On this week’s episode of BagFuel, newcomer Armani Caesar discusses with the show's hosts, E$$O and Hynaken, how exactly she became the “first lady” of Griselda Records, which is now under the umbrella of Jay-Z’s Roc Nation. The label has a more gritty, 90s hip hop sound as opposed to a more modern autotune route, and Armani fits perfectly within these margins as the label’s first female artist.
In reference to her debut with the label, THE LIZ, the hosts ask, “How nervous or how much anxiety did you have, did you expect your project to receive that level of acclaim and attention? Cause, you know, it’s tough for a woman, even with the explosion of women artists.”
Caesar responds, saying, “I didn’t expect for it to be the kind of, I guess, I didn’t expect to get the kind of reaction that I got from so many people. Going into it, of course, I had told you that before, it was a lot of Griselda fans that were a little skeptical about them signing me, and that’s just because they were going off of what I was doing down here. Now I realize that I had been rapping with these guys ten-plus years ago… it wasn’t any pressure going into it because I was slept on. I was the underdog. So anything that I did, I felt would’ve made an impact.”
Caesar’s label-mate and family member Benny The Butcher was shot during a robbery in November, and Hynaken took the opportunity to ask Caesar about what she’s done to protect herself since then, and get an update on Benny's well-being.
Hynaken asks, “Speaking to what happened to your family member, your label-mate, your brother, Benny, first of all, we wanna know how he’s doing, how he’s feeling mentally, and how did it affect how you maneuver, especially as a woman, being in the south, what are some steps you take to protect yourself now going forward?”
Caesar explains, “Just staying more alert, you know, a lot of times you don’t feel like things will happen to us, like in broad daylight, especially the type of guy that Benny is, he’s not the type you would think to get robbed because you could ask him for anything. Whoever it was could’ve asked him for some money… he would’ve donated… for them to try to do that I think it was more of a clout thing.”
E$$O also takes the opportunity to ask Caesar about some reported “controversy” that transpired over her music video for “Palm Angels”, which starred her and YFN Lucci. She denied dating the Atlanta rapper and said that he was actually the second choice for the video, but Lucci’s ex Reginae Carter tried to start some beef.
E$$O asks, “What’s up with the situation with YFN Lucci and the Reginae and the video… Is that straight now?”
Armani laughs off the claims, saying, “Yeah, it was always straight! Shoutout both of them, I don’t have no beef with nobody. It was more so about the art. I made ‘Palm Angels’ and I was like, telling a story, and I wanted the video to tell that same story and it to be able to convey that authentically… Somebody had to be in the video, I felt like he was a nice-looking guy, you know, he was open to doing the video and we did it, he was professional when he did it.”
To watch this week’s episode of BagFuel, check it out below.