Anyone can be a social media creator, but everybody can’t be a businessman. For Baton Rouge, Louisiana’s Durell Smylie, using his newfound internet fame to make some cash was an almost instant reaction. The car salesman went viral in early December after sharing a video of himself on Twitter inviting people to purchase a vehicle at the dealership he works at in Louisiana. Still, he put a creative spin on it. He began freestyling, and a phrase he improvised in his jingle, “Where the money reside,” has since taken on a life of its own.
His social following has been growing ever since, and celebrities from Saweetie to Megan Thee Stallion to Ryan Destiny have been using the phrase on their social media pages. Within days of recognizing all of the attention he was getting, Durell created merchandise with his new catchphrase. He understands the importance of creating a brand and making sure that he profits from his creativity. Now that his larger-than-life personality has gotten him some recognition, he’s ready to take his new fans on a journey as he explores any avenue that will take him where the money resides.
Complex recently spoke with Smylie, who detailed the origin of this viral video, his decision to be about trademarking the phrase early, and what he plans on doing in the future.
“It started, basically, as a freestyle. ‘Where the money resides’ was a freestyle, and it was something that I thought of saying in March or May. It was something I would just sing all the way to work every morning. I would post it on Instagram [and] get 200 views on it. And then ‘Mary had a little lamb’ came from just me and one of my friends. His name is Donald. We would joke and clown and laugh and say crazy little jingles like that. I just was doing the video and improv and they just sided together. I posted it online and it just blew up.
“One day, I was on the way [to work], I was getting on the exit to turn into my job. I said, ‘Money resides, money resides.’ The next day, it just kept sticking with me. I was like, ‘I'm going to make a video with this. I'll make a video with it.’ And then eventually I incorporated it into my job and hey, we're here now.”