Exclusive Interview with Beloved Hip Hop Producer: Ant

BUTTE, MT - You might be thinking: Dev, why are you writing about and posting an interview with a hip hop artist on a country station?

Get our free mobile app

I don't blame you for thinking that. But, believe it or not, there's more to it than you think.

The thing is, this isn't just any hip hop artist. This is Ant, aka Anthony Davis, who has made a career for himself as an incredibly talented hip hop producer—someone who essentially creates the beat you bop your head to. And, and this case especially, someone who crafts and directs the "music" of the track, usually interlacing instruments, drum kicks, samples, and vocals to create a unique product that makes you want to blast it while you drive around town at 10 miles per hour with the windows down, smiling at the people who walk by.

That's who Ant is to me: someone who knows exactly what he's doing, on a level I truly believe to be unmatched aside for a very select few. You might know Ant as half of the duo Atmosphere (the other half being Slug, aka Sean Daley), hailing from Minnesota and—sing the 90s—creating a sound not heard in hip hop then or since.

What makes the sound so unique (and, subsequently, Ant so talented)? Though it'd be impossible to answer objectively, I can still offer my two cents as a long time fan and faux self-proclaimed connoisseur of the musical arts—whose personal experience with creating music starts and ends with singing obtrusively in their room at night, waking nearby neighbors with their screachy, off-tone pipes.

Seriously though, Ant is special—though he definitely would say otherwise. He's not unique solely due to his innate ability to blend genres together, such as country, dancehall, east coast, or west coast with classic hip hop attributes. His originality also extends far beyond his crafty way of producing sounds unheard in any song prior, since he utilizes other talented musicians and arranges them to implement their sound where he needs them on a certain beat.

No, I believe Ant's distinctive talent derives from his instinctive drive to always outdo himself. Not to do better than his contemporaries or to match Slug's, Brother Ali's, or whatever talented MC that he works with brings to the table, but to do better than what he's already woven, producing something that no one—more importantly himself—has heard before.

And, darn it, he does it ever single time.

I was lucky enough to sit down with the one and only Ant—aka Anthony Davis—for an exclusive one-on-one interview, recorded on April 23rd, 2025. Listen to the full, uncut interview below.