GG Music: Apollo S.T.U.N.T.’s Smooth Sound Is Here To Stay

Ferguson, Missouri is known by most for the unrest that followed Mike Brown‘s murder in 2014.

But Apollo S.T.U.N.T. is coming from Ferguson with a perspective that news cameras and social media activists can’t provide.

The homegrown and college educated artist-slash-entrepreneur plans to use his talent as a musician to create opportunities for himself and other artists to share their creativity with the world.

Stream Apollo’s latest project “7th Letter” below and click through to learn more about his inspirations and career highlights so far.

Inspiration: “I wanted to express myself.”

I’ve been writing since I was 11 and recording since I was probably about 13, 14. So I’ve been making music for a little over a decade.

I was always intrigued by music. I just kinda hopped into it. I started writing poetry when I was like 10 years old. That’s how I learned how to rhyme.

Then I started getting on instrumentals, started rapping over those at the crib when I was watching my little brother. That’s just how I utilized my free time.

I didn’t have anybody in my family that actually rapped, but my uncle can sing really well. Growing up in church I would watching him sing in the choir.

As far as rappers, Master P, Cash Money and Dungeon Family were big influences. Snoop Dogg‘s “The Game Is To Be Sold Not Told,” was first album I ever bought and I always liked Lil Wayne and Michael Jackson of course.

But OutKast really stood out to me.

I liked that they had that whole East Coast, coming off the dome type flow. Rapping fast and changing up the tempo. They were some of the pioneers of the sound that you have coming out of the south right now.

I liked Andre 3000 because of how he expressed himself through his lyrics and also how he dressed. Like, he never followed a trend of what people considered as trendy. He never stayed in one lane. That’s why he was a big influence on me, because he just stood out.”

Journey: “It started off as a hobby, but I kept it hidden from people for years.

At first it started off as a hobby, and then I kept it hidden from people for years. And then I started rehearsing some rhymes in front of people and people started saying, “That’s kind of dope.”

It encouraged me to be more open about it, then I started doing it so much that it became easier and a way for me to relieve my stress.

People actually enjoyed it, and I enjoyed it, so that’s when I realized I could actually do something with this if I take it seriously.

I guess it came my junior year in high school when I actually started heavily recording. Instead of doing homework I would just sit there and write rhymes with one of my homies.

Then I used to download songs and make mixtapes and sell them at school.

And I snuck one of my songs on there and I would hand them out. And people kept asking, “Who is this on that track?” And I was like, “Ay, that’s me.” They were like, “Man, get the fuck outta here.”

At that point, I was just like, “I think I’m working with something, it’s time to take this further.”

Growing up, I wanted to play sports, but it was easier for me to pop a cassette in and record some dope songs off the radio and rap over that because it didn’t cost that much and I always had paper or pencil in the house.

So I’d just sit around and draw or make music because my parents didn’t have to come out of pocket for that, that was something that I could do for myself. It kept me entertained and it helped me stay out of trouble, too.

Around the age of like 20 is when I was like, “OK, I gotta sit down and take this serious and create an album and create a sound.”

Music has been my main focus since about 2012, after my first performance. One of my classmates had an event and that was the first time I actually performed in front of people and I got a great response out of that.

My mom was there, my girl at the time, my little brother, people I go to school with — it was pretty fucking dope because I got a great response and ever since then I started hitting up open mics, and ever since then I’ve been meeting up with people and picking up momentum since then.

Highlights:

I started doing shows in KC, COMO and STL, my biggest achievement was when I headlined my first show at MOJO’s in Columbia, and I actually got to help other artists that were doing their thing but didn’t have a way to book shows. So getting the opportuntiy to use my talent to help others was one of my biggest accomplishments.

I got this song I’ve been promoting for the past year called I-70, it’s produced by Teddy Walton who produced “Electric Body” for A$AP Rocky.

I just shot the video for that. That’s my first and only video. It’s real catchy. I run into people like, “Aw, you Apollo?” And then they start singing the song like, “Cruising down 70.” That’s a good feeling.