Who Is Sasha Go Hard?

Chief Keef, King L, Lil Reese, and Lil Durk are widely recognized as the faces of Chicago’s new rap scene, but there’s something brewing within the city's young female MCs, too. Rappers like Katie Got Bandz, Chella H, and Shady offer versions of drill music from their own unqiue perspectives. These “lady hittas” bring hard-edged raps and a monstrous sound, crafting huge regional hits that have attracted major label attention, but there's still room to become the first national star from this crop.

A promising local talent to take that title is Sasha Go Hard. As of late, the 20-year-old from Chicago's Southside has been hustling her independent mixtapes and videos that juxtapose the city's gritty lifestyle with her irrestible charisma. Her street anthem “Why They Mad?” rings loud—both on the Internet, with over 60,000 YouTube views, and in the Chi—garnering props from the likes of recent MMG signee Rockie Fresh, and more. Her tough demeanor comes as a surprise for a pretty-faced girl, which is what she says separates herself from the pack.

This past July, Sasha Go Hard released her second mixtape, Do You Know Who I Am? The project is a significant improvement over her first tape, Glory Girl, and with even more hypnotic hooks and simple yet effective bars. That’s why we decided to find out, Who Is Sasha Go Hard? She opened up about growing up with her family in the Low End, how she didn’t like her voice at first, being affiliated with Chief Keef's GBE crew, and the violence in Chicago.

As told to Eric Diep (@E_Diep)

Sasha Go Hard: “My momma, she wasn’t the type to let anybody go outside and do what we want to. I mean, she’ll let us go by my grandma’s house or stay home or go to work. You know, stuff like that. I would never just go hanging at blocks.

“She talks to me about sex and guys and what could happen if I stay outside all night. Or, she talks to me about street stuff.

“My dad was around but I stayed with my mother. They wasn’t together at the time, but he was there for me too. My mom was my better half. She love my personality. I’m real smart and mature. She likes how I think. I don’t just do what I want to do or do stupid stuff. So she love that.

“It was real nice living with two sisters. We had our little altercations but we stuck together. We real close. We always been like that. It was just my two sisters and my oldest brother. I have a younger brother that’s under me so he wasn’t around when we was growing up. He hasn’t been around for eight years now. I was around my sisters and my brother. I was the baby girl. [Laughs.]

“In our younger days as kids, we wasn’t going outside or nothing. We either had the choice of play the game or go to the porch or listen to music or watch TV. The main thing that we did was listen to music. Even though we was together, we always had our own different thing that we be doing. And mine was just rhyming and coming up with stuff. So I just did it on my own and focused on myself.

“My mom was my better half. She love my personality. I’m real smart and mature. She likes how I think. I don’t just do what I want to do or do stupid stuff. So she love that.

"We grew up, we didn’t have a mindset to do stuff to get us in trouble. We used to get in trouble, it would be something minor. We ain’t really do nothing to get in trouble. For us, we had each other and we didn’t need to go out and do something to get in trouble.

"I remember a long time ago, I was about nine or ten. We used to have a water fight. [Laughs.] We had a water fight in the house and we got in trouble for that when my momma came home. But we had so much fun with that. [Laughs.]"

Sasha Go Hard: “I was 17. I used to always rhyme and just play by saying stuff that rhymed. As I grew, I just kept doing it and my rhymes and words started getting better and better. I heard a beat-I forgot what beat it was-but I had wrote it to the beat and then after that I recorded it on my VoiceNotes.

“My friend was with me. She was telling me like, ‘Damn, this raw.’ And I just kept doing it. At the time when I first started, I wasn’t really serious like getting in the studio and doing videos. I wasn’t into all that. I didn’t know nothing about that. But I was just recording on my VoiceNotes on my phone. My friends were really feeling it.

“I didn’t like my voice at first. I was in school. I think I was in 6th, 7th or 8th grade. I used to be on the mic speaking in front of the whole school and I hated my voice. I did not want to talk. Like, ‘Ughh.’ [Laughs.] I couldn’t stand my voice. I was irritated by it.” [Laughs.]

Sasha Go Hard: “After I saw everybody was rocking with [my raps], my friends were telling me, ‘Man, it's raw.’ I’m like, ‘I need to stop recording on my VoiceNotes and just go to somebody’s studio.’ I saw Chief Keef posting his stuff on Facebook. And I had hit him up like, ‘What studio he go to?’ And that’s when he introduced me to DJ Kenn. So after that I went to they studio and I recorded. And after I finished recordin’, they were just in there like, ‘You go hard.’ And just kept telling me that I go hard. And they started rocking with me after that. They wanted me to come back to the studio.

“When I saw everybody was loving the “What We Do” song that I recorded, I’m like, ‘Man I gotta get ...’ Everybody keep telling me that I am cold and I go hard. I’m finnakeep continuing to make songs and record. I felt the studio so there ain’t no reason to stop.

When I saw everybody was rocking with me, it was a connection that was made. I’m like, ‘They rocking with me. I’m finna just keep doing me.’

“When I first got in there, I was kinda happy because they was cool. I felt comfortable. I had recorded, SD, he was in the booth with me. He just move his head as I recorded lookin’ like, ‘Dang, this girl raw.’ When I was done, he kept telling me, ‘You go hard.’ Everybody was just rocking with me heavy so I felt good about it. I’m loving this feedback that they are giving me. When I saw everybody was rocking with me, it was a connection that was made. I’m like, ‘They rocking with me. I’m finna just keep doing me.’

“I never knew about ad-libs. They just told me like, ‘Ok, do your ad-libs.’ And I’m looking like, ‘What’s ad-libs?’ They told me, ‘Well, you just go say something over your words or something you already said.’ They taught [me] what was ad-libs. But I had already knew how to put what where just by listening to music period. Just knowing where, ‘Ok, I got to put this right here so it can sound right.’

“I’ve been with Keef way before the rap scene. I just knew him around from outside or something. That’s when I first met SD and Fredo [Santana] and everybody who was in the studio. That was my first time meeting DJ Kenn too.

“When Chief Keef first popped, I had saluted him a couple of times because not only for what he was doing for himself but him and King Louie put a lot of eyes on Chicago. Just to see the talent that we got. I salute them for that. They doing their thing."

Sasha Go Hard: “I used to listen to Trina, Lil Kim and Nicki Minaj’s music. I listen to them. I like they music. They cold. I was listening to them, but to be honest, myself and my fans and my supporters inspire me. They show me like, ‘Man, you cold.’ They put in my face that I got what it takes to be a rapper.

Lauryn Hill, her songs, she kind of have that way of not only give people something to hear but giving listeners something to feel what she saying. I love that because my goal is to that in my songs too.

“Lauryn Hill, her songs, she kind of have that way of not only give people something to hear but giving listeners something to feel what she saying. I love that because my goal is to that in my songs too. So that’s why I try to do too. It's like, ‘Man, she be doing what I be wanting to do too.’ And she’s just real about her music. I really do like Lauryn Hill.

“I wasn’t really listening to all of her stuff, I’mma be honest. It’s just her songs just catch your eye and ear. That’s what happened. I fell in love with some of her songs, not all of them. It’s so crazy, I forgot the name of it, but I know the song. [Laughs.] It goes like [sings], “It could all be so simple.” [Laughs.]

“My mother, she was a dusty listener. My mother, my brother and my sisters, we would just listen to like old school music. Lil Kim, her old stuff. TLC. Whitney Houston. Faith Evans. Missy Elliott, when she used to do her thing with the music. The Isley Brothers.

“I’m an old school listener. I like a lot of people’s older music than their newer music. If you would to see my iPod now, you wouldn’t believe how much old R.Kelly [Laughs.] or old Beyonce or Destiny’s Child. TLC. I don’t know, it’s just how I am.”

Sasha Go Hard: “Drill music is just to me that it will get people crunk. You know, like everybody is in the mood to act the fool. [Laughs.] Drill music is catchy and it's hood like street music. That’s what that is.

“The term drill is the 2012 version of fighting. You gonna do something to somebody else. Like Katie Got Bandz’ [song], “We riding around and we drillin’.” Or just, ‘We’ll drill they ass.’ [Laughs.]

“It’s most definitely out of Chicago because I know this group called M.I.C. that rap and they got a song called “All We Do Is Drill.” And it’s about drillin’ too. ‘All we do is drrill.’ And when you hear it, you just know that it's not just sitting on the porch or playing a video game or something. [Laughs.]

“I think it came from teenagers and violence. Drill is a cold word, you know? [Laughs.] That’s why I said it's the 2012 version of fight. In Chicago, nobody else say ‘fight.’ ‘We finna go fight.’ Or something like that. It’s just not like that anymore, especially like now. That I’m saying drill, it means a lot.”

Sasha Go Hard: “Chicago now is a city of violence. Everybody says that now. They telling the truth because people get killed everyday in Chicago. I hate to say it, that’s just how it is. Me being Sasha Go Hard and just looking at everything that’s going on, you never know what’ll happen or who gonna like you. People killing people just because they don’t like each other. Or they don’t like somebody who they be with. That kind of scares me because I ain’t ready for that.

"For the last two years it’s been like that. To be honest, it's getting worse. I think experiencing and living in Chicago you see all this stuff going on you have to be aware and protect yourself. I guess [when people rap about violence and guns] that’s their way of protecting themselves because you have to. Maybe, it’s just protection, to let people know, you don’t want war with me so don’t try me.

"People will take your life if you do something big or they think you got some money now that we rapping. I don’t know, it's just to let people know. Hey, don’t try me."

Sasha Go Hard: “When I first went to the studio, [Chief Keef and his crew] been had their name, Glory Boyz. They been had that. When I first went to the studio and recorded and, you know, they telling me that I went hard. One of them said like, ‘She the first lady, Glory Girl.’ That’s when I came up with ‘Glory Girl.’ As time passed and stuff, I dropped the Glory Girl mixtape.

“I haven’t been in a group since I was with Chief Keef and them. If you look at the “Bang” video, you will see me in there. I used to be with them. I was like the female of the Glory Boyz, but they labeled me as the ‘Glory Girl.’”

“When I dropped it, me and DJ Kenn got into it. We had pass a couple of words. I had stop going around them. I had stop going to the studio and all that. Because we were in the studio together everyday from morning to dark. After that happened with me and DJ Kenn, I stopped going to the studio.

“I just felt neglected. He just stopped working with me. I ain’t have nobody else. We all we had in the studio. Kenn was like our connect. We didn’t have him, we didn’t have nobody else to go to the studio or record or be around. At the time when that happened, Young Chop wasn’t around. He wasn’t around yet. Kenn, he kept out of trouble with each other like arguing and all that. All of us just went to the studio to be happy and do what we love. We made music in there.

“I haven’t been in a group since I was with Chief Keef and them. If you look at the “Bang” video, you will see me in there. I used to be with them. I was like the female of the Glory Boyz, but they labeled me as the ‘Glory Girl.’”

Sasha Go Hard: “I love Glory Girl mixtape because it kind of made people see me. It was the beginning of me and who I am. It was a start. My first mixtape I ever made. And I think a lot of people don’t pay attention to it right now cause when I drop that mixtape, it didn’t pop like Do You Know Who I Am? because one of the main reasons is the spotlight wasn’t on Chicago.

"When I did that, the people who knew Sasha Go Hard and the people who was getting in tune, they was in tune with it. But now, there’s way more people in tune with Sasha Go Hard and Do You Know Who I Am? mixtape. I really want people to get in tune with my Glory Girl mixtape because not just listen to new music but just to see the improvement. The growth that I had made from Glory Girl to Do You Know Who I Am? Just to see how things got better for me."

Sasha Go Hard: “It took me four months to finish my mixtape. It was a lot of stuff I was going through. I couldn’t get nobody to let me record because, for one, people playing favoritism. They don’t want to work with you either because you not buzzing or they don’t want to see you do something good. I’ve been through so many situations where people, like guys, that want me to mess with them in order for them to work with me or do a video for me. Or give me studio time.

“So by me being me, I’m not finna have sex with nobody for studio time. By them not working with me that kind of made me fall back because I ain’t have no money to buy my own mic and get the programs and do it on my own. Money just didn’t come at the time. It just wasn’t coming. That’s kind of why it took me so long. Before the “Why They Madd?” video, I didn’t do no video since last year when I did “Welcome To The Real World” video.

“But Chella H actually put Stack Or Starve on me and ask if he can do it for me. He said, ‘Yeah.’ I had a little help and little supporters trying to put me up so I just won’t give up. There’s been times when I’ve been crying or just ready to let go because I didn’t have a lot of help. I ain’t have a lot of support. The support that I needed.

“I got songs right now on paper that I haven’t recorded yet or songs I got on my phone that’s not even out yet. The songs on [Do You Know Who I Am?] are the songs I felt people should hear like “I Think I Like That.” I put that on there, not only because the song was cold, but to let people know that Young Chop’s rocking with me. That let them know that I am not just anybody. That’s part of how I came up with [the title] Do You Know Who I Am? because people were kind of labeling me or they were looking at me like I didn’t mean nothing. I just found myself saying one day, ‘Do you know who I am?’ [Laughs.]

Sasha Go Hard: “I had met him in ‘09. He had hit me up on Twitter. At that time, I was going through a little situation. It was kind of hard for me to get what I needed to keep moving forward in the music scene: studio time, videos, beats, all that. So when he hit me up, I was like, ‘Let me see what he talking about. He probably got something.’ He hit me up like, ‘I got some cold beats I want to send you. Just check them out for me.’ And I had checked them out. I went to my e-mail immediately and listened to them. When I heard them I was like, ‘Man, these beats are raw.’ I instantly started writing to them. I’m like, ‘I gotta do something to these beats.’

“I really think that working with him was meant to be. [Laughs.] Because people flood my inbox trying to get me to listen to their beats and get on some beats. It was like perfect timing. He hit me up right at that point where I was going through all this stuff. I needed something, somebody to just push me. When he hit me up, I just instantly checked him out. I just fell in love with his work. I told him, ‘Man, this is some good luck or something.’

“I was kind of slowing down and it kind of stressed me out cause it wasn’t my fault. I couldn’t do nothing about it. People weren’t really trying to help me or trying to use me to get something that I want. But at the time, I wasn’t really buzzing like I am now. So it was a lot of favoritism going on. I knew the type of person I was, you know, I wasn’t at the bottom, but I wasn’t buzzing, buzzing. Everybody was trying to work with whoever was buzzing.

“Listening to his beats motivated me. The first song wrote off his beat was “Why They Mad?” and everybody love that song now. I had the most fun on that song, I went extra hard on that. When I heard it, I’m like, ‘Man, I’m angry.’ I wasn’t angry but you know I just had a lot of stuff on my mind. ‘Man, I’m finna write to this beat.’ I wrote to it and it went from there.

“I really do want to [put out a mixtape], especially with him because I just want to show him that I’m thankful for him rocking with me. He’s real thankful for me working with him too cause a lot of people didn’t get a chance to. We made a real good connection with each other.”

Sasha Go Hard:“I have 25 tattoos. My favorite one is I got the word “Love” on my hand with music symbols going around it. It just basically saying I love music. That’s my favorite one.

“I got a seahorse on my hand because I love how it looks. Every time I used to go to the museum, I gotta see the seahorses. It’s just so amazing to me. I went and got a seahorse on me. And then I got my zodiac sign, a Scorpio. I have a scorpion on my arm. I have my first mixtape name, Glory Girl. I got that tatted on me. I got my mother’s name on my stomach. I got some cheetah print. I got a cross. I got a cupcake. I got the cupcake in a bowl with some flowers. I don’t know, because it was pretty. [Laughs.]

“I only have three tattoo artists. I don’t like a lot of people doing my tats. They don’t have a shop. I mean, I’ve been to the shop to get three of my tattoos. They prices are not as high as the shop. They real cool. I have a relationship with them too.”

Sasha Go Hard: “The plan for Sasha Go Hard is to go even harder. Do better. Do better than my past. Improve. To give listeners something to listen to and not just anything. I just want people to feel and see where I am coming from. I’m going for the top. I am going for the best. I’m going to do what I gotta do to get what I want and to just keep grinding. I got a lot of stuff coming up. I am working on tours right now. Performing more. Just doing me.

“It’s crazy. Yesterday I woke up at five o'clock in the morning. I’m listening to beats and one of the beats catch my attention. I’m just feeling the beat. I am feeling the beat a lot and I just started writing. I’m finna take off with this. It’s different. I don’t want to talk about it alot because I don’t want to give it up but it’s nutty. Every time I say nutty, it’s something crazy like everybody gonna love it.

“The thing about little Sasha Go Hard [Laughs.] is even though that sometimes I be having to take it step by step. I just like doing more than one thing at one time so I could just get stuff done and won’t forget about nothing. I do a lot of stuff by myself and don’t have a manager. I manage myself. I just do everything to keep me going.”

Sasha Go Hard: “I listened to Kanye West and his stories. I used to just see his story develop. The accident and his mother. I was in tune with him heavy, especially because he’s from Chicago.

“They mean a lot for the city because they made it for one. It’s just kind of cool to see somebody from your own city to just make it. It just let you know that you could do the same thing. No matter what it takes. Kanye West didn’t let the accident stop him. He just grinding and kept going. Me personally, that show me like, ‘Man, if they can do it, I can do it.’ That’s kind of motivation too.

“Looking at that, looking at his success, everything that he’s doing, it motivates me to just keep grinding. I want to have a lot of money. A whole bunch of money to show my peoples,my family,something we never got a chance of, you know, that we never seen yet. Just watching him go all the around world and do him that kind of motivates me to just keep going. Because I want to do that.

“I want to be the person who gives back to my family because it's something nobody else in my family is doing. I know that it would make my mother and my brothers and sisters so happy. To the point where it's not because of the money or because of the material things. Just to see somebody in our family just doing it big.

“I wasn’t always the type of girl who just sit around and don’t do nothing. By me seeing that I got something good going on, it's just pushes me to grind. A lot of people I don’t know is showing me major love. And it’s just like, ‘Man, I’m 20 years old and I’m already getting all this love.’ So just imagine when things start really popping for me. It’s just a happy feeling to have.”

Sasha Go Hard: I love my fan who tweets Rick Ross. I don’t know her but I can feel the realness coming from her. I had fans that made it seem that they my fans and they really wasn’t. She tweets everyday. I think today was the 16th day. She tweeted me today, “Day 16. I am not giving up until Rozay get in tune with Sasha. Please.”

"Everybody knows how I feel about Rick Ross. I’m love in with this man. Not in a relationship way, but I love his boss mentality. He go hard. His flow is different. He don’t care. He just do him. I’m like that too.

"I dream about being with MMG everyday. I could just see myself going hard on some stuff on the same type of level that they on. I dream about it. I know it will come true one day. It really is one of my goals. It will be a dream come true if he links up with me or get in tune with me. I would probably be the happiest female rapper in the world."