We had the good fortune of connecting with 98flamez and we’ve shared our conversation below.
Hi 98flamez, what led you to pursuing a creative path professionally?
Personally the reason I wanted to be a musician because of the passion an love that I got for music. the money is appealing but I didn’t become a musician just to make money from my art but just knowing that people will listen to my music because they enjoy what I do for a living is amazing. Making music is a lifestyle for me, I listen to music to cheer me up or even to get me into a certain mood that’s why I fell in love with music at a early age.
Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I feel like my thinking pattern for music and my style of music is different from any artists that’s out right now I feel like that what separates me from everybody that’s doing music nowadays I always try to be unique and authentic with my sound I don’t want nobody comparing me to they favorite artists or whoever they listen to. how I got to where I’m at today all it took was hard and dedication & staying motivated and always grinding & also staying consistent with my music and always having the right people in my corner that wanted to see me be successful or either going far with music. I never gave up on myself or my talent I always betted on myself I feel like all my life I always been the underdog I still feel like I am but that’s okay I’m fine with that cause when next year come around everybody gonna be on my wave I can feel it in my soul but I don’t plan on letting up no time soon. the beginning of music career was rocky but down the road stuff start looking better for me it’s like I always say you gotta stay patient and trust the process & everything else will fall into place. 98flamez that’s my brand you don’t find too many people with a name like that it’s very outstanding and unique. I’m always willing to invest into my brand no matter what the cost is hopefully before my music career is all said and done I hope my brand goes worldwide one day and I plan on achieving that goal soon.
Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
One place I would take my best friend it would have to be Pensacola downtown and I would have to take them to graffiti pizza that’s my spot fasho I feel like they got the best pizza in the city if you ask me but I would probably get them a drink of hennessy & seville most definitely be the place I would take my best friend to if I had a best friend but Seville a fun place to have fun at and to hang out with your friends.
The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
As a kid, music was always my passion of mines. when I was a kid me and my brother would be in the room, listening to hip hop about 100 percent of the time, and it was so easy for me to remember the lyrics and rap along. It was really satisfying for me to rap a part in the song that I love the most so if it wasn’t for my brother OT I wouldn’t be doing music right now so I definitely wanna give him a huge shoutout on playing a big role in my life & also my music life as well. my two biggest influences that inspired me to do music was Michael Jackson & 2pac ever since then I fell in love with music and gain more passion for it. I never thought I would be doing music before I got into music my dream was to go in the nba and play with the lakers right along side with Kobe Bryant I was super heavy on being a professional athlete but eventually things change. I live most of my life in the pensacola fl area, I did a lot of moving growing up as a kid I never really stayed in one place me and my family was always on the go no matter what it was. when I got older I pay more attention to the pensacola music scene one artist in the city gave me advice on how to deliver on a song and he also gave me advice on finding my sound & my flow FlameDaRealest played a big part of my music journey as well I will never forget the times I was in the studio with him & he would give me advice and feedback on my craft. From 2016 all the way up til now I really become more better at music but one thing I learn from the greats don’t ever get comfortable cause at the end of the day you still got some things to improve no matter how successful you are in the music business. Over the years I started taking notes on how to record, produce, and engineer even how to become a better songwriter. throughout the years I met some dope musicians later on down the road they became my family the first artist I met was back in 2017 he go by royal9k me and him been tight since day one he also another person who helped me get my music career from the ground before me and royal9k started taking off with music he helped me get out of a bad deal I was in I’m forever grateful for him and his hard work. so around 2019 or 2020 me and royal9k started up legendmade entertainments at the time & what’s crazy it was only two people that stayed with the label during that time they go by bando & Damon the dynamic they was solid from the jumped and never switched up I got mad love for them boys but eventually we went a different direction with the label and we rebranded everything from scratch the label now name currently goes by rle network we had some downs and ups but when I think about those times I just sit back and learn from those situations that we was going through at the time when we was trying get everything popping for us. by the end of 2021 all the way til now I started doing more shows and meeting different people that’s involved with music which became more of a lead for me so I could tap in with more people that had connections in the music industry so every opportunity that came my way I ran with it and never looked back.
I would have to say my music journey was rough for me at the beginning. Every artist has their ups and downs along the way, but I learn from my ups and downs that’s how I became the artist that I am today. I tend to look at everything as a lesson, whether it be my fault or not. I have fallen out with people that I’m close with that I do music with but we eventually bounce back from whatever the situation was. or either I just lose motivation and feel like nothing going good with my music but I had to shake that negativity energy off me but during them hard times never made me wanna give up on something that I love to do and plan on doing forever.
Let me get into more of 2022 I had to cut some dead weight off to get to where I wanna be at with my music but back in March of this year I met Geno Soul from the first time I met him I knew something was special about him he had the same mindset as me and he also has the same work ethic as me even from the first time we spoke on the phone for the first time and he told me aye bro I’m so glad I met you now I can really get somewhere with the music I try my best to be a inspiration not just for the younger crowd but also for the older crowd as well .
Around March of 2022 I went to Tallahassee Florida & ran into some dope like Walt G the first time we met we was sitting down and chopping it up & wanted to know my future plans for my music career and he told me I got a sound that separates me from other artists I’m so grateful & bless that people know my sound and flow is different from other artists nowadays he even told me I got the potential to go far in the music business hearing that I got potential to go far makes me wanna grind ten times harder then before. I also met another dope person im Tallahassee as well I met this producer he goes by entreproducer I recorded my hits songs lie & truth at his studio it was nothing but great vibes in his studio & also great energy as well even tho I’m not from Tallahassee but I got mad love for the city and always will just going to Tallahassee to meet these dope people was a great experience for me..
Before I went to tallahassee fl to record my hit song truth my cousin $carface$olo sent me truth well at the time we didn’t have a name for it when I heard the song for the first time I knew song was a hit and I had a good feeling that people would like the song so before I receded the song I took my time to write a verse for the song then I link up with entreproducer and recorded my part for truth then I sent it back to $carfacesolo and he told me that my verse that I added to truth was hard. Eventually during the summer time me & $carface would link up and record music together which everybody will hear real soon making music with my cousin always been a dream of mine to hop on a track with my cousin I support him a 100 percent and he do as well you’ll never know we might become a rap duo in the future but we never know what the future holds for us but we going to continue to keep this momentum going fasho my cousin was at the start of my music career when I started rapping and I was at the start of his music career as well I know who was there and who wasn’t there at the beginning of my music career but my cousin $carface$olo supports me to the fullest that’s one thing I love about him he never hates on the next man he gonna cheer you on as long you do the same with him but new music from me and him will be coming soon can’t wait for y’all to hear it.
During the summer time of this year I was in the studio with my brothers xtk , Aaron, Rob just being in the studio with them and being able to focus on my craft & it also taught me how to be more consistent with my music so every studio session I had with them I’m always learning new things. it also taught me how to be more patient and just let everything else fall into place and the rest will be taken care of later on. so I appreciate them for supporting me and teaching me different things that I didn’t knew before.
I met ELO on October 22nd of this year at my show when I got done performing my set me & bro chop it up and got each other phone numbers ever since then we been locked in we got a couple of tracks with each other and we originally came up with a idea to form a group with just us two name of the group call 98Way and when I say bro is very talented he is talented as hell I’m not just saying that cause he’s my brother I’m saying that cause I can tell who got real talent and who don’t have real talent he also versatile and he also knows how to switch it up there one thing I like about him he not also just a great artist he also a great producer that man can make some beats out of this world. so if you a rapper or a singer I advise y’all to tap in with him but he also been teaching me a lot of stuff that I need to know which I appreciate his help and the advice that he gives me I always been one of those artists to listen to others cause advice will take you a long ways in life, I’m glad I met ELO through my homie 44Jay if it wasn’t for 44Jay I wouldn’t have met Elo but I’m glad I did.
If I’m being real with y’all smokenchat really gave me that push that I needed for my music career so every time smokenchat have showcases or open mic’s I’m always finding a way to get myself and my music out there as much I can. this how I heard about smokenchat my cousin $carface did a interview for them and I decided to reach out to them ever since then I been locked in with them I most definitely appreciate them and they platform as well if it wasn’t for smokenchat I don’t think I would’ve met most of the people I met this year.
Before I end this story of mines I also wanna thank my family for supporting me and my music ticia, brandon, shelah, Lexus, Yeisha, Zay. Solo, Ot, one thing I can say about my family they always give me they honest opinion about my music and always giving me advice on what to do they always keeping it real with me I’m not the type of artist to get mad when people criticize my work cause that’s the only way I’m get better at my craft when I first started out with music I feel like people was trying to say I was trash but it was never that at all so I’m glad my family let me know what it is they only do that so they can see the artist that I can become.
Website: https://drum.io/98flamez
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/98flamez_/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/98Flamez
Youtube: https://youtu.be/GpTa-kYwwuQ