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At only 19-years-old, Casey Veggies already has six mixtapes and a forthcoming album under his belt. The Inglewood native began his career as a member of hip-hop collective Odd Future, which includes the likes of Frank Ocean, Tyler, The Creator, Hodgy Beats, Earl Sweatshirt, and Domo Genesis, just to name a few. This up-and-coming star has also performed with hip-hop sensations Kendrick Lamar, Dom Kennedy, and Nipsey Hussle.
Being in “the game” for five years has been a life-changing experience for Veggies.
“I definitely had to grow up a little faster and catch onto things a little quicker,” Veggies said. “I’m happy I had the chance to be ahead of the curve and be in this position at such a young age.”
Veggies said he’s “very excited” to be working on his debut album, which is set to release later this year or in early 2014. He’s also happy he’s able to market and package his work “officially,” not like his former strategy of “free giveaways.” While he cites Kanye West and Nas as influences, he said he’s inspired by his time in the business and has developed his own “zone.”
“All of the little phases where I’m feeling a certain way, I just let those emotions, like, portray into the music, or I try to make a story of it,” Veggies said. “I get inspired by regular people, more than anything. Just people that don’t do music, people that are just in my life, that I come across, you know.”
In just three days, the young artist will embark on his first headlining tour, which kicks off in Dallas, no less.
To check out this promising talent, head to Veggies’ 8 p.m. show on Sunday, May 12 at Trees. Fellow young hip-hop artist (and Houstonite) Travis Scott will co-headline, making for a night of fresh music and energetic performances.
FrontRow: What is the best concert and the worst concert you have ever been to?
The best concert was Kanye West’s “Glow in the Dark Tour” in San Diego. I think it was like April 25, 2008, I believe, or ’09 . That was one of the greatest shows I’ve ever been to. Me and my sister drove down to San Diego, about two hours to the show. Yeah, it was crazy. That was like my first time seeing Kanye live.
The worst show, let me think. It might have been, I don’t know. Probably, like, just a rock, like them screaming and stuff like that. It was a rock show, I forgot the name of the actual group, though. They were like hard rock, you know. Not that it was like the worst thing, but it was just, like, so different, you know.
FR: What was the first movie you saw in the theaters?
That would be hard to remember. That’s a hard one, I don’t remember, really. One of the first ones, like a few years ago, I remember seeing Click by Adam Sandler. That was a few years ago and that couldn’t have been the first one.
FR: What’s the closest you have ever come to dying?
That’s a crazy question. But I actually got hit by a car when I was younger, that probably was the closest. I was walking across the street. I was seven-years-old. I had to go to the hospital. It was an Expedition, it broke my leg. I learned a lot at seven. I learned to appreciate life at that moment. I’m the chosen one. (Laughs)
FR: If you could choose any decade to live in, which would it be?
It would be the nineties. I would want to be, like, 18-years-old in 1991. Maybe not ’91, maybe, like, ’93. Because I feel like the authenticism of the culture was very, very high. It started something, you know, the renaissance of the hip-hop culture, a lot of great music came out. I don’t know, I just would love to be one of those people, like, buying Illmatic when it first came out, and buying, you know, all these dope albums when they first came out. I know I would be one of those guys that would be super up on it.
FR: What was your favorite toy as a kid?
Basketball, even though it’s not a toy. I used to play with toy wrestlers. Me and my brother had, like, a toy wrestling ring and we had all the wrestlers in the WWE. My mom used to buy us all the action figures and we had, like, the ropes and the tables and stuff and actually, like, wrestle with the fake toys.
FR: If global warming melted the ice caps covering 90 percent of the known world with water, what city would you hope was spared so you could live there?
Los Angeles because it’s where I’m most comfortable. It’s home.
FR: If you could change one law — make something that is illegal legal, or something legal illegal — what would it be?
It would be the “Three-Strikes” law because my uncle is on his third strike. But on his third strike he didn’t really do anything, like, super bad or anything, but the way the laws work, you know, he still got, you know what I mean? I would change the “Three-Strikes” law.
FR: If you weren’t playing music and had the talent and circumstances to do anything else, what would it be?
First of all, I would try to pursue college, maybe, to just try to see where it’d take me. I don’t know, like, from my experience as a rapper, or if I didn’t have that experience, I would use the experience I had and try to be in the business somehow. Or maybe I would have played basketball or try to pursue that heavy. Yeah, I think if I was capable of being a pretty good basketball player.
FR: What’s on your playlist right now?
I was just listening to Young Scooter out of Atlanta and Niko-G4, he’s a new artist out of Los Angeles. I’m also listening to my new music, my new album.
