Westleaf Staff
What's up Leafers? Welcome to the latest edition of On the Rise where we interview upcoming creative talent. Today's guest is rapper and fashion designer, Jaziah. Jaziah is from Atlanta, Georgia. He is the founder of the fashion brand Rugratz Worldwide where he works alongside his creative partners "Rugatz Worldwide". The ATL based designer has been on our radar for a while so we had to tap in with him! Check out the interview below.
Westleaf Staff: What's up, Jaziah? When did you start making music?
Jaziah: I started making music around 14 years old in class with some of my classmates during my freshman year of high school in 2017. When Covid hit my junior year 2020 I was forced to stay inside so I started taking it seriously, I ended up teaching myself how to record and I started posting snippets onto twitter and IG. From there I ended up creating a buzz and teaming up with a management group / label. Although that didn’t workout it taught me the inside and outs of making music. It made me better
Westleaf Staff: That's dope! What city do you represent?
Jaziah: Atlanta until the end. Growing up I moved around a good bit from Cartersville GA to ATL back and forth until I was around 15. Most of my influences come from Atlanta. It shaped how i create everything. Zone 6 to be exact.
Westleaf Staff: Shout out to NC. So how did you create your stage name?
Jaziah: My Nickname was bankroll all throughout school so when I started creating I went by Bankroll Jaziah. After I graduated I dropped the Bankroll due to personal reasons and went by just Jaziah! Bankroll is still my childhood nickname though.
Westleaf Staff: That's a dope name. And it came naturally! So when did you start your fashion career?
Jaziah: During the music I ended up creating the collective “Rugratz Worldwide” , as of right now we have 12 Members including Kyce!, Ejthakid, Yung Frendi, Bankroll B, Vanitas, Stuullo,
Kevtalktoem, Troy, WhipstarMari, Ma$, Z, and myself. All of us together had the same goal in
creating new generation influence and impacting others using our creativity. I slowed down on music myself and focused on creating hip hop street fashion due to all of our experience in the community and the rest is history. I’ve always been into fashion but each one of the members in their own way pushed me to do something with it and make the brand bigger.
Westleaf Staff: Dope! It's cool that you're so passionate about fashion. Who is your biggest fashion influence?
Jaziah: Young Thug, Yachty, Cam’ron, Michael Jackson, Virgil Abloh.
Westleaf Staff: Dope choices! Those are some legends. So what makes you a unique artist?
Jaziah: What’s makes me unique isn’t just myself it’s Rugratz in general, we all doing something that hasn’t been done before. There’s a lot of people who stick their talent in one area and are content with that. Everybody here wants to expand and be bigger than the original idea and dream, I feel like the sky is the limit and we just getting started. We don’t do this for money or fame we genuinely love this shit. Respectfully.
Westleaf Staff: Dope! So what does art mean to you?
Jaziah: Art Means Everything to me. I grew up as a middle child/ I was kind of the quiet sibling and child. I didn’t really have much to say. It’s hard to express yourself when you are in that position. Art in general really gave me a voice without having to speak directly to people and it gave me confidence to be myself.
Westleaf Staff: That's deep! Where do you see your music career going over the next few years?
Jaziah: I definitely see Rugratz Apparel Transforming into high fashion, I want the brand itself to be the new generations Louis V, Gucci, Dior, etc. I’m not willing to settle i want to be THE brand everybody wants.
Westleaf Staff: I wish you much success! What advice would you give young fashion designers just starting out?
Jaziah: Don’t let anybody downplay your creativity, always trust your mind body and soul when brainstorming, be authentic. Surround yourself with people who want you to be better.
Follow Jaziah: @jvziah
