EAM: How did you get your
name and how did you get into
battling?
Sno: I grew up in an all-black
neighborhood, so I was the only
white kid. “Sno” just kinda stuck
with me. As far as battling goes,
I’ve always been competitive.
Whether it was rapping at parties,
I was always battling people.
As far as getting into a league,
there’s been a couple leagues that
got started in my city (Pontiac,
Michigan), Scheme Street and
Mic Murdaraz. It just seemed like
everybody was doing it. If you
rapped, you was battling.
EAM: You mention Pontiac,
which has been kind of a hotbed
for battle rappers this year. What
makes Pontiac a great spot for
battlers on the come up?
Sno: I don’t know. It’s crazy
because we haven’t even really dug
into Pontiac yet. You know, they
know Ill Will, they know JC, they
know me now. There’s other little
spots around Pontiac too, like
Flint. You got Anubis and Cashis.
Then Detroit, you got J-Rell,
Stack Almighty. There’s so much
talent here. I can’t even describe it.
There’s so many more people out
here.
EAM: Do you feel like Michigan
can go toe-to-toe with any state
in the U.S.?
Sno: Man, Michigan would walk
away winning if we did an 8-on-8
against any state or city.
EAM: Even St. Louis?
Sno: Even St. Louis. We’d wash St.
Louis right now. B. Magic would
be a problem, but if we went
8-on-8, I don’t see it equaling out.
EAM: Who would you say the
best unknown or undiscovered
battlers from your region is?
Sno: Right now, probably B.E.Z.
Da Don, Stack Almighty, and
Deal the Monsta.
EAM: Getting back to you for a
second. You and Ty Law made a
classic this year. How do you feel
about the reaction to it? Could
you tell it would be a classic
while you were battling?
Sno: Man, it was crazy. I didn’t
even think it was that big. During
the battle, I felt worn out. It was
a long drive. There was a lot of
shit going on with the drive. So
during the battle, I was just dead
tired and drained. My bro told
me he had never seen me that
comfortable before a battle, but I
think it was more just me being
tired.
EAM: Tell me about the writing
process for that battle.
Sno: It’s kinda weird because I
watched a couple of Ty Law battles
after I was almost done writing.
I blew me a blunt and watched a
couple of his battles and I was like
“man, he’s pretty good. I didn’t
even know he was that good.”
But when I write, I don’t really
write for my opponent. I write to
beat the last me, you know what
I mean? I just gotta show up and do
snoman
rising star
good.
EAM: Obviously you’re not the
only person who does that now.
Do you feel like the “battle”
element in battling is starting to
drift away? Is it just a matter of
who can rap better and who can
punch better?
Sno: I wouldn’t say that. I feel
like when you go into a battle,
the more weapons you bring, the
better off you are. It’s not just
about going out there and rapping
good. If I rap good, cool. That’s
another weapon I can bring with
my delivery and my performance.
I mean, you can’t use all personal
angles, but if you do have a little
bit of personals, that’s another
weapon you can have. Or if you
got a scheme or you can bar good,
whatever it is. If you rebuttal and
can freestyle, add that to your
weaponry. It’s all about going
out and performing and being
entertaining at the end of the day.
EAM: As far as what you’ve got
in the works, I know you’ve got a
battle coming up against Daylyt.
How are you prepping for him?
He’ll do anything in a battle.
Sno: I’m really not thinking about
that part of it. I ain’t worried
about it. But yeah, that battle got
pushed back to a later date. It’s
still gonna go down, but not for
like a month in a half.
EAM: You had another battle
against Cadalack Ron, who a lot
of people think you have a lot of
personality quirks in common
with. What’s going on with that
battle in Voicebox?
Sno: I really don’t know. Voicebox
never even reached out to me
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