Shoneyin (pronounced show-ney-yin) was almost ready to quit rap. “I had a little studio in my house and I gave it away,” the Staten Island rapper explains. "Things around my life like school had me take a break from it."
Despite his plans to give up on music as a career, things played out differently. “I was in the mall and I heard this beat,” Shoneyin says. “Then I started thinking of a chorus for it and it just came to me. I did the song in 15 minutes. It came to me and I stuck with it. I finished it and sent it to a few people and they said it was the one. Then it ended up being bigger than I expected. I didn’t expect it to be that big.”
That song ended up being "Mozzy," and it has become a local hit in Staten Island and the Tri-State area. It racked up hundreds of thousands of plays online, and Shoneyin's friends convinced him to do a show. It was Shoneyin's first time ever performing, and around 900 kids came out. And they knew all the words.
Now Shoneyin's signed to the newly re-launched Asylum Records (home of Ugly God) and planning his next moves. “The long term plan is to be successful and take care of my family,” he says. “I want to bring a new element and approach to the rap game. After that, all I’m going to do is let God decide what’s next.”
Check out Shoneyin's debut mixtape Show Ney Yinhere, and listen to the addictive "Mozzy" below.
