Ugly God is only 20, but he’s gaining a lot of attention, including that of Diplo, Juice Jam [9]’s headliner, who accidentally interrupted Ugly God’s press conference to try to talk to him. But what’s making Ugly God, born Royce Davison, so popular seems to elude even he.
When it comes to his lyrics, Ugly God [10] says he puts everything out there.
“[My lyrics are] authentic,” said Ugly God. “That’s me, that’s how I feel. Even though I don’t go out of my way to make lyrics [that are fun and eccentric] it just comes naturally.”
When asked about collaborations coming from XXL’s 2017 Freshman Class [11] list, Ugly God said he wanted to keep them a surprise. The nomination, however, he found a little overwhelming.
“It kind of put me on some big pedestal, you know,” said Ugly God. “It was so random. It kind of slapped me in the face.”
Overall, he’s a really casual guy.
“I’m just an artist, bro,” said Ugly God when asked to define his style of rap.
But he also thinks everyone is entitled to their own opinion, even about his music.
“Whatever people say is just whatever,” said Ugly God. “That’s just their opinion so I can’t get mad at it, just like people can’t get mad about how I feel about stuff – which would probably hurt people’s feelings if I did express how I feel about stuff, but I just keep it to myself. But I can’t get mad if people express how they feel about me.”
While his set at Juice Jam seemed to demand a call and response of “Thanks, Ugly God,” Davison said the origin behind it was much more organic.
“It was just one of those things that people actually started saying to me for no reason,” said Ugly God. “People would tweet at me ‘I just got an A on my test. Thanks, Ugly God.’ It just became a thing.”
As for his set at Juice Jam, Ugly God thought it was “so fire” and said he hopes to come back to smaller cities like Syracuse when he comes to New York instead of just playing shows in New York City.
“The crowd was so real,” said Ugly God. He continued on to explain how people in Syracuse differ from those in New York City. “They’re just more like real people.”
Ugly God performs at Juice Jam 2017 (Photo: Abby Rose Sugnet)
Check out more Juice Jam 2017 coverage and photos [9]
