Associating one’s self with Hip Hop culture is all about pride in being completely authentic regardless of societal placement. For the past several years, Feeki has remained true to himself as he battles praise from fans and criticism. There wasn’t a better example than his appearance on Viceland’s new series Payday.
The program focuses on the economic struggles young people face in America as they attempt to make due on a single pay period while fighting for their dreams and livelihood. Spending time in Reno, Nevada, the debut episode featured Feeki and others simply trying to make it. For the past several years, Feeki maintained a solid rise through social media and online video outlets due to his aesthetic rooted in a rural American lifestyle.
“We often grew up being into cars, trucks and dirtbikes,” he explained. “I started doing music and was trying to find myself. One day, I was like fuck it, I’m going to get a mullet because all my friends had one when they were kids and I never had one. I was already wearing weird shirts and stuff. Shortly after I started understanding the idea of branding, I just went with it and used it to my advantage.”
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As many criticize Hip Hop for excessive materialism, Feeki not only found a fan base by being himself, but his segments revolved around his job as a casino valet driver.
“I’m not too concerned with that aspect of Hip Hop at all anyway, with the bragging about things and talking about how better I am than you,” he said. “This opportunity just presented itself and it didn’t cost me anything and gave me a lot of exposure being on a national TV channel. I thought it was worth it.”
When Feeki wasn’t hustling between vehicles on the nine-to-five, he spent a large majority of his time in his fairly elaborate home studio making music and videos. Watching him put every last dime into his dream could be relatable to anyone in his position. In the meantime, viewers watched how he lyrically dismantled haters and online trolls through response freestyles.
“That idea came to me because I was getting a lot of bad comments online which happens no matter who you are,” he explained. I got a couple of videos earlier that year in 2015 on WorldstarHipHop and those comments were the worst. We were working out the studio and just laughing about them because some were pretty funny. I just thought it would be cool to rap back to these people and then I could screenshot the comments and have them come on screen as I’m responding. It was kind of new comment for me as I hadn’t seen anyone do it before. Fans who aren’t in music can see all the horrible shit artists get.”
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Though the episode of Payday he’s featured in has only been out for about a week, he already sees the benefits. “I guess I got more fans and tractions through my socials,” said Feeki. “People are checking in telling me to keep it up. It was good exposure.”
Using momentum gained from his time on the small screen, he took a different approach for his music videos as well. Late Sunday night (November 20), Feeki premiered his video for fan favorite “Saying Nothing,” on Facebook Live. The single, featuring on his Unbound EP released in September, was shot live and in one take.
“I saw news outlets uploading live video to Facebook, but I hadn’t seen it done in music,” he said. “Usually, we go for a lot of plot and story in the video and that takes a lot of planning.”
Feeki has come a long way, to say the least. Like many artists of the internet era, he’s evolved from simple gimmicks to honed-in skill. He also found inspiration from Young Sinatra.
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“I think that comes from practice,” he continued. “I was listening to a lot of Logic. He was like my favorite rapper. I was already rapping at the time, but he was good and could flow. I just listened to him a lot and tried to rap like him. I give that credit to where I learned how to flow. It’s just not from him though. I figured out I could flow like someone else, take pieces of what I liked and do my own thing.”
As Feeki continues to grind it out, he has plans to drop a project at the top of next year alongside a new work schedule.
“I went to two days and only work on Mondays and Tuesday,” continued Feeki. “And, now I have the rest of the week to work on music.”
Watch the premiere episode of Viceland below.
