Exposed Vocals Interviews Los Acie
Born and raised in Pittsburgh PA the youngest of 3 brothers Los Acie spent a larger part of his years in Penn Hills before leaving for college. Los began writing and recording Hip Hop in 2008 while attending Temple University living in North Philadelphia. From day one his goal has always been to give people a different perspective to viewing society and thinking out the box.
Originality has always been a standard for Los as his music never fails to separate from anyone else’s. Molded on the styles of artists such as early Kanye, Ludacris, and Lupe Fiasco, the Los Acie brand yields a blend of consciousness with a flare for aesthetic yet lyrical music.
Exposed Vocals: How did you hear about Exposed Vocals? What made you decide to sign up?
Los Acie: I heard about Exposed Vocals on twitter, Exposed Vocals actually followed me and when I looked into what you guys do I was very interested in partnering. There’s not a lot of organizations out there that aim to give a voice to undiscovered artists and hear their thoughts, I thought that was real cool.
Exposed Vocals: So tell us your story. Where did you grow up? What made you decide to become an artist?
Los Acie: Oh I’m from the 412, Pittsburgh born and raised, youngest of 3 brothers. I’ve lived all over that city early on in the ruffest of areas to slightly better ones with my mother and second oldest brother. I spent my middle school and high school years with my dad in the Penn Hills area. I actually was more of an visual artist back then and big on football, I was a pretty dope running back lol. But as far as music goes, at that time I had a lot of friends that rapped and a few that even started a rap group. I was never the one to be in that boat though, I was set on getting to the NFL like most kids from what people would consider a hood environment you know.
So I initially attended Robert Morris University my first year of college to play football and got hurt during camp. So I decided to transfer to Temple University in Philadelphia PA to play there and take of a Fine Arts Major. Making the football team didn’t really go as planned but during that time the group of friends I mentioned that started a rap group had gotten signed by Fabolous’s label Desert Storm and I remember being supportive of their music but also feeling like I can make music as good as they did also. So I started messing around writing verses over their songs for shits and giggles lol but eventually saw that I actually enjoyed it a lot.
The rest is kind of history after that, I just found that its such a therapy to be able to vocally express your feelings and thoughts through music and even more so with Hip Hop. There’s no other Genre in my opinion that allows you to have so much flexibility and range to express yourself however you feel necessary. And I’m blown away by the power that can be created by using your voice to reach others and evoke a difference whatever that may be. So I fell in love with it after that and the fact that it was another artistic form outside of my visual art made it a hook line and sinker for me.
Exposed Vocals: How did you come up with that name? What was your inspiration behind it?
Los Acie: Well the name is pretty simple, My name is Carlos Acie, everyone back home calls me Acie and people in Philly call me Los. So I just ran with the two together, it helps that I have a cool last name lol
Exposed Vocals: What do you think about online music sharing? Do you ever give your music away for free? Why?
Los Acie: Umm I like the idea of online music sharing.. I think it’s a big part of Hip Hop culture at least. I say that in the sense of Hip Hop is not all about a dollar and only giving music when you get money in return. Not to get confused, I do believe you need to be able to make a living on your craft as well but I think its good for the culture to share some of your work with people. So as far as giving music away for free yea I do. My mixtapes have been free thus far, my concern to sell the music doesn’t really come until I’m making an album or a situation where there are producers that need to be paid for their work on my music. But a random mixtape song for the most part I like sharing with people.
Exposed Vocals: Since everyone was a start-up once, can you give any smaller or local bands or artists looking to get gigs and airplay some tips?
Los Acie: Was? I sh**t I still consider myself one lol. No but I would say stay consistent and continue to network. Always about the who you know versus the what you know.
Exposed Vocals: Do you ever make mistakes during performances? How do you handle that?
Los Acie: Yea its funny you mention that, Once I was performing and completely blanked on a whole verse, so I just freestyled the rest of the song. Its one of those things where you always keep going no matter what and keep it moving like it didn’t happen. Half the time if you keep the energy right and crowd engagement, the mistakes won’t matter.
Exposed Vocals: Do you tour? Anything interesting happen on tour that you think our readers would enjoy hearing about?
Los Acie: I haven’t really been touring its mostly been performances at different places in different cities. No stories that would jump out although I’ve seen some pretty interesting artists.
Exposed Vocals: Where do you usually gather songwriting inspiration? What is your usual songwriting process?
Los Acie: Man.. I get most of my inspiration from my world, my experiences and perspective on our society as I see it. Its funny you know, sometimes you’re just in the mood to make a dope record or something hype because its Tuesday lol but then you have times where you want to speak on something you’re fed up with or something that happened to you before. But my main inspiration is trying to give a message that prompts people to think outside the box. As far as my process, I usually always have something to get off my chest, but I cypher through beats until I find something that grabs me. I know its right for me and something to go in on when the lyrics almost write themselves.
Exposed Vocals: Do you have a band website? What online platforms do you use to share your music?
Los Acie: the website is in the process of being developed now but my music is all over the place. I’m on Reverbnation, datpiff.com, youtube, soundcloud you name it.
Exposed Vocals: What are some really embarrassing songs that we might find on your mp3 player?
Los Acie: lol Well thats pretty simple, I don’t have a mp3 player or ipod or anything like that. Can’t say I listen to many things I would be embarrassed about but I bounce into different genres I’d say. I’m versatile.
Exposed Vocals: If you were given half a million dollars and a year off, what would you do? How would you spend it?
Los Acie: Ahh man.. probably traveling a lot and getting caught up on lost time with friends and family I don’t get to see much. But mostly I would invest a large portion into generating more business for myself and generate some form of wealth honestly.
Exposed Vocals: Any planned studio upgrades? What are you working with now?
Los Acie: Well I never have that issue or task as I go to different studios to record and don’t handle the equipment myself. But there are various programs my engineers use such as Logic and Protools.
Exposed Vocals: How do you find ways to promote your music? What works best for you?
Los Acie: Um there’s various avenues and I try to exercise as many as possible like Youtube, Instagram, Facebook, even Twitter. I’d say Instagram seems to be the most effective in spreading the word the fastest.
Exposed Vocals: If you could perform anywhere and with any artists (Dead or Alive) where and who would it be with? Why?
Los Acie: Hmm well I’m not sure about where but I’d love to be able to perform with Eminem, Jay-z, Kendrick Lamar, and Kanye West anywhere. When it comes to the some of the artists I followed when I git into hip hop Eminem was definitely one of my favorites and one of the best to do it in my opinion. To be able to perform with someone so true to the craft would be great, Jay-Z I mean how could you not want to get on stage with him.. He’s like the Don of Hip Hop lol whose accomplished more as a Hip Hop artist then him career wise. Kanye I feel like relates to me most in terms of artistry, creativity, style, content, and perspective coming from hood settings but not being a product of it and portraying a different view in the music. So that would be ill to see how we would gel on a stage. Lastly K-Dot as one of the more new school artist I really respect and support, it was be dope to rock out with an artist that creative.
Exposed Vocals: So, what’s next? Any new upcoming projects that you want to talk about?
Los Acie: Definitely! Well I’m always writing and am currently finishing up my next mixtape but my current one “The Naked Truth” is out currently on Datpiff.com and Soundcloud, free download on datpiff. Anyone that wants to check me out just has to search Los Acie on either forum and you’ll find me. I’m also working on my next music video to my song “New Wave” off of the mixtape mentioned, check me out on youtube to see my current video “Tryna Forget”. Its Good stuff man, well I don’t know, you guys tell me lol.
Exposed Vocals: If you weren’t making music, what would you be doing?
Los Acie: Good question.. I’d like to think I would be startings some business somewhere or something else artistic with my degree. But to be honest.. I can’t imagine what I’d being doing if it weren’t for music.
Exposed Vocals: Do you remember buying your first album? Who was it? What was going through your head?
Los Acie: Umm shoot, trying to remember who. See I consider myself late into the world of hip hop so I haven’t bought many albums but I believe the first one was Lupe Fiaso’s The Cool. As far as what was going through my head, it was the first time I had been grabbed that much by an artist, it was lyricism on a level I hadn’t heard anywhere else as well as the message. And I wanted to hear what all he had to say and wanted to support his work, one of the dopest MC’s in my opinion.
Exposed Vocals: How do you juggle the rest of your responsibilities while trying to stay ahead in your music life?
Los Acie: Oooo thats a tricky one.. You just do.. It can be challenging but I think when you effectively plan your time and days out it becomes easier to execute. But ultimately there has to be a dedication and commitment to the music to keep motion.
Exposed Vocals: What should fans look forward to in 2016?
Los Acie: Awe man a lot, I’m going to be doing a lot this year. A lot of music first of all, shows, some touring and a focus towards more visuals. I believe videos and visuals are paramount when keeping people up to date with whats going on. So expect a wave of things from me, I’m in motion.
