Pounds448: «Authenticity is what separates an artist from a legend»

Peace king, thank you so much for this opportunity! We’ve been fans for years and one of the things that’s always stood out to us, beyond your music, is your Italian heritage. Our platform is based in Italy and we know you’re very connected to your roots. Can you tell us about your family’s story? What part of Italy did your ancestors come from and how did your family end up in Rochester, a cold city on the border between New York and Canada?

My family is from Valguanera, Sicily, and Pescina Abruzzo. They came over through Ellis Island and ended up in Rochester in the early 1910s. Moved to Rochester because this was where the work was at the time.

What was it like growing up in Rochester for you as an Italian? How’s the Italian community in Rochester?

When I was growing up there was a pretty big Italian community in Rochester. There used to be alot more going on as far as festivals, etc when I was younger but it seems all that has faded over the years.

We hear in past interviews that your childhood wasn’t that easy. You also grew up in a group home and went through a very turbulent period with legal troubles. Can you tell us something about your background, your growing up and personal story? What were the toughest challenges you had to face? And most importantly, how did you manage to get out of it?

I grew up in a house where alcoholism and drug use caused me to grow up and fend for myself really early. My home life reflected my behavior in school and in general, so I ended up in a group home because things had gotten so out of control. I got kicked out for fighting and it took some years to get myself together.

While everyone was enjoying the “high school experience,” I was looking for an open car to sleep in. Eventually I started hustling and things started to change for me.

How did you get into rap and when and how did you start recording your raps? What was your path within the Hip-Hop scene? How did you break into the circuit and make a name for yourself first in the local Rochester scene and then throughout Upstate New York?

I had always been into rap. But I didn’t think about rapping or recording until I was about 21-22. I was around guys that were making music and knew that I could do better than them haha. First beat I ever recorded on was Freeway “What we do is wrong”. The hiphop scene was heavy in Rochester at the time. As soon as I started recording I started going hard with it. On every mixtape, doing songs with everyone. I think everyone knew right away that I was serious and talented as an MC.

What were the musical and cultural influences that molded your sound? Who were you listening to growing up and who inspired you to pick up the mic?

I was so heavily influenced by Prodigy, Big Pun, Sean Price, JayZ, Kool G Rap. I studied the way they put bars together like a college student. I’m from that cloth. But it wasn’t until I heard “Problem Child” by 50 that I knew this was for me and I was gonna really do this.

Over the last decade, Rochester and Upstate New York have been the fulcrum of the real underground renaissance. You share the same city with incredibly dope spitters like 38 Spesh, Eto , the DaCloth crew and others, you’ve also collaborated with your Buffalo neighbors from Griselda Records – Conway The Machine and Westside Gunn. What are the key performances, releases, or connections that helped you establish yourself in the underground scene?

I think Heavy Lies The Crown kind of helped me plant my flag. And after I dropped Pee Wee Kirkland with his co-sign, Trafficante with Buckwild turned me way up. But when There Is No Mafia and TONY 2 came out they really solidified things permanently for me.

You have an impressive and solid catalog: from “448 Grams” (2014) through “Heavy Lies the Crown” (2016), “Trafficante” with Buckwild (2019), “There Is No Mafia” (2020), to the recent “We Kill Everything We See” (2023) and “Vacuum Seal Valedictorian” (2024) “For Dealers By The Dealers”. Which projects are you most proud of or the ones you feel are the most important of your discography and why? Do you feel your work receives the respect it deserves from the underground scene?

My last answer kind of segues into this. As far as respect, I think it’s there. But I’ve definitely always felt slighted and continue to feel that way. All my works are extremely important to me, almost like my children. I’m extremely hands on with the process. I handle every single facet of the projects except for mastering. Shout out to Spittzwell. But the projects I’ve produced are definitely most important to me.

Recently you also released “We Kill Everything We See: Director’s Cut” – a sort of “best of” revisiting some of your classics with the collaboration of Trillmatic Goods. Can you tell us about this release? What was the concept behind revisiting these tracks and what did Trillmatic bring to the table?

Trillmatic actually just over saw the final stages, but it’s ABAT LBUT who produced and remixed all of them with extreme precision. I love what he did to change the soundscapes of these joints.

Throughout your career you’ve worked with pillars of the underground scene like Roc Marciano, Benny The Butcher, Rome Streetz and many others. What was the most meaningful collaboration for you on a personal and artistic level? Do you have any anecdotes or behind the scenes about these many collaborations? Who are the emcees or producers you still dream of working with?

Roc and Benny for sure. I like to spar with the heavyweights. But Conway, Flee, and Meyhem I had the most fun recording with. Huge food spreads and a lot of gas! Still waiting for this action Bronson feature haha, and the obvious, Alchemist collab.

In your lyrics, you talk about the streets and how they forged you in both good and bad ways. How have Rochester’s streets changed from your perspective, comparing how you lived them back then to what you see now? The authenticity in your music is undeniable – how did you build that credibility? How did you earn your stripes and get that “pass” to talk about certain things in your songs?

It wasn’t really the streets or things associated with that changed me, it was my children being born. Otherwise I would’ve never slowed up at all. And as far as credibility, I did what I did. Everyone knows. I talk it cause I live(ed) it. Authenticity is what separates an artist from a legend.

After “Vacuum Seal Valedictorian”, “If He Dies, He Dies” in 2024 and “For Dealers By Dealers” in 2025, what’s cooking next? Are you working on new projects? Can we expect more collaborations or maybe an album with a single producer one day?

I have a half dozen projects in the queue. Including Crisis, BodyBag Ben, and a Self produced and TONY3. Next up is “Juiced” with Digiscale Donnatella out of Texas who I also have a project fully produced by me dropping as well as about 8 other production projects. Hopefully that Alchemist project soon haha.

In an interview you said in one that you are an excellent Italian chef: what are your best Italian dishes and your favorite to eat? Where did you learn to cook?

All things Italian Sicilian I’m super versed in. I have a serious understanding of Italian and Latin flavor profiles. My palette and cooking abilities were given/developed at a really young age with my grandmother. She was like my mother. So I carry as many of her recipes on with my kids as possible. But braciole, gnocchi, and lasagna are a few of my next level “never miss” dishes.