The 8-0 Atlanta Falcons have shown the NFL another great series of Falcon football games this season. With the addition of 10-year veteran Asante Samuel, the Dirty Birds are dead set on a comeback.
AllHipHop.com got a chance to talk with the star cornerback on one of his well deserved off days. Tune in as Asante speaks on his team’s recent success, offers an inside peek at some of his football and Hip-Hop favorites, as well as a few details on his label and recent ventures as an independent record executive. Check out who Asante voted for early a few days ago (he picked a winner!), and get an insight on his music influences:
AllHipHop.com: Mr. Samuel, I know you’re enjoying a little time to rest. But it’s ELECTION TIME, and I’m allowed to ask! Did you vote? And, if so…
Asante Samuel: Yep, I already voted! I just sent in my vote today. Check out my tweets. (@pick_six22) The last tweet I sent will let you know who I voted for. Again!
AllHipHop.com: [laughter] Good, we can retweet that. Congratulations on the 8-0 record! To what do you attribute your team’s run of success this season?
Asante Samuel: I attribute that to veteran leadership, the will to win, workin’ hard, and really just belief in one another. We know what we have to do to make it, and possess the ability to make it happen together as a team.
AllHipHop.com: So, you’re happy with your decision to make that move and sign with Atlanta?
Asante Samuel: Yea definitely, definitely. You know, all good things have to come to an end one day; that’s just life. There’s a plan already set out there for me. I’m just following God’s steps. If one door closes, another one opens. That’s just how it goes.
AllHipHop.com: You’re right. No sleep lost. But some say you’ve had an easy schedule, that the Falcons may go 9-0 before seeing any real competition. What do you say about that?
Asante Samuel: I mean the losers have plenty to say. We work hard everyday, and a win is a win, so we’ll see about all that next week.
AllHipHop.com: But I know that Eagles win was feeling right….
Asante Samuel: Oh yeah, for sure. You know that one was feelin’ real good!
AllHipHop.com: So what’s the update with Andy Reid? Clearly you have no reason to be upset anymore, but last time you spoke on him… it was tense!
Asante Samuel:: It’s all good, man, everything is cool. The situation is all good. I’m just moving on and moving forward. I ain’t really trippin’. Something transpired at the game, and I felt a certain way about it, so I expressed myself. And that was that.
AllHipHop.com: If you felt you were wronged, then that has to be respected. So what do you have on your pregame playlist right now?
Asante Samuel: Well, I’m an in-house guy, so I listen to a lot of music from the artists on our label; a lot of Young A.C. But definitely some Lil’ Wayne, Jeezy, T.I., Future. I support all those dudes.
AllHipHop.com: With that being said, who are your Top Five Rappers Dead or Alive?
Asante Samuel: In no particular order, I’m gonna go with ‘Pac, BIG, Trick Daddy, T.I., and Jeezy.
AllHipHop.com: A pretty cool list. Who are your top five football players D.O.A.?
Asante Samuel: Barry Sanders, Steve Young, Dick “Night Train” Lane, Ronnie Lott, and Marvin Harrison.
AllHipHop.com: Definitely a good list! Sports and music have proven to be pretty synonymous, but what urged you to start your own label?
Asante Samuel: Well,l I’ve always been into music even though I chose football. I had a lot of friends that were involved in the music industry. I had a friend who could sing really well, and my best friend already had a label started up called Deepside Entertainment that I started helping him out with. When he was incarcerated, I kept it going. He’s still in prison; he got 10 or 11 years.
So, running the label began to be my way of giving back to the ‘hood, and creating jobs in a market where young people would just be on the streets, getting into trouble, and going to jail. As a young African American male who made it out of the ‘hood and found success, it’s my way of helping us all move from the bottom.
AllHipHop.com: Well put!! Do you rap?
Asante Samuel: [laughter] Nahhhhh, I don’t rap. They get me in the booth to talk a little bit, and I help out with all the music at the studio… But nah, I don’t rap. I manage every artist, every track comes to me first, every song, every video is run by me for input. So I’m hands-on involved with the artists on the label. I’m there at the studio all the time.
Follow Asante Samuels on Twitter (@pick_six22), and catch his next game against this Sunday (November 11 at 1PM EST) against the New Orleans Saints.
Asante Samuel: Well, I’m an in-house guy, so I listen to a lot of music from the artists on our label; a lot of Young A.C. But definitely some Lil’ Wayne, Jeezy, T.I., Future. I support all those dudes.