Alabama-Born Rapper OMB Peezy is Focused on Longevity and a Better Life For His Family

We interviewed OMB Peezy about his deal with 300 and his long-term goals with music.

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Some artists just breathe authenticity. Whether it's 21 Savage rapping about giving his best Evander Holyfield impression or Kendrick Lamar telling stories of his upbringing in Compton, something about these artists makes you believe everything they're saying without any background knowledge or proof. Seconds into "Lay Down," it's clear that OMB Peezy is one of those artists. 

We were able to speak with the Alabama-born artist about his new deal with 300 Entertainment as well as his hardcore upbringing and you can the feel the joy that is bouncing off of the 20-year-old rapper almost immediately. OMB Peezy sounds like a young man who is happy to be alive and even happier to be in position to make things a lot easier for the people around him.

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When did you start making music?

That’s why I’m putting 12 songs on my mixtape. The first song I ever recorded was when I was 12. Shit went like, “Nigga I’m Perry, better than the average, cause niggas I’m a savage, turn nigga when I’m rapping.” I forgot the rest. [Laughs] I was 12 years old though.

Who were your early influences?

A lot of C-Nile, a lot of Boosie, the whole Trill fam. I was listening to a lot of Future coming up, a lot of Kevin Gates, Soulja Slim. I was fucking with Master P and them, feel me? And you know everybody wanted to be a Hot Boy too, I grew up on a lot of that shit.

You’re only 20 right?

Yeah I just turned 20 in February.

So you were really young when the Hot Boys were out.

Yeah I can’t even really remember that shit but as I was coming up my people were playing their shit. I used to like hanging around the older people. I’d go around them and just watch, I was known to be the quiet one. Being around them I used to listen to all the “back in the days” shit.

I was looking at shit like, “I gotta get this money and make it last,” feel me? Five years from now I ain’t trying to be broke and just have some motherfucking shoes.

How do you think being around the older guys affected you growing up and the way you make music?

I think being around older people affected the way I grew up in a major way. It helped me look at shit differently. I didn’t look at things like the young motherfuckers would. Young motherfucker would look at shit like going to get Givenchy or shoes. I was looking at shit like, “I gotta get this money and make it last,” feel me? Five years from now I ain’t trying to be broke and just have some motherfucking shoes.

Do you think that this knowledge puts you at an advantage in the music industry?

Hell yeah. I’m not gonna make it seem like I was never a young hothead running around the streets and loving that shit but I feel like the way I think now is gonna help me last. A lot of motherfuckers dying or going to jail for life. I feel like the way I think now is going to lead to my longevity, because I’ve seen it go the other way for motherfuckers.

What was the moment that you realized that you can take music seriously and make money off of it for a long time?

I’m gonna go back to this story that I’ve never told anyone in any interview. I was staying in Mobile and it was me, my brother, and my partner. I always had this squeaky ass voice but I always wanted to rap and would always make music.

So one day my nigga was like, “What you gonna do if you grow up and your voice stay like that?” I said, “Nigga I’m gonna rap, you feel me?!” and they laughed saying I was gonna bite Boosie’s style. I just knew I was gonna have to make this voice work. I knew this is what I wanted to do for a long ass time. I tried to get jobs, tried working. Most people don’t know this but I was locked up when I had my baby. So when I got out, I had to do whatever I had to do to take care of my baby. It just hit a point where I knew the music shit was what I wanted to do, what I had to do, and what I was going to do. It was just a matter of time.

How did having a child change things for you?

Man, you know that changes everything. Changes the way a nigga thinks about everything. I was living for myself, doing the young hothead shit. When I had my child, I had to change up cause I knew I wasn’t gonna have my kid growing up like, “Oh, my daddy died” or, “Oh, my daddy a lifer.” And I did not want my baby remembering me not having a car, being broke, being bummy, none of that. I had to get up off my ass and go get it.

I did not want my baby remembering me not having a car, being broke, being bummy, none of that. I had to get up off my ass and go get it.

How did “Lay Down” come together?

When I recorded it, it just came out so raw. Most of the time I wrote whole songs in the studio, write the hook, write a 16, then write a second 16 and lay it down.

How’d you connect with E-40?

That goes back to “Lay Down.” I had posted on YouTube and Nef Da Pharoah was on tour and when he got back he heard it from my nigga Kev. Then I starting fucking with Nef and then 40 heard it and it was on from there.

What made you decide to go with 300 Entertainment over the other labels that reached out?

I was just comfortable, they were just excited to have me and I had to go with the guys who were excited to work and keep me happy. With 300, I’m comfortable. Like I’m laid down in the studio right now smoking purple next to my nigga Zeke from 300 right now.

How does that feel, being in a position where you can be comfortable just relax in the studio?

It feels good, especially when you come from having to make yourself comfortable in fucked up situations and being uncomfortable because you’re hungry. I don’t know how to explain it man but it feels good as fuck, cause I came from nothing. I really came from shit.

What’s your main goal in music? What do you want people to say about OMB Peezy 20 years from now?

“I made it happen, I made it happen!” I just want to make it happen for me and my people. Get me and my people in a better place. 20 years from now they gonna be like, “Peezy made it happen man. He did it.” That’s all I want them to say. I don’t want them saying, “Peezy the best lyricist” or “Peezy the rawest rapper.” I just want them to say I kept it 100 and I made it happen.

What’s “OMB?”

I was fucking with the same niggas in Mobile my whole life. I moved everywhere but when I came back I always fucked with the same niggas. That’s why we made the “Only My Brothers” shit and we just stuck with it.

Are there any artists you would want to collab with?

I ain’t really looking to collab with nobody, I’m just trying to tell my story. But of course I’d want to get Boosie on some shit, NBA Youngboy. Kodak, shit like that. Tee Grizzley, he’s been going crazy.

How do you maintain your original sound and stay away from mimicking the popular flows in rap today?

I never been the kind of nigga that was a hypebeast. I don’t give a fuck if a million people are going one way, I’ll go the other way. I’m never gonna get on a song and try to rap like the next nigga, and it’s been working for me.

OMB Peezy's mixtape Loyalty Over Love is on the way. 

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