Antuane D. Scott Smith, who prefers to be called Scott and who goes by the stage name Cottonmouth Scotty when performing, isn’t your regular hip-hop musician. With his unique talent and approach to songwriting, he stands out from all others. Accordingly, his uncanny style and catchy music have drawn many followers, backers, and supporters, quickly establishing his music brand.
Scott hails from Camden, New Jersey, and currently resides in Los Angeles. He grew up jumping from town to town. He spent a few years in Kansas City, Jacksonville, Houston, and Tampa. The musician grew up in a single-parent home. His mother was a singer by profession who had sacrificed greater music stardom to raise her kids. Scott, being 9 years older than his three siblings, spent most of his time with his grandmother growing up.
Most members of the family worked a corporate profession and struggled financially. This struggle would drive Scott to start earning his keep early on. He would work lawns, flip products, and trade in things he could sell. At the age of 18, Scott had his first child, which changed things fast for him. He started working on and off to try and provide for his family. For ten years, his family struggled as work was precarious for Scott.
When he moved to Florida, the artist got sucked down by drugs for a short while. Fortunately, he pulled out quickly and never turned back. He and his family moved to California, but tragedy would hit as an accident would leave Scott disabled for a season of his life. At one point, Scott came to Venice Beach with his family and started noticing all the people selling things. That pushed him to walk down an entrepreneurial path again. This decision helped him move from broke and living in a car to getting into the right financial place. He would start putting aside money to start pursuing music as a career in 2018, a path he had been planning on since 2003.
Finally, with enough money to buy a camera and get recording time in a studio, Cottonmouth Scotty would start creating music and shooting music videos. He learned all that he could about the music industry and marketing. He put a lot of effort into building his social media following. Things started to turn out well for the artist when Cottonmouth Scotty first received a tweet from Nipsey Hussle’s official DJ, praising him for his first single. Knowing he was going the right direction, he worked even harder.
In time, Cottonmouth Scotty would be distributed to the digital DJ pool under the record label, ALLMONEYIN, and get his Soundcloud from three thousand streams to well over half a million in six months. He built his Facebook following up to 37,000 and his Instagram following to 21,000. Soon enough, he would get co-signed by Snoop Dogg, The Game, Michael Blackson, and Uproxx, after appearing at the 2019 Revolt Summit.
Today, Cottonmouth Scotty has bounced back from hard times to pursue his real passion: music. He has released multiple albums, including “Cartel,” “Surprise Party,” and “Donor.” And speaks of a new collection for the future entitled “Dark World”. Cottonmouth Scotty currently has more than 7,500 monthly listeners on Spotify and a collective and growing 16,400 streams on YouTube. In 2018, DJ VIP uploaded his song “Quick (Clean)” and it landed at the number 24 spot on the hip-hop charts.
When he’s not working on his music, Scott is taking time to teach kids how to “hustle the right way.” He uses his story to prepare the youth, most especially his children, to work hard for the things they believe in. His youngest son recently got included in the video “Bands in the Basement” by 03Greedo and Chief Keef.
To listen to his music and follow his work, check out Cottonmouth Scotty on all streaming services, including YouTube and Spotify. You can also visit his official website, Instagram, or Facebook.
Opinions expressed by NY Weekly contributors are their own.
