The 48 Hunnid Interview: A Chat With Chevy Woods

Chevy Woods sounds focused. He’s on the verge of releasing his first ever retail project, an EP by the name of The 48 Hunnid Project, on August 7. For many, including myself, it never made sense to wait this long to put up a project for sale, but Chevy knew exactly what he was doing. Nobody sprints in a marathon.

For him, being a more seasoned artist meant more than rushing to give his audience a retail project. It’s hard to argue with the results either. The 48 Hunnid Project lives and breathes like music worthy of the $5.99 price tag. The title track will draw in old and new listeners, then records like the Dej Loaf-assisted “All Said & Done” and the catchy “Now That I’m Up” will keep them satisfied throughout the seven track set.

With this EP out next month, I got on the phone with Chevy Woods. We discussed learning from Fall Out Boy, the recording process for the EP being different than his mixtapes, who he had most fun working with, if he feels he has a lot to prove, and more.

We’re here with Chevy Woods. How you feeling, man?

I’m Good, man. I’m on this Boys of the Zummer tour. Just enjoying it and having fun.

How’s the tour going?

It’s great. It’s different for us with a Rock band and us not going on last. It’s been a good time to actually get on stage and watch Fall Out Boy. I know of their music and I didn’t really get into it, but now I know words and shit like that. It’s a cool experience.

Rock bands perform differently than hip-hop artists do. Have you seen anything from Fall Out Boy that you want to implement into your own performances?

Yeah, I just think that with [Fall Out Boy] the energy is always up from the time they hit the stage to the time they get off. I’m trying to do that a lot more, and not be on stage and have songs that fall off. I see crowd reaction and participation from start to finish with them. I’m trying to get to that point.

As an artist, you’ve released a lot of projects in the past that were basically albums. So, why has it taken this long for you to make the jump from mixtapes to a retail project with The 48 Hunnid Project?

Just the work involved of trying to become a well rounded artist, and not just being like, “okay, I got the time and the platform to put out whatever.” I think giving away free music for that long, it makes a point when I put out a commercial project the people that have been following me are going to tell a friend to tell a friend. The ones who are going to support will really support.

It took me a while, because I’ve just been working hard at becoming well rounded. It has nothing to do with label problems or anything of that nature. Now I think it’s time and it’s a platform, I got things together. I feel like I’m ready.

You mentioned in your announcement how you didn’t want to give the fans something that was mixtape sounding. How was the recording process different from your previous projects?

My previous projects, I usually let the engineer do what they do, get the music, record it, and then let them mix it up to how it sounds. Now, I know what sounds I like, where I want breaks at, and where I want bridges. That all comes with the last question rounding myself off as a good artist.

I just notice different things that I’ve done with the mixtapes. Like, with a mixtape I can go in and record however many songs I want in a day. With an EP or an album, I can get a six hour studio block and only make two or three songs. It’s more attention to detail than it would be with a mixtape.

So, you’re more hands on with the process now?

I’m hands on with the mixtapes too, but just me actually sitting with producers and the engineer to tell them what I want or don’t want mixed in there. That’s more hands on to me.

This project is going to see you continue to get personal with your life and surroundings. With a vast catalog of music already, how do you decide what you want to tell the world now vs. what you feel like saving for future material?

I know me as an artist I’ve been giving away bits and pieces of my life. My homie Jack Thriller posed a good statement to me. He said people don’t really know who I am, they don’t really know my feelings and my reactions to stuff. Things of that nature. He told me, “it’s hard to get a read on you,” because when I’m excited I might look like I’m just chilling, or when I’m sad look like I’m trying to fight it off by being happy. It’s hard for people to get a read on me. After him saying that, I’m just trying to give people the whole story with seven songs to prepare them for the full length album sometime next year.

The album will have you telling most of your story?

They’ll get a grip of it. That’s what I want people to do with the EP, then hold onto that. They can match it up with the next song that comes out. When I do it for sale, it’s going to be my life. Everything down to a tee, nothing short of Chevy Woods.

Talk to me about the artwork for The 48 Hunnid Project and why you chose to go in that direction.

It’s a statue from this bridge in Rome. The statue represents — there’s 12 of them and each of them have a passion — my passion for the microphone. That’s why I picked it. Writing The 48 Hunnid Project on top of it graffiti style shows the rebel style in me. People would graffiti anything if they get a chance. It’s just leaving my mark over what I feel like is my passion and where I come from, the 48 hundred block.

Do you feel like you have a lot to prove with this release?

That’s funny you ask that. I feel like I have everything to prove with this EP. I’m so confident about it right now that people are going to get everything they want out of this small project. They’re going to be hungry for more. It’s just setting it up. I feel like I got everything to gain now and totally nothing to lose. Before it was like I might put out a song and it might be hit or miss, but I’m confident that this EP is just hit.

Me and the team, everybody who worked on the project from the people who did the artwork, to me doing the music, to the producers, to the engineer, I feel like we all are comfortable with this project and where it can take me to.

With you releasing this EP for sale, how much do sales matter to you?

I haven’t thought about that. It doesn’t really matter that much. My biggest thing is getting a point across with me being my own artist, recognizing Chevy Woods for Chevy Woods, and not anything outside of that. My point is more of the message than the money. I’m probably not even going to pay attention to it until somebody tells me.

Besides Wiz Khalifa, who did you have the most fun working with on this EP?

I actually had fun working with OG Maco. It was a good studio session. He’s the homie, he pulled up, and I was already recording a song. It just made sense for him to get on it. We could’ve did five or six songs that night but we only did one and it was a stand out song. We had fun, it was drinks and laughter in the studio. Everything that lead up to the song was fun for me.

What was your favorite TV show growing up and currently?

I used to watch cartoons a lot, so I would watch, like, Hey Arnold. Currently? I like to watch a lot of stuff on the Discovery Channel, like Wild Tuna, Deadliest Catch, the Gold mining thing, Moonshiners, things like that. I’m into reality.

What is your favorite video game of all time and why?

Madden, because I’ve been playing it since like ’89 up until now.

Was there a defining year that made you feel like this is the best game in the franchise?

It was like ’91 maybe when they put the blocks up in the window. You could hit A, B, C and it had the passing windows. When they brought that up, I was happy about that.

If you had to pick one essential Chevy Woods record to introduce yourself to new listeners, what are you picking and why?

The first song off this new project. It’s called “48 Hunnid.” It gives people, in detail, my life and what I’ve went through. Once you get that and start listening to the rest of it, you’ll understand why the first song was named after [the title]. August 7, be ready for the real. Everybody says the real is back, but I’m not on that. The real is here.

Keep up with Chevy Woods on Twitter, and pre-order The 48 Hunnid Project on iTunes now. Follow me on Twitter too.