WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.819 Imagine recording a vocal take through like a 00:00:02.819 --> 00:00:05.900 really laggy laptop and USB microphone that you 00:00:05.900 --> 00:00:08.380 literally describe yourself as trash Yeah, that's 00:00:08.380 --> 00:00:10.119 really how it started right and then imagine 00:00:10.119 --> 00:00:12.599 that exact same vocal take eventually securing 00:00:12.599 --> 00:00:16.980 you a Multi -million dollar major label deal 00:00:16.980 --> 00:00:20.280 and platinum plaques exactly platinum plaques 00:00:20.280 --> 00:00:24.539 a spot on the billboard hot 100. It's crazy so 00:00:24.539 --> 00:00:27.019 today For you listening right now, we are mapping 00:00:27.019 --> 00:00:29.800 the blueprint of modern music success. We really 00:00:29.800 --> 00:00:32.679 are. And to do it, we're taking a deep dive into 00:00:32.679 --> 00:00:35.880 a comprehensive biographical and discographical 00:00:35.880 --> 00:00:40.560 Wikipedia article on the artist Snot. And for 00:00:40.560 --> 00:00:42.500 the record, that's stylized with a dollar sign 00:00:42.500 --> 00:00:44.179 and seven S. Right, the dollar sign Snot. And 00:00:44.179 --> 00:00:47.369 I got to say, it really is. the ultimate case 00:00:47.369 --> 00:00:49.429 study. Oh, absolutely. Like, if you want to understand 00:00:49.429 --> 00:00:51.710 the exact mechanisms of how the internet has 00:00:51.710 --> 00:00:54.149 fundamentally rewired the entire music industry 00:00:54.149 --> 00:00:56.710 over, I don't know, the last decade, you have 00:00:56.710 --> 00:00:58.750 to look at a career trajectory like his. Because 00:00:58.750 --> 00:01:00.969 it just completely bypasses all the old gatekeepers. 00:01:01.250 --> 00:01:03.770 Entirely. The traditional path is gone here. 00:01:04.109 --> 00:01:06.769 Yeah. I mean, how does a teenager in Florida 00:01:06.769 --> 00:01:10.230 go from a bedroom setup that barely works to 00:01:10.230 --> 00:01:12.590 collaborating with absolute hip hop heavyweights? 00:01:13.120 --> 00:01:15.680 I am just so excited to share this incredible 00:01:15.680 --> 00:01:18.579 journey with you today because the origin story 00:01:18.579 --> 00:01:21.840 is, well, it's crucial. It really sets up everything 00:01:21.840 --> 00:01:24.560 that comes later. Right. So he was born Edie 00:01:24.560 --> 00:01:28.120 Junior Edward on December 16th, 1997, born in 00:01:28.120 --> 00:01:30.340 Brooklyn, New York to Haitian and Dominican parents. 00:01:31.019 --> 00:01:33.959 But when he was seven years old, he moves down 00:01:33.959 --> 00:01:36.500 to Lake Worth Beach, Florida. Yeah, South Florida. 00:01:36.599 --> 00:01:38.680 And it's there basically during his high school 00:01:38.680 --> 00:01:41.799 years that the foundation for his entire sound 00:01:41.799 --> 00:01:44.219 gets poured. And what's really fascinating here 00:01:44.219 --> 00:01:47.340 is the incredibly diverse, almost contradictory 00:01:47.340 --> 00:01:50.359 musical diet he was consuming during those formative 00:01:50.359 --> 00:01:52.379 teenage years. Oh, literally. According to the 00:01:52.379 --> 00:01:54.719 sources, he was listening to this massive spectrum 00:01:54.719 --> 00:01:57.359 of artists. So on one hand, you have alternative 00:01:57.359 --> 00:02:01.019 rap and cloud rap pioneers, guys like Xavier 00:02:01.019 --> 00:02:03.900 Wolf, Bones, and Young Lean. OK, let's unpack 00:02:03.900 --> 00:02:05.980 this right away. Because for anyone listening 00:02:05.980 --> 00:02:10.300 who isn't deep into internet rap subgenres, what 00:02:10.300 --> 00:02:12.520 does that actually mean? Like, when we say he's 00:02:12.520 --> 00:02:15.800 listening to cloud rap pioneers, what does that 00:02:15.800 --> 00:02:17.960 sound like mechanically? Well, cloud rap is pretty 00:02:17.960 --> 00:02:20.020 much exactly what it sounds like. It's very hazy. 00:02:20.259 --> 00:02:23.180 It's ethereal. Lots of atmosphere. Exactly. The 00:02:23.180 --> 00:02:26.000 producers use a lot of ambient soundscapes, heavy 00:02:26.000 --> 00:02:29.639 reverb, and these slow, almost hypnotic tempos. 00:02:30.039 --> 00:02:34.229 And the vocals... They often blend directly into 00:02:34.229 --> 00:02:36.409 the beat rather than sitting cleanly on top of 00:02:36.409 --> 00:02:37.810 it. Right, they're like washed out in the mix. 00:02:37.990 --> 00:02:40.689 Yeah, so he's absorbing that highly atmospheric 00:02:40.689 --> 00:02:42.750 sound, but at the exact same time he's listening 00:02:42.750 --> 00:02:45.449 to absolute mainstream titans like Lil Wayne. 00:02:45.610 --> 00:02:47.389 Who is totally different. Lil Wayne is entirely 00:02:47.389 --> 00:02:50.110 focused on vocal presence. Right, razor sharp. 00:02:50.379 --> 00:02:53.139 punchline heavy lyricism. Aggression. Exactly. 00:02:53.280 --> 00:02:56.120 Wayne is right in your face. And then you throw 00:02:56.120 --> 00:02:59.860 in the genre bending weird, eccentric chord progressions 00:02:59.860 --> 00:03:02.939 of Tyler, the creator. Oh, man. Early Tyler is 00:03:02.939 --> 00:03:05.699 so disruptive. Totally. And crucially, he's also 00:03:05.699 --> 00:03:09.810 digging into gritty, heavily influential Memphis 00:03:09.810 --> 00:03:12.870 underground artists. Like who? Like Shotty Pimp 00:03:12.870 --> 00:03:15.330 and the legendary Group Three Six Mafia. Okay, 00:03:15.469 --> 00:03:18.430 yeah. And that Memphis sound is really defined 00:03:18.430 --> 00:03:21.710 by dark, low -fi production, those heavy 808 00:03:21.710 --> 00:03:25.389 cowbells, and fast triplet -style flows. So his 00:03:25.389 --> 00:03:28.110 brain is basically this super collider for underground, 00:03:28.789 --> 00:03:31.909 alternative, and mainstream rap. all of it happening 00:03:31.909 --> 00:03:34.469 simultaneously. Yeah, it's a huge mix. But listening 00:03:34.469 --> 00:03:36.210 to all these different styles is one thing, right? 00:03:36.409 --> 00:03:38.389 Actually figuring out how to make it yourself 00:03:38.389 --> 00:03:41.789 is another. And the way he starts is just, it's 00:03:41.789 --> 00:03:44.370 so relatable. It's the classic internet kid story. 00:03:45.030 --> 00:03:47.050 Yeah. He gets introduced to recording by his 00:03:47.050 --> 00:03:49.889 friend, who went by the name Wetback Manny. Manny 00:03:49.889 --> 00:03:52.370 was already uploading tracks to SoundCloud and 00:03:52.370 --> 00:03:55.280 physically showed Snot how to, you know... record 00:03:55.280 --> 00:03:56.960 and use a microphone. Right, and Snot starts 00:03:56.960 --> 00:04:00.180 doing it by himself in 2016. But the technology 00:04:00.180 --> 00:04:02.680 he was working with was, as you mentioned in 00:04:02.680 --> 00:04:04.879 the intro, less than ideal. Yeah, a bit rough. 00:04:05.020 --> 00:04:07.060 He explicitly states in an interview that he 00:04:07.060 --> 00:04:10.419 had a USB mic, and it was, quote, kind of trash. 00:04:10.819 --> 00:04:13.860 I love that honesty so much. But Snot says something 00:04:13.860 --> 00:04:16.360 really interesting about this early period. He 00:04:16.360 --> 00:04:18.319 mentions that his friend Manny eventually got 00:04:18.319 --> 00:04:20.899 a condenser mic. Right. And Snot says, quote, 00:04:21.199 --> 00:04:23.980 so I guess I got lucky. And I really want to 00:04:23.980 --> 00:04:26.480 push back on that idea of luck with you. Oh, 00:04:26.500 --> 00:04:29.259 really? How so? Well, he calls getting the mic 00:04:29.259 --> 00:04:31.199 lucky, right? I mean, sure, it's lucky your buddy 00:04:31.199 --> 00:04:34.319 bought better gear. But $1 ,000 condenser mic 00:04:34.319 --> 00:04:37.079 is just going to capture a bad singer in crystal 00:04:37.079 --> 00:04:39.360 clear high definition. That's a very fair point. 00:04:39.519 --> 00:04:41.680 It doesn't write the song for you. So was it 00:04:41.680 --> 00:04:44.579 really luck? That is a crucial distinction. And 00:04:44.579 --> 00:04:47.420 honestly, your skepticism is spot on. I don't 00:04:47.420 --> 00:04:49.879 think it was just luck at all. Right. If we look 00:04:49.879 --> 00:04:52.379 at the mechanics of audio production, a cheap 00:04:52.379 --> 00:04:56.779 USB microphone compresses everything. It clips 00:04:56.779 --> 00:04:58.980 when you get too loud. It picks up the hum of 00:04:58.980 --> 00:05:01.300 your air conditioner. The terrible laptop fan 00:05:01.300 --> 00:05:04.500 noise. Yes, exactly. It flattens the entire dynamic 00:05:04.500 --> 00:05:08.069 range of the human voice. But. A condenser microphone, 00:05:08.069 --> 00:05:11.569 on the other hand, captures the full raw nuanced 00:05:11.569 --> 00:05:14.209 frequency of a vocal performance. It's just a 00:05:14.209 --> 00:05:17.110 transparent window. Precisely. What that upgraded 00:05:17.110 --> 00:05:19.269 microphone actually did was remove the friction 00:05:19.269 --> 00:05:22.569 between his creative vision, which again is heavily 00:05:22.569 --> 00:05:25.089 informed by that incredibly diverse musical diet, 00:05:25.680 --> 00:05:28.060 and the final product. Ah, so the vision was 00:05:28.060 --> 00:05:30.500 already there. The talent, the ear for melody, 00:05:30.660 --> 00:05:33.220 the understanding of flow and cadence to somehow 00:05:33.220 --> 00:05:37.100 blend Tyler, the creator, with Resix Mafia. All 00:05:37.100 --> 00:05:39.379 of that was already developing in his head. Wow. 00:05:39.540 --> 00:05:41.720 The condenser mic just finally allowed the world 00:05:41.720 --> 00:05:44.079 to hear it clearly without the distraction of 00:05:44.079 --> 00:05:46.199 just, you know, bad audio quality. Which brings 00:05:46.199 --> 00:05:48.839 us to the exact moment the world actually did 00:05:48.839 --> 00:05:51.439 start hearing it. So we're moving from those 00:05:51.439 --> 00:05:55.300 early experiments into 2018. Right. Snot is armed 00:05:55.300 --> 00:05:57.300 with his better equipment, he's got his varied 00:05:57.300 --> 00:06:00.579 influences locked in, and on April 24th, 2018, 00:06:01.060 --> 00:06:04.379 he self -releases his debut EP on SoundCloud. 00:06:04.680 --> 00:06:06.779 Called The Tissue Files. Yes, The Tissue Files. 00:06:06.899 --> 00:06:08.759 And it's really important to look at the mechanics 00:06:08.759 --> 00:06:11.120 of this specific release. Okay, tell me. Because 00:06:11.120 --> 00:06:14.319 even as a DIY artist operating out of a bedroom, 00:06:14.740 --> 00:06:16.939 he isn't entirely isolated. This isn't just one 00:06:16.939 --> 00:06:18.699 guy doing everything in a vacuum. Right, it's 00:06:18.699 --> 00:06:22.089 not a solo mission. Exactly. The Tissue Files 00:06:22.089 --> 00:06:25.209 features guest verses from artists named KamerNazi 00:06:25.209 --> 00:06:28.189 and Subjects. And the production is handled by 00:06:28.189 --> 00:06:30.629 this whole decentralized network of internet 00:06:30.629 --> 00:06:33.050 producers. Like people he's just meeting online? 00:06:33.230 --> 00:06:36.629 Yeah, names like Frexija, Kaji, WinTruz, and 00:06:36.629 --> 00:06:39.110 YZ. It's a completely digital community. Right. 00:06:39.290 --> 00:06:41.529 They don't need to fly to a million dollar studio 00:06:41.529 --> 00:06:43.750 in Los Angeles to make an EP. They're just sending 00:06:43.750 --> 00:06:46.569 files back and forth online. Precisely. He is 00:06:46.569 --> 00:06:49.069 building a highly collaborative network within 00:06:49.040 --> 00:06:51.579 in the underground internet scene, he's essentially 00:06:51.579 --> 00:06:53.959 establishing his own infrastructure. But the 00:06:53.959 --> 00:06:57.279 real seismic shift -like, the moment the foundation 00:06:57.279 --> 00:06:59.920 actually pays off, happens just a few months 00:06:59.920 --> 00:07:03.699 later, in September 2018. Oh, yes! He drops a 00:07:03.699 --> 00:07:07.189 single, produced by YZ, called Gosha. Gosha is 00:07:07.189 --> 00:07:09.769 the breakout. It is the absolute inflection point 00:07:09.769 --> 00:07:11.870 of his entire career. It's massive. This is the 00:07:11.870 --> 00:07:13.610 track that catches fire online and eventually 00:07:13.610 --> 00:07:16.269 goes RIA platinum. But here's where it gets really 00:07:16.269 --> 00:07:18.449 interesting. Gosha goes viral, right? It's blowing 00:07:18.449 --> 00:07:21.470 up on SoundCloud and social media. But internet 00:07:21.470 --> 00:07:23.709 virality is often just a flash in the pan. True. 00:07:23.730 --> 00:07:26.509 It happens every day. Exactly. So the other half 00:07:26.509 --> 00:07:29.009 of the modern success equation is mainstream 00:07:29.009 --> 00:07:33.240 media cross -pollination. And in 2019, Snot gets 00:07:33.240 --> 00:07:37.360 a massive bump when his single Billy Boy is featured 00:07:37.360 --> 00:07:40.560 in the pilot episode of HBO's hit teen drama, 00:07:40.879 --> 00:07:42.800 Euphoria. And we have to talk about how huge 00:07:42.800 --> 00:07:46.449 that is. Securing a sync placement, which literally 00:07:46.449 --> 00:07:48.389 means synchronizing your song to play in the 00:07:48.389 --> 00:07:51.110 background of a TV show or movie, is always a 00:07:51.110 --> 00:07:53.050 big deal for an independent artist. Oh, tapping. 00:07:53.110 --> 00:07:56.550 But Euphoria, for context, wasn't just a popular 00:07:56.550 --> 00:07:59.790 show. It was a cultural juggernaut. Yeah, it 00:07:59.790 --> 00:08:02.329 was everywhere. It essentially defined the aesthetic, 00:08:02.529 --> 00:08:04.910 the fashion, and the sonic landscape for Gen 00:08:04.910 --> 00:08:07.629 Z at that exact moment in time. It's the ultimate 00:08:07.629 --> 00:08:09.870 tastemaker, like getting a prime time Super Bowl 00:08:09.870 --> 00:08:12.250 commercial, but for kids on the internet. Exactly. 00:08:12.670 --> 00:08:15.269 Having your track placed in the pilot episode 00:08:15.269 --> 00:08:16.930 when the audience is being introduced to this 00:08:16.930 --> 00:08:19.230 world for the very first time is an extraordinary 00:08:19.230 --> 00:08:21.970 milestone. It's incredible. It completely legitimizes 00:08:21.970 --> 00:08:23.889 the Internet hype in the eyes of the mainstream. 00:08:24.310 --> 00:08:26.850 And the result of this massive one -two punch, 00:08:27.610 --> 00:08:30.550 the viral Internet success of Gosha and the HBO 00:08:30.550 --> 00:08:34.970 cultural cosign, is that in 2019 Snot signs a 00:08:34.970 --> 00:08:37.970 major label deal. with 300 Entertainment. Which 00:08:37.970 --> 00:08:40.990 is a huge label. Right. But this raises a huge 00:08:40.990 --> 00:08:43.090 question about the modern music industry. We 00:08:43.090 --> 00:08:46.129 just watched a kid go from a DIY SoundCloud EP 00:08:46.129 --> 00:08:49.590 to a viral platinum hit to a major television 00:08:49.590 --> 00:08:53.649 sink entirely on his own. Yeah. So what is the 00:08:53.649 --> 00:08:55.990 actual function of the record label at this stage? 00:08:56.230 --> 00:08:58.470 Like, did signing to 300 Entertainment makes 00:08:58.470 --> 00:09:02.029 not a star or did the Internet and HBO already 00:09:02.029 --> 00:09:04.090 do all the heavy lifting? That is an excellent 00:09:04.090 --> 00:09:06.570 question because, you know, the traditional narrative 00:09:06.570 --> 00:09:09.070 is that a record label discovers you and builds 00:09:09.070 --> 00:09:11.269 you from scratch. They mold you in their image. 00:09:11.389 --> 00:09:14.250 Right. But in Snod's case, by the time 300 Entertainment 00:09:14.250 --> 00:09:17.190 comes to the table, their risk profile is incredibly 00:09:17.190 --> 00:09:20.129 low. Snod has already built the audience. The 00:09:20.129 --> 00:09:22.049 fans are already there. He's already refined 00:09:22.049 --> 00:09:24.110 his sound and he's already proven his market 00:09:24.110 --> 00:09:25.809 viability. Right. He's basically handing them 00:09:25.809 --> 00:09:27.750 a finished product. So what are they actually 00:09:27.750 --> 00:09:29.889 providing him? Infrastructure and scale. OK, 00:09:29.970 --> 00:09:32.269 scale. The Internet can give you a viral moment. 00:09:32.330 --> 00:09:36.179 Sure. But a major label like 300 Entertainment 00:09:36.179 --> 00:09:39.159 has entire departments dedicated to radio pitching. 00:09:39.259 --> 00:09:41.759 Oh, right. Radio is still a thing. And they have 00:09:41.759 --> 00:09:44.320 established relationships with the major streaming 00:09:44.320 --> 00:09:47.279 platforms to get your songs onto those massive 00:09:47.279 --> 00:09:50.059 algorithmic editorial playlists. The ones with 00:09:50.059 --> 00:09:52.919 millions of followers. Exactly. They handle physical 00:09:52.919 --> 00:09:54.899 distribution, international marketing budgets, 00:09:55.100 --> 00:09:58.200 legal clearances. The label isn't lighting the 00:09:58.200 --> 00:10:01.440 fire. They are simply pouring high octane gasoline 00:10:01.440 --> 00:10:04.259 on a fire that Snot already started with his 00:10:04.259 --> 00:10:06.840 friend's microphone. Wow. That makes a lot of 00:10:06.840 --> 00:10:10.279 sense. The product is the same, but the distribution 00:10:10.279 --> 00:10:13.240 network completely mutates. Perfectly said. However, 00:10:13.500 --> 00:10:16.259 once you have that major label backing, the pressure 00:10:16.259 --> 00:10:18.519 completely shifts. Oh, definitely. The label 00:10:18.519 --> 00:10:20.980 essentially bought into the hype of a viral moment. 00:10:21.399 --> 00:10:24.200 But the music industry is totally littered with 00:10:24.200 --> 00:10:27.139 one -hit wonders who had a great SoundCloud track, 00:10:27.259 --> 00:10:29.500 a cool TV placement, and then just disappeared 00:10:29.500 --> 00:10:31.539 entirely. Yeah, we've seen it a hundred times. 00:10:31.799 --> 00:10:34.639 To survive the 300 entertainment machine, Snot 00:10:34.639 --> 00:10:36.860 had to prove he wasn't just a singles artist. 00:10:37.139 --> 00:10:39.820 He had to prove he could build a cohesive, full 00:10:39.820 --> 00:10:42.360 -length world. Which takes us right into 2020. 00:10:42.980 --> 00:10:45.220 This is the year he truly defines his sound. 00:10:45.539 --> 00:10:48.840 In March, he drops his debut studio album titled 00:10:48.840 --> 00:10:51.399 Tragedy Plus L. And this album is where we see 00:10:51.399 --> 00:10:54.980 him consolidating his early gains. How so? Well, 00:10:55.080 --> 00:10:57.820 he smartly includes the established hits. Gosha 00:10:57.820 --> 00:11:00.519 is on there and another track called Megan to 00:11:00.519 --> 00:11:03.320 sort of anchor the project. But he also significantly 00:11:03.320 --> 00:11:05.799 expands his collaborative circle. Bringing in 00:11:05.799 --> 00:11:07.879 more people. Yeah, he works with Maggie Lindemann 00:11:07.879 --> 00:11:10.879 on a track called Moon and Stars and with Wifus 00:11:10.879 --> 00:11:13.840 Funeral on Beretta. And both of those collaborations 00:11:13.840 --> 00:11:17.399 end up being certified gold by the RIA. He basically 00:11:17.399 --> 00:11:19.460 proves the model works over a longer runtime. 00:11:19.539 --> 00:11:22.139 He does. But he doesn't stop there. By October 00:11:22.139 --> 00:11:24.419 of that exact same year, just seven months after 00:11:24.419 --> 00:11:27.220 his debut, he releases his second studio album. 00:11:27.419 --> 00:11:29.659 Right. Beautiful Havoc. Yes. Beautiful Havoc. 00:11:29.899 --> 00:11:31.379 And this is the one that officially charts, hitting 00:11:31.379 --> 00:11:34.440 number 172 on the Billboard 200. And he brings 00:11:34.440 --> 00:11:36.460 in these heavyweight features, guys like Denzel 00:11:36.460 --> 00:11:39.700 Curry, Ian Dior, and Flo Millie. And that collab 00:11:39.700 --> 00:11:42.379 with Flo Millie on the track Mean also goes gold. 00:11:42.590 --> 00:11:45.629 It's just hit after hit. And beyond the audio, 00:11:45.769 --> 00:11:49.470 he pairs the sonic expansion with top tier visual 00:11:49.470 --> 00:11:52.029 branding. Oh, videos. For beautiful havoc, he 00:11:52.029 --> 00:11:54.289 gets Cole Bennett to direct the music videos 00:11:54.289 --> 00:11:58.750 for Revenge and Mean under the lyrical lemonade 00:11:58.750 --> 00:12:00.970 banner. OK, let's talk about that visual element 00:12:00.970 --> 00:12:03.570 for a second, because for anyone listening outside 00:12:03.570 --> 00:12:06.490 of this specific subculture, they might not realize 00:12:06.490 --> 00:12:09.210 how massive that is. Why is Cole Bennett such 00:12:09.210 --> 00:12:11.990 a big deal? So for this specific generation of 00:12:11.990 --> 00:12:14.669 hip -hop, a lyrical lemonade video directed by 00:12:14.669 --> 00:12:16.889 Cole Bennett is essentially a rite of passage. 00:12:17.049 --> 00:12:19.230 It's that huge. It's the modern equivalent of 00:12:19.230 --> 00:12:22.110 having your video put into heavy rotation on 00:12:22.110 --> 00:12:25.690 MTV's TRL in the late 90s. Oh wow. Bennett has 00:12:25.690 --> 00:12:28.649 a very distinct visual style. He often blends 00:12:28.649 --> 00:12:32.190 this hyper colorful polished cinematography with 00:12:32.190 --> 00:12:35.710 really playful almost DIY looking animations. 00:12:36.009 --> 00:12:37.789 It perfectly matches the energy of internet rap. 00:12:37.990 --> 00:12:40.470 Exactly. It visually represents the bridge between 00:12:40.470 --> 00:12:42.789 underground internet culture and high budget 00:12:42.789 --> 00:12:45.269 mainstream production. I love that. When Cole 00:12:45.269 --> 00:12:47.929 Bennett directs your video, it is the ultimate 00:12:47.929 --> 00:12:51.129 visual stamp of approval. It signals to the entire 00:12:51.129 --> 00:12:54.389 ecosystem that this artist is a major legitimate 00:12:54.429 --> 00:12:57.149 Okay, so he's got the visual stamp of approval, 00:12:57.549 --> 00:13:00.049 and he's charting. But I really want to look 00:13:00.049 --> 00:13:02.129 closely at the actual sound he's pushing on these 00:13:02.129 --> 00:13:04.929 albums. Sure. Because the Wikipedia article lists 00:13:04.929 --> 00:13:08.710 an incredibly dense, almost contradictory mix 00:13:08.710 --> 00:13:11.129 of genres to describe his music. It's a long 00:13:11.129 --> 00:13:14.549 list. We're talking hip -hop, trap, lo -fi, chill 00:13:14.549 --> 00:13:17.519 -out, emo rap, cloud rap, and chill wave. Yeah. 00:13:17.659 --> 00:13:19.480 To me, that sounds like an architectural nightmare. 00:13:19.740 --> 00:13:21.940 Like, how do you take the aggressive, heavy, 00:13:22.220 --> 00:13:25.120 distorted 808 bass of trap music and physically 00:13:25.120 --> 00:13:28.320 layer it with the relaxed atmospheric acoustic 00:13:28.320 --> 00:13:31.659 vibes of lo -fi and chill wave, plus the emotional 00:13:31.659 --> 00:13:34.460 vulnerability of emo rap? It sounds impossible 00:13:34.460 --> 00:13:36.840 on paper. Right. How does an artist juggle so 00:13:36.840 --> 00:13:39.519 many contrasting vibes without the albums just 00:13:39.519 --> 00:13:41.960 feeling like a chaotic, unlistenable mess? That 00:13:41.960 --> 00:13:44.490 is the defining question of his artistry. And 00:13:44.490 --> 00:13:46.370 the secret to why it doesn't sound like a mess 00:13:46.370 --> 00:13:48.590 lies entirely in the generational shift we talked 00:13:48.590 --> 00:13:50.429 about earlier. Okay, tell me more. Think about 00:13:50.429 --> 00:13:52.769 how you and I might have grown up consuming music. 00:13:53.169 --> 00:13:56.629 Um, probably on terrestrial radio or, you know, 00:13:56.950 --> 00:13:59.190 buying specific CDs at the store. Right, and 00:13:59.190 --> 00:14:02.029 terrestrial radio was highly segregated by genre. 00:14:02.509 --> 00:14:05.289 You only heard rock on one dial and you only 00:14:05.289 --> 00:14:07.360 heard hip hop on another. Totally. They never 00:14:07.360 --> 00:14:10.799 crossed over. But Gen Z listeners and snot himself 00:14:10.799 --> 00:14:14.399 grew up in the era of streaming platforms. Their 00:14:14.399 --> 00:14:17.919 musical consumption is dictated by highly curated 00:14:17.919 --> 00:14:21.600 mood based Internet playlists. Oh, that's brilliant. 00:14:22.019 --> 00:14:24.240 Their listening habits are completely post genre. 00:14:24.500 --> 00:14:27.200 Precisely. They are entirely used to hearing 00:14:27.200 --> 00:14:30.019 a heavy, aggressive trap banger immediately followed 00:14:30.019 --> 00:14:32.519 by a soft acoustic lo fi track because they're 00:14:32.519 --> 00:14:35.600 both on a Spotify playlist titled like late night 00:14:35.600 --> 00:14:37.909 drives. Exactly. The connective tissue isn't 00:14:37.909 --> 00:14:40.169 the genre. It's the mood. That makes so much 00:14:40.169 --> 00:14:42.570 sense. So when Snot mechanically synthesizes 00:14:42.570 --> 00:14:45.149 all these genres, putting a trap drum pattern 00:14:45.149 --> 00:14:47.830 underneath a kill wave synthesizer pad, it isn't 00:14:47.830 --> 00:14:49.990 chaotic to his audience. It's completely natural. 00:14:50.070 --> 00:14:52.009 It reflects exactly how they already consume 00:14:52.009 --> 00:14:55.450 music. Wow. He is literally the human embodiment 00:14:55.450 --> 00:14:58.389 of a mood playlist. He really is. And that explains 00:14:58.389 --> 00:15:01.110 why Beautiful Havoc is such an incredibly fitting 00:15:01.110 --> 00:15:04.620 title for his second album. It is a beautifully 00:15:04.620 --> 00:15:07.700 orchestrated collision of all his diverse Internet 00:15:07.700 --> 00:15:10.600 era influences. And that mood based approach 00:15:10.600 --> 00:15:13.940 is exactly what catapults him into massive mainstream 00:15:13.940 --> 00:15:16.659 crossover territory. Right. Which brings us to 00:15:16.659 --> 00:15:19.059 his career from twenty twenty one to twenty twenty 00:15:19.059 --> 00:15:22.379 four. This is where he hits the absolute ethereal 00:15:22.379 --> 00:15:24.720 heights of the industry. The big leagues. In 00:15:24.720 --> 00:15:27.519 April twenty twenty one, he drops the track Whipsky, 00:15:27.519 --> 00:15:29.940 featuring Little Skies, and hits number twenty 00:15:29.940 --> 00:15:32.610 five on the bubbling under hot 100 chart. Now, 00:15:32.669 --> 00:15:34.629 for anyone who doesn't track Billboard Mechanics, 00:15:35.049 --> 00:15:37.710 what is the bubbling under chart? It is exactly 00:15:37.710 --> 00:15:39.289 what it sounds like. It's the chart that tracks 00:15:39.289 --> 00:15:41.889 the top 25 songs that have not quite made it 00:15:41.889 --> 00:15:44.750 onto the main Billboard Hot 100 yet. Oh. It is 00:15:44.750 --> 00:15:47.830 essentially the waiting room for major, undeniable 00:15:47.830 --> 00:15:50.389 mainstream success. And he doesn't stay in that 00:15:50.389 --> 00:15:53.169 waiting room for long at all. A month later, 00:15:53.309 --> 00:15:55.809 in May 2021, he collaborates with the artist 00:15:55.809 --> 00:15:58.049 Cochise on the track Tell Him. And that's the 00:15:58.049 --> 00:15:59.990 one. This is the one that completely breaks down 00:15:59.990 --> 00:16:02.539 the door. It hits number 64 on the Billboard 00:16:02.539 --> 00:16:04.940 Hot 100, and it eventually goes two times platinum. 00:16:05.399 --> 00:16:08.960 Two million units sold. Huge numbers. Then, capitalizing 00:16:08.960 --> 00:16:12.340 on that momentum, in February 2022, he drops 00:16:12.340 --> 00:16:15.600 his third album, titled Ethereal, which climbs 00:16:15.600 --> 00:16:18.620 up to number 66 on the Billboard 200. But what 00:16:18.620 --> 00:16:20.500 is really striking to me about Ethereal isn't 00:16:20.500 --> 00:16:22.759 just the chart position. What stands out to you? 00:16:22.899 --> 00:16:25.200 It's the roster of featured artists he manages 00:16:25.200 --> 00:16:28.720 to assemble. We are talking about ASP Rocky on 00:16:28.720 --> 00:16:32.080 the track Doja. We're talking about Teddy Jones, 00:16:32.340 --> 00:16:34.919 Trippie Redd, Kevin Abstract from Brockhampton, 00:16:35.399 --> 00:16:38.679 and Joey Badass and Juicy J. So what does this 00:16:38.679 --> 00:16:40.830 all mean? Because I look at this progression 00:16:40.830 --> 00:16:43.289 going from self -releasing on SoundCloud to hitting 00:16:43.289 --> 00:16:45.590 the bubbling under chart to cracking the Hot 00:16:45.590 --> 00:16:48.090 100, and it feels like the music industry equivalent 00:16:48.090 --> 00:16:50.549 of going from selling homemade t -shirts out 00:16:50.549 --> 00:16:52.710 of your car trunk to suddenly having a runway 00:16:52.710 --> 00:16:55.210 show at Paris Fashion Week. It's a crazy jump. 00:16:55.389 --> 00:16:58.490 The product, his voice is the same, but the platform 00:16:58.490 --> 00:17:00.750 is totally unrecognizable. But I really want 00:17:00.750 --> 00:17:02.610 to challenge you on this specific feature list. 00:17:02.909 --> 00:17:04.849 What does it actually signal to the listener 00:17:04.849 --> 00:17:09.029 when legacy acts, critical darlings, and absolute 00:17:09.029 --> 00:17:11.930 pioneers like Juicy J and Joey Badass jump on 00:17:11.930 --> 00:17:13.930 an album with a cloud rap kid from the internet? 00:17:14.059 --> 00:17:16.779 It signals a profound level of industry respect, 00:17:17.059 --> 00:17:20.119 but more importantly, it represents the closing 00:17:20.119 --> 00:17:22.619 of a generational loop. The closing of a loop. 00:17:23.099 --> 00:17:24.740 Yeah. Think all the way back to the beginning 00:17:24.740 --> 00:17:27.359 of this deep dive to our discussion about his 00:17:27.359 --> 00:17:29.880 early influences in Florida. The super collider 00:17:29.880 --> 00:17:32.920 of genres. When Snot was in high school, recording 00:17:32.920 --> 00:17:36.109 on a laggy laptop with a trash USB mic. What 00:17:36.109 --> 00:17:38.670 was he listening to? He was heavily influenced 00:17:38.670 --> 00:17:41.589 by the gritty, lo -fi Memphis sound of Three 00:17:41.589 --> 00:17:44.230 Six Mafia. Oh, wow. And Juicy J is a founding 00:17:44.230 --> 00:17:47.369 member of Three Six Mafia. Exactly. It is a massive 00:17:47.369 --> 00:17:49.410 full circle moment. That's incredible. When a 00:17:49.410 --> 00:17:51.410 pioneer like Juicy J, who, by the way, built 00:17:51.410 --> 00:17:54.289 his own career in the 90s by independently selling 00:17:54.289 --> 00:17:56.230 underground cassette tapes out of the trunk of 00:17:56.230 --> 00:17:58.690 his car. Just like the t -shirt analogy. Exactly. 00:17:59.049 --> 00:18:01.150 When he collaborates with Snot, who built his 00:18:01.150 --> 00:18:03.769 career by independently uploading MP3s to SoundCloud, 00:18:04.250 --> 00:18:06.900 it bridges the gap. between two generations of 00:18:06.900 --> 00:18:09.819 DIY artists. They use completely different technology, 00:18:09.819 --> 00:18:12.599 separated by 20 years, but the independent ethos 00:18:12.599 --> 00:18:16.680 is exactly the same. Yes. Juicy J, Joey Badass, 00:18:16.859 --> 00:18:19.799 and ASAP Rocky are essentially validating his 00:18:19.799 --> 00:18:22.259 entire journey. They are telling the traditional 00:18:22.259 --> 00:18:24.640 industry, this kid isn't just an internet fad. 00:18:24.779 --> 00:18:27.500 His sound, this beautiful havoc of lo -fi, trap, 00:18:27.579 --> 00:18:30.579 and cloud rap is a legitimate evolution of hip 00:18:30.579 --> 00:18:33.019 hop. And armed with that validation, Snot just 00:18:33.019 --> 00:18:36.299 keeps going. After Ethereal, He proves his longevity. 00:18:36.680 --> 00:18:39.200 He dropped singles like Simple in late 2022, 00:18:39.660 --> 00:18:41.700 and he eventually releases his fourth studio 00:18:41.700 --> 00:18:44.839 album, Viceroy, in July of 2024. He just keeps 00:18:44.839 --> 00:18:47.079 building. She has taken an incredibly volatile 00:18:47.079 --> 00:18:49.420 internet moment and turned it into a sustainable 00:18:49.420 --> 00:18:52.500 long -term career. Which brings us to the ultimate 00:18:52.500 --> 00:18:54.980 payoff of this entire deep dive. For you the 00:18:54.980 --> 00:18:56.940 listener sitting there right now taking this 00:18:56.940 --> 00:18:59.140 all in. It's so important. Snoss discography 00:18:59.140 --> 00:19:01.380 isn't just a list of songs and dates on a Wikipedia 00:19:01.380 --> 00:19:04.900 page. It is a tangible proven map of how independent 00:19:04.900 --> 00:19:07.809 art can conquer the mainstream. It really is. 00:19:08.069 --> 00:19:10.450 Edie Junior -Edward took a scattered chaotic 00:19:10.450 --> 00:19:13.210 array of influences, everything from Tyler, the 00:19:13.210 --> 00:19:16.130 creator, to Shoddy Pimp, and he channeled them 00:19:16.130 --> 00:19:19.170 through the absolute most basic accessible technology 00:19:19.170 --> 00:19:21.549 available to him. But trash wank. He didn't wait 00:19:21.549 --> 00:19:23.509 for permission. He didn't wait for a million 00:19:23.509 --> 00:19:25.809 dollar studio budget. He just started recording. 00:19:26.529 --> 00:19:29.450 And through collaboration and Internet infrastructure, 00:19:29.930 --> 00:19:33.109 he manifested a multi -platinum reality. And 00:19:33.109 --> 00:19:35.789 that is the biggest takeaway for you today. No 00:19:35.789 --> 00:19:37.309 matter what field you are in, whether you're 00:19:37.309 --> 00:19:39.910 making music, writing code, starting a business, 00:19:40.150 --> 00:19:42.410 or creating any kind of art, starting with your 00:19:42.410 --> 00:19:45.890 own version of a trash USB mic is often the first 00:19:45.890 --> 00:19:48.670 necessary step to greatness. You have to start 00:19:48.670 --> 00:19:51.230 somewhere. You do not need the pristine glass 00:19:51.230 --> 00:19:54.130 boardroom to begin. The execution of your idea 00:19:54.130 --> 00:19:56.309 and the authenticity of your varied influences 00:19:56.309 --> 00:19:58.630 matter so much more than having perfect equipment 00:19:58.630 --> 00:20:02.490 on day one. A great idea will survive a bad microphone. 00:20:02.720 --> 00:20:05.819 That is undeniably true, but if we pull back 00:20:05.819 --> 00:20:08.180 and look at the macro level of the entire music 00:20:08.180 --> 00:20:10.119 industry based on the sources we've examined 00:20:10.119 --> 00:20:12.180 today, it leaves us with a rather provocative 00:20:12.180 --> 00:20:15.140 thought to chew on. Oh, okay. Let's hear it. 00:20:15.319 --> 00:20:17.539 Given everything we've just discussed, given 00:20:17.539 --> 00:20:20.380 that Snot built his foundational audience, secured 00:20:20.380 --> 00:20:23.279 a viral platinum hit, and landed a culture -defining 00:20:23.279 --> 00:20:26.460 HBO sync placement, all entirely through his 00:20:26.460 --> 00:20:29.380 own hustle, a friend's microphone, and the internet 00:20:29.380 --> 00:20:32.099 before he ever released a major label debut. 00:20:32.240 --> 00:20:36.460 What is the actual role of traditional music 00:20:36.460 --> 00:20:41.150 industry gatekeepers today? Right. If the internet 00:20:41.150 --> 00:20:43.589 algorithms, the underground producer networks, 00:20:43.630 --> 00:20:45.970 and the listeners themselves have already decided 00:20:45.970 --> 00:20:47.869 what is going to be a platinum hit before the 00:20:47.869 --> 00:20:50.569 label even gets involved, are the major labels 00:20:50.569 --> 00:20:52.910 no longer the actual tastemakers? It certainly 00:20:52.910 --> 00:20:54.730 makes you wonder. Are they now just frantically 00:20:54.730 --> 00:20:57.029 chasing kids in their bedrooms, hoping to catch 00:20:57.029 --> 00:20:58.849 a ride on a rocket ship that has already taken 00:20:58.849 --> 00:21:00.970 off? It really appears that the power dynamic 00:21:00.970 --> 00:21:03.950 has fundamentally shifted. The internet has essentially 00:21:03.950 --> 00:21:06.410 outsourced the job of finding new talent to the 00:21:06.410 --> 00:21:09.240 audience itself. It really has. Because at the 00:21:09.240 --> 00:21:11.640 end of the day, that million -dollar corporate 00:21:11.640 --> 00:21:15.119 blueprint might look incredibly impressive. But 00:21:15.119 --> 00:21:17.779 as we've just seen, it can easily be completely 00:21:17.779 --> 00:21:20.299 outmaneuvered by a kid with vision and internet 00:21:20.299 --> 00:21:21.740 connection and a microphone that sounds just 00:21:21.740 --> 00:21:22.460 a little bit like garbage.