From recording in the closet to hanging around SOSSHOUSE, making music with Future’s nephew and Lil Wayne’s son, and performing with LAZER and dxrt3all.
After a healthy dose of false starts, I finally got ahold of Glorygirl2950. She borrowed her mother’s phone and called me at the end of April, while doing her hair and preparing for a video shoot. With the runaround that preceded our chat, the last thing I expected were such open, honest, and self-reflective answers. There were no airs to her responses to my sometimes prying questions. On the contrary, there was a palpable earnestness to her love for the game.
The whole reason I approached Glory (also known as Jaedica, Jaezakya, Lil Jae) was because of the electric undercurrent to her bugged-out debut, Queen of the Land. It’s an innate brazenness that’s endeared me to most of my all-time favorites from ODB to NBA Youngboy. It’s psychedelic stream-of-consciousness rap, the kind of purely idiosyncratic work that couldn’t be manufactured even if you injected it directly into the veins of the Opium guys or Trippie Redd or whoever. Whether she’s recontextualizing scripture like RXKNephew on “Wnba,” taking the industry to task on “Slang on Me,” or pulling helium shrieks out of the ether on “Glory Freestyle,” she’s always fully committed both flow-wise and lyrically. She twists even the most overused rhymes into something disarmingly potent and there’s an unmistakable lucidity to her punchlines.
Glory’s tone reminds of that one Young Thug feature from 2017, on Kodak’ Black’s “Top Off Benz.” There’s a folksiness uninhibited by genre expectations. Rough around the edges, sure, but that’s a testament to the voice being developed. As Alphonse Pierre puts it in his review of her debut: a rawness reminiscent of early Thug, back when all you could do was stand witness to the birth of a “style so wacko that you weren’t even sure how seriously to take it.”
In that sense, it was a breath of fresh air to hear how seriously Glory believes in herself.
Narsh: Hi! It’s nice to meet you.
Glorygirl2950: Nice to meet you too, bro.
You said you’re doing your hair now, but you were in the studio earlier?
Glorygirl2950: Yeah, I’m ‘bout to get ready for a video shoot.
For something off of Opp Land or Queen of the Land? Or something new?
Glorygirl2950: No, it’s a single I released. It’s a Triller on my Instagram.
Are you working on an album?
Glorygirl2950: I am. A self-titled album.
On one of your SoundCloud pages, there’s one song where you mentioned you wrote your first song at eight years old. Is that true?
Glorygirl2950: Yes, that’s true!
I think the song was called “Vamp Talk”. I don’t know if it was all on the same song, but you were basically, like, giving your history? I think you mentioned Gorilla Zoe was your uncle?
Glorygirl2950: Yeah, that is true!
Eight years old—not to keep putting you on the spot, but that would be right when he was dropping a mixtape every single week!
Glorygirl2950: I was in third grade, and I remember writing [my first song] and taking it to school, and having, like, two other girls dance with me, and I performed it in front of my teacher. And I’m like, “My name is Lil Jae, I’m eight years old…” You know, just talking shit!
That’s fire.
Glorygirl2950: [Laughs] Yeah. And I just would write for a minute, until like 2017, when I started recording on this app called “Offtop.” And I started recording in the closet.
Did anyone else in the family rap? Or was it just your Uncle?
Glorygirl2950: It was my dad. He had a song with Gucci Mane. [Laughs] Some other shit!
What’s the song called?
Glorygirl2950: It’s called “Blowin’ On Frooties.”
Okay.
Glorygirl2950: It’s so corny!
Don’t be a hater! I gotta check it out.
Glorygirl2950: [Laughs] Alright, alright. Yeah, it’s called “Blowin’ On Frooties.” My mom, she ain’t got no music and shit out, but she love music and shit too. But other than that, naw, nobody else in my family. Just my dad. My grandma, she like a Jehovah Witness.
Does she understand artistic expression?
Glorygirl2950: She never listened to my music before. Like, I have not talked to my grandma who’s a Jehovah Witness, since I started making music. Like, oh my god, that would be crazy.
I feel like, even if she doesn’t listen to your music, maybe she could understand the idea of expressing yourself?
Glorygirl2950: Right, right. That’s scary though. I don’t know what she would say.
When you first started really trying to make music on your own—like, in your closet and stuff—was it just you figuring everything out, or did you have anyone showing you the ropes?
Glorygirl2950: I was recording in the closet, and I would be dropping music on the app “Offtop,” but I wasn’t posting it on social media or Instagram or anything. So then I started talking to this boy [Bermuda Yae] and he start inviting me to the studio—what’s that studio called? Damn. I forgot. I know it’s not, like, “Death Star” or nothing. Damn. I forgot. But I start going to the studio everyday. And, you know, Chavo and Sharc—you know about them?
Nah, who are they?
Glorygirl2950: Okay, you know Pi’erre Bourne? The song, “Wanna get drunk and nasty, uh, wanna get drunk and nasty?” [Laughs] So, Sharc on that song. And [Pi’erre] has a label called SOSSHOUSE… All the youngins, they’ll just be in there recording, basically. All the young people. Not Nudy and shit, but the people right under there. For like a year—for like a year, I just watched them record. I just stayed at the studio, I just basically just watched. Watched everything, just watched how rappers act, what they do… I’m just watching.
What year was this?
Glorygirl2950: This was like 2017, going into 2018.
And that was really when Pi’erre was, like, taking off with his solo stuff—
Glorygirl2950: Yes, yes. Yup. And he had his own studio, and he had that studio rented out every night, I remember. And then! Even being with Yae and getting invited to go to Carti’s studio session—I still wasn’t rapping then! Even getting to experience them, how they interacted and how they made their song—like, watching rappers evolve, and me being in the same world as them? I’m around, I’m known, but I’m not known in a way where it’s important or it’s influential or it’s getting me paid to be around, you know? So, okay, I gotta start taking myself serious.
And were you really there just trying to soak up game at first? What drove you, I guess, to really study like that?
Glorygirl2950: Always in school, I never was like—it’s gon’ sound so bad, but like, I’ll be like, “I don’t gotta do this, I don’t gotta do that,” like, “I don’t gotta do this work.” You know? Just poppin’ my shit! “I ain’t gotta come to that class ‘cause I know I’m gonna be a rapper one day, like, I know I’m gonna rap one day.” On god, like, I know I’m gonna be famous, I know I’m gonna get paid for rapping one day. Even though I don’t know if this shit ever was gonna work, but I always just had that mindset. So, when that opportunity and situation came about, I’m like, “Okay, Imma be a girl, Imma…” You know? You know what I’m trying to say? Like, I’m just gonna sit around, you know, be cute, you know? But at the same time, I’m like an eagle in the corner. I’m watching.
So you took it to your advantage. Like, if they’re gonna underestimate me, at least I’m gonna soak up game and make something out of this.
Glorygirl2950: Exactly—I ain’t gon’ lie, I like the way you put that. I never thought about it like that [laughs]. And then when the script flipped, it was so crazy ‘cause everybody was like, “Oh, shit!” Like, “She rapping? Oh, she hard!” And so many people would try to come around and put me on, or say this and that, and they’ll think they’re helping me, but I don’t say nothing ‘cause I already know, ‘cause I already done seen, like, everything.
Were you rapping with a similar style back then? Or were you still trying to figure out how you were going to approach music?
Glorygirl2950: Still, to this day, I don’t really know how I wanna approach music. But, it wasn’t, like, hell nah—it wasn’t good. Well, I’m not gonna say it wasn’t good. But it wasn’t like what it is now.
My sound actually started to evolve—and I made the, “Bitch I’m hot, bitch I’m hot, bitch I’m hot!” And that’s what did some numbers, and what’s got me a lil’ underground pop. And everybody liked how I flowed, and the way I was dressin’ like a tomboy and shit. They was like, “Okay, I like her swag, I like how she flowin’, she vibin’,” you know? So, I was like, okay, this is my advantage.
What do you think it is about Atlanta that makes people want to be unique?
Glorygirl2950: Honestly, because we all have been around and seen everything personally, and are so tied in and attached, we can’t just, like, walk in and be the same, “Lil Baby” like. Everybody gon’ say something! Unless you from over there where they dress like that originally… it’s not gon’ slide!
Where do you pull inspiration from?
Glorygirl2950: So, I could tell you, Queen of the Land, I listened to this Young Thug tape everyday. This 2015 Young Thug. I was really inspired by his tape.
Which one?
Glorygirl2950: If you just type in—it literally have no title. I don’t know the title. Like, if you go to Youtube and type in “Young Thug mixtape 2015” it’s, like, hella songs on the mixtape, and I listened to that mixtape everyday, all day, and I was inspired. ‘Cause, you know, I live on Cleveland Avenue… And I still go through a lot of shit he go through, he talk about, the way he deliver, the way his slang is—I got the same type of slang as him, like! [Laughs] It’s crazy, ‘cause I am gonna show I’m more of a female Thug. Like, I’m more southside. I live on Cleveland—I been living on Cleveland for a very long time—and I understand so much, and I been through so much, and I know what… I can just relate to Thug in so many different ways. So, when I made Queen of the Land, it was all inspired by Thug—everything.
Queen of the Land has such a cool feel to the whole project. Which I don’t think a lot of people think about those kind of things these days, when they put a tape together. You got the cover and then you got songs you wanna push, and that’s it.
Glorygirl2950: Thank you! And Opp Land, that was really inspired by a whole moment. That wasn’t inspired by anything off Instagram, nobody else, that was inspired all in a moment where I met this kid named Spin and I met this other kid named JDON, and we would go up to his “JDON Lodge,” right? [Laughs] And [JDON managed] this kid named Spin. The kid is so young—he’s like 13!—but he’s so creative, so down to earth. I love him. And they would start recording me. They would record me in an escalade, like—they were just, like, treating me like a star, man! They had the whole lil’ set up and shit. And that’s when Homixide would come—you know Gunna, right? We had Future nephew in there, Chase—I ended up making a song with FBG Chase. His brother was there… It was just, like, a whole moment! So, like, imagine me just being with Homixide, like! I’m with Homixide, I’m with FBG, I’m lit! And you hear Lil Wayne’s son on [my] tape! I got Wayne’s son on the tape! I got Future nephew on the tape! I got Bermuda Yae on the tape! I always stay with the same people, down to Earth, but I switched it up. But for me to be going through the whole thing with the shows this year—with LAZER, dxrt3all—from Gunna, from me going to his shows, from all of us just vibin’, recording in the house, from me just making a song with Chase, from Wayne’s son just tappin’ in, showin’ me love—sending the verse straight back! And me just putting it all together in, probably, like a week or two? Like, it didn’t take long. It was just some really young, turnt shit! And I really wanna be like, I deserve more than people have shown me, ‘cause it’s not easy connecting dots and tapping in with certain people and keeping a good facecard.
Being from Cleveland Avenue, what have you gone through to get to where you’re at?
Glorygirl2950: When I first came in, I had this really girly appearance and was really jolly and happy—I really didn’t know. Nobody knows what they’re getting themselves into. So, I was in this group, and I basically thought it was a friendship group. You know, I’m used to the streets. I’m used to showing loyalty in a certain type of way. So when I start experiencing disloyalty, and people showing up for me in different ways, and they wouldn’t… I was too trusting. I would do shows with people. I would support. My energy—I’m there, I’m raging. I don’t get the same energy in return. People running off with money on the group. Even though I was already in a position where I’m already this popular person because I done been around these certain different type of people, I didn’t like how other people was gettin’ treated. And I’m a certain type of person where, if I don’t like how other people are gettin’ treated, because they’re not on the level that we’re on, Imma say something, and Imma end up leaving! So when I end up experiencing shit like that where you’ll support people with all your heart, and they’ll turn around and be like, “oh, fuck you!” That was the lowest point for me.
You’ve mentioned being a lady in rap a few times, and being underrated or overlooked. Is the idea of being a woman in the rap game on your mind when you’re stepping out of your own space and working with other people? To add to that, are there any other female rappers you listen to or that you fuck with?
Glorygirl2950: Okay, so Imma answer the first question: when I started rapping, and I was a female, I was like, “Oh, this is going to be good!” I already knew it was going to be good. Because I was around—you know about PDE, right? I’m around all of them! So, I’m like the first girl to rap? What?! I am the first girl to rap. I’m the first girl to rap, bro, I swear to god. I’m the first one in the camp. I’m like, “Oh my god!” This is good. So I always had fun, didn’t care if it was male dominated. Because when I throw the clothes on, when I start swaggin’ and shit? N****s would be intimidated by me. Some of them would be like, “Oh, I thought that was a young n****! The way she came in!” On god! N****s was really intimidated by me! Especially when you dress in their clothes and you look better than them? Like, n****s would get mad at me and push up on me like, “You tried to fuck my bitch!” I swear I fell out with one of my friends because he really thought I was trying to fuck his bitch! I’m a girl, bro! Like. What the fuck! [Laughs]
Crazy. So you knew it was almost like a superpower then? Being the only one—
Glorygirl2950: Yes! I knew. Especially… Coi too—Coi Leray—especially just being with Chavo everyday, like, being around her blood brother every fuckin’ day bro? Even hearing him rap—you hear a lot of my raps sound exactly like he is! With that slang they got from where they’re from. He basically schooled me! So, yeah, I learned hella shit from him. Even his sister being Coi Leray—she male dominates! I’m so inspired by her, so—
That’s awesome.
Glorygirl2950: Hell yeah! Coi Leray, I been listening to Doechii—you know about hemlocke springs? She have, like, this lil’ pop, alternative sound, the ‘80s but it’s so new school—you’ll love it. But yeah, Doechii, and you know… I like me some Stunna Girl.
But I haven’t really been listening to music because I’m one of those artists where, if I drown myself in so much music, I don’t know—I need a clear mind for a very long time… I’ve been listening to Nine Vicious, like, ‘cause the “Fancy” song—I like the instrumental, something to keep my mind flowing. Something nice. I don’t really like all that heavy shit. Gangbanging and guns and shit. And that’s what’s really been making me a lil’ slower, because I’m so much in a different headspace, where I’m like, damn—I’m shedding so much old skin, I don’t even know how to come to my audience anymore! Because it’s not the same, like, crazy lookin’ gangbanging, gettin’ high shit—it’s not the same thing anymore. That’s what point I’m at right now. I’m just trying to take it slow, and rap about, you know—not more positive shit, but more shit that’s not so heavy.
So how do you clear your head? You talk a lot about thinking things through these days.
Glorygirl2950: I like to go and be in my own aura. I like to go and be in a room alone. I prolly watch Youtube videos where people talk about how to clear your head, you know? I like to watch different stuff about animals. Like, I just go watch something that just don’t have to do with nothing I just never watched before. Like, stuff I don’t ever think about.
Escape into a different world, kind of?
Glorygirl2950: Yeah! Like a more positive world. That’s what I do. I try to run to positive so fast. I really do.
When you talk about doing shows with LAZER, dxrt3all, linking up with Future’s nephew FBG Chase, and locking in at these studios, do you think there’s a New Atlanta forming? Ten years ago, it was Migos, Thug, Quan, Peewee—that was New Atlanta. What does it look like these days? And is your goal to be stamped as a part of that?
Glorygirl2950: I’ll most definitely say that it’s a New Atlanta. And the New Atlanta, it’s forming, but you see how the TikToks and shit—how it’s 15 seconds of fame everywhere? It’s going to take at least another 8-10 years before anyone is stamped to be the new face of Atlanta. Just think, we still are going to hear Future until someone is good enough to take Future’s place! Even Miss Mulatto—she’s been grinding very long! She’s been to my school pep rallies—she’s been out here grinding a good ten years, then she was the New Atlanta. So we can do the underground shit all day long, but until it’s reconstructed—and I do want to be a face of Atlanta. And I feel like I am going to be, you know, a new face of Atlanta, and I am going to be on the radio, and I am going to do those stages. But of course I have to go through this stage. When God put us here, he isn’t gonna give us the Grammy shit—we’re gonna have to do the little stages. But if you know you the one, you’re gonna have to do a lil’ embarrassing shit—like make stupid Trillers and shit—even though you know you’re supposed to be poppin’ it, doin’ a million dollar budget video, but god damn, you gotta work with what you’re workin’ with and shit!
Last question: What do you think it takes to break through from the underground?
Glorygirl2950: It’s gonna take a lot of hard work, first off. A lot of long nights. A lot of money. And it’s going to take a lot of connections. And it’s going to take a lot of losing boundaries. A lot of losing friends and family—
Does that seem worth it?
Glorygirl2950: [Laughs] You so funny.
You wanna know something? It really is tough. Because I already, as a child, growing up, and then being like I am right now—I already knew it was going to come with that. I’m totally fine with it. Because when I was younger… I always just asked, like, “Why can’t I just be accepted?” And now I know that it’s not for me to be accepted. Like, I can be with my team, I can be on stage, it can be a billion people, everybody can go out, have fun—but me? Knowing that I have to work hard to perform and I can’t hang with everybody—I can’t do what everybody doing. Now, I’m totally okay with that. I feel like I have gotten prepared for the life that has chosen me.