For nearly two decades, Atlanta has been the city shaping the sound of street rapâin fact, itâs literally redefined the genre by introducing the world to trap music. Behind that shift are artists like Pastor Troy, Young Jeezy, Gucci Mane, and, most recently, Migos. And behind each of those artists is one guy: Kevin âCoach Kâ Lee. An Indiana transplant whoâs lived in Atlanta since 1996, Coach K has managed almost all of Atlantaâs biggest rappers at some pointâpoints that, by the way, were at the height of their respective careersâand, by doing so, has quietly had his touch all over recent rap history. Coach K parted ways with Jeezy in 2007 and Gucci in 2012, but his finger is just as on the pulse as ever: Heâs the co-founder of Quality Control (QC) Records, home to viral hitmakers Migos and OG Maco.Hip-hop's got no shortage of impresarios. Besides every would-be rapper who is âactually more like a CEO,â you've got a full clown college of real moguls and managers who each dresses and acts like an insane cartoon of themselves. What makes Coach K stand out from this crowd is he's the only one who doesn't stand out at all. He doesn't rent giraffes for his birthday or do interviews in the lotus position or walk around in his own brand of velour urban camo loungewear. Coach actually wore the same pants as I did to our interview.Which, by the way, he barely agreed to do. I assumed since the most press he'd done in the last 20 years was a three-quote fluff piece in XXL, he was kind of due, but when we met him in the parking lot of Magic City (he was dropping off two of the Migos for a video shoot) and asked him if he wanted to say anything for the camera as part of Noisey Atlanta, he told us, âNo thanks, I'm not so big on attention.â Who in rap has ever said that? In an industry where every label bosses is preening for the same amount of publicity as their artists, the fact that the manager of three of the rap world's biggest acts has flown under the media radar for almost two decades isn't just weird, it's kind of spooky. Like, what does he know?Update! Billboard just blew the lid off of him. Timing, man.This is a lightly edited transcript of part one of our conversation, focusing on Migos and Gucci Mane. Part two, focusing on Pastor Troy, Jeezy, and Gucci, will be coming later this week.Can you tell me a little bit about hipster rap?
Iâm really a grown hipster. I hate that word, but itâs really the cool kids that have their own individuality, that donât fall into the norm of whatâs going on. I was always one of those kids. Hip-hop birthed me, though. I could see where it started, and Iâm relevant to where it is now. I used to own a lounge. It was comparative to a lounge in the Lower East Side. It held about 250 people. Thatâs where the whole âhipster sceneâ started. In my spot. This party called Broke and Bougie started at my club. This party called Sloppy Second Saturdays started at my club. That was where the hipster started. Maco calls me the Hipster God.How do you feel about that?
[Laughs] Itâs cool. Iâll take that. If Iâm the Hipster God, then Iâm the Trap God, too. I gave Gucci that name, though.Oh, really? I always assumed it was something he came up with himself.
No, I gave him that name. We went to California and we did this show downtown. We did it with G Shock and the Hundreds. They did a collabo watch. Gucci was the performer for this show. I go to LA a lot. That was the first time I saw hood niggasâit was like 2,500 kids just wylinâ. I heard them kids: âGucci is god!â So we were trying to think of a name for his next mixtape. I was like, âyou're the Trap God.â Boom. That shit was birthed.So Gucciâs got a good rep with A&R, finding people. How much of that was genuinely him finding people, or how much of it was you, and him getting credit?
I mean, nah, Gucciâs got a good ear. We worked hand in hand on that shit. With Gucc, I knew him he knew me. We were really close. So Iâd play shit for him, and heâd be like hell yeah. Or, heâs such a free spirit, he would just go. His ear is crazy. He knows before it hits.Itâs like a canary.
Yep. He knows, man. Heâll call me, âCoach, you gotta hear this!â Iâll come listen to this shit like, âyeah, thatâs it right there. Letâs sign him.â
I havenât talked to him in a minute. Weâll probably end up talking. I know weâll talk. Itâs been a few months.Do you think his time at the top of Atlanta, 2009-2012â
That was his.Do you think that was the peak of it? Or is his influence still important?
I mean he has a real cult following. You know, his fans are for real. I used to watch them. Gucciâs honest, so heâll get on that social media and heâll come directly at you. Maybe he says something to an artist, his fans. They were true fans. Itâs hard to say, man. Iâm gonna keep it real, itâs a new day now. The rap game, to me, it changes about every ten years. Itâs like a change of guards. Now youâve got the Migos, youâve got Rich Homie, youâve got the Thugs. They took the baton. The T.I.s, the Guccis, theyâre OGs. They calling them OGs, now. Once they start calling them OGs, that time is ticking. You feel what Iâm saying? Itâs a new generation.Howâd you find Migos, by the way?
Internet. Zaytoven called me. He called me like, âyou heard about these boys?â Iâm like, âoh shit.â You know how I really heard about them? The hipster kids. The hipster kids be on the grungiest, dirtiest shit first. Itâs different. They want to be the first ones who was on it. We knew about that. I remember hollering at some of the little hipster cats like, âyo, you heard of Migos?â They were âfuck yeah, Bando!â I was like âIâm going after these boys.â For real. I gave new shit, on the brink shit, for my young cats. My hipster cats. I hate saying that word though. Iâm not saying that shit no more.I feel like itâs almost like, a psychedelic era in hip-hop.
It is. Yeah. Itâs like the 80s, man. Itâs the early 80s, man. These kids experimenting with all these drugs like they did in the 80s.Ecstasyâs hitting again.
You've got to think, in the early 80s, man, they were on that shit. It was a real psychedelic time. You can hear it now. The music is reallyâitâs a hybrid music.
I mean, I just gave a lot of the new producers chances. There was a time when we were making music where, when I started with Gucci, I was his producer. When I was doing Jeezy, I had Shawty Redd and Drumma Boy. They were young, and they were the go-to with that sound. To me, Shawty Redd created trap music. He created that sound. From him, all these producers came through. But I believe in going and finding the young, new producers.How would you define the sound and aesthetic of trap music?
Trap music is the pure, uncut bookâthis is on the rapperâs sideâthe book of the streets. Itâs the journal to the hood. In trap music man, when the rapperâs rapping, you should be able to smell the dope cooking. If heâs talking about it. You should be able to visualize that shit. And then the beat, production wise? Crack baby beats. Because itâs like four sounds. 808s. Leave that shit open so a nigga can put his adlibs in there! Thatâs how we were doing it with Jeezy. He had a really slow flow, so leave the beat open. And go on the beat and pocket, but let your adlibs be the other components of the beat!What does that actually mean, âcrack baby beatsâ?
Born in that era, man. Crack baby beats are the kids who didnât grow up playing instruments, but they might have had a keyboard. A Casio. The simplest shit. But the 808 is hitting. He might have four sounds in that shit. OG Macoâs âU Guessed It,â that had four sounds in it, and that shit is crazy.Whatâs your take on major labels circling in? Atlanta kind of keeps them out.
The South is the home of the independents, bro. You had Rap-A-Lot, you had Swisha House, you had Suave House. Rap-A-Lot and Suave House were the first to do itâ8Ball and MJG and Tela, the Suave House movement was crazyâaround the same time, and then came Master P and the Cash Moneys. In Atlanta, there was mad independents here, but you had LaFace here. That was really like a major indie with a lot of fucking money. And they signed Outkast, so basically, they were the first major to come in it. But when LA Reid leftâit was only five yearsâhe left, and it opened it right back up. Weâre going to get it ourselves. Weâve got to grind it out because the majors werenât coming down here. They werenât. So that whole mind state is still down here. You can fuckinâ get your artist right, get his record going, and tour the chitlinâ circuit, which is every B and C market in the South.Can you still do that?
Fuck yeah! Pastor Troy still makesâhe said he gets $3,500 to $4,000 per show. And heâs booked four or five times a week.Thatâs impressive.
Exactly. But the market is so big that you can move around. You have all these major artists, theyâre not going into those towns, man. Kids in these towns used to actually go buy and mix CDs, looking for the records. Thatâs how Yo Gotti blew the fuck up. Hitting those markets. Lil Boosie, same way. Their whole shit was built off the chitlinâ circuit. Trill Entertainment. I-10, from Florida to Texas. They ran that shit.Can you tell me about QC?
Itâs a label we started a year and a half ago. Migos was the first group we signed. We signed Johnny Cinco. We signed Rich Da Kid, Skippa Da Flippa, and OG Maco. Migosâ success, we worked really hard to blow those kids up, to make them a household name. We had some success over the past year. I give it up to them because they keep it real. Theyâre all about branding QC. Theyâre screaming that shit out. So they started branding the label.Are you worried at all that trap music might be co-opted?
It is. I think trap music is on itâs way out, Iâm gonna keep it one hundred. Iâve watched this shit. I know when itâs about to make a change. Itâs changing now. I think with the artists that we haveâtake Migos, they make trap music. But they also came into the game with a cadence and style that was never heard before. I mean people can say they took this or that. From that, I watched every major rapper steal their flow. These kids is about to be here. And theyâre so creative that theyâll be here for the next ten years. So Iâm not even scared of that.What do you think will happen to the trap scene?
Theyâll come up with a new word for it. Itâs just lingo. You know? Like âswag rap.â They fucked up swag. That word, I hate that word. And thatâs what theyâre doing with trap. Whenever The Man gets control of the lingo, eventually it turns corny. So they just need to come up with some new lingo.What are Migos like? A lot of kids see them in videos and think, âFuck, Iâd really like to meet them.â Can you describe what theyâre like? How are they to manage?
Itâs my first time dealing with a group. So itâs a lot of work. Theyâre three individuals. And individually, all three of them could be solo acts and stand up on their own. So dealing with three individuals is like, youâve got to really take into consideration that thereâs three of them. So youâve got to give each one their time. But theyâre stars, man. Theyâre from the North Side. But, see, people get it misconstrued. The North Side, thereâs nothing going on out there. They shut the projects down and moved the kids out. All the families out. You go to the North Side itâs crazy as hell out there, bro. Thatâs the drug hub of the east coast. Spaghetti Junction. I-285.Because it goes right up the North East.
Exactly. And I-75 goes to Florida. And we have the third largest Mexican community in the US. Itâs crazy on that side of town. About every six months they find and hit like three hundred bricks of cocaine. Six, seven, eight, nine, ten million dollars. Itâs crazy.What are Migos like individually?
Theyâre fun as hell, man. They each are different characters. Offset is real aggressive. Heâs been in and out of jail a couple times. Heâs dealt with a few things. Quavo is this smooth motherfucker, man. Really really smooth. Takeoff is a sleeper. Heâs the baby of the bunch. Heâs like the player that you got on the team that you know like, âlisten, we got ten seconds left, we need you to score this three pointer. Take off.â Heâs going to score. His verses, man? He never ceases to amaze me. Iâm like, âwhat the fuck was you thinkinâ about?â Itâs so fiery, too. Theyâre like my little brothers, man.Watch Noisey Atlanta here.Follow Thomas Morton on Twitter.
Annoncering
Annoncering
Iâm really a grown hipster. I hate that word, but itâs really the cool kids that have their own individuality, that donât fall into the norm of whatâs going on. I was always one of those kids. Hip-hop birthed me, though. I could see where it started, and Iâm relevant to where it is now. I used to own a lounge. It was comparative to a lounge in the Lower East Side. It held about 250 people. Thatâs where the whole âhipster sceneâ started. In my spot. This party called Broke and Bougie started at my club. This party called Sloppy Second Saturdays started at my club. That was where the hipster started. Maco calls me the Hipster God.How do you feel about that?
[Laughs] Itâs cool. Iâll take that. If Iâm the Hipster God, then Iâm the Trap God, too. I gave Gucci that name, though.Oh, really? I always assumed it was something he came up with himself.
No, I gave him that name. We went to California and we did this show downtown. We did it with G Shock and the Hundreds. They did a collabo watch. Gucci was the performer for this show. I go to LA a lot. That was the first time I saw hood niggasâit was like 2,500 kids just wylinâ. I heard them kids: âGucci is god!â So we were trying to think of a name for his next mixtape. I was like, âyou're the Trap God.â Boom. That shit was birthed.So Gucciâs got a good rep with A&R, finding people. How much of that was genuinely him finding people, or how much of it was you, and him getting credit?
I mean, nah, Gucciâs got a good ear. We worked hand in hand on that shit. With Gucc, I knew him he knew me. We were really close. So Iâd play shit for him, and heâd be like hell yeah. Or, heâs such a free spirit, he would just go. His ear is crazy. He knows before it hits.
Annoncering
Yep. He knows, man. Heâll call me, âCoach, you gotta hear this!â Iâll come listen to this shit like, âyeah, thatâs it right there. Letâs sign him.â
Are you guys still in touch while heâs in jail?
I havenât talked to him in a minute. Weâll probably end up talking. I know weâll talk. Itâs been a few months.Do you think his time at the top of Atlanta, 2009-2012â
That was his.Do you think that was the peak of it? Or is his influence still important?
I mean he has a real cult following. You know, his fans are for real. I used to watch them. Gucciâs honest, so heâll get on that social media and heâll come directly at you. Maybe he says something to an artist, his fans. They were true fans. Itâs hard to say, man. Iâm gonna keep it real, itâs a new day now. The rap game, to me, it changes about every ten years. Itâs like a change of guards. Now youâve got the Migos, youâve got Rich Homie, youâve got the Thugs. They took the baton. The T.I.s, the Guccis, theyâre OGs. They calling them OGs, now. Once they start calling them OGs, that time is ticking. You feel what Iâm saying? Itâs a new generation.Howâd you find Migos, by the way?
Internet. Zaytoven called me. He called me like, âyou heard about these boys?â Iâm like, âoh shit.â You know how I really heard about them? The hipster kids. The hipster kids be on the grungiest, dirtiest shit first. Itâs different. They want to be the first ones who was on it. We knew about that. I remember hollering at some of the little hipster cats like, âyo, you heard of Migos?â They were âfuck yeah, Bando!â I was like âIâm going after these boys.â For real. I gave new shit, on the brink shit, for my young cats. My hipster cats. I hate saying that word though. Iâm not saying that shit no more.
Annoncering
It is. Yeah. Itâs like the 80s, man. Itâs the early 80s, man. These kids experimenting with all these drugs like they did in the 80s.Ecstasyâs hitting again.
You've got to think, in the early 80s, man, they were on that shit. It was a real psychedelic time. You can hear it now. The music is reallyâitâs a hybrid music.
The sound is really colorful. Production has gotten crazy. This is a real producerâs town. A lot of people credit you with that. Do you think thatâs fair?
I mean, I just gave a lot of the new producers chances. There was a time when we were making music where, when I started with Gucci, I was his producer. When I was doing Jeezy, I had Shawty Redd and Drumma Boy. They were young, and they were the go-to with that sound. To me, Shawty Redd created trap music. He created that sound. From him, all these producers came through. But I believe in going and finding the young, new producers.How would you define the sound and aesthetic of trap music?
Trap music is the pure, uncut bookâthis is on the rapperâs sideâthe book of the streets. Itâs the journal to the hood. In trap music man, when the rapperâs rapping, you should be able to smell the dope cooking. If heâs talking about it. You should be able to visualize that shit. And then the beat, production wise? Crack baby beats. Because itâs like four sounds. 808s. Leave that shit open so a nigga can put his adlibs in there! Thatâs how we were doing it with Jeezy. He had a really slow flow, so leave the beat open. And go on the beat and pocket, but let your adlibs be the other components of the beat!
Annoncering
Born in that era, man. Crack baby beats are the kids who didnât grow up playing instruments, but they might have had a keyboard. A Casio. The simplest shit. But the 808 is hitting. He might have four sounds in that shit. OG Macoâs âU Guessed It,â that had four sounds in it, and that shit is crazy.Whatâs your take on major labels circling in? Atlanta kind of keeps them out.
The South is the home of the independents, bro. You had Rap-A-Lot, you had Swisha House, you had Suave House. Rap-A-Lot and Suave House were the first to do itâ8Ball and MJG and Tela, the Suave House movement was crazyâaround the same time, and then came Master P and the Cash Moneys. In Atlanta, there was mad independents here, but you had LaFace here. That was really like a major indie with a lot of fucking money. And they signed Outkast, so basically, they were the first major to come in it. But when LA Reid leftâit was only five yearsâhe left, and it opened it right back up. Weâre going to get it ourselves. Weâve got to grind it out because the majors werenât coming down here. They werenât. So that whole mind state is still down here. You can fuckinâ get your artist right, get his record going, and tour the chitlinâ circuit, which is every B and C market in the South.Can you still do that?
Fuck yeah! Pastor Troy still makesâhe said he gets $3,500 to $4,000 per show. And heâs booked four or five times a week.
Annoncering
Exactly. But the market is so big that you can move around. You have all these major artists, theyâre not going into those towns, man. Kids in these towns used to actually go buy and mix CDs, looking for the records. Thatâs how Yo Gotti blew the fuck up. Hitting those markets. Lil Boosie, same way. Their whole shit was built off the chitlinâ circuit. Trill Entertainment. I-10, from Florida to Texas. They ran that shit.Can you tell me about QC?
Itâs a label we started a year and a half ago. Migos was the first group we signed. We signed Johnny Cinco. We signed Rich Da Kid, Skippa Da Flippa, and OG Maco. Migosâ success, we worked really hard to blow those kids up, to make them a household name. We had some success over the past year. I give it up to them because they keep it real. Theyâre all about branding QC. Theyâre screaming that shit out. So they started branding the label.Are you worried at all that trap music might be co-opted?
It is. I think trap music is on itâs way out, Iâm gonna keep it one hundred. Iâve watched this shit. I know when itâs about to make a change. Itâs changing now. I think with the artists that we haveâtake Migos, they make trap music. But they also came into the game with a cadence and style that was never heard before. I mean people can say they took this or that. From that, I watched every major rapper steal their flow. These kids is about to be here. And theyâre so creative that theyâll be here for the next ten years. So Iâm not even scared of that.
Annoncering
Theyâll come up with a new word for it. Itâs just lingo. You know? Like âswag rap.â They fucked up swag. That word, I hate that word. And thatâs what theyâre doing with trap. Whenever The Man gets control of the lingo, eventually it turns corny. So they just need to come up with some new lingo.What are Migos like? A lot of kids see them in videos and think, âFuck, Iâd really like to meet them.â Can you describe what theyâre like? How are they to manage?
Itâs my first time dealing with a group. So itâs a lot of work. Theyâre three individuals. And individually, all three of them could be solo acts and stand up on their own. So dealing with three individuals is like, youâve got to really take into consideration that thereâs three of them. So youâve got to give each one their time. But theyâre stars, man. Theyâre from the North Side. But, see, people get it misconstrued. The North Side, thereâs nothing going on out there. They shut the projects down and moved the kids out. All the families out. You go to the North Side itâs crazy as hell out there, bro. Thatâs the drug hub of the east coast. Spaghetti Junction. I-285.Because it goes right up the North East.
Exactly. And I-75 goes to Florida. And we have the third largest Mexican community in the US. Itâs crazy on that side of town. About every six months they find and hit like three hundred bricks of cocaine. Six, seven, eight, nine, ten million dollars. Itâs crazy.What are Migos like individually?
Theyâre fun as hell, man. They each are different characters. Offset is real aggressive. Heâs been in and out of jail a couple times. Heâs dealt with a few things. Quavo is this smooth motherfucker, man. Really really smooth. Takeoff is a sleeper. Heâs the baby of the bunch. Heâs like the player that you got on the team that you know like, âlisten, we got ten seconds left, we need you to score this three pointer. Take off.â Heâs going to score. His verses, man? He never ceases to amaze me. Iâm like, âwhat the fuck was you thinkinâ about?â Itâs so fiery, too. Theyâre like my little brothers, man.Watch Noisey Atlanta here.Follow Thomas Morton on Twitter.
