I was first introduced to Reeze’s music about a year ago, with his single “Knew Dat”. That song is one of my morning workout regulars on my playlist, so I decided to check out some of his previous singles and his debut EP, Square One. Now, he’s back with his brand new single, “Run It Up”. Plus, he has a new album coming very soon, titled Night Shift. Reeze has been consistently on the grind and fine tuning his craft. I recently got a chance to catch up with him, despite his hectic schedule. We talked about his new music, his origins as a rapper, the benefits of being an independent artist and more!

Tell us about your new single, “Run It Up” and the next single you have coming up.

I actually wrote “Run It Up” one day while I was at work. I often get paid in cash, so me saying 100 $100 bills is just me calculating the amount of money I’m making. It was really at a point when I was realizing things about the people around me, situations and my diet (mentally, physically and spiritually). Also, I was evaluating the content I was consuming on Twitter and Instagram. “Run It Up” was a realization of what I should be doing. The producer is out of Philadelphia.

I’ve performed it a couple different times, before the song was done, and it was well received. I’m excited to drop it. One of the first verses is, “Gimme a piece of the blessing/I’m gonna split it forever”. I’ve been living my life a little more selfishly lately, because I’ve always done for others. I’ve learned that it feels a lot better when you’re able to share blessings. “Jesus had taught me a lesson/It’s time to get it together/I’ll live the life I was destined/Square One gave me everything/Sober days gave me better days/I’m drinking water while I meditate”. It’s a heavy, grimy sounding song and I’m excited about it. I think it will give me more attention for the upcoming album too.

“Run It Up” dropped on January 25th. I’m going back in the studio to finish the song that’s coming after that. It’s going to be called “Not Friends”. The beat was made by one of my chapter Brothers (Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc.). His name is TK. He does really great production. The song features a local Dallas legend too, named Gwap Mizzle. That song is going to be my first song to do some serious numbers. I’m finally making my music sound the way I want it to.

What would you say is the difference between your first album, Square One, and your upcoming album, Night Shift?

I had only been rapping a couple years when I put out Square One. I was still trying to figure out my sound then. No two songs sound the same or have the same content. Now, I’m realizing the way I live my life and articulate it is more of my sound now. My friends say, “That’s Reeze,” instead of, “This is my friend Reeze who’s trying to rap”.

The way I emphasize my words and articulate now is more of a mature, polished industry sound. I don’t necessarily mean mainstream industry sound but it’s a sound that’s competitive with Pusha T, Drake or Tyga. I feel confident holding up my music to anybody else’s.

How did you come up with the title for your new album, Night Shift?

Most of the jobs I’ve worked have been evening or night shift jobs. I may not get off until 3 or 4 in the morning at my current job. I was going through some personal stuff towards the end of 2018; feeling a bit of a depression. So, it was me being able to find beats that articulated the way I felt. Track 1 on the album is called, “Come Alive”. The song is the breath that I felt and confirmation that everything was going to be ok. It’s me breathing life back into myself.

How did you first start rapping?

I’ll give you a long story short. When I was in high school, I did some poetry slams, which were basically me rapping over instrumentals. People used to gas me up about them, but it was actually terrible. Ever since I was little kid I’ve been trying to perform. Things started to become real for me my freshman year of college.

I went down to Texas State and there was an organization called Hip Hop Congress. I did a freestyle for everybody and people were shook. They asked me what my rap name was and at the time I went by Reezus. Then I decided I shouldn’t do it because it seemed blasphemous and I didn’t want people thinking I was trying to be Kanye. I opened up for a school function there, with a crowd of about 200 people. I had no music on Soundcloud back then.

A guy named Troy, from San Marcos, put me on these shows at a place called Triple Crown. There was no support for the first six months. These shows were free too. So, after the first semester, I put out a song and then a mixtape. The mixtape was called I.E. The Beginning (which stood for Infinite Entertainment). I dropped the mixtape on my birthday and had a show for it. Some of my family members came and it was a big turn out. The room only held 20 people, but 50 people came out. I won’t front; I cried too. All those people just came out of nowhere. That was my 19th birthday.

Then I moved back to Dallas and my first show was at Gilley’s. I didn’t really promote it that hard and had a great showing there too. When I got my parents on board and especially my mom that was great. I started to change the way I delivered my music once I realized my mom was listening to my content. My pops listens and works out to it too. Everyone is not that blessed to have that kind of support.

Do you have a preference for being independent or on a major label?

I’m independent now, but it really depends on the situation in regards to joining a major label. You can negotiate a contract with a label to be more favorable than being independent. If you’re independent, with a situation like myself, you have sponsors like friends and family that help, but everything is out of pocket. I keep 100% of the money I make, but I’m also putting up my own capital first.

I’m financing my album, so I own everything but I had to bite the bullet on the front end. With a label, they are giving you the cushion and saying, “We’ll pay for you to record everything, we just need you to make it”. That’s why they end up owning a lot of people’s masters. There’s give and take with everything. I had a manager before, but I like to remain independent for right now. I learned a lot from that person and it made me more business savvy to do things for myself.

Learn the business for yourself and then decide. Bad contracts are usually spelled out, but people don’t take the time to read through it or hire a lawyer. I have friends who are pre-law, so I send documents to them as well. I’ve had shows with 15-16 page contracts and I read it all. I need to find out what I’m signing my name on. I ultimately would like to start my own label. If I was on a major label, I would want to be with OVO (Drake is my favorite artist) or Maybach Music. I

You can listen to Reeze’s new single, “Run It Up” on Soundcloud, below. His social media handle is @Reeze972 for Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat. His music catalog can be found on all streaming services online (Reeze: Sweet Baby Ray’s or Reeze: Square One on Apple Music).