HELLO?! 504icygrl is Calling
Pictured: 504icygrl performing in New Orleans. Photo Cred: @westpunkmedia
The first time I was introduced to 504icygrl’s music was also the first time I heard her perform live. She was the third-to-last set of the night, and as an audience member, I didn’t think I had the energy to make it through another performance. After spending three hours dancing, screaming, and enjoying other acts I was completely depleted. Or so I thought. Within the first five minutes of her set, I (along with the rest of the crowd) felt a second wind of excitement begin to take over. By the third song, I was completely hooked. I quickly found myself directly in front of the DJ booth cheering her on as though I was a lifelong listener. Somewhere amid her vibrant stage presence, captivating music, and exceptionally catchy adlibs, I found myself enrolling in her fan club. And as I (virtually) sat down with her on a sunny Monday afternoon to discuss her career, artistic inspirations, and future goals, I found my “standom” growing just as quickly as it did the first time I saw her take the stage.
GigiSaysYes: Hi! How are you?
504icygrl: I'm good!
GSY: Thank you so much for sitting down to do this interview with me. I'm so excited to talk to you. Let’s just get right into it. I know that in music interviews, so many people go out of their way to try and describe artists. But I would love to hear from you how you characterize your music and your sound. What makes 504icygrl’s sound her own?
504IG: Uh in my own words, I would say, not even in my own words, but from my favorite artists, [it’s] kind of like sugar trap vibes, is what Rico Nasty would call it. Also, I would call it Lisa Frank meets, uh, I don’t know a coke dealer or something.
I love that. I definitely get those vibes from you.
So, as I was looking into your website and some of your other interviews, I realized that you are pretty new to this rap game and you've made such leaps and bounds. You put out your first project in like 2019, right?
Mmhm, yeah.
I'm interested in what inspired you to take the leap. I feel like a lot of people who want to make their art right have a lot of ideas or creativity, but they never take that first step. So for you, what inspired you to take that first step into music?
What pushed me to make that step was- I moved to LA. And I really moved to LA to kind of figure out what I wanted to do, like, in life. I had a bunch of interests and passions, and I wasn’t really sure which direction I wanted to go. So, I was really just kind of broke as hell in LA and I needed to find and stick with something. And at the time, I was just going through a lot and what I was going through made me write music. And once I had the chance to get in that studio I was like, “I think this is going to be the thing that I stick with and keep doing”. I have a lot of talents, a lot of things that I love, so I feel like was pressing myself like, girl, you need to pick something, stick with it, and start going hard.
Right, right.
And being broke in LA really made me go and do that shit.
Yeah, being broke will bring the hustle out of you real quick, won’t it?
Yeah!
So, what was your musical inspiration growing up? Was anyone in your family a musician?
Growing up as a kid, my grandmother, she taught me how to play the guitar. So, I was really into learning how to play music. As a kid, I was into everything but mainly old Young Money and Nicki Minaj. But I was also into, like, Paramore, Kreayshawn, Honey Cocaine. I was really into that type of wave. Now that I’m looking at it, I was on this feminist vibe from the jump. [I listened to] a bunch of different women artists from different genres. But I would always go back to Young Money vibes.
Something I really love is when feminine people enter a space, and people expect someone very dainty and sweet. And you have very feminine energy but you're also like “no I’m turning up, I'm in your face and like we're going to have a good time”. It’s cool to hear that the music you listened to as a kid sort of mirrored that.
As a woman in the music industry, I know there is so much shit that you go through. What was an unexpected challenge for you when you got into the music game?
I didn’t expect people to not take me seriously. It’s really hard to be taken seriously as a woman artist, especially in Hip-Hop. You just have to do a lot more to prove yourself and you have to conduct business a different way, for real. Even though I heard people talk about it, I wasn't really prepared for it.
Was the challenge, like, not being able to get producers or-?
Definitely. It was really hard to get producers at first. And finding good, trustworthy people to work with in the studio, like an engineer. It’s really hard to find good, trustworthy people as a woman when you first start. Because a lot of people just think you're not going to be in it for the long run. I don’t know, there are a lot of judgmental things going on when a woman enters the studio. So that was my biggest challenge, finding a good producer.
It's definitely unfortunate; I hear a lot of stuff like that from women who are in the music industry.
So when you face a lot of challenges or hit those [professional] walls, what keeps you motivated to keep pushing?
Seeing other women prevail, reach their goals, and do really big things. I think that’s something that kept me motivated along the way. When I first started rapping, Rico [Nasty] was going crazy, Megan thee Stallion was going crazy. That’s what kept me going I’m not going to lie. Just seeing other people go stupid.
Absolutely. You can’t be it if you can’t see it.
Yup, exactly.
Like I said [before the interview], my first time hearing your music was at Pu$$yRap, and I absolutely adored your performance! Your energy is so infectious- I feel like I've been a fan for years. I know you're on tour right now, do you have a performance ritual? What kind of prep do you like to do before you go onstage?
Thank You.
When I know I’m going to perform, I try to really listen to my music to get into a groove the whole day. I also try to think of little things I’m going to do at different punchlines. I feel like I prepare the whole day every time I perform. When I get to the venue, I try to talk to as many people as possible. Just to get a feel of the vibe, of how people are feeling type shit.
That’s so smart. I feel like more people should spend time engaging with the audience before they get on stage.
Yeah, I love being in the audience.
“It’s really hard to find good, trustworthy people as a woman when you first start. Because a lot of people just think you’re not going to be in it for the long run. I don’t know, there are a lot of judgmental things going on when a woman enters the studio.”
Mmhm! One of the things I really loved from your performance was your ad-libs. HELLOO!!
Ooh, I love my ad-libs.
I've been dying to know how “hello” came to be. How do we get this ad-lib? I feel like it's been folded into my vocabulary since I’ve heard it.
So back when I first started making music, I was trying to find my sound. And this engineer I was working with- I was already doing a bunch of crazy, cute ad-libs and shit. But he was like “you should pick one of these ad-libs, coin it, and make it yours”, and it just happened to be that one out of all of ‘em. I’m trying to think of the exact song but- yeah I was just trying new ad-libs. But it was catchy, it was catchy as hell. It reminds me of when I used to be a cheerleader, just being loud as hell. I love it.
Absolutely. That’s fire. I’m glad you brought your studio process up. If you’re making a song from scratch, what does building it up look like for you?
I am a writer. Before I ever made music, I used to write a lot of fiction, non-fiction, all types of stuff. I love writing essays… everything. So when I start to write a song, I brainstorm a few topics and then create a rhyme scheme. I take one word and then put a bunch of rhyming words under it. And then I’ll make another section where it’s like “these are good analogies” type of shit. And then I’ll just make a whole bar and then verses off of that one brainstorm.
So you write before you even get the beat?
Yeah! Everyone tries to get me to freestyle. I wish I could freestyle; it’s just so hard. But I love to just sit down and write. If I have a pen and paper, it’s even better. People see me in the studio writing on pen and paper and are like “what the fuck”. You barely ever see people writing with pen and paper anymore. But I appreciate the way I make music.
I've been listening to Princess Diaries non-stop. I think this is an incredible project. My two favorites are definitely “Work” and “Eat Up”.
Ooh, really? I feel like people sleep on “Eat Up”. That was my favorite when I made the tape.
Yes! I love “Eat Up”. When you make a song, how do you decide that it’s going on your project?
Okay, this is how I know. If I leave the studio and I forget to get the song, it’s not going on the project. But if I got the song, the session, I’m playing it in the car, if I keep going back to listen to it, then it goes on the project.
So it has to be a hit for you first?
Yeah. Those songs have priority from the jump, like, naturally. I [also] think I’ve found my balance, lately. When I first started making music, I really wanted to make something catchy. I wanted people to, you know, find my music. Now, like I said, it’s a good balance. I make stuff that I like. But I also listen to everything my supporters say- I know what they want to hear, too. But I’m so good at catching my demographic [that] now it’s like my supporters want to hear what I want to hear. We all kind of have the same interests.
Pictured: 504icygrl. Photo Credit: 504Exotics
Do you have a stan name for like your fans?
I do. I call them my Goons.
What’s that demographic? Who are the Goons?
It’s very fluid. Everyone. Literally, everyone can be a Goon. Because at this point, I see people that I wouldn’t think would be one and they be Goons!
Okay! So, as an artist what happens when you get writer's block or when you're not feeling creative?
Ooh, I’ve had writer’s block so many times. Sometimes it lasts months at a time. Bro, the only way to really get out of it is to go out and experience as many new things as you can. And if you can’t go out and experience it, you better go put on a movie or something. You just have to get more content and take in more things. You’ve got to be introduced to new things, new feelings, new flavors. It doesn’t even have to be music, it could be food, it could be movies- a lot of movies inspire me. It can be anything. Just [having] things to digest can help you get out of your writer’s block.
If you could give yourself a piece of advice before you uploaded that first song, before you put yourself out there as an artist, what would you say?
I would say to drop the song before you drop the Triller. When I first started my music career, I would always drop Trillers to unreleased songs and it’d go viral as fuck and then [I’d] drop the song, like, 4 weeks later on some dumb ass shit. And I feel like if I would’ve done it the other way around in the beginning, it would be a little different right now. I probably would’ve gotten paid; you know what I’m saying? But I wasn’t really thinking about those types of things at first.
And finally, what's something that's on your bucket list that you like to accomplish in the next few years?
I have a couple of things. In the next 2-3 years, I want to have either a restaurant or a food truck. I love to cook and I’m going to drop a cookbook next year. So in 2-3 years, I’ll probably have a restaurant or food truck. And I want to get on another major festival. I don’t even care which one I just want to get on another because Buku Festival was the best time ever- I just want to keep getting into my festival bag. And a third one, I want to perform overseas somewhere. I want to do the UK or maybe Barcelona, or something. Yeah.
504icygrl is currently on tour. Get tickets to Princess Diaries Tour here.
Follow her everywhere at @504ICYGRL
GSY’s Faves: 504icygrl playlist