This year, New York rapper ScarLip made an indelible mark on the hip-hop scene with a distinctive presence and unfiltered demeanour. Influenced by legendary NY rapper DMX, ScarLip’s musical journey ignited when she gained viral recognition through her parking lot freestyle videos—a medium she dedicated years to, honing and refining her skills. These freestyles proved to be the key to capturing the attention of Swizz Beatz, a heavyweight producer and longtime collaborator of DMX, who hails from the same Bronx roots as ScarLip. Under Swizz’s invaluable mentorship, ScarLip emerged with her breakthrough single, ‘This Is New York,’  showcasing her aggressive delivery and sharp punchlines and earning comparisons to her inspiration, the late DMX, for her fearless and unfiltered lyricism.

Scar attributes her success and dedication to those years of grinding in the parking lot, where rap served as an escape from her harsh upbringing. During this time, she was experimenting with wordplay and flows and gaining a following, offering fans an intimate look into her life—something she still strives to do daily despite her hectic schedule.

Musically, ScarLip’s raw emotion and delivery bring a ’90s-era grit to the modern rap scene, earning admiration from her peers and industry giants alike. Her infectious personality and talent for creating earworm hooks earned praise from an impressive selection of industry figures like Tony Yayo, 50 Cent, Lola Brooke, Latto, Busta Rhymes, Jadakiss, Ice Spice, and Snoop Dogg, to name a few, signals a rising star embraced by icons.

With the buzz from her single ‘No Statements’ still ringing in the ears of the rap world, ScarLip has just served up her latest single ‘Blick’, a hard-hitting NYC drill heater that sees Scar filtering her raw aggression into an undeniable bop. During our interview, ScarLip reflected on 2023 as a roller coaster, shared her feelings about receiving support from the hip-hop community, and expressed excitement about rap’s current state, particularly the dominance of female artists. She also hints at her forthcoming EP, promising more to look forward to in the coming months.

Hey ScarLip, congratulations on an incredible year so far. You’ve got ‘No Statements’ going crazy right now. Can you describe what 2023 has been like for you?
2023 has been a roller coaster, but the best roller coaster ever, to be honest. It’s been a level up, just a big level up.

You just linked up with Sexyy Red and performed at her show. How was that experience for you?
Super fun. Wow, she’s literally really big, and for her to bring me out, I was just like, oh shit — she fucks with me! I was hyped. [Laughs]

You might be the most co-signed rapper of the year. You’ve had shout-outs from rappers from all generations, both in and outside New York. Can you speak on what all the support from the hip-hop community has meant to you?
Having all of this support from the hip-hop community, it just feels like they all believe in me, and they all just want to see me win. To have everybody support me just made me feel really confident, and it made me feel like I really could achieve my dreams.

And you’re having your breakout year during the 50th anniversary of hip-hop, so you’ve got so many OGs popping out and receiving their flowers. How has it felt to be part of all that and to rub shoulders with so many legends this early in your career?
It’s felt good because I’m sitting with 50 Cent, I’m sitting with Swizz Beats, and I’m just like, yo man, I grew up watching these people. Busta Rhymes. I grew up with these people, and now they’re like family to me. It’s crazy.

I saw Busta Rhymes even gifted you a chain. What’s something you admire about Busta and his approach to music over the years?
What I admire about Busta Rhymes is his carefree music videos, how he makes music videos, and the fact that he’s not afraid. He could do other stuff besides like —okay, we get it, you’re gangsta, you’re hood—but he really taps into his creativity with the music videos, and that’s really what inspired the ‘mmm’ music video.

You worked on your craft for years before you got discovered. Can you tell us about those experiences freestyling in the parking lot on TikTok?
Yo, freestyling in the parking lot, I was just coming up with mad ideas. I was like, how can I go viral? How will I make some noise? I said, what has nobody done? And I was like—you need to rap about food. I was like, alright, now what are people going to feel the most? What can the hood relate to? Ramen noodles. So that’s the first one I did, and it went super viral. Then after that, I had a glizzy—a hot dog, because that’s what a lot of people in the hood eat. After that, I just kept going with it. I was just experimenting. I was just experimenting. How do I keep going viral? How do I keep on getting millions of views? I was getting millions of views on TikTok. How do I keep doing that? After a while, the food stuff got old. All right, we get it. She raps about food; what’s next? And then that’s when that hit song came—This is New York.

I was looking at your Twitter and saw a tweet you reposted that Megan Thee Stallion wrote back in 2014. She was saying, “I need a team because I promise this rap shit is going to take off for me.” I know you can relate to that hunger; what can you say about having a mindset that music will work out for you?
I know it’s going to work out for me because I’m not willingly going to stop. You know what I mean? I’m going to pursue what I want in my life, you know what I mean? I’m always gonna be hungry. I’m never be gonna be satisfied. I’ll always be grateful, but I’m a worker—imma work. You know what I mean? And my team ain’t going to let me stop either. Mona [Scott-Young, Manager], she’s like—bro, she helped me a lot. My whole team, they’re not going to let me stop.

I heard you speaking in another interview about how the come-up is one grind, but once you catch that break, it’s a whole new ballgame. How are you adapting to having such a hectic schedule?
If you think you’re working hard before you make it, just wait until you make it. [Laughs] You gon’ see. You’ll be like, damn, I’m working harder I want I got on. But it’s my life, my daily life. Me, it’s for me —so it’s not considered work. This is considered like—yes! I love it. Shows.—I love it: studio, rehearsals, all that stuff. I love to do that stuff. That’s my life. It’s just what I want to do in my life.

How do you see the current state of rap? It feels like women are running it right now. You received a cosign from Cardi B. You’ve shouted out other female rappers you love like Doja Cat and Glorilla. Could you share your perspective on the increased space and support for women in rap in recent years?
Right now, female rap is just dominating everything we look at and everything we touch. We just dominate. The women in hip-hop are making a stance and a statement that they’re here to stay. They’re making a statement and just being free with their music. That’s what I love. It’s inspiring to see Megan Thee Stallion, Cardi B, and all these people; they really motivate me.

When I see Cardi and everything she does in hip hop, I am like, yo, I could be just like that. I could do that too. When you could look at a person and be like, wow, I could do that; they came from exactly where I come from and still can make it.

I like Glorilla too, she hard. I think Gorilla brings something different, too. I like her voice. She got an unapologetic voice.

I heard you say from now on, you’re only trying to drop hits, so what can we expect to hear from the upcoming project you’ve been building towards?
If it’s not a hit, you’ll be like, damn, that was supposed to be a hit because that’s hard it is. [Laughs] No, I’m very humble. I’m not even trying to brag, but I’m just saying that the music I got in the tuck is just crazy. When you hear it, you’re going to be like, what the fuck? I have an EP dropping next year. Most of these songs y’all are going to hear were written before I even signed to a label. But lemme tell you something. I got this new song that’s about to drop. It’s called Blick, and I’m excited for y’all to hear it. It’s real current and has a lot of energy in it.

I mean, you always bring the energy. I’m excited to hear it. Do we hear some different sides from you on the EP that’s coming up?
Yeah, y’all are going to see a lot of sides. Alot of vulnerable sides, love sides, but also gangsta sides.

My final question for you, ScarLip, is what is your favourite piece of New York slang?
Deadass. Yeah, Deadass. Word to my mother.

Follow ScarLip here for more and stream the new single ‘Blick’ here.