Cyhi the Prynce Speaks on ‘Ivy League: Kick Back’ Mixtape and Musical

G.O.O.D. Music’s Cyhi the Prynce has had a busy year. From sitting in with Jay-Z and Kanye West at the Mercer Hotel while they recorded 'Watch the Throne' to promoting the 'Cruel Summer' compilation, it seems the Atlanta native wouldn’t have had a moment to record on his own.

“You know what? There’s no relaxing,” he tells TheDrop.fm. “I feel like we work all day and you sleep when you can.” With his fifth mixtape, 'Ivy League: Kick Back' out today, it seems that this year will be just as hectic -- Cyhi has groomed himself for this very opportunity since his first mixtape, 'Royal Flush,' dropped three years ago.

Cyhi has grown tremendously since his early days in the industry. He's currently plotting hip-hop domination with a multi-city tour that will begin at the end of February. The mixtape itself features appearances from Trae the Truth, 2 Chainz, Pill and others but the Atlanta emcee says that he’s most excited about the accompanying visuals. His plan is to shoot a video for every song on 'Kick Back,' creating a sort of hip-hop musical.

“I wanted to make it my version of ‘Streets Is Watching,’” he shares. “We almost wanted to make it like, a musical but a rap musical, but at the same time a movie. Something that would hit home and a lot of the visuals that I’m putting along with most of the songs are just a lot of my experiences from my life.”

Pill, Cyhi’s longtime partner in rap, will play a major role in the short film. The former Maybach Music Group affiliate has been a friend to Cyhi since their humble beginnings spending endless nights recording at Atlanta’s Treesound Studios -- long before major label A&Rs batted an eyelash at either emcee. “People don’t understand, like, a lot of people don’t get that you don’t meet many genuine people in the business," Cyhi states. "Everybody has their time and a lot of times you can’t rush greatness and I tell people that all the time.”

“[Pill’s] a great artist and I love his music,” he adds. “We feel like we’re more lyrically inclined and we understand each other. There are just different artists like that. We take time with our music. This is poetry.”

Poetry indeed. Since his debut, Cyhi the Prynce has become a lot more willing to experiment with different ideas. He says that 'Kick Back' will feature “storytelling from the first to the third person” and the content alternates between the highest and lowest points of life.

“I tell people all the time that I wasn’t the best reader growing up,” he admits with a chuckle. “I used to read slow as hell and people would get to laughing at me in the classroom. I may have to fight ‘em in P.E. [phys ed] or whatever but it helped me brush up on my literature. [It helped] how I talk to people and I read a lot more.

It just sharpened me as a man. I thank hip-hop for that and we continue to push the envelope as far as with hip-hop out of Atlanta.”

'Ivy League: Kick Back' debuts later today.

Listen to Cyhi the Prynce's 'Whoa'