you owe them.
“Benefit from everything but ghost when you got nothing/ They be posing, they be fronting like the rolled with you a 100/ And they holding you to change like you owe them n*ggas something/ Man the nerve of these n*ggas like they wrote for me or something/ Like they made the plug connections/ Like they sold for me or something/ Like they been through what I been through/ Like they know a n*gga’s story”
With the rough year that we’ve had in 2020, RETROi$AWESOME reminds us that there is a light at the end of the tunnel with “Up!” He takes his audience through his personal trials and tribulations but shows that through it all, you can remain on top. “Up!” is the first single released from “AWESOME The Movie” which will hit streaming platforms early 2021. The music video was recently released where the first scene takes place in an abandoned warehouse. He is seen blowing smoke towards the sky symbolizing he’s about to drop fire bars. He kept it simple with clips from him rocking the stage during his performances accompanied by him being in the booth. Check out the video & his interview below:
The Feature Presentation: What inspired you to do music?
RETRO: My pops was in a rap crew back in the day so when I came in the picture he was writing songs for me at a young age, like from 4 – 6 years old. As I got older I took it upon myself as a hobby growing up, I always felt like I was nice. Back when I was in middle school, you weren’t really getting in the studio like that unless you rapped in front of somebody famous & got signed. But when I got to high school I met some dudes who were recording music in their crib off the video game mic. I asked them to put me on game & I’ve been going ever since. Around that time Lil Wayne was a big influence on my rap style. Him & Hov.
TFP: What would you say is your biggest accomplishment thus far as an artist?
RETRO: My biggest accomplishment at this point gotta be the AWESOME Movie me & the bro Demoie just dropped. One day I was watching Killa Season & was like “Somebody needs to bring the rapper movies back to the game.” I took it upon myself to be that person because I believe in being the change you wanna see. So we stepped into a whole new lane & now I got some experience under my belt. Films are something I could see myself doing more of in the future though. The AWESOME Movie is available on my website.
TFP: What is your writing process like?
RETRO: At this point I only write when I’m inspired & I’ll never force it. Sometimes I could be listening to beats & something sounds so crazy that I’ll have enough inspiration to come up with the whole song on the spot, catch me on the right night I might even freestyle it. But there are other times where I get inspired & only come up with like 2 bars. They’ll be the most fire 2 bars you ever heard though. If I can’t follow up with that kinda energy I’ll pack it up & go about the rest of my day. Come back when I’m inspired again until i got a whole verse
TFP: How would you describe your music style?
RETRO: I feel like my style is what rap sounds like when you like the new sound but still got love & respect for what came before. I started tuning into rap on my own time during the 50 Cent era. I watched it all change & peeped how internet culture tried to disrespect the legends & paint them as irrelevant. My sound is very experimental too though, I like to challenge myself artistically.
TFP: What are the pressures of being a rapper in the industry?
RETRO: It’s weird when you start to build a name for yourself, you start to become a topic of casual conversation to people that you don’t know (& probably ain’t even hear 1 song), but pressure makes diamonds, so what used to be pressure is now just something that I just charge to the game & focus on the positive aspects of.
TFP: You have a new single out titled “Up!” What was the motivation behind it?
RETRO: We closed the movie out with this song so I felt it was only right to drop it as a single & close out the year with it. Especially with everything we’ve been through all 2020 the mood is like “Middle fingers up we still here.”
TFP: What projects do you have coming up?
RETRO: I got the “AWESOME Movie” soundtrack coming next, & I plan to drop some new singles in between too. Soundtrack dropping January 8th though!
TFP: What do you want your legacy to be?
RETRO: My legacy and mission is to do my thing to the highest potential & leave the blueprint for the next kid that just so happens to be living in the hood but wanna do something different, something creative, instead of folding to the peer pressures that come with being from that area.
You can find his music on Spotify, Apple Music & Tidal.
