
Back in 2013, when a solid two dozen Chicago rappers were alleged to be āup next,ā ZMoney was really, really up next. Born Zernardo Tate, an appropriately glamorous name for a guy who oozes charisma, ZMoney represented the cityās West side at a time when the spotlight was mostly fixed on the South. And though heād only started making music in 2012, he rapped with an effortless charm that quickly caught on; tracks like āRegularā and āWant My Moneyā were near-immediate local hits. (My personal favorite from back then: āDope Boy Magic,ā on which Z finds every pocket of JNealās insanely bass-boosted beat.) Hearing his own voice on a track, he tells me, surprised himself. He didnāt sound much like any other rapper in Chicago ā if anything, he rapped a bit like Gucci Mane.
But after a probation violation sent him to prison for nearly all of 2014, Z had to start from square one again. In a weird way, he admits, that prison sentence was when his new life began; heād been mixed up in street stuff for his entire adult life, but seeing the volume of fan mail he was receiving daily, he realized it was time to put his all into this rap thing. He wrote with a consuming passion ā over 300 songs, making beats by banging on his chest. Finally released in early 2015, Z picked up and moved to Atlanta, somewhere his past wouldnāt get in the way of his craft. Itās paying off; on last yearās ZTM ā a 7-track tape with rising producer ChaseTheMoney that includes the ridiculously swagged-out Valee collab āTwo 16sā ā his delivery is loose but laser-focused. And in January, Z announced heād signed to Gucciās 1017 Eskimo label, a partnership that felt like fate.
I caught up with Z at a wood-panelled studio in Chicago, where he blasted a handful of carefully-selected Gucci songs off YouTube (āI Heard,ā ā6 Hoursā), while finishing a take-out plate of chicken and mac and cheese. Despite having come down with a pretty hardcore cold from traveling, his energy was boundless. He regularly prefaces his sentences by giddily teasing (āAnd guess what?!ā) and is an open book about even his lifeās darkest details ā but would also like you to know that he is really, really rich.

I heard that you were not expecting the call from Gucci when it came.
It was a random ass call. I had just moved into my new condo in Atlanta. The cable man was coming to hook up my cable, and he told me he needed to be there at 8 oāclock in the morning. Gucci called me at like 8 in the morning, 7:30 maybe.
Iām surprised Gucciās awake that early!
I know, Gucci up early! Gucci up early every day. So he hit me like, āZMoney? This ZMoney?ā Iām like, āWhoās this?ā āItās Gucci!ā Iām like, āWho?ā āGucci Mane, nigga!ā Iām like, Ohhh shit! This is the first time we talked ever. Remind you: Gucci is my favorite rapper. Been my favorite. Iām gonna keep it real with you: if it werenāt for Gucci, I probably wouldnāt even be fucking rapping. All my homies used to love listening to, like, Tha Carter, all that shit, but my ear always been different. Only reason I got put on Gucci was because my brother was in Tennessee like, āListen to this shit.ā And for me, I already was a Project Pan fan, so when I heard Gucci, Iām rocking with it. When he called me, it was āI canāt believe this shitā type shit. I was talking to my dream! This the big bro, this who Iāve been riding round listening to. And, honestly, after I got off the phone with him, I aināt give a fuck about the cable guy! Then he texted me like, āSend me some more music.ā So I flood him with so much music, I swear to god, he had to tell me, āStop! Thatās enough!ā
I respect that man, though; I felt like his struggle was my struggle. I came in the rap game my own way ā I came in hustling and grinding. But I aināt come in organized, you know what Iām saying? I came in hustling more than I was rapping. Music was cool, but I liked the simple fact that⦠I liked hearing myself. Remind you: Iām a young trap nigga. I was playing basketball and selling drugs; I aināt never think Iād be rapping 10 years from now. But hearing myself on a track just surprised the fuck out of me. So every night, Iām in the studio. When I first started rapping, I paid the engineer $700 and said, āIām gonna be here every day.ā And I came every day, I swear to god, until the engineer told me, āAy bro, I canāt record you today.ā Iād go to the studio all night, but guess what: 5, 6 in the morning, Iām up. Gotta go back to selling drugs. And when Iām done selling drugs, Iām back in the studio! So it was like, Iām literally rapping about my fucking life that Iām living every day! On the same day.
So what was the moment that changed ā when you became dedicated to really being a rapper?
First, JNeal. I was recording all this music and wasnāt putting it out. JNeal was the first dude ever who made me take rapping serious. JNeal sat me down and was like, āBro, Iām finna start releasing some of your music.ā Iām like, āGo āhead.ā So while JNeal releasing music, Iām in the streets. Fake Shore Drive, Andrew Barber, posted one of my first songs, āTurn On.ā Iām not even knowing what the fuck Fake Shore Drive is! Iām from Chicago, so Iām thinking that shit got something to do with Lake Shore Drive, you feel me? So now everybody seeing me and knowing my songs⦠but Iām still out doing my thing. So I recorded a song called āEverything,ā and I had a long talk in the basement with JNeal. He like, āBro, I think you gotta start taking shit serious. You got a style. You donāt know what you got, but I think you can go far.ā But you know, him telling me that aināt gonna break it right then ā I gotta maintain my living. Like, Yeah, you can tell me this, bro ā but when we leave this motherfucker, this aināt finna pay me right now.
But then I got locked up. This was 2013. I came home. Boom: itās like, āFree ZMoney.ā Iām like, Oh shit, Iām picking up! Iām getting the momentum, Iām going crazy, Iām liking what Iām getting. Then I got locked up again. And when I got locked up that time: āOh shit, take this shit serious, bro.ā The reason I got out of jail was my rapping. Thatās how I knew ā alright, this my job now. I got sent to the prison, and I got letters from all these people that wanted to sign me. Iām talking about stacks of mail every day. Iām like, Damn, I really got a fan base!


āWhere Iām from, anybody can kill somebody. But everybody canāt get rich.ā
And you didnāt really know it was like that before you went in?
I never knew. I knew I had it, but I never knew it was like this. Fans sending me naked pictures, fans sending me money. The shit was crazy. So I came home and just stuck with it. I aināt let up. I aināt have no help in Chicago; I had to push myself, use my own money. I aināt never give up, even though I went to jail four, five, six times. I did a whole year ā I had to get my whole buzz back. But me and Gucciās stories similar; thatās why I say that it feels like the perfect sign.
What did you take away from that time, being locked up?
I aināt gonna lie to you, being locked up brought me everything. I read over 180 books in jail. I wrote notes every day.
What kind of books?
I read everything. History, urban novels, educational... I was making my own beats in jail. I wrote over 300 songs, swear to god. And guess what? I wrote āStove Onā in jail. Beating on my chest [to make the beat]. I wrote it on the yellow paper in my cell, the whole song; I got the paper in my house right now. āI drop two ounces with my stove on! Whip it up and then came backā¦ā In Stateville. And guess what? I wrote so many songs, but that was the only song I ever rapped when I got outta jail.
I wanted to talk about ZTM. How did you link up with ChaseTheMoney?
Me and ChaseTheMoney was always bumping into each other at studios. We werenāt really rocking like that; I knew who he was, he knew who I was. But he came to me one day like, āBro, Iām fucking with you. Letās do a tape.ā Like that. We locked in so hard; we did our whole tape in one week, right here in this studio. ChaseTheMoney is like my main producer right now. So I bug him; Iām like, āI need beats! I need beats!ā But me and Chaseās best way to record is when me and him together.
Yeah, I was talking to Valee recently, and he said Chase doesnāt like to email beats.
ChaseTheMoney do not like to email beats. Thatās a fuckinā fact. Thatās why I say I be bugging his ass. I could show you a message I just sent him: āMotherfucker would you send me some beats??ā He like to make the beats in here. Thatās how we did the whole ZTM in six days, I swear. We started off with two songs, then me and Valee knocked out āTwo 16s.ā
āTwo 16sā went crazy!
We made that shit in 30 minutes. I started it off, then he finished it. āAte a box of PopTartsā¦ā It wasnāt one take, but damn near. Valeeās so hype when I started rapping ā when he heard āPopTarts,ā I see him over there going crazy. We got a stupid swag. We got a whole tape coming out. Thatās my boy.


Did you really eat a box of PopTarts before you recorded that song?
Maybe a day before. Thatās why it reminded me. I really was drunk off Wockhardt. I was drunk off Wockhardt, I ate a box of PopTarts ā I was really freestyling, just high. Me and Valee was in this bitch high as hell. We was on another planet. I donāt try too hard. I just let it flow.
I saw you just put up a song called āBitcoin.ā You into Bitcoins?
Hell yeah. I was into Bitcoin before everybody got into Bitcoin, I swear to god. And Iāma keep it real with you, you know how I got into Bitcoin? I was on some finessing shit. I was doing some shit and posting money in my account, you feel me? One day Iām like, Fuck all this fraud shit, Iām a drug dealer, you know what Iām saying? So I left all the money on my Bitcoin account. And then I didnāt really think about it, cause I only put like $500 in there. I look up one day, itās like $1700 in my account, like a month later. Iām like what the fuck! So Iām thinking I finessed it, and Iām trying my best to get this money out my Bitcoin wallet. Iām trying my best, but I donāt know how to get it out. Iām thinking I finessed people, but then people were telling me, "Nah bro." So I ended up putting the money back in my bitcoin; I was using Blockchain at first. Then I started using Coinbase. Yeah, I was fucking with it, but I donāt fuck with it like that no more.
When did you move out of Chicago?
I moved out when I came home from jail in 2015. When I came out of jail, I was making promises to myself like, Man, I gotta get the fuck up out the city. I can say that Iām rapping and leaving the shit alone but like, niggas know me, junkies know me, people know me off doing what I used to do. I got too much of my old⦠too much. For me to become a better artist, I had to get outta Chicago. Thatās what I feel was smart.
I feel like people that arenāt from here donāt know too much about what the West side of Chicago is like.
I donāt think the world [was] introduced to the West side. Iām a hundred percent the definition of the West side. Donāt get me wrong, itās killing on the West side ā but itās more about organization. Example: I was making $10,000 a day on the block. I was young, making ten thousand dollars a day, plus. I started when I was 16, 17 years old. Thatās what the West sideās going on. Everybody got the wrong impression of Chicago ā āOh, itās Chiraqā ā all the killing. Where Iām from, anybody can kill somebody. But everybody canāt get rich. Thatās a talent ā the gift of gab, a way to move. Thatās what aināt been brought, and thatās what Iām here to bring.
And you can ask anybody: I been doing this since I was a kid. I had a restaurant when I was 18 years old. I had a building I owned when I was 18. I had a $100,000 car on $10,000 rims when I was 18 years old. Iām not one of them rappers who be like, āOh yeah, I was selling drugs before I was rapping!ā I was really rich. I really had a lot of fucking money. I wasnāt playing none of them rap games. Thatās why I take my music so seriously, because I came here as an entrepreneur. When I came in, I didnāt really have no manager; I was writing down what I gotta do. But man, if you donāt do it, who else gonna do it for you?
