From a farm in Appalachia to nationwide stages, Cowboy Killer has come a long way: With nothing but the genius of an artist, the rapper and trap grass entrepreneur has turned the pains and troubles of his past into an inspiring journey of overcoming and growth. A conversation about manifesting one’s dreams, the sound of Trapgrass, his new album – and how anything is possible.
By Katharina Moser
It is pleasantly cool under the smooth, clean studio walls in the Valley, a stark contrast to the wall of heat hanging over the roofs and parking lots of the city at high noon. Los Angeles is scalding under a heat wave that the summer has brought from the inland, and while the bright September sun blazes over the metropolis, one has to get used to the dimmed, mysterious lights when entering the recording studio. That is, NoName Studios, once home to the old studio of Death Row Records, the infamous record label founded by Suge Knight, Dr. Dre, The D.O.C. and Dick Griffey that has written hip hop history and offered countless rap legends the ideal spot to record their next hit song. And that is what Cowboy Killer, rapper and Trapgrass artist from Ohio, intends to do on this torrid day.
“The last few months alone felt like an entire lifetime. Everything is moving really fast”, says Cowboy Killer, blue reflective shades covering his eyes and the characteristic cowboy hat sitting on his long hair. After opening a show for his mentor and friend Yelawolf in Los Angeles’s iconic concert venue The Wiltern, the Appalachian self-made recording artist has not been resting for a minute and used every second to work on a new album he has in the works. “The album is going to be full of hard trap and real bangers. It’s classic”, says Cowboy Killer. While the release date has not been set yet, he will put out a new single every month leading up to the tape – and that only months after his last album release in March, called “Trapgrass”. “With the last album, I combined bluegrass, the hillbilly holler sound from deep down under, with the 808 weights and the hip hop drums”, describes Cowboy. “The new album is definitely going to be different.” Cowboy Killer, with his distinct hip hop style that embraces elements of blues and bluegrass, folk and Americana sounds, has put his very own mark and flavor to the unique subgenre that is called Trapgrass, and contributed to its evolution. “I see people giving me credit for that, which is cool, because I knew my music was not country rap. Not because I don’t like country rap, but due to the stigma around it. Country rap wasn’t taken seriously because the people who have made country rap in the past weren’t people of hip hop descendants. They were more commercialized, or trying to be. They had a hip hop beat, but that alone is not how hip hop was made and where it originates. Hip hop comes from the culture. It’s from the dance. It’s from the break, and it’s made by people who grew up in the culture. So I care about having Kaellin Ellis as my producer, and having people around me that understand the sound and craft.”
That devotion and commitment to true expression and soul in music also resonates with an ever-growing number of fans and supporters that show their love for Cowboy Killer and his band whenever they play live – an experience that is not quite like the conventional hip hop show. “It’s all about the energy and bringing back rock and roll. Our live music is a good blend of rock and roll, hip hop and country. The shows have been bonkers”, says Cowboy with a grin. “I like going to a show and see people play together in harmony and really give a fuck about it. We’re trying to bring back the real live show.”
“There’s less strategy and more creation right now. And that’s good for me, because I’m able to experiment and grow.”
Cowboy Killer
While Cowboy Killer’s live shows are an experience on its own and a must-see for anybody with love for hip hop and rock culture and its intensity and energy, the diverse artist has also been honing his skills and perfecting his craft lyrically. Not lastly “Devotion”, his third of four albums, and the several singles following the latest “Trapgrass” release are examples of his astonishing poetry and immaculate flow. And Cowboy Killer is still building and perfecting his craft. “I’m not competing with anybody. But I definitely have more people around me now that I can feel are on my level, and I’m on theirs. So I’m able to flex my muscle.” That is also due to the fact that he was signed to Yelawolf´s record label Slumerican in April this year, which allows him to enjoy all the benefits that come with a label deal while at the same time keeping his artistic freedom. “Being signed to Slumerican allows me to be on stage, to tap into the Slumerican audience and family, but also just to create and to do what I want to do. That’s the best part about it. I’m not chained to anyone or anything. Yelawolf shares that vision: He wasn’t chained to anybody, and I didn’t want to be chained either”, Cowboy Killer describes. He has his very own vision – for sound, for the spirit, and for the community of people he wants to stand in for. “Good for Life”, Cowboy Killer says, “is my brand, going back to my roots.” He shows its symbol tattooed on his arm. “I want to be able to always represent that in all artistic aspect of my music. Those things are unanimous. I never abandoned my brand.”
To that, his upcoming album will be another testimony, symbolic for the growth, the pain, the healing and the intensity of his personal and musical journey. “When I step in the studio booth, I never know what’s gonna happen. I don’t know what I’m gonna say. I don’t know where the songs are gonna come from, or what’s gonna make the album. There’s less strategy and more creation right now. And that’s good for me, because I’m able to experiment and grow”, Cowboy says. The album and all it encompasses will be enigmatic of his extraordinary journey – the hardships and pain of his upcoming and the power and inspiration of overcoming them. “The name being Cowabunga is me jumping into the fire. I’m coming out of being independent for ten years, doing every single step of the process myself, from shooting the videos to making the cover art to recording it, mixing, mastering, all of that. And I jump into this new world of having a whole team in my back and of being part of the industry.” All that will be depicted in the cover art of the album, too, he announces. “The cover is going to represent me, mounted on horseback, jumping from cliff to cliff. The one side will be fire, and this raging and madness which is the industry, and the other side is flourishing and growth.”
“I’m still manifesting and still writing the tale. Every single day is a song. There’s a song in everything.”
Cowboy Killer
With his growing success as an artist, the stories he tells in his songs have changed and diversified. “The story is writing itself. Now that more things are happening to me, I have more to say. With the position I’m in now, I reflect back on what it was like to manifest where I’m at today. How that felt so fucking impossible. How did I even make that happen? I look back and think, I can’t believe I’m actually here. I remember what it felt like eleven years ago, how terrible that was, how broke I was, how much I wanted to be at Death Row Records and be cooking up”, Cowboy recalls. “This is a dream come true, but the same time, I’m also still manifesting and still writing the tale. Every single day is a song. There’s a song in everything, and that’s where I write from.”
With his musical realm, the community he represents has grown, too. “I represent where I come from, but then also everybody that taps into our energy. I think I have a better sense of who I represent now than before. When I started out, having barely any fans, you don’t know who you are speaking to. Now I know. I’m speaking not only to people who look like me, but also people who don’t look like me. To moms and their eight-year-olds who think “Lucky Jeans” sounds catchy. They tap in, and they latch on, and that makes me realize that I have a responsibility to give them something, as long as it’s honest and true. I’m not trying to cater to any specific demographic. I just know who I am, and I speak for all those people that want to be a part of that.”
Although now an established artist and successful player in the game, Cowboy Killer has never lost touch with his roots, with where he came from, what he suffered through, and what has helped make him the person he is today. “I’ll never forget what it felt like to be where I’m from. There is never a complete detachment. It’s just in me. When you grow up in the middle of the woods on a farm, there’s nobody around me, no one to help, and no one’s coming. After that, I had to go all around from Florida to New Mexico to Nashville. I look at my life in phases, and I remember each step, and I hope I never forget that. As artists, we go through so much. I don’t think I’ve lost any sense of that whatsoever.”
“Beat your head against the wall until they let you in, until you see the light. I got a headache from it, and my head’s still buzzing from it, but at least I’m in a better place.”
Cowboy Killer
But when he goes back to visit his childhood home after recording in studios like in Los Angeles or playing big stages like the Sturgis Rally, the growth and change he has manifested for himself becomes tangible. “I wish people could experience what I experienced. I have been alive for 27 years now, and I’ve experienced many lifetimes already. Back home, you see people you grew up with, and they’re doing the same thing they always did, they’re sitting at the same bar. Then I think, bro, please go see the world. I’m privileged, man. I’m super grateful that I got the fuck out.” Having fought his way out of the trenches he was born into, believing in his dream and his ability to follow it, and having come all the way to see these dreams become reality, makes him wish more people had the courage and energy to pick themselves up and to dare setting off on a new journey. Cowboy Killer himself has never let the lack of means or resources stop him from chasing his dreams. “I went to New Mexico with a hundred dollars in my pockets. I was homeless and just surfing from couch to couch. That’s what made me. And I wouldn’t have it any other way, because then I wouldn’t be here today. And you realize that the universe is working in your favor. I’m taking that chance even with nothing in my hands, and that’s when it works out. I think many people get too comfortable, and they choose comfort over the grind and the risk, because the risk is scary. But the risk is also the reward. And this reward is always worth it”, Cowboy is convinced. “We say all the time, we have no plan B. We’re not aborting this baby. We’re gonna do this. There’s no way out for me. I know that it has to work, and it’s gonna work.”
While Cowboy believes in hard work and determination, he is also aware of the spiritual dimensions of his role in this world. “I’m very in tune with the way I move in the world and how it affects everything around me. If you threw a pebble in the ocean, that’s gonna change something. I stomp my boots in the ground and make an effort to try to reach toward my dream. And that goes for anybody with a dream: Beat your head against the wall until they let you in, until you see the light. I got a headache from it, and my head’s still buzzing from it, but at least I’m in a better place, and I can support my guys and go on the road and perform for people.” For Cowboy, it’s not about the numbers or the money. “It’s about your passion. And if you put your passion, your all, your true honesty and self-worth in it, you’ll find a lot of benefits and reap the rewards of the work you put in. I don’t think I would be here, had I not gone through the mud and tried to do new things and find fulfillment. I’m a different person now. Allow yourself to grow in it. You’re not gonna have it all figured out right now. Just jump in and fucking fail a million times until you see this is working.”
Having come so far on this journey, does it redeem all the pain and the losses of his tough coming up? “Yes. It finally feels good”, Cowboy says and breathes a sigh of relief. “Somebody asked me recently, how do I make it? Do it for ten years for nothing. If you can do it for ten years with no reward, no claps, no high-fives, no thank yous, but a bunch of fuck yous and nos, then it’ll work for you, and it’s worth it. You just have to keep pushing toward it. I’ve seen a lot of artists go broke. I’ve seen a lot of artists quit. More people quit than make it. So you got to figure out what is making it for you”, Cowboy says. “Do it because you love it. That’s what art is. Art isn’t meant to be loved and liked and sold to everybody. It’s about finding your tribe.”
“You never know who’s out there, listening to my music. But I just hope that one person is feeling something, and that I’m making their day a little better.”
Cowboy Killer
With his community and fan base, Cowboy Killer has created exactly that. “I’m finding that there are so many people who went through the same experience as me. I felt alone for so long, and now I don’t. I found that they felt alone, too, but then they listened to my music.” He wants his music to inspire hope – but of course also to simply be fun for the listeners. “Come out to a show and have fun with Cowboy. I want to inspire people to be better. And my biggest thing that I say at my shows is that it doesn’t matter where you’re from, what your background is, what your sexual orientation is, who you love, what your ethnicity is, how you were raised, or how you define a community – you are welcome at a Cowboy Killer show. And I want that to be so very apparent, that everybody is welcome here. Be yourself, just don’t be racist and don’t be an asshole”, Cowboy smiles.
His music and his shows are all about the energy, the true connection, and the vibrant intensity of music which he wants to transport in his songs. “When I write a song, I have no idea what I’m gonna say. It comes from the ether. Think about all the greats that have been in this building. Michael Jackson, Tupac, all the old legends that are no longer with us. And they are still in these walls, and I feel that. When a song makes me cry, I think to myself, I bet they were crying when they wrote it. We tap into that consciousness of the song.”
Amidst the concerts and studio sessions, success is one thing. But for Cowboy Killer, it is about so much more. “I’ve been manifesting my whole journey”, he is convinced, and he hopes that he inspires other people to chase their dream too. “You never know who’s out there, listening to my music. But I just hope that one person is feeling something, and that I’m making their day a little better. I’d like to be the soundtrack to someone’s day, getting to work and going about their business, and getting through this fucking tragic existence that is life. I hope they’re fucking feeling something. And that I can uplift them a little, with my music”, Cowboy says with a smile, his leather cowboy boots firmly on the ground, his rock´n´roll t-shirt withstanding the Los Angeles heat coming in through the door, where the glaring sun slowly sets behind the hills.
And as Cowboy Killer and his band step out of the studio back into the scorching heat of Los Angeles a few hours later, taking a last deep breath of the cool studio air that other legends have breathed before them, the evening breeze of the city of angels ruffling the trademark feather on Cowboy Killer’s hat like a last greeting, another row of brilliant songs is finished and done, ready for the tribe to hear and to feel, with their whole heart and soul.
The Wrapper 