AZ Chike is done playing “Peekaboo.”
The MC born Damaria Kayshawn Walker, 31, may have just wrapped an episode of LeBron James’ The Shop when we begin our conversation, but his mind is squarely on his major-label debut studio album No Rest for The Wicked, which arrived Sept. 18 via Warner Records.
It’s been two years since he stole the show on “Peekaboo,” a standout from Kendrick Lamar’s GNX that reached No. 13 on the Billboard Hot 100 — and after a devastating leak and co-signs from some of hip-hop’s most acclaimed names, AZ Chike is finally ready to offer the world a formal introduction.
Featuring production contributions from the likes of Pharrell Williams, Sounwave, Terrace Martin, Hit-Boy and Tyler, the Creator, No Rest for The Wicked lands as a formidable entry into the storied lexicon of West Coast rap albums. Across the 14-track set, Chike packs in the magnetic braggadocio of his independent work with a new level of introspection and vulnerability as he explores fractured familial relationships and the sinister underbelly of his relentless grind to the top.
“This is me carving my way into hip-hop history,” he says. “West Coast and party music got me money, got me signed and showed me the ropes, so I’ll never discredit that s—t. But I’m on some whole other s—t. I’m in the f—king room with Kendrick [Lamar]; I cannot not be great! I’m in the f—king room with Tyler, [the Creator] and [ScHoolboy] Q. I have to be phenomenal. I have to get vulnerable and [use melody]. I have to give a piece of me.”
Chike didn’t rush out an album to meet the immediate hype of “Peekaboo,” but every song he’s dropped since has always arrived alongside a music video. “Look Like My Mama,” one of two Tyler, the Creator collaborations on the album, dropped with a music video spoofing classic movies like Napoleon Dynamite, Sinners, and Men in Black.
With Tyler gifting him beats, verses and video concepts, and Sounwave and K.Dot assisting on sequencing, Chike has been coronated by the West’s reigning hip-hop tastemakers. And he doesn’t spend No Rest for The Wicked resting on those laurels; he delivers some of the year’s most voracious rapping, and he prioritizes continuity in his verses as much as he does the overall listening experience.
Armed with one of the year’s most impressive rap LPs and a headlining tour kicking off at Houston’s White Oak Music Hall on Oct. 5, Chike is preparing to work this album for the next few months — including a forthcoming deluxe edition.
Below, Billboard’s Hip-Hop Up-And-Comer for September talks about the origins of AZ Cult, why he can’t get enough of Jill Scott’s new album, and his reflections on his battle with Joey Bada$$ last year.
What’s your earliest music memory?
[Lil Wayne’s] Tha Carter. My mom was a tomboy; she was a dope boy for real, and she loved that album. She can still spit “Cash Money Millionaires.” Wayne was my real introduction to music, and from there it was [50 Cent’s] Get Rich or Die Tryin’.
The first album I made my mom buy for me was Chris Brown’s [self-titled] debut album. I used to play that s—t on my SpongeBob radio. It was serious! The first verse I remember being [obsessed with] was Ice Cube’s on “Hello” when N.W.A got back together. He was going crazy.
What do you remember about the very first verse you tried to write by yourself?
This was fresh out the jerking era, and my homies had a recording studio at somebody’s house. I wrote my verse, and in my head, it was the hardest s—t. I don’t even know how long it was, and I didn’t even know the format of a verse. But I got up there and started rapping. I was sweating bullets all down my side profile, and everybody could see me. [Laughs.]
What would you consider to be your first hit locally? “Burn Rubber Again?”
“Burn Rubber” for sure. But before that, the first joint that got people looking at me was a song called “Motion.” I been talking about motion since 2016, n—a! It’s probably still out there. That was my first real music video. My boy AZ Kilo was going to prison for a year, and he spent his last day with us. I told him, “When you get out of jail, I’m gonna have this s—t going.” When he got out of jail, “Burn Rubber Again” was out.
Talk to me a little bit more about the AZ Cult era. When did you decide to pursue music as a full-time career?
I was trying to be creative. Everybody had a “gang” or a “crew,” and I wanted a cult fan base, so I went with AZ Cult. Now, people be looking at me with the side eye for it. It was about 10 of us with AZ in front of our names. I got AZ tatted between my index and pinky fingers at 14.
Why AZ?
Back then, we was conscious rappers. AZ is the beginning and end, the alpha and omega and everything in between. At around 17, I made the full transition, finally got a Mac desktop, learned how to engineer and record myself, and uploaded beats to GarageBand. Then I graduated to live performances. I’ve always felt like I was supposed to be someone. I always felt like music was the answer. By 21, I was in full rapper mode, and I dropped “Burn Rubber Again” at 22.
What was the first beat that caught your ear for No Rest for The Wicked?
Ironically, the intro song, which is called “Mercy.” We did that one from scratch; it wasn’t a beat somebody sent me. It’s a sample of a song called “Death Have Mercy,” which is an old Black folk song. There’s no beat, just somebody singing like the old Black folks on the porch in the South. I think I heard it in a movie and said, “I gotta sample this.” We’ve done a lot of switching songs on this album, but “Mercy” hasn’t moved. It’s always been the first track.
How did that early leak impact the evolution of No Rest for The Wicked?
Man, I didn’t know what to do. I was in the booth at the studio when I found out about the leak, and, no lie, I went straight to the bathroom and took a s—t. The reasoning behind [the leak] was so crazy; some dude on a website was like, “Oh, I only did it because I don’t like Black people.” I still got the screenshots! A lot of my fans are also fans of Kendrick, and they would hit me up and promise not to listen to the leak. That’s real love. The leak definitely made me feel a way, but I wasn’t desperate because it wasn’t a super known thing.
I give all grace to the universe and the energy I was putting out there. I wish I was making this up, but the same week my album got leaked, Tyler FaceTimed me on Thanksgiving. He finally sends me some songs, and a couple of days later, Kendrick texts me to send him the album. I’m like, “Yo, what the f—k is happening?!” I even rap about it on my recent feature [on Mark Lux’s “The Yapper”]. Me and Tyler got back in the studio later that month, and I linked with Kendrick regarding the album for the first time right before New Year’s.
When and how did you land on this title?
I had this title before GNX, since September 2024. I made a whole song with that title, but I was talking about myself. And I was okay with that. I was going through so much that year that I was really angry. There was no rest for me.
Do you prefer writing or freestyling?
I never freestyle. Freestyling is cool for the radio and for shortform content, but I take pride in writing. I gets busy. F—k all that punching in. Don’t get me wrong, all forms of creating need to be exercised. And I’m very good at that too. But if I had to choose, I’m going to write. I enjoy coming up with some crazy s—t, rapping it, and then laughing to myself and continuing to write. I picked up just going in the booth and feeling it from Tyler and Dot, but I still write.
My formula now is to write on my phone at home, and whatever flow words come to mind, I put it down as a reference. Then, I go back, and I fill everything with words. I always seal the deal with written proof. About 95% of this album was written on my phone.
What verse or song are you most proud of from a writing standpoint?
“Rock Bottom” was phenomenal. I’ve never created a song like that. Those were fresh feelings that I’ve never expressed before. I’m reliving the fact that I don’t have grandparents on my dad’s side or on my mom’s side. I don’t f—k with my mom like that. I’ve always been an outcast because both my little brothers got the same dad, but I love them no differently. In the beginning of the third verse, I say: “I never said s—t was gonna be easy, but I knew it was gonna be worth it/ I always said I’ll try my best; I never said I was gonna be perfect.” That’s one song I’m happy to hold to my name. If you need to know something about me, go play “Rock Bottom.”
What was it like working on new music after “Peekaboo” went crazy?
I never stopped working. If anything, this is probably the longest I’ve gone without recording. Even when I wasn’t recording, I was in the studio with these greats, and other pieces of my music IQ were going up. We started officially working on No Rest for The Wicked at the end of February 2024. There were some songs that didn’t make it about certain topics I wanted to address, but all’s well that ends well.
What other parts of your music IQ do you feel have gone up?
Every f—king thing. My lingo, how I speak about music, what I’m hearing when I listen to it, how much I immerse myself into it, knowing the method to the madness. I really picked up that everything’s intentional with the pgLang camp. Dot don’t do nothing willy-nilly. Even when it comes to rap transitions.
Today, it’s so easy for rappers to go from random topic to random topic when they rap — and I was a victim of that too. But when I rap with Dot, he checks me on that. We gotta stay in the same direction; he can go southeast, and I can go northeast, but we’re both going east. If you listen to “Look Like My Mama,” everyone loves the New Balance line because there’s continuity throughout the whole verse.
Last year you also hopped into that East-West battle. How did that experience impact your album-making process, if at all?
It didn’t. Shout out to everybody involved, especially Ray Vaughn, who’s a real friend of mine. I’ve never talked to Joey [Bada$$], but that s—t was a good sparring match. If I had to spar with any rapper, I think it’d be him. He’s a great, smart rapper. That s—t was fun, and it definitely made me better. Maybe me and him do chop it up one day. If anything, that experience taught me to take s—t seriously.
Who’s left on your list of dream collaborators?
DJ Quik, easily. Erykah Badu — I’m playing her album with The Alchemist right now. It’s so much I want to pull from that album. And Jill Scott! I went to her concert at the YouTube Theater. To Whom This May Concern guided me to finish my album. It gave me mental peace. I cried to “Àṣẹ.” I want to pick Jill’s brain and just have a talk with her. She might make me melt! [Laughs.] I would love to have her go over my music with me. I want to get in the ring with her and see what I can do.
