The music industry has disregarded Detroit's Icewear Veezo for nearly a decade. After a decade of putting in work and dropping mixtapes back to back, he rightfully made a name for himself and achieved legend status in his hometown through hardcore raps that captivated the midwest.

In 2018, Veezo went major. Signing with Motown Records, represented the culmination of hard work and dedication he had put in since his debut mixtape, The Clarity (2013). Since then, Veezo kept his foot on the gas, constantly dropping mixtapes and adding more entries to his Clarity mixtape series.

After releasing Clarity 6 under Motown, he went back to being independent and continued his never-ending grind. A grind that dates back to his teenage years, back when his hustles were illicit, hence his alias The Drank God and the title of his latest mixtape Rich Off Pints.

Veezo isn't only a rapper but an entrepreneur, philanthropist, and father who went from hustling on the streets to creating legitimate businesses and charities. "I think it's important to get back and do the right thing by the community. If God bless you, you got to bless others; that's how I feel," said Veezo.

So far in 2021, Veezo has had a good run. He's appeared on tracks with Lil Yatchy, Lil Durk, Future and most recently Lil Baby. In May, Veezo unleashed Rich Off Pints, an 18 track mixtape featuring Big 30, Dreezy, Peezy, KrispyLife Kidd, and more. Veezo recently took to Instagram to announce Rich Off Part 2, not a deluxe version of the tape but a whole new project for the fans to vibe out to while he works on his debut album.

How are you feeling? How's the pandemic been treating you?

I mean, it's been, you know, taking it in like everybody else I'm saying it is what it is. I take whatever come at me, and I just work with it. I know I've been grinding during the pandemic. I'll tell you that much, nonstop.

What type of grind have you been on?

In the studio, that's what's my hustle. That's my block, that's my street, that's my trap.

You grew up in Detroit, on six miles same as Eminem. Tell me how growing up there made you the person you are today.

Well, you know, it's just like every other black ghetto in America or in the world. I mean, same stuff, shootouts, all that type of stuff. My neighborhood ain't make me who I am. I made me who I am, God made me who I am, and then I did the rest. My mom and my brothers are the people I looked up to, so they made me who I am. My neighborhood ain't do nothing to me. The hood go be there. It's just there know what I'm saying, but the way we move, the way we think, the way we go about everything definitely came from seeing certain stuff as a shorty as a child know what I mean.

Would you say you had it rough growing up?

The only reason it was rough because I made it that way. The decisions I made my life rough. I didn't have to have it rough, though. I had everything I wanted. My mom kept a roof over my head, kept clothes on my back, kept food in my stomach. You know, I mean, I could if I wanted to, I could have just went to school and figured it out that way. I made my life first. So I did definitely have a rough, but that come from my decisions. Then looking back on the shit that was going on, what normal, you know, in this crazy day as kids we normalize killings and robberies is seeing fights and seeing stabbings and shooting and people get beaten. You know, the shit was normal to us. You know what I mean? Like, realistically, should I normal at all. I mean, but I didn't have to indulge in that we always had a choice. We see something we had a decision to be a part of it or go home. I mean, I was one of them kids who decided to be a part of that shit. You know, so I definitely had a hard, but I made it that way. My mama did everything she's supposed to do, though.

Do you have any advice for someone who might be stuck in that situation?

Pray to God, and you know, just grind, grind that shit out stick to your gut you know, lately I've been going my gut feeling and that shit been helping me a lot. Versus like thinking with my pocket or thinking with, you know what other things and shit like that. If you're going through that, just try to figure it out. Make a way and stay at that shit. If you got a dream, stick to it. Don't let anybody come between that. Don't let nobody tell you what ain't gonna work what's what's not for you. Your life is your life. They live is their life. Just know there is better days right now. Don't determine your future.

Would you say you already became the person you wanted to be? You're a successful rapper, and you're a legend in Detroit. Do you still have any dreams and aspirations?

Yeah, of course, I do. You know, I want to reach the charts real soon. You know, also, I'm big on movies, with writing films and directing. So I want to turn that up to another level to another notch. I got a movie out right now called The Price of Love. It's doing extremely well on Amazon Prime, Tubi, Google Play, and everywhere else. I want to take that to another level. Those are my aspirations. I want to buy my momma house really really really soon. Those are my dreams; that's what I want to do. That's what I'm on.

You've been a father for the past five years. How has that changed your life?

Everything about my life changed since being a father. The way I think, how I make decisions, you know, I think about them literally before I do anything. Know what I mean, even with business, I think about is it beneficial to them? Are they gonna be able to win with this for this be the right thing for them? You know what I mean? Like, if it wasn't for my kids, ain't no telling what type of time I'll be on. I'd be super wild tearing shit up around here. I let a lot of shit slide because of my kids. If I didn't have kids, I would be a problem. That's a fact.

You started trapping at the young age of 13 years old. Can you run me down through how you did you manage to get into the game? Who influenced you to get into the game?

Nobody influenced me to do nothing. That's what happened. That's what was said in front of me. That's how my life panned out. I don't do nothing out of influence. You got to be foolish to go on sale drugs just because you was influenced by somebody. It was put in front of me it happened like that.

Tell me about back them when use to drink lean. Do you have any advice for those who are stuck in the mud and can't get out of it?

Don't do it. It ain't worth it, know what I mean, health is wealth. You know, it's just a bad drug ain't no different from doing heroin. You know, it's opioids, liquid heroin, like, don't fuck with it. You know, it's so crazy, man, these young dudes drinking lean because it's a trend. That's gotta be the stupidest shit. That's something that I did do when I first drank lean I only did it because my big cousin Cory was doing it, and I looked up to him; God bless his soul, God rest his soul. Eventually, I got hooked to it and got addicted to that shit ain't nothing good about that. We praise it in our music, but a lot of times, we don't tell y'all about the downsides to that. So I use chances like this. I'm glad you asked that question. Because this is an opportunity for me to tell them like the downside about that, a drug is a drug, you know, you don't wanna be no addict. It ain't none cool about being a fien.

You're a natural-born hustler, and now you've pretty much created your own business and charities. Run me down through the empire you've been building, from the record label to your charities.

Yeah, I got to own a lot of properties in my neighborhood, on six miles, you know, I buy these houses, fix them up and make them very livable. I make these houses look extremely good. We do rehabilitation on the houses, in and out, and, you know, we let people feel like they live in a dream house for a very affordable rate, you know, I mean, in the middle of the hood, or whatever, you know. I ain't deadbeat landlord and all that, you know, and I do this stuff for the people in my community, a lot of them they get people doing background checks they doing you know, they're doing a lot of things before they can get a home like a security deposit. I surpassed all of that. We just let them move in, and you know, it's up to them they give their word. Of course, I gotta get my rent money, you know, we got things we got to pay or whatever, you know what I'm saying. I also got a Detroit rappers organization with my mother and my wife. Now this organization, we started in 2013. We started doing full Christmas parties and giveaways for 100 or better families who can afford to do they own Christmas. So what we would do is get a hall have these families sign up, no matter how many children are in the family. And we give them a date, and they come to this hall, we feed, and we play games, we do face paint, everything. We literally give them a full Christmas, as many toys as they can dream of, and I'm not even Christian, you know, and I do this. I think it's important to get back and do the right thing by the community about other people. If God bless you, you got to bless others; that's how I feel.

You recently linked up with Durk and Yachty; how did that come about?

Oh, man, me and Yatchy we bene locked in he so solid. Yatchy do a bunch of stuff here in Detroit as far as making music with a lot of Detroit rappers and letting us take advantage of the platform that he got, you know. Every every relationship, I got the organic even with Durk, we been knew each other we been rocking. I'm locked in Chicago. I did prison time with a lot of good brothers from Chicago, you know, the brothers from Durk way that know his people personally, you know what I'm saying, so the relationship was already there organically. By the time we did the record, it just fit it just everything fell right in place. Even him supporting a record like he supported it. He didn't have to do that. I didn't pay that man and do that. You know, I mean, but he did that anyway, just because of that relationship. So to me, it's about working with people so everything can be organic.

What was the creative process for Rich Off Pints like?

The creative process with this tape, man, I decided let me stop putting so much into it. Let me not think so much about it. Let's just have fun with this shit. Like I haven't made no music for me so long. I don't care what nobody else like right now. I'm making this tape, so when I get in my car, I can listen to something that I feel like hearing that I want to hear all the beats that I want that I want to bang. So I had too much of a creative process during this mixtape because this is more fun. Sometimes you just gotta have fun with what you doing.

What's coming after this EP?

Ima drop my first album. I don't got the title yet, but I'm already recording that I'm gonna drop my first album, and I'm about to start production on my new movie called Tag really really soon. So that's what I'm on after this EP. We still working. Me and Future just dropped our song, "Tear the Club Up."

You actually got a couple of tracks with Future under your sleeve, right?

Yeah, we got a gang of songs. We got a lot of music fire too super super hard.

Tell me more about your next film, Tag.

Well, to sum it up, it's pretty much a newer version of New Jersey Drive, like a Detroit-type version of New Jersey Drive, but pretty much it's about stolen cars. You know, a bunch of kids living they life, doing a bunch of wild shit, learning they lessons, and paying for the actions. I'm going to come out on this one, too but I'm mainly focused on directing, so that's what I'm mainly focused on for this.

All right, so you run your own label. Are you looking to sign any new artist, and what exactly do you look for in an artist in order to sign him?

It just got to be turnt, man. I want to see that energy. I want to see that they already got some going on in they area. I don't care if it's 100 people in they area or hood; I want to see all 100 people rocking to the music. I just gotta see that they can hustle.

I've seen you've been giving out free features to artists in your city and state. Who are some of the artists from Michigan you're rocking with?

I fuck with everybody in Detroit who make music. We all one ain't no separation. I ain't go lie this lil kid named SBR Peezy, SBR Narco, Richtown Butter, CEO Chuckie, the Krispylife Kidd, and this other lil guy named Jungle they all fire fire. Ima sign them completely all the way. They buzz growing and growing. They got the wave.

You dropped the EP. What else can your fans expect?

I'm just working, know what I'm saying? I'm just working. They can expect me to just work and get bigger and bigger and bigger. You know, I'm gonna be one of the ones. I'm gonna be one of the biggest artists in the game really soon—the biggest street artists. Watch what I tell you; I guarantee it. I'm gonna be the biggest of the biggest.