Hailing from the City of Brotherly Love, Philadelphia, Chill Moody could be the city’s next big star.
Unaffected by prevalent trends in hip-hop, sonically, Chill’s music sounds nothing like what you’re hearing right now on the radio or the ‘net. No “Mustard on the beat, hoe.” No whispers of “Mike WiLL-Made it.” No drill rap. Just Chill, and his original thoughts.
Last week, Chill stopped by GlobalGrind’s offices to discuss a few forthcoming projects he’s been working on over the past few months.
During our time with Chill, we discussed his West Philly roots, how he developed his brand by using social media (he has a Twitter account he only uses when he’s drunk), working with Pete Rock on his new project, fashion, and of course, his business ventures outside of music.
After his office visit, we decided to check out his show at New York City’s notorious underground music hub, SOB’s, and we weren’t disappointed. Like many of our favorite rappers, Chill is charismatic, funny, serious about his craft, and relentless when it comes to his music, all of which translates well on stage.
More recently, Chill collaborated with New York’s own actor-turned-singer Mack Wilds on his latest offering “Concrete Jungle,” which led to a surprise performance for those who “made Chill Moody” (a campaign he started to engage his fans).
Ladies and gentleman, it’s time to get acquainted with Chill Moody.
Check out our exclusive interview with Chill below. For all things Chill, make sure you check out his site ChillMoody.com.
Tell me about your name – why Chill Moody? How did you came up with your moniker?
Moody is my last name, Chill I got when I was a baby. I cried a lot when I was a baby. But when I was six-months-old, my aunt said the only time I wouldn’t cry was during Chilly Willy the Penguin. They used to say I looked like him. Then it became a rap thing my junior year of college. I used to rap about bullsh*t…wack ass sh*t. Then my cousin said, ‘why don’t you just rap as you about real sh*t,’ and I said, ‘oh, you’re right, that makes sense.’
What was that wack sh*t?
Well, first I was “TAG” – it was an acronym. Then I was “Young Chill the Block Captain.”
What were you rapping about?
I shot everybody. Killed everybody. Sold everything. When I got to college my sophomore year, I started switching it up. I went to college on a full scholarship – people who knew me knew I wasn’t about that. And if I was, I wasn’t stupid enough to make songs about it. Nobody would believe that. I was always poetic. Lyrically, my raps were listenable, but it wasn’t believable.
Where did you go to college?
Millersville University.
Tell me about when you first started rapping.
It was third grade, we used to have talent shows on Fridays. I started rapping. I did it my whole life, but when I started taking it serious, I had just graduated college and people knew me from being a rapper, selling mixtapes, and paying my bills. I even had a couple concerts when I was home. I went to my parents and said, ‘Give me like a year, if it doesn’t work out, I do have a degree I can go back on that.’ That was May 2009. In January 2010, I was on the radio in Philly and was getting booked regular, for shows. They couldn’t say anything. I was on the radio with a song I made in their basement.
Are they happy with you now?
Yeah, my mom used to be front row at every show.
Does she know all your lyrics and songs?
She used to keep a scrapbook. Now it’s more like a big scrap tote. She has a collage bin of print out tweets and everything. Ticket stubs, flyers, so yeah, they’re proud as hell.
Does your mom ever give you advice about what you should rap about?
Nah. My dad though…after I performed at The Roots Picnic, he texted me at about 12:30 am and said, ‘Good job, I’m proud of you, I want a shirt that says, I made Chill Moody, ‘cause you know, I made you. You wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for me.’ He was on some ‘you wouldn’t be here if I didn’t let you come home after school and record in the basement and in the literal sense I made you.’ I said, ‘hmmm..let me adapt that to the fans.’
Growing up in Philly, it’s such a musical town, what did you listen to growing up?
Everything. I came up my big cousins were my biggest musical influences, they were listening to Nas, Wu-Tang, my brother was heavy on the NWA and the Snoop Dogg. Doggystyle was the first album that I owned. Then Philly people, he Major Figures, State Prop, The Roots.
Let’s talk about social media, What are some things you hate?
I love everything about social media.
Even the Twitter trolls?
Trolling people is so funny sometimes, especially when they don’t get it and they don’t know what’s going on, it’s funny.
Are you a Twitter troll?
I’m a reactionary Twitter troll.
I owe a lot to social media; Pete Rock co-signed me. I tweeted J Ivy from Chicago (he was on Kanye’s College Dropout) and he ended up on my album. He’s now a good friend. I owe a lot to social media. Especially since I can’t get out there and touch the people a lot like I want to. I got fans overseas and when I travel, a lot of that happens because of my social media presence.
How old are you?
How old do I look?
Did you have a Xanga page?
What does that have to do with anything?
I’m trying to gauge your age based on early social media platforms. If you had a Xanga page, I know you’re in your mid to upper twenties.
I’m 29.
What was your AIM name back in the day?
I had two terrible ones. (laughs). I had ChillDawg99 and Rocafella911. I don’t know why I picked those names either.
I mean Rocafella was the ‘it’ label back then.
Honestly, I wasn’t really on them though.
How was it growing up in West Philly? What’s your story?
I was the one that was involved with everything, but at the end of the day, the old heads knew better like, ‘Yo, take yo ass in the crib.’ But I could walk to anybody in the hood. I was one of the people that was respected by everybody around, but in a sense, they wanted better for me. They saw the potential. They kept me away from sh*t. I was just known as Moody’s little brother. I adapted into building my own group of friends, but I learned a lot from these old heads.
How was 100 days sober?
It was great.
What was your reasoning to remain alcohol free for 100 days? Did something epic happen and you decided to do better?
I drink a lot. It’s my thing. One of my highlights is having two Twitters. I have a drunk Twitter and I got a chill Twitter and social media allowed me to connect with fans in that way as well.
What kind of drunk are you?
I’m a social drunk. You definitely want to be around me. I’m not rowdy.
Are you the drunk person who likes to randomly start rapping?
No! I hate that. I have a lot of those personalities around. If I’m drunk, I just want everyone else to be drunk too and not remember the next day. I say a lot of stuff, I can’t really say a lot of everything I want on social media. Like, I just performed at City Hall.
Like what?
Like talking sh*t about people. If you notice, I curse a lot, but not in my music and not on social media.
Is that a conscious thing you do?
Yeah, because my mother, she’s a big fan and advocate for my music. I don’t want my mom handing my stuff out saying, ‘hey, check my son’s stuff out’ and it’s just profanity everywhere because that’s just going to make her look bad. Also I’m a little lazy. I don’t want to cut the regular song and have to say, ‘OK, now let’s do the radio edit.’
It’s a conscious decision to be as politically correct as possible, just with the vulgarity. With drunk Chill, I can do whatever the f*ck I want, and say that was “Drunk Chill.” Drunk Chill had to take a break with 100 days sober, and I inspired a lot of people. A lot of people said they wanted to take the challenge next.
What’s your drink of choice?
I drink Jameson.
Tell me about an epic night with “Drunk Chill.”
I don’t remember. I don’t have a good short-term memory and that’s because of the alcohol, I believe. It’s funny because I’ll get on Drunk Chill (Twitter account) and just start tweeting and some girl will be in my DMs because she thinks I’m drunk and thinks she can get it, but I’m always like, ‘I’m not that drunk.’
College was bad. I had a lot of drunken nights in college.
The funniest story is probably when I got drunk, jumped out of the car and started running in just a robe, pajamas, and slippers. I fell on my face on my apartment steps, scraped my arm, and got blood everywhere. The sh*t was on the steps of my apartment for like three months. They threw me into bed and threw a party in my house, while I was in bed throwing up all night. They kept giving me Excedrins and I remember one came up out of my nose. And I remember someone asking if I should go to the hospital and them replying, ‘No. Just put him in the bed ‘cause they on the way.’ That’s the last thing I remember.
Wow. Your friends could’ve killed you. You probably had a concussion.
Right! Wait, I never thought about that aspect.
Tell me about the projects you’re working on now.
I teamed up with a water company called Cerebellum and did a nice addition to what they already have up, it’s like artesian water.
Do you sell these at your shows?
Yeah, and stores and bars in Philly. Events also.
I also teamed up with a watch company called Sling Shot. There are different bands that can be changed.
I do event specific stuff, and I’ve been focusing on brands and management and touring and attracting people to the music. I created “Homesick Philly,” where I basically brought Philly to the people. Say it’s a day party, a “Homesick Philly” day party has cheesesteaks, soft pretzels, Philly fashion, DJs, and everything at the festivals. I even linked up with the tourism board in Philly and licensed it to them.
What about the music?
The music…the Pete Rock thing is as close to getting done as can be without announcing it. We at least talked about it. We will end the year with some good things.
Let’s talk about Philly Fashion, what was your favorite and least favorite fashion trend coming out of Philly?
Same answer: Girbaud Jeans. They were my favorite and least favorite trend to come out of Philly. I had them in every color. Yellow, green – every color. I had the Avirex with the jeans – who knows what size the shirt was. My pants were always big, but I never wore them sagging. I had like 36’s and 38’s…big ass jeans. Looking back, I looked like a fool. What was I doing with a $600 jacket?
I want white tees to come back, the clean white tee. I wore a 6X. Oh, and I had Adidas flip-flops too…I wore those everywhere.
