Scootie Wop’s music with a message

When life gives you lemons

None of Scootie Wop’s success is down to luck. Quite the opposite. The South Carolina-born producer, rapper, and singer has taken all of the bad fortune he’s experienced in life and turned it into something positive. Now he’s well on his way to being one of America’s most esteemed rap and trap artists. 

Scootie Wop, real name Emmanuel Lofton, believes he was destined to be a musician. He comes from a musical family and grew up around his father and grandfather, who were in a gospel quartet group, and his uncle was an R’n’B artist. As a kid, Scootie spent a lot of time in church, he was exposed to choirs, orchestras, and quartets, and he eventually played drums in a few of them.

As a teen, Scootie was more interested in sports than in music, but he developed a taste for rap and hip hop thanks to the video games he played. “I grew up in a Christian household so my mother was very strict about listening to secular music,” Scootie says. “So my fix was playing video games and listening to the soundtracks.” Listening to the bass-heavy beats on Madden NFL, NBA Live 2005, Jet Set Radio, NBA Street Vol. 2, and Pimp My Ride, planted a penchant for hip hop inside him.

Then, when Scootie was a senior in high school, fate stepped in. He was playing a football game when a tackle went wrong, and he felt something in his leg pop. It was severely broken. He spent the next 9 months in a wheelchair, unable to attend school. He was given a laptop to complete his lessons, which also happened to have beat-making software installed.

Scootie started messing around with beats and realized he was pretty good at it. So while he waited for his leg to heal, he’d cruise around his hometown of Hilton Head Island, looking for rap crews so he could play them his music from his car. He sold them for $20 a pop, and they were so popular he was soon traveling to different cities to sell his music.

Kickstarting his career 

By the end of the Summer of 2016, Scootie took to the street to sell his beats. His first live performance was in 2018 with his college rap group DSL. He spent the run-up to the gig watching his favorite rap stars perform over and over again and tried to harness that energy for the two minutes he was on stage.

It worked. Scootie was a hit, and his mother’s prayers were answered. Not only was he a talented musician — he was a born performer too. 

In 2019, Scootie turned his full attention to music. “I bought the whole studio setup and started posting videos on YouTube,” Scootie says. “I was linking up with friends to film beat battles and things like that.”

Scootie kept sharing short clips and videos of his music and building a strong and steady fanbase. He was always experimenting with new genres, new visuals, and new ideas. He noticed the videos that got the most views and comments were the ones where he was having the most fun.

“I realized that a lot of Christian rap music is very serious,” Scootie says. “So I found if I’m not being super serious, but still sharing truth, morals, and values within the song, then people really listen and take it in”

Musical momentum

By the time the Pandemic started — Scootie’s listener base was growing steadily and his performances started getting noticed across the US. During the Covid lockdowns, Scootie didn’t lose any motivation. Instead, he channeled enormous amounts of energy and momentum into his music. He spent hours in his home studio and made beat after beat. This experience was really important for him as he continued to develop his signature emotive hip hop/trap hybrid tracks. 

He said, “It was either do that or sulk, and my ma never raised me like that,” Scootie says. “So I figured if I’m stuck at home, let’s make the most of it and do something.”

Scootie produces and releases a remarkable volume of the music. He released 13 singles in 2020, and in 2021 he hit a milestone and released his first album Woptavius Porter Vol.  But he wasn’t slowing down, in 2022, he released 22 singles, 1 EP, and 2 albums, including The SUPERDUPERCRUNK Tape, the album that sent his profile into the stratosphere.

Scootie stuck to his roots in his SUPERDUPERCRUNK Tape, and once again flipped the Hip hop genre on its head, and gave it his classic Christian Hip hop style. His album is layered with messages of hope, faith, empathy, compassion, and respect. 

Scootie’s big break

One night in 2022 Scootie uploaded a short film clip onto TikTok soundtracked by his new edit of the class hip hop song “Spin Back.” He went to sleep and woke up to 100,000 views. By the end of the day, the number was in the millions.

“It was weird,” Scootie laughs. “The internet works so fast, but it felt good because the song has a good message. I wasn’t being vain, it’s not a flexing song, it’s a genuine party celebration that we can all dance to and feel uplifted. And that’s when all the labels started knocking.”

Before he signed any contracts, Scootie made sure the labels shared his long-term vision. “My vision is to make songs that make people feel part of something,” Scootie says. “I want to have a presence outside the studio and expand on entrepreneurial ideas. I want to start a company, throw branded events, make video games, stuff that’s outside the norm for most artists.”

Sony shared his mammoth ambitions, so in early 2023 Scootie signed a contract.

No limits

Scootie’s relationship with Artlist began in 2022 through punk-rock duo and Artlist mainstay WEARETHEGOOD. Scootie’s first project was a collaboration with the duo; a 3-track project that combines their rustic vocals with Scootie’s razor-sharp production style. 

The result is a pop-leaning, indie-electronica extravaganza, with each track sounding well-suited to the top 40 music charts. After the success of this project, Scootie’s relationship with Artlist flourished. 

“Working with Artlist allowed me to explore different styles,” Scootie says. “Before I was making predominantly hip hop, R’n’B, and soul, and now I get to scratch an itch and make pop, rock, and house music.”

Scootie enjoys being part of the Artlist community as he’s able to reach more people with his music. “The platform has got my music out there even more than before,” Scootie says. “It’s a great feeling to be part of this family and continue to grow. There are no limits to what we can do and who we can reach.”

For his full catalog, check out Scootie Wop’s Artlist page.