Snootie Wild is enjoying himself. The North Memphis, Tennessee, native is in New York City promoting his just-released EP “Go Mode,” and having a few laughs at the expense of his personal assistant (“My bodyguard,” he calls her.) He’s had tremendous success this year, with “Yayo” and “Made Me” burning up the charts and an appearance on Y.G.’s acclaimed My Krazy Life album. He took some time to explain to rolling out exactly what he’s learned now that he’s gotten his big break.
“It’s been a blessing, especially coming from where I come from,” Snootie explains. “Coming out of North Memphis, there’s not much exciting about it. It’s exciting to me because that’s where I was raised in the projects, [but it’s] where I experienced life, man. Just educated myself on people in general. [There was] a lot of manipulation, you know? I’m in a whole other world now.
“What I’ve learned about this industry is you’ve got to be educated. Make sure you’re on top of things and on-point. Other than that, know that every artist is talented. I don’t care if they become your comrades. They’re still your rivals. It’s like a tournament at all times.
“2Pac inspired me to pick up the mic … as far as spitting what you feel and expressing yourself,” he recalls. “That’s what it was. When I first picked up on it, that’s what I took it as — expressing myself, and I just ran with it.”
The late West Coast icon was Snootie’s initial inspiration, but it’s clear from his conversation that nobody made a bigger impact on him as an artist than fellow Memphis product Yo Gotti. Snootie is signed to Gotti’s CMG imprint and he admires the way the elder rapper built his brand and lifted artists in his hometown.
“He came out of Memphis and into the industry world, [in some ways] going farther than where my family, Three 6 [Mafia], took it,” Snootie explains, “they took it all the way to Hollywood. But as far as Yo Gotti, he took it all the way to awards and bringing other artists out of Memphis. He took other people that was [sic] talented and brought them out of the city, as well, so that the world could see their talent. Big shouts to Yo Gotti.”
