Loe Shimmy’s Rockstar Junkie will bring his “groovy trap” music to the world

An interview with the Florida rapper about developing his flow, meeting Rob49, and his love of Tubi movies.

“I done set up the studio in the black truck while it was driving, I done set up the studio on a private jet while I was in the sky. 100 stories in the air condo, oceanview penthouse. I done recorded a lot of crazy places, but the bathroom was definitely the weirdest.”

Florida rapper Loe Shimmy is walking me through all the places he worked on his third album in 18 months, Rockstar Junkie. The 26-year-old’s coming off of an electrifying 2024, which saw Shimmy opening for Sexyy Red and Kodak Black in between releasing major projects Zombieland 2 (and its 2.6 deluxe) as well as November’s Nardy World. On July 1, Shimmy wrapped up a string of dates on the North American leg of Lil Baby’s WHAM tour. Balancing a packed itinerary with a prolific release calendar has the Pompano Beach artist maximizing his free time: “I catch every opportunity I got to record.”

Since coming onto the scene in 2021, Shimmy has built momentum via a steady drip (Drake’s been a fan since 2022) of singles like “Fallin’” and “Wok & Minute Maid” that showcased Shimmy’s talent at slower and faster tempos alike. Broadly, you could classify Loe Shimmy’s music as pain rap, tracing a Southern lineage back through the melodies of Rod Wave and Rylo Rodriguez all the way to the blues. But that doesn’t quite encapsulate the synthesis of Shimmy’s specific sound, which draws from Detroit beats and R&B as much as the textures of his native Florida and the “island music” of his youth.

Capitalizing on his rising profile, Shimmy’s latest album is primed to bring his “groovy trap music” to a wider audience than ever before, and he’s making the most of the attention. A mostly solo affair, it boasts a handful of assists from NoCap, Quavo, Trippie Redd, and Luh Tyler. “I got some big features on there, some of my favorite features I always wanted,” Shimmy says (the best collaboration is definitely “Two Faced” with fellow up-and-comer YTB Fatt). Speaking from the middle row of an SUV in Miami, he’s in the final recording push for Rockstar Junkie. Initially slated for release Friday, July 11, Shimmy made the last-minute decision to record one final song to bring the album to 26 tracks, a lucky number he picked up from Pablo Escobar. Ahead, he talks about developing his flow, playing football in high school, and his love for the streaming service Tubi.

The FADER: You grew up in Pompano Beach, Florida. Can you tell me a little about that?

Loe Shimmy: The trenches, vibing. A little country. We like 40 minutes away from Miami — Lamar Jackson from there, Kodak Black from there. It’s a legendary city.

What did you do for fun growing up as a kid?

Sports — basketball, football, going outside every day. Go to the park, play at the school, go to my hood, chill with my dogs, freestyle on the green. Regular shit. Walk to the corner store, walk to 15th Street Market, post on the street when school come out.

What was your corner store order?

I’d go six piece wings [and] fries at 15th Street Market. And if I go to the market [now], same thing. Sometimes, they got fried fish sandwiches, switch it up sometimes.

Were you good at sports?

Yeah! I was free safety: Jerry Jeudy was on my team, Calvin Ridley. There’s a lot of NFL players on my team. I had a couple offers. I was balling — cause I’ve been doing this as a kid, so it was easy, from street ball [to playing in school].

And then you had a concussion, right?

Yeah I had a concussion one time. I hit this kid, like ran him over. And you know, you’re not supposed to hit with your helmet but I threw my whole body and ran him over, like ambulance had to come airlift them off the field. But when I hit him, I gave myself a concussion.

Was that the end of your football career?

No, no, no. I ain’t even know I had a concussion, I was still playing. I wasn’t tripping on it, but the lead athletic administrator, she like, “oh I think you got a concussion” cause she like, “how many fingers am I holding up?” And I knew she was right cause my vision was blurry.

Were you always musical when you were younger?

I always loved music, even when I wasn’t making it. Every day I gotta listen, every day finding new music, sped-up music, adding to my SoundCloud, finding new artists. And then I got older and started making music in the hood, me and my dogs. [When I was 15, 16] we used to just freestyle and smoke weed.

What sort of music were you listening to as a kid?

A lot of Pluto [Future], a lot of Chief Keef. A lot of [Lil] Durk, a lot of The Weeknd. A$AP Rocky, A$AP Ferg. I was on different stuff, Playboi Carti. And all the whole underground, like XXXTentacion and them.

When you first went to the studio, do you feel like there were certain rappers that you maybe imitated style-wise or flow-wise?

It’s not really imitating cause I listen to so much different music. All the people I just told you, then I switch up. I still listen to BG, Hot Boys, throwback hood and street [music], throwback Boosie. So I just have a wide range, listening to so much different genres, you know what I’m saying? I listen to rock and roll, all that Nirvana.

I’m curious how your melodic approach has grown over the years, because your early stuff on SoundCloud is a lot more straightforward.

At first I was just rapping because I know this what people want. I guess, I wouldn’t say scared, but it’s a little barrier that you gotta cross over. Get comfortable, try new sounds, put it out to put it out. You don’t know [if] people are gonna like it. The melodic stuff, I always knew I could do it, but I was always hesitant on putting it out, cause I ain’t know how [it would be received]. But you gotta just take that shot.

Tell us about the first Rob49 concert you saw.

That was his “Vulture Island” days. I ain’t know him at the time. I was in Houston with my brother Guap [Guapo], and he knew Rob49 close. He was like, “Man we finna drive to New Orleans, go to the Rob49 fest,” cuz Rob was bringing him out to perform at the show. So we drove down there, Bom!, get down there, the show brought a lot of big artists out, packed out show, sold out, and they singing word for word. He put on a real show, you know what I’m saying? All these people — I could tell his city love him, all these people come out to support you. You put this together in your city, you a GOAT. It gave me the chills. No matter what, big, small, it’s inspiration at the end of the day. So I told him like, “boy it gave me the chills,” watching it from my point of view.

That’s when we locked in and got close, and the year after that, he sold out an arena, and then he had the afterparty [at the venue] I first saw him at. That’s the kind of people I put myself around.

You’re on Rob’s Let Me Fly (Deluxe) with YTB Fatt on “Pink Molly.” What can you tell me about recording that song?

We were just on our vibe, you know what I’m saying? We had just came from the club. Turning up, like 50 girls with us. Private party in the studio and we just had Don Julio going around. We turned the studio into the club, girls shaking ass having fun. We just made it like, first beat — “man, pull it up” — everybody just go in, and we made that song so quick, probably like 30 minutes. I did that verse probably in five or six minutes.

Some of my favorite songs on Rockstar Junkie are “Private Party,” “Say Hey,” and “Angel Reese,” which all have this really beautiful danceable element to them. Talk to me about the influence there.

My family from the islands, so I been listening to island music all my life so that’s where my beat selections and all that come from too. A lot of old school reggae: Vybz Kartel, Buju Banton, like that.

You recently dropped the single “Tubi Movie.” Can you recommend a few Tubi movies for our readers to watch?

Daaaamn. I ain’t gonna lie, I done watched a lot of Tubi movies but I don’t remember what they’re called. One of my favorite action movies is Extraction, that’s on Netflix though. But Tubi movies are more… how should I describe it? It’s a little unrealistic, a little fake. They like bootleg, basically.