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.