Ace Hood Talks New Music, Evolution as an Artist & Life After 'We The Best'

Image credit: Hood Nation

With his fifth project (above) that’s out in stores now, Ace Hood is on the prowl to show fans why he is an complete artist.

The Broward County section of Florida has been able to produce some of hip-hop’s most talked about emcees in the game. Artists such as Kodak Black, Lil Pump, Denzel Curry and XXXTentacion have slowly made a name for themselves in this section of Florida. Prior to this wave, one of the earlier names who put on for the 954 was Ace Hood. The former We The Best signee was able to produce hit after hit with iconic collaborations with DJ Khaled, Rick Ross, Chris Brown and Future. His first official single “Hustle Hard” was an formal introduction to the streets and to the culture as he was able to crack the Billboard Top 100.

Four albums and a plethora of mixtapes later, Ace Hood is still proving to fans that he’s never scared to take a risk, possessing strong faith and remaining ready to trust the process as he shows fans that his lyrical game has been risen to another level. RESPECT. was able to catch up with Ace to talk about his upcoming project, life after “We The Best” and his growth as an artist outside of the booth.

RESPECT.: You just released your 5th project called Trust The Process. What lane did you want to create for your fans to come up with the mindset of where you are as a veteran in the game today?

At this point as a artist, I just wanted to be free. I just wanted to put my experiences and the things that I went through, such as my struggles, my triumphs, my arrivals, and my downfalls be used as energy to really inspired people. I want my fans to feel that they are inspired and to understand that you can live a whole new healthy life. You don’t have to live by society or the industry’s standards and still be great at what you do. It’s really what this project and my movement represents. It’s just the fact that I’m free from it all. Free to do what I want. Free to grow, free to be a different person.

RESPECT.: Now, production and artistic creation wise, what’s some of the features that you were able to get recorded onto the project?

Well the whole entire production was produced by one producer. His name is Foreign Tech. I feel that he has grown so much, he’s 24 and I’ve been working with him since he was about 17 years old. I only have two features on the project because I was solely focus on me getting my story across. In addition, I was more interested in working with people that I had real relationships with. For instance, OZ is a young cat that’s coming up and he has a record that’s bubbling right now. I got love for him and I want to see him prosper. Big Ball Greezy is another artist on the project and he has a solid buzz in the streets near Little Haiti. It’s really people I really rock with and you know sometimes it’s just a vibe or mood where you in the studio. He wasn’t planned and all but I live for times where you can vibe off and create something special on spot.

A post shared by Ace Hood (@acehood) on Aug 24, 2017 at 11:25am PDT

RESPECT.: We see that you’re far from shy from expressing the authentic, genuine love you possess with the relationship with your girlfriend as far as showing fans and followers on social media the balance of fitness and yoga. How were you able to incorporate the balance of mental, physical health with yoga and love while reminding fans that you are not just a overly loving kind of figure, that you one of the most underrated emcees in the game?

You know, the underrated tag doesn’t live with me anymore. I don’t claim that anymore, I feel that it doesn’t live with me anymore. So I feel that I’m not underrated anymore, but anything other that, I feel that I was more of an incomplete artist compared to who I am now. By the end of the day, I feel that I am an complete version which means that you get more of a person. I feel that music, fitness, my life, my relationship all works as one. It’s all about raising my frequency and just using the gym to help me push over the trials and tribulations I was dealing with . My relationship helped me become a better person. It also help me pulled me out of my situation so it all worked the same. So it’s not a different person you get in my music, it’s the same person you are going to get in my music and all across the board. I’m still the same Ace, it’s just that I am a lot more evolved as a person in the studio and out of the studio who wants to be the best.

RESPECT.: Well you was once signed to We The Best Records. Since the separation, how has your relationship been with you and DJ Khaled? Are the both of you guys still in good terms or things have been rocky?

I feel that our relationship has been good. I think earlier on when I was trying to pursue being free and exploring my voice and vision, things were a little bit rocky. It was like you help bring something and it got to the part where we just had to depart ways. You feel a way about it and you entitled to feel some kind of way about it. So for me it was just empathy towards what he was going through and how much it hurt him to be able to create all these great memories, history, and all these great hits. We kinda build a brand together. Things were a bit rocky but I realized all it took was a conversation. I realize that’s how some of the simple answers to certain life obstacles takes that at the end of the day. A conversation, a misunderstanding and a sit down between us to hug, dap one another, talk it out and it’s love as brothers. The main thing unbeknownst is that you about love, I’m about love. Love conquers all. To me, it feels good because he feels the same way and I’m glad we are able to relate like that and that’s how we were able to move forward. So now, we are looking forward to support each other in the near future and that’s my brother. He was apart of this development whether he know it or not. He angled me to the rapper who I am right now and I’m grateful for that. I can’t forget my past like that. I’m forever grateful.

RESPECT.: If there was a sports figure, team, player you can compare your entire legacy including your career to, who would it be and why?

That’s a great question but if I would had to choose, I would have to say the Seattle Seahawks. They had the right pieces to help them develop into the stars they are not. You know before they wasn’t a powerhouse you see them now. They used to go 3-13, and 4-12. But when you see they had potential like Russell Wilson, Marshawn Lynch, Kam Chancellor and Richard Sherman, people was realizing that they are a team to look out for. They was flying under the radar. The defense and offense was clicking and slowly you realize they are thing. I feel that they are a perfect comparison to my career. I went through my s*** when I had to figure out the right places. I’m at the place in my life where I’m adding strong pieces to my team to help lift me to do great things. The ultimate thing is to win championships. In my case, for me, it’s reaching stadium status and perform in front of hundreds of thousands for fans worldwide. In addition, appearing on Billboards while inspiring lives, putting down the foundation to my community and really building greatness on my legacy.

Hood’s project entitled Trust The Process is in stores now. Be sure to check it out on iTunes. You can check out the Deluxe Edition of the release below.