Certified Fresh: Snow Tha Product – Sicker Than Your Average

Snow Tha Product, born Claudia Feliciano, is at first glance cute, kind and presumably unassuming. But put her inside the booth and like something out of Marvel Comics, the 27-year-old morphs into a superhuman wordsmith with a lyrical sh*tstorm for the undertaking.

On wax, Snow boasts a rapid-fire flow where she often spits braggadocio poetics about being today’s singular female MC that’s under the radar. “They asking is she white?/ Who the hell think this sh*t that tight?/ Is she signed?/ Is she hype?/ Why she unknown if she nice?,” she enthusiastically rhymes before threatening to “off any b*tch” in her way.

The most intriguing part about this artist? Her down-to-earth character and multiplicity. California-born, Texas-bred and of Mexican descent, the Atlantic Records signee offers a multi-layered story and incomparable verbiage with her catchy-as-hell cut-crystal Southern twang.

Following her much discussed 2014 BET Hip-Hop Awards Cypher, it’s clear the rapper–who clandestinely crept in through the back door–is here to stay. Get familiar.

Who:  Snow Tha Product is a Mexican-American rapper from California who proudly claims Texas, where she currently resides. She is largely known for her singles “Holy Shi!” and “Drunk Love,” and her Good Nights & Bad Mornings mixtape. She released her first independent LP Unorthodox in 2011 and is currently readying her next EP before releasing her formal major label debut.

Credentials: As under the radar as Snow appears to be, she’s already toured globally, is signed to Atlantic Records and continues to amass major cosigns from the likes of Tech N9ne and Immortal Technique, both of whom act as mentors.

Fun Fact: Snow, as a child,  imagined herself as Shakira. She hopes to collaborate with her one day.

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Photos: Instagram

Hip-Hop Wired: We’re at the tail end of Hispanic Heritage Month. Describe what it means to be Latina to you?

Snow: I was lucky enough for this to be my life! [Laughs]. I love everything about being Latina. I love that I’ve been given the opportunity to step up to the plate, because we’re so underrepresented across the board.

When I was younger I was really outspoken, loud, creative, and my mom was super annoyed by me [laughs]. But the same thing that made me annoying is what now makes me have the courage to be at the forefront in Hip-Hop. Hopefully, I grow to make a presence in other things, in other areas of my career. But for now, I love just being able to represent Latinas in the rap game.

Hip-Hop Wired: What do you think separates you from the rest of today’s new school of female rappers?

Snow: My character. I’m ok with laughing at myself and laughing at my crew. I don’t take myself so seriously. Some of these other girls are super tough or “gangster,” or they’re super sexy and like, “Oh my god, I’m the biggest dime piece around,” and it’s like I’m not that. That’s never going to be what I’m known for. I’ve already established myself as the “other” girl. But if you watch the movies, it’s that girl that usually comes out on top.

I like letting everyone in on the joke; on what I’m really doing. People relate to me because not every girl wakes up “like this” you know what I’m saying? [Laughs] We’re not perfect. I’m open. I let people go through my mistakes and all my come ups and come downs. That’s kinda what separates me, I think.

Hip-Hop Wired: As far as rap goes, whose work have you studied?

Snow: I’d say Eminem, Missy Elliott and Big Pun. If you go way back to my earlier stuff–my sh*t was really boom-bap. Like really. It was a small time frame of my career, but I was really on like some lyrical miracle sh*t, that thesaurus rap. And then eventually, listening to Missy–stuff that Timbaland produced–it showed me that I didn’t have to stay in a certain tempo or whatnot and that I can get creative in other ways. That’s when I really started to grow as an artist.

Also, pop music, believe it or not. I think it’s what’s made my style different.

Hip-Hop Wired: Speaking of boom-bap, it’d be interesting to see what would transpire in collaboration between you and Nitty Scott.

Snow: Yea, definitely. I like her. I haven’t had the greatest experience in meeting other [female] rappers. I’ve only met a few nice ones. She looks like she would be a nice one.

A lot of times, I feel like I’ve been cold-shouldered by a lot of the female rappers that I’ve meet. At this point, I’m just kinda over meeting them.

Hip-Hop Wired: Really?

Snow: Yea. Girls are really catty, man. I’m never a rapper. I gotta be that girl–a makeup artist or some random girl with some random dude.

Hip-Hop Wired: Wow.

Snow: Yea. I’m not about to kiss nobody’s ass.

Strange Music reached out to me and they’ve always been dope to me. A lot of people don’t realize how much of a fanbase Tech N9ne really has. And for him to be so humble and so cool, it kinda set the standard for what I expect from people.

I’m not on that hyphy sh*t. That hyphy sh*t is wack. I’ve seen people be on every single blog and I’ve gone to see their show and been like “What’s all this hype about?”

At this point, it’s like if you f*ck with me, you f*ck with me. I’ll see you when I see you. I’m more focused on growing my fanbase and keeping the one that I already have.

Hip-Hop Wired: So, you must have a really good relationship with Tech.

Snow: He’s the homie. He calls me all the time. We’re trying to put together maybe a tour or something, a collaborative project. We’re going to figure it out. But definitely, I got love for Strange Music. They embraced me and pushed me when other people didn’t. A lot of people are intimated by a girl that raps like me.

Hip-Hop Wired: Going back to female rappers, have you gotten the opportunity to meet Iggy yet?

Snow: No. We briefly went back and forth about something. But no, I’ve never met her.

Hip-Hop Wired: How do you feel about her?

Snow: Look, it’s good that there are more females. For a while when it was just Nicki, it kinda felt like it was impossible. But now, with her and others following suit, it’s like ‘ok, this can be done’ we can have an era like in the ‘90s where you had Latinos, women, and everyone in the mix.

Hip-Hop Wired: Talk a little bit about the origin of your stage name, because it insinuates something that I’m thinking is not really who you are or what you’re about.

Snow: Right [laughs]. If it were up to me, my name would just be Snow, but there was this reggae rapper called Snow from a long time ago. It started off as Snow White and because of the whole Disney thing, I had to let that go.

For a Latin girl, I always looked really pale in all my pictures. If I were white and looked white, that’s not anything new. But I was this Latin chick–all my friends are darker in tone, it’s what stuck. And honestly, it’s just pretty stupid, I just didn’t have a name. My name is Claudia, that’s not a stage name [laughs]. It was something temporary that I guess ended up sticking.

Hip-Hop Wired: What’s a dream collaboration and why?

Snow: I would say Missy or Em. I mean would have loved to work with Aaliyah, but obviously I can’t. Or Shakira! That would be crazy. I used to pretend I was Shakira, all my life, when I was a little girl [laughs]. My mom has videos of me with the broom and the singing and my brothers in the background ruining my music videos, ‘cause I’m thinking I’m Shakira.

Hip-Hop Wired: Wow. So you can sing?

Snow: A little bit. Not all that great, I don’t think. If I could really sing, I’d do that instead, ‘cause this rap sh*t is hard [laughs].

Hip-Hop Wired: Ha, I hear you. I believe you.

You were a crowd favorite at the BET Hip-Hop Awards Cypher. What was that like? Did you feel the pressure to prove yourself?

Snow: Yea, I absolutely did. I’d been waiting for something like that for a long time. A lot of people have gotten that earlier in their careers. I’ve toured, I’m signed, I’ve done a lot and I’ve seen others do less and get the cypher in earlier. So, at that point it was like “I’ve waited this long, I have something to say.” That’s where the Spanish came in and all that. It was this pressure to show people who I am and why they’re seeing my name.

I heard about the reactions and I’m glad I got to be a part that. I was like “Whoa.”

Hip-Hop Wired: Is it easier to rap in Spanish or English?

Snow: It’s easier to rap in English, but I think in Spanish a lot of the times. That’s why my sentences are backwards sometimes. But the reason why it’s not easier to rap in Spanish is because Mexicans don’t have cool slang. Like we do, but we don’t, you feel me? [Laughs] We speak really proper.

I hang out with a lot of Puerto Ricans. I’m so envious of Puerto Ricans and Dominicans, they all have this dope slang and the way that they can say certain things in Spanish. And as a Mexican, I have to find ways to say slang to where I don’t sound like a drug dealer, pretty much.

Hip-Hop Wired: That’s hilarious.

Do you come from a musical background? What was it like growing up in your household?

Snow: Yes. My dad was a singer and songwriter. My grandfather was a Mariachi player for as long as I can remember. Music was always around.

My grandfather played in Mariachi for years and never really made any money off of it. Plus, he drank and did a lot of stuff–but I knew, going into music, that I wasn’t going to make that much money. When I got in this, I looked at my dad, my grandpa and realized that obviously this wasn’t going to be a very smart, financial decision. At this point, I can only count my blessings.

Essentials

“Holy Shi!”

“Cookie Cutter B*tches”

“Doing Fine