The Deep Dive: An Interview with A Weirdo From Memphis
For the second long-form Memphis Music Confidential interview, AWFM goes hard on risk, creativity, public policy, and other matters of life and death
My first glimpse of A Weirdo From Memphis was on the loading dock at the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art. I was a curator and ran public programs at the museum, and AWFM and I were helping load equipment for Memphis producer IMAKEMADBEATS, who had a residency in the galleries. At the time, AWFM worked a white collar day job and was incognito in khakis and a button-up shirt. “He raps,” IMMB said with a nod. AWFM peppered me with questions about museum programming and invited me to “Brinner,” an evening performance with pancakes at the Midtown smoke shop, Whatever, a few weeks later. Of course I went. The show was oddly reminiscent of a Harlan T. Bobo Goner in-store, in which Bobo flipped pancakes—wearing painter’s stilts, he towered over the griddle—for the audience. On a makeshift stage in the back of Whatever, AWFM and his Unapologetic cohorts cooked and served a similar meal, all while performing an eclectic, electric set. Forget the tired legacy of Memphis underground rap: AWFM dished up something unique to the local scene that echoed the mindset of Brockhampton and Odd Future in L.A., and resounded with the off-kilter ethos of supervillain MF Doom. I was hooked.
Since then, I’ve seen AWFM deliver epic Gonerfest sets to astonished crowds at Murphy’s and Railgarten, watched him captivate audiences at Tone’s Orange Mound gallery space and Marcus Samuelsson’s Red Rooster in Harlem, and listened to inventive track after track that, in a just world, would make him a star. One afternoon in October 2018, AWFM and filmmaker 35 Miles shot a music video in my living room with a dozen special guests in tow, including DJs Big and Lil Tootz, producers C Major and Kid Maestro, and labelmates Aaron James and PreauXX. We bonded over good coffee and the desire to do better. For a few years, AWFM and I worked diligently on a young adult novel (if you work in publishing, get in touch!). Intrigued by his musical curiosity, I cued up Sonic Youth records; he responded by turning me onto Philadelphia rapper Tierra Whack. Romantic partners, jobs, and other time sucks have come and gone, but our friendship has never wavered.
That said, the AWFM of 2024 is not the same guy I met nearly ten years ago. Pandemic-related setbacks, the realities of the music biz, Memphis’ socio-political erosion: he finds these things exhausting, but as the wall gets taller, he grows stronger. Today, AWFM has even less time to squander. Aside from crafting new music and overseeing Garments, the branded clothing division of Unapologetic, AWFM sees every second of every day as a new opportunity to propel himself forward—he won't waste any energy on lateral moves. Even so, he graciously took time between Weirdly LuXXurious tour stops in Chicago and Birmingham to thoughtfully answer twenty questions about life, death, ambition, and what happens when the pink bunny ears come off. His responses add a dimensional layer to his controlled artistic persona and offer a window into the mind of a truly independent, unapologetic, and resolute individual who chases his dream no matter what.
How do you think your work contributes to broader cultural conversations, and what do you hope audiences take away from it? I seek only to express myself and aspects of my life as uniquely and honestly as possible, and I think that gives way to conversation on a broad cultural plane.
What is the most significant risk you've taken in your music career, and what were the outcomes? The most significant risk I ever took in my music career was quitting my job to go on tour. The results weren’t so good. COVID happened shortly after, which canceled the tour while also leaving me with no back-up plan or way to return to stability for a long period of time.
How did you happen to begin rapping? I’ve loved rap since I could talk. However, going to see a Tyler, the Creator show in 2013 sparked a bout of self-awareness that let me know this artform is all I wanted to participate in and be a part of.
Where did you meet IMAKEMADBEATS, the founder of Unapologetic? In September 2015, I was invited to participate in my first showcase. There, I met Kid Maestro, who went back and told IMMB about my art. A few months later—before they could reach out—I coincidentally arrived at IMMB's studio to cut a feature for an artist named Skip Fearless. From then on, I worked there more and more.
Your originality is evident in your lyrics, your videos, and your work at Unapologetic. Do you ever worry that you’ll run out of ideas? To be honest, most of my creativity is rooted in the pain, confusion, disappointment, and entertainment that comes from the ugliness and vulnerability of being alive. I don't think I’ll have to worry about running out of ideas unless I become successful enough to feel too far from the ugly. Currently, I feel extremely close to the ugly, lol.
Can you share a personal anecdote that sheds light on who you are outside of your public persona? I’m a man fighting for an unlikely dream. Pretty much all time the ears aren’t on, I’m doing whatever to make money to fund things [for] when the ears are back on. I don’t visit family often. I intentionally avoid an in-depth love life. I don’t really pursue fun. All I care about is making iconic and prolific enough works to earn the right to grace the world’s stages. It’s not pretty, but honestly, I don’t care.
How have your personal beliefs evolved over the years? Yeah. I don’t think I had personal beliefs that were too deep pre-COVID. After the hardships of COVID, and spending years in the streets at ground level with the world's issues, I developed personal beliefs that have made me a much darker person. As an artist who brushes shoulders with upper class individuals, I hear the things people with nice lives say about the world and I see the true ugliness as someone that isn't afraid to do anything necessary for money.
Have you, in your position as a Memphis musician, experienced prejudice? All the time. From a multitude of demographics and upbringings.
One of the most controversial political issues of recent history was the 2022 overturning of Roe v. Wade, in which the Supreme Court dictated that states can now set their own policies that protect or ban abortion. This, in turn, has led to recent anti-abortion policies here in Tennessee. How do you feel about it? I think it’s a slippery slope. People have positioned themselves to change policy based on how strongly they feel about a divisive point in society. But once you decide it’s okay to open the door to take away one freedom, the right politicians, voter base, and circumstances could cause any of our freedoms to be written away. I doubt the consequences of that law being overturned will be good in the long run at all. Also, restrictions on freedoms typically lead to them becoming popular practices in the underworld. I unfortunately don’t see this matter being any different.
What sort of things strike you as genuinely funny? I laugh at a lot of dark stuff, ironic stuff, toilet humor, and typically most conversations with a lot of bleeps.
What’s your opinion of the upcoming presidential election? Eh... I think on all ends and with either outcome my opinion is simply “yikes.”
Do you vote? Yeah. Less in the past, but the events of the now are inspiring me to feel more compelled to vote more than I have previously.
Do you pray? Yes. Not in ways or with verbiage that I think traditional worshippers would appreciate, though.
When you're drifting off to sleep, what do you think about? How much stuff I have to do if I ever want any chance of this music dream working out.
Do you have any hobbies? I like to run. I like to watch anime. I like shoes and clothes and discussions about them. I like listening to videos or audiobooks about the past, especially ones that seem informative about what to expect in the future.
Have you ever been envious of another rapper? Less envious of a particular rapper and more envious about their landscape and resources, which I now see as necessary to sustain in this industry and how unavailable all of that is for rappers with a non-traditional sound in Memphis.
Which, if any, rappers would you put in the pantheon of geniuses? All of my main influences, for a variety of reasons: Tyler, Earl [Sweatshirt], [MF] Doom, Lil B, Curren$y, SpaceGhostPurpp, and Project Pat.
Can you explain more about the creative process involved in writing your music? I listen to beats and I write in the studio then record all in one go a majority of the time, but sometimes I listen to beats and drive or walk around and key moments of a song will come to me, then I will flesh the idea out in a song.
Is there a specific message in your music? It’s mostly just my vulnerable truths, which dramatically change and shuffle around as I change.
Do you fear growing old? Nah. I fear an untimely demise first, a timely one second, and the unknown after death, third.
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On Saturday, July 13, AWFM, PreauXX, and the rest of the Weirdly LuXXurious tour perform at Platypus in St. Louis. Next, the tour stops in NYC, with performances slated for Heaven Can Wait in the East Village on Saturday, July 27 and Brooklyn’s Bed Stuy Art House on Sunday, July 28.