Interviews: AC Style talks tour life and new single ‘Tired Of It’

Accomplished in many ways, AC Style is a bright spot in the entertainment business today. A chart topper from Chicago this talented young lady is making waves with her music and hitting the road to spread the message. Already showing at major festivals her future is very bright. I sat down with her recently to talk about the success of her records and more. Check out the interview below:

Jason Bourne: You hit the national spotlight with your Ridin single featuring Shawnna. She actually was one of the female MCs I highly respected coming up. How did that collaboration come together ?

AC Style: I have always looked up to Shawnna growing up as well and always wanted to do a collaboration with her. During my college days I wanted to do something that would make me stand out, because I was still not where I’m at today and I figured doing a collaboration with a known artist would help. I hit up her and her management send them over a few beats, Shawnna and I agreed on the same beat, she sent me back her verse right away and it was a hit! That was when I was mainly rapping not mainly singing.

Jason Bourne: You followed up with Situationship hitting the charts again which would have me believe that you have the recipe for hit records. We see a lot of individuals struggle in that area – what’s your approach to the writing and recording process ?

AC Style: Between stuff I’ve gone through and what other people go through I want to have a topic to speak about in my songs. Also when I fall in love with a beat I want that beat and end up writing something off the top of my head that comes to mind first. Sometimes I want to drop more music per year, but I start out dropping a new single in the first or second quarter then a music video the third or fourth quarter. After pushing it several months, fans are anticipating a video to drop. Don’t try to put out too many records at the same time. They probably won’t do the numbers you want. You can practice writing to numerous beats until you perfect your craft, but usually I can just write on the spot at the studio, on the road or on the plane. I don’t really like writing in my house unless I’m really in the zone.

Jason Bourne: You are a Chicago native correct ?

AC Style: Yes

Jason Bourne: I feel like Chicago talent gets overshadowed due to all the violence would you agree ?

AC Style: Yes I agree there is a lot of violence, however we don’t have major labels in this city or a lot of music outlets like other major cities. Some artists from Chicago get famous faster depending what part they are from and who is backing them up. A lot of artists that make it out here leave the city as soon as they get the chance. Also we are limited with shows and clubs we have here; artists get tired of performing at the same venues, selling 50-100 tickets just to perform, get underpaid even with a fan-base etc.

Jason Bourne: You have done a lot of community based work in your hometown; talk to us about your philanthropic initiatives.

AC Style: Yes and it feels really good doing it often! Volunteering at the soup kitchen and my church, giving away barely used and new clothes to the homeless. One time I gave away 50 pairs of clothes and the looks on their faces were so appreciative. The happiness was like they won the lottery. One girl said she lost everything and I really made her day, she felt like she went on a shopping spree that day. It makes me happy to make others happy. It is a blessing for me and them. I’ve done a turkey drive with a few other local rappers a few years back and we went to the grocery store all pitched in some money and bought bunch of groceries for a few families that were struggling financially to make sure they had a great Thanksgiving that year. I’ve done a few toy drives, donated and also helped run a few donation drives for the hurricane victims in Texas, Florida and Puerto Rico.

Jason Bourne: You have gotten support from major radio over the years ; I have had debates where artists tell me that major radio is not as important. Can you touch on how helpful radio has been in your campaign ?

AC Style: It’s been pretty hard to get that support, I’m still not getting everyday national radio play but I’m getting there. A bunch of stations have played me these past years, and it helps you get noticed by bigger audiences and they might become a new fan. Radio is what helps big artists make them who they are today. Now I can add to my resume I’ve made the radio charts, I’ve made the billboard Hot Single Sales charts, next I want to make Billboard Hot 100 charts! Major radio is always important! Music videos that blow up and go viral along with artists under major labels usually get first dips on radio rotation nationally.

Jason Bourne: Your new release Tired Of It is starting to do well. talk to us about the content of the single ?

I think this is definitely a hit! All audiences love this song; they dance to it, sing along to it in the crowd when I perform. That gets me super pumped at shows and the video isn’t even out yet! Basically one day a producer from Switzerland submitted some beats to me and soon as I heard this I loved it! I was in a bad mood that day and I was just singing Tired of it over and over again. I thought of everything I’m tired of, that people can be tired of and made it into a song. I needed a club banger and a radio banger. Even though I’ve had other hot songs, this one is definitely taking me to the next level. DJs and industry people have told me this is a banger. It has over 20,000 streams on Pandora so I definitely think it’ll do over 100,000 views on Youtube. Everyone has been waiting on the video and I literally have been waiting on purpose and I’m going to shoot it next month and I have a crazy concept behind it so stay tuned!

Jason Bourne: You have shared stages with some major acts, which would you say has been the best experience ?

AC Style: When Trey Songz brought me out on stage at the Essence Festival in New Orleans a few years back that was crazy. We harmonized and did a duet for one of his songs. However recently I did a major festival with PNB Rock, A Boogie, Cardi B and more in Illinois this past summer.

Jason Bourne: You have your own sneaker line – talk to us about the transition into apparel ?

AC Style: I love sneakers so had to have my own shoe line so my manager made it happen and they are so dope. I love clothes and sneakers, fans always want to get merchandise from me so I started making t-shirts for them but eventually I want to expand to my own clothing line because I’ve designed a few pieces myself to wear at my shows and people want to rock them so I have to get on that.

Stay tuned for the release of Tired Of It visual. In the interim, check out the track below:

#Team AC

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Tags: AC Style, Chicago, femcee, festivals, Interviews, songstress, Tired Of It, Tour

About the Author

Jason Bourne Jason Bourne...amazing person and journalist...RIP and you'll always have a home with The Hype Magazine and in our hearts! We miss you my brotha! - Dr. Jerry Doby, Editor-in-Chief.