Life & Work with Suave World of Atlanta

Today we’d like to introduce you to Suave World.

Hi Suave, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
I was originally born in Houston, Texas. My mother relocated to Atlanta when I was 3 years old and later married. I have 2 siblings of which I am the middle child. We ended up settling in Arbor Crossing Apartments in Decatur where I played backyard ball with J.I.D. and his older brother Izzy. I attended Stoneview Elementary before transferring to the Magnet program at Browns Mill Elementary. I attended Miller Grove Middle School with Cy-Hi the Prince and Mac Bre-z and i graduated from Southwest DeKalb High School where I played football for the legendary William “Buck” Godfrey. DJ Holiday was one of my upperclassman teammates at the time. I first began writing poetry while at Browns Mill elementary. I credit my 6th grade English teacher Ms. King for helping me focus in on my writing talent. It was around this time that “Suave” was born as I began writing raps. I chose the name ‘Suave’ because I was a big fan of 8ball & MJG who were signed to Suave House Records. Other early music influences include Goodie Mob, Outkast, and the entire Dungeon Family crew as well as 2pac, Nas, LL Cool J, UGK, Wu-Tang Clan and Warren G.
During middle school is when I began my spiritual journey. I currently don’t subscribe to any religious group or fraternity but I was raised as a Christian and the summer after 7th grade I challenged myself to read the entire bible from cover to cover. I accomplished this that summer but it left me with more questions than answers and so the journey began.
I want to also mention that I spent a great deal of my summers in the small rural town of Hurtsboro, AL where my grandmother, The Honorable Mary-Kate Stovall-Tapley was not only the mayor of the town, but she was also the FIRST black woman elected mayor in the state of Alabama! Till this day I still help run and operate a family owned funeral home that has been serving the Hurtsboro and Russell County community since 1928.
By the time I graduated high school I was ready to dive into music 100% and first began recording with my friend, fellow artist, and producer Trevis-T. However, my parents convinced me to continue my education. I ended up getting a partial academic and a partial athletic scholarship to attend Cheyney University in Pennsylvania which is actually the first HBCU established in 1837. While I was there playing football I spent most of my time in my dorm room recording music in a make shift studio that me and one of my teammates setup. Living on the east coast was a far different experience from growing up in the “Dirty South”. There was still a very present southern bias and I stood out like a sore thumb. I entered into a campus talent competition where I was approached by a local Philly artist who was connected to the group ‘Philly’s Most Wanted’ who were being produced by The Neptunes and Pharell at the time. I ended up recording 2 feature verses at 4th District Studio located on Philly’s famous Broad Street. A week later people on campus were approaching me and telling me my feature verse stole the show as the song was getting a small buzz on campus. This was a big confidence boost for me as a southern artist who was getting shown love from east coast listeners which was rare at the time. However, I didn’t care for the cold weather, I didn’t like the head coach I was playing for, and by the end of my freshman year the music industry spotlight was fully focused and invested back in Atlanta.
So, after my freshman year I moved back to Atlanta to pursue music full time. I got a job working at a gas station, got a single bedroom apartment and linked up with a producer who would end up being a mentor on my journey by the name of Terrance “Dante” Smith who we all called J-Blak or Blakvision. He had been a studio engineer and producer for artist like Kilo Ali and Pastor Troy as well as G-Rock from Da Organization. Everything was gravy until they changed the management at my job and my hours were immediate cut in half as I was moved from full time to part time along with a few other employees in order to curb store cost or whatever. I grew up on Glenwood Road so I naturally knew people who operated in the streets but I never had a desire to run the streets until I was put in a financial jam. So, I quit my job at the gas station and hit up some of my street connects at the time and got active. Around this same time through a family friend I was connected to I began working part-time with a local publisher by the name of Andre Christburg who produced two hair magazines, Style Q and Hotlanta Hair Directory. I would sell his magazines at the Bronner Brothers Hair Show which I enjoyed because I pretty much got paid to walk around and talk to beautiful women all day. It was a win-win for me!
By this time I had relocated to the West End and was moving between Parson Street and the Castelberry area and had enrolled at Morehouse College for a year before lack of funds forced me to drop out again. I had already renounced all religions, I had read and deciphered the Bible 3 times, I had read the Quran, The Dead Sea scrolls, The Book of Enoch, The Apocrypha, as well as familiarized myself with Rastafarian culture, the Holy Piby, and even some Buddhists texts which would influence me to look more into meditation practices. During the same time I was afforded the opportunity to visit Wildwood Penitentiary in Wildwood, Florida and perform at a Black History program curated by Dr. Mutulu Shakur, who was Tupac Shakur’s step-father and mentor. Rap artists Ja-Rule and Outlaw affiliate Zayd Malik were also in attendance. It was an honorable, inspiring, and humbling experience because when the celebration was over, we got to go home, but Dr. Shakur and the inmates had to remain in prison.
I would later link up with fellow artists Slim Kong and Cuzin Craig and we formed the group “20/24”. By this time I was renting out a home on Glenwood that we transformed into a studio where we filmed our first music video “Move” featuring Carter Boy 9000. I had decided to exit the street life after my friend Allen Blash was setup, robbed, and murdered by a then upcoming local artist named “Lil Hot” and his associates. The case made local headlines but it was a wakeup call for me to leave the streets alone. I had known 3 different people to get killed all during the same summer, all within the same block of Beckwith Street in the West End.
I began setting up local shows and promoting with my group 20/24 while also working more closely with the production and publishing process of Style Q and Hotlanta Hair Magazine. By this time I had built a solid working relationship with the publisher. What started out as me just selling his magazines had evolved into me becoming his official assistant and being part of the full production process. I enjoyed working the photo shoots and meeting beautiful models like Buffie “The Body” Carruth who was a popular music video vixen during the Melissa Ford era. I was always professional and had also developed my business acumen while under the tutelage of Andre Christburg who had become more of a business mentor and not just my employer.
Well, life happened and the other 2 members of 20/24 started families and moved out of the Atlanta area for a while. At this time I had taken on the moniker of “Pharaoh’s Child” as I had gotten deep into Egyptian/Kemetic studies and teachings from the Mystery Schools of ancient Kemet. I had begun to write think pieces on Facebook talking about everything from spirituality and religion to politics and society. My friend Slim Kong suggested that I start making YouTube videos instead of writing long think pieces on Facebook that gained very little interaction, mainly because people didn’t have the patience to read a mini thesis on a Facebook post! It was at this time that I got the inspiration to write my first book, “Journeyz in the 4th Dimenzion: A Collection of Thoughts & Essays on Life, God, and the Beyond” distributed thru Lulu.com Publishing. I was realizing that I had more to say which couldn’t always be fully expressed in a song or rap verse.
At the time I was promoting my first book I was no longer working with the hair magazine and I was working at a locally owned custom plastic shop where we would mold and design objects using plexiglass. The job didn’t pay well but I enjoyed the creative process of making glass furniture and many other unique designs. Hollywood had taken over Atlanta and a lady friend of mine was doing background work on the film Shaft 3. She suggested that I look into doing background work. I never had aspirations of being a movie star. Even though I did want to write movie scripts and possibly do a cameo or two in a film, it wasn’t at the forefront of my mind but she kept pressuring me to submit to something because she felt I would be a great fit. I reluctantly applied for a small background role that was supposed to be a hip-hop club scene. A week later, Tammy Smith Casting contacted me and said they had an even BIGGER role they wanted to offer me, but I would have to audition for the director of the film. This was literally my first submission and I was getting called back to audition for a more featured role! The movie would end up being “Superfly” (2018) which was directed by Director X, who is famously known for producing music videos like Jay-Z ‘Big Pimpin” and Drake “God’s Plan” as well as a list of other iconic music videos. I was featured as the right hand man to the leader of the “Snow Patrol” played by Big Bank in the film. I got to meet Big Boi from Outkast as well as Zaytoven who produced the film’s soundtrack. It was a great experience, but it came at a cost. I was fired from my job for taking off too much time in order to film the Superfly movie. However, I made more in one day working on the set of Superfly than I did working an entire week at the custom plastic shop and I was on set for about a month.
As fate would have it, as soon as production for Superfly was coming to a close, I got the opportunity to be featured on Killer Mike’s Netflix show: Trigger Warning with Killer Mike. I was selected because of my spiritual views and shared my book with Mike. That was my 2nd film project working on. Four months after filming Superfly and before the movie had even released in theaters, the custom plastic job I was working with had gone out of business! I took this as a sign that maybe I was moving in the right direction! I also had great experience shooting and fighting aliens alongside Chris Pratt in the movie “The Tomorrow War”. That was immediately followed up by a small role alongside Idris Elba, Alice Bragga, and John Cena in “The Suicide Squad” directed by James Gunn. Director Will Packer selected me for a minor role in a show he made for BET+ Plus called “Bigger” which was also a fun experience. I was beginning to get comfortable with the idea of being an actor and had begun seeking out larger roles with more lines when Covid hit and everything came to a screeching halt. During this time my grandmother lost her mobility and I had to step in as her caretaker for a few years. This was a difficult time especially during the lockdown period. However, it allowed me time to pen my second book, “Righteous Thoughts in Revolutionary Times” under the pen name ‘Ras Nubakhenaten’, which loosely translates to ‘Golden Heart of God”. The book was inspired after i completed reading “The Book of Coming Forth by Day” by Normandi Ellis, or as it is more commonly known, “The Egyptian Book of the Dead”. I connected with Orlando Rawls, a childhood friend of mine who I had known since elementary school who had since gained his Master’s and become a recognized authority in the world of Egyptology. He collaborated with me on my second book and is currently teaching in Ghana when he isn’t giving guided tours of Egypt.
After covid and the lockdown the Atlanta film industry had slowed down and finding roles became more of a challenge. I then began getting more involved in the family business and assisting more with my family’s funeral home that I mentioned earlier. I helped my mother establish the Mary-Kate Stovall-Tapley Educational Scholarship in 2021. Every year since we have given educational scholarships to deserving students in my grandmother’s home town of Hurtsboro, AL. I also got back in the studio and began releasing solo projects. I released “The Gospel of Suave Starr Child” in 2023 followed up by the EP, “Better Late Than Never” in 2024 and “Better Late Than Never 2” released in 2025. I released the single “Money Train” which was featured on Khujo Goodie’s “Street Mentality” project and even got to film the music video with Khujo supporting me. As I said earlier, Dungeon Family was a major influence in my music so working with a member of the Goodie Mob was a dream come true! Having Khujo Goodie co-sign my music meant a lot to me!
I began writing film scripts in fall of 2023 after an associate of mine approached me and wanted to shoot an independent film. It took me 2 months but when I was done, everyone loved the script I had created! Unfortunately funding for the project fell thru and it was put on the shelf. I also wrote a pilot for a potential show series based in Atlanta about an OG who is released from prison and is re-introduced to the “New Atlanta” that has changed much since he was away. The project is still in planning stages at this point but once again, everyone loved the script I produced.
In 2026 I am set to release my 3rd book “Understand A Man” under the pen name ‘Ras Nubakhenaten’ which I began writing in 2023. It is a book dedicated to not only repairing the modern day relationship between men and women, but also giving a more accurate definition of what I believe TRUE manhood entails. The book has already been submitted to the publisher and should be available in June or July of 2026. I am also set to release “Better Late Than Never 3” on June 22nd on all music streaming platforms.
Music has always been my passion, hip-hop is my first love, writing is my gift, and my spiritual journey and evolution has guided me to this current point. The Golden Child became the Pharaoh’s Child and has since evolved into a Star Child!
Welcome to SuaveWorld, you’re gonna love it here!!!

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Losing my brother during the pandemic was hard me on and my family because nobody was expecting it and he passed the day after my birthday which kind of creates a somber mood around what should be a time of celebration. Also, as I mentioned before, when I had to help be a caretaker for my grandmother was a difficult time. I had to sacrifice the opportunity to work with Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson on the film “Red Notice”, which filmed during the shutdown and would have been a big money opportunity film but I chose to be there for my grandmother and my family who needed me.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
The only thing not mentioned already is that I did a mini YouTube documentary titled: ATL Hip-Hop History, from Mojo to Migos. It is located on my main YouTube Page @suaveworld107. I post most of my spiritual insight on my @SuaveWorldSpeaks IG page and on my second YouTube page which is also @SuaveWorldSpeaks on YouTube. Also I have done community work with Hosea Feed The Homeless and I was a youth camp counselor for Usher Raymond’s inaugural “Camp New Look” where I was responsible for being a mentor to a group of young boys between the ages of 9 – 11 for a two week period that focused on Dance, Singing, and Basketball skills all hosted by RnB singer Usher.

Who else deserves credit in your story?
I can’t think of anyone i haven’t mentioned already. My parents and my sister have always supported me. My good friend and producer/beatmaker Erxc has always had my back and I’ve always tried to move with the faith that God’s got my back. That’s all the support that I need!

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @suaveworld and @suaveworldspeaks
• Facebook: @suaveworld
• Twitter: @suaveworld
• Youtube: @suaveworld107 (music page) and @suaveworldspeaks
• Other: TikTok @suaveworldspeaks