An Orange County native, Sho Boy takes pride in representing for his city. He gained local support through DJ Nasty for his song “Sip Slow” which went on to collect over 100 radio spins. Since then he and his independent label have continued putting up numbers and are now focused on producing a movie and book for the upcoming year. Tell us about your background and how you came up in your rap career. I’m still coming up and catching a buzz right now. I started writing in 2007, but you’re not a rapper until you get the deal. My grind has been impeccable, doing hand-to-hand sales. I met DJ Nasty and was able to establish a good cosign. I got over 100 spins on Clear Channel 102 Jamz. With my Haitian decent, I was already doing shows in Haiti. That was all within 12 months. What was the song that got you all those spins? It was a song called “Sip Slow” produced by David Breed. He went on to do production for Lil Boosie, Anthony Hamilton, and Young Jeezy. We’re all on the come up and it’s a blessing he did the track. It also got me on the corner store and street mixtapes that DJ Khaled does. It was a good look for me. What did you move on to after that? What came next for you? I did records, like DJ drops, for DJ D-Strong, Chino, and other guys that were coming up at the time. It kept me on the radio and kept me poppin’ on air. Soon after I caught a buzz, getting on every central Florida rapper’s features and whatnot. What made you want to start doing music in the first place? I think money is the biggest motivation on the face of this earth. Everyone moves for money, and nobody moves without money. But back in high school, I started off with my homie Big Rob making beats first. We had our own little studio and it was kinda cool. Then I started getting in the freestyle ciphers and freestyling over beats and started getting recognition. When I heard girls reciting the words, that’s when I kinda knew what was good. What really got me into it, was when I was in the cafeteria and I got $5 for one of my tapes. I went home, dubbed two more, came back, and made $10 more. It was on and poppin’ ever since.
Being from Orlando, who would you say are the pioneers in your city’s music scene? I got to give my #1 shout out to Preacher. Other than that, I’d like to say that I’m the future and I will be a forefather of Orlando rap. A lot of people migrate to the city, so most of the rappers that have made it out of Orlando aren’t really from here. I feel like I’m one of the representatives of Orlando as a forefather. What’s the significance behind your rap name? Where did it come from? Being Haitian, “sho” in Creole means “hot.” When I was younger, and still to this day, I’m a hot boy so that’s why people called me Sho Boy. Some people think it has to do with me performing, so I guess that could be the meaning too. Are you with a label? My independent label is called Swamp House. I’m backed up by big homie Kizzo. We’re doing pretty good numbers. We do move more indie sales than any other artist, period, in central Florida. What are some things you guys are working towards in the near future? Well, right now, I’ve been talking to David Geffen, he’s interested, and Warner Brothers is interested in me. There’s a movie situation we’re working on. I’m also finishing writing a book with my publishing company Norfolk. We’re on set and have the screen play of the movie finished already. My goal is to release that during the 1st or 2nd quarter. We haven’t picked the official title yet. I want to call it 100, but of course they want to go with something more commercial. What do you have going on for the Florida Classic? On Friday I’m booked at Club 57 West downtown. I’m also booked at Dawgman’s Car Show. Is there anything else you want to say? People can always check me out at Myspace. com/TheRealShoBoy. I’d also like to say this, $10k to anybody who can say who’s hotter than Sho Boy at the top of 2010. I’ll put up $10k to anybody who does it harder. I got 10 mixtapes, 6 videos, the movie, and the book. I ain’t braggin’, I’m just swaggin’.
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