“They” say there are three sides to every story. Archibald Slim doesn’t care about what “they” say.  The Atlanta rapper pens poignant street prose telling the truth as he sees it: a world of drugs, untrustworthy women, instability, and fairweather friends. Not one to mince words in real life or on wax, Archibald’s lyricism never disappoints. An artist who truly prides himself on his musical acumen and integrity, unapologetically telling his story regardless of what “they” say.

In a crew full of exuberant personalities hellbent on standing out, Archibald Slim stood out by not trying to stand out. He first came to fame when Awful Records burst into the national spotlight in the mid-2010s with over a dozen members all over the artistic spectrum— from Father’s horny Casiocore to Abra’s goth pop to Zack Fox’s gonzo comedy to Playboi Carti’s embryonic Soundcloud rap. But the connecting thread was a wild, oddball spirit. Slim had none of that. While other members hogged the spotlight in the collective’s crowded music videos, he was always off to the side avoiding eye contact until it was time to actually rap.

Slim’s early music reflected this workmanlike attitude. Neither a motormouth nor a minimalist, a showboat nor a soft-spoken poet, he rapped with a clear understanding of the classics, the crew’s resident old soul. He was methodical, introspective, and painfully realistic, just as capable of conveying drama as he was the mundanity of the everyday struggle. He’d pair himself with Awful producers like KeithCharles Spacebar or Dexter Dukarus whose differing musical backgrounds would put his traditionalist sensibilities in conversation with the crew’s modernism, or else he’d produce for himself and showcase a keen ear for samples and grooves. Not as zeitgeist-y as Awful’s most visible output, Slim’s music was more unique for the personality behind it, a grounding, presence in the group.

Between 2014 and 2016, Slim released an insane amount of material — 14 albums, tapes, EPs, and/or collaborative projects by my current count on his Soundcloud. In the last five years though, only two relatively short works, his three-song Veritas EP and the 6-track All About a Dollar collaboration with producer DMV Willie, have trickled out.