INTERVIEW: Shuicide Holla discusses new management, how he motivates other artists and of course Hit Dem Folks
Cleveland's own Shuicide Holla has been on the scene for a few years however every year he continues to show everyone just why he's here. Aspect Zavi (popular dancer from Dallas, TX) danced to Hit Dem Folks on Youtube (the video is sitting at a little less than 6.5 million views) which catapulted the song and dubbed it the soundtrack for the already popular dance "The Hit Dem Folks". His single Hit Dem Folks currently boasts an alarming 1.61 million spins on SoundCloud. Since then Shuicide Holla has dropped his project G.O.A.L.S with singles; Hit Dem Folks, Dumb and Ms. 808 doing exactly what they set out to do, dominate. NOTE: His current single, Pretty Gurl is already just shy of 200k streams. At his first headlining event for G.O.A.L.S, Shu packed the house filling it to capacity as he performed his hit singles with dancers in tow. We were able to sit down with him for a moment backstage and talk all things Shuicide.
From the OH: Where did the name Shuicide Holla come from and were there other monikers before that?
Shuicide Holla: It honestly came from my love of collecting kicks. I've been a kick collector for probably about 8 years now so when I first started writing in 2012, I had a bar when I said something like "so many f*ckin' kicks, I'mma die of Shoe-icide" so after awhile I started to create myself into a brand. At that time, I was Young Holla so I'm like man that "Young" is just so typical. Everybody is "Young" so I'm like well imma just use "Shuicide". It was just so different that I knew it had to work so I ran with Shuicide Holla and the rest is history.
From the OH: Who are your musical influences?
Shuicide Holla: Til' this day, Big L; huge, flamboyant, it's him. I listen to a lot of Wale and right now I just influence myself.
From the OH: How did you team up with your current management team?
Shuicide Holla: A lot of the people that's around me has been around for a few years, I wanna say since I first started. I linked up with Ant Jones around April of 2016 and I just reached out. We've been following each other on social media for a couple of years and he always just gave honest opinions on the hip-hop scene, before I even got into the music. I saw what he was doing with the scene and he was like the big homie of the hip-hop scene here. I sent him my last project when I was with Top Of The World and he did a full review on it. So then by the time I came with the Hit Dem Folks joint, I was just looking to build. I had been managing myself and I needed a manager and so I reached out to see if he was interested and he said yeah so we just linked like that.
From the OH: So since you touched on Hit Dem Folks, what was the concept behind that song and how did it turn into this viral sensation?
Shuicide Holla: Well, at the time I was working at a factory and I used to catch the bus to work. I was on the bus and for some reason I kept saying "I can whip a brick" and then it was "a whole chicken dinner". I ended up adding those lines together "I can whip a brick, a whole chicken dinner" and once I put the lyrics down and had the beat... it's funny because I had the beat for like 3 years so I don't know where I got the motivation from but once I put it all together, it worked. A lot of the kids just started making videos to it because of what I incorporated with the Hit Dem Folks. It was a dance at the same time, so they started making videos and more and more started piling in. Then I started getting picked up by major apps and then labels started calling. it all happened within a matter of 3 months.
From the OH: Yeah, it seemed like everything happened real quick.
Shuicide Holla: Yeah
From the OH: What makes you relatable to your fans?
Shuicide Holla: My fan base is so wide spread, it can go all the way from little kids to adults (30 years plus). I just been through so much, I got such a variety of things going on in my mental that no matter what I give out, its going to appeal to one of the crowds.
From the OH: With the release of G.O.A.L.S, what message did you intend to convey to your fans and/or your naysayers?
Shuicide Holla: Just that when you're reaching for a goal, as I was reaching for my goals everything was on the line. It's different than being like, "Oh, I shot a 3 and I made it." That's like a little feat. I'm talking about a goal like making it to the NBA; doing things that are unordinary, and spectacular. It's like I put together that project and I named it G.O.A.L.S which stands for [Greatness On All Levels Of Success]. I came in the game with the retro flavor, I created my own lane with that and then I switched it up and started being a gentleman with it and I created a lane with that. So it's like I was always against the grain but I always fit because I went and got my own people. So it's like when I say goals or when their listening to the project G.O.A.L.S, it just motivates them. That's why you saw a lot of artists in the building tonight because I motivate them, they're like, "Man he's in the same city as us but he's doing his thing so whats the difference?" When they actually come out and see it's like, "Man, ok now I see the difference."
From the OH: There are a lot of artists who start in Cleveland and end up in Los Angeles, Atlanta, or NYC. Do you think it's possible for an artist to stay in Cleveland or do they have to move?
Shuicide Holla: You can stay here, a lot of people just get lazy minded. They feel like, what their giving them people aren't digesting it so they have to go and try and give it to someone else. Naw, it don't work like that. You just gotta get creative.
From the OH: So we can't expect you to leave?
Shuicide Holla: I don't have to leave when I spread the way I did. I've been places but i didn't leave in order to get that. I didn't go to another city trying to network and use them like they were my home.
From the OH: What can we expect next from Shu?
Shuicide Holla: I'm not really working on a heavy project right now but I'm definitely pushing a lot of singles, a lot of videos and Im going to be traveling a lot this year.
NOTE: Make sure you stream Shu's latest single, Pretty Gurl below.