When Armani Caesar dropped her 2020 debut The Liz, it was a fitting vibe for the grungy time we were in. Now that outside is completely open, Ms. Ceasar is once again, stepping to the plate with another fitting vibe for the times in the form of The Liz 2, which was released back in October. 17 songs deep, The Liz 2 features a variety of vibes taken from inspiration across the world.
One stop across the globe The First Lady Of Griselda took after the world opened back up is Houston, Texas, where she came together with the city’s own Beatking and Queendom Come to create “Sike.” In usual fashion, she pops her sh*t on the track, this time over Beatking Kong’s ass-shaking production in the poshest way ever. This week, she released the music video for the club banger, which was shot at a local high school over the course of 16 hours.
Uproxx spoke with Armani Caesar about why a Beatking and Queendom Come feature was a very necessary addition, why strippers make the best A&Rs, and how you can have dinner with her if you want to.
What made you tap in with Beatking?
I’ve always been a fan of Beatking music and early on when we started curating The Liz 2 I knew I wanted some Houston music and he’s Club Godzilla. As soon as I heard the beat and as soon as I heard Queendom, I knew I had to hop on it. I love her voice so it was a no-brainer. I was like “Nah, give me that!”
Were you in Houston when you made it?
No, actually, West (Westside Gunn), sent it to me. He was down in Houston. I just ended up flying out to Atlanta and meeting Beatking. He was playing me some records but that was the one that actually stuck and that’s when I ended up recording it. I recorded it in the A.
Did you play it out there at the strip clubs in the A to test it out, as well?
Plenty. At all the strip clubs. Blue Flame, especially. That’s our little spot. They was definitely fucking with it. It’s a vibe.
Since The Liz dropped during the pandemic and The Liz 2 is us (mostly) out of the pandemic, how are you adjusting?
With The Liz, because when I got signed immediately after the world shut down, I really didn’t have a chance to do anything that a newly signed artist could do. Everything was just kind of in-house and at home, so being able to go out and travel again once the world did start back opening up, I was around different sounds and producers and different environments and catching a vibe that’s why this sound is so eclectic. On certain jazzy songs or songs where I am singing a little bit more on it, we were in Puerto Rico when we recorded those. There’s a couple of them I recorded in Phoenix, a couple in the A, I was just everywhere with it and back in my bag.
Since you’re signed to Griselda, do you think your image, sound, or message gets lost?
It’s good to have a female on there to be able to complete the package. I think it was always West’s intent to bridge the gap to the mainstream artists to not only tap in and work with more of a club sound or a mainstream sound like I have with “Diana” with Kodak Black. It’s still fitting. It’s still me. We all come from the same place so we still have that story. That underrated sh*t, we have to continue to keep proving ourselves. I’ve always been proving myself, I’ve always been the standout, whether it was in the studio with a bunch of guys. Whether it’s me being out in a lane of my own. I’m the only female that is looking like this and acting like this. To be able to get acclaim from various outlets and people who are featuring me and really f*cking with the music and just f*cking with me for just being authentic. I’m not trying to be anyone else but Armani.
The Liz series cover art both have Elizabeth Taylor with a third eye, can you get into what all that means with the third eye?
The picture itself, it’s of the actual painting by Isaac Pelayo. That’s his style. To take classic people whether it be someone famous or influential, that can tie into music. With Elizabeth Taylor, it’s an older picture of her on the first Liz with the third eye and that’s just showing that multi-dimensional side of me. We woke — we know what’s going on. I’m not going to be some female rapping about her ass, titties, and p*ssy. I’m not going to be the status quo. What I look like; there’s so much more. I see beyond a lot of things that are surface-level in this industry.
This new cover is a more youthful Liz. Before, where it was giving classic; that classic boom-bap sound and that classic feel with bars and spitting. This time she’s a little bit younger. She’s more in her prime but still giving elegant. Still beautiful. But also, I’m showing off a more youthful sound and tapping in with different artists that are more mainstream. I wasn’t really too crazy about being on the first one because I didn’t want people to look at my album cover and judge me. Elizabeth Taylor is also someone who played Cleopatra, so there’s the Caesar tie. It’s so many layers, I can be here all day talking about it.
I love it because you came from the strip club world, right?
Absolutely.
So you’re showing that it’s not always what you see. There’s more if you take the time to find out.
Exactly and again, it’s still giving an elegant sound to something that is gritty and grungy and hard, boom bap — but still sitting like a bad bitch with production that is out of this world. Not your typical one-two beat.
I feel it’s dope you worked with Beatking because he once explained how strippers make the best A&Rs. Would you agree?
Oh, for sure! I think most of the records, club-wise, are broken in at the strip clubs before anywhere else. That’s where you can tell if a girl is making money off it, if guys is feeling it, if girls can really dance to it, and if the energy of the song is right — because it doesn’t necessarily have to be a fast song to do something.
Tell me about shooting the music video for “Sike” with Beatking and Queen.
We shot that in Houston. I flew down there for a couple of days and just tapped in, caught a vibe, and set up to shoot. It was a real fun shoot. It was at a real high school. We got to rent out the locker rooms and the gym. It was an all-day shoot that was probably 16 hours long just because of the different set-ups. They had a crane to get overhead shots. Between me, Beatking, and Queendom doing all of our parts, time was just flying so it didn’t feel like 16 hours.
What time did you guys wrap?
Like 1 or 2 in the morning. We probably started around 10 or 9 o’clock in the morning.
What did you end up doing after to celebrate the video being completed? Or did you go back to your room to rest?
I had a flight to catch so I couldn’t do too much, but I did end up going to the studio after. I had a session. I was wrapping up The Liz 2 when we shot it. This was the first video we shot for The Liz 2.
Never stop working.
Never.
You know how Beatking always has a t-shirt on with a wild-ass saying? What would your own t-shirt with a wild-ass saying?
“Girl, f*ck him.” It’s a vibe. I think a lot of girls would rock that.
I would! What else do you have going on?
I am starting a TikTok campaign for fans to enter to have a free dinner with me. All they would have to do is a video to the song and whoever has the best video will win. We picking a bunch of winners too. We not going to be stingy.
Just TikTok?
TikTok, Instagram, whoever got the best video will get dinner with me.