Patiently Waiting F
rom Slauson Ave in Los Angeles to Nostrand Ave in Brooklyn, there are many streets that Hip Hop has made synonymous with rough living. Rappers shouting out their street on records and backing it up with tales of poverty and crime has to do wonders for their city’s tourism industry. And even though Atlanta rapper Pill’s debut mixtape 4180: The Prescription pays homage to one of his old addresses, the name of the street isn’t one you should expect him to recite too often. “I stayed on 4180 Cant Street,” he grins with a tinge of disbelief in his face. “Ain’t that fucked up? Ain’t that some governmental bullshit? You gotta come home from school to Cant Street. That’s some dirty shit.”
Ever since he picked up a microphone, it’s been tragedies like that Pill has worked to expose, even in the midst of living through them. Bouncing all around Atlanta as a child, Pill lived the life of an Army brat without the passport stamps. With his mother battling drug addiction, his older siblings staying in the grasp of the penile system and none of his family members wanting to shelter him for too long, football and music were the only sanctuaries Pill had. Equally passionate about both, he elected to pass up a couple football scholarships at small colleges and pursue rap as a member of Killer Mike’s Grind Time Rap Gang collective. “But I was still out here trapping,” says Pill, shaking his head. “I’d be on stage with Killer and Devin the Dude one night, and the next, I’m right back in the trap. I started thinking, ‘What the fuck am I doing?’ I had to look myself in the mirror and ask myself if this is what I wanted to do. If I don’t swing the bat, I won’t get a hit.” That moment of clarity led Pill to begin recording his own mixtape 4180: The Prescription. Powered by his video single “Trap Goin’ Ham” the mixtape is being recognized as one of the rawest efforts from a new Atlanta artist in years. Using a diverse palette of production and key beat jacking as his backdrop, Pill is reintroducing Southern lyricism with a very direct street edge, reminiscent of a Trap Muzik-era T.I. “It all goes back to beats and rhymes, so I kept it simple. I put some hot shit on some hot beats,” says Pill, of the mixtape that has had major labels and high profile producers and artists itching to work with him ever since. “It was a breath of fresh air. A lot of rappers got in [the game] and shot up real fast, but I was staying down for what I believe. I had to display my talent and let people know I’m versatile and give them a cup of water to help them survive.” Hoping to capitalize off his buzz, Pill is following up with a second mixtape 4075: The Refill that promises to shatter any mentions of a “sophomore jinx.” Words by Maurice G. Garland Photo by Diwang Valdez
OZONE MAG // 69