Since catching fire online in early 2023 with her minute-long, unofficial breakout song “So What,” ANYCIA has transformed from a cool-kid curiosity into one of hip-hop’s most promising new faces.
With the effortless nonchalant swag of Veeze or Ice Spice, combined with the down-to-earth, rough-around-the-edges appeal of Sexyy Red, Atlanta-native Anycia is the embodiment of what is cool in 2023. Against the backdrop of an overproduced music landscape, her low register voice, understated cadence (sometimes incorrectly labelled as “offbeat”), and magnetically matter-of-fact attitude are refreshing and uniquely captivating – wrapped in the rare unisex appeal that stars are made of.
If that sounds like high praise it’s only because she’s been receiving the highest of praise from the highest of places: landing on the front desk of just about every record label, the top of “Hot New Artist” lists everywhere, joining Veeze on his sold out Ganger Tour, and catching the attention of some of the biggest names imaginable including Drake, J Cole, Pharrell, and Kevin Durant.
Anycia’s rise culminated last month with the release of EXTRA, her first official project that more than doubled the size of her limited catalog. We sat down with Big Nene to discuss her debut mixtape, crazy cosigns, and whirlwind of a breakout year since “So What” – not to mention learn more about her mysteriously strong ties in the Atlanta underground and beyond.
As her catalog continues to grow and her list of outrageous co-signs gets longer everyday, it will be exciting to watch as Anycia steps into her newfound star-power in 2024.
Check out Anycia’s new tape ‘EXTRA’ below!
AW: At this point there’s really no denying you’re one of the hottest new artists out of Atlanta… and in the game period. But a lot of people don’t know you’ve been in the mix in the ATL scene for a while. What was the scene like growing up and who were some of the people you were around?
ANYCIA: “Well you know how Atlanta’s like not a real place? Pretty much everything is split up into groupings like trappers, vamps, alternative/underground, etc. But what people don’t realize is a lot of us went to school together and we’re growing up around people like Carti (Playboi Carti), Uno (Unotheactivist), Tony (Tony Shnnow), Key!, Two-Nine. So yeah I’ve always kinda been around the scene and around music but it wasn’t till more recently that I really took it serious. Like Karrah (Karrahbooo), she was my real friend before any of this and it was honestly a coincidence that we both started doing music. You can actually see me in some of Karrah’s old videos. Also Key! is a really good friend of mine. Fun fact, I’m actually the girl on the cover of his tape called ‘I Love You Say It Back (2020).’ I’m in a lot of shit actually haha but y’all are gonna have to dig for it.”
AW: So when did you really start making music?
ANYCIA: “I had been around music a lot, and I had been dabbling for years, but I could never quite figure out what my sound was. People don’t know that I also can sing, and I used to make like melodic R&B type stuff. I realized I wasn’t good at making lovey-dovey, ‘slide down the wall’ type music… and making that music literally just made me sad. But one day after I had just gotten out of a bad relationship, I went to the studio wanting to let out all my pent up aggression and made that song ‘Kimora Lee’ on a napkin, in the dark, with an LED light. That’s the first song I would say sounds like what I’m doing now.“
AW: People seem to be struck by your unique sound and confident, nonchalant approach. What do you think was the key to unlocking your sound? Do you have any advice for artists struggling to do the same?
ANYCIA: “So really how I found my sound was… “B***h, just talk.” I was trying to do all this extra stuff when all I had to was just talk the whole time. You can’t rush it or force it. So my advice would be to pace yourself. What’s meant for you is gonna come as long as your being genuine and real with yourself. I feel like if I stuck with the sound I was doing before I wouldn’t have had longevity because it wasn’t 100% me. Music is a very intimate situation for me. Of course I love my fans, but I make music for me. A lot of people get too focused on what other people think but you can’t keep up with an image. You can keep up with being yourself. If you tell a lie, you gotta keep going with that lie. So that’s why I think the most important thing is to be genuine, pace yourself… and b***h, just talk.”
AW: How do you describe your sound?
ANYCIA: “I know it sounds so corny but really my [sound] is just vibey. You don’t necessarily got to be turnt, or sad, or whatever. I know everyone says it, but you can really be anywhere listening to my music: In the car vibing, at the club shaking ass, or at home cleaning up. When I first started, my goal was to make feel good music for you to be able to pop your sh*t. Like I said when I first started, I had just gotten out of really bad relationship, and my self esteem was way down. During that time, I realized what I needed to get out of that was me. I had wanted to be a singer, but when I would make that type of music it would just make me more sad. So that’s why I started making music that’s literally just about having fun: Being a bad b**h, smoking weed, getting money, and being in fast cars. I like everything to be feel-good and I want to be as personable as possible.”
AW: With EXTRA being your first official project, how was it different putting out music with a whole team behind you versus on your own?
ANYCIA: “To tell you the truth I was a nervous wreck. Making music is fun, but a lot of this other stuff is new to me. We shot the “Drop Top” video, the dating show confessional videos, and me getting my nails done all in like three days. It’s a lot of work that goes into it and I don’t know I was kinda nervous, you know how they be on the internet: These [people] will tell you your music is trash in a second. But once it came out, it felt like I lifted a weight off my chest. I really like it and people seem to really like it, and I think it’s a good representation of me. And I only had like a handful of songs out before so it felt really good to get more music out.”
AW: When it comes to production, who are you favorite producers to work with?
ANYCIA: “Really all the producers on the tape, who once again are like my real life friends: 1stClass, Bakkwoodz, and Jetsonmade. And of course Popstar Benny who popped it all off with “So What.” Those are my boys. If you take them all together, that’s my sound. What I really like to do is have all my producers come in the same session and mash their goodness together.“
“There’s also this new producer-duo in Atlanta that is really really dope called Mack & Preme. They’re brothers and so hard, like amazing. They have a mixtape series called ‘Suite Life of Mack & Preme’ that everyone should go check out. I’ve also got plans to work with Wondagurl soon, I really like her sound so I’m pretty sure I’m gonna love her.”
AW: There have been a lot of interesting people tapping in. Who are some of the craziest people that have been showing love?
ANYCIA: “Well, Kevin Durant was definitely the first person to show love . That was like ‘oh my god’, when he commented on “So What” (“This it”). Probably the most mind-blowing, even though he hasn’t said anything he just followed me, is Pharrell. I almost cried he’s literally on my everyday playlist. And it’s so crazy cause I had just did an interview right before that with Annabelle Kline, and I told her my dream producer was Pharrell.”
“Also Drake. I actually got a chance to meet him and he was really awesome, like so nice and humble. Meeting him showed me that the internet really just be putting crazy narratives out there about people. Side note: Like how they said I signed to Concrete! There was this video going around that said “Yachty just signed these four girls to Concrete.” Which is just not true. I do love them tho!”
“And oh my god, J Cole. Recently I was in the studio on my phone and everyone told me to look up… and there’s J Cole. He’s like “I’m a big fan. I love your voice. You doing a great job.” And people might not expect him to be into my type of music but he was hip to everything I’ve been doing, “So What,” “Splash Brothers,” Karrah, all that. Literally one of the craziest experiences I’ve had so far.”
AW: How do you think your fans break down male-to-female?
ANYCIA: “Honestly it really seems like a 50/50 split and I love that. I like that I make unisex music. I know I just listed a bunch of boys but I’ve had a lot of awesome girls reach out too: Summer Walker, Monaleo, and Flo Milli are some of the ones that come to mind. And of course my girl Baby Tate. She’s been my friend for years since before either of us did music. One of her early videos is literally in the backyard of my mom’s house. And you can see me in her “GIRLS” short film from like 2019.”
AW: What’s your relationship like with Veeze?
ANYCIA: “Veeze is awesome. He showed a lot of love to some of my early songs and videos. We had been talking already and one day his team hit me saying Veeze wants you on the tour. I was originally going to do the whole thing but my tape was dropping right in the middle of it. Those dates were a great experience though and super thankful for Veeze.”
“Surprisingly me and Veeze haven’t done a song yet, but we definitely will. We just have such a genuine friendship that when we’re together we just catch up on life. I don’t care what anybody says Veeze is like a uncle. He always has something inspirational to talk about, making sure you’re straight, checking up on your mental health. He’s a great friend… and a fire artist.”
AW: Do you still claim to not like Detroit beats?
ANYCIA: “You’re funny… See I know I was saying that for a minute but people kept bringing up Detroit beats with me and saying things like “BRB is a Veeze/Detroit-type beat.” I didn’t really get it at first honestly, maybe because I’m not from Detroit, but once I started being around Veeze and Talibando more I started to get it. I would hear a Veeze song playing in the other room and be like, “That literally sounds like me talking.” And I definitely do like the more vibey Detroit type production. So yeah I really can’t say I don’t like Detroit beats, I was just going off what I thought. I definitely ain’t try to bite them or nothing I guess I just got a little Detroit in me.”
“Maybe even some Jersey too. I did this one song on tape with Boysarerolling called “What Did I Do?” that has kind of a jersey club feel. “Refund” too with Jetson and 1st is definitely jersey club. That beat had to grow on me a little but Jetson kept saying this is the one. That’s one thing I’ve really learned and taken to heart: Trust your producers. They be knowing. Even if you don’t like it right now, just do it and it’s probably gonna grow on you I promise.”
AW: If you could do a song with any artist, 1 male and 1 female, who would it be?
ANYCIA: “For a female artist, I would love to something with Cardi B. I love how personable she is. I think our personalities together in like a short film would eat down. I love Latto just because she is so personable and cutesy, and we’re both from Atlanta. And not trying to be controversial but I also love Nicki.”
“These might surprise you but I’d like to do something with other types of artists, like Emotional Oranges, Pink Pantheress, or Alina Baraz. I like that typea stuff I think we could mix something good together.”
“And for a male artist, Young Thug. And everybody I mentioned before of course: Drake, Pharrell, Cole. Also it’s kind of a secret but I just did a song with JID! It’s really cool and different and I cannot wait for that to come out, I think people will be surprised.”
“As for the more underground type artists. I really love 2sdxrt3all! I just did some songs with Luh Tyler, the internet kept telling me we’d be great together and you know what they were right. You already know me and Karrahbooo. I also really like Lil Tony, and Lil RT is so hard.”
AW: What are your favorite songs of yours?
ANYCIA: “I would have to say “BRB.” That song is like my baby and I just saw it has like 2M streams now so that’s crazy. And since then my favorites are “Homewrecker” and “Big Body.” I love that song, and like I keep saying everything I rap about is real… like before writing that song I had just bought a Jeep so I really had just went big body.”
“As for “So What,” I honestly thought people might be over it by now but no, everyone keeps asking! I really want to drop it on DSPs but I want to drop it the right way so we are working on it. All the samples I’ve ever used, or will use in the future, or are very nostalgic and personal to me. I personally pick the songs to get sampled, like how I asked Benny to use that sample for “So What”. I respect the artists and I wouldn’t want anyone to just put my stuff out… I do wanna drop it though, we’re gonna figure it out. And just really thankful for everyone out there f*cking with me!”