Key Glock Is Having Fun & He Doesn’t Care Who Knows: ‘People Don’t See This Side of Me’

The typically reclusive Key Glock sports an infectious grin during his playback at the Billboard NYC office weeks ahead of PROJECT X‘s arrival.

Something’s different this time around. For one, Glock was moving around his favorite cities — he recorded the album during stays in Miami, Los Angeles, Houston and Atlanta — which supplied the motivation and party energy feeding the project.

In PROJECT X‘s lead-up, the 28-year-old’s been more open to letting people into his life, whether that be his The Road to Project X Vlogs or testing out new sounds at clubs like Booby Trap in Miami.

“A lot of clubs and strip clubs help me with the tracklisting and they don’t even know it. I was playing unreleased songs before Project X came out,” Glock tells Billboard. “I was giving it to certain DJs in cities when I was in the club and looking at the people’s reaction to it. That helped me pick like, ‘Oh, this song is one of the ones.'”

When you name an album after the 2012 movie that taught a generation of millennials what the best party in the world looked like, there better be a soundtrack that mimics the emotions tied to euphoric bliss, tapped kegs and sweaty basements.

Glizzock leaned on frequent collaborators like King Wonka, Honorable C.N.O.T.E. and Tay Keith, who supplied their trunk-rattling production to Glock’s lavish flexes and hedonistic escapades.

Unfortunately, Tay Keith passed away on June 18, just hours before PROJECT X hit streaming services. Still mourning the loss of his close friend, Glock understandably wasn’t ready to discuss the loss of the Memphis-bred hitmaker with Billboard.

PROJECT X arrived as a solo endeavor free of features on June 19 and debuted at No. 29 on the Billboard 200, giving the Memphis rapper another top 10 on the Top Rap Albums chart.

As far as what’s ahead, he’s already working on his next album. While there won’t be a deluxe edition, Glock says there will end up being a PROJECT X sequel down the line. Check out the rest of our interview with the Paper Route Empire boss below.

When you came by the Billboard office last month, you seemed to be in really good spirits. How do you sum up the Project X era compared to your previous work?

This one was more fun and a more lenient stage, I would say. I’m definitely more outside and I’ve been more social. That’s the biggest thing.

How does that leak into the studio? Does any specific recording story come to mind?

Sometimes it starts in the studio and then we’ll take it to the club, and then we’ll bring it right back to the studio. From the “Go” video, that wasn’t a skit. That actually happened. The homeowner came and tried to kick us out. We had to tell him, “It’s not what you think it is. You’re welcome to come in; it’s your house. Just have fun.” That’s legit.

How was it letting people more into your life with The Road to Project X vlogs?

They was just as excited as I was because they know people don’t see this side of me either. It was just all hitting. I always feel the love from the [fans] through the internet.

So you’ll check what publications and the fans are saying?

Yeah, I did that for sure in my spare time.

What does Project X mean to you?

It’s an actual project and it came from a collab. We decided we wasn’t going to do the collab during that time, so I just shifted over to Project X. I couldn’t come up with a name, so “X” can mean anything. There will be a sequel.

What did you think about the Project X movie from 2012? I saw you post a picture with one of the security guards from that.

They act exactly how they act in the movie. It was a cool, funny experience. Everybody was satisfied and f–king with it. I was in school when that s–t came out. It was a party I always wanted to go to once I saw that movie.

Did you get to experience anything close to that?

Yeah, one of my parties. Like a recent one that I’m throwing now. I just don’t have any footage, but it goes off.

You were exploring more southern rap sounds on this album. What was inspiring you? You named a song after Mannie Fresh and there’s some Gucci Mane homage.

It was what was going on at the studio at the time. “Mannie Fresh,” they actually kept telling me, “Man, you fresh. You got it on today.” I took it as, “Man, he fresh.” But when you say it fast it sounds like, Mannie Fresh. He made a song called “Get Your Roll on.” Another term for high is rollin’, so that’s why I used that.

What do you think is missing from the rap game right now?

Authenticity. Nothing’s organic anymore. It’s very rare that you come across something that’s organically catching everybody without being forced on everyone or pushed into our face.

You think it’s like WWE out here?

The rap game [has] all kinds of rap wrestlers out here.

Have you added to your car collection?

I just ordered the Ram Rumble Bee. They just started making them. They ain’t even dropped yet. It’s really like a street racing car, but in the form of a pickup truck. Only if you understand cars you’ll get it.

When you came by the office, you said your next project was gonna have a bunch of features. Is that the plan? Who do you want to get on there?

Maybe not a bunch, but we’ll have some. Something different — Tyler, the Creator.

I saw a track that leaked from like five years ago that you did with Don Toliver. Do you remember anything about that session?

Yeah, we did like three or four songs that day in Houston. I told him the other day that I love to see [his growth].

Could we see you acting in the future?

Yeah, I’m getting into that right now. I don’t want to give too much out on that. Both [TV and movies].