Hollywood Holt Talks Kanye, Signing To G.O.O.D. Music And More [Video]

The month of March kicked off with some big news for a little-known Chicago rapper, Hollywood Holt. The rapper has been bubbling underneath the surface for a minute, however, he quickly elevated in the rap stratosphere with the announcement that he signed with G.O.O.D. Music. Now, it’s time to play catch up. Holt sat down with us during SXSW, and gave us the scoop on his style and sound for all the newbs. He also explained how his connection with Kanye turned into a record deal. Consider this your formal introduction to Holt. “I’ve known Kanye, not as really tight friends or nothing, but we’ve known Kanye and the whole team for years…I was breakdancing in the crowd at his listening party for Graduation,” Holt explained. “I’ve never tried to jump under the G.O.O.D. umbrella beforehand, it was always just like we’re doing our thing. I’ve always been a very self-sufficient artist, me and my cousin Mano, we kinda just built ourselves and Kanye took notice. The first video I ever shot, Kanye posted it on his blog back in the day.” Holt went on to explain how a chance encounter with Kanye in NYC led to a working relationship, and how Ye finagled Holt’s “Back to Black” Amy Winehouse cover for “The Great Gatsby” film. “I was in New York with the Madden brothers, and we were just hanging out, apparently at some really cool bar club that no one can get into, I don’t know, I found out later. Kanye walks in, and he’s like, ‘hey what’s up,’ and we’re chatting. And he’s like, ‘I’m about to go to the studio, you guys wanna stop by?’ we’re like, ‘yeah.'” He continued, “So we go to the studio and the Madden brothers are plating him what they got going on, and Knaye plays me Watch The Throne. Imagine hearing Watch the Throne two years before it comes up, and whistling “Niggas in Paris” for two years.”