Are you Gucci Yet? A Q&A with Bluefield’s favorite son, Tiger the Ace

Are you Gucci Yet? A Q&A with Bluefield’s favorite son, Tiger the Ace:

L-No: First off, I just want to thank you for getting “Gucci Yet” stuck in my head for the last week! It’s got one of those catchy hooks that you find getting stuck in your head forever... But getting down to the questions WV’s got for you…

L-No: For those that don’t know-how long have you been in the game?
Tiger: Man I’ve been doin’ this shit for at least 8, 9 years…I started taking it real serious my last year of high school. I started getting in a lot of shit in the streets back then, and it (music) was an escape, just a way to get out. Then I went to Marshall and started opening up for different acts and the rest is history.

L:No: What would you say differentiates you from others in the game?
Tiger: I think it’s the way I approach music…I use melodies a lot instead of just trying to rap. Since day one if you follow my music I’ve been using melodies a lot since like ‘99, singin’ hooks. The reason I’ve been able to get in so many peoples heads, it’s just melodic and everyone can relate to it. Every song you hear from me, whether it’s a street joint or one for the ladies, it’s always melody driven. I feel like I’m a trendsetter with the slang, comin’ out with terms like “Gucci Yet”, meanin’ like are you good yet? I try to come up with different ways to attack my music every time I step in the booth.

L-No: So how did you end up in Charlotte…when did you move down there?
Tiger: Basically, the reason I headed down this way is being I’m from Bluefield and I was in Huntington for awhile, Charlotte was only like 2 hours 45 minutes away down 77. It’s the biggest city that was closest to home since I’m always back and forth. My crew that I’m with now, Big Bizness Boyz were down there and showed me around the city when I moved. I brought Lil Wayne and Clipse and everyone up to Huntington, I did everything I could back home; from me opening up for everybody and brining some of the biggest rappers in the country to my city and being one of the first ones to have a big artist feature.
I’ve done everything possible to elevate the state, and the next step to cross over was I had to go somewhere else. You know where I’m from, from the slang and the melodies, you know I’m from West Virginia.
It’s like this; everyone who does music in WV knows how it is. If you stay still and keep trying to sell the same 3,000 CD’s you gotta go somewhere where you can turn that 3 thousand sales into 30 thousand sales, I’m tryin’ to put us on for real. I’m trying to do it so where everyone where we come from can see that and know you gotta step up to this status quo. That’s the only way we can move up. It’s bigger than just trying to make music locally; we’re trying to compete with the world. I’m trying to take this WV shit around the world; I’m trying to take it to Africa…take it everywhere man.

L-No: What’s the CTE connection with the Gucci Yet video is that through the director (Nokey)?
Tiger: Nokey, the director, he’s the official camera man for the whole USDA crew. He’s done videos for Jeezy and a lot of people. Being as it is, that’s how it got linked up with USDA’s YouTube. It’s been overwhelming now; it’s crazy how much love they’re showing me down in Charlotte, they’re so accepting of what I’ve been doing. It’s a humbling experience. Even they see I’m from WV, but when they hear the music they fuck with it so heavy, it is what it is

L-No: Who produced “Gucci yet”?
Tiger: It’s a producer man,he’s crazy hot, Krazy Figz. He lives here in NC, and he’s been doing all my production. He did “Troublemaker” for Akon; he’s done beats for a lot of different people in the area, and we’ve got a good chemistry together.

L-No: What other projects are in the works? A full length album, singles, more videos, shows, etc?
Tiger: What I’m doing right now, we’ve got enough for an album. We got a mixtape coming with DJ Bobby Black in the next month or so. But what I’ve learned since I’ve been independent for awhile, everything’s kinda single driven right now; so we’re gonna keep grinding those until we get a good shot to come with the whole album. I don’t wanna just rush an album out and sell 10 thousand units and leave it at that. I wanna build it up so we can do a lot of other things. Probably gonna do another mixtape with some DJ’s in Charlotte. Champaignville; if you haven’t heard it yet, you will be hearing it, that’s the next single. It’s a lot easier to push one song to 50 thousand people than trying to push 12 songs to the same amount of people, coming from an independent standpoint…we’re gonna make everybody fall in love with what we’re doing and then it’ll be takeoff time.

L-No: Who have you been working with lately (producers, MC collabs)?
Tiger: If I can get a feature, I’ll get it, but right now I’m just locking in on making great music and letting the features come (naturally). Doing what we’re doing, I think something good is gonna come from that…I’m still working with Marcus D’Tray, he’s down in Charlotte too, Mr. Mike from Huntington that’s my partner as well. But shoutout 6’6 240, Buzzy Shine, everyone from Self-Made, we started out together. Shoutout to everybody doing their thing from Bluefield, Beckley, Huntington, Charleston Morgantown, everywhere.

L-No: Where do you see WV hip hop in 5 years?
Tiger: When I see the state of WV, I feel like we should be on. I’d say in the next 2 years we’ll be on, sellin’ thousands of units and there’ll be a few of us touring the country with everyone else ready to come up behind us. Its’ just when everything’s on a certain level, the quality has to be there, with videos, the singles, everything. We have to be able to all create a certain level of music and hit ‘em back to back to back. It’s showing that we actually have a music scene. I see us definitely out there tourin’ the world, seeing videos on network TV; I see the state blowin’ wide open. It’s already started with a lot of the athletes coming out of WV like Jason Williams and Randy Moss and everything, so musically it’s about to be our time. Cause after I blow up and I make it, someone’s gonna come up behind me and we’ve gotta be ready for it. If I get this deal tomorrow, you better be ready cause they’re gonna come looking for the next person and we gotta stand up for where we come from.

L-No: You wanna shout anyone out before we’re done here?
Tiger: Defintely, I wanna shout out my crew Big Bizness Boyz, Heavy Money, everyone who’s helping me make the movement… follow me on twitter @tigertheace… I wanna shout out my whole state back in WV, NC, SC, its Heavy Money baby and that’s how we rock it. Chris "95" Kessell, that’s my partner man he always holds me down and helps me out, with anything I need no matter who he’s working with…him and Charlie (Blac). Shout out to Leesha Lee too, she had it “Gucci Yet” on the radio; she’s always ready to rock with it.

L-No: That’s what’s up man…I think you’re really on the verge of doing it big. Thanks for taking sometime to talk to me and good luck with everything.
Tiger: No doubt L-No, thanks for doing the interview and spreadin’ the love!