“I remember moving to different towns to avoid the gunfire. I remember a lot of stress and uncertainty in my family. I remember seeing dead bodies and injured people. I had family members who were amputees.”

London born Ode’ Tha Hustla, spent the first few years of his life in West Africa. He eventually came to the states as a refugee at age 8, when his family was evacuated to avoid the civil war in Sierra Leone. 

“I remember moving to different towns to avoid the gunfire. I remember a lot of stress and uncertainty in my family. I remember seeing dead bodies and injured people. I had family members who were amputees,” says Ode. 

Ode’s experiences molded him into the ‘Hustla’ that he is today, while his African roots helped mold the melodies in his music.

Attending middle school in the DMV (Metro Washington, DC area), Ode’ would sell candy to all of his schoolmates. It was what originally helped shape his “hustla” mentality. After school, he would watch VHS tapes of Michael Jackson performances that his mom had laying around the house. He saw how every move that MJ made on stage received a reaction from the crowd. This sparked a curiosity in Ode’ that led him to form his first rap group. 

“I was in a rap group called ‘The Major Ballers’ as a youngin’. We came up with songs but we never recorded. We ain’t have no money,” Ode laughs.

Not having money shifted his focus from music to the streets. As a teen, he would participate in freestyle battles and cyphers in his neighborhood, but unfortunately that wasn’t enough to keep him out of trouble.

Eventually Ode’ became tired of living life in and out of prison bars so he decided to put all of his focus into writing his own, releasing his first single, “Mo Money,” in 2015. A song about striving for more no matter what circumstances you’re in. The song ended up receiving spins on Power 105 in New York, which gave Ode the motivation to take his career seriously.

The buzz from the single lead to him doing a ton of shows up and down the east coast,  opening for artists such as Young Dolph, Rich Homie Quan, Boosie, Bankroll Fresh and even performing at Atlanta’s favorite strip club, Magic City, where he opened up for Shy Glizzy.  

After dropping multiple singles over the last few years, Ode’ finally embarked on releasing his first full length project titled “King of Hooks.”

“I gave it that title because I feel that hooks are my strong point”, says Ode. ”I wanted to display my versatility in style and sound.”

The cover displays Ode’ in traditional African attire in order to represent his African heritage, whereas the lions represent the spiritual protection we’ve been blessed with since birth.

The album took about two years to complete and was produced almost entirely by Yung AP, a producer from Europe. The album features MMG’s artist, Fat Trel, amongst others, and displays multiple sides of Ode’. From detailing the trap stories he’s been through growing up in the streets, to touching on harsh realities of love and relationships, there’s tracks that will make you wanna go on shopping sprees, then have a good cry, then turn up and “throw bottles at ya opps in the club!”, in Ode’s words. This project is for the bosses who create and make their own way, just like he had to.