Compton, California, a city that for many years has birthed some of hip hop royalty on The West Coast such as Ice Cube, Dr.Dre, and Kendrick Lamar. 124th street is essentially special here today. That’s where Compton native, Compton AV was raised. AV stormed into the industry loud and proud seven years ago with his hit single “Run Me My Money.” To this date, “Run me my Money” has surpassed over 1 million views across all music platforms (YouTube, Apple Music and Spotify etc.) The rapper quickly rose to the top dropping more singles such as “Money Dance” and “Slid’n.” His experiences growing up in the streets of Compton molded his very unique and authentic style of rapping.
As he raps, you can hear in his voice his passion and commitment to the music game. Listeners will definitely be able to put a lot of time and effort into this project. Most recently AV had the chance to participate in an interview in which he talks about his journey with rap, finding his sound, industry trends and his plans for his life outside of him actually rapping.
Straight into the interview AV states, “Everything I put out is completely freestyled.” Over the years, the West coast rapper found what works best for himself in terms of the way he raps and what he raps about. Since stepping into the music scene, AV hasn’t signed with any record labels due to not feeling comfortable or genuine. He says, “I have turned down every deal put in front of me because they have not been authentic.” Authenticality and real connections with people have been a staple in AV’s career, which has kept his longevity in music. Being that AV has been independent during his career. He has seen so many artist come and go, off the sole fact of not being authentic to themselves, understanding trends in the industry. He adds, “most young artists don’t really know who they are,or they are not comfortable with being themselves so they follow current trends to rise to the top quickly, but the only problem with that is if you aren’t that good there won’t be any longevity.”
AV’s hustle has always been the same to be “Rich off Rap,” meaning he has always pushed the narrative that true artist can become wealthy off of their art, in particular here; rap. He has grown as an artist and man,his mindset has shifted. He has recently released a new album titled Net 30, which is composed of ten songs with features from Snoop Dog, OT Genesis, and Hati Babi. The project was created with the influence being life. A life of love, loss, betrayal and everything in between that life throws at us. A.V. reflected on the album and says, “this album is very bipolar. It is me expressing myself and what I’ve been through.”
When listening to the album, fans can expect to hear raw emotions. The first song “Intro” starts off by him saying “I’m the missing piece to the youth,and the streets know I’m the truth,” then comes off with a very strong beat. Safe to say after finding himself, AV is here to stay.He’s been putting in the work to become a household name. The evolution of himself as a whole, AV plans to expand his musical creativity. He’s started his own label, Rich off Rap, which strives to serve as a mentorship to help promising emerging artists from the West Coast and beyond. He hopes to reach greater global wealth and success for himself and other up and coming artists and Net 30 is just the beginning.
Article By: Kerrington Dillon