Kodie Shane is most likely a name you’ve seen mentioned by respected artists, on festival line-ups, or maybe through her Sailing Team membership, and all for good reason. A 19-year old rapper from Atlanta who was raised in Chicago, she’s grown up with the influence of two great musical cities. Having dropped two full-length projects in 2017, she’s got another one in the works, hopefully for release this year. With Lil Yachty’s co-sign, among many others, Shane is unquestionably just at the beginning of what looks like a very long and successful journey in this music thing. We had a chat with her at SXSW about being one of the only females on festival line-ups, the importance of Sailing Team, and why it’s unclear what success really is.

You’re originally from Atlanta, so who is your favorite Atlanta artist?

I just listen to that Young Gunner. He going crazy.

What else were you listening to growing up? I read that you love R&B, and artists like Ashanti?

Yeah, I love 90s R&B and stuff like that and Ashanti and stuff. She's inspiring. She's always been my favorite.

You're part of Lil Yachty’s Sailing Team. What does that mean to be a part of that kind of group?

I mean, it's just a cool thing. We all just make music and do our thing and have fun and stuff like that. It's really a group of friends. You know what I mean? Inspiring.

Do you feel like it's important for you to have that kind of group around you?

I definitely think it's important to have that kind of support. I have brothers and stuff so it's cool.

Tell me about making the EP ‘Big Trouble Little Jupiter’. How did that come about?

That was a cool project. It was a moment, so it was cool. But Back From the Future's my favorite.

You're doing Rolling Loud in Miami in May, amazing!

Yes. I can't wait. That'll be my third Rolling Loud. I did Rolling Loud Bay and Rolling Loud SoCal last year.

From the line-ups, it looks like you tend to be one of the only female artists?

Not this year in Miami, but for SoCal I was the only girl.

How do you feel about that?

I think it was dope. It was really cool to be the only girl there. I love Rolling Loud and my Rolling Loud family.

To contrast, last night you performed at the ICM x Cantu All Women’s Showcase?

Yeah I finally met Kamaiyah last night, she was dope. It was fun being on an all-girl lineup, it was really dope. Something new that they're not really doing, so that was fire.

We caught you last year at the Pigeons & Planes No Ceilings show, and you’re performing at their showcase with Move Forward Music again tomorrow night. How are you feeling about that?

Yeah, I can't wait. I love Pigeons & Planes, that's going to be fire. Last year, that show was fire.

How important do you feel sites like Pigeons & Planes are for artists on the rise?

I think that's just important to me as it always will be. I think all media is important media. Good media, bad media, academics is important media. Shout out to Pigeons & Planes. I love them.

There's probably a few times that you’ve thought, ‘wow my career is really shifting, it's really turning a corner, and my following is growing’.

I just feel like right now I'm in the process of just showing everybody that this is serious, I'm for real. You know what I'm saying? It's not a joke. It's real. That's the transition I'm taking.

What is success for you right now?

I never know how to answer that question when people ask me that. I don't know what success is yet. I can't lie. I don't really know. But I'm lit and I'm going to drop some new music and people are going to love that shit and yeah, the SXSW way.

Find Kodie Shane here:

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/1CUeN4GnHAGUk9nAXPorF4?si=jMAlOH7HTeezlJy-6hXrsw

SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/kodieshane

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kodieshane/?hl=en

Twitter: https://twitter.com/kodieshane?lang=en