On Thursday, September 4th, Billboard hosted its annual Hip-Hop/R&B Power Players Awards at Unveiled in Brooklyn, New York.
Jacksonville native & Yo Gotti protege Lil Poppa just wrapped his stint on CMG The Label’s “Gangsta Art” arena tour where he performed alongside Gotti, Moneybagg Yo, GloRilla, 42 Dugg, EST Gee, Mozzy, Blac Youngsta and Big Boogie. Poppa recently dropped his It’s Me, I’m The Problem EP after shining on “Gangsta Art 2” – CMG’s compilation album.
We caught up with Poppa to discuss his musical journey, from early influences at age 12 to learning how to write his first rap from his brother. We discussed the pivotal role Poppa’s family played in encouraging his musical development and supporting his career. Poppa also shared career highlights with us like meeting the legendary DMX and hearing himself on the ESPN finals.
Did you always know you wanted to be an artist?
Yeah, I did. I always knew I wanted to be an artist. I asked my brother to sit me down, my brother was a rapper first, I asked him to help me write my first rap. I was 8 years old, and it was over with from there, I was just writing, writing, writing. I got in the studio when I was like 12 or 13 years old and I just started recording myself. I used to get asked a lot in school, what you want to be when you grow up and a rapper was never my answer because I didn’t want to be looked at like that kid with a bunch of high hopes. It ended up coming true, I ended up proving myself wrong and proving everybody else wrong.”
Who were some of your musical influences growing up?
Besides artists that wasn’t mainstream, my big brother because he was doing it at the time, locally. Then like mainstream artists I would say Bow Wow. I was young looking up to Bow Wow because I felt like if he could do it I could do it. Once I got older and seen the Chief Keefs, and the Kodaks, and the Youngboys that gave me another kick and push of inspiration that I could do it.
Was there anybody in your life motivating you to take music seriously?
Yes, for sure, my family because they always knew I had it. They always knew I was good at what I do. My big brother was doing it already, so they knew it was in him and then when I caught on to it and started rapping it was just like something that we all were gifted. That’s what we took it as.
Has your family been supportive of your dreams?
As I mentioned my family has always been supportive of me, every one of them. I don’t even think I had nobody in my family that ever doubted me when it came to music. They all believed like “ok, he got it.”
What have been your 3 biggest career highlights so far?
That’s kind of hard. Off the top of my head – meeting DMX, being able to have a conversation with him and being able to sit in the studio with him, watching him record a verse. I’ll never forget that day. Another highlight was hearing myself on ESPN on the finals. To hear my song and hear my voice, that was crazy. I’d probably just say these last couple of tours and just seeing the reactions to my fans – real love.
How does it feel having Yo Gotti as a mentor?
Its definitely a blessing, an honor. That’s somebody you grew up listening to, you grew up thinking that they’re in the position that he in and that’s just more motivation for me to know that I can do it. There’s no limits to what I can do.
What’s the most important piece of advice he’s given you?
Focus on the music and everything else will fall in line.
What are you currently working on? Any new music on the way? Any collaborations on the way?
I just dropped an EP, ‘It’s Me, I’m The Problem’ just to finish out the year. Going into next year I’m working on my album, hopefully we can have that by spring time. I don’t want to put too much on it, but with this last project it was just me. This next project you can be expecting a lot of guests, features and stuff like that. I want to step outside the box and try different sounds.
Last week Atlanta-born artist Chase Shakur graced SOBs with a live performance during the New York stop of his inaugural It’s Still Love Tour. Few artists can boast selling out shows during their first tour with no cosigns, but Chase has already demonstrated that he’s not like most artists in the best way possible. After releasing his It’s Not You It’s Me EP he followed up with the deluxe and is now on the road taking his talents across the country. Its Not You Its Me has already accumulated over 10 million streams with bonus track “sink or swim” sitting at 4 million streams on Spotify alone.
We caught up with Chase during his soundcheck to discuss his first tour ever, his musical beginnings and his latest project. Openers included the talented Destin Laurell, who warmed up the crowd before Chase hit the stage. Chase gave an unforgettable performance and played hits like “Cascade Road” “YSL” “No Savin” “X’s and No’s” and many others. Not only did Chase serenade his fans, he handed out red roses as well as fans screamed “We love you, Chase!” The crowd went crazy and it’s safe to say Chase shut SOBS down.
The Knockturnal: How old you were when you started experimenting with music?
Chase Shakur: I was 15 when I started. It started off with I guess this crush I had in seventh grade or middle school. She had this this summer program she was going to and they was teaching the kids how to do music so I applied to the drawing program because I loved to draw and I seen how much fun they were having doing music and I gave it a shot and started rapping.
The Knockturnal: At that time were you writing or freestyling?
Chase Shakur: I was writing back then. I was really trying to get my bars off. I was doing cyphers, I was on the corners rapping.
The Knockturnal: Your music has influences of r&b, rap, soul, funk and much more can you share what type of music you were brought up on?
Chase Shakur: It Was a balance of everything. My mom was into a lot of different genres of music so , she would play classical music like Beethoven or just r&b or reggae. I grew up in a house with a lot of people, so the women would play mostly r&b, but then the males would play dudes from the neighborhood.
The Knockturnal: Was there anybody in your life that was motivating you to take music seriously when you were first starting out?
Chase Shakur: I started doing music with two friends and we’d wake up at 6:00 AM and just walk to one of our boys’ house who had a home studio and we’d do that every morning for the whole summer when I was 16.
The Knockturnal: What motivated you to pursue music as opposed to another career?
Chase Shakur: It was my last year of college at Georgia State and I had a clear path. I knew, alright, if I drop school, I can completely focus on this and when I did my manager posted a video that went pretty viral on TikTok and everything else just kind of happened.
The Knockturnal: In your own words what have been the biggest highlights of your career so far?
Chase Shakur: Selling out my first tour with no cosigns. I think the biggest thing for me is that we’re doing all this off the strength of music and then signing with Def Jam.
The Knockturnal: How did it feel when you signed with Def Jam?
Chase Shakur: It just showed me that I wasn’t crazy.
The Knockturnal: What are your favorite songs off of it’s not you, it’s me?
Chase Shakur: “X’s and O’s” and “Slide,” but there was a song that was supposed to be on there, but I couldn’t clear the sample. It was called God. That’s my favorite.
The Knockturnal: Is this your first time performing in New York?
Chase Shakur: No, I’ve performed here four times. My first show ever was in New York with DJ Miss Milan.
The Knockturnal: What are you looking forward to most on your first tour?
Chase Shakur: I’m just ready to perform in front of my mom and my family in front of a bigger crowd.
The Knockturnal: What are you currently working on?
Chase Shakur: Probably after the tour we working on the first album. I’ve just been studying, really studying music, reading, listening.
The Knockturnal: Any collaborations on the way?
Chase Shakur: Got a song with Ryan Tracy. I got a song with Afrobeats artist Nonso Amadi.
Last Week Philly Goats held an intimate listening at Manhattan Beach Recording Studio where fans and tastemakers gathered to celebrate the release of their debut project Philly Goats. It’s no secret that Philly Club dances are taking over Tik Tok, and that Philly Goat Dyce (D Sturdy), Sou, and PGS Spence aka The Philly Goats are at the forefront of this viral movement. Philly Goat Dyce formerly known as D Sturdy has had viral hits like “Walk em Like a Dog,” & “Shake Dhat,” and has most recently partnered with his brother Sou and childhood friend PGS Spence to show the world the best of what Philly has to offer. What started out as a fun way to spend time together and have fun on Tik Tok helped the Philly Goats create a platform for themselves as the faces of the Philly Club movement. Philly Goats debut tape has already had viral hits like “Buckle Up” which has surpassed over 3.5 millions Spotify streams and “Get Off The Wall” which has accumulated over 5.6 million streams on Spotify alone. While at the listening we were able to catch up with Philly Goats to discuss their debut tape, chemistry working together and the power of social media.
The Knockturnal: What’s your favorite song of the project and why?
Philly Goat Sou: “Blick”
Philly Goat Spence: “Toot Dat” we did our thing on that thing, we set the booth on fire
Philly Goat Dyce: “Turnt” it give me a different vibe. It’s different from us because it’s not like a party song, but it’s a party song.
The Knockturnal: What’s it like working together?
Philly Goat Sou: I love working with my boys. It’s turnt.
Philly Goat Spence: I ain’t gonna lie. We put that work in.
Philly Goat Dyce: It’s us against everybody.
The Knockturnal: Who would you say is your biggest inspiration musically?
Philly Goat Spence: I’d say D Sturdy he inspired me to do a lot. After that first mil he started turning up.
Philly Goat Dyce: I’d say myself
The Knockturnal: How does it feel going viral at such a young age?
Philly Goat Spence: You got a lot of supporters running up on you, cameras, flashes, paparazzi lifestyle. It’s different.
Philly Goat Dyce: I ain’t gonna lie it’s fun. It’s lit for real. Like, I don’t know how to explain it. The kids love us and look up to us.
Philly Goat Sou: It’s all right. This nutty though. This ain’t for everybody. So don’t just try to go get famous. I’m telling you this not for everybody. You gotta be hard. You gotta have tough skin to be in this. That was real.
The Knockturnal: Can you elaborate on what it takes to be a star and what it takes if you really want this lifestyle?
Philly Goat Dyce: Grind. Till the sun go down you gotta grind. In the stu 24/7 putting that work in.
Philly Goat Sou: First of all, you gotta promote yourself every minute, every other day. Your managers tell you to promote.
The Knockturnal: What’s a typical week look like for you?
Philly Goat Sou: During a normal week Monday studio, straight studio, Sunday studio, every other day, studio.
The Knockturnal: What’s been your favorite thing to do since becoming famous that you never thought you would personally get to do before any of this?
Philly Goat Dyce: Performing at Powerhouse, doing big shows
The Knockturnal: Hoe does it feel performing in front of large audiences?
Philly Goat Sou: I feel like my dream coming true.
The Knockturnal: How does it feel dropping your first mixtape?
Philly Goats: Man, it feel crazy man. We’ve been one off singles our whole life and we just dropped the tape. Now it’s time to turn up and fuck the city up man.
Last week UnitedMasters hosted SelectCon 005, its annual conference bridging the gap between those established and emerging in the music industry. In partnership with Ally, Baileys, Bulleit, Delta, Johnnie Walker & VISA, this year’s UnitedMasters SelectCon 005 was held at Terminal 5, hosted by TT Torez, Ivy Rivera & V-Live. Talent included the legendary Spinall, special guests Earthgang, DJ Pope, Nickoog & Liana Banks. The list of this year’s panel speakers consisted of CEOs, international superstars and media moguls like UnitedMasters CEO Steve Stoute, global sensation Davido & RapRadar founder Elliott Wilson to name a few.
Program highlights included the Bulleit 100-hour mentorship & showcase which took place on Terminal 5’s rooftop, Building Your Brand with Elliott Wilson, How To Be Independent with LVRN & Dometi Pongo, and for the final panel of the evening Davido joined Steve Stoute to not only discuss his musical career but Music’s Global Future. Bulleit’s 100-hour mentorship program offers emerging artists exclusive one-to-one mentorship opportunities and valuable insight from industry experts.
The most exciting part of the evening was listening to Davido’s journey of going from independent artist to a household name. Davido reminisced about selling concert tickets door to door in his early days. He also shared that he always attempted to include people in his circle who were talented for any play that came his way. Additionally, Steve Stoute and Davido discussed the power of brand partnerships like Puma and pivoting to other markets from music. The evening was informative, enlightening and a celebration of music and music lovers.
Last week Ken Carson celebrated the release of his latest album A Great Chaos with a private concert in Brooklyn. Held at Silo music venue, the evening was a rager to say the least. Sponsored by Spotify, the album release gave fans the opportunity to experience A Great Chaos, live, hours before it went live on all platforms. Not only that, Ken surprised fans by bringing out Destroy Lonely to perform his features off of Ken’s new project. Fans were moshing, jumping ecstatically and turning up, but the excitement didn’t end there. The night was nothing short of legendary when Ken brought out Playboi Carti himself. Fans, myself included lost it when Carti graced the stage and joined his Opium artists. It was truly an unforgettable moment to witness Carti, Ken and Destroy come together to celebrate A Great Chaos.
After only a week of release, each track on A Great Chaos has individually amassed over 1 million streams each, on Spotify alone, with “I need u” sitting at over 26 million streams. A Great Chaos is a solid body of work and showcases Ken’s versatility. Standout tracks include “Rockstar Lifestyle,” “Fighting My Demons,””Singapore” ft. Destroy Lonely & “Like This” ft. Destroy Lonely & Lil Uzi.
Once again Genius returns with its annual BBQ filled with performances, good food and good music. We recently attended Genius’ annual BBQ, held at The Knockdown Center in Queens this year. With Hip Hop’s 50th anniversary this year, the entire industry gathered to uplift and celebrate Hip Hop with some of its biggest and upcoming stars. This year’s Genius BBQ lineup included Rich Greedy, Ashoka, Wynne, Chow Lee, Luh Tyler, Lola Brooke, Armani White & the legendary Clipse. Fans went crazy for their new favorite artists as well as hip hop heavyweights like Malice and Pusha-T. The evening consisted of performances, food trucks and a VIP lounge where artists and industry tastemakers were able to enjoy complimentary cocktails courtesy of PATRÓN EL ALTO as well take pictures at the Genius BBQ Photo Booth.
Other highlights from the evening included the Rap Cafeteria, with rap-inspired dishes from local NYC food vendors presented by Showtime Original Series The Chi. Not only that, the evening also showcased the So Fresh, So Clean Shop from Paco Rabanne 1M, an art installation from INFINITI featuring the new QX60. Fans went crazy for their favorite artists old and new and celebrated 50 years of hip hop during this unforgettable night with Genius.
Earlier this week Tyla Yaweh held an intimate listening party for his upcoming debut album Heart Full of Rage 2 in New York City. The listening was held inside Sony Music Studios where media outlets and industry tastemakers gathered to celebrate Tyla’s highly-anticipated album. Tyla gave each guest “Summer Vibes” towels, which is the first single off of the project. Tyla played half the album and previewed collaborations with Chris Brown, Dej Loaf and more. Tyla shared that when Chris Brown heard “City of Dreams” he immediately fell in love and wanted to be on the record. Tyla also explained that he contact DeJ Loaf via Instagram for “Lighters Up” and she sent her verse back the very next day within 24 hours.
Heart Full of Rage 2 is everything fans want and more and showcases Tyla’s musical growth. Not only does Tyla give his fans a variety of genres and vibes on his project he enlists heavy-hitters and legends to compliment his amazing records. Heart Full of Rage 2 is a brilliant whirlwind of Rage, Hyperpop, Rock, Pop, R&B, House and Hip-Hop. Tyla shows us he’s not slowing down anytime soon and is still currently adding songs to the project to give listeners everything they’ve been waiting for.
We had a chance to catch up with Tyla to discuss his upcoming project and his growth. Don’t sleep on Heart Full of Rage 2 dropping 8/4.
The Knockturnal: What are your favorite songs off of Heart Full of Rage 2 and why?
Tyla Yaweh: Honestly “Stuck” hits me the hardest because I was going through a breakup with my girlfriend and we’re back together now obviously. It was my birthday, I had to turn in my album like the day after my birthday so I couldn’t leave so I just got an airbnb and chilled there for a whole week finishing up my album and I was working on my next project coming out called Why Do You Hate Me? It was symbolic of what I was going though, I just had all this shit going on and going through these relationship problems, that was something that sticks with me but I love every song on the album. Each song is a chapter, Heart Full of Rage 2 is a book and it’s my debut album at that so I’m just excited.
The Knockturnal: Which song are you most excited for people to hear?
Tyla Yaweh: There is this one song that I recorded 5 years ago and it’s called “Coffee & Whiskey” and I’m super excited for people to hear that, it’s almost like country music.
The Knockturnal: You have so many amazing collaborations on this project, can you name some of your favorites?
Tyla Yaweh: Shoutout to Chris Brown, shoutout to Toosi, Ty Dollar $ign, Yung Bleu, Dej Loaf and shoutout to everybody who helped tell my story.
The Knockturnal: What’s the most important thing you’ve learned since we last spoke in 2019?
Tyla Yaweh: Love people, love life, love yourself and never give up.
Last week Tina FKA Hoodcelebrityy celebrated her birthday with a single release party for her latest drop “‘YKTV'” at the DL Rooftop. The night was filled with fans, influencers and industry elite who all gathered to support Tina. Industry legends like celebrity photographer Johnny Nunez were in attendance and made sure to capture all the unforgettable moments throughout the evening.
Halfway through the night Tina even gave a performance with hits like “Walking Trophy.” It was truly one of the best live performances we’ve seen in a while. Tina not only reminded us why she’s that girl, but she also put on an amazing show and even jumped in the crowd to dance with some of her lovely female fans. Not to mention she slayed in her denim two-piece and showed off her amazing abs and dance moves while serenading the crowd.
Not only did Tina work with Cardi B early on in her career, she solidified herself as a bonafide star when she blessed the world with “Walking Trophy” which currently sits at over 30 million Spotify streams alone. “Bum Pon It” and “Run Di Road” have also accumulated over 7 and 6 million Spotify streams respectively and now Tina is back with her latest single “YKTV.”
Calling Ghanaian artist Sarkodie a legend would be an understatement. Not only has he dedicated over 10 years to the game, he has impacted the course of music history as we know it and is truly one of the most successful African artists of all time. He was the inaugural winner of BET’s “Best International Flow Award” in 2019 and was honored with the “Artist of The Decade” award at the Vodafone Ghana Music Awards. From launching his career as a battle rapper and winning over his fans and the public to dominating the industry and taking home countless awards, Sarkodie is a veteran in the game and is here to further not only the African agenda, but the Ghanaian agenda as well.
Earlier this year Sarkodie released a song with the late Bob Marley for an updated version of the Jamaican legend’s classic song with The Wailers, “Stir It Up.” In addition to that Sarkodie released his latest album JAMZ in November of last year and his embarking on a world tour after 6 years. Sarkodie will be performing in Washington DC, Chicago, Dallas, Charlotte, Nashville, Minnesota, Phoenix, Toronto, Vancouver, and Edmonton and will kick off the North American leg of the tour in New York City on July 15th at The Town Hall. Tickets can be purchased here.
We recently caught up with Sarkodie to discuss his rise to fame and musical journey, his battle rapping days and winning over his people to taking the industry by storm and establishing the most popular music festival in Ghana called Rapperholic. Sarkodie also shares which cities he’s most excited to revisit and some major collaborations on the way. Check out our full-length interview below!
The Knockturnal: How old were you when you started experimenting with music?
Sarkodie: I’ve been doing this professionally for about 13 to 14 years, but before that, I could count like five to six years before that. So probably if I’m not exaggerating, we looking at like, probably 20 years back and I was a bit young.
The Knockturnal: And who were some of your musical in influences growing up?
Sarkodie:I used to listen to a lot of hip hop. I listened to Tupac. Then in Ghana I started hearing from Obrafour, a legend out here in Ghana who made me fall in love with rap because he was rapping, but not in English. He was rapping in my native tongue and that made me relate to it and I felt like this incredible. So I think I started writing when I heard of Obrafour.
The Knockturnal: Was there anybody in your life that was motivating you to take music seriously as a career path?
Sarkodie: not really. I’m somebody that makes decision based on what I think so I didn’t really even have friends who would think about even writing music, so I was just moved by it and I heard it and I started using it as therapy. I wouldn’t say I had specific people who are pushing it, but I always wanted to do it myself.
The Knockturnal: Initially was your family supportive of your musical journey?
Sarkodie: I think I hid it for a while, so they didn’t really know about it. Typical African parents don’t normally support entertainment my mom was not really in support of it in the beginning. Not in a bad way, it’s just the fact that every African parent thinks that you have to take academics seriously and then only probably like two jobs that they think are appropriate like being a doctor not necessarily the entertainment business, but I think they caught on very early. They did not wait, I didn’t have the story of having to make it before they support it, but I think my mom gave me a year to prove a point and thank God that was the same year that I started making an impact. So I was lucky.
The Knockturnal: You’ve put over 10 years into the game, how does it feel now to be on the other side and really enjoy the success that you’ve worked so hard to achieve?
Sarkodie: It’s fulfilling. I never snap out of it. I don’t take it for granted. I don’t take it lightly because I’ve went through the journey, I went through the stages. Each and every time I catch myself trying to reflect how long it’s been and take myself to when I was trying to do what I’m doing now, and also look at what are we able to do in the years coming. I don’t take it lightly. I’m just really always reflecting. I appreciate every single bit of what is happening now. I always preach that people should not skip the process because when you don’t, you appreciate it more. That’s what’s happening to me at this point, there’s a lot of appreciation of the whole journey.
The Knockturnal: Can you name some of the biggest highlights in your career?
Sarkodie: I used to go on radio to battle MC almost every Saturday because there was a show on radio and I never lost and those moments were priceless to me, especially because they to open phone calls for the public to vote and each and every night I had, that’s where I built my fan base for in Ghana. I think after that is when I came out with my first project and I won the Artist of the year and I took like five awards, which was unheard of at the time. I took five awards. it was incredible. I went back to my city and then the whole city was on fire. Like everybody, the taxi drivers, everybody was like blowing horns and people making parties and it was a beautiful era. It was very intentional on my side because I knew that I was not rapping in English. So I came up with a strategy that I was gonna work on my flow to be able to appeal to people. I don’t want you to miss out on what I’m doing, even if you’re not understanding what I’m saying. I want you to love it. I ended up winning that award for just being that, and that’s the BET Best International Flow and that was the first time and I was the first artist to win it. It kind of reaffirmed what I believed in and what I said to myself that this is what I’m gonna do.
The Knockturnal:So JAMZ was a huge success! What was your favorite song off the project and why?
Sarkodie: I would say “She Bad” featuring Oxlade and then “Better Days” featuring Buju, but definitely better days because that line of music or that that storyline is, is basically Sakordie I represent hustle and going through adversity and then winning at the end as we’ve been talking about.
The Knockturnal: How do you feel about your upcoming world tour?
Sarkodie: I’m very excited, it is always a blessing to be able to travel to different places, outside your comfort zone and still have people pull up and you learn a lot while you are on the road. We just came from Amsterdam and it was incredible. I actually like new crowds more than the people who already know the music cuz it’s challenging and I like to prove a point. I came in as a Battle MC, so I’m used to trying to make a point. It’s been great so far and I think it’s gonna be one of the best ones yet and I’m super excited to touch the next cities coming up.
The Knockturnal: Which cities are you most excited to either revisit or go to for the first time?
Sarkodie: I’m looking forward to revisiting certain cities like Toronto, I’ve not been there in like ages and I always love it in NYC. It’s extremely energetic anytime I’m there.
The Knockturnal: What are you currently working on? Do you have any new music on the way?
Sarkodie: There will be a few releases this year because what I do is I try to put out music because every year we crown it with the biggest concert in Ghana called Rapperholic where every Sarkodie fans or just Ghana music lovers round up under one roof. I bring almost everyone on that stage from Burna Boy to Wiz to R2Bees to Stonebwoy, every name that you can think of has been on that stage. I try to put out music before then, so yes, there’s a lot of music coming.
The Knockturnal: Any collaborations on the way this year?
Sarkodie: There’s been a lot of music that I’ve done with people in Nigeria and Jamaica and in the States. Yes, a lot of places, but we are ready to put it out. I can’t wait to come to the States because I have one of the biggest artists in the world, in the States and we have yet to shoot our video, so that’s also in the pipeline as soon as I’m down there. There’s a bunch of collaborations.
The Knockturnal: Is there anything else that you would like to touch on before we wrap today?
Sarkodie: Yes. I wanna say thank you to fans of Afrobeats Music and African music and those who have supported it to date. I would like to tell the Africans out there that yes, we have a moment and we are not just gonna let it slide. Let’s keep it and maintain it. This is a genre that’s here to stay. This is feel good music and never goes out of style because everybody wants to feel good and African music makes you feel good and whoever loves it, you know, there’s more coming hold onto it. There’s gonna be a lot of artists coming out, also I can narrow it down to my people, Ghanaian in the diaspora. I know this is an African agenda, but every country is also looking out for themselves. I would like to tell Ghanaians in the world to pull up for your people when they come to see you guys out there because that’s how we are gonna push our music to the next level. So whenever you hear Ghanaian artists coming anywhere in the world, make sure you turn up and go and support and be proud of your music.
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