Sometimes, when celebrities get to a point where they have earned themselves enough credibility, respect, money, and a loyal fanbase, they choose to venture into another area of work that interests them. We've seen this pretty often with musicians turned actors, or executive producers (such as in the case with Fiddy and his show Power), or in Rih's case, with how she's put music on the backburner to focus on creating a cosmetics and retail empire. Most recently, we've started to see a wave of athletes-turned-rappers, including NBA star Damian Lillard, who goes by the stage name Bame D.O.L.L.A.S, and who has earned the respect of Lil Wayne himself as a rapper. Most recently, ex WWE Wrestler, Lio Rush, did the same when he left wrestling behind to venture into his own musical career, releasing his debut single "Scenic Lullaby," which finds him going into detail about his personal struggles and life story in a commendable lyrical journey. The ex-athlete sat down with Complex to share some more insights into what brought about his passion for rap, his relationship with fellow DMV artist, Wale, as well as missing wrestling.
On the subject of how he came about the decision to start rapping, Rush explained how he feels like he's been "pretty open to the public about my struggles and my growing up and the current struggles that I go through at my everyday life," and how he wanted to "merge the two. And I wanted to be able to talk about it while also putting it into song form because personally, music speaks to me so much. And, it changes my life. It changes my mood. It changes everything. So I wanted to tell my story in a way where it will [connect with] people just a little bit more." He goes on to explain how his love for rap came about through his love for poetry, saying that he would always write, late into the hours of the night, not knowing at the time he was even writing poetry, but just that he was a "really expressive individual and creative and artistic. And not just in my words. Whether it came from in my style of wrestling or the way that I portrayed myself, I just always felt like I was different from everybody else. I always liked artists that were lyricists," detailing how Mos Def always stuck out to him as a lyricist.
On the topic of fellow DMV artist, Wale, and the two's relationship, Rush said: "I met Wale a few years back ago, maybe three years ago. He was the first person outside of the wrestling world, a celebrity, to show me love and tell me that he enjoyed my work inside the ring." He went on to detail how he did indeed talk to Wale about "dipping his toes" in the music industry, which Wale was always "super supportive" of. As well as this, he briefly went into what it's like going to one Wale's epic annuanl "WaleMania" parties. On the topic of wrestling, and his feelings towards it now, Rush closed off the interview by stating: "I fucking miss wrestling. I love wrestling. I still do. It was my dream. It's my goal since I was five years old. And I honestly can't even remember the last time I had a wrestling match. And to be completely honest, I definitely do miss wrestling. I miss the fans. I miss the adrenaline rush. I love everything about it." If you're interested, check out the full interview HERE.