INTERVIEW | RAPPER 4EVA14 DISCUSSES HIS LATEST TRACK ‘LEAVE ME DEAD’

In the realm of hip-hop, authen­ti­city often serves as the corner­stone of an artist’s nar­rat­ive. Rap­per 4eva14 embod­ies this prin­ciple with unapo­lo­get­ic candor, chan­nel­ing per­son­al tri­als and tri­umphs into poignant verses that res­on­ate with listen­ers from all walks of life. His latest track, “Leave Me Dead,” serves as a test­a­ment to this raw hon­esty, draw­ing from a well­spring of exper­i­ences steeped in the murky waters of betray­al and resi­li­ence. As we delve into the gen­es­is of this power­ful anthem, 4eva14 sheds light on the tumul­tu­ous jour­ney that inspired its cre­ation and the pro­found mes­sage he aims to impart. From nav­ig­at­ing the labyrinth of jeal­ousy and deceit to carving a dis­tinct son­ic iden­tity in a crowded industry, 4eva14’s jour­ney is as com­pel­ling as his music, offer­ing a glimpse into the soul of an artist unafraid to speak his truth.

Listen to ‘Leave Me Dead’ HERE

“Leave Me Dead” is a power­ful track that draws on your per­son­al exper­i­ences. Can you share what inspired you to cre­ate this song and the mes­sage you aim to con­vey?

Really steams from all the jeal­ousy and envy I’ve exper­i­enced from friend/enemies (fake friends) through­out my life. The inspir­a­tion derives from years ago when they were plot­ting to kid­nap me cause I was in the way and caus­ing hell. Still caus­ing hell but now that I’m older I stay out the way and shine in the shad­ows. The mes­sage I’m try­ing to con­vey is basic­ally always stay on your p’s and q’s.

Your lyr­ics often reflect real-life struggles and tri­umphs. How do you nav­ig­ate turn­ing your per­son­al exper­i­ences into music that res­on­ates with a broad audi­ence?

I just tell the truth, I don’t sug­ar coat noth­ing, I don’t make some­thing seem like it’s more than what it really is or make it seem like I’ve done more than what I really have. That genu­ine­ness alone res­on­ates with people, that’s why any age range from 18 to 100 lol can relate. #AlwaysLower­Case­No­Cap

The track is described as raw and authen­tic­ally inspired. Can you walk us through your cre­at­ive pro­cess when craft­ing the lyr­ics and the over­all sound of “Leave Me Dead”?

When it comes to craft­ing my lyr­ics, I basic­ally just take exper­i­ences from my life and make the simplest thing you could say sound excit­ing, without bend­ing the truth of that lyr­ic­al con­tent. The over­all sound to me is a trap, bounce, feel good vibe-able sound.

How do you approach song­writ­ing to ensure your music stands out in a crowded industry?

I just stay true to who I am and what I like. I don’t nev­er ride the cur­rent sound wave no mat­ter how pop­u­lar it may be at a present time in music his­tory, I stick to my guns.

The beat and melody is what crafts my deliv­ery. That’s why mostly none of my songs sound like my oth­er songs. I get bored listen­ing to a whole album and every song sounds the same.

Your jour­ney in music has been marked by sig­ni­fic­ant mile­stones, includ­ing your debut album and mix­tapes. How has your sound evolved since you first star­ted, and what can listen­ers expect from “Leave Me Dead” in terms of growth and devel­op­ment?

The elev­a­tion has been crazy. I know because people who I use to rap to years ago who haven’t heard me since then and have heard me now, they all say you sound like some­body that’s already in the industry.

I remem­ber when people didn’t even wanna listen now they hit me for new music lol. When I dropped my first pro­ject people were lov­ing it and steal­ing it out of people’s cars and everything it was crazy. Noth­ing but great feed­back even from people I didn’t know. But I felt I wasn’t one with the music yet so I went back to the draw­ing board.

The title “Leave Me Dead” evokes a sense of defi­ance and resi­li­ence. How does this theme mani­fest through­out the song, and what do you hope listen­ers will take away from it?

Basic­ally everything you do espe­cially when you shin­ing cre­ates enemies. These same ones who you might not even know, wanna leave you dead and take your place because you get­ting plenty money or you step­ping on they toes. I hope they take away jew­els from this song.

Nev­er get com­fort­able because your friend could be your enemy. No mat­ter what you do to get your money, if it all falls down or boils over, hold your water, stay silent take your con­sequences like a man or woman and don’t ruin another’s life because you got caught.

Mil­wau­kee, WI, holds a spe­cial sig­ni­fic­ance for you, reflec­ted in your monik­er 4eva14. How has your homet­own influ­enced your music and shaped your iden­tity as an artist?

My music is derived from the exper­i­ences through­out my whole life grow­ing up here. All the ups and downs and tri­als and tribu­la­tions that happened here is what mol­ded the per­son and artist that I am today.

Your music often fosters emo­tion­al con­nec­tions with your audi­ence. How import­ant is it for you to cre­ate music that not only enter­tains but also res­on­ates on a deep­er level with listen­ers?

When it comes to music if a per­son can’t relate or feel the real­ness from your music then it’s point­less. Doesn’t mat­ter if they’ve done what your talk­ing about or even exper­i­enced what your spit­ting in your music.

An artist’s job is to trans­form one mind into being able to visu­ally ima­gine the words you’re deliv­er­ing and for them to feel as if they can relate even if in actu­al­ity they really can’t. So hav­ing a listen­er or audi­ence res­on­ate with you is actu­ally the most import­ant part as a whole for music.

Can you share any mem­or­able moments or chal­lenges you encountered while record­ing and pro­du­cing “Leave Me Dead”?

I really had no chal­lenges in the cre­at­ing pro­cess. A mem­or­able moment I would say is when I fin­ished writ­ing it and I free-styled it for someone. There reac­tion was priceless…I knew this was gonna be one of the first of many #1’s ( if I do what I’m sup­posed to…procrastination is a weak­ness of mine I’m work­ing daily on).

 Look­ing ahead, what’s next for 4eva14? Do you have any upcom­ing pro­jects or col­lab­or­a­tions in the works that your fans can anti­cip­ate?

So look­ing ahead I got a lot of singles I’m fin to drop…and a pro­ject ded­ic­ated to the snake ass mtf Steve Wilco show entitled ’S.A.M’ — Snakes and money.
Tried to rail­road me on nation­al tv but what he didn’t know was I could get proof and proof I got now. So it’s my mis­sion to save oth­er inno­cent people who get­ting lied on and their lives des­troyed for money and rat­ings. I was lucky it didn’t ruin my life like it did oth­ers cause I had refused to let them and they knew I wasn’t play­ing so they took it down every­where so there’s no proof that I was ever even on the show but I got that as well.
I actu­ally might have a col­lab com­ing up with one of the hot­test artist out right now. He’s my cous­in but that’s not why, my uncle, his dad came to a per­form­ance I had in Atlanta and saw me in action and it impressed him so he hit his son and told him he ah pay him for a fea­ture for me but cuz was like that’s big cuz I got him. I wanna make at least a little name for myself before I choose that option. And just in case it don’t hap­pen I won’t look stu­pid by say­ing what his name is.

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Listen to more of 4eva14

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Rishma Dhaliwal

Rishma Dhaliwal

Edit­or / PR Con­sult­ant at No Bounds
Rishma Dhali­w­al has extens­ive exper­i­ence study­ing and work­ing in the music and media industry. Hav­ing writ­ten a thes­is on how Hip Hop acts as a social move­ment, she has spent years research­ing and con­nect­ing with artists who use the art form as a tool for bring­ing a voice to the voice­less. Cur­rently work­ing in TV, Rishma brings her PR and media know­ledge to I am Hip Hop and oth­er pro­jects by No Bounds.

About Rishma Dhaliwal

Rishma Dhaliwal
Rishma Dhaliwal has extensive experience studying and working in the music and media industry. Having written a thesis on how Hip Hop acts as a social movement, she has spent years researching and connecting with artists who use the art form as a tool for bringing a voice to the voiceless. Currently working in TV, Rishma brings her PR and media knowledge to I am Hip Hop and other projects by No Bounds.