CONNECTICUT’S BAR KING: ANOYD

CONNECTICUT | ANOYD

INTERVIEW KB TINDAL PHOTOGRAPH @chrisfulch

Connecticut is not the place where people go to check for elite rappers, but ANoyd is on a mission to change that. With one of the hottest pens in the game ANoyd is still building his fan base. With 5 million Spotify streams last year he is well on his way to becoming a household name and I would dare to say that at some point he will be a ghostwriter for your favorite rappers. I got the chance to sit down with the bar king once again after not chopping it up with him for a few years and we touched base on tons of topics from his superior slept on catalog to his BRGNDI Tuesdays, signing with Chris Webby’s label EightyHD, learning the business side of the music industry and more. Tap in and enjoy the ride and get familiar with Connecticut’s own ANoyd. 

VALIDATED: Let us start off with the video that you posted up today, with you bringing it back to the essence, “Hubbard Street,” which dropped today on BRGNDI Tuesdays, first quote, “my mom still sends affirmations to my phone,”. How does that make you feel, man?

ANOYD: Everybody know man, my Mom is my rock. Like just taking it back, you know, my Mom always supported me man, on my rap journey. I remembered I called her like “Yo Mom, my job fired me. I’m going to do music full-time.”, and she was super excited. So just that alone right there let you know, like my Mom was my rock and she always had my back since forever. She still does, still sending affirmations to my phone every day. Different quotables and things that I could use, you know, in my journey every day. It’s like clockwork, Monday through Sunday, every day is a new affirmation. Even if you are going through something, she is going to give you something to work with every day. Every morning, it is like a ritual, and it’s in a group chat. So, everybody in my family that wants the affirmation she sends it to them every day. It is like a new affirmation every day. I just wanted to start it out like that just to let people know where we are taking it. We set the tone. We took it back to the essence.

VALIDATED: You talked about your little brother researching entrepreneurship at the age of eight. How does it make you feel to see him doing that when it took you longer to get to that point?

ANOYD: It just lets me know the generation has changed, and the kids are getting smarter as time goes on. They have the internet, we were just outside riding bikes, not saying that was not a great thing though. You cannot really change that, but now the kids got iPads and iPhones at an early age and if they do not know how to do something, they can just YouTube it. YouTube is like the new University. You do not even have to go to College, you can learn everything on YouTube. And he is just super tapped in, and he is great in school. He is super good at math, super good at everything. And it is just inspiring to me because I look at that and I am like, Yo; that is mad inspiration.

VALIDATED: That has to make you proud.

ANOYD: Like being that woke and that tapped into ownership that small, he’s an eight-year-old kid and just to think about ownership that early like, you know what I'm saying? That is crazy, Bro.

VALIDATED: You also talked about your pops on “Hubbard Street,” you know, about how he was not there when he left to pursue his dream of music, how did you feel about that when you were young and then on the contrast side, how do you feel about that now that you're an artist and you're chasing your dream with music?

ANOYD: Like I said in the song, you know, I understood it as I got older, you know, cause back in the day, I did not understand. I was asking my Mom, like where is my Dad, where is my Dad, where my Dad at, and she was like, he’s not here he’s on the road doing his music thing. As a young kid, you don’t really understand that. Cause like, I did not want to rap that early, you know, until I got to freshman, sophomore year of high school. So, I did not really get the realization that music can take over your whole life. Like literally just take over everything, like whatever you got going on in real life, it's like, holy shit I got to do music. Like this is my first love. So, I am just looking at it, man. Like now I realize that, I forgive him because it's music and it can take you there man. It could really make you sacrifice so many things, even something as huge as fatherhood, it's just crazy. And who am I to be just spiteful and not forgive my Dad for following his dream and following his heart. Because like I said in a song, you picked a great woman to know that she could potentially be a Mom and a Dad, and fill your physical form if she had to, you know what I am saying man.  I just tapped into so much stuff in that song.

I am super excited to know that he commented on the post. It is like, Yo, come on now! It’s like we understand and we talk about life. We talk about real life. There are no boundaries. Like you can talk about anything. You know what I mean? Because as much as I tore him down in that song, I brought him up. In his life, I tore him down, but I brought him up at the end. So, it was like a Hubbard street vibe.

VALIDATED: What was your earliest memory of hip hop culture? 

I really started out liking rapping ‘cause of Dipset, Bro, like Dipset, Juelz Santana, Cam’ron and like the whole Dipset movement. And that is what made me start rapping. Like I just fell in love with the energy that they had, the flow patterns and the beats and everything. That is why I started rapping. I don’t know if you have heard of Jr Writer. 

VALIDATED: Yeah, I know Jr Writer.

ANOYD: Like, Yo, he was my favorite rapper. That is who made me start rapping Jr Writer made me started rapping. Like of course it was in my blood, like, my dad, you know, having music in my blood, but that is where I got my inspiration from. And like my first mixtape ever. Like my first mixtape I ever put out is on datpiff.com and I am sounding like Jr Writer on every song.

My first rap name was Ar White because it was like Jr Writer and Ar White. And I don't even think he knows this, but it is dope like Dipset really raised me. And that is the first time I actually felt like, yo, I really want to rap like Jr. Writer and Dipset, like these niggas like lit you know, I am young, and I am watching YouTube and we just listening.

I had not really listened to like Nas and Biggie until like, as time went on, I started tapping into Jay Z, Nas and Killarmy, like I start tapping into Big Pun and all that. Like, you know, cause as time goes on YouTube and BET let us be crazy. But yeah, like early years, hip hop culture, I was listening to Dipset.

VALIDATED: I know Nas is one of your idols as well, as far as hip hop is concerned. And I know the last time we talked, you said that you had a sealed copy of Illmatic on vinyl that you were waiting for him to sign. Did that ever happen yet, or are you still waiting for that day to take place?

ANOYD: I am still waiting for that day to take place, bro. I got it right here. I still got it in the plastic. It is still a little run down, but I still do not even know what it looks like on the inside. Until I see him. I made a promise to myself like a long, long time ago when I bought it off Amazon. I was like, I am never going to open this until I meet Nas. And I was supposed to meet him like a couple years ago. I think it was like 2016.  I started bringing it with me to all the interviews that I was going to in the City and everybody started tapping like, oh we got the kid with the Illmatic in his book bag. Nas heard it; Nas heard the story. He was like, oh yeah, have him come through and then, I was supposed to go up there and then I guess he had a busy schedule. So, the stars never aligned up for it. You know? And I always looked at that like, all right, it was not my time yet. I know it is coming and I still got it here.

VALIDATED: No doubt definitely. Definitely. Let us jump into 2020 last year. What kind of adjustments did you have to make to keep eating in the midst of the pandemic, what did you have to do to keep things shaking?

ANOYD: You know, early pandemic, honestly, like I started getting into my hustling bag, man. I’m like, yo, what can I do, man?  We cannot go on tour. What can I do? I started just like getting in my bags, and started working on new music like everybody else out there. They like, oh, we got mad downtime. We just need to work on some music. So, I started working on music and then doing all that. And then, you know, DMS, yo, how much you charge for a feature?  I slice my number in half. I was doing features for whatever, whatever you had $250, $300. I was really hustling out trying to get it. Boom, boom, boom. Send it back the day of. They would be like, I did at least like 10 to 20 verses, you know what I am saying?  So, I was just getting in that bag. What else I was doing, man? I think that is it honestly, you know, I mean obviously I would try to get into the weed. Like, I mean, you know what I mean? Like you go back to what you know.

So I did that for like a couple months then I am like, all right, this corny. You know, you have to be out there actually. And I am not that type of person. And as far as Connecticut is concerned, like, is that ANoyd selling weed out here. No, I am not going to be that nigga. I did that for a little bit and then, you know, just started getting right on the features and getting my business right. Cause I really wanted to get my business right. That is why I did the deal with Webby. Cause you know, a lot of things was not in order, like my meta-data and all this other stuff, all the analytical that goes into music and like, it is a lot of paperwork and a lot of things I am learning. I am learning new things as I go. Every day I learn something new. I learned something new today that I didn’t even know. So, it is like just being in this situation makes me learn so much. So, you know, early pandemic when this happened, I was like, all right, I got to actually like get my business right. Because I could be making money off of this every month. I could be getting money from streaming every month that I was not getting before.

VALIDATED: Did you participate in any of the protests or how did you use your voice beyond music to bring some awareness to the struggles of black and brown people when all the protests and everything was going on last year?

ANOYD: Yeah, definitely. I had my fair share of protest out here; it was a whole bunch of them. I live downtown, so people were walking downtown. So, I would just go out there and you know, it was a dark time, you know what I mean? Dark time in the world and something just overcomes you. You just have to, you cannot just sit around. You just got to do something. So, I was like, we got to go out there, this my people marching. So, we got to move military, move together. Of course, I put out the “Black Baby” record because it was dark. It was really dark. You couldn't put out no music unless it was talking about what was going on. So, I looked at it and I’m like, all right, man, like I got to put something out. But it got to be in that same vain, and I’m the perfect nigga to do that. Cause I am cut from that cloth. I can tell the story about whatever, you know what I mean, make it dope. The line is there, you know, I am a writer so I can convey that message, so I mean I was outside man. That is all I could say. I was outside.

VALIDATED: There are a lot of deaths going on in hip hop, right. And there are a lot of cats that are getting locked up that are at a level in the game where they should not be getting locked up. Most recently, Yfn Lucci, Casanova 2X got locked up and King Von got killed. What do you do to move differently so that you do not fall into those, those types of pitfalls, man?

ANOYD: Honestly, bro, you just have to watch who you are around and watch where you at. You know, every, every time I go out, I always keep my head on a swivel, always make sure, the scenery is right and who I am with. It was like, you do not want to be hanging around people that is like cut from that cloth and that can potentially put you in a situation that you do not need to be put in, bro. I got a son on the way, you know, I am about to be a father.

VALIDATED: Congratulations bro.

ANOYD: Ever since then, it is like, I just been thinking even before then I was thinking, you know how people get shot out here. You know what I mean? Where I’m from, you never really know. And I am ANoyd. Of course, I’m here, and all about love and peace. But it could be that one person that is like, I don’t really like ANoyd. It’s always that one person. At the end of the day, you just got to watch who you around and just keep your head on the swivel, man. Just be careful, bro. Every time I go out, I am like, Yo, where am I at?

VALIDATED: You did 4.1 million streams on Spotify in 2020. 973,000 listeners in 92 countries. How much of an improvement was that for you from the previous year?

ANOYD: It was huge! I think previously I was at 1 million and now I was at like 4.9. What was it like at least close to five? Might as well call it five. Round up. The elevation is there, and it was all about just like finding out what my fans wanted from me, and just coming up with a formula, like, all right, boom, we are going to hit them with two songs a month and just do single. Before we was doing albums and you know, they gave people a chance to be like, all right, I like this song, but I am not feeling track four, track five, but I like track seven. It kind of was like collectively could do well, but certain songs on there will just like, it gives people a chance to tell what they like and what they don’t like. When you give them single after single it’s like, all right, well, you could take this song if you do not like it, somebody's going to like it, but it gives you an outlook on it. So, all right, I could see what my fans are with and what they are not with. And it keeps the monthly’s coming in. If people follow you on Spotify, all right, I know he is about to be dropping next Tuesday because this Tuesday he is not dropping. And so we are doing every other Tuesday. So, it is just finding that formula and finding what works and then just keeping that up. And that is what we did last year. And it worked, and this year it is looking even better, you know, last year going into this year. It’s looking so much better. My numbers are crazy. So, I know once we get to that end of the year wrap up for 2021 it’s going to be all about elevation, man. It’s all about a small incline, that is better than no incline. You know what I mean? So, we are gradually going up, I would rather go this way, then just shoot up all the way. Cause that can get you messed up quick. It is overwhelming.

VALIDATED: I know you probably haven't been able to really turn those listeners into doing shows yet, but have you started to line all of that up like shows out of the country once the pandemic is over and just based off of those 4.9 million listeners that you have trying to turn that into paper basically? 

ANOYD: For sure, man. You know, that's the beautiful thing about, you know, all of these streaming platforms, because they let you know where you are high at, they let you know where your fan base is and you know where your strong market is, where your weak market is. So of course, once the pandemic is over and everybody can just get back to the shows, I’m on it. I know it is not just going to be an overnight thing, but once that come, we right back on the road, right back in Canada, we right back in the west coast, we right back on the East, like right back to it. Cause you know, I live for the shows. My energy is like crazy, so I have been bottling all of this energy up for when it’s time.

VALIDATED: You keep that energy no matter what, you bodied Funk Flex’s Block Work back in October of 2020. I have seen you body, every platform that you get on. What is your mindset when you get ready to touch a new platform like that?

ANOYD: I'm from Connecticut man. That is my mindset. Every time it’s Yo, I’m  Connecticut, and I am representing a whole state. So, when I am coming up there to smoke, I am coming there to freaking smoke and tear down because they are always overlooking where I am from. They are like, oh Connecticut, they got a good trout over there. They got good fish there. You know, I don't really know too many rappers out there that get busy. So, when I am coming up there, I’m coming fully clipped, fully prepared, no slip ups, no stumbles, no fumbles. And I am coming ready. You know what I am saying? I am covering heavy punches. Some of the craziest lines you ever heard in your life. Coming up there to smoke. So, like I know what I am coming up there with. Cause you know when Flex call me like, Yo, what you got? You know, I’m hitting him. I am like, Yo, when can I get up there? And I had that clip ready in March. I started writing in March. Once the pandemic hit. I was like, all right, this is going to be a little bit of time before outside opens up. So let me get a clip ready and loaded. So, when outside opens up, I am ready, clipped up. I am out here with 80 bars ready. So, it was like, I looked at that and I looked at it like, watch when this opens and I told Flex, I was like, when can I get up there? he called me like tomorrow? And I’m like bet. That is what you never really know, man. You never really know when you’re going to have to be ready. That is why I always stay ready. See, you got to get ready because you never know when you will be called, you be like, you got bars? That is your one chance. That is your one shot. You cannot be like, give me like a week. Nah, we got such and such coming up. So, we are good. You never want to be like that. So, I always stay ready, and you know, clipped up and the work speaks for itself, man. Everything shook, every building Sway and Flex.

VALIDATED: I liked that. I love the attitude, I love that. You tell them I am not playing with you anymore.

ANOYD: You know, you get to a point where it is like, you start crossing everybody on the court and dunking the ball. It is like, I can talk that. I can talk crazy when I get on the court, I get off on that. It’s like I appreciate you man. Thanks a lot. I am still a respectful person but do not get it messed up I will smoke you.

VALIDATED: So, you signed to Chris Webby’s label, EightyHD. What made you make that decision deep down, like what made you say, okay, I am already independent, what can another independent artist like Chris Webby, who has been touring, doing everything he has been doing for a decade. How, how can I help you? What made you make that decision?

ANOYD: You know, of course, it was not an overnight decision and you are always really contemplating on it for a while. And I am like, Yo, what are the pros and what are the cons? You know, obviously I could figure out a different deal or go somewhere else that makes more sense and all that other stuff. But I I looked at it like Webby is a smart guy. He is super smart. He makes a lot of money off what he is doing. He is making a lot more than your favorite rappers out here. So, you know what I mean? He is making way more money than others. You know what I am saying? Owning all his masters and all that, like I learned so much from him, you know. Just being on the road with him and I am like, oh, that works and that works. Oh, you are getting this much. And I am soaking all that knowledge in. Me putting myself in this situation was like, I can learn so much from this. So, when this is over, I can get out of my Webby deal. I should know everything I need to know, if I’m going to Atlantic I know what I am worth.  I’m learning so much and this whole time, I am looking at this Webby thing as a learning experience. Just learning the business and learning how this thing goes and where the money is supposed to go and all, and the merchandise. I got my own LLC. I got my own label.

So, my label is under Webby’s label. I could have never done that if I was in something else. I am just learning as I go and learning the ownership. This whole thing is a learning process. I am just looking at this Webby deal like I am going to learn so much and soak up so much knowledge from just being in this situation and the people in his circle telling me, you can do this, and you could do that. I am asking questions every day. You always want to ask questions. Why is this and why is that? And why I cannot get this? And what does this mean? What does that mean? So, I am learning as I go. That is the main reason why I got into this situation.

VALIDATED: The single “Orangutan” man, that is my shit. You know what I am saying? “Hyperventilating so I’m bout to blow a bag.” That line is crazy. What gave you the idea to come up with that concept of that joint?

ANOYD: I think it was in upstate New York.  Somewhere in upstate New York on a retreat. So Webby does these little retreat things, producers come up and everybody just comes up. We talk business and we just create, so I made that one on the second retreat, it was just an idea, you know. So, it was one of those situations was like, all right, I am going to lay down the idea of writing this verse and then we are going to put it to the side and then we are going to play it later. And then we ended up playing it later and Webby heard it and said this slap crazy. I am like, Yo, this do slap. We were thinking about trying to get a different feature in it.

And we were thinking, you probably get this person and that person. You know, waiting on features we gonna wait for like a whole two years before you get a verse back. So, you know, Webby he was like, Yo, let me see if I can do something. And I was real skeptical about it because, you know, Webby in his lane, he knows his lane.

So, it was like he does not really like to get out of that lane too much. So, I was really skeptical. And then I heard the verse back and I am like, okay. He is getting in his bag. And I feel like I got Webby out of his comfort zone and just being in that world, you know what I'm saying?  He is not really into the trap. So, I got him into that whole world of different things, and it is lit over here now. So, it brought energy, love and opened up your eyes you know, and opened up your brain. Music is supposed to be like this. It cannot just be this the whole time.

VALIDATED: So 2021 “Majin Buu” kicked off things. Are you a big animation fan? 

ANOYD: Honestly, I am not hugely into animation, but it is like, I used to watch Dragon Ball Z all the time. You know what I mean? When you put a beat on and you start, you know, going through flows and you start mumbling. And it sounds like you are saying Majin Buu. I cannot explain it as a creator. Like if you got like a group of rappers here, they would understand where I am coming from, it is like you start mumbling and you drunk or you high or whatever you in your vibe and you know, you start saying that kind of slap. And it was like, I don't even know why I was talking about Majin Buu the beat was like, just talk about this. And I did not even write that record down. I just laid it line for line.  And that record, I did that like two years ago probably. I wrote that record like two years ago and we just put it out. So, you never really know. And I knew it was going to be a slapper. It was like, let us put this on now. I know it is special and low key that is like one of my biggest records right now.

So far, that is probably the biggest record we ever put out solo.  Joints I do with Webby, you know, obviously gonna do well, just because we know Webby has that crowd and his Spotify listeners are crazy. but “Majin Buu” is going crazy. We almost had like 400,000. So, you know, we definitely gonna hit that half a million in the next couple of minutes. Hopefully, we hit that million in April or something or whatever, it’s possible.

It is all about the play listing too. Like you never really know if a certain playlist is going to mess with certain records man. And that is one thing I am learning as I go, it is like, Most Necessary playlist is going to mess with this record, cause Most Necessary is the second biggest playlist on Spotify. RapCaviar and that is one of those ones where it is like, everybody isn’t going to get on that.  

So, if you can get on that one, it is all playlists. With this whole streaming, man, you get on these playlists, and it is like the streams go up, you get rotation. So, you need new people. You need that fresh air because at the end of the day, that is the only way you are going to grow is when you get a new base, of course you could do the same base over and over and recycle that. But it is all about expanding. And initially I just wanted to expand and gain more ears because there are so many ears that do not even know that I exist. I am one of the greatest ever. Let us be real like come on now.

VALIDATED: Every time I get a chance to put someone on to your music I do.

ANOYD: I appreciate you.  I am trying to find that balance and just like, you know, I can give you the “Majin Buu” where it is a track, you know, chilling. We are just cool, then I can give “Hubbard Street” the week right after, like some substance. So, I am trying to find a balance of like, you know, having fun and staying on these playlists that can give me the streaming money and all that, but still keep me in that conversation as one of the greatest pens ever. You know what I'm saying? And you just have to find that balance. And I feel like right now I am just giving people that like everything I am giving you this after that, after this, so you cannot really complain. You cannot really complain when I give you a “Majin Buu” if I gave you a “Hubbard Street” after it.

VALIDATED: Yeah. I mean, I still think there are a lot of old joints like “Cardboard Box,” like joints that people do not know. You may never get a chance to listen to it because it was on an earlier project. Unless they like us where they get a new artist that they start with and then they go back and listen to that person's catalog, there are plenty of joints in your catalog like that, man. Absolutely.

ANOYD: Yeah. That is one thing I am gonna do this year. Definitely make people go draw back to the older records. I came up with the idea where it is like Once In A BRGNDI Moon, it is the fifth anniversary this year. So, it is going to be five-year anniversary this year in February. So, one thing I am going to do, I am gonna probably just re-release it like on a physical CD and add like five records that I did back in the day that never came out.

I just put them on there and sell them for $100, bro. I only got a hundred of them, but you know, like, come on, you do the math. I could definitely out of all my followers, like I can definitely sell a hundred CDs and you know, it is just going back into the business and do it all over again. This year we do not have a tour. So, I got to come up with ideas to get money. It makes too much sense. Because it makes you bread, and it draws people back to the old music. Which is going to make you bread when they stream it. So, it is like a win-win. It makes too much sense to cross everything off the list.

VALIDATED: Yeah. I mean, that brings me to my last question. You have released a project every year since 2015, except after like 2018. So, you did, Summer in Sinsinnati, Once In A BRGNDI Moon, Autumn in Sinsinnati, A Time And A Place, Blame It On Jay Z and Yuck with Statik Selectah. And then last year we saw nothing but singles. So, are you going to continue with the singles or are you going to give us a full project?

ANOYD: I have been itching to do a project, obviously I am a project artist. You know, let’s be real. My catalog is crazy. When I am putting together an album it is special. And it is like an art piece. So, of course, I want to bring it back to the essence, but I feel like right now the game has changed. I want to make sure people, you know, digest everything at once. So, I am going to keep giving them single after single, after single, probably this year and maybe next year. If the numbers are looking right, if the monthly listeners are crazy, you know? My Instagram is like a hundred thousand, you know what I’m saying? 200,000 followers, then it makes sense to be like, oh, let us put out a project now because we know we got the base. So, the project is going to do well. I want people to be like, we need another album.

VALIDATED: You want to build that anticipation up.

ANOYD: Yeah. But for now, people could go back and go listen to “Cardboard Box,” “Altitude” I got so many records that's timeless, timeless records. Not Everybody knows those records.

VALIDATED: “Rain” is still one of my joints and “Floor Chandeliers,” you got joints, man. So anything that we did not touch base on that you just want the people to know?

ANOYD: I will be dropping some of my favorite records that I wrote this year, and just, I feel like potential huge singles. That is like worldwide records, you know what I mean? And we were holding off on it for a while, but I feel like this year is definitely the time to put them into play and you know, subscribe to my YouTube. Cause we're definitely going to be dropping mad visuals. Because people got to see my face. They can't see my face on stage. They got to see my face on YouTube. And as far as visuals go, subscribe to my YouTube, follow me on the Gram, and I am going to be dropping freestyles. I got throwaway bars on deck. I am going to drop one of those next week.  I got another single on February 2nd and then I got another video dropping in February. So, I am trying to give people at least a visual a month, two songs a month with a video, and I am about to get my merchandise right. So, I am about to have some nice merch on deck. You know what I mean? And you know, hopefully this year, everybody gets their thing together so we can get on the road next year and I can come out to LA and tear it down, man. And everyone can follow me @LivinANoyd across the board.