The Break Presents: Kodie Shane

Lil Yachty’s Sailing Team is probably the hottest young crew in hip-hop right now. Led by Lil Boat, whose popularity has skyrocketed immensely since landing on the 2016 XXL Freshman cover, the team has captured the admiration of the hip-hop youth with its members The Good Perry, Byou, Kay the Yacht, BigBruthaChubba, $oop, Jban$2Turnt, K$upreme and Kodie Shane. One artist in particular who has begun to make a name for herself with a string of songs garnering million of views on YouTube is Kodie Shane.

The energetic Atlanta native started rapping around the age of 14 and recorded “Crown Me,” the first rap song she ever wrote. Since then, she hasn’t looked back and set out on a unique path all her own. Along the way, she linked up with Yachty through longtime hip-hop veteran Coach K and the two instantly clicked and became friends. The rest is history.

Now her SoundCloud page boasts million of streams and hundreds of followers. The growth in her songwriting and sound is evident from project to project.

“I’m 18 now so I can actually say I been through some teenage stuff that’s helped my mind grow a lot and I would say my vocabulary has grown wider,” she tells XXL while in New York. “And that I can talk more, because I was 14 then and now I’m 18. It’s so much more you can talk about once you reach that age.”

Last year, the rapper, who also sings, inked a deal with Epic Records and shortly after dropped the video for her record “Sad,” which has become a hit, racking up two million views on YouTube. In 2017, Kodie Shane wants to continue her strong momentum and become a star. “I’m speaking this to existence,” she says. “I’m dropping an album, I’m going on tour, dat way.”

Pay attention to Kodie Shane.

Name: Kodie Shane

Age: 18

Hometown: Atlanta

I grew up listening to: “What did I grow up listening to? I love Ashanti so that was my thing. I liked that whole era. I don’t know what to call that era but that feel good thing. Like Ja Rule, all of that. I like Cam’ron, Fabolous, all of that. They made all the songs with the girls.

“I always knew I would do music. At first, I wanted to play basketball and when I let go of that dream when I was 11, I pretty much knew I was going to be in music. I just didn’t know how I was going to approach it; whether if I was going to be a full-blown singer or… I never really thought I was going to be a rapper until I turned like 14,15 and I wrote this one rap and it was fire. Then I was like, Yeah, I was a rapper now. It’s on SoundCloud now it’s called ‘Crown Me.’ [Laughs] At first people didn’t really believe in me like my producer Matty P and my mom but them I started writing real songs like ‘Sad’ and stuff. When Matty heard ‘Sad,’ he was like, ‘That’s the one, we’re going to start working with you.’”

“Early [in 2016], I met Lil Yachty. I knew Coach [K] since I was like 14, 15. He used to come to our studio and watch us all the time. I was at Masquerade and I was at Yachty show and I saw Coach. He said, ‘Yo, I manage Yachty now’ and he introduced me. Matty and Coach had set up for Yachty and I to get in the studio together. All I wanted was for him to hear ‘Sad’ because I just felt like he would really add something that this record doesn’t have. My mom was like, ‘Nah, he’s not going to like ‘Sad,’ I don’t think he’s going to do it ’cause he like more uppity music.’

“I played it for [Yachty] and he was like, ‘Let’s do it right now.’ After that we just clicked on more of a actual friend level because it’s some people where you meet and it’s like we can just make music together because you’re talented. But there’s some people you meet where it’s, Wow, we can go eat together and I can come to your house to kick it. So we get along like actual friends.”

Most people don’t know: “I’m super emotional; I don’t know if anyone knows that [laughs]. I like all the love movies and I rather just chill and watch those; The Notebook, Dear John, Dirty Dancing — nobody puts baby in the corner.”

My style’s been compared to: “People compare me to like Lil Uzi but I don’t think that’s a good comparison. I feel like you only heard one of my records and really depending off of one song. I would describe my sound as new and fresh and nothing else like it. I just have this energy that not a lot of people have. I can light up a whole room. I’m not trying to be cocky but this is what I’ve been told. People say that my energy is electric.”

My standout records or moments to date have been: “I’m standing in Made in America, Jay Z is in front of me and Beyoncé is in front of Jay Z. Beyoncé turned around and I’m like, ‘Wow, this stage is fire.’ Jay Z said, ‘What you say?’ And I was like, ‘Nothing.’ [Laughs] He said, ‘Nah, I’m being nosey. What you say?’ I said, ‘This stage is fire’ and he was like ‘Yeah, it’s fire.’ That was my little moment right there.

“Then Beyoncé looks back and reaches right pass me to shake Yachty’s hand [laughs]. I know she seen me on her rearview and that was a moment right there. Obama’s daughter was there too, we danced with each other for two seconds, and you can’t pay for that [laughs].”

My goal in hip-hop is to: “Well, my goal in general is to make music for the youth that the youth can love. Not only just for the youth but almost be their voice. Just show that they can do whatever they want. My goal in music, I’m tryna get some Grammys. I’m tryna be like Lauryn Hill off of one album.”

I’m gonna be the next: “Icon, I want to be the next icon. Nothing can beat the newest icon, nothing out. You know how they say, ‘That’s the best thing since the iPhone.’ I want to be the next iPhone, I want to be the next Apple product in general. Nothing ever beats that.”

Follow Kodie Shane on Twitter and SoundCloud.

Standout: “Sad”

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