SYMBA / NEW PROJECT “DON’T RUN FROM ‘R.A.P.’

Everything happens for a reason, and Symba’s time is now. The Bay Area recording artist is here to spread what he calls Ghetto Literacy, preaching and spitting the real in his raps while uplifting the masses. When it comes to his ability to create top-quality records, Symba knows his worth—and he works his ass off in the studio in hopes of becoming one of the greats.

Coming up and having the opportunity to write for the elites, Symba has gone through it when it comes to personal obstacles within the industry. After a short stint with Columbia Records, which included the higher ups wanting him to create a sound that was trending versus his roots in hip-hop, he discovered his true purpose in life. Not only was he fixed on creating good music, but he wanted to tell his story and his truth—which includes the highs and lows that come with life.

With rap as his ongoing diary, Symba is excited to start his new journey with Atlantic Records, working directly with SVP of A&R Dallas Martin who signed Roddy Ricch, Meek Mill, Nipsey Hussle and more. As a father to a beautiful one-year-old, Symba truly believes in living in the moment, because tomorrow isn’t promised.

Now, he returns with his highly-anticipated mixtape titled Don’t Run From R.A.P. Flaunt spoke with Symba at Atlantic Records studios in Los Angeles to discuss how he bounced back from his deal, the acronym for R.A.P., working with 2 Chainz and Ty Dolla $ign, and love for the Bay.

You were signed to Columbia Records for a second, what happened?

Nothing bad happened at all, Columbia was dope. Shout out Tubby, my sis Chels. It was a regime change. They hired new people, a lot of staff came in who weren’t there when I came in.  I got lost in the sauce with everything going on. We talked, they let me out of my situation. I went independent from there. I was gearing up to put out this EP. I’d met my homie PJ who does management work. We’re talking, he said “you should put this EP out.” At the time, the EP was a bunch of records I was writing for other people that I kept for myself. It was a collection of shit we meshed together, but it wasn’t the best representation of myself. It wasn’t who I am as an artist.

PJ ended up introducing me to my homie Cash. I remember this shit like yesterday, we meet at motherfucking Wokcano. This whole story is legendary. PJ’s calling me, “yo I need to introduce you to Cash.” I’m like “who the fuck is Cash?” He said “Cash has the connects.” He set up this meeting, It was September 2, 2018. I come in and play Cash the music from the EP. While I’m playing the music, he says “I feel like you can rap, but you aren’t rapping on these songs. You’re doing what the industry sounds like right now.” Yeah, but people tell me rap is dead. People tell me they don’t want to hear rap.

Damn so the music you put out, people thought you were this whole different artist.

Now that you said that, I have to rewind. The way I got my whole Columbia deal is based off of a song I wrote for someone else. I didn’t even put it out, they heard the shit I wrote and asked “who’s this?”

Do people know about your strong pen game?

Yeah if you pay attention, because I’m not someone that looks for credit. I wrote on the Scooby Doo movie that just came out, I have 2 songs on there. I co-wrote the song “Yikes” with Jack Harlow. I was writing for people, the president of Columbia heard it like “I fuck with this kid, let’s put this out.” When I came in for the meeting, I said “nah, I rap.” I played them the rap records, they’re like “nah, we want you to do this.” At the time, I’m fresh from the Bay. I’d only been in LA for a year and a half. This is what they want me to do? Fuck it. $150 bands, c’mon. Bam, I’ll take it.

I’m making these records for other people that weren’t genuinely me. I had a record called “Get The Time To” which was actually genuinely me. I’m telling them “yo, we should put this out.” They said “nah we should do ‘All We Ever Wanna Do’,” which was the record I wrote for someone else. We put that out, it does nothing. It doesn’t feel authentic, people could see through it. It sounds like some industry shit. From there, it was a downhill process. The label did a whole regime change. I said “you guys should let me out,” they let me out. Boom, I go independent.

You get to keep your advance?

Yeah, that’s the dope thing about labels. I tell people all of the time, it’s not like you have to pay the money back. You get the bread, it’s cool, they let you go and you’re out that muthafucka.

What does R.A.P. stand for?

Responsibilities and Principles. I’m somebody who’s big on taking care of my responsibilities. I believe everything that happens to you is your responsibility. It may not be your fault, but it’s your responsibility no matter how you react or deal with it. We all as human beings have principles we stand for, who make us who we are as people. Tying those 2 together is what brought the whole Don’t Run From R.A.P. together.

Biggest lesson you learned from fatherhood?

That life’s not about you anymore. You’re living for something that you created. I’m not in the studio for me. I’m in the studio because I know if I’m not here, he won’t be comfortable. There are times where I want to get up out of this motherfuckar at 3 in the morning. Fuck, let me try to lay another hook right quick. Try to keep the work going. You learn becoming a dad, life isn’t about you anymore. It becomes about them, what you can leave for them to execute in their future and where they’re going in life. At this point, I’m living for him.

Goals for yourself?

To get better every day, continue to get better. I try to always remind myself what made me better, that’s why I am always watching battle rap. I’m always writing raps on the pen or in the journal, because that’s what got me started and going. I always try to keep the grind of it in there. Authentically keeps me me, keeps me working and appreciating the process. Most people want the end goal, but they don’t want to go to the process to get there. Everybody sees LeBron, “oh I want to be like LeBron,” but nobody wants to be the eighth grade kid in Akron shooting free throws in the snow. His mom was working jobs to pay for his AAU. To be the king, I’m that person down for the work.

I remember you had this song “Unknown.” Do you want to be known?

Definitely want to be known, but you get so used to being unknown that you accept it. I say “big star, still trappin’ like I’m unknown.” I’ll still light a blunt up in the middle of the club. Someone will ask for some weed, homie might have it and I might say “bruh hook him up.” I’m still moving like people don’t know who I am. You get to a point where you get over that shit. It’s a part of you, you can’t escape the shit you learned growing up. You unlearn it as you get older, but it’s a process to unlearn things you’re taught your whole fucking life.

How is 2 Chainz the “Big Homie”?

I learned a lot from 2 Chainz before I even met him: branding, being a businessman, being aware of your surroundings. Seeing how you can apply your talents in other areas. I saw that’s how he’s moving. When I met him, the genuine love he showed let me know “you got it, keep going.” He always gave me encouragement. I’ve done a lot of songs with big artists, had big features, but it gets to a point where you have to do a video. A lot of artists make it hard to do the video. People say “I’ve never paid for a feature,” that’s why some don’t grow to the next level. People get to a level where they could charge. You try to pay to get there when in all actuality, they have some shit to protect which is their pockets and their brand. You might pay somebody for your video but the video might come out to your benefit to where you might be styling on them. You might pull up in a better car than them, they might not want to put the video out which means you can’t put the song out.

2 Chainz didn’t make me go through that shit, a lot of artists did. 2 Chainz pulled up and said “bro I got you, I understand how it is. I get how it is as a new artist trying to get in the game, trying to make your way.” He pulled up with not only one look, but 2 looks. It’s hard to get a n*gga like 2 Chainz to pull up in general, he’s on set rocking with me. The first person who gave me some assistance. A lot of motharfuckers don’t give assistance because they feel you’re a threat to their spot. I’m asking for some help. One day, you might need the same help I’m asking for. 2 Chainz was the first person to lend assistance, forever the big homie. Somebody that taught me something, somebody that looked out for me, somebody that helped me get somewhere, somebody that lended a hand.

How did the song with Ty Dolla $ign come together?

It was actually made through Berg, shout out the big homie. Berg came through, said “I have a record you’d fit perfect on.” He played the record, I said “bro send me this shit right now.” It didn’t sound like that at first, I reconstructed it myself. I moved some shit around, put my verses in, moved a few pieces around, added the third verse. I knew a lot of people were going to try to say “he sold out, he got a Hitmaka song with a Ty Dolla $ign hook. He went the easy way route.” I had to put my twist on it and drop that third verse, let n*ggas know I still got busy on this muthafucka myself. That song is what put me onto Ty’s radar. Ty heard the song and said “this dude is dope.” Me and Ty have been communicating and we’re definitely gearing up to get this video right. He’s another one who didn’t run my pockets up on the feature, he looked out for me. Shout out to Ty for real.

Anything else you’d like to let us know? 

Shout out the Bay, we out here pushing. One of my whole purposes is to expand the sound of the Bay, help us reach that level we never got to reach. Shout out to everybody in the Bay doing their thing, that took us far enough to reach these levels and heights, be able to get me in a situation I’m in right now. I’m always trying to push the culture forward in the Bay. I want to see us be on top like these other cities.