Hip hop newcomer Issa recently held a listening party for his upcoming mixtape “Lost Prophet” at the AKOO Clothing Brand Showroom in Manhattan where industry insiders got a chance to hear from the up and coming artist.
At the age of 18, Issa has been in the game since he was 15 garnering a generous following via social media and getting buzz in his hometown of Atlanta. In 2010 he was signed to RCA Records after being discovered on worldstarhiphop.com. He left the label earlier this year due to creative differences.
His first two mixtapes, “Back To The Future,” and “King Issa,” which he dropped over the last two years, received heavy rotation in the Atlanta area. His latest tape, “King Issa,” features artist including Gucci Mane, Swizz Beats, Travis Porter, Jawan Harris, Jacob Latimore and Jacquees.
In an interview with the AmNews, Issa said his hard work has paid off and “Lost Prophet,” which will be available for download August 28, is going to take things to the next level for the young artist.
“This mixtape is showing two different sides of me,” he said. “My music always carries a meaning. I feel like I am a prophet. Sometime we do negative things as we are all trying to find ourselves. I’m still trying to find myself. Going through this music you will definitely understand the message I am trying to spread.”
Issa added that his online following was “organic.” He’s been entertaining since he was eight years old and has been recording since age 14. He shot his own videos and released mixtapes which building his fan base which inlcudes 80,000 followers on Twitter.
Some of his influence included Lil Wayne, DMX, Eminem, Jay Z. Growing up, his father turned him onto Redman and Method Man and Wu Tang Clan.
“I want people to get to know me as an artist. I want to build my core fan base as strong as possible. I feel like I’m next with this project,” Issa said.
Several celebrities were in the houses at Tuesday’s listening party including Karen Gravno of VH1’s Mob Wives and R&B singer Adrian Marcel.
Along with Issa’s listening party AKOO Clothing Brand previewed its Fall 2013 collection. AKOO, an acronym for A KING OF ONESELF, is a men’s contemporary clothing line that was founded by Grammy award winning artist, music and film producer, song writer and actor, Clifford “T.I.” Harris.