Meet 777Fury: A Good Guy
Character informs art in insurmountable ways. In this particular case, the art in question is the scrappy, dark and villainous sound that’s courtesy of Vegas artist 777Fury. The bulk of Fury’s catalogue boasts an assortment of lyrical content that can be perceived as either shocking or fantastical, as Fury maintains this role as an individual that’s both acutely boots-on-the-ground street tough and larger than life. He displays this persona all the while being equally susceptible to personal conflict and vulnerability.
Beyond the gruff voice and gut wrenching flows is a character that is hell-bent on staying true to a game that shaped him and allowed him a medium to express any range of bravado, melancholy, or cautionary tale that suits an instrumental for that moment; range that’s prevalent in the artist’s newest EP "What A Good Guy!, Vol. II." See what makes up such an eclectic artist like he is and what molded him into the character he is today.
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Where are you from, how old are you, and what do you consider yourself to be?
I was born in San Bernardino, California but raised in Vegas... so let's just say I'm from here. I'm 21 years of age and I consider myself to be a rapper, won't be cliche and say "I'm an artist" or some dumb shit like that.
Why do you feel it’s important to make the distinction that you are indeed a “rapper” rather than a general “artist”? Is there a point of pride within that statement?
It's like no matter how versatile I may see myself, at the end of the day I'm rapping every verse, every song wouldn't be possible if hip-hop or rap didn't exist. With this scene of sad boys and sing-songy rappers I feel it's important to stay true to the roots of this shit and not let people forget how and why hip-hop is such a powerful genre. It's corny to do nothing but rap but refuse to fall under the title of "rapper." Niggas need to grow up and realize it's okay to just rap, just produce, etc. you don't have to have your hands in everything to be great.
What has influenced you to make rap music?
What influenced me to make rap music was watching the beef documentaries along with other hip-hop documentaries on YouTube as a kid and watching 50 Cent's Get Rich or Die Tryin' movie. Seeing him go from selling crack to selling out shows then proceeding to tell that story was the craziest thing to me at a young age.
With your newest project "What A Good Guy! Vol. II" having dropped, what can you say about the creation of this project and how it compares to its first released predecessor?
The creation of Vol. 2 consisted of a bunch of nights in my room alone either high or drunk, and that's pretty much how Vol 1 was made along with the majority of my other music. The difference between this and the first volume is I was a lot more down emotionally while creating it, but the overall sound isn't as dark as the first one. A bunch of the songs that got scrapped were made during a break-up and were about that. The hook of the intro track (Ghost) is me speaking on liking my ex, who is my current girlfriend, and liking some other woman while I was single.
You have whole projects produced largely, if not solely by one singular producer at a time, and yet with all these projects with various producers at the helm you still maintain this cohesive sound and familiarity to them, how do you curate your instrumental choices? What can you say about the artist/producer collaboration process?
I choose beats based on my mood & what I've been listening to lately, recently I've been enjoying a lot of Detroit and West Coast rappers so that's the sound I've been leaning towards. Regardless of that I still get a bunch of beats that don't sound anything like what I listen to, so I either challenge myself and try to rap on the most absurd ones or the beat itself will kinda speak to me in a sense and I know instantly how I'm gonna approach it. The process is basically just me tapping in with my producer friends and them asking me what sound I want, then us going from there. I rarely get to work with anyone in person unfortunately.
One of the most notable features of your music is this seemingly menacing and dark vocal style and execution, what inspires this?
The dark sound actually comes from me not liking my normal voice on songs, I usually layer my vocals with a pitched up layer but started layering them with a pitched down one because a lot of the beats I get are grimier and the topics I speak on are pretty fucked up so I figured it'll fit the production or theme more.
What can you say about your namesake?
My rap name before “Fury” was Jay Fury but I decided to drop the Jay because I didn't want anything related to my real name attached to my stage name, but after becoming Fury and putting music on more platforms I realized it wasn't easy to find. So I added the “777” because it's always been an angel number I was fond of and I didn't wanna just change my name completely.
What has been the most rewarding moment for you in your music making journey thus far?
The most rewarding moment has been the few times I've performed and would see people actually enjoy my music in person. Then getting off the stage and having those people approach me to tell me they liked my set. I truthfully don't think anything's more rewarding than knowing people enjoy what I put my heart and soul into.
Are there any obstacles you'd like to speak on about being an artist?
There's a ton of obstacles but to just name a few I'd go with getting people to hear your music/building a fanbase and not letting mental health slow you down at all. Music is like fast food so if you aren't already well known and begin to lack consistency because of depression or anything people can and will forget about you. It sucks to be honest but I've found a way to put my lowest moment into what I make and that helps a ton.
Do you have goals to breach into other creative endeavors?
I've wrote[sic] plots for what I would like to either become comics or animated mini-series. Maybe one day I'll be able to sit down and go more in depth with these plots and potentially pitch something to Adult Swim that they'll greenlight, that'd be wild and a dream come true.
Do you have any shout outs?
Shoutout to everyone in C$ (Community $inners), everyone in ENDS, My dawg Urstruly that produced the What A Good Guy series, my girlfriend for supporting and loving me more than most people i know, and lastly shoutout to whoever takes the time to read this far... I love you all!
Stream 777Fury on SoundCloud and Spotify