No Soda

In my travels to Memphis Tennessee, I was introduced to a recording studio called The Traphouse. While there, I was introduced to an artist named No Soda, I heard this name numerous times while in Memphis, since the opportunity was there, I decided to sit down and interview him. No Soda started out as a hype man for ”Yung kee” a Memphis artist, he has always been a fan hip hop and over time frequently was asked if he was a rapper. So finally after all the questioning, he decided to be a rapper. Soda explained he was always a bad ass in school so he always had a lot of attention, and the attention from being on stage with an already known artist was normal for him. It was his first actual paying show that made him feel like everything was real, the crowd, noise, and the fans were all normal to him.
Actually knowing he was getting paid to perform his music was what really gave him the drive. No Soda’s first hit was called “On My grind” featuring Sweat Da Track and Miscellaneous. I asked No Soda who his inspirations were, he simply replied Miscellaneous, Jay-Z, and anybody who expresses their feelings and make great music. He stated “music is your feelings and expressions over beats, anybody who does that well is who inspired me to do what I do”. Then we got into discussing a little bit about the Traphouse and how it operates. The Traphouse team believes in strength in numbers, they operate in a very large house that has six rooms, and there’s always something going on in each room. The Traphouse is open twenty four hours a day, there are two DJs, eight artists, and four engineers, so there’s always some kind of progress being made in the building and there is always big-name artists stopping by like Young Joc, Rocco, Ace Hood and Fiend to name a few..
They have rules, and the main one is, “leave the bull shit at the door“, whether you like the people coming or going from the studio, you will respect the rules. The Traphouse is open for anyone in the Memphis area, or even traveling through, to stop and make great music. (Traphouse article coming soon). No Soda so early in his career has done collaborations with major recording artists such as Gangsta Boo, La Chat, Project Pat, Rocko, Fiend, Rich Boy, and countless others. He also stated some of the artist he would be interested in working with, Jadakiss, Trick Daddy, Nipsy Hustle, anyone from Dipset, and just about anyone in the industry that makes good music. In the midst of the conversation, I asked about Soda’s manager Nina Stax. He explained to me Nina was the very first person he talked to about management, she told him “I don’t have much but I work hard”. Since that day, Nina has arranged thirteen video shoots, all the collaborations, all of his travels, photo shoots, and much more. No Soda’s won the “Bout to Blow” award in the Underground Awards in Memphis, and “Artist of the Year” in Jackson Mississippi.
Soda also has his own clothing line, branding T-shirts and shorts and just about any piece of clothing you can think of, with different catchphrases and advertisements for himself, No Soda Entertainment, and the Traphouse. I asked No Soda what he thought about major recording artists and what they give back to the communities and fans. He had no comment, due to he did’nt want to hurt anyone’s feelings or put anybody on blast. He said artist get big headed and he believes you need your fans and you owe your fans, because your fans are what make you. I asked him how does he think his fans view him as a major artist. He said his team and his support system are who he keeps around, everyone on his team is equal, but if he buys a new outfit, he buys the team the new outfit, if he gets a chain, everyone gets a chain. No Soda believes in, “as he comes up, they come up“, without his team he wouldn’t be where he is today. And he is very humble and saying he loves his fans and friends who support his music and his talents, and he will remember each and every one of them, and show the respect and appreciation as major recording artist should show to their fans for making them. I then proceeded to ask No Soda about the production he’s had so far, he speaks very highly of the producer Sweat Da Track. He produced a record for them soundtrack for the movie Drumline.
He also mentioned the producer Ricky G. Soda explained he does not by production for the hype, or to be like everyone else who has to have a beat from a particular producer at a certain point in time, he purchases beats that fit him, that goes well with his style. He then stated he would be willing to work with Drumma boy, Dr. Dre, and other producers who make great music. No Soda showed his respects for major recording artist Lil Wayne, in referring to his drive he mentioned that Wayne has a studio in his vehicle, Soda said that’s the drive he gears towards. He’s more focused on development and building a structure, not all over the map with no direction. He believes as far as his career sky’s the limit, Soda went on to say “lazy is a disease”, some artist get comfortable and fall off. Right now Sodas mix tape “The Dopest of dealaz” is all over the Internet, on every mix tape site you can think of. I asked No Soda about future projects, he has a tape coming out with DJ Fletch the middle of next month, with features from Gorilla Zoe, Lil’ Scrappy, and Big Gipp of Goodie mob, and also a mix tape in the future from DJ Burn One. No albums yet, he’s taking his time to build the fan base, and push mix tapes, he believes that the album will come, he’s not rushing. The most memorable statement he made to me was “even when I’m winning, I ain’t won yet”.
For those of you who have not heard of No Soda, I suggest you go to the Google search bar and type in “No Soda”, then hit enter. This artist you will see a lot more of in the future, special thanks to the Traphouse, Nina Stax, Big Ed, and No Soda.