Indie Rap

Welcome back to A&R Factory, antwan_nawtna, it’s brilliant to have you here again, especially after AntwanWonka landed as a surprise 4/20 EP and pushed your universe into even stranger, sugar-rushed territory.

I just wanna start off by saying hello and thank you again for this opportunity, I truly do appreciate it.

A surprise 4/20 release already feels very on-brand for the playful eccentricity around your music. What made that date feel right for the EP, and how long had you been sitting on the idea before you dropped it?

It’s funny that you said it feels on-brand because Noble (my go to mixer) had said the same thing when we were discussing the effects & ideas for the other tracks, that each track sounded spot on for a 4/20 release date.

Everything kinda just happened fast when it came to the EP. Honestly, it was around the end of March going into April when everything started coming to fruition, so I wasn’t sitting on the idea that long. I had written Mango Flavoured Lips in a day, recorded it the next day and sent it out to get mixed; in-between that I was writing the other tracks as well, so everything was getting done day by day pretty much. I was gonna just release MFL as a single & then do the same with the other tracks, but it had been awhile since my last major drop (August 2025), so I figured just make an EP and drop it randomly.

What made the 4/20 date feel right was just the sound and vibes behind each track honestly. Each track just sounded dreamy and had this Wonka/Rainbow Road typa feel behind it; it just sounded 4/20 coded. From the start of the project you can just hear that “high” like sound on the EP. From Kirby Cup all the way to Dreamin, that sound is there from the jump; so, naturally 4/20 was hella more fitting in my eyes to release the project. To be honest, I don’t think it would have that same “magic” if I had released it on a regular Friday or any other day for that matter; again, that “Wonka World magic” just made what the EP is, and it just fit with the 4/20 vibe is… just dreamy and pure imagination.

Shoutout to Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory for helping create this project; loved that movie since I was a kid.

Since our last interview, you’ve gone from the dark carnivalesque world of Cirque du Ghoul/Antwan’s Circus into this dreamier, trappier, more psychedelic AntwanWonka zone. What changed in your headspace between those two projects?

I think what changed this time around with this project is I just feel happy honestly, like my headspace is more clean and clear and everything was just flowing naturally. I also didn’t put too much pressure on myself this time around, like how I did with the album. When I was making Cirque du Ghoul/Antwan’s Circus, I was still navigating the whole sobriety stuff, was still trying to get my head and mindset right (which almost felt like an eternity, but it got done) was putting tremendous pressure on myself to “get better” and to just make that album fucking perfect; so there was just alot going on when it came to that album, whereas making AntwanWonka, I just felt very calm and relaxed; I wasn’t in my head too much, I wasn’t doubting myself, I wasn’t overthinking each track, I just wasn’t a big mess this time around, I’ll put it like that lmaoo. This time around everything just felt right and I was capitalizing on the moment basically; from the music itself to how I as a person was feeling too; again, everything felt right, so I was just taking advantage of the moment before it slipped away and I couldn’t recreate that feeling again. If you go back and listen to Cirque du Ghoul/Antwan’s Circus and then AntwanWonka you’ll definitely hear that huge difference in my headspace, no ifs ands or buts about it.

Mango Flavoured Lips feels like this 8-bit sugar rush with a woozy late-night glow running through it. What helped shape its surreal, game-lit atmosphere?

That’s such a sick description for Mango Flavoured Lips, hell yea man. There’s a few things that helped shape this track to become what you hear. The first and most important thing is what I was listening to when making this track; I was just listening to a lot of Thaiboy Digital, ThouxanbanFauni, dedwrite, and LUCKI; like those artist were just on heavy rotation when making the track and as well as the whole EP just because of the whole dream like cloud like rap essence in the music.

Another thing that helped shaped the track was just looking back to my 2021-2023 days,  when it was just bar hopping, drinking like crazy, endless substances, and so on; just going through old photos and videos, that way I can pull any ideas from whatever I had saw/did and make a song out of that. Mean also, I was going out as of recently and just being back in that space was somewhat interesting again; I had wrote some ideas in my notes and was saving them for new music, so somewhat of what you hear is coming from those little experiences; all that can be applied to the whole AntwanWonka project as well, not just to the track alone.

Also, I had based it off this one girl I can’t even lie lmfaooo. The beat off the bat is just hella dreamy, and when I look at this girl, it’s like looking at walking dream itself, you see where I’m goin here? She got like these different flavored lip glosses (Mango my favorite, as you can see) so, I figured why not make a track around it and name it after that flavor, plus it also has that antwan flavor to it, so it all just worked out real well in the end I gotta say.

Feels like I just rambled on, so to sum up the track, the idea just came from ‘Wonka

Nights”, endless music on replay, and a girl. SHOUT-OUT MAREK for the beat man!

The title AntwanWonka instantly suggests candy, distortion, imagination, and something a bit unhinged. What does that world represent for you creatively?

Shit, honestly it’s a love/hate relationship with that world truthfully; well because for starters I feel like there’s just endless ideas…. and that’s the thing, just endless ideas brewing 24/7, so I do my best to write everything into my notes or a notebook before I lose out on what could be a great song/project. It can become very tiring at times too because I think I try too hard to make these ideas very jaw-droppin, very out this world, while trying to make it realistic as possible and I just end up getting burnt out, and everything just spirals out from there; that’s why I write every idea down & organize them for future drops. It’s ironic cuz I just said I try too hard, and on the track Joe Montana I drop the line “I don’t even try hard”, I don’t know that’s kinda funny I guess.

Now the good thing about that world is the endless ideas that just always brew up constantly; now I know in the beginning it had sounded like I hated that, but as I mentioned from the jump as well, it’s a love/hate relationship. The constant ideas flowing around is such a blessing honestly because that just means nothing is ever a drought in my world; there’s music ideas that just need to get out and it’s my job as the artist to jot them down and make something out of em- mean shit, even if it ain’t mind-blowin or chart climbin, as long as that idea was brought to life that’s all that really matters to me man, just bringing the music to life. It also means ENDLESS creativity, no limits, no censorship- basically no holds barred, just doing what I feel like doing while also still keeping it real and personal like how I always envisioned it.

Also, it means making something people can escape to when life feels draining, just wanna feel up, or something relatable; my world got everything for everyone, I just don’t make the music for me, I try my best to throw some relatable in the music & if there’s a few that can relate to certain tracks or lyrics that’s fucking cool man, kinda brings me joy.

You’ve always had a knack for making hip-hop feel theatrical, strange, and emotionally raw. How do you decide when a song needs to lean into humour, darkness, softness, or full-on left-field energy?

Well there’s not really too many factors behind it; it all depends on how I’m feeling, how the beat is sounding, or what music I’ve been indulging in. With this EP I was just in a good headspace as I stated earlier, so it was nothing but pure good energy vibes, whereas with the album I was all over the place and that’s what you hear; it had the up-beat/go hard tracks in the beginning, then had the sad clown energy towards the end of it.

WordsFromCircusClown/2Hearts, Drugs Make The Circus Go Round/R.I.P A 2, and Shadow Gang x Ghoul Boyz,  are prime examples of that sad clown energy I just mentioned- those two tracks I was just opening up more on real life experiences & was just feeling depressed at the time, so I just had to capitalize on that moment and the final product of that is what you hear.

Kirby Cup, Left Right Left Right, Club Space, PLUS ULTRA, Oh Man, and Heavy Metal Chain (PLUS ULTRA 2) are examples of when I was in a good headspace and everything was just flowing at the right moment; I was just living live as the rockstar I was born to be; again, just had to capitalize on that energy before it was lost.

Dreamin, Joe Montana, and December Silver Chains are tracks when I’m just laid back and coasting honestly, I feel like Snoopy chilling on top of his dog house. I can sit here and say “it was the right moment and had to capitalize”, but I think the reader is already getting the point and knows where I’m gonna go with this.

It all circles back to what I said at the start, it all depends on how I’m feeling and how that beat is sounding; mean imagine Mango Flavoured Lips lyrics on the 2Hearts beat, it’d be somewhat wonky and just wouldn’t work well lmaoo. Also, another somewhat big factor that I didn’t mention yet is like if I been outside hanging out in the city- it plays a small part because that’s where some big ideas stem from.

You played your first show back in March. What was going through your head before you stepped on stage, and what did that performance teach you about your music?

A lot of emotions where just going through my head that day; during rehearsal it somewhat hit me a bit that this is actually happening, but not too much because the crowd wasn’t there yet, so I was calm; once they started to pile in one by one, I think that’s when the nerves started to creep in slowly, but I still wasn’t fazed; everything hit me all at once soon as Marek started performing, like “ah shit this is really fucking happening”. As soon as I stepped on to perform I was a nervous wreck I won’t lie, but I think as soon as the beat dropped from PLUS ULTRA I was in control of all those emotions. It was definitely a fun experience tho and I think for the next show I got a better lockdown and strategy on to calm the nervous before stepping on the stage.

That first performance just taught me that my music has had a lot of growth over the years; usually I play my own music when I’m at home or doing errands or whatever and I didn’t really hear it as much, but hearing everything live and over those loud speakers was honestly just ear-opening; I went home that night and re-listened to my whole discography again and I was just a little blown away by that growth. I mean shit, listening to AntwanWonka over and over again right now, I can hear it clear as day now, and that’s somewhat a win in my eyes, again, just hearing that growth is rewarding.

Looking back at everything since our first interview, what feels different about antwan_nawtna now, creatively, personally, or even in the way you move around the underground scene?

Truthfully, everything feels the same if I’m being honest, but the one thing that changed would just be my headspace honestly. I know I’ve mentioned that a bunch of times during this interview, but it’s the one thing that’s honestly been making a difference right now from what I can see and I’m just tryna enjoy that as much as I can before something happens and I’m back in the dumps feeling like that sound clown again & I just spiral out of control.

Creatively everything is still the same, I just write in my notes and go with the flow. I don’t try too hard to make a track, I just write the hook and take it from there; maybe throw on a movie, a show, or some wrestling PPV’S and see what inspo I can draw from either option. Also just doing wordsearches still when I feel like I’m getting writer’s-block, something to clear my mind; some meditation here and there when I feel like I overworked myself.

Moving around in the underground scene I still feel like I got a lot of work to do; I’m doing what I can to promote each track and each project, it’s just I gotta have more consistency with it because I start off good and then I just slowly fall back from it, and I’m not sure why. My main goal is just to post as many TikToks or Instagram Reels to make that mark in that scene, mean fuck man, they don’t even have to be Chirstopher Nolan level videos, as long as I post to get the people’s attention, that’s the main goal when it comes to this, and especially when trying to move in that Underground scene.

As far as the personal question goes, I really don’t have a complete answer for that; I’m still navigating & doing what I can to achieve personal goals when it comes to the music, but to answer that, I’ll just say, I want to have as much music out, just wanna up the numbers in my discography, and just continue to grow as an artist each project.

After AntwanWonka, your first show, and the new attention around the EP, what are you planning next, more releases, more shows, collaborations, or another strange new world entirely?

I’m currently working on the next project and it’s either gonna be a mixtape or the 2nd album, I’m just not sure which I’m leaning towards yet; maybe a few more singles and then I’ll just take everything from there. I’ll be real though, it’ll probably be the mixtape route because right now I’m working with rapper/producer Marek right now, he producedMango Flavoured Lips and the new single I dropped called Frisco Fitted (which is out now by the way, be sure to stream), so if I do the mixtape it’ll be exclusively produced by him.

I do wanna do another album no doubt about that, it’s just personally I feel I have to have something in the middle before I drop that 2nd album, so again, mixtapes, EP’s and just singles before that comes to light; also just wanna make sure me and the team are on the same page when it comes to production and ideas.

I’m always up for a collaboration with whoever, working with more artists is on my list fasho, whether it be someone from Chicago, or California, the only thing I would say is as long as we are on the same page , I really don’t care who it is. A collab project with my homie Vizzy is on the list, probably a lil EP or some just to pass the time, but right now just finding the right beats and then it’s time to rock n roll man.

I do wanna do a Cali typa style project, but that one is gonna take some time because I feel I have to go back out there for a few months or some just so I can capture that vibe and essence to a tee; I’m sure ohei8ht would be down to produce since we had talked about a collab project since 2015, so that is also on my list.

Another show is something I really wanna do again; when and where? That’s to be determined as of right now, but maybe something in the city on a weekend, shit maybe in the summer; I would have the same lineup from the first show tho, just maybe add like two more artists, but like I said, it’s to be determined as of right now.

There’s just a lot of things I wanna do this year as an artist, but I’m just gonna take my time and not rush anything; the main thing tho is just releasing music for the love of the game and making sure my headspace is in good health.

I’m just gonna keep doing what I’m doing; if people not down with that, then that’s tuff man. I’ve been doing this shit since I was 14, feel like I’ve been in the game for awhile and now I’m just starting to get somewhat of the recognition, that’s cool and all, and I’m grateful for that, but I just wanna say I’ve been kicked the door in, fixed it, and kicked it in again; what I’m saying is I’m here, flag is planted and I ain’t goin nowhere man. I built this from the ground up, a lot of blood sweat and tears was put into this, a lot of sleepless nights, lots of highs and lots of lows, etc etc; so I’ll be damned if I stop now; like I said, the flag is planted and I’m here to stay.

My bad if that sounded too aggressive or like I was mad, I can assure you I’m not; it’s just when it comes to the music, I just get real passionate about it.

Thank you once again for this wonderful opportunity, it’s always a pleasure working with the A&R Team.

Thank you!

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Stream AntwanWonka on all major platforms, including Spotify, now

Interview by Amelia Vandergast