BFM Cooley is a rapper from Rivera Beach, Florida. Cooley has always had a love for music, and as a kid, he knew he had a way with words. His persona and swag have played a huge role in who he is today, and his style of music takes listeners to the streets and through his pain, which is the title of one of his songs.
Cooley talked with rolling out about lessons he’s learned from being in the music industry.
How did you get into music?
Music basically started with me playing around with words as a kid. I never too much took it seriously, but it was just something I always knew how to put together the right way on a beat.
How would you describe your music style?
It’s more versatile because I have music about things I’ve been through, and then I have music about material things, and then I have stuff for the girls. I feel like I can get on anything and go on any beat.
How does it feel to be a part of an independent music label?
It feels good to have a circle of loyal dudes. Everybody isn’t loyal, and sometimes the dudes around you aren’t loyal. It may be a while until you can figure that out. Right now, my team is solid. It’s good to be able to trust guys and trust people around you. Everybody supports in the same way, if one person is passing out flyers, the whole team is passing out flyers, and it doesn’t matter how we look.
What have you learned since being in the industry?
[There are] a lot of scams out here. These people that you see that’s on that top-level, they really don’t come from certain things that they rap about. They’re not really like that, but everybody is different. At the end of the day, it’s all for entertainment, but I’m not going to be the type of person that’s out here like, “you should sleep on the floor” and this and that, because I didn’t used to sleep on the floor. If I was out there hustling and grinding, it’s because I wanted my own. Times get hard, but it wasn’t like I grew up poor.
What does success look like to you?
Make sacrifices. You have to take chances. Whatever chance you feel it is to get something and you have a 75% or 80% chance of getting past it, sometimes you got to take the chance and just do it. Don’t let people hold you back, keep grinding, stay consistent, and make moves. A lot of times I contemplated saying “should I do this” and never did it, but when I started doing it, I saw more results. As long as I kept going and doing stuff, it just started coming to me more.
