We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Phax 100 a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Phax , thanks for joining us today. Can you tell us about a time that your work has been misunderstood? Why do you think it happened and did any interesting insights emerge from the experience?
When you’re chasing your dream, it’s hard to get the ones you love to understand and see the same vision as you. You can tell them a thousand times what the goal is and they won’t follow suit. Their mind is so small that it will slow you down if you keep them around. It’s harsh reality. As you think bigger and bigger you grow apart. The gap gets wider, wider than Michael Blackson front grill. They don’t understand that everything literally takes dedication and consistency. The conversations don’t match up anymore. You search for like-minded ppl but it seems to be a competition with everyone that does what you do too. At the end you just end up alone.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
Phax 100 is a Bahamian-American rapper and songwriter. Known for his versatility and conscious songwriting. He adopted the nickname “Phax 100” as a metaphor for the Truth. Born and Raised in Miami, FL, 200 street of Caribbean Blvd which is known to be part of “Down South” of Da Crib (Miami). At Age 11, Phax began reading and writing poems. Phax would get into fights in school and struggled with anger issues as an adolescence. His counselor, Ms. Goldstein convinced him to write a poem about his feelings so he can release his anger and for him to bring the poem to her. she would make him rap the poem over a beat in front of her and everyone in the cafeteria. Everyone loved it and His love for writing rap began. At Age 13, Phax was known for rap battling early in the morning in front of school and during lunch surrounded by hundreds of students. He was approached by another kid his age who took rap to another level and this was the first time Phax was introduced to studio time after school. Phax cites 2pac as his biggest influence, noting that he has impacted his music and everyday life. He has stated that Tupac Shakur, Lil Wayne, Ludacris, JADAKISS, and Kendrick Lamar are his top five favorite rappers (not in order). Phax also mentioned Young Jeezy and Dipset as rappers that he listened to and took influence from during his early years. He also cited 50 Cent as someone who “really [got me started] on music. “That first album, Get Rich or Die Tryin is classic”. At Age 16, Phax was offered an independent record deal of a quarter million to sign with Gold Ent which was former Artist “STS” also known as Sugar Tongue Slim. STS was signed under Jazzy Jeff’s Touch of Jazz Ent at the time. The deal never proceeded due to phax being a minor at the time and needing his mother’s consent, Phax mother didn’t approve and wanted him to finish school. Opportunities like that don’t come by often. Phax mentioned the pain behind that decision which is another story for another day. Till this day he’s been going ham and I mean HAM AND CHEESE. He’s got a lot to get off his chest on this time around.
We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?
You can always start from scratch by performing in open mic events, attending interviews, nightclub meet and greets, and lastly finding a plug on the marketing campaigns.
What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?
The lesson I had to unlearn is stop being nice to everyone. I’m not encouraging bad behavior but watch who you’re kind to. This industry/entertainment world is full of egotistical people. Mind you, I recently relocated from Arkansas back home to South Florida. I reached out to a familiar face that used to chop it up with me and chill in the studio with me. Since I’ve been away she’s managed to become one of Miami’s own Club Promoter/Artist Manager. She’s been on Love and Hip Hop Miami, and Got to be around a lot of upcoming artists that’s known throughout a few cities in the U.S. When I showed up to perform at KOD she literally acted as if she didn’t know me. Not a word was said to me. I don’t know what I did to her but then again it’s always the ones that’s close to you or knew you. Be humble enough to know everything can be taken away within a matter of a second but be confident enough to know how capable you are.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @phax100