Genre:Hip-Hop / Rap
Casey Veggies walked into his first year of adulthood with the groundwork of an artist 10 years his senior. But the 21-year-old rapper has always occupied an advanced class. At a time when most high school seniors were wrestling with decisions that orbit prom dates and college applications, Casey was deciding to have his rap career navigated by Roc Nation and powered by Vested in Culture/Epic Records. By age 18, the kid born Casey Jones had already accrued a faithful of veggie lovers lengthy enough to reach the attention of Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter and Sylvia Rhone. What these pioneering gatekeepers saw was a rarity: a teenager with an enterprising mind and millennial voice as organically fresh as its author’s moniker.
As a 14-year-old Inglewood high school basketball star and original member of the Cali super group Odd Future (OFWGKTA), Casey released his first mixtape, Customized Greatly, on Myspace, spawning a trilogy series. Benching his hoop dreams for a rap career, Veggies continued building off of his early groundwork, landing tour spots with Mac Miller, show dates with west side champs like Kendrick Lamar and Nipsey Hussle, and strategic partnerships with brands like Puma. An unequivocal branding and marketing prodigy, the wiz kid used his robust social media influence (400K+ Instagram and Twitter followers) and very own boutique store and clothing line, Peas and Carrots International (PNCINTL), to create a lifestyle around his personal soundtrack.
The autobiography of Casey Veggies will consume the rap globe in the form of his major label debut LIVE & GROW, a nutritious listen of a young man’s navigation through new adulthood and stardom. Growth, and its necessary discomfort, is innovatively addressed on “New Faces,” a triple entendre about fresh success, money and changes in so-called friends. “Life Song,” featuring BJ The Chicago Kid, and “Aw Man” spotlight Casey at his most courageous and personal. The former is a two-part track nestled with a love and appreciation letter to his mother, while the latter (Casey’s favorite) exposes internal holes left from having to sacrifice personal love for professional passion. “What’s a King without a queen?” is a 21-year-old trying to make sense of a new world while it stares at him. "Live & Grow is depicting me [and] my childhood, coming into the rap game and having to grow through the game with all these eyes on me. I didn’t get a chance to really grow up as a regular kid. I had to be the artist and worry about putting out projects in high school while I was on the basketball team.”
Casey is the sole speaker box for Inglewood youth who have much more to say than the expected gangsterisms. The starter single, “Backflip,” perfectly frames Casey’s native thanks to a YG appearance and IAmSu! production. While DJ Mustard and Dom Kennedy keep the palm trees and four-finger dubs waving on “Actin Up,” Hit-Boy’s stutter drum and Americana orchestration under Ty Dolla $ign’s unparalleled vocals have Veggies sounding fresher than ever on “Wonderful.” Veggies’ first major single, “Tied Up,” will assure that onlookers view him in major league lighting. Produced by Kane Beats and featuring Dej Loaf, the sexy summer jam peels back the layers of young love and sexuality in 2015. “I wasn’t trying to fit in with this album,” Casey explains. "I named the album Live & Grow because my main goal with the music was to inspire young kids. Back in the day when I was growing up and getting into hip-hop, all my favorite music was inspirational, and that’s what I wanted to conquer with Live & Grow…[for] my whole generation.”
Although Casey Veggies has just reached adulthood, it’s crystal clear that being vested in the future of the young rap star, business owner, and actor (he debuts in the 2015 breakout film DOPE) is a most healthy choice. Veggies are good for you. Live & Grow.