As an avid music listener, I hate to see the emergence of A.I.(Artificial Intelligence). Everything about it just puts a sour taste in my mouth and ruins the listening experience. More importantly, some things just can’t be replicated. Take Florida rapper Goldenboy Countup for example, he’s one of the most unpredictable yet consistent rappers. For him to have such an extensive discography, he finds a way to not sound repetitive.
You never know which Goldboy Countup you’re going to get because there are so many different versions of him. One day you might see him embracing his Florida roots and rapping on some gritty trap beats. But on other days, he knows how to switch up the vibe and create something on the romantic side for the ladies. I say all of this to say, an AI isn’t capable of recreating the unpredictability of an artist like Goldenboy Countup.
I recently got the opportunity to catch up with the buzzing Florida rapper and ask him a few questions to better understand his psyche. You can read about it all below.
Goldenboy Countup Interview
How did you link up with Rod Wave?
Bro had sent his manager to holla at me on the Gram’. They sent me their number and I pulled up on them at the studio. It just happen out of nowhere type-sh*t. I didn’t know bruh from a can of paint. We from different cities. He from Saint Pete, I’m from DeLand.
What do you feel like is a common misconception about Florida?
We lit for real fam, I can’t cap. Every city in Florida got a major rapper of at least a couple major rappers. Or some n*ggas got a street name, got bigger and (now) got real fans. The cities of Florida, when you think about it, everything (is) close. It’s Daytona, then DeLand, Samford, Orlando, Tampa, Saint Pete and all the way down to Miami. Everything is by each other. So we all done seen each other on Facebook, Instagram, Myspace, or we done bumped into each other at the mall. We only got a few malls in Central Florida. A lot of people from Saint Pete and Tampa come to our malls, and lot of us go to theirs. So we all know each other, someway, somehow. Rather it’s a female or a n*gga we know each other.
So everyone is one person away from knowing each other?
Two people. You get what I’m saying. One person means that everybody reachable. Some people one person away, and some people two people away. I make myself five people away. You got to hit up a few people to get me. I ain’t gon cap.
I know you said in a previous interview you grew up on all the iconic trap legends like Boosie, Gucci, Webbie. But what Florida rappers inspired you? Were you bumping Trick Daddy back then?
Trick a goat, you already know that. Trick really wasn’t my era. That was really my daddy and them era. But Trick the goat, we gotta know Trick. Plies was really that man that carried my generation. Plies is the goat for my generation.
People forget. But Plies had a crazy run!
Yea, he the man. Plies was a bad man! That’s who I looked up to in this rap sh*t. I ain’t trying to be too industry or too extra. He got his money.
Would you ever want to lock in with him and get some music with him?
Yea. We gon do a song. Like last year, I stamped myself and let people know, I’m Goldenboy Countup. I ain’t going nowhere. This year is the year, that they all accepting me. If that makes sense to you. They all watch my stories now. They’ll send a lil “100” sign, “keep going”, and stuff like that. Last year they was just looking at me from a distance. That’s how they play it. They look at you, reach out, and link up. You got to know the game with this sh*t. But with me coming up under Rod (Wave) though, he taught me. I don’t hang with them or be around them. Boom, boom, boom, do a song with them, video, and I’m out of there. Ain’t no chilling or hanging, none of that. We don’t know each other. We just link, say “I like yo sh*t, you like my sh*t, let’s do a song”. We can have a relationship, that’s great. But I ain’t finna be deadass tight with people.
Take me into the process of you making Love Golden 2. Did you approach this project any differently?
It was straight for females. But the streets love Golden. And the females, so I had do a mixture with that sh*t. The thing is, I had to learn my fanbase. When I made my first, Love Golden, I was on some love sh*t. And I realized my female fanbase, like me on some trap sh*t. They’ll go listen to a R&B artist if they want to hear some real deal love sh*t. So my love sh*t gotta be gangsta and G. It got to be street with it. So I had to understand these girls want to ride around listening to “Chicken” with they n*ggas. So I had to flip the script on them. I’m really the first rapper of my generation to make my music unisex. My music unisex bro, for real. Nobody peeps that. You can be a dude and ride around to me. Or you a female and ride around to me. Telling you, my sh*t unisex. And I don’t know how it happen like that (Goldenboy chuckles), it’s just how I did it.
With you releasing so many projects in such a short span, can you take me into the mindset of your work ethic and why you’ve been going so hard and how you do prevent yourself from burning out?
I got that Tupac groove bro. Like I get in the studio, and I tell my stories bro, like in real life. I ain’t gon cap, my city will tell you, I was one of the youngest being in the streets. I was 16, livewire! I ain’t gonna say I was robbing n*ggas or jumping out there doing dumb n*gga sh*t. Like I was in the streets, I had to figure it out. Being 16, tryna figure all this out to the age I am now, that’s a lot of stories I got. So burning out would’ve been if I just started this sh*t like last year and I just jumped into this sh*t, and just got some money. I went through all of this sh*t since I was 16, I had to figure it out. I had my own spot. I had to get my own whip. I had to feed my fam(ily). So ain’t no burning out! Everyday, it’s new sh*t! In reality, 10 years from now, I am going to still have some hard sh*t to talk about. But like dropping music, this sh*t is easy to me. I spend 12-15 minutes on each song. And that’s not me rushing. That’s me just chilling. I don’t write music. I haven’t wrote music for like 2-3 years now. Everything off the top. I just freestyle. Every song you ever heard that I got, is straight freestyle.
What do you feel like has been the hardest part of your journey? Because from the looks of it, it seems you really got it out the mud, and didn’t skip any steps. This is something a lot of artists can’t say they did.
Nobody did that. I didn’t cheat. A lot of people got big co-signs. But take it back to co-signs. What is a co-sign and what does a co-sign do? A few people will say “Golden had Rod (Wave) co-sign him”. Rod co-signed me to an extent, like to the streets. Letting them know that “Golden hard, f*ck with him”. But as in like putting me out there with a song and sh*t like that. Like if I would’ve had a Rod Wave feature, you’d would be talking to a different Golden right now. (Golden laughs) It’d be totally different. I’d be like Michael Jackson, with my glove on, talking that fly sh*t! But I’m glad it didn’t happen like that fam! Because now I can say I got this sh*t out the dirt. It ain’t save me or make me, but he looked out though. He taught me a lot of shit, like how to move. Like how to move in this industry and how it move in this game. He taught me how not to burn out. But like how Future co-signed Boston (Richey), that’s completely different. That’s totally different. That’s putting a n*gga in the game and that’s showing love! That’s love fam! Especially from we where come from. Sh*t different. I never had that type of co-sign. I never cheated the grind. I sold CD’s out the back of my trunk.
Damn. A lot of folks not willing to do that.
F*ck no. I was broke off rap for 15 years! That’s why I’m up now. And a b*tch can’t say nothing. Because they seen it. That’s why all my cars painted, got rims, and everything. I’m doing what I want to do now.
I saw in an interview that you aren’t a big fan of features. So how’d you lock in with Luh Tyler for “Bait”? Because y’all went crazy on that one.
At first, I wasn’t really a big fan of them. I’m still not a big fan of them. But me being in this business, people wanna hear them collabs, for sure. You got to network with people. But as in my CD’s that’s my tape! (Goldenboy laughs) We can do a single. But that song, “Bait” was already done. I had my first and second verse on there done. When I sent it to (Luh) Tyler, he was like “I wanna get on this one, I like this one. F*ck that, take that b*tch off.” (Goldenboy laughs) So I took the first verse off and sent it.
What else can fans expect from you this year?
5 more tapes.
5?!? Sheesh. You don’t sleep.
5 more tapes and an album. I’m raw. For real. It’s only March. It ain’t enough months in a year to keep up with me with tapes. We need 30 months in a year, to keep up my tapes. It ain’t enough! I got a hundred songs, just sitting. They ready to be put on CDs, all (of them) raw. Then I got 200, I just gotta decide, that imma listen to, that I don’t want y’all to listen to. (Goldenboy laughs) My private sh*t. I’m a rapper now. So I rap. You know rappers doing everything but rapping. That’s why Golden winning. I’m really rapping. I’m not trying to look cute or trying to be the coolest. I ain’t trying to be the toughest. I ain’t trying to be the iciest. I ain’t trying to be the richest. I’m just rapping. I’m just showing them what I can do fam. They came here to see music.
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