Tafia started rapping in jail and hasn’t looked back since. He is the beneficiary of a joint venture between Roc Nation and Dream Chasers, Meek Mill’s imprint. Since signing, the North Miami rapper has quickly developed a reputation for his balanced flow, punctuated by hard-knock lyricism that’s well-received by fans. Every song arrives fully formed, equipped with a backstory that serves as footnotes about his come up. And yet, there’s so much more to Tafia’s story that remains unwritten.

If the sound of the trenches, in all its adversity and shortcomings, could be synthesized into one sequence, Tafia would embody the essence of its sonics. After completing a seven-year bid for robbery, the Haitian born MC has gone on to live a good life, pivoting into the music space as a means to motivate others: “The message I want to get out there is don’t think you can’t do it.”

Throughout it all, he has remained true to his mission of “expressing more” – being a catalyst for ambition while learning how to keep his reputation intact. His music delves deep into street politics with complete transparency. And though vulnerability is often frowned upon in Black [men], it’s revered by the creative community – holistically.

With breaking ground as a newly signed artist, raw emotion has propelled Tafia’s career to new heights. Ultimately, his success hasn’t been denied, rather, delayed – obstructed by a bad judgment call that almost derailed him from his purpose. And now, he’s the talk of the town.

Ahead of his debut album, Mention My Name – which features select appearances from Davido, Jeremih, Vory, and Rob49 – Dirty Glove Bastard had a chance to speak with Tafia about his upcoming project, being vulnerable in music, dreams beyond rap, and more.

Since signing with Dream Chasers, what about this situation felt like the right move to make?

For me, it was the best move because it’s a lot of similarities [between me and Meek Mill] – the way I move, the way he moves, the way his team moves. And then, we street niggas: no matter what side of the country, it’s the same type of vibe. We relate and we got an understanding. I’m not doing no goofy shit to get on and get to that level. You know, the extra stuff. 

You’re not going out of your way to bring attention to yourself. 

It ain’t in me. I live a real life. Certain things these rappers do, I can’t do (laughs). I’d be gone for years, and I already did seven. I’m on point with it, it’s strictly music and business. 

Now that you’re on the other side of your federal prison sentence, how have you made the most of your freedom? 

These last five or six years bro, I’ve been going hard. I’ve lived a good life, I’ve dropped a lot of music, my city rocking with me, and now I’ve spread to different states. My results are coming back fast. Nothing’s overnight, and I understand that, but the results I get compared to the other dudes that’ve been doing it for 10-15 years and ain’t where I’m at right now – I take everything as a blessing. I just keep it humble.

Nothing worth having comes easy, especially in this industry. You have to really be in it for the long haul. 

You gotta really understand it, because if you don’t understand it then you gon’ crash out and be in yo feelings. You gon’ get aggravated, and then you gon’ crash out, and when you crash out, nobody gon’ wanna fuck with you. I understood it ‘cause I was by myself doing it before I got signed. Nowadays it’s like, they wanna see how you do by yourself. They wanna see how you gon’ carry it for a little bit. They sit back and watch to see how you do. “Before I put my all into you, let me see what you can do.” And that pain, when it’s time to get taught, is tough. 

Your lyrics speak on life through an introspective lens. What do you look for in those sessions when you’re recording? 

The message I want to get out there is don’t think you can’t do it. Especially where I’m from, out of people that never did time before, never been through that much, and then I come out, and how I came out, they looking at me two, three years later like, “Bruh, you just got out and you doing more than niggas that’s never been to jail.” “You already got more motion.” And I said I was going to do this before it actually happened. I ain’t have a bag of money waiting on me: I got out of jail with $150 to my name. And with that $150 I had to buy a cellphone out of that. That’s the message, yeah you might see me in a Wraith or Lambo, but I really went through the motions and kept going – I didn’t stop. What I’m doing, the next person can’t do. You just gotta figure out what’s for you and what’s not. There’s always going to be ups and downs. 

I feel like creating music is a means of catharsis for you — it brings you peace of mind. 

I mean yeah, making music is therapy, kind of. I’m still tryna dig deeper into expressing more in my songs. There’s a lot I’m holding back because I got certain eyes on me. They watching me. My name floating all through the city – they on me, you understand (laughs). 

Does being vulnerable make you a target in your city? 

Niggas been out here for a minute: I been moving around and getting shows booked throughout the city for the last 3-4 years. I been on fliers everywhere, and you know, niggas just wanna fuck with you. I be wanting to really tap in, I can do it. 

You don’t feel conflicted as an artist, though? If anything, you should feel encouraged to express yourself. 

I’m not really holding back all the way. But when the masses get on to me, it’s like I’m damn near gonna come out as a new artist. When they come and one of my songs take off, the next project I drop after that, I’m gonna be like a whole new artist – like, “Damn, this nigga was holding in some shit,” – you feel me. That’s when I can do that. That bag gon’ be right. Everything gon’ be right, the situation gon’ be right.

Has the pandemic caused you to pivot any and maybe go in a different direction than what was originally planned? 

I got signed during the pandemic, towards the beginning of it. I still dropped two tapes, videos and all, so fuck it. Making a tape is easy to me bro, I ain’t gon’ lie to you. If I want to, I could do a whole tape in a week. 

How have you gotten to the point in your career where its become that easy for you? 

I have mastered a certain flow so much to the point where I be trying new flows just to see how I sound. Putting the words together ain’t nothing to me. I’m into finding the right sound that’s gon’ stick. A lot of people like how I sound now when I rap, my adlibs and stuff, but with certain melodic sounds, I be tryna see what melodic vibes I can give without singing. I can’t sing, my voice ain’t there. My voice don’t sound like Thug or Youngboy – they have a lower tone – my shit a lil raspier. 

If jail didn’t happen, could you still see yourself as a rapper? 

When I was younger, I was a real music-head, a real music connoisseur before I started rapping. I started rapping in jail. I ain’t never thought about [rapping] before. Maybe, I don’t know. I had all the time in the world to perfect my flow [in jail] and that’s what I did. I wrote over 300 songs in jail and I ain’t use one.

You have a whole catalog of records written during your imprisonment that’ll never see the light of day? 

Books, in a duffle. All types of yellow notepads. It’s probably 20 songs in each notepad.  

Do you dream beyond your success as an artist, or is this it for you?

Nah, I’m going to invest. I’m into fashion. I feel like, whatever’s next for me, I’ll be in the right place at the right time and things will fall into place for me. When I’m in the room, I don’t do too much for people to read off my energy. I don’t really be with the bullshit – what you see is what you get with me. If you feel a certain way about me, nine times out of ten, you’re probably right. You not gon’ look at me and be like, “Oh, I think he a lame” or “I think he a fuck nigga.” I don’t come off like that. I don’t be on no disrespectful type of time. You can look at me and know not to fuck with me, though.

Can we expect more from you on the fashion side of things? 

I ain’t got into the fashion world yet, but you know when you start getting big in music, stuff that ain’t got nothing to do with music will come holla at you because you making a lot of noise. Watching you as a person, that’s where it’s gon’ come from. Music is like a platform for everything else. It’s about whatever you’re willing to accept and what you fit into. And so I feel like they gon’ come holla at me, or I’ma reach out to somebody and they gon’ see how I dress. Some days I dress like Ion care and some days I really put that shit on. I like being comfortable, so nine times outta ten, I might make my own clothing brand. I’ma start making merch for the album. 

You have a new album in the works? 

I’m getting ready to drop an album in the next two weeks. 

Is there anything significant about the timing behind the release of this new project? Why now? 

Even the label [Dream Chasers, Roc Nation] feels like it. The label is a big fan of me. With the first tape I dropped, they just sat back to see what I was gon’ do – they ain’t really press no button on it. When I dropped during the pandemic, they just let me drop, it’s not even part of the contract. They put it on all the platforms and everything for me. They know, leave it up to me, I’ll drop three, four projects a year. It’s nothing to me. When they seen all the songs I was sending in, each one was album-ready. Each song could be a single. 

What’s the overall message with this album, or is being a catalyst for motivation still a part of your ethos for this release? 

It’s the same thing, it’s motivation. This album gon’ be on the vibe where everyday you wake up in a certain mood, you can play a song for whatever mood you’re in. If you wanna hear something dark that’ll have you thinking while you’re driving type music, you gon’ get that. You want some hard, crunk shit, or some get money shit, you gon’ have that on there. You gon’ have something for the girls, feeling good while she in the whip. You gon’ have anthems on there. I even got an Afrobeat song on there. For this tape, for this time right now, I had to drop something to show the whole industry that I’m not just tryna be local, really show a whole industry of niggas that I’m evolving. It’s 15 songs on this project – that’s the most songs I’ve ever put out at once. 

Is there a specific song from the album that best represents where you are in life right now?

Probably “Me Against The World.” It’s like you tryna crack that piñata and make it through: it’s me against everybody.