THE STORY BEHIND FLOCKAVELI BY KING ERIC

IS IT SHORT BUS SHORTY OR A TROLL JOB?

Waka Flocka Flame was introduced during a time where hip hop wasn’t trying to hear anything coming from the South. Yes the South had its spitters but the D4L’s, The Soulja Boys, OJ Da Juiceman’s Gucci Mane’s(at that time) were considered the Barrell of the bottom when it comes to legitimate emceeing. Waka Flocka Flame was introduced under Gucci Mane’s 1017 Bricksquad label and he fell victim as apart of that judgement. I remember his appearance on 106 and Park where Terrance and Roxxy asked him about voting and he publicly embarrassed himself.

This followed up with content creators making jokes and mockery of what was considered the dumbing down of hip hop. Flocka amongst many was placed on the very hilarious Cartoon “Short Bus Shawty” In response to the criticism, Flocka boldly boasted about “not being lyrical” and was seemingly proud of not being able to be known as a rapper being known for his lyrics. He faced tremendous backlash for this stance including from Method Man who took offense to Flocka’s statements.

FLOCKA TAKES THE HIGH ROAD/ GAINS RESPECT

Waka Flocka during this time period did the unthinkable. He could have disrespected Method Man’s whole career but instead he not only took the high road but he also acknowledged how Onyx and Wu Tang inspired his generation to do their style of “Crunk Music”. He was a classy move and Method Man later on apologized for it and it was water under the bridge:

I remember watching this transpire and thought to myself, “Flocka is more smarter” than he’s leading on. He was the original “Blueface” of his time. As a did more research about him, Its surprising to find out that he’s not originally from Atlanta but originally from Southside Jamaica Queens New York. The Accent was definitely prevalent in this video. He’s also managed by his mother Debra Antney formally known as “Aunt Deb” whom represents a strong list of clients such as Gucci Mane, Nicki Minaj, French Montana, and OJ Da Juiceman. So She understood how to maintain relationships and didn’t want Flocka to jump out of bounds like Soulja Boy did to Ice T.

After gaining momentum on the streets with his Gucci Cosign and tapes such as “Salute or Shoot Me”. Flocka was grinding his way from being a regional success to becoming a star. He found the ultimate formula. He mixed trap music trademark sound of “Lex Luger” and “ZayToven” with his gruff East coast delivery and energetics performance like that of Lil Jon, Three 6 Mafia, and at times 50 Cent. It was his first major hit “O Lets Do It” is where things started to change for Flocka. The record was simple, it was hype, and had a simple addictive course. Seeing the record was scorching hot later on, Heavyweights such as P-Diddy, Rick Ross, Jeezy, Lil Kim, Ludacris, Lil Wayne and Trae The Truth jumped on for the ride. If you look at the visuals of “O Lets Do it” It was clearly inspired by DMX’s Get At Me Dog.

WITH SUCCESS COMES ENVY

As Flocka was climbing amongst the ranks in hip hop, Envy would soon follow. On January 10th 2010, Flocka was shot and robbed outside of a car wash in Charlotte NC. In what would considered to be a pivotal moment in his career. Flocka was lucky to have survived the shooting. But what it also did was create more mystique around his music. It could also be said that the shooting inspired the title of his debut album titled “Flockaveli” which was clearly inspired by Tupac Shakur’s “Makaveli”. Flocka went back to work after surviving the shooting. He linked up with Virginia/Atlanta’s own Lex Luger whom was having a legendary run working with Juicy J. The album’s 2nd single “Hard N The Paint” became one of the hardest single to hit the Streets that Spring and he followed up with “No Hands” which featured Wale and Roscoe Dash. These hit records proved that Waka Flocka was no fluke.

FLOCKAVELI HITS THE STREETS/GIVES BIRTH TO A NEW GENRE IN HIP HOP

October 10th 2010 was the release of Waka Flocka’s debut album and it not only was a smash but many could say that it gave birth to what would be considered a new genre “Drill Rap”. Clearly listening to this album, You can definitely tell that Chief Keef, Fredo Santana, RondoNumbaNine, and the whole Chicago Drill rap Scene were inspired from it. The song range balance from Trap, Prime 808s drills, Crunk, were provided with intense velocity with Flocka and his crew(BrickSquad) providing the aggression. You can tell that Flocka’s brush with death were very prominent in creating this album as songs such as “Live By The Gun” Trained to Go” and Fuck The Industry were influenced by Tupac’s theme of Paranoia, Revenge, and Survival.

DOES FLOCKAVELI HOLD UP TODAY?

Many Hip Hop Pursuits may look at the lyrical content and even Flocka’s performance as a black eye to hip hop. Flocka interesting enough would prove later on that he really can rap in the later years. He released a mixtape years later titled “I Can’t Rap” which was Flocka showing his critics that if he really wanted too, He can definitely rap. But with “Flockaveli” He had too much in his bag to be written off as a comedy act. Especially when songs such as “O Lets Do It” “No Hands” Grove Street Party” and Hard in the Paint are still holding up today. If you play any of those records at a party atmosphere, Its guaranteed to be rocked out and people will go nuts. As proven on his recent performance at J Cole’s Dreamville Festival ” Due to conflict with contractual differences with Gucci Mane and even his mother, Flocka would later release one more album titled “Triple F” and would just focus on other business ventures. While his reign was short lived, He no questionably made a undeniable impact.