Turk Reminisces On Lil Snupe: “He Was About To Blow Up”

Earlier today, it was reported that emerging rapper Lil Snupe died. The 18-year-old Lousiana native was signed to Meek Mill’s Dream Chasers imprint and was pegged as one of its flagship artists. KNOE 8 News now has confirmation from police that Snupe was shot and killed at an apartment he was visiting in Winnfield, La. Police also say they have a lead on a suspect, but other details remain unconfirmed.

Hip-hop reacted to the death of Addarren Ross several hours ago. Meek Mill, Louie V Gutta, 9th Wonder and more were shocked to hear the sad news. Former Cash Money rapper Turk, who worked on a few records with Snupe, tweeted: “FUCKED UP!!!!! JUST TALKED TO LIL HOMIE #THUGGNPEACE.” The one-time Hot Boyz member also showed his followers the last conversation he had with Snupe, and honored his name by creating the hashtag #DOIT4SNUPE.

XXL spoke with Turk on his relationship with Snupe, why he liked his music and what he taught him during his career.—Eric Diep (@E_Diep)

XXL: I saw your tweets this morning about the death of Lil Snupe. How did you know him?
Turk: That was my little homie. We are from the same state—me and him. We had been working with each other, putting some stuff together, man. We were just about to drop a record together. We did a couple of interviews together. He was the little homie and I’m [the] OG. He looked up to the Hot Boyz and I reached out to him. I took a liking to him and we had been friends ever since.

Why did you guys connect?
He was a fan of our music. I had reached out to him and he had told me [that] he always looked up. He loved the Young & Thuggin’ album that dropped with Cash Money. Hot Boyz came out, he was bumping the Hot Boyz when he was five, six years old. Stuff like that. He was just a fan of my music and I was a fan of his music. You know, what we were doing today.

What did you like about his music?
He say what he feels. He knew that he was good at what he do. He wasn’t no negative person. He just stuck it alone and he did him. Being from Louisiana, you got to be an animal. That’s what he stood for. Just holding his own in the jungle that we live in. The haters out there, you know, they always got them haters out there. It’s sad that he was taken from us at an early age. I send condolences to his family. It’s crazy how they are killing up all the young kids out there today.

You mentioned that it’s a jungle. Does Snupe’s death means there is a violence issue going on in Louisiana?
There’s violence everywhere. There’s hatred and there’s jealously. It’s the summertime, and they got a lot of people that is hungry and thirsty out there at the same time. Us being celebrities, sometimes we have to watch who we are around. Some people call me paranoid because I don’t let certain people in my circle because the things I have been through as a youngster. I just got out of prison doing eight years, eight months, 16 days for a charge. Attempted murder. So I know how it is in the streets. I came home, I just had a different point of view on life.

I used to talked to Snupe and let him know to stay focused on his craft. Don’t be in the streets for long. But him being young and 18 years old, it still kind of like, "I’m a star, but I’m not a star." I used to feel the same way because I used to be in my hood, hanging around the same people, even though I was with the Hot Boyz. That caused me my jailtime. Thank God I am here to talk about it. Unfortunately for Snupe, he not here. But we all could learn from his tragedy as well.

A new report says he died in Winnfield. Can you describe what the area is like?
I’m not from Winnfield, but it’s in my state. There’s a whole lot of country towns, little small parts that I never even been to in Louisiana. When they told me that’s where it happened at, I got the phone call early this morning. I thought it was a joke because I Googled it. I called his phone and he didn’t answer. I sent him a message. I sent Meek Mill a message, he didn’t respond. Meek Mill seem he wasn’t sure about it. He told Snupe to holler at him, so once I got a few more calls, everybody was like, "Yeah." I was getting direct messages on Twitter. I was getting direct phone calls. They know that me and him been friends and been talking with each other. They know I’m an OG in Louisiana and they reached out to let me know it was true. It’s just crazy.

You showed your fans on Twitter the last conversation you had with him. He seemed to have had an impact on you.
Yeah, he was real cool. Like I say, he had an interview that he was doing. Man, he was so excited. [I was like], "Man, I’m telling you, you got over 30,000 people on the line, they ready to hear from you." I was in Atlanta and I was doing a show so I went on and got on the line with him. His fanbase, they was calling more for him. They didn’t even know who Turk was, you know what I am saying? But, I enjoyed the time being on the phone with him doing the interview because he was real humble. He was like, "Y’all don’t remember Turk from the Hot Boyz? I like 'em hot, the ones that don't tell me to stop!" You know, just letting his fans know. We were just giving each other props. I was letting all the people my age know him and support him. It’s just crazy. He was about to blow up man.