Last fall, Miles Spiel was working at a Tijuana Flats in a small suburb in South Florida when he decided it was time to split.
Over the past couple of weeks, Spiel—who raps under the name 1900Rugrat—had been releasing freestyles on his TikTok. These freestyles—short, raw moments of improvisation often recorded from his kitchen in Limestone Creek, Florida—gradually gained traction.
Then, one took off: rapping over a chopped-up version of Atlanta legend Rocko’s street classic “U.O.E.N.O,” the freestyle, named "One Take," started going viral. Part of the song's success comes from the fact that 1900Rugrat is white but has a heavy Florida drawl and a knack for wordplay that is almost immediately apparent.
Then there's also the opening line—"Cracker got an AR like he shootin' schools up"—that’s memorable from the moment you hear it.
"The first bar... pushed the boundaries a little bit," 1900Rugrat told Complex. "People hear that, and I feel like a lot of people are scared to laugh sometimes. Everybody’s so scared with the way the world is now, so I just kind of poke fun at the world a little bit."
And from there, you know how virality works: he quits his job, and within days, he's in New York, signing a deal with Remain Solid and 300. He hops on Off the Radar, gaining more traction, and starts connecting with rappers he grew up idolizing, like Lil Yachty and Kodak Black. He hits the Rolling Loud stage. He also links up with newer contemporaries on the come up, like Skrilla and Jorjiana. He even gets the coveted Drake co-sign.
And now we have the first project. Released on February 28, Porch 2 The Pent is a sometimes spotty collection of songs, where you can hear the influences, the wordplay of a young Kodak and the presence of Chief Keef. The first half of the album stands out the most, with Rugrat alternating between introspective moments of clarity and slick wordplay.
A couple of weeks before the album dropped, Rugrat stopped by Complex’s offices. He was in a jovial mood, smiling and proudly showing off his latest purchase: $20K worth of diamond-studded teeth. There was also a certain wide-eyed, "aw shucks" vibe to him. Coming from Limestone Creek, a town with a population of just about 1,500, it’s clear that he's still processing how he ended up promoting an album in New York City.
We spoke to 1900Rugrat about his rise, his chats with Lil Yachty, being called a "marketing genius," his reaction to a Drake shout-out, and more.
To start, explain your name.
Everybody be asking me where my name came from. Everybody really just called me 19 growing up and then I just added a little 1900 because I thought it sounded cool. With the Rugrat shit, I feel like it represents innocence. Everybody be trying to be so hard and be so over gangsta all the time. You could be a rug rat, sometimes. You could have fun.
When I'm on the porch with my brothers and we just smoking and we just kicking it—or It's a barbecue and all the folks out we able to enjoy ourselves and laugh. Not just be over gangsta all the time.
Do you think of the Nickelodeon cartoon?
I ain't going to lie. I watched Rugrats growing up but that wasn't really the reason I made it, but that's part of it. Like you think of that, that's jits running around doing crazy shit. That was me and my brothers for real.
That was your name before you started rapping?
Yeah, pretty much. I've been rapping for eight years but I got this shit tatted on me when I was 15.
Did you sound like how you sounded now?
I was young so my voice was high pitched. But goddamn, I was still hard. My wordplay was crazy. I don't think nobody was fucking with me even back then.
Do you remember any lines in particular?
I was probably 13 years old. I think I said some shit like, “I'm saucing on these hoes, ketchup, no mustard. My brothers pull up, you frozen like custard. These pussy ass hoes, they know I'm a hustler.”
I was sliding but my voice was high pitched. My flow was off, but my wordplay was still there.
What rappers you were fucking with at the time?
I always listen to Chief Keef. I grew up on Lil Wayne but at that time—it was like 2016—I was really fucking with Kodak, Yachty, Lil Uzi [Vert], all the shit that was really popping at that time that everybody was bumping. I ain't find my music taste at that point. But I always fucked with Sosa.
Did you meet Sosa yet?
Nah, I ain't never met Sosa.
That shit will be gas, I ain't going to fly, it'll be dope to link up with Sosa. I was finna go to his show in Miami before I blew up. It was like last year I think, but it had got delayed or postponed or something. And then the next tour, the dates that he posted didn't have a Miami date. That was supposed to be on my birthday, too. And I ain't never been in no show. I ain't never went to no concert before I went to Rolling Loud, before I went to do my first shows. Rolling Loud was my third, fourth show. I was out there nervous as shit.
How did it go, man?
Shit was fire. I brought my brother [Rickfrmdacreek] out there too. We had performed this shit, “Dyin Bout Respect.”
You said you were a little nervous. The crowd was fucking with it?
Yeah, the crowd was fucking with it, man. It was a little early in the day, my set started and I'm seeing them folks running. They running to the stage. That shit was turnt. It was surreal. I'm from Palm Beach, so that's like an hour and a half away from Miami. So everybody be going to Rolling Loud.
You started posting free songs on TikTok. Why?
I ain't had no time to hit the booth. I had a nine to five. I had a girlfriend. I'm paying for the apartment, but it's 50/50 on some shit. So it's like she making more cheese than me. I'm trying to keep my girl from leaving me, all types of shit. I ain't got no time to hit the booth. So it's like I maybe hit the booth once a month, getting an hour or two hours in the booth. So I'm like, “OK, I got to do something.” I am posting the TikToks but the audio not really doing too much. So I post a freestyle though, they get like a hundred likes instead of just like 30 likes on the audio. So I see that and I'm like, “OK, let me post another freestyle.” And it went from like that. Then I started making songs of those freestyles and then boom.
What was your nine to five?
I worked at Tijuana Flats right before I blew up. I quit three days before the labels called me to go to New York.
When you quit had “One Take Freestyle” already already taken off?
A little bit. It ain't really take off that much because the music video ain't dropped yet. I had quit three days later. I went to New York while I was in New York. I dropped the video. So I was already blowing up all freestyles and had a following off that before “One Take” even took off.
When you quit, was it on some cool shit or were you like “fuck y'all.”
I was in there on my shift and I'm like, “Yo, I just made like $2,500 off TikTok in a month.” I'm making damn near the same shit breaking my back in here. I'm in here working for chump change for doing all this extra shit. So I'm like, “OK, boom. I can make more cheese being at the crib rapping.”
What was different about “One Take”? Why do you think that shit blew up like that?
I just feel like it is probably the word play and then the controversy. Probably like a mix of the two because there was a few separate parts of the song that actually blew up. It was the “Cracker got an AR” part and the “I've been in that field, I'm the boss man” part. They made a little meme out of that on TikTok.
And then that part where I was like, “Get me in that room, I'm playing stupid like I'm Woody.” That part blew up too. It was multiple parts of the song that went viral and I feel like that probably played a part. But it is also the controversy, too.
What's the controversy?
The first bar. It pushed the boundaries a little bit. People hear that and I feel like a lot of people just be scared to laugh sometimes. And everybody be so scared all the time with the way the world be. So I just kind of poke fun at the world a little bit.
It's funny I didn't see the line as controversial.
Me neither. I am hearing how people are explaining how they think I market. The whole time I'm just doing me. I watched a whole video explaining how 1900 Rugrat is a marketing genius. He teaching me shit about myself. Talking about how I make talking points. I say controversial things, I say funny things. This shit I learned just from seeing people talk about my marketing. The whole time I'm just flowing with the shit.
When did you know shit was really taking off?
Definitely when [Lil] Yachty hit me up because that's one of my inspirations, too. He just got such versatility. And the longevity of his career is just because of that. The way he switches it up, the way he keeps people entertained. He don't just stay in one boring spot. And that's what I want to do with my career. I don't want to be stuck in one spot. So the phone call with him, that was like an hour and a half.
He giving me my flowers and I'm giving him his flowers the same way. That was just surreal for me to talk to.
Porch 2 The Pent. Tell me about it.
I can't even describe it in words. The first song got crack in it. That shit just going to be wild. It is a real life rags to riches story. Because I really went from the porch to the penthouse. So it's like how Drake said “0 to 100.” But I can't steal his shit. I can't just say rags to riches. That's boring. I had to put it my own way and it fit just like that. I really went from my granny porch to the 50th floor. I'm like, “Why the fuck my ears popping in the elevator, bitch?” This shit brand new to me, all this shit.
Are you really in the penthouse right now?
I ain't living in the penthouse right now, but I'm god damn about to be, shit.
You seem like the type who records really quickly.
Yeah I be freestyling, I'll be punching in or one take. But it just be like how I'm feeling. if I get stuck I'll write something or if I'll be like, “oh this beat crazy or this part of the beat crazy” I could really get surgical on a pen. That's what I'll do. But I like going off the dome.
What's the last shit you wrote?
I'm trying to think. [checks phone.] I had wrote something February 7th at 3am.
I was in the booth with Lil Tony. I'm like, “how the heck I'm going to start this jawn off?” And then I thought of something and I'm like, I don't want to forget it. And I had wrote it down. I was like, “Lil hoe eat the meat up off a cracker like a Lunchable.” And I ain't want to forget that bitch because that’s hard.
How's the rest of the year looking for you?
I ain't going to lie. I just been working. So everything just keep moving up and up and up. And to be real, I'm just grateful. You feel me? And I feel like just everything new. So it's like I'm just trying to elevate and grow.
What was your first big purchase?
Probably the teeth. The teeth first and then probably my car.
What you got?
I had got a [Jaguar] but I just don't post it like that. Everybody don’t need to know what I slide around in. And it's my first one so I ain't get a second one yet. So the second one I could go stupid flashy or whatever.
And what was it like getting your teeth?
That shit ate my pocket. I had a song, “Rob Gronkowski.” It’s unreleased. I said, “could have bought a car, put $20k where my mouth be.”
Did you see Drake re-posted you?
Yeah. That shit had me more than turnt. I'm in there, like “ain't no fucking way.”
Where were you when you saw that?
I think I was in the crib probably. I woke my girl up. “Yo, yo yo. Drake just posted my shit.”
Got to get the Drake follow next.
I ain't going to lie, 'll be hard to link up with bro. I know he in Australia or something right now.
Man, that's nothing for you.
Man, I don't even got no passport yet.
