The Badder, The Better: Bobby Shmurda (Pt 1)

Louder Than A Riot

NPR

Music History, Music, Society & Culture, Music Interviews, True Crime

4.4 • 3.1K Ratings

🗓️ 5 November 2020

⏱️ 52 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Just like his legendary disappearing hat, Brooklyn rapper Bobby Shmurda's career was on the rise in 2014. But so was the evidence in a murder case against his crew, GS9. In the first of three episodes exploring Bobby's story, we look at his come-up through the eyes of former Epic Records exec Sha Money XL, who guided Bobby on his tightrope walk from the streets to superstardom. What happens when the industry capitalizes on a criminal persona? And do record execs have the juice to back Bobby up when things get too hot?

Transcript

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0:00.0	A warning before we begin. This podcast is explicit in every way.
0:05.7	December 16, 2014. In overcast the evening in New York City,
0:10.9	the shot money exiled, he's feeling good.
0:14.8	The hip hop vet and executive VP at Epic Records has just come in from LA and he said
0:20.1	it required studios in Midtown Manhattan to meet one of his proto-Jays.
0:24.6	20-year-old rapper Bobby Schmurder.
0:27.6	Shah hasn't felt this excited about an artist since he helped develop 50 cent
0:32.4	and turn him into a household name. But that was over a decade ago.
0:37.2	I was in the midst of just trying to find stars and there was nothing I could see
0:41.1	that was going on in New York that I could find.
0:44.0	Yeah, nothing going on in New York. Until he heard Bobby Schmurder's song, High Point,
0:49.6	it stole the summer and turned the kid from Brooklyn with his shmoney dance and his disappearing
0:54.3	hatchery into an internet sensation.
1:04.0	When I seen Bobby, man, I was like, that's New York right there.
1:07.0	That's this is what I'm looking for. So it felt great. It felt great.
1:12.1	And Shah's bed is already paying off. Hot boy just went platinum. And now the pressure is on
1:17.6	to prove Bobby's not just a one-hit wonder, but a real star. Shah shows up at choir studios
1:24.0	to check on the progress of Bobby's debut album. When I walked in, about 17 people, 15 to 17,
1:31.1	it's crowded. All the crew, so at least 15 handshakes before I get to Bobby.
1:39.6	15 handshakes. That's because the way Bobby moves, he doesn't go anywhere without his crew.
1:45.0	GS9. They're all from the same block in East Lapishe, and they've known each other forever.
1:50.7	Some of them even co-write Bobby songs, and there's video footage of GS9 taking over quad.
	...

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