Certified Fresh: ForteBowie – Next Of The Funky ATLiens

The Atlanta artists who’ve created a stir in the industry over the last five years are a far departure from those we saw when the Dungeon Familiy reigned supreme. That’s changed recently, though, as a new wave of up and comers are embracing a more eclectic sound. In this class is ForteBowie (pronounced for-ˈtā-ˈbü-ē), a 23-year-old artist (it’s difficult to say he’s simply an MC) who hails from the south side of the A.

The newcomer actually isn’t so new at all. ForteBowie’s been operating independently for a couple of years now, and learned some important lessons along the way. One was to always be comfortable in his own skin and confident in the sound he was developing. You see, the southerner rhymes, sings, writes and produces nearly all of his material, making him all the more different from his peers. His Vice Haus EP released February 2o13, and was so good by his standards that he repacked it into a longer project he coined, Vice Haus: Deluxe.

That audible treat impacted the Internets last August. Since then, ForteBowie’s name has been buzzing much more. As his star rises, Hip-Hop Wired took a moment to speak with him during his ascension. Allow us to properly introduce you all to ForteBowie, an official Certified Fresh hall of famer.

Who: ForteBowie is an Atlanta native through and through that grew up during the era Dungeon Family put on for their city in any way possible. As a product of that and later eras that produced tons of stars in their own right, the word-slinger’s music is a musical gumbo of influences. When rapping, his flows are dynamic and his bars are both vivid and emotionally candid.

Credentials: We first got wind of ForteBowie due to his appearance on “Southside,” a song he rapped on and produced that appeared on Trinidad Jame$’ Don’t Be S.A.F.E. mixtape. That was the first of many breaks, but his career began over a year prior when he released his first project, Life + Times of David Ruffin, Jr. Forte followed up with Something About #Bowie, which gained him coverage in media publications like The FADER, XXL, Complex, and yours truly. He’s since remained consistent with his releases.

Fun Fact: Other than Outkast and the other wordsmiths you’d assume any ATLiens would fancy, ForteBowie cites artists like Phil Collins, Michael Jackson, Prince, Sting, and Sade as big influences in his creative approach.

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Photo: Jack Still

Hip-Hop Wired: What was the inspiration behind “SideNote: SideHoe?”

ForteBowie: Man, it’s kind of rare that I do a track that I didn’t to the beat. My boy Ron Shawn made that beat. He sent that beat to me a while ago, and I just fell in love with it. It’s rare for me to do a beat that somebody else did. I usually do my own production.

I don’t know. I guess that day it just was on me to rap on something else. I just felt like rapping, and that’s kind of what came out.

HHW: Was that song a leftover joint from Vice Haus?

ForteBowie: Oh nah. I recorded it recently; I think probably in December. I didn’t know what I was going to do with it, and then the whole 2DopeBoyz thing came about, so I was like, “Hey man, I’ll give you this record I just did, because I really liked it.”

Sometimes I record records, and I just keep them, because I feel like I have to wait until I’m doing another project or whatever. I feel like it was just the right time to give the that.

HHW: Speaking on the idea of timing, how do you decide if and when you’ll do a project?

ForteBowie: It’s a life thing, man. Life determines everything for my music. You feel me? I kind of really can’t make music about anything esle but my life, because that’s what I know. Whenever I feel like I’m going into a new phase in my life, or I’m growing up, or it’s just a lot of things that’s going on that I need to talk about, that’s when it’s like, “Ok, it’s time to put all this together, and make a cohesive project to give it to the people.”

HHW: Cool. So if your life begets your music, why’d you make Vice Haus?

ForteBowie: Oh man. I think at that time, the whole Trinidad [Jame$] thing was happening and people were paying attention because of, you know, my feature on that record and producing that record. I think I had just a bunch of music I was holding on to, and just some new ideas. I was like, “Man, I haven’t given anybody new music in like a year.” I dropped a project in 2011, and I didn’t drop anything all the way until 2013. It was about time.

I dropped the EP in February, and then toured with Trinidad. I saw a lot of things, did a lot of things. Then come August — I think its was like June or July actually — I had a lot more music, and I was probably going to do a different project, but I felt it was a lot of music on the EP that was overlooked that was great to me. I was like, “Let’s just bring that to all to this next project, and just call it the deluxe edition with more songs.”

HHW: You’re from Atlanta. How would you say your buzz is in your hometown? Would you like to do more in your city?

ForteBowie: You can always do more with everything. But I feel like I could definitely do more in the city. It’s definitely an awareness. Everybody knows who I am. They know about my talent. I think everyone knows I’m a talented guy, but I feel like in 2014, the goal is to enhance that and really just show people that ForteBowie isn’t just a talented guy. It’s more than that. I’m trying to prove that I can be a star. That’s what 2014 is about.

HHW: You don’t necessarily have to takeover you city first, because of blogs and all. Would you prefer things to play out like that, though?

ForteBowie: Um, it doesn’t really matter to me, because like you said, we’re in a new day in age. But who wouldn’t want that — to have hometown praise, to be that dude in your hometown before the rest of the world gets on? A lot of people have told me that they feel like I’m going to blow in other cities before my own city, but you never know. Time will tell.

You just make the music and you put it out there on the Internet. I mean, it’s the World Wide Web, so anybody can get a hold of it anywhere. I have people all over the world that listen to my music, but it would be amazing to just really hit home in Atlanta and pretty much take that crowd over here.

Usually, the dudes that are heroes over here — usually, it’s in a trap world or a street world. Usually, those are the guys that are always given the keys to the city. It’s rare that a guy like me that’s the one on some Neo sh*t, but if I could change that it would definitely be amazing.

HHW: You have a different kind of sound that you create yourself. What’s inspired that?

ForteBowie: I think it’s just my love for music period and all kinds of music. A lot of my influences aren’t really even Hip-Hop. I’m just in love with different sounds, pushing the boundaries, and giving people something to really listen to and take in. Rather than just listen to and go about your day, I want you to really listen to my music and connect with it. If it’s not the words, it’s the music.

HHW: Understandable. You sing and you rap, too. Which did you do first?

ForteBowie: I definitely was singing first, because as children melody comes to us as something that’s easy. It’s so easy to attach words to melody. But I grew up listening to rapping and singing, so I thought it was just something that went together. I grew up on Bell Biv DeVoe’s Poison album and then listening to a lot of New Jack Swing records, it was like Hip-Hop infused with R&B. To me, I always felt like that sh*t went together. I felt like there shouldn’t be no separation.

HHW: Today is January 9, 2014, so on this day next year, what do you want to see happen your career?

ForteBowie: January 9, 2015, I want chaos. When I say chaos, I mean hopefully causing chaos within the industry and within the world. Hopefully, in 2014 I’ve impacted the world so crazy that in January 2015 it’s still the talk of the town and whatever project I release is still buzzing. In just being a better artist, hopefully there’s more growth in all realms of artistry (and personally of course).

Definitely domination, man. If not world domination, then hopefully we’ve dominated the country.

Essentials

“$outh$ide”

“Stalker Sh*t”

“Impala”

“Gucci Mayne”

HHW:

ForteBowie: