 Is Archie your real name?
Yeah, my name is Archie Lee Eversole.
Are you originally from ATL?
I was born in Germany on a military base, but I moved to Atlanta when I was two years old.
Oh, so you’re a military brat?
Yeah.
What branch of the military were your parents in?
My dad was in the navy and my mom was in the army.
I imagine that they must have raised you real strict?
Naw man, really…me and my parents didn’t get along. They let me go at a young
age. I was wild. I already know that now. I mean when I was young, I didn’t know how
wild I was, because I was young. Now when I look back I can see that I was wild, but it
too late now. We just don’t get along.
Okay what part of Atlanta are you from?
I’m from College Park-Riverdale.
Tell me what was College Park like?
Man College park…man, see I stayed in Riverdale-College Park and Decatur. And really
Atlanta is all the same to me except for the Dec. The Dec is the only thing in the area
where you’ll find everything that you’ll find in College Park. The Southern and
the West side of Atlanta is more Ghetto. Buckhead is where you’ll find all of the
rich folk.
Yeah, they don’t like our kind over there.
Hell naw, they don’t like us over there, but it’s all good though.
College Park ain’t no joke either….it’s got some pretty hardcore
areas…
Oh yeah, it’s some head-busting going on out there, but it’s just done calmed
down since we stayed out there. Where I stayed at in Riverdale, Valley Hill, I used to go
straight down 85 and get down on Garvey, when you get on Garvey you’re right there at
College Park. My mom used to own a pizza place on Garvey’s Plaza called Paula’s
Pizza.
And I used to work there. It got shut down by the ATF because somebody said that my mama
was selling dope. My mom was a school teacher. (Laughs) But it was going down. It went
down, but you see what was really happening was there was a lotta drug action going on
Garvey at the time. And we were selling a large pizza for $6.25. If you’re high and
you’re hungry and walking down the street and you see a pizza place that’s
selling a large pizza for about $6.00 and you see a fish place that’ll sell you two
pieces of fish for $7.00, what are you going to do.
 I’m
going to the Pizza spot.
Exactly. And the fish dude told them that my mom was selling ya-yo cause she was taking
business from him. So they had to shut it down. They came in and search the spot and found
nothing. But I think that the man had to have a homeboy in on it because they didn’t
even check the ceiling tile, which is where you’re gonna hide some dope at if you got
it. They didn’t even have no dog with them.
So it appears that they just
wanted to shut her down?
Shut ‘em down, yeah.
How old are you?
17.
Man you don’t look no 17!
Man I’m 17. I just turned 17 on July 26. I was born in 1984.
Well, you said something about being 16 on the album, I thought that you were just
talking…
Naw, I don’t do nothing [like that]. I don’t talk niggas to death. If I speak
it, I’m telling the truth.
Okay
that means that you came up during the time when ATL was just beginning to make a splash
on the hip hop scene. Who were you listening to at that time?
 Yeah I was here when it went down. I was
about 12 or 13 when it really went down. That when Atlanta really got the respect that it
deserved because of Outkast and the Goodie Mob and all them. I’m talking about the
industry’s respect. We had the South, Atlanta had the South already. Everybody gon'
have their home state’s respect, you make music for your state and your city. At that
time Outkast and the Goodie Mob had kicked down the door for people like me so I guess
it’s my turn.
Who did you grow up listening to?
I listen to Pac, I listen to Andre 3000. I listened to the local rappers a lot. I loved
the local rappers.
Like Hitman Sammie Sam?
Yeah oh Sammie Sam is off the chain. I listened to all the Omp Camp. I loved the Omp Camp.
I listen to Mr. Kool from out here. I listened to Raheem. But, worldwide, the cats that
made me even want to rap was Pac and Biggie. I don’t even mean on the beef….I
mean on the lyrical tip. Because when these cats came out it wasn’t really just about
rhyming no more, you had to say something. You had to tell a story with it. You know back
in the days all you had to do was say a couple of words that rhymed and you made a rap
album. Now you really gotta talk about something.
 Okay
how did you start rapping?
The first day I started rapping was in 1996. I was in an old broken down assed studio
where my brothers were rapping. I had never even put my voice on a track. This is my first
day ever trying to rap. They were all rapping and they went, “hey man you need to
rap…you need to rap.” I was like man I can’t rap because at this time,
everybody knew that I used to sing. I used to do talent shows and all of that. I kept it
gangsta, but I just like to sing. And it got the girls so everybody thought that all I did
was sing. So I rapped one time and found out that I know how to do it. I mean it’s a
gift to be able to be able to freestyle because you gotta be able to think and talk at the
same time. When I learned how to do that I just started battling and battling people.
How did you hook up with Phat Boy Records?
Well one day I went into a studio to record a demo tape to send off to people and while I
was in the studio trying to make the demo Mason comes in and he practically knocks me down
asking if I wanted to make a CD. I said yeah. And he said well this is what we’re
gonna do. I said alright let’s do this and we did it. This was in 1999.
 When
was this?
Ah last year….the beginning of last year. No it was the year before that because it
was like the end of 2000.
Archie, were you on the MGD album.
Yeah, I was on number 13, “Tig Ole Bitties with the Ass to Match. I was 15 at the
time.
Tell me about the deal with MCA?
I talked to Mase, Mase talked to them then Mase talked to me and that’s how I got the
deal with MCA.
Why did it take so long to record and release the record?
Because I had to serve eight months in jail.
For what?
Beating a nigga’s ass like always (laughs).
So you’re a head-buster?
I can lose my cool sometimes man. I’m a small nigga, but I can handle mine. I can do
my thang and if I can’t do it, my potnas can.
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