Slatt Zy has been through a lot. But instead of folding, he’s managed to “make the struggle look beautiful.” Hailing from Chattanooga, Tennessee, the 19-year-old with 276,00+ monthly Spotify listeners and more than 155,000 subscribers on Youtube has been getting it out the mud with his melodic flows and tales of overcoming the struggles of life.
“I keep it real,” he tells ONE37pm. “I can only tell you what I've been through.”
Staying ten toes down, he’s amassed hundreds of thousands of followers (160k on Instagram alone) and supporters including Capitol Records and 100k Management — the management firm behind YNW Melly, King Von and YNW BSlime. He’s also toured with Rod Wave and graced the Rolling Loud stage.
Slatt Zy creates music that can be characterized by soul-baring storytelling, introspection and smooth delivery. Although he's only been rapping for a few years, he has quickly become one of the most popping artists in his city.
Continuing to carve out his own lane, he circled back later in November of 2020, dropping East Lake Projects. His second project of 2020, housed guest appearances from Pooh Shiesty and Hotboii, as well as one of his biggest songs to date, “3Ks (We On That Same Shit).” The song currently has over 2.6 million views on Youtube and 3.6 million plays on Spotify. He continued to build momentum in 2021 with singles like “Lean On Me” and “Beautiful Scars.”
Life in the trenches has inspired much of Slatt Zy’s music, however, it hasn’t been his only influence. The melodic artist admits to tapping into everything from country music to r&b, especially when he was younger. “I grew up listening to a lot of local artists,” he says.. “It was also a lot of r&b like Usher and stuff that I was listening to. I used to listen to a lot of r&b, actually.”
It shouldn't come as a surprise that the Confessions singer helped curate Zy’s listening experiences growing up. Not only was Usher one of the biggest artists of the late ‘90s and 2000s, he was also in a group with Zy’s father. “They were in like a singing group when they were real young,” he confirms.
Another pop sensation that Zy considers himself a fan of is Ed Sheeran. The hit-maker behind songs like “Shape of You” and “Perfect” happens to be one of the emerging rapper’s dream collaborators. “I’d get into his bag and cook up a pop hit,” Zy says when asked what type of vibe the two artists would create if they collaborated.
Focused on the future, the “Beautiful Scars” rapper is ready for what’s next. Kicking 2022 off with noteworthy records like “Feel It In My Soul” and “Hard To Live,” Zy has been delivering a steady flow of music as of late.
For his third single of this year, “No Respect,” he joined forces with rising Houston rapper, Sally Sossa. “My A&R put that together,” he says when speaking on how the collab came together. “I had another feature in mind, but when I heard her I knew she was perfect for it.”
