Hood Tali P is here to put on for his hometown of Philly, and he’s baring it all in his music. The rising star arrives as a breath of fresh air on the rap scene, equipped with his own storytelling as he navigates the transition of leaving the streets behind and focusing on his professional rap career.
In describing himself, Hood Tali states, “I’m very outspoken, but I’m a very intelligent individual. I’m probably misunderstood, until you really get around me and talk to me. Because you’ll see, I act a whole different way from what I’m perceived as on the internet.”
When asked how he’s perceived on the internet, he states, “there’s mixed emotions about me. Some emotions be negative, some emotions be positive. That’s all about stirring the pot, keeping the attention drawn to me. It’s not really nothing personal or I’m a bad person. Everything I say, people take it and run with it.”
Fast forward to 2022, Hood Tali P returns with his newest project titled Top Opp, detailing his journey thus far in the rap game. The 15-track project is spearheaded by lead singles Two 40’s & A 9, “Dead Man!”, “Mob Business,” and “Blake Griffin.”
AllHipHop caught up with Hood Tali P via Zoom to discuss his sound, roots in Philly, Meek Mill cosign, the new project, fatherhood, goals, and more!
AllHipHop: How would you describe your sound?
Hood Tali P: I wouldn’t say I’m the hardest lyricist, I’m more so really pop my s### for real for real. I tell stories about real life situations that I’ve been through, with my own little finesse to it.
AllHipHop: What does Philly mean to you?
Hood Tali P: I love Philly, that’s my hometown. That’s where all my people at, but I’m really starting to outgrow Philly. I feel like I did enough for the city to where I’m not really looking for the city validation no more. I’m more so trying to spread my music out more, because I already did everything I had to do in Philly. But I love Philly because without Philly, there wouldn’t be no me.
AllHipHop: When did you realize you could do music for a living? Was there a turning point?
Hood Tali P: When I dropped my first music video for real for real. Alright, I was a regular n*gga in the city doing what I gotta do to get by. Man, we doing a lot of s### right now you feel me? Our everyday activities, we do a lot of s###. Damn, I might as well. At that time, it was a lot of artists from Philly getting a lot of recognition. If they doing it, why can’t I do it?
I didn’t really start getting in the booth until I linked up with my dad. I had stopped being around my dad when I was 5, and I reunited with him when I was 19. I already had a son. I was way ahead of my time, so it wasn’t really nothing for us to do as far as spending time together. My dad used to rap so he always had a studio. That’s where I recorded my first songs at, in the studio my dad went to. He was using that as a way to spend time with me.
I just recorded a couple songs. I was recording, I was recording, I was recording. It took me a couple months to drop my first video. I dropped the “Exotic” February 2020. From October to November 2019, I was already making music. It just wasn’t out, I wasn’t posting it, I just had a bunch of music in my phone. But I really knew that I had to keep going once I dropped my first video, and it did a certain amount. It really confirmed it once I heard a lot of people try to imitate my sound in the city. Damn, I really got influence out here. I gotta keep it going.
AllHipHop: How did Meek Mill catch wind with you, and what’d that mean? That’s huge.
Hood Tali P: We got a lot of people that’s a part of his camp and team. We got mutual respect for each other. I’m cool with a couple of his nephews, a lot of people around him. I really feel like he got wind of me from hearing a couple of people around him hearing my music, then he gravitated to it. Eventually, he showed me love, threw me a little shoutout on Instagram. He followed me.
Every once in a while, he’ll give me words of encouragement to keep going. Shout out to Meek Mill. It’s crazy, that shout out gave me 10K followers. I really appreciate him for that. I had 7500 followers, he gave me a shout out on one of my music videos and that brought me all the way up to 10K. I got my first 10K followers because of Meek.
AllHipHop: That’s crazy! Were you able to thank him at all?
Hood Tali P: Yeah, it’s crazy. That’s why I said through the DM, he always gives me words of encouragement. Keep going, stuff to watch out for.
AllHipHop: He was trying to get y’all to not beef in the city. Can you touch on that?
Hood Tali P: Yeah, he had posted on Twitter: “there’s a lot of talent in the city.” But everybody in the city is really at odds with each other. That’s a part of the reason why it takes a little longer for us to really break out. If you go to other cities, if you go to Los Angeles, they really support some of their artists coming up. Rest in peace to Drakeo The Ruler ,but he had a lot of support from Los Angeles when he came up.
If you look at Atlanta, Young Thug, Lil Baby, they could be beefing with each other about who’s gonna be the top dog, but instead they all came together. They ended up working out better for the city as a whole. That’s what holds us back. I understand people lost people, but I look at it like this: with the people you lost, would they rather you die for them? Or would the people you lost rather you carry their legacy or their name on? Be able to help with their family and stuff like that.
AllHipHop: You just dropped your new project, Top Opp. Why are you the top opp?
Hood Tali P: People misinterpret me as a person because of Instagram. A lot of people don’t like me, I got a lot of haters too. You gotta look at it like this: the way I came through Philly, a lot of the dudes that don’t like me have been rapping for a long time. I’m 22, we’re all in the same age bracket for real for real. A lot of these dudes out there been rapping since I was in 8th grade. For me to come and I’m doing the stuff I’m doing, from me starting to rap by picking up a mic in 2020, I never even did no freestyle before that.
For me to do that and get the attention I got, now I’m compared to on the same level as y’all and a lot of people don’t like that. I’m an outspoken person. I’m not a go with the flow type of person. If something wrong, I’m gonna speak on it. If there is a flaw, I’m gonna speak on it. I’m not the type to bite my tongue. It tends to be the people that’s not afraid to bite they tongue and speak out, they always get a bad rep from get in line and go with the flow type people. That’s why I’m the top opp, because I go against everything that everybody else wants to do.
AllHipHop: What’s one thing you want people to take away from the project?
Hood Tali P: I don’t necessarily gotta be a drill rapper. I don’t even like being classified as a drill rapper. I’m not no drill rapper, I’m just rapping about my life. This is not no movie, it’s not no facade. It’s not for gang recognition, this is my real life. This is what I’ve really been through. This is all I know, I’ve been dealing with this type lifestyle since I was 16. I’m 22.
Before I thought about a record, this all I knew. Damn, they like it. They interested in it, but I don’t want them to think that’s all I could be boxed into. I could rap about stuff with a certain type of substance, regardless if you want to hear about money or pain. Anything, I could do it. I can switch my beat types too, that’s another thing I want people to really see.
AllHipHop: Do you have a favorite track on the album?
Hood Tali P: “Get A Str8,” because that’s a real story about my life. I had got locked up when I was 17 on a juvenile gun case, but I was lucky enough to get house arrest so I was back home. This was my real life story about a point in time in my life where that time period really molded me. Going through that really molded me, made me a stronger person as a whole.
AllHipHop: I know you’re a father too? How’s that feel?
Hood Tali P: Yes, I got a 3-year-old. It feels great. That made me man up fast. I had to really be responsible, it gave me something to live for. Before I was going on about my days, living for the moment because that’s all I knew. I was a product of my environment. But having him made me be like damn, if something happens to me, how’s he gonna turn out?
He deserves to be able to be whatever he wants to be. He deserves to be able to go to the best schools, be around good people. I don’t want him to grow up in that environment and be around the people that I had to grow up with. Bad influences, bad energy, I don’t want him to have to go through that. It’s my job. It’s my responsibility as his father to make sure he don’t got to worry about nothing. As soon as I had him, that clicked on my head. That opened up a different type of hunger inside of me, to where I gotta get s### right for him.
AllHipHop: I saw your interview about getting shot at at the gender reveal. How’d that affect you?
Hood Tali P: I haven’t been in a situation like that since, I had to change the whole way I moved. In a sense, I’m not glad it happened, but I’m glad it happened because it humbled me. Around that time, I was really moving around like ain’t nothing gon’ happen to me. I used to always argue: nobody gonna do nothing to me, I do what I want. But that showed me you’re not invincible. That quick, you can be gone. It was a blessing I was able to make it out, but it was a real lesson too at the same time.
AllHipHop: I know you love food. What’s your favorite food?
Hood Tali P: Damn that’s hard. This my favorite thing to get from Philly: a 4-piece fried, extra crispy with General Tso’s chicken sauce on the side. That’s my favorite thing to get in the city.
AllHipHop: You be cooking or no?
Hood Tali P: Yeah, I know how to cook real good. I can make anything, honestly. On the grill, on the stove, anything. I know how to cook real good.
AllHipHop: What’s the best encounter you had with a fan?
Hood Tali P: I walked in the gas station. Philly, that’s cool. That’s a given. It really messed my head up when a fan recognized me out in Atlanta. One day, I had walked in the gas station, he’s like “damn, that’s Hood Tali!” He wanted a picture with me. I thought: Damn, this s### could get big. I never had nobody walk up to me from another state and know who I am, that really made me feel good right there. It was 600 miles away from my state, so that was big for me.
AllHipHop: Any goals for yourself at this point in your career?
Hood Tali P: To get where I’m trying to go and really stay away from the trouble and the haters, that’s all. Take care of my family, that’s the main goal. Make sure nobody gotta worry about nothing. My friends don’t gotta worry about something happening to them, my mom don’t gotta worry about if she gotta work. I got a little brother, a little sister, a grandma… I got a lot of family members that really depend on me.
AllHipHop: Anything else you want to let the people know?
Hood Tali P: We gonna keep it going. We about to start flooding with music again, we getting everything ready. Videos, vlogs, we about to put everything in full throttle right now. We gonna end the year out with something nice. 2023, we’re not gonna take no breaks. We go straight, put our foot on the pedal and turn it up even more. Stay tuned for 2023, and my birthday January 22nd. I will be dropping something for my birthday, something special for the fans.
