Antone Exum Jr., a former local football star who played in the NFL, is now a pop singer with an unusual sound. (Photo courtesy Antone Exum Jr.)
Antone Chavez Exum Jr. was a standout football player at Deep Run High School and Virginia Tech, and from 2014-19 he played for the Minnesota Vikings and the San Francisco 49ers in the NFL. He left the gridiron behind, however, to pursue music as Exum, a hard-to-describe artist whose debut effort, “Xardinal Coffee,” is grimy and eerily ethereal as it bounces between hip-hop and pop. In advance of his performance at Richmond Music Hall on Sept. 11, we caught up with Exum about the sound on his first album, his approach to music and his past life as a professional athlete.
Richmond magazine: Do you see a link between the way you approached something like football and the way you approach music?
Exum: The link would be being fully immersed. I’m 100% immersed into music at this moment. Meaning I wake up writing songs, I go to sleep writing songs, my mind is on music throughout the day.
RM: Was music always a part of your life?
Exum: For a very long time, I've always loved music and had a passion for it and just connected with it since I was really young. I really enjoyed that it was always able to situate a feeling that I felt, an emotion that I felt.
RM: What sort of emotions are you trying to track on your first album, “Xardinal Coffee”? And how do you pronounce it?
Exum: It’s “Cardinal Coffee.” The “x” is just there for swag. [Laughs] A bunch of emotions. There’s [the track] “Sage the Room,” which kind of embodies — I want to say rebellious, but that’s maybe a little too extra. It’s almost like a curiosity. Then, you go to a track like “Dark Kept Secret,” which is just kind of about being able to clear up some mind space. The emotions are all over the place. It’s a very eclectic album.
RM: Given that the album is so varied, what ties it all together?
Exum: We had an idea — a slight vision. We want you to be able to envision “Xardinal Coffee” in a jungle setting. When I think about that, I think about songs like “Portabello Mushroom,” or even “Sage the Room,” some of the harder-hitting ones, being around loud animals. Things like that. We also wanted to be pretty conscious within the songs, meaning we wanted the songs to have a very clear-cut purpose, and stay consistent throughout the entire track.
RM: I know that when you played in the NFL, particularly with the 49ers, they were very supportive of your musical aspirations. How did the players at Deep Run or Virginia Tech react?
Exum: Honestly, it’s been the same kind of thing forever. When I was at Deep Run, I was sought after for music. At Tech, it kind of continued. I was known for rapping, dancing around in the locker room and just having a lot of fun with it.
RM: Have you performed in Richmond before?
Exum: This is maybe going to blow your mind a little bit, but this is my first show ever.
RM: Your first show ever, anywhere?
Exum: Yep.
RM: Best of luck. Anything else to add?
Exum: That I feel that I’m one of the great artists of our existence.
This interview was edited for length and clarity.
Exum performs with Benét and PPL Mag at Richmond Music Hall on Sept. 11 at 8:30 p.m. Tickets are $12.
